The house is quiet and it is for this reason that Wally cannot sleep. It's not for lack of trying. He lies in bed, waiting for sleep, begging for the luxury, but it doesn't come. Eventually, he opens his eyes, stares at the ceiling, and listens to the sound of Artemis snoring next to him, her face half-buried in a pillow with the other half-covered by her loose hair. She's exhausted. They both are.
Wally closes his eyes for another half-second before he decides to do something better with this quiet time. He moves out of the bed slowly so as not to jostle Artemis, but she still swings a hand toward the empty space he leaves.
"Where're you going?" she mumbles into the pillow.
"I'll be right back," Wally whispers, and he assumes she heard him because she buries her face further into her pillow, shushes him, and drifts back to sleep. Lucky.
The walk from their bedroom to the next is full of traps, they've learned. Certain sections of the wooden floor creak at the lightest footfall, and a single misstep can lead to catastrophe at this time of night, so suffice to say Wally is careful as he tiptoes out of the bedroom and into the hall. The loudest parts of the floor are marked with glowing, taped X's, a small suggestion from a friend who has "been there, done that".
In the process of avoiding X's, Wally almost steps on the dog sleeping in the doorway of the next room. Brucely doesn't move an inch as Wally steps over him. Good dog, Wally thinks, counting his blessings. In the last three weeks, it's become a common occurrence for both of them to end up whining in pain on the floor at this hour.
Wally makes it to the middle of the room without incident, and he mentally pats himself on the back for a trip well taken. Now, his prize awaits.
Wally looks down into the crib and smiles. A sleeping baby is a sight for sleepless eyes. They've been trying so hard to get her down for the night, at least for a few hours at a time, but the battle has been hard fought and hardly won. Moving her to her own room was a big step, for everyone involved. A small sigh of contentment escapes Wally's lips. As soon as it does, his tiny daughter peers up at him before she shuts her eyes again.
Wait, what?
"Hey," Wally whispers, and her tiny eyelashes flutter as she tries to stay still.
"You're awake," Wally quietly laughs in disbelief. "You little faker."
He laughs a bit louder when she checks that he's watching before she closes her eyes again.
"Oh, that's rich," Wally says, smiling as he places his hand over her tummy.
She can't help but open her eyes fully and grasp at his fingers with her tiny hands.
"You're a real actress in the making, aren't you?" Wally asks, wiggling his fingers as she giggles. "Yeah, I can see it now. Your name in lights. Red carpets. Awards shows. And hey, with your mom and I around, you'll never have to hire bodyguards."
His daughter has absolutely no idea what he's talking about, but she likes the sound of his voice, so Wally keeps talking as he lifts her out of her crib and slowly walks in circles.
"So, you can't sleep, kiddo?" he asks. "I'm shocked, really. You usually call for company when you can't sleep. I don't mind the change in protocol though. Mama doesn't either. Fake it all you want, I won't freak out next time. I'll just have to get used to quiet nights again."
Wally watches her eyes follow his finger, up and down, as he rocks her side to side. The playfulness in her gaze fades quickly.
Wally continues to rock her as he approaches the crib. "I know you're tired. Everyone in this house is tired. But I think you're like me right now. You just need a little noise."
With one hand, Wally winds up the mobile at the corner of the crib. The twinkling sounds catch his daughter's attention immediately, and her drowsy eyes flutter shut as she listens to the familiar tune.
"No more faking," Wally instructs her as he places her back in her crib.
She takes his instruction seriously and promptly drifts off, for real this time, and for the millionth time Wally finds himself promising to do everything in his power to keep this tiny human healthy, happy, and whole. He'd fight Darkseid one-on-one on Apokolips if that's what it took.
"Good girl."
Wally stays an extra minute, just to be sure, and he winds up the mobile one last time before he hopscotches his way back to his bedroom.
"Hey, ninja husband," Artemis says, sitting up in their bed with the baby monitor in hand, "I think you might have forgotten something."
Wally winces as he climbs back into bed. "Sorry."
"It's alright," she yawns, placing the monitor back on her nightstand. "I was entertained. She's a riot and you are very cute."
Artemis punctuates her compliment by placing a quick kiss on the corner of his lips as she gets comfortable next to him. Wally works through his own yawn (the one she passed to him) as he turns and wraps his arm around her.
After a whole three minutes of silence, Wally finds himself back where he started, wide awake with one thing on his mind. Artemis turns around in his grasp and meets his eyes, and he can tell she's thinking exactly what he's thinking.
"You want to move the crib back in here?" she asks, anxious to get out of bed.
"Yes," Wally says, immediately untangling them and rising out of bed.
Artemis stands, pauses, and sighs. "God, Roy said we can't keep doing this. We're weak."
Wally is already at the door.
"It's just for tonight," he rationalizes.
Artemis agrees, nodding quickly. "Just for tonight."
They all sleep better after that (until the next battle).