A/N: Hi all! Another two-parter, this time based on a prompt by Boris Yeltsin. As always, enjoy!

Disclaimer: The Suite Life series is not mine and I am making no profit from the writing of this story.


Cody Martin looked worriedly at the ominous gray sky as he scooped up another dirty towel off the deck. Working double shifts at his towel boy job on the S.S. Tipton was no fun, but he had to do it if he wanted to spend any time with his mother when she came for a visit this weekend. He loved the freedom of going to school on the cruise ship, but he had to admit he was looking forward to seeing his mom again. They were supposed to be making port in two days, but he wondered if the approaching storm system would slow them down. Already the waves were getting choppy, sending a few of the more weak-stomached passengers below decks.

"Hey Codester, toss me a towel, I've got a spill back here." His brother Zack called from behind the smoothie bar.

"For the last time, these are pool towels, for the passengers!" Cody called back. "You've got your own towels to clean up over there."

Zack waved the rag he'd just used to wipe the counter. "Yeah, but all my towels are dirty!" A few of the patrons at the counter made disgusted faces and walked away. "Now see what you did?"

Cody rolled his eyes and turned away just in time to see a dark-haired young woman tumble down the stairs and take a hard fall onto the deck. "Oh my gosh! Are you all right?" He and Zack pushed through the crowd of concerned bystanders that had witnessed the accident. Cody knelt by the woman's head- she was breathing, but unconscious. "Zack, call the infirmary!"

Mr. Moseby appeared on the deck just as the medics were moving the still-unconscious woman off the scene on a stretcher. "Oh my! What happened here?" He glanced around at the medics, the woman, the worried passengers, and finally his gaze zeroed in on Zack. "What did you do?" he asked darkly.

"What? Me?" Zack replied. "I didn't do anything! She fell down the stairs!"

"Uh huh. An accident, that's your story?" Mr. Moseby said, folding his arms over his chest. "So how'd you do it? Trip wire on the upper deck? Grease on the handrail?"

"No!" Zack cried indignantly. "Mr. Moseby, those things are dangerous. You think I'm trying to kill the passengers?"

Mr. Moseby scrubbed a hand over his face. "No, I think you're trying to kill me." he groaned.

Zack turned to the passengers still mulling around the deck. "You all saw what happened. Somebody tell him I had nothing to do with it!"

Nobody said a word.

"He really had nothing to do with it this time, Mr. Moseby." Cody spoke up dutifully, knowing full well that the ship's manager wasn't going to take his word for it.

"Somebody whose word Moseby trusts, tell him I had nothing to do with it!" Zack amended. "Ow!" Mr. Moseby had seized him by the ear.

"It's detention for you, mister!" Moseby hissed, pulling him off the deck.

"But I'm right in the middle of my- ow,- shift- ow. Ow. Ow..."

Cody looked after his brother sympathetically, then shrugged and went back to his towels. To be fair, even if Zack had nothing to do with that accident, whatever Moseby could dish out, Zack probably had it coming. He cocked his head as he heard a gurgling sound coming from nearby. "What was that?" Looking around the deck, he saw that nearly all the passengers had cleared out after the accident. The high pitched squeal came again, this time followed by a tinny wailing sound. "What the-?"

He followed the sound to a pile of towels sitting beside an empty lounge chair. As he stared at it, it began to wiggle. "Ah… ah…" Cody bit his lip nervously. Tentatively, he reached down to pluck the top towel off the squirming pile, whipping it over his head. He froze in shock at the sight of a baby's round face wrapped in the nest of towels. "Baby…?"

The baby looked up and gave him a toothless grin. She only looked to be a few months old, with big blue eyes and dark, wispy hair.

"Uh, hi, baby."Cody looked around for any sign of the baby's mother or father, but the deck was deserted. "Where's your parents?" He dropped the towel into the laundry basket. "Hello? Whose baby is this?" he called.

Receiving no answer, he sighed, turning and picking up the baby gently. "Don't worry, baby. We'll find your mommy." Looking around for anyone who could help him, he spotted London crossing the upper deck. "London, can you come here for a minute? Guess what I just found."

