Liz laid next to the snoring criminal, arm across his middle. They'd gotten to their new safe house a half hour ago. The first thing that Red had done was pass out as soon as he'd hit the bed. Liz was having a little bit of a harder time. She was still wound up from driving. Well, driving and Red. The whole way here, Red held her hand, sometimes lifting it and pressing his lips to her fingers. He seemed all too happy to use any excuse he got to kiss her. That seemed to give her a small high that wasn't letting her get any sleep.
Red's stomach rose and fell under her arm as he breathed. A low rumble sounded from his chest as he snored. Liz furrowed her brow. That wasn't just from Red. She sat up and listened. What the hell was that? Red woke up from the noise and looked around blerrily.
"What is that?" Liz asked as he sat up next to her. She shifted a little closer to him before noticing the pistol in his hand. "Where did you get that?"
"I anyways keep a gun under the pillow," he responded.
"I've never seen you put one there," she stated but Red was already up and to the bedroom door.
"Wait here," he instructed before hurrying out. Liz furrowed her brow. Did he intend on killing someone in his boxers? She stood up and moved to the bedroom door to see what was happening.
The rumbling noise was gone but had been replaced with something else. Red stood there looking perplexed. That couldn't be what it sounded like. He opened the door slowly which filled the room with shrill cries.
"What is that?" Liz questioned. Red picked up the box that had been left in front of the house and brought it inside. Reaching inside, he gently picked up a crying infant. Almost instantly, Red cradled it in his arms and started cooing over it.
"Isn't he precious, Lizzie?" Red asked with a small smile. Liz shifted closer as the baby started to calm down.
"Why did someone leave a baby?" Liz questioned while Red made faces at the child to make it laugh. This wasn't exactly how she would expect the concierge of crime to handle a baby. She'd ignore the reason why she had pictured it in the first place. That didn't stop her from blushing lightly.
"I'm assuming that someone couldn't handle the pressure of being a parent and decided to let someone else do it," Red stated, rocking the infant in his arms. "Of course, we're in a virtually deserted part of town."
"So, why would they leave it here if there was no one to take care of it?"
"You just answered your own question," Red responded, giving her a chill.
"That's... really horrible," Liz stated in slight shock. She watched Red while she thought. "What do we do with him?" Liz questioned, drawing Red's attention. "Do we drop him off at a police station?"
"If we do, we'll be recognized by someone. Our only real option to take care of him. There's a small chance that the mother will show back up to get him," he said. "If not, we'll find a way to get him to the police station at the end of the week, when we're about to leave town."
"So, we've got a baby for the week?" Liz asked getting a nod from him. "Don't we need stuff?"
"Yeah, I saw a twenty four hour store a block over. One of us can watch the baby while the other goes to buy things."
"Okay, I could stay with the baby. You shop faster than I do," Liz responded. Red looked like a mix between shocked and disappointed. She couldn't tell if it was because he didn't want to get dressed or if he wanted to keep holding the infant. Honestly, it was probably a bit of both.
"Okay," Red stated flatly. He shifted closer and passed the baby over to her. Almost immediately, its tiny hand grabbed part of her hair and pulled. She winced and gently pulled her hair back. "Are you gonna be okay here?"
"I'll be fine. Just get going," Liz instructed. Red seemed unsure but still turned to go get dressed. The child in her arms squirmed as it played with her hair. Red came back out in a few minutes, dressed in the simplest clothing that he had.
"Just call me if you need anything," Red instructed, getting a nod from her. He went to the front door and opened it. Liz gave him a small smile when he looked back at her. After the door closed and Red was gone, the baby started crying again and no amount of cooing or rocking seemed to be working.
"This may not go as well as I hoped."
Red moved through the store quickly, grabbing the things that they would need. Diapers, a bottle, milk, clothes, and a carrier that could be used for a crib were all placed in the basket before he started to move towards the cash register. He hadn't made it out of his aisle before his phone started to buzz in his pocket.
"Lizzie?" He asked, stopping in his tracks. A loud cry made him pull the phone away from his ear.
"Please tell me that you're nearly done," Liz practically begged. If he wasn't mistaken, she was crying as well.
"Is something wrong, sweetheart?" He questioned. If something had happened to Liz, he'd never forgive himself.
"Yes! We decided to take care of the spawn of Satan!" Liz snapped making the infant cry louder. "How did you get him to calm down?"
"Just rock him back and forth gently. Of course, that might be a little difficult for you."
"I can be gentle!" Liz snapped again. The baby cried louder. "Shit."
"Lizzie, if you're rocking the baby, think calming ocean wave," Red instructed. She scoffed a little louder than necessary.
"I know that."
"Really? You sound more like you're set to tsunami, right now," he stated making her groan. "You know we still have to name the little guy," he added as he moved towards the front.
"I vote Bill."
"... What made you think of Bill?"
"Billsebub,"
"Elizabeth!"
"Rocking isn't working. What else can I do?" Liz stated, ignoring that he'd been shocked at her.
"He may just be hungry. I'll be there in a few minutes. Try not to go insane," he instructed making her sigh.
"Fine, just hurry."
Red had a little difficulty getting everything through the door, but he managed. The first thing he saw was Liz trying desperately to calm down a screaming baby. He was almost shocked the noise hadn't drawn any attention. He sat everything down before hurrying to her.
"I'll take him. You go get a bottle ready for him," Red instructed. She seemed more than happy about that trade and handed the baby over quickly. Red cradled him and made a few quiet shushing noises.
"Do I heat the milk?" Liz asked over the sound of crying.
"Just for a little bit. We don't want it to get too hot," Red called back to her. It wasn't more than a second before he went back to cooing over the baby. He added a gentle bounce to the mix which resulted in the shrill cries turning into small whimpering.
"I hate you," Liz stated as she brought him the bottle. Red rolled his eyes as he made sure the milk wasn't too hot. He held the bottle to where the infant could drink. It made a few noises as it guzzled down the drink.
"That sounds like you some days," Liz joked getting a look from him.
"I don't do that. You're just mad that I could get him to calm down."
"I think you were holding out on me. You must be doing something different than what you told me to do," Liz accused.
"Maybe, I'm just better with children," he retorted, shifted the baby to burp him.
"I doubt that."
"Give me one piece of evidence that suggests otherwise," Red challenged. No sooner than the words left his mouth, the baby spit up on his back. "... Never mind."
I'm back! Sorry for the long wait. Hopefully, Reddington and Liz with a baby will be worth it the time :)
