*I refer to Little Joe as simply Joe in this story. Little Joe sounds like a young boy's name to me, and in my story, he's a full grown man.
*I am not marking this as complete as I plan on doing more than one short shot when it comes to Ben, Joan and their baby daughter, though this one does not have Joan in it except to mention her briefly.
One Long Night
Ben paced back and forth across the living room floor, swaying ever so slightly in an effort to do what he could to quieten down his six month old daughter, Faith. Some men would have insisted that their wives get up and take care of the child, but Joan was tired, and Ben wasn't about to disturb her. Besides, it's not like the child needed to be fed, and he wanted the time with his daughter. Ben sighed as young Faith chewed on her fist; his daughter was actually beginning to teethe.
When he heard footsteps on the stairs, Ben turned around just in time to see Joe as he reached the bottom of the staircase. His youngest had a sympathetic smile on his face. He hated to see any child hurting. "Want me to help?" Joe asked; figured he might as well offer. He couldn't sleep anyway and, once he and Helen were married, he figured his day would come. He might as well get some practice when and where he could.
Ben might have taken Joseph up on his offer, only he couldn't. The moment Joe made the offer; Faith's fists grabbed a hold of her father's shirt and gathered the material up in her small clenched fists. It made both Ben and her brother roar with laughter. When he was able to get control of his laughter, Ben answered, "I don't think your sister wants you right now."
Joe turned the palms of his hands up and shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't think I was that bad." One might think his feelings had been hurt if they hadn't taken time to look past the 'scowl' and seen the laughter in his eyes. He then turned around and disappeared back upstairs.
Ben went back to pacing the floor, as he did so he let his mind wander back through the years. His mind went to the early days of all his sons' lives. He couldn't help but sigh. Adam and Hoss had both had nursemaids who took care of them. Ben had been busy making his dream come true. He hadn't tried to miss his sons' early years, only, for various, even justified, reasons he had. When it came to his youngest son things had been better because they all had Marie. He'd been able to step in and help his wife where he could. He couldn't help but chuckle at the few memories he had of pacing the floor with Joseph as well. Still; he'd been busy with the ranch and providing for his family. The memories actually helped him be grateful to do it all over again, only this time without all the stress and worry he'd had all those years ago.
As Faith had quieted down, though she was still holding onto his shirt and chewing on her fist, Ben walked over the rocking chair he'd bought for Joan and sat down. Soon he was rocking Faith as he looked into the flames of the fire he'd built up when he first brought Faith downstairs and started singing to her. It was a good thing Hoss and Joe were in charge of any business they had to get done the next day thought Ben as Faith began squirming and letting her father know that she wasn't falling asleep anytime soon. It was going to be one long night.
