Disclaimer: I only own the original characters.
A/N: This will be the last story in this series. Will update when work and the Muse allow. Enjoy, and please review!
Kate Watson Lestrade woke before dawn one morning to find her husband's side of the bed cold. She glanced towards the bathroom, but the door was open and the light off. Her next thought was that their two-month-old daughter might have woken up, but Kate knew she wouldn't have slept through Keira's cries.
Puzzled, she got up and crept quietly downstairs. Gabriel was seated in his recliner, Keira in one arm, holding her bottle with his other hand. The only sounds were the slight creak of the chair and soft suckling noises as the infant enjoyed her late-night meal.
Kate stepped forward to stand behind the chair, resting her chin on top of her husband's head.
"Hello, you two."
"Did we wake you, love?" Gabriel asked.
"No, and that's what confuses me. How did she wake you up, but not me? I'm not that tired!"
"I came down to get something to drink and heard her just starting to fuss. I decided on a pre-emptive strike, so to speak."
"Ah, I see."
Keira decided she'd had enough and stopped drinking. Gabriel passed the still-partially full bottle to Kate and lifted his daughter onto his shoulder.
"Full, sweetie? Okay."
Kate handed him a blanket to toss over his shoulder in case the baby spit up, and went to put the bottle back in the fridge. A few minutes later, a tiny burp sounded, and Gabriel carefully got to his feet.
Kate followed him into the nursery. She smiled, noticing that Keira's eyes were already starting to droop closed. So long as she had a clean diaper and a full stomach, it wasn't hard to get her to sleep. How long she would stay asleep was another matter entirely; it could be anywhere from one hour to several.
Technically, Keira slept through the rest of the night; it was five a.m. when her crying woke her parents. Kate changed her, fed her, and, since it was Saturday, headed upstairs to get a few more hours of sleep.
She got up at nine, and had just enough time to eat breakfast before Keira was awake and demanding hers. A bottle later, Kate strapped her daughter into the motorized baby swing she always seemed to enjoy. She settled a few feet away with her laptop to work on revising her novel before sending it to her editors' again.
About the time Keira began fussing for attention, Gabriel got home from running a few errands. He quickly lifted the infant into his arms.
"What do you say you and I play for a while? Give Mummy a chance to get a shower and get out of her pajamas?"
Keira cooed and gurgled as though agreeing, and Kate gave her mate a grateful glance as she went upstairs.
Forty-five minutes later, she came back down to find her husband and daughter sprawled on the floor. Kate wished she had her phone to hand, or a video camera. The sight of one of the strongest and bravest men she knew playing peekaboo was completely adorable. Keira wriggled and squealed happily in response to Gabriel's playful tone of voice and the funny faces that he was making.
Kate was content to lean against the wall, unnoticed, and watch the sweet moment. But Keira soon began crying what Kate recognized as a cry of hunger. She hurried into the kitchen to fix a bottle.
Once she'd been fed and burped, Kate put Keira down for a nap. She reentered the living room and flopped onto the couch. By her guess, she had an hour or two until the baby woke again.
"What're you doing all the way over there?" Gabriel held out a hand.
Kate took it and let herself be pulled to her feet and over to her husband's chair. She curled up beside him and tried to make her mind shut off. No frazzled thoughts of motherhood, or work, or anything stressful. Instead, she focused on simply enjoying being near Gabriel.
When he opened his mouth to speak a few minutes later, Gabriel looked down and saw that Kate had dozed off. He couldn't help but smile: it looked like both of his girls had been in need of a nap! He rested his head atop Kate's and closed his eyes, figuring that a little extra rest wouldn't hurt him, either.