Disclaimer: I Don't own anything you recognize, anything you don't is mine.
A/N: Just another Ruby oneshot
Unbeta-ed therefore all mistakes are my own and apologies in advance
I hope you like it
The Love of a Sister
Danny and Lindsay had both vowed not to relinquish the attention they gave Ruby when the new baby came along, they'd seen the results of a neglected child and the effects it had in later life, and even though the new baby would need a lot of attention, they'd promised that Ruby would get just as much.
They'd started by letting Ruby take her pick out of three colors they'd chosen for the nursery, the bedding would wait until they knew the sex of their second born, but inevitably Ruby would be the one to make the final decision out of the samples they'd select.
With the twenty week scan looming, and with the cooperation of their unborn, they'd hopefully know whether they were giving Ruby a baby brother or baby sister. Again Ruby would be accompanying them and seeing her younger sibling for the first time.
Danny smiled as he watched both his girls sleeping, Ruby had woken early and had insisted in playing with the noisiest toy in the apartment, thus dragging the pair of them out of bed, it had taken Lindsay mere minutes to convince their daughter that sleep was the better option for so early on in the morning, now the pair of them lay in Danny and Lindsay's bed, Ruby's hands plastered to Lindsay's bare stomach, her head of blonde waves lay on Lindsay's bunched up t-shirt just below her chest. Ruby's tiny feet peeked off the end of the bed, twitching every now and then as the cool breeze glided against her soft skin.
"You gonna stand and stare Cowboy?" Lindsay asked her voice soft and low, her eyes never opening.
Danny shook his head, he knew better than to question how Lindsay knew he was there, knowing her, and she'd have her eyes open the tiniest crack, the shadow of his figure just visible. "It was in the marriage license, Danny Messer is allowed to stand and stare at his wife and daughter, didn't you see that bit?" he teased, moving to sit on the edge of the bed anyway, one hand lay on Ruby's back, the other at the other side of Lindsay to balance himself as he leant forward to kiss Lindsay.
"Must have missed it" she smiled back
"Yeah, right up there with the Danny Messer is allowed to keep his wife pregnant, and I can beat anyone up who looks at his wife and baby girl, and Mac Taylor permits Danny Messer immunity when protecting his girls"
Lindsay laughed as she turned to give him her 'what the hell' look "You are so full of it" she informed him "There should be a clause in there somewhere that Lindsay Messer reserves the right to campaign for Danny Messer to adapt and carry all these babies himself"
Danny tried hard to scowl but ended up creasing up with laughter.
"Daddy, shhh… baby's sleeping" Ruby whispered loudly, her infamous scowl set him off laughing harder.
"You all need to wake up, we're seeing the baby today, remember?" he directed his statement at Ruby more than Lindsay, knowing she was the harder of the two to remove from the comfort of the divan.
"Okay" Ruby sighed dramatically, her scowl replaced by a smile "Come on Mommy" Ruby ordered, pulling Lindsay into a sitting position with the unnoticed help of Lindsay.
"Go and fetch your clothes, Daddy's put them on your bed" Danny informed her, as he caught her before she launched herself from the bed to the floor, not a big distance, but considerable enough for a five year old to do herself some minor injury.
Within mere seconds she raced back into the bedroom, arms full of clothes, well before she tossed them up into the air with a grin as they landed mainly on Danny and the odd garment on the end of the bed.
"Daddy could have thrown clothes all over himself if that's what he wanted" he mumbled as he grabbed her playfully and lifted her onto his knee while she unfastened the buttons on her pajama shirt, her tongue poking out from the edge of her mouth in concentration.
Finally ridding herself of the shirt she allowed Danny to pull her white t-shirt dress over her head, the rest she insisted on doing herself.
"Daddy, you need to get mommy dressed" Ruby declared once he'd finished combing her hair, sure enough Lindsay had yet to move, instead she just smiled sheepishly at them and half stretched.
"Yeah mommy, need Daddy to dress you too?" Danny teased once he'd sent Ruby for her sandals.
"Yes please" she smiled childishly, her hands reaching forward for him to pull her up, "This baby's making me lazy" she yawned
"Or tired" Danny reasoned as he walked her to the cupboard to pick out her clothes "I'm gonna go and find Ruby, she's a little too quiet for my liking" he informed her as he unwrapped his arms from around her waist.
She'd spent the last five minutes putting her shoes on, Danny didn't know whether he'd dare tell her they were on the wrong feet, she looked so proud of herself as she pointed to her feet with a grin. "But they hurt Daddy" she whined as she wriggled her toes through the opening at the front.
"Let Daddy's magic powers fix them" he told her as she waddled penguin style to the couch careful not to bend her feet. "And while Daddy's fixing your shoes, how about you do me and mommy a big favor and stop growing so fast?" he asked with a smile.
"Cos I'm the big sister now" she smiled
"Yes you are" Danny sighed, torn between feeling proud that his baby girl was protective of her little baby sister or brother, and saddened that she was growing up so fast.
"Come on mommy!" Ruby called, once they'd been sitting for five minutes with no sign of her mother.
