Apparently Kavi made a huge boo boo and totally didn't catch it. Which is weird. Grumble.

Try again?!

From the imagineyourOTP prompts on Tumblr: Person A is woken in the middle of the night by their new child and trying hard not to wake Person B because they've had a rough day at work. Person A goes to comfort their child and Person B comes in and silently embraces Person A from behind.

Trouble Sleeping

. . . . .

The wailing wakes him. He reaches over and turns down the baby monitor on his bedside table. He's exhausted, completely and utterly exhausted. He's had maybe a total of twenty-four hours of sleep in the last week. But he knows the tailing infant next door will not let up. It's not his style.

He pulls himself out of the warm, cozy blankets. He does it gently. He's exhausted, but Lanie's worse. His poor Lanie. She's had a worse day than he has, by far. Two teenagers, dead long before their time, the suicide of a single father and, to top it all off, an identification. A mother had come in, late in the afternoon, to identify her daughter. Lanie had been in tears on the phone.

So he'll leave her sleep, he thinks as he pulls their bedroom door. He pads to the next room where is son is sobbing and writhing in his beautiful crib.

"Hey, my man," Javier murmurs, just above the pitiful wailing. He reaches into the crib, sliding his broad hand beneath the infant's tiny skull. "What's with the tears, huh? You'll wake Mama."

The wails quiet to whimpers as Javier cuddles his son to his bare chest. He moves to the window, looking out over the clear, quiet street. He shifts back and forth on his feet, trying to stifle his yawns as his son looks up with wide, very awake eyes.

"You've gotta sleep, bro," he says in a low, gravelly voice. "Mama and I need sleep."

The infant snuggles in, little hands clenching around nothing against his chest. Javier reaches out, trailing his finger down his son's cheek. It's usually a touch that lulls him to sleep, his eyes fluttering in seconds. He fights it this time. He starts humming, hoping the low vibration in his chest will help.

Arms wrap around him from behind and Javier's eyes close briefly. "I've got this, Lain."

"Sometimes, a boy just needs his Mama."

But she stays mostly wrapped around him, dragging her fingers gently over their son's head.

"Bed got cold," she murmurs, her hand snaking around to rest on his stomach. "I figured our little troublemaker was the cause."

"He's fine. We're fine. Go back to bed."

Her lips press against the back of his shoulder and she hums into his skin. In fact, she clings, her fingertips digging into his hip as her other hand grips the baby's foot.

"Cari-"

The sound she releases is grumpy and thankful relief he'd been aiming for. He sighs and shifts his hold on the infant so he can tug her around to his side. His arm goes around her shoulders, pulling her as close as their bodies allow. Her hand moves to their son's stomach, tickling gently as she starts to hum in earnest. It's a melody he's familiar with, the same one Lanie's known to sing when the baby gets fussy. It lulls him the same way and he feels himself sway unconsciously as the infant's eyes flutter.

"See," she murmurs smugly after a few moments.

"You're spoiling him, Cari," he whispers back, shifting to lay the baby back in his crib.

She chuckles softly. "I'm his Mama. I'm allowed."

He pulls her close, wrapping both arms around her and pressing her lips to his head. There are days like this one where he looks at them and can't believe he has them both. They watch their baby until Lanie tilts her head back. Javier leans down and presses his mouth to hers. She hums, smiling when they pull apart.

"Come on, Daddy," she murmurs, tugging him away from the crib. "Let's go back to bed."

There's the fluff for you. All the fluff. Now I need to go brush my teeth.

Hope you enjoyed!