Parenting Time

Every now and then Mycroft brought work home. It was a rare occurrence at the beginning of their relationship, actually, it never happened before the first few years. Then, they moved in together. And now that they had a little baby, it was beginning to be more frequent. So there he was, working late in the night, reading files, analyzing reports, planning meetings, while Gregory had fallen sound asleep on the couch after having put to bed their daughter. The house was silent, the only sounds being the tapping of his fingers on the keyboard and the scratching of his pen on the paper. So frankly, it was quite hard to miss the high-pitched cries that were coming from the nursery. Mycroft stopped dead on his work and froze, waiting for a new sound. And there it was again. He quickly crossed the room and was in no time at the baby's crib. And there she was, her tiny limbs and arms agitated, and her face red from the crying.

Mycroft stood there, pondering if he should wake Gregory up or take care of it himself. The DI was the one who was good with the kid. Mycroft tended to panic and watch from afar. But Greg was tired, and he was there so he bent over the bed and wrapped his arms around the little girl to pick her up. He tried to soothe her by rocking her a little, but that only seemed to make her cry harder.

"Shhhh, you are going to wake Daddy up."

He made his way to the kitchen, the child still in his arms, still crying. He wandered about, rocking her with one arm and opening cupboards after cupboards, not really sure what he was searching for.

"What do you want Lisa dear? What does Daddy usually do? Are you tired? No, obviously not, you've just woken up. Hum, do you want to eat something? Milk maybe? There it is. Okay, this should not be too complicated. You know, I've done this with your uncle Sherlock when he was a baby."

A few minutes later and he had a baby bottle filled with warm milk in his right hand Lisa on his left arm. He was humming lightly, trying to calm her. However, she didn't seem to want to drink anything either, her head avoiding the bottle, turning every few second, making the job only harder for Mycroft who groaned in frustration.

"Maybe your diaper is dirty? No, that's not it. Why are you crying? You know, you need a reason to cry. You can't just, cry for nothing. That is a bad habit, do not take after your uncle please."

Still rocking her, he walked towards the living room where Gregory was sleeping. He really didn't want to ask for his help, the poor man was exhausted from his day, but Lisa didn't seem calm down and he didn't know what to do. He sat on the armchair across the couch and watched his husband sleep. The little girl seemed to quiet down for a moment, before she cried even louder. Greg jerked awake and turned his head searching for the sound, alarmed.

"Sorry Gregory, I didn't mean to wake you. I just…I don't know what to do, she can't stop crying, and I don't know what she wants."

"'t's okay Mycroft. Hand her to me. Theeeere you go little princess, you tired? 'f course you are, you've been crying. Here, wanna sleep on me? I'm the comfiest daddy ever. 'Kay, let's sleep."

And just like that, Lisa was calm again and quickly asleep on Greg's belly. Mycroft watched, amazed.

"Don't overthink this Mycroft. She's just tired, I'm just coming after the battle. You were great, I'm sure of it. 100% chances are that you checked her diaper, made her some milk, sang her a lullaby while rocking her and done everything the perfect parent would do. You just think, maybe a little too rationally. Don't worry, you're already handling politicians all day, I bet they are worse than our little Lisa there. Just go to sleep too."

"Let me just put her to bed, and you go to the bedroom too. You are going to catch a cold."

"'Kay, be careful."

Mycroft gently picked up the baby and brought her to the nursery. She was sleeping peacefully, and he couldn't help but smile. She was so precious and tiny.

Greg woke up to the smell of toast and the sound of laughter. He stumbled half-awake in the kitchen and witnessed a quite surprising scene. Lisa was sitting on her chair at the counter, laughing at Mycroft who was cooking breakfast. Bread in the toaster, eggs on the stove, the kettle was on and the baby-bottle was warming up. Everything was perfect, but the British Government gave the impression that it was the end of the world, running from a corner of the room to another.

"God, I love you."

"Hmm? What did you say Gregory?"

Okay! That was for Curlyboff on Tumblr who asked for some fics with Mycroft with a baby. That was an attempt! Thanks for reading!