BAWV: Hey guys this is BlackArtWhiteVoice with the first in a series of One-shots for NerdAlert and my story Tough Love. If you guys have any ideas for future one shots feel free to drop them! Well for the moment that's all I've got so enjoy the story!

NA8910: It feels weird being on someone else's account, I've always been in my own domain. It's kinda itchy… is this how you felt coming on my account the first time?

BAWV: Yeah it's pretty much how it feels, you'll get use to it. Okay readers this one shot will be some point after the movies end. No specific time besides that.

Kangaroo Comfort

A muffled scream shattered the quiet night air, as was becoming normal as of late. Normal or not it didn't stop a pink blur from speeding into the room to scan for the threat to her child. Seeing nothing Poppy sighed in relief before turning and taking a seat next to her sobbing child. The instant her mother was properly seated Juniper latched onto her middle as she worked to get her breathing under control, aided by Poppy rubbing her back soothingly.

Once breathing regularly again Juniper whispered voice raw, "It was that dream again." Poppy's mouth twisted with worry, ever since the Trollstice disaster Juniper had been waking at all hours of the night screaming from fear. 'Not that I can blame her, it was terrifying for me not to mention what it must have been to her.' Poppy thought as she scooped up her silently shaking child and began their new tradition of pacing the Queen's pod until the trolling was calm once more.

On some night when it was especially bad Poppy would walk the trek to Branch's bunker because he was the only thing that would make Juniper feel better. Looking down at her daughter who hadn't calmed in the slightest from the rocking she had done it was going to be one of those nights. Poppy made sure to only have compassion in her voice as she questioned, "Do you want to go visit Daddy?" Juniper hesitated desperately wanting to feel safe but also not wanting to make her Mommy do a long trek just so she could feel better.

Poppy, seeing the indecision, chose for her. Moving toward the pod's entrance she wrapped a blanket snuggly around Juniper's small form and began the walk to her partner's bunker.

Branch could tell that Juniper wasn't feeling well lately and that wasn't only because they came to his bunker on some nights. She visibly had less energy and looked exhausted. He had been wracking his brain trying to find ways to solve this but was empty handed for the moment, causing him to be endlessly frustrated. This wasn't something he could physically fight but it was obviously hurting his daughter, he needed to find a solution now.

Usually he would be asleep at this time of night but he had woken up with a start for no apparent reason only that he had a feeling churning in his gut that something was wrong. 'Maybe I should go check on Poppy and Juniper. If nothing else that'll set my mind at ease.' His mind set, Branch moved towards the lift of his bunker only to freeze and tilt his head.

Hearing something from above he stealthily moved until he was right by one of his peep holes. Cautiously glancing out he breathed a sigh of relief. 'Apparently I won't need to go visit them, they've saved me the trouble.' With haste, Branch moved towards the door just as Poppy's voice rang out with her familiar calls of his name and her thunderous knocks.

Poppy danced in place as she waited for Branch to answer, it was cold out here and in her haste to get here she forgot to bring a coat for herself. Just as she was going to begin calling again the trap door opened and she was greeted with the delightful sight of a sleep tousled Branch. She didn't even have time to open her mouth to explain before he was pulling them both into his home. Once her feet were safely on the floor Branch immediately began dragging her to sit as he pulled blankets around her and Juniper.

Once seated she cut off his worried clucking, "Hey Branch! Juniper and I thought it'd be a nice night for a sleepover. Would you mind holding her while I go make some snacks?" Branch dumbstruck just shook his head and held out his arms for Juniper. After she was safely deposited in her father's arms she cuddled as close as she could and released a relieved sigh.

Branch moved smoothly to his couch without jostling his precious cargo as he sat down on the warn cushions. He stroked down Juniper's back soothingly as he mentally put his words together. Once Juniper's breathing was back to mostly normal with the occasional hiccup he began in a tender voice, "It's alright Junebug. Whatever it is that is scaring you just remember that I will protect you and your Mommy from anything and everything that tries to harm you. I pity anyone who thinks they can get through me to harm you."

Between the calm rocking motions and his lower voice Juniper was only barely staying awake through pure force of will. Seeing that his daughter was starting to drift off but was fighting it he gave her the final push.

