It all started after Charlotte was born, as Melanie and Chris proudly showed off their first-born after the New Year had started. Born in the middle of a hurricane that swept up the east coast and keeping them lockdown in their apartment for sixteen hours, Charlotte Anne Pike came into the world right on the staircase of her first home.

Jim was instantly wrapped up and head of heels in love with the baby, as he finally got to hold her for the first time.

"She's so little," he gasped, as Charlotte took hold of his finger in her tiny hand. "Ohmigod!"

Leonard was sure that Jim was close to passing out, as Charlotte opened her eyes and stared up at him. "She's looking at me!" Jim squealed, as he smiled at the baby. "Hi little baby! You're so gorgeous, yes you are!"

It took minor threats and a stern "Jim," from Chris, for Leonard to finally hold is goddaughter. Having been a father himself, Leonard understood that automatic rush of love one got, as they held a baby; especially if that baby had half of the McCoy DNA running through her veins. Charlotte was a true McCoy from the dark patch of hair on her head to the pouty lips. And from what his baby sister reported during the first few days of motherhood, Charlotte had inherited the set of lungs to match.

"Damn Bones," Jim grinned. "You look so hot with a baby!"

Leonard rolled his eyes, while Chris glared at him. "Don't get a hard on while your boyfriend's holding my daughter!"

Melanie giggled, "Easy," she said, placing her hand on his arm. "Jim, could you help me set the table? We have so much food and I'm starving!"

Jim nodded," Sure thing," he said, standing up. "Jo-Jo, come say hi to your cousin!"

As Jim and Melanie made their way into the kitchen, Leonard had no idea what one baby would do to Jim. No idea at all.

….

When Melanie announced, almost two years later, that she and Chris were pregnant again, there was a definite shift in Jim's behavior. Several weeks after their announcement, Melanie called to tell them over the speaker that she had been impregnated with two babies.

"I'm going to be huge," she whined, as Jim snickered. "Do you realize how hard it's going to be? Getting back into shape again, after having two babies?"

"Shoulda told Chris to wrap it up then," Leonard snorted. "Aw shit, Mel, it's a good thing! Charlie will have two siblings to boss around and now you guys definitely have an excuse to move out of New York!"

It had been a constant conversation that both she and Chris had, especially after Charlotte turned a year old. With their father now living in Napa after divorcing their mother of thirty-two years, it was time for Mel and Chris to come home. And now with two babies coming, it was the perfect opportunity.

After hanging up with her, Leonard turned and saw the look in Jim's eyes.

"What?" he asked.

Jim shrugged, "Nothing!"

Leonard rolled his eyes, "Jim, you're twitching like a crack head," he sighed. "Just spit it out."

"Have you thought about having more kids?" Jim shot out, before blushing. "I mean, I know you have Jo and everything., but.."

"I don't know, Jim," Leonard shrugged. "I'm pretty content with Jo right now."

And Jim fucking wilted at his comment, which made Leonard's heart ache in pain. He was good at falling for Jim's pouting and begging, giving into whatever crazy schemes he came up with. But a baby? That was totally different, given the fact that it was the idea of bringing a new life into the world. It wasn't that Jim was irresponsible with children, given that he was fantastic with Jo and Charlotte. But Leonard never thought of the idea of having another child.

"Okay," Jim nodded, turning towards the living room. "I better get going. Don't want to keep Jo waiting outside that dreadful school."

"Jim wa-" Leonard started, before Jim made a hasty retreat from the kitchen.

Later that night, over nachos and fajita's, Leonard watched as Jim and Joanna discussed her upcoming project for a class. Something about Greek mythology and coming up with your own god/goddess. Jim suggested a pretty young girl, with long brown hair and blue eyes.

"She could be the goddess of good grades!" Jim smiled. "Or the goddess of making the best nachos ever!"

After that night, Jim didn't bring up having a baby again.

…

"Your sister is insane!"

They had just returned from the hospital, after Sophia Grace and Olivia Jane came into the world, four weeks early and already the apples of everyone's eye.

"She pushed out two babies after twenty hours of labor," Jim exclaimed, as they pulled off their jackets. "PUSHED them out of her vagina, Bones."

