BABIES

[connike]

the babies meme

guidelines
→ Leave a comment with your character's name, fandom, and any preferences you may have.
→ Another character replies and suddenly you are a loving (??) couple with a child or multiple children!
→ Go from there! You can do literally whatever you want, from silly day-to-day domestic shenanigans to threads involving pregnancies to more serious topics. If you're short on ideas, you can look to other memes like The Domestic Meme or The Family Meme for inspiration.

Comments

[aviophobia]

McCoy waits for the sentence to finish, and his eyebrows raise when it trails off instead.

"Jim," he says, "did you just not make some smart comment?"

[captaincocksure]

Oh, look, the tips of his ears and his cheeks are a bit pink.

"...I'm just following your excellent example."

[aviophobia]

McCoy smirks. "Also a first, but not something I'm inclined to stop from happening."

[captaincocksure]

"I'm just thinking of what's best for the kid," Jim protests, some of his usual smartass back in place. "So I'm guessing the dinner table is not the place to try out some diaper-changing?"

[aviophobia]

"Do you remember the phrase 'don't crap where you eat?'" Leonard returns dryly. "It's not just a metaphor, you know."

[captaincocksure]

Jim laughs. "I see, I see. Well."

And again, he's now talking to the baby and not McCoy. "Should we go see about getting you changed?" He rises to his feet, his free hand still at her back, holding her against him, and she kind of curls up against him, head on his shoulder.

[aviophobia]

Leonard tilts his head slightly, impressed but not entirely willing to admit it. Jim's got good instincts. "We'll take her back to sickbay; I'll show you how to do it."

[captaincocksure]

"Good."

They head back down the hall, Jim cradling the little girl against his shoulder. They're both sort of subdued, Jim taking care to navigate without jostling her, and she curled against him, probably getting drowsy now that her belly is full.

Jim is thinking, too, quiet as he turns a curiosity over in his mind. He can't ask about it directly, but he has an idea.

"So about these middle-of-the-night feedings. I can do them and I don't mind, but... did you want to help? Or take a few shifts, too?"

[aviophobia]

McCoy tries to cover the way his heart leaps at the idea, and he shrugs a little, so cool, so composed, so not completely thrilled at the thought of being able to take care of her.

"Yeah, sure, I can do that. Won't do any good for the ship's captain to be a wreck because he didn't get enough sleep."

[captaincocksure]

"Great, so..."

...Damn. He hadn't considered the logistics.

"I guess maybe you'd better crash in my quarters a few nights a week. I think that's easier than making two setups for her and moving her all around."

[aviophobia]

McCoy stares at him for a moment too long, nearly stumbling in their purposeful stride back to medbay.

"Do you have room for me and a baby?"

[captaincocksure]

"We'll figure something out. Move furniture around, whatever we need to do. It'll be fine."

He'll make it work. Bones is doing a good job hiding how he feels but Jim is convinced he really wants to take part in this. And that's good enough for Jim, he'll make this work, whatever it takes.

[aviophobia]

McCoy shakes his head. "If you say so, I guess." He tries to sound unconvinced, so cool, but the idea of being able to take care of this little girl is making his heart sing. He pushes the turbolift button to take them back to medbay.

[captaincocksure]

"I'll set Engineering and Ship's Services on it in the morning," Jim promises. "I'm sure my quarters can be re-arranged."

The baby reaches for one of the handles on the turbolift, and Jim deftly steps away. "You don't need that, I've got you. Besides, that might make us stop. We don't want that right now."

[aviophobia]

"That's right," McCoy agrees, unable to bite back a little smile at her inquisitiveness. "You just hang onto Jim. You don't need to touch anything in here."

[captaincocksure]

She decides, instead, on the sleeve of McCoy's uniform shirt. And Jim, in a pretty calculated moment, shifts her, offering her.

"Here. She seems to think it's your turn."

[aviophobia]

"Heaven forbid I turn down a lady." McCoy took the baby from Jim and shifted her into his own arms, settling her in them as naturally as though she was meant to be there. He looked down at her. "All right, there?"

[captaincocksure]

McCoy is rewarded with a coo, and with the stuffed cow being pressed against his shirt. The baby seems perfectly content in his arms, and it brings a smile to Jim's face.

"I think that's a yes."

[aviophobia]

"Thanks for the offer, but you can hang onto her for now," McCoy says to the baby, referencing the cow being banged against his chest. "I might take it later."

She shoves the cow's head into her mouth, and McCoy grins a little. "Maybe not now."

[captaincocksure]

Jim laughs as they step off the turbolift. "I might have to call my mom and get her to send me the rest of those cows, if she's still got them. So we can keep them in a good washing rotation."

[aviophobia]

"The rest of the cows?" McCoy echoes, eyebrows arching over his dark eyes.

[captaincocksure]

Jim shrugs. "She bought up every one in the county, so I would always have one. Even on laundry day."

[aviophobia]

"So how many are there?" It's a genuine question, but there's amusement sparking in those eyes now.

[captaincocksure]

"I don't know."

Oh, yes he does.

"There might've been... a dozen or so... when I was a kid? I'm not sure she still has all of them, but my mom's got a few more, I'm sure."

[aviophobia]

"She does seem pretty enamored with this guy." He shifts her to his other hip, and his reward is getting the cow banged against his other shoulder. "...and figured out its use as a weapon pretty fast."