Maggie & Theo

This one takes as well between Chapters 66 and 67, just some more family-fluff.

"Who's m' little prince? You are!" Maggie soft-pedaled her four month-old son, Theo. The little boy had a blue pacifier on his mouth, but it was clear from the look on his tiny face that he was smiling.

"Now I put m' lil' prince back to his cradle" Maggie continued. It was already late in the evening and an day with the baby had been quite tiresome for Maggie. Gareth was still at a late meeting with the others from the Hilltop and would be away for another hour.

Maggie put Theo in the cradle, but the boy started to tremble as she let got of him and got tears in his eyes. He cried. Maggie immediately took him back into her embrace and rubbed his back. The boy calmed down.

"Shhh, baby" she whispered. She understood what happened. Theo was afraid to be alone…

"Of course you can sleep with mommy" Maggie whispered as she planted a small kiss to his forehead. "Just be quiet"

Maggie laid down in the bed and put her arm around her small son's small waist. Maggie looked at Theo's big, brown eyes. She had noticed that they were the same shade as Gareth's. The hair on the other hand was brown and she was unsure from which of the parents she had gotten it. Maybe a mix, as both, Maggie and Gareth, were brunets.

Maggie's closed her eyes, and quickly drifted away in her sleep. Yet she stayed in the dark only for a couple of minutes, as something entered her left nose hole.

Maggie woke up and saw that it was Theo's small hand that was partially in her nose. The small boy was still awake and looked at her with his big eyes. It seemed that in his opinion he did nothing wrong.

"Baby, please" Maggie muttered, and decided to wait for Theo to fall asleep first.

It happened quickly, and Maggie decided to sleep, but Theo always found a way to irritate her: He pulled her hair, poked her eye, he climbed on her, lost his pacifier and ended up giving her a wet "kiss" on the check. This excitement was all a good sign for Theo's development, but Maggie wanted to sleep. She hissed at him, told him to sleep and changed his position. At the end Theo ended up sleeping on top of her, just under her chin. It was uncomfortable, but Maggie being so tired, she decided to let it be.

Maggie was just about to get back to sleep, when she smelled Theo's diaper. He farted, which was followed by… you know what. Theo lost his pacifier and started to laugh, which turned into him crying. Maggie woke up know and took her son to the bathroom. She took his dirty diaper of, cleaned him, put on a new one and even fed him. After that she wandered around the room, trying to sing a lullaby to little Theo to get him sleep, but it didn't help much. The boy stayed quiet, but did not fall asleep anymore. She and Gareth had noticed that Theo preferred his father singing/humming him over her. Maggie was a little hurt by this reveal, but understood it as well. Gareth's voice had always been more "academic" and lacked a specific accent, while she had been growing on a farm in Georgia. She had loosen it over the years, but it still had a trace. Although Gareth had found it very sexy, she could see why the baby preferred him.

Maggie decided to wait for Gareth.

"Hey, lil' one" She whispered. "I ain't angry. I love ya more than anyhtin' ever. I'm just so tired, ya know. Givin' birth an' the war an' all that"

She laid down back on the bed, cuddled up in the red cashmere-blanket that Gareth had given her last Christmas. She caressed Theo's small checks and smiled at him. They remained like that for about half an hour, when Gareth came back. He explained that the meeting ended sooner than expected. When Maggie started to explain that she needed his help with getting their son to sleep, he pointed something out.

"But he is already asleep" Gareth replied.

Maggie looked down and saw that Theo had his closed.

"When? How?" Maggie muttered. "But I can't ever get 'im to sleep. We've noticed that"

"He might not like ya sing, but he feels safe around you. Just like me" Gareth whispered and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "You have that ability to keep bad thoughts and feelings away"

Gareth took the baby and put it in the cradle. He pulled it close enough to his and Maggie's bed, so that they'd always close enough to him. After that both parents went to sleep. Though Maggie had now the need to be close to Theo and repositioned herself so that her face would always face the cradle…