"I know, Jim!" he snapped. "I heard her screaming from down the hall."

Jim shook his head, "If she and Chris decide to have another baby, that one is gonna just walk right out."

Exhaustion was creeping up on Leonard, as they made their way into the kitchen for a late night snack. Joanna luckily got to see her new baby cousins before Gaila and Scotty whisked her off for the night to their home, leaving them with the house for the night.

"I can't believe they asked me to be Olivia's godfather," Jim gushed. "It's like being given the golden ticket to Wonka's candy factory!"

"Did you seriously just compare your god-daughter to Willy Wonka?" Leonard asked, as he turned from the cabinet. "Really?"

Jim shrugged, "What else can I compare it to?" he asked. "I don't have a child, Bones."

Leonard sighed, "Okay," he closed the cabinet door. "Let's here it."

"I just don't understand why you don't want to have a baby!" Jim exclaimed. "You say you're fine with just having Joanna, then you say there's no time to have a baby."

"Babies are expensive, Jim!"

Jim shook his head, "Let's add that to the list of reasons why you wont have a baby with me!" he snapped. "I mean, shit! We got married and we have really good jobs that are flexible."

Leonard groaned, "Jim…" he started.

"I went back to school for you! I bust my ass everyday learning about fucking accounting and hauling ass to work at the bar with Scotty! What else do you want me to do!?" he shouted.

That night, they slept in separate bedrooms.

…..

As soon as Melanie and Chris brought the twins home, Jim quickly made time to visit everyday. Everyday. He took Charlotte for a few hours when Chris and Melanie needed to focus on both Olivia and Sophia. He took her food shopping or to the park for a few hours, brining her back right in time for a nap. On the weekends he would wake up early and head out to help around the house, while Chris went to work.

"Don't you have a husband and step-daughter at home?" Melanie joked one morning, as he helped her with the bottles.

"Jo's at school and Bones is being a grumpy bastard," he shrugged. "Anyways, just because you named me the godfather of one baby, doesn't mean I can't play with both!"

As Jim spent less and less time at home, Leonard grew increasingly worried. Between work, classes and baby-time, he only got a glimpse of Jim after a late night at the restaurant or in the early morning light as he rushed out their bedroom fully dressed.

Finally, he cracked and called Melanie. The first thing he heard as sister answered, was the shrill cry of a baby and Charlotte babbling in the background.

"Hello?" she shouted.

"Mel? It's Len!"

The cries and babbling died down, as Melanie moved into another room. "Sorry about that," she sighed. "Sophia had a rough night and now she wont eat! And on top of that, Charlotte is become a little devil! She almost fell down the entire flight of stairs after climbing over the safety gate."

Leonard was sympathetic to his sister's dilemma, for he had been there before. Except, Joanna did tumble down the stairs as Jocelyn shot herself up with heroine in the bathroom.

"Is Jim there?"

"Yes," she cleared her throat. "He's going to take Charlotte for the afternoon, while we take Sophia and Olivia to their checkup."

Leonard nodded, "Tell him to come home with Charlie," he said. "I'll whip up some lunch for us and we'll tire her out for you two."

Melanie laughed lightly, "Could you?" she asked. "We would be forever grateful, even though that makes us sound like shitty parents."

"You're not shitty parents," he scoffed. "You've got three kids under the age of five. Welcome to parenting."

Once he hung up, Leonard sat back in the chair and sighed. It was time to face the punches.

….

"Charlie, Charlie," Jim shook his head. "You make for a messy lunch date."

Charlotte giggled, "No, no, no!" she shook her head. "Tatoes!"

Jim shook his head, as he scrapped in the inside of the potato out of it's skin, mashing it up on her plate. "We put the food in our mouths," he said, scooping the white mush up. "Not on our clothes."

Leonard watched as Jim guided the spoon into the two and a half year olds mouth, "See? Yummy!"

Charlotte banged her spoon onto the dish, while using her other hand to smear the potatoes and peas together. "No, no," Jim shook his head. "Watch Uncle Jim."

He then sat down at his own plate and proceeded to show her how to eat their lunch. "See," he shoved the spoonful of peas into his mouth. "Mmmhmmm."