Poppy was just finishing up making some tea and hot cocoa when she heard an odd sound from the other room. As she stepped out to investigate she felt her heart leap with joy and adoration, for there sat Branch gently rocking a now sleeping Juniper and that sound she had heard had been him humming lowly to her. His voice was just as nice in a hum as it was blasting out a song with her.

'I always knew his voice was soothing but this is amazing.' Poppy thought as she felt her boy melt in response to her soulmates lullaby. As Branch hummed the final notes he turned to see Poppy leaning against his kitchen doorway with a dazed lovestruck look in her eyes, and a tray of drinks for them. He smiled shyly as he shifted Juniper into a more comfortable position on his shoulder and used his now free arm to gesture for Poppy to come closer.

Obeying silently Poppy put the tray on the table in front of their legs and stood in front of Branch, waiting to see what was going on in his mind. She didn't have to wonder for long as he grabbed her hand and tugged lightly to guide her so she was sitting curled up on the side that wasn't occupied by their sleeping child. Poppy squirmed until she found her comfortable spot and then settled with a elated sigh, as an after thought she looped her arm around Juniper's back and tucking it back behind Branch's hip, making a sort of cradle for Juniper between her two parents.

They sat in a comfortable silence for what could have been minutes, hours, or days until Branch broke the silence with the conclusion they had both come to, "This can't continue, it's not healthy for anyone to not get sleep especially one as young as she is not to mention what this much fear could do to her mentally."

Poppy sighed forlornly as she nodded into his shoulder, she had been thinking the same thing but as of yet had not come up with a solution. "I know Branch, but for the life of me I can't think of anything we can do to help this. She has to be near one of us so she can sleep. We could just have her sleep in our beds at night but that doesn't cover her naps in the day or if you or i get called on urgent business, the thought of her waking up in the middle of the night scared with neither of us there makes my stomach roll."

Both parents sat in pensive silence as their minds worked double time trying to come up with any working idea. Poppy knew that walking around with Juniper helped to a certain degree but she couldn't carry her everywhere, her duties require dher arms. If only there was some way to carry her without using her arms…

Poppy's eyes snapped open as she jolted up with an idea. Only to quickly turn to check if her sudden movement woke the sleeping child. She sighed in relief when saw it in fact did not wake her. Branch was watching her with wide eyes as he whispered, "What was that about? You could've woken Juniper."

Poppy flinched a bit but pushed on in a hushed tone, "I have an idea that might work. Sometimes it helps when I carry Juniper and walk around the pod but obviously we cant do that all day because we need our hands. So what if we ask Chenille and Satin to make us a hoodie or two that has a pouch in the front or back to carry her? That way she will be with us and we can still work!"

Poppy gained momentum with her idea gaining more excitement as it turned over in her head. Branch smiled slightly as she also thought about the idea, 'There is no downside to that as long as it doesn't become a long lasting habit but we can worry about that later. For now it only has to help Juniper get sleep unhindered by nightmares.' Branch looked to Poppy with a smile and nodded his approval.

"That'll work perfectly! We just need to ask the fashion twins tomorrow if they can do a rush customer order. Do you think they'll mind?" Poppy chuckled at his inquiry, "Are you kidding? They have been looking for a reason to make you and Juniper clothes for awhile but I know you two aren't really comfortable being poked and prodded so I told them to hold off. This will be a dream come true for them."

Branch felt slightly shocked and deeply flattered at the knowledge that Poppy had taken his discomforts into account and kept her friends, their friends he supposed, from doing as they pleased. Seeing the gratitude in his eyes Poppy leaned forward to lay a kiss on his cheek to show she understood his gratitude and appreciated it in a silent You're Welcome.

As they both drifted off in their cuddle pile they both began making preparations and appointments for tomorrow to get the show on the road and hopefully solve Juniper's nightmare problem.

That morning saw Poppy and Branch walking towards the twins pod with little Juniper swinging from both of their hands in between them. Before Juniper had woken they had agreed that they were going to word it to the twins and Juniper as if the hoodie was more for a family outing kind of thing than for Juniper's nightmares. They didn't want her to feel self conscious or uncomfortable at all, this was to help her after all.

It took no time at all for them to be outside the twins pod and for Poppy to use her unoccupied hand to knock on the petal. The instant that they stopped in front of the pod Juniper shyly moved behind Branch, she may have met the twins but she still didn't know them well. Branch noticed but didn't mind, he squeezed Juniper's hand in reassurance knowing how it felt to be nervous around new people.