London flounced over. "Make it fast Cody, I'm late for my mani/pedi." She stared at him expectantly. "So... what is it?"

"Uh, it's a baby." Cody said impatiently, holding up the little girl. "Can you hold her while I go find Mr. Moseby?"

"Aw!" London apparently hadn't noticed the baby until Cody pointed her out. "Who's a pretty baby? You are!" She reached out to take her from Cody. As soon as she was in London's arms the little girl started screaming. "Okay she's noisy I don't want her." London said quickly, passing her back to Cody.

The baby quieted immediately. Cody sighed. "Okay then. Can you go tell Mr. Moseby we found a baby and we don't know where the mother is?"

London waved a hand at him. "I think I can handle that." she laughed, going inside.

"She's not coming back, is she?" Cody asked the baby, who gurgled in response.


"I can't find Moseby anywhere!" Cody said, frustrated, entering his cabin. "Hey Woody, thanks for watching the b- Woody! Babies can't eat corn chips!"

"Why not?" Woody said, holding the screaming baby in one arm and popping the chip he'd been trying to feed her into his own mouth.

"Because they don't have teeth! Give her here." Cody snapped, holding his arms out to take her back.

"Fine." Woody grumbled. "She hasn't stopped crying since you left! I just thought a snack would make her happy... Corn chips always make me happy." he handed over the child. "I don't like her. She's giving me a headache! And: she stinks."

"You think she stinks." Cody said sarcastically. "That's ironic." Then he caught a whiff of the baby's diaper. "Wow, she does stink. Do you know how to change a diaper?"

"No, I'm the youngest in my family." Woody said. "Everyone else had to change my diapers."

"But I thought you had a little sister?"

Woody shrugged. "Yeah but she was potty trained first."

"O...kay..." Cody said slowly. The baby had stopped crying and was now contentedly drooling on his shoulder. "Hey, Bailey has a bunch of little sisters, I bet she can help." He left his roommate eating corn chips and carried the baby up the hall to the girls' cabins. When he got to Bailey and London's door, he knocked.

"Hey Cody. Who's this?" Bailey answered the door, smiling at the adorable picture they made standing outside her room.

"Long story." Cody sighed. "The upshot of it is, I found a baby and I need help taking care of her, and London scares her and Woody tries to feed her fried foods and Zack is stuck in detention... What do you think?"

"Of course I'll help." Bailey said kindly. She held out her arms to take the baby. "Hewwo there!" she greeted the baby in a sweet murmur.

Smiling at the way she had already lapsed into baby-talk, Cody handed the baby over to Bailey gently. "Don't be offended if she starts crying. So far she hates everyone but me."

But the baby was laughing as Bailey bounced her on her hip. "Whew, you need a change, kiddo." she said, casting a glance around the room. "I'm sure there's a store on board where we can buy diapers, but until then..." She grabbed a bandanna out of her nightstand. "This oughtta work. Cody, hand me that bath towel?"

Spreading the towel out on her desk, Bailey laid the baby down on top of it. She quickly took off the girl's soiled diaper and, with some creative folding of the bandanna, managed to fashion a new one. "Now, that's better, isn't it?" she cooed, making a funny face. The baby giggled.

"Wow, that was impressive." Cody said admiringly. "You're really great with kids."

Bailey blushed and shrugged. "When you have to babysit six kids, you sometimes need to improvise." She sank down on the bed and held the baby in her lap. "What's her name, Cody?"

Cody shrugged. "I don't know. Like I said, I haven't been able to find her parents, and she wasn't exactly carrying I.D."

"We should give her a name." Bailey said. "We can't just call her 'baby'."

"I don't know..." Cody said, unsure. "If we name her, we'll start getting attached."

"For heaven's sake!" Bailey laughed off his concern. She patted the bed next to her to urge him to sit down. "It will be a temporary name, until we find out who she really is. Come on, Cody. If you had a daughter, what would you name her?"

