Parentage
Chapter 1: A Break in Routine
Disclaimer - I do not own Perception. This is a story written for fun, not profit.
A/N: this story is AU. It takes into account all of season 3 with the exception of that very last scene in "Dirty" that has us all wishing for one of the dreariest months of the year (February) to hurry up and get here so we can find out if Daniel is okay. My latest theory is that Kate is having a nightmare and calling out Daniel's name in her sleep. Someone wanna write that fic? Anyway this will be Pieretti (What else would I write, really?). Enjoy and please review.
It was late when the doorbell rang. Dr. Daniel Pierce rose from his couch, discarding the crossword puzzle he had just finished on the coffee table as he went. He swung the door wide and found himself stepping backwards out of pure shock. Daniel stared wide eyed at the crying infant on his doorstep. He turned from the wailing baby and yelled for his assistant "Lewicki! Lewicki!"
The young man appeared from upstairs "What is-" the cries reached his ears "What the-"
"So you see it too?" Daniel murmured, the hope that the child had been all in his head completely dashed.
"That is definitely a baby," Max muttered as he slowly approached the bawling bundle. He halted and stared down.
"What are you waiting for Lewicki?" Daniel questioned "Pick it up."
Max backed away from the little thing as it continued to scream. The grad student turned emploringly towards Daniel "You pick it up. You're the doctor."
"I'm a neuroscientist Lewicki, not a pediatrician," Daniel objected but when Max remained motionless Daniel bent and retrieved the baby "Okay," he murmured as he pulled the child close to him "Come here little guy." The baby seemed to calm as soon as it received human contact.
Max retrieved an envelope that had been lying beneath the youngster.
Daniel pulled back the corner of the blanket the child was wrapped in "The umbilical cord is still attached," he indicated the shriveled piece of cord protruding from the infants belly button "This baby's less than a month old." Daniel couldn't be sure but he was willing to bet this was a newborn.
"Doc?" Max murmured as he opened the envelope "This note's addressed to you..."
Daniel shifted the baby to one arm and took the note with his free hand. He looked it over before glancing back up at Max "Call Kate."
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"Dear Professor Pierce," Kate read aloud as she stood in Daniel's living room not fifteen minutes later "Please make sure my baby finds a good home. I can't take care of her myself and you're the only person I trust anymore..." Kate looked up to steal a glance at Daniel sitting on the couch with the baby in his arms. He was surprisingly good with the newborn. She felt her heart melt as she took in the sight. Daniel caught her staring so she returned her attention to the note "My baby deserves better than me. Please don't try to figure out who I am? And please don't try to figure out who the father is?"
Kate looked up again "If she was so concerned with remaining anonymous, why not drop the baby off at a police station?"
Daniel shook his head "She said I was the only one she could trust..." He replied, trying to figure out why that could possibly be. Even though the mother had specifically asked not to be found, to Daniel it sounded more like a plea for help "She might be in some sort of trouble," he surmised.
"Poor thing..." Daniel looked up to see a pregnant teenage girl standing beside Kate. The hallucination elaborated "The mother had no one else she felt she could reach out to other than one of her professors."
"Professors..." Daniel murmured in realization.
"Excuse me?" Kate was studying him quizzically.
"Usually only my students refer to me as "Professor"," Daniel explained. He looked down at the newborn and a thought occurred to him. He held the child close to his body as he unwrapped the blanket. Beneath it the baby didn't even have a diaper to protect her fragile body. Luckily Max would be returning soon with baby supplies. "Look," Daniel threw the improvised blanket across the coffee table to reveal that it was in fact a 2014 CLMU t-shirt.
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"Student Health Services isn't aware of any pregnancies on campus," Kate informed Daniel as she put down her cell phone in frustration.
"Obviously she was keeping it hidden," Daniel replied condescendingly as he stood at the kitchen table facing down a puzzle unlike any he had ever faced before.
Kate couldn't help laughing at how out of place Daniel looked "You want some help over there?" she questioned, trying to cover her giggles with a feigned coughing fit.
"No," Daniel told her "I have a PhD in neuroscience, I think I can figure out how to put a diaper on a baby," his declaration ended in a curse as the container of baby powder toppled over, spilling across the table as it rolled away. Daniel let his gaze drift to the ceiling as his tone and attitude did a complete 180° "Yes, yes, please Kate, help me..."
Kate walked over and retrieved the baby powder. Within a matter of seconds she had diapered and dressed the infant. She picked up the child and handed her to Daniel "I'll go get something to clean that up with," she indicated the trail of baby powder.
"How did you learn to do that?" Daniel inquired as Kate returned with a wet paper towel.
"I helped my little brother's wife take care of their twins for the first two weeks," Kate explained as she wiped up the mess. "Hope you don't mind that your table's gonna smell like baby powder for the next few days," she remarked as she threw the soiled paper towel in the trash.
"I'll manage," Daniel replied as he retrieved the bottle that had been warming up in the sink "When's the social worker coming?" it was already after one in the morning. Not that Daniel was in any hurry to part with the child. Something about him and Kate taking care of this baby together felt... right.