The toddler giggled as she chewed on her potato cover fingers, before turning her attention to Leonard. "'Ones! "Ones!"

"Uncle Bones thinks you should eat like a big girl, Charlie," Jim said. "Come on now. Don't ruin your clothes with this delicious meal he made for us. Mommy wont be too happy if we send you back, covered in your lunch."

As Jim took care in making sure Charlotte ate, Leonard sat back and watched carefully. Jim was good at this. Too good.

…

An hour of playtime and one story later, Charlotte was tucked into the bed she slept in during visits. Leonard and Jim silently cleaned up the kitchen and den, setting the dishes into the washer and the toys into the bucket, before crashing onto the sofa.

"You're good with her," Leonard finally said.

Jim turned his gaze from the ceiling to look at him, "What?" he asked.

Leonard nodded, "You're so good with Charlie," he shook his head. "I can't even get her to lay down for a nap."

"She listens to you, Bones," Jim sighed. "Especially when you do that thing with your eyebrow."

He grunted, "I was wrong," he mumbled.

Jim turned his body to face him, "What's wrong now, Bones?" he sighed. "What do you want to argue about now?"

"Nothing," Leonard shook his head. "I don't want to argue with you at all, Jim."

"Then what?" he asked. "Are you pissed because Charlotte made a mess?"

Leonard sighed, "Dammit Jim!" he snapped. "Can't you just shut up and listen for once?"

Jim shook his head, "Not when you're gonna talk to me like that!" he snapped, moving to stand up.

Quickly, Leonard jumped forward and toppled across Jim's body, pinning him down to the sofa. "Shut your mouth and listen."

"Get off me!" Jim pushed against him. "Get off, you grumpy bastard!"

After a few minutes of squirming, Jim finally gave up and allowed his husband to get the final word.

"I was wrong about the baby thing," Leonard sighed. "I never for a moment thought you would be an awful parent. How could you be, when you've managed to raise Joanna as if she was yours?"

Jim laid quietly and watched as he began to ramble, "You're perfect with Jo and you're perfect with Charlie," he smiled softly. "It's me that I have doubts in, Jim. I almost lost Joanna by leaving her with Jocelyn and her drug addiction every time I ran out the door for work. I was too blinded to see that and I could've lost my baby girl, Jim. Can you really want to have a baby with me, just by knowing that?"

"Bones," Jim shook his head. "I want to have a baby with you, because I love you and I want us to take that next step. Whenever I see you with Joanna, I get this… rush of love and excitement, because all I can picture is you holding our baby."

"You do realize that we're both men, right?" Leonard frowned. "I don't know what kind of crazy you're on, but neither of us can get pregnant."

Jim snorted, "I wasn't born yesterday, Bones," he gave his shoulders a shove. "We have options, though I do want our baby to share our DNA."

Leonard hesitated at the comment, "You don't have to put your sperm in someone if that makes you uncomfortable," Jim shrugged. "I could donate mine, seeing that Joanna's yours."

"Who would we even ask to do this with us?" Leonard frowned. "And don't you dare say my sister, because she shut the baby factory down for the time being."

"No offense," Jim started. "As much as I love your sister and the fact that she has produced some of the cutest kids in the world, I would feel weird having my sperm implanted in her. That's incest."

Leonard chuckled, burying his face into Jim's neck. "How about we research our options and see?" he suggested. "It's expensive, Jim. It's a lot harder too, going with IVF and surrogacy."

"But you're not saying no, right?" Jim asked, wrapping his arms around him. "I will die right here on this couch if you say no."

"I'm saying maybe," Leonard offered. "With a chance of being yes, depending on what option is the best."

Jim smiled, "No matter what, you're going to be a great dad to our baby," he said. "I wouldn't ask you, if I didn't believe in you."

Leonard growled, "I can't believe I'm even considering it," he nipped at his neck. "One of you is enough already."

"You say that now," Jim teased. "We can do this, Bones. I know we can."

"I know," he nodded. "I just need you to keep reminding me, when I start to freak out."

Jim grinned, "Sounds like a plan," he said, leaning up to kiss him. "Now lets try to nap before Charlotte makes herself known. I'm exhausted and it's only one-thirty!"