Baby
A Gallagher Girls One-Shot
Warning: Contains spoilers for United we Spy.
The baby monitor beside the bed started to crackle. The sound of a wailing baby penetrating the silence in the bedroom. Turning over, he picked up the monitor and stumbled out of bed, drowsily walking down the hallway in his scruffy track pants, headed for the nursery. Beams of moonlight streamed into the room, illuminating pink curtains and teddy bears. In the coat lay a screaming baby.
Her name was Olivia.
She was still so small, so young, so innocent.
Loosing her mother was something she should never have to face.
However, she had already lost her mother.
The pregnancy had been kept quiet, but it was hard on her. Becoming an unwed mother in her line of work was going to be difficult.
It turned to be fatal.
Her first mission in the field after going back on the job was a security detail assignment in Caspia. A country still riddled by war. Protecting the Queen of Caspia was an honour, it was especially considering that both the protectee and protector were Gallagher Girls.
A terrorist threat lead to gunfire. An she had stepped in to take a bullet for the Queen. The Queen survived. She didn't. It was not the first bullet she had taken, but it was her last.
It was coming into fall when she was buried. Leaves in varying shade of red and brown littered the ground as the casket was lowered.
He picked up Olivia, holding her in his arms, rocking her back and forth as to get her to go back to sleep.
"Shhh 'Livie." He cooed. "Go back to sleep for me."
After 5 more minutes of Olivia wailing, Zach was ready to give up, he wasn't ready to take care of a child.
Quiet footsteps padded down the hall. Zach's girlfriend appeared in the doorway, wearing one of his shirts that she had claimed as her pyjamas and a pair of shorts that just covered her backside. They were high-school sweethearts. They had been so through much together, from being chased around the globe to graduating high-school and college.
"Here Zach, let me take her." Cammie said, outstretching her arms for the baby. Before crawling out of bed she had pulled her hair into a messy bun.
Zach complied, handing Cammie his still crying baby half-sister.
"She just won't settle tonight."
"She knows her Mum isn't coming home." Cammie bounced her arms to settle Olivia, patting her on the bum.
Zach sat down in the rocking chair in the nursery. Light pink bedspreads and teddy bears adorned the otherwise plain nursery. Abby and Townsend didn't know if they were having a boy or a girl and wanted to keep it until they knew to decorate it.
Abby didn't get much time to decorate it before she was killed in action.
Olivia was still so tiny. Not even a year old.
Townsend was devastated when he heard the news. He spent days locked in his room, leaving the baby. That was until Zach told him that he couldn't abandon another child. But Townsend couldn't give up his work. Whenever he was on a mission, Zach and Cammie moved into his spare bedroom to take care of the baby.
Cammie adored her little cousin. But it was times like this that made her miss her Aunt. Olivia had Abby's eyes, and what little hair she had resembled Abby's natural colour. Her eyes were still squeezed shut, still wailing. For someone so small, she had huge lungs.
"Olivia." Cammie sang. "It's ok. Go back to sleep sweetheart." Soothed by the gentle motion and voice, Olivia eventually stopped wailing, going back to sleep in Cammie's arms. Cammie pressed a kiss to her forehead before placing her back in the cot.
Zach sighed, pulling himself out of bed and taking Cammie's hand, they tiptoed back down the hall to the spare bedroom.
Before they reached the room, they heard the turning of a key in the lock. Zach made for the cabinet in the dining room, knowing there was a pistol hidden in one of the drawers. Cammie crept towards the door, grabbing the fire poker as a weapon, ready to whack the intruder once they came through.
"Damn key, I can never get it right." Came the intruders gruff voice. Their accent was distinctively British.
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Cammie lowered her weapon. Zach had cocked the gun, but when he saw his father walk through the door, he switched on the safety and emptied the bullet from the barrel into the palm of his hand.
"You're home early." Zach said. Moonlight shone through the door, illuminating the hallway. Townsend stood in a tired kind of shock at seeing his son and his girlfriend ready to attack at the forsaken hour.
Stepping inside and closing the door, Townsend shed his long coat before replying. "Got an earlier flight home. Is she-?"
"Asleep? She just went back down." Cammie answered, rubbing her cold feet up and down her leg in order to generate some heat.
"She never sleeps through the night when you're away." Zach said.
"Thank you for taking care of her." Townsend said.
"Anytime," Cammie nodded, "we're happy to help"
"You two go back to bed. I'll take over for the night." Zach and Cammie went back to the spare bedroom. Quietly closing the door behind them, careful not to wake Olivia.
Townsend snuck into Olivia's room. She lay on her back, limbs flailed across the mattress. Townsend let a smile break free. That was his daughter. She was his. She was safe.
Caressing her check with a gentle finger he whispered, "It's alright baby. Daddy's home."
I hope that was different to what you were expecting.
For my intentions in this fic, Townsend and Abby are not married.
Until next time,
xx AussieGallagherGirl