They'd been foolish. Foolish, over-confident and downright flippant.
Now they were being punished.
A screeching wail that bordered on glass shattering ripped through every room in the house. Eames frantically tried to mix formula, glasses slipping down his nose as he scalded himself with boiling water.
Arthur could be heard pacing the length of the upstairs, shushing and comforting Edie as she broke her heart crying.
"Eames…come on!" He shouted as Eames rushed from the kitchen.
As he ascended the stairs, Arthur appeared at the top, face slack with tiredness, with Edie kicking her legs against his stomach. Just as Eames reached the step below them, he shook the bottle as he'd seen Ariadne and Arthur do dozens of times. It all happened so quickly, Eames didn't fully understand what he'd done until the screeching stopped.
As he'd shook the bottle, the lid had flown off, the milk erupting in a great arch, covering his head, most of his t-shirt and a good section of the carpet.
Arthur had managed to step out of the way, and as he stood just staring at the complete mess that was Eames, both he and the baby dissolved into giggles.
"Quite." Eames sniffed, inhaling a few droplets of milk that had ran down his nose.
"Excuse me darlings." He added, making his way to the bathroom to clean up.
"Oh God Eames…" Arthur howled, balancing the baby on his hip and wiping tears from his eyes.
"Who's that funny man Edie?" He cooed, pointing at Eames as he followed him to the bathroom.
Edie continued to gurgle happily, little hands grasping for Eames.
"So…you think this is funny do you?" Eames goaded, slowly edging closer to Arthur.
"Hilarious." Arthur chuckled, attention firmly on the baby.
Eames could see his opportunity and plastered himself to Arthur's back in a flash, arms going around him and the baby. He began to rub his milk covered face along Arthur's neck and cheek, coating the smaller man, before he could escape.
"Jesus! You shit!" Spluttered Arthur, trying his best to contain a laugh.
"You know if I wasn't holding this baby right now..." He began.
"You'd drag me to the floor and have your filthy way with me…I know." Eames added, rolling his eyes playfully.
"No. I'd kick your sorry ass first. THEN I'd have my filthy way with you." Arthur smirked, dimples surfacing.
"Darling, you're so romantic." Eames retorted, stroking his thumb along Arthur's cheek and across a dimple.
Arthur blushed and leant into the touch for a moment, before belatedly remembering the sticky formula clinging to his face and clothes.
"Come on you big softie, let's get ourselves cleaned up and into bed. At least all this jerking around has tired Edie out." Arthur noticed, watching as the baby's eyelids fluttered, fighting to stay open for the fun.
"She's gonna break a lot of hearts, this one." Eames whispered, eyes softening as he took in the sleepy girl. "Just like you love." He added, gaze moving to Arthur.
"Break dance, not hearts. That's my motto." Arthur grinned, leaving Eames to muffle a laugh.