"I'm here" she breathed with a smile, "all dressed and ready for daddy to buy us three some breakfast" she added as she lifted Ruby up
"Why am I buying?" he questioned as he pocketed his wallet and cell phone.
"Pregnant wife" Lindsay answered pointing to herself "and baby girl" she added pointing to Ruby "and soon to be cooperative baby" she completed with a hand to her bump.
With a shake of his head, Danny followed them out into the hallway, stopping only to lock the door "Can you manage with her?" he asked as he watched her hoist Ruby further up her hip, for some reason Ruby hated elevators, and no way was she walking herself into one, she was either carried or dragged in kicking and screaming. Lindsay just nodded in reply; she had a plan in mind already they just needed the ultrasound to happen first.
Dr. Wilson loved his job, seeing the looks of joy on expectant parents when they had each scan, it didn't matter whether or not it was their first or last scan, the emotion rarely changed. But it was rare to see a full family arrive for a scan, normally the other kids were left with a friend or a relative, most simply didn't want their older children to see them crying happy tears, most knew their kids wouldn't understand the purpose of the visit, therefore boring easily and creating a fuss at hanging around unnecessarily. In fact studies had shown that only 5% of children got to see the scan of the younger sibling so it was a pleasant surprise to see one of his newest regulars enter with their first born in tow, her hands planted firmly and securely into those of her parents, her father seemed to be relaying instructions that she wasn't too touch unless she asked first and then was given permission.
"Mrs. Messer" he greeted "Mr. Messer, and you must be Miss. Messer" he smiled in Ruby's direction, smiling wider when she nodded and said her name was Ruby.
"All right, well it's very nice to meet you Ruby" he offered his hand for her to shake in welcome "Lindsay if you'd like to lie down on the bed" he told Lindsay as he stood and moved to shelving at the far side of the room.
"Mommy you've just got up" Ruby stated in confusion "Why are you going back to bed?" she asked.
"Mommy has to lie down so the doctor can put a magic wand on mommy's tummy to see the baby" Lindsay told her, hoping it was simple enough for her to understand.
"Can I play with the magic wand?" she asked as she looked around, presumably looking for a typical black and white tipped magician's wand.
"There not toys honey" Danny told her.
"But I'm sure we can make an exception" Dr. Wilson interrupted, picking up on the parents obvious display of trying to involve their daughter as much as possible "Why don't you come and sit on mommy's knee and we'll see what we can do?" he finished as the machine was turned on, Ruby obliged excitedly and with the help of her father she was perched on Lindsay's lap.
"First things first" Dr. Wilson began "We need to put gel on mommy's stomach so the magic wand will work" he told her as he squeezed the gel onto Lindsay's bare abdomen.
"It's cold" Lindsay smiled when she shivered causing Ruby to look at her worried.
"And then we have to put the magic wand on mommy's tummy and move it until we can see and hear the baby on the TV" he told her, guiding her hand with the Doppler, pointing to the screen as she did so "You're a very good girl Ruby" he told her as she let him guide her hand. The loud thumping startled her at first.
"Baby's playing drums" she giggled when Danny told her the noise was the baby telling them that he or she was growing nicely.
"Organs, baby's playing on the organs" she informed them with an accusatory glare in Danny's direction. "Can we tell if it's a boy or a girl?" she asked looking at the screen, her hand wrapped firmly in Danny's while tears jumped to both their eyes at the image on screen.
"What do you think Ruby?" Dr. Wilson asked "Do you want a brother or a sister?" he asked.
Without hesitation she informed them all that she wanted a sister and then some pizza because she was hungry.
"Ruby's having a baby sister" he confirmed "it's another girl" he smiled in congratulations and then instructed Ruby where she needed to press to print the images out adding in an extra image free of charge for his new assistant.
With one each for both sets of grandparents, one for the lab, another one for them and one for Ruby they left with the instruction to come again in four weeks time, and not to hesitate in bringing Ruby along, she was always welcome to help out when he got rushed off his feet, the doctor teased.
"So my big girl is all hungry huh?" Danny asked as he lifted Ruby in his arms while Lindsay booked the next appointment.
"Yeah" she nodded, the ultrasound clutched firmly in her hand "Baby girl" she informed him with a smile, her finger pointing to the black and white grainy image proudly.
"Yep, another princess just like you huh?" he asked with a smile.
"You think you can show you're baby sister how big you are and walk with mommy and daddy?" Lindsay asked, a pleading look to go along answered his questioning glance. They watched as she took a deep breath and nodded, her hands holding the image in her grip tight to the point of making faint creases, halfway down they noticed that her grip had lightened considerably and then holding it just tight enough to make sure she didn't lose it by the time they hit the ground floor.
"Right, I think that deserves Pizza and Ice cream" Danny commented, he'd half expected a tantrum but she'd been silent all the way down.
"Yeah!" Ruby cheered excitedly before reaching up to hold Lindsay's hand with her free one and following quickly behind her father, the picture of her baby sister held tightly in her hand.
So what do you think?