Cody sat next to her. "I don't know, Bailey. I've never really thought about it."

"Well, think about it!" Bailey commanded. She held up the little girl so Cody could see her face clearly. "What should we call her?"

Cody thought for a moment. "How about... Janie?"

"Janie..." Bailey tested it out. "I like it."

"Because she's a Jane Doe." Cody explained quickly.

Bailey rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She reached around to cover the baby's eyes. "Janie! Where's Cody?" she gasped playfully. She removed her hand so the baby could see him once more. "Oh! There he is!" The child giggled, and so did Bailey.

Cody folded his arms. "See, Bailey, you're getting attached." he accused, trying not to smile at the combined sweetness of Bailey's and Janie's gazes.

"Nonsense!" Bailey said, covering Janie's eyes again. "Oh no Janie! Where's Cody?"


"We'd better get inside. It's starting to rain." Bailey pointed out. She and Cody were walking on the main deck, returning from their shopping trip. Bailey was carrying a bag full of diapers, clothes, and baby food. Janie was resting in Cody's arms, her tiny head nestled on his shoulder.

"Not so loud... she's asleep." Cody murmured, shooting the infant a tender glance. Lifting his head, he spotted Mr. Moseby just ahead of them, talking frantically into his cell phone. "Bailey, take her for a minute. I'm going to go catch Moseby." Obediently, Bailey slung the bag over her shoulder and accepted the sleeping child. Once he was sure Bailey had a firm hold on her, Cody let go of Janie and ran after the ship's manager. "Mr. Moseby!"

Mr. Moseby hung up the phone and fixed a sour glance on him. "Not now, Cody. I'm having a devil of a time getting in touch with any of the relatives of the woman your delinquent brother knocked into a coma!"

"Zack didn't do it." Cody defended automatically. His eyes widened. "She's really in a coma?"

Mr. Moseby ran a hand over his bald head in agitation. "Yes! The ship's doctor says her head injury is touch-and-go. He doesn't know when she'll wake up. And I can't get in touch with any of her emergency contacts! This is a nightmare!"

Cody nodded sympathetically. "I'm sorry about that, Mr. Moseby, but we've got another problem. Earlier, on the Sky Deck, I found-" He was cut off by the ringing of Mr. Moseby's cell phone.

Mr. Moseby checked the caller I.D. and shot him a pleading look. "This is the ship's doctor calling. Is this problem an emergency? Can you take care of it?" He was starting to edge away without really waiting to hear Cody's answer.

"Uh... I guess so." Cody answered. Moseby nodded gratefully, holding up his index finger to indicate that he was taking the call and walking indoors.

Cody returned to Bailey and Janie, who had awoken and was crying. "Aww, Janie, what's wrong?" Bailey was crooning, trying awkwardly to balance the baby and the bag. She returned Janie to Cody, and the girl immediately settled down. She stared at Cody in wonderment. "It's so cute how she always stops crying for you."

Cody looked at the baby fondly. "Well, I was the one who found her." he reasoned. "Maybe she just knows me best."

"What did Moseby say?" Bailey asked anxiously.

"Nothing." Cody answered. "He's too busy to deal with it. He asked if I could take care of it." he shrugged. "I figured we could handle her for a little longer."

"I guess so." Bailey said. "We'd better get back to our cabins though. It's almost curfew." The wind began to pick up, and the two teens ducked inside. Suddenly the ship lurched and Bailey lost her balance.

Cody caught her, steadying her with one hand. "Whoa there." he teased. "Still getting your sea legs?"

Bailey rolled her eyes. "Thanks." she said. "This is gonna be some storm. Those clouds remind me of the storms back in Kansas... the ones that usually end with the roof coming off our house."

"Yeah..." Cody agreed, not sure whether she was being serious. "It looks like a bad one. Hopefully the rocking won't keep us all awake tonight." They finally reached Bailey's cabin.

"You know, I could take Janie for the night." Bailey offered. "I don't mind."