"But it shouldn't feel right," his earlier hallucination, the pregnant teenaged girl, told him as she sat in a chair at the table "Donnie's probably waiting up for Kate as we speak and that baby belongs in a home with parents who don't take advice from figments of their imagination," she grinned.
"Child services is backed up," Kate answered "They said someone should be here by five."
Daniel sighed as he walked into the living room and took a seat on the couch. The baby, who was still sucking away at the bottle, looked up at him with large, innocent eyes. He broke eye contact, suddenly feeling oddly as if the newborn could see into his soul "It's going to be a late night then," he observed.
Kate took a seat beside him on the couch "I can take her and wait for the social worker at my place if you'd prefer," she suggested.
Daniel shook his head "Her mother entrusted her wellbeing to me. I don't mind sticking it out. Besides," he added with a sardonic grin "You don't have a car seat."
The baby finished her meal and Daniel lifted her to his shoulder to burp her "Wait a second," Kate dashed from the couch to the kitchen and returned in no time with a dish towel. She spread the towel over Daniel's shoulder.
"What's that for?" he questioned, blissfully ignorant.
"In case she spits up," Kate explained, suppressing a smile that threatened to burst forth in response to the expression on Daniel's face "Babies tend to do that."
Daniel began to pat the baby's back gently. Kate grabbed his hand "Like this," she corrected, moving Daniel's hand over the baby's back in circles. When they were rewarded with a belch befitting a barfly the pair grinned at one another.
Kate returned to her seat on the couch, pulling her feet up underneath her "Want me to take her?" she asked.
Daniel passed the infant to her "If you want your turn to hold her you can just say so," he teased.
"Shut up," she responded but there was no mistaking the smile in her tone. They sat in silence until it was time to change the baby's diaper again.
"I hope these diapers will last until the social worker gets here," Daniel remarked as he handed a fresh diaper to Kate.
"They should," Kate responded as she stripped off a potential hazmat situation "But you can never be sure. You would be shocked at the amount of dirty diapers my nieces churned out between the two of them in their first three days of life."
Daniel held a paper towel at arms length into which Kate deposited the dirty diaper. Daniel then half hopped, half skittered to the trash as if he had been handed a live grenade.
Kate burst into laughter as Daniel headed for the sink to wash his hands.
"What?" he inquired petulantly.
"You're such a guy," she continued to laugh "I never would have guessed it."
The teenaged hallucination had appeared in the corner and was laughing as well.
"I hate to break it to you Kate," Daniel said in a tone that was all seriousness "But I am a guy. If you thought that my brilliance would somehow translate into being able to handle a diaper full of poop as if I didn't think it would explode at any minute," he could no longer keep a straight face "Then I'm sorry to disappoint you." He was now laughing as well.
The night continued in this fashion. Feedings, burpings, diaper changes, laughter and conversation. Daniel was altogether surprised how comfortable he was with the whole thing. The only truly awkward part came when Kate called Donnie to let him know that she wouldn't be home. Daniel could easily gleam from Kate's side of the conversation and the choice word of Donnie's he was able to catch every once in a while, that Donnie was less than happy with the situation.
Kate's voice, which had been light and full of laughter all night, grew strained when she spoke with her fiancé. She tried to keep her voice even but Daniel could tell that the conversation was upsetting her. When she hung up, she appeared close to tears.
Though he was curious, Daniel didn't press her for details. Her mood improved dramatically as soon as the two of them resumed their conversation about her nieces. Five in the morning came and the social worker finally arrived at Daniel's door.
Daniel gathered the few baby supplies that Max had purchased into a plastic bag and joined Kate and the social worker, Ms. Ainsley, at the front door.
"What's her name?" Ms. Ainsley questioned as she fawned over the newborn. Me
"The note didn't say," Daniel remarked. He and Kate looked at each other for a long moment. They had been sharing the duty of caring for this child for the past four and a half hours. They had bonded with her and she with them. Neither wanted to be the one to bestow a name on her. Saying goodbye was already hard enough. But this little girl deserved better than to be known as Baby X or Baby Doe.
It was Kate who finally spoke "Her name is Wendy."
Daniel smiled sadly. He bent forward and kissed the child's forehead "Goodbye Wendy," he whispered. He reached out a finger and smiled as he watched the infant grasp reflex at work.
After providing Ms. Ainsley with a little more information, the social worker departed with Wendy. This left Kate and Daniel alone. They stood in silence for a long time. Again Kate was the one to speak first.
"I should probably get going," she murmured "Donnie's probably still awake, waiting for me."
"Thanks for your help," Daniel offered her a pat on the arm.
"We'll start looking for the mother this afternoon," Kate promised. She turned to leave but an instant later spun back around and hugged Daniel.
Though confused by the gesture, Daniel returned the embrace "Good night Kate," he said as the hug ended.
Kate pointed to the slowly brightening sky outside "I think you mean good morning," she smiled softly.
Daniel chuckled "Good morning Kate."
"Good morning Daniel," Kate stepped out the door and headed for her car. Daniel watched as she drove away. A feeling of emptiness settled over him as he headed up to bed.