Sorry about the delay...this story was only actually meant to be a one-shot, but since I got so many lovely reviews I decided to add another few chapters! Enjoy.


From the moment of her conception, little Charlotte had collected guardians.

Unwittingly, of course, but the result was the same. Bo doubted there was a child in the word as fiercely protected as her daughter.

Lauren adored her little girl with all her heart, and was forever worried of accidents or illnesses that may befall her. Three months before she had even been born, a team of builders had been sent through every inch of the house baby-proofing it. Gates had been put up at the top and bottom of the stairs, and at both the doors, electrical sockets had been covered or pushed behind furniture and all windows and cupboards had had safety locks installed. Cords had been shortened, fire-guards had been purchased, and Bo had been ordered to attend a full length first-aid and safety course. A schedule had been set up for immunisations and development check-ups (both of which the succubus was fairly certain her wife could handle herself, but it clearly made her feel better to plan these things, so she let it go without comment) and every one of their friends and family had been debriefed on how to properly care for a baby, just in case she ever happened to be left alone in a room with them...which was looking rather unlikely.

Once Charlotte had been born, however, it was Bo that had freaked out the most. She was just so tiny, and the succubus was terrified of accidentally hurting her. What if she picked her up or put her down wrong? What if she squeezed her a little to tight? Her daughter seemed so incredibly fragile and she was so strong. Her succubus side was feeling particularly close to the surface as well, having apparently decided that it was her duty to protect her mate and child, and becoming very paranoid about other people being near them. It had been over a week before she had felt secure enough to allow their family and friends to visit, and even then it had taken all of her effort not to growl at them whenever they bent over the crib.

And then there was their family's other new addition. Taz. The German Shepard pup had been only eight weeks old when Bo had found him abandoned in a derelict house while on a mission to locate a renegade fae mental patient. Flea-bitten and skinny, he hadn't been in the slightest bit afraid of her, stumbling over to her with his tail wagging and immediately setting about chewing on the bottom of her jeans. Her heart had instantly gone out to him, and before she knew what was happening, she was pulling up the drive with the dog sleeping next to her on her jacket wondering how the hell she was going to explain this to Lauren. Her wife who was seven months pregnant, in the middle of a painful evolution process, and swinging wildly between insatiably horny, fiercely over-protective, sobbing her eyes out and grumpy quicker than Bo could figure out whether to take off her pants, hug her, or duck.

She needn't have worried, it turned out, because apparently Lauren's fun new cocktail of hormones had decided that today was the day to ramp her maternal instincts up to full force. She had taken one look at the bedraggled puppy before making a delighted cooing sound, scooping him out of her wife's arms and striding up the stairs to give him a bath – pausing only to send Bo off to the vet and the pet shop with a long list of supplies to fetch. Young as he was, the pup had proven to be both intelligent and loyal, learning to understand and do what he was told quickly, and following the both of them tirelessly wherever they went. It was when Charlotte had been born, however, that they had realised just how protective their puppy was. The very first night they had brought the baby home Taz (named by Kenzi, because the hyperactive bundle of fluff reminded her of the Loony Tunes Tasmanian Devil) had slept outside the nursery, and ever since they had grown used of finding him there, day or night, guarding his family's newest and most most vulnerable member.

Which is why that when, one spring afternoon, Bo had heard snarling coming from the direction of Charlotte's room, she had immediately panicked. She had been in the middle of cutting up sandwiches for herself, Lauren, Hale and Kenzi – the latter of whom had come around to visit her god-daughter for some 'Kenzi cuddle time.' As Charlotte had been asleep when they had arrived Lauren had suggested they all have lunch first, not wanting to wake the five month old unnecessarily. As soon as Bo had realised what she was hearing, she had sprinted up the stairs, kitchen knife clutched in her hand.

Danger.

Protect.

When she had finally burst through the door to the nursery however, it had taken her several seconds to process what she was seeing. A shocked looking Hale was backed up against the wardrobe by Taz, the young dog standing straddle-legged in front of Charlotte's cot, his head high and teeth bared threateningly. Bo blinked in surprise.

"Taz! Stop it!" The dog immediately turned his attention to her, tilting his head before relaxing and trotting over obediently.

"What on earth is going on in here?" When Lauren had seen her wife dash for the stairs with a knife she had almost had a heart attack, and had rushed after her so quickly she hadn't even noticed the door that she had knocked clean off it's hinges on the way through the lounge. "Hale? Did Taz attack you?"

Now that he was no longer in imminent danger of losing a finger or two, the siren relaxed, shooting an apologetic look at the two frightened mothers of his favourite little girl.

"No, not really. I heard Charlie-bug whimpering and I came in to see her. Taz was sleeping next to the cot and when I went to pick her up and he went nuts. He didn't bite me though, just growled a lot and wouldn't let me get near her." He smiled reassuringly at Kenzi, who had chosen that moment to rush in herself, wielding a heavy stone fossil from the lounge table like a club.

All the commotion finally awoke Charlotte, who screwed up her face and started to wail. Lauren quickly crossed over to the crib, scooping her up and bouncing her gently in her arms. "I'm so sorry Hale, he's never been a problem with anyone before."

"Yeah, but no-one has ever gone near Charlotte without either you or Bo in the room before, have they?" Kenzi glared at her husband slightly. He knew how protective the doctor and her best friend were of their child, and with good reason too - there had been more than a few threats made against the unaligned succubus and her hybrid mate. It certainly wasn't that they didn't trust Hale or their friends...but he shouldn't have tried to pick her up without asking. "Big bad Tazzy was just doing his job, weren't you boy?"

The succubus sighed, smiling down at an entirely unapologetic looking Taz, who had gone and curled himself around Lauren's feet, still shooting suspicious glances at the siren across the room, Lauren chose that moment to clear her throat, never faltering in her steady rocking of her still bawling daughter.

"Well since she's awake now, I might as well bring her down. I'll just feed her first." Everyone looked at her and she raised an eyebrow. "...so if you could, um, leave?"

"OH! Of course! Sorry Lauren" Hale actually blushed and almost ran from the room, much to the amusement of his wife.

"Alright, I'll be downstairs with the big blushing idiot." She spun around and strode back out of the room, muttering all the way down the hall, "honestly...you'd think he'd never seen a breast before...how does he think his mother fed him..."

Bo chuckled, taking Charlotte for a minute