"Won't London mind?" Cody pointed out. "She is pretty fond of her beauty sleep."

Bailey shook her head. "London got off the ship once the waves started picking up. She told her dad she was getting seasick and he sent her a helicopter."

"Typical London." Cody noted. "But seriously, I would feel bad dumping all this responsibility for Janie on you."

Bailey held out her arms for the baby. "What if I promised to come get you if I can't get her to stop crying?"

Cody considered for a minute. "Okay." he consented. They took Janie inside Bailey and London's cabin and proceeded to create a makeshift "crib" on London's bed with blankets. Cody leaned over to kiss the baby in Bailey's arms. "Good night, Janie." he whispered. His eyes met Bailey's. "Good night, Bailey."

Bailey bit her lip, blushing at his close proximity and warm gaze. "Good night, Cody." she answered softly.


The clock on Cody's bedside table read 2:38am when a loud crash of thunder woke him. In the next bed, Woody snored on. Of course, nothing ever woke him.

There was a soft knock on the door and Cody hurried to open it, taking in the sight of a tired-looking Bailey, wearing a long white nightgown and cradling a crying Janie. "Sorry to wake you, Cody." she apologized. "But I'm not sure what to do. She doesn't need to be changed, and she won't eat... I think she might just be afraid of the storm."

There was another loud roar of thunder. "Could be." Cody said. "Hi, Janie... Cody's here." he murmured, taking Janie in his arms and rocking her. "Don't be scared..." He made comforting noises and the squirming baby calmed slightly, but continued to sob.

"We can bring her back to my cabin." Bailey suggested. "No point in waking Woody too, and if we get caught in the halls at this time we'll really be in trouble."


"Come on, Janie... Cheer up. Aren't you tired?" Cody crooned exhaustedly, bouncing the wailing baby gently on his lap. It was after 4:30 in the morning, and they'd been trying to get Janie to sleep for almost two hours. They'd walked her, rocked her, even read to her, but as soon as she quieted down a rumble of thunder or rough wave would cause her to start crying again.

"Cody..." Bailey yawned, resting her chin on his shoulder. "This isn't working."

"I don't know what else to do." Cody admitted. "I guess we'll just have to wait until she cries herself out."

"Please, sweetie," Bailey addressed the baby, "Cody and Bailey need to sleep. Pleeeease?"

Cody gave her an amused look. "I don't think begging is going to help." he said. "The outlook on bribery and groveling isn't too good either."

"I know..." Bailey sighed. "But it was worth a shot... You know, I'm almost at the point where I could fall asleep whether she's crying or not."

She nuzzled her head into Cody's shoulder and he could feel his face heating up. "You can lie down if you want, Bailey. I'll try to keep her quiet."

"Mmm, no, s'okay." Bailey mumbled into his neck. "I'm awake."

"Sure you are." Cody teased gently, resting his head lightly on top of hers. He settled Janie into the crook of his arm. The baby was still whimpering, but she was starting to blink sleepily, and she was sucking on four of her own tiny fingers. Cody made soothing noises until her big blue eyes drifted shut. They sat in contented silence for a long time before Cody was convinced that Janie was not going to wake up. "I think she's finally asleep, Bailey." he said in his quietest whisper, fearful of disturbing the sleeping child. Slowly, he removed Janie's fingers from her mouth, dropping a quick kiss on the soft skin of her forehead. "Uh, Bailey?"

Bailey's head was still tucked into his shoulder, and she didn't stir. Her breathing was slow and even- she too was fast asleep. Cody closed his eyes briefly, savoring the moment, before placing Janie in her little nest on London's bed. "'Night Janie." he whispered. Then he reached an arm around Bailey's shoulders and lowered her slowly onto her own pillow. She looked so peaceful and beautiful in her sleep that he couldn't help staring at her. Bailey really was special- smart, kind, just generally amazing... It wasn't just anyone who would stay up half the night helping him take care of a strange baby. Before he rose to leave, he leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Bailey's forehead as well. "'Night Bailey."


A/N: Part 2 coming soon! Please review!