Thankfully it took the fashionistas no time to answer the door with a cheery, "Good Morning Queen Poppy!" No matter how many times she had told her friends that she was just Poppy the insisted on using her title as a show of respect for her. They never called King Peppy by just his name so they won't with her either. Poppy smiled back and returned the greeting with her own beaming grin.

As they were ushered inside Chenille inquired, "So what brings all of you by on this beautiful morning?" Poppy immediately jumped in to being explaining, "Well I was thinking that Branch and I would love it if we could take Juniper on more walks and hikes but they tend to be a long distance so she'd be tuckered out in no time at all. So we thought maybe you lady's could make us something that we could carry her with? Maybe a sweater with a pouch on it? Do you think that'd be possible? And maybe could you have it done as soon as possible? We have a nice evening planned but if not then we can move it a day or two."

Satin and Chenille both looked like Poppy had just given them what they had always wanted, their faces lit up as ideas visibly bounced back and forth. Satin spoke up first with an exuberant, "Of course we can do that! Oh sis that is going to be so adorable! What if we make it a mix of all of their colors? Oh and maybe some words too?"

As her sister began rambling off ideas at a mile a minute Chenille was practically vibrating in place as she reassured Poppy, "No worries we will have this done by the end of today! No need to cancel or move and plans it is now at the very top of our list of projects!" Juniper who up until this point had been quietly hiding behind Branch's legs shyly stepped forward and tugged on Poppy's dress.

Poppy knelt down to her level and tilted her ear so it was in easier reach as Juniper whispered into it. Branch and the twins watched as her face went from curious to thoughtful to beaming in less than a minute. Before anyone had the opportunity to ask what her idea was Juniper practically dove behind her Daddy again who instinctively shifted in front of her and wrapped his arm behind him for her to cling to.

The scene of course made all the women internally coo at the cuteness before shaking themselves back to the present. Poppy began to tell the twins her daughter's idea, "Juniper has an amazing idea! What if we make a set of clothes for the three of us and the hoodie? For example I have one that says His Sunshine while he has one that says Her Storm Cloud. And Juniper of course has one that says Our Little Rainbow. I think it's a great idea! And for the Hoodie maybe something like Precious Cargo? What do you two think?"

If the twins weren't exuberantly excited before they certainly were now. "Those are amazing ideas and we will start on them immediately! The set might take us a bit longer but we will focus on the hoodie since that's what you need the fastest. Can you come back in a few hours to pick it up?" Poppy smiled as she nodded, excited that everything was falling into place.

She glanced over at Branch to check his opinion only to hesitate at the look of mild discomfort on his face. 'Does he not like the idea of the matching set? It cant be the hoodie since we already discussed that. Well it's not exactly a masculine thing to wear…'

The family was gently rushed out of the pod after the awkward and uncomfortable process of getting measurement so the sisters could work faster. Poppy continued to worry about Branch so she decided to ask him once they were walking away from the village as to not draw attention.

It was a slightly nerve wrecking few minutes before they made it to the outskirts of the troll tree, when Poppy decided to ask about it quiet enough to not alert their happily skipping ahead daughter.

"Branch, are you okay? You were looking kind of uncomfortable back there. Was it something about the matching set of clothes? I know it's not really manly or anything but I thought it was cute." Poppy fretfully inquired.

Branch jerked at the sudden speech but at the sight of Poppy's worried face he quickly rushed to reassure her. "No! It's not like that at all. I'm just use to my vest so it's going to be uncomfortable to wear anything else for a bit. I'll get use to it and it'll be no big deal. Thank you for being conscious of my feelings though. I appreciate it more than i can find words for."

Poppy hesitantly let it go, not quite believing that was it but not willing to irritate him by pushing further. She took his hand as they walked, "For the record I think that you'll both look adorable in the hoodie or the shirts. You two fit together perfectly to make a beautiful picture."

Branch flushed warmly as he tugged on her hand so she was pulled right into his side. "You would say that wouldn't you? But it's not just me that fits with Juniper. You do as well. We all make a good picture I think." Poppy beamed as she rested her head on his shoulder, content to rest and watch their child bounce around ahead of them on their walk.

It was a few hours later that the family made their way back to the fashionista's pod. They didn't even get to the front pedal before it was opening and an excited Satin jumped out to greet them.

"Hey guys! You are just in time, come on we just finished the hoodie!" Poppy laughed as Satin linked their arms and dragged her inside, she looked over her shoulder and shot the two wary ones a reassuring smile. After a few seconds of hesitation they followed behind as the Pedal closed.

The pod was a mess of fabric scraps thrown everywhere, glitter (which Branch flinched at) sprinkled over every surface, and what looked like paint knocked over to the side. Poppy however wasnt paying attention to the state of the pod, instead she was focusing on the buncle wrapped in a white sheet waiting to be unveiled.

The twins positioned themselves on either side of it with ear to ear grins as they, with a flourish, pulled the sheet and allowing their audience to catch their first glimpse of the finished product.

Branch had been dreading this moment since he heard the twins start plotting excitedly. He just knew they were going to use this as an opportunity to embarrass him, the hoodie was probably going to be bright pink or some other fluorescent color with glitter falling off of it everywhere. He would wear it if it helped Juniper sleep but he could already feel his pride dying at the thought.

So as the twins pulled the sheet he was prepared for the worst however when the sheet fell and he saw the current cause of his worry he was astonished. For there was a, for the most part, regular hoodie and instead of having bright colors it was comprised of many different shades of green which all seemed to fade into one another beautifully.

And the best part was there was not a touch of glitter in sight! By the look of it, the hoodie was able to be worn so the pouch was on the front or the back depending on how you wanted to wear it.

As Branch felt relief pour through his veins he also felt curious, how did they know to make it like that? Or did they do it on accident? Deciding to ask to satisfy his curiosity he cleared his throat, "It's amazing girls, but why did you make it green? Don't get me wrong I like it but I figured you were going to go with more... bright colors."

The twins smiled as if they expected him to ask that and they moved so he was in between them. They both put an arm leaned on each of his shoulders as Chenille answered. "Originally we were going to just to mess with you a bit but Poppy specifically asked us not to because she didn't want you to be uncomfortable. Bummer, it would've been fun to see you in pink."

The last part had both the sisters giggling as they removed their arms, allowing Branch to turn and stare at Poppy who was smiling shyly at him. Not knowing how to word his gratitude he settled on squeezing her hand and settling back into her side. Poppy beamed with joy as they took their package and started to head out.

Juniper, now overly excited to try out the new thing, was jumping around them pleading to try it. Branch and Poppy shared a glance before shrugging, "May as well, now is as good a time as any after all." Poppy smiled at Branch as he unravelled the bundle and slid it over his head.

As he expected it felt odd to wear something that wasn't his vest but the fabric wasn't scratchy or uncomfortable so he would get use to it. He moved around experimentally and shifted the pouch so Juniper could fit in.

He glanced at Poppy who, understanding, moved and picked Juniper up to get her situated into her new spot. A few minutes of squirming later there was one happy child curled against her father's chest completely happy to stay in her spot until removed.

Branch felt relief after the pocket held just fine and she fit inside. He glanced at Poppy and smiled only to chuckle when the first thing she did was let out a quiet squeal and whip her camera out of her hair and start taking pictures at light speed. She knew not to show other people photos of him without his permission so he wasn't worried.

Once she had her fill of taking pictures they joined hands for the walk home. Poppy was flushed for the better part of it, mostly from finding the sight adorable but unknown to Branch the twins had pulled her to the side and explained that they had made the pouch adjustable so not only could Juniper fit in, later down the road whenever she and Branch had a child they could as well.

At the time Poppy had flushed darkly and rushed to explain that they weren't ready for parenthood yet but the twins had just grinned at her and simply replied, "Yet." Even now as she walked home a half hour later she still felt warm from the thought.

They arrived home and tucked Juniper into Poppy's bed. Branch left for his bunker, not before his good night to Poppy of course, she'd never let him out the door without it after all. As Poppy lay in bed with her daughter her mind drifted back to what the twins had mentioned, she went to sleep peacefully with the image of Branch wearing the carrier with a small trolling in it with brilliant blue skin, lavender hair, and her eyes.

BAWV: So what did you guys think? What was your favorite part? And final question do you think I should make another oneshot jumping off of this one? Let me know in the reviews!

NA8910: And don't forget to check out Tough Love on my account NerdAlert8910, Cyber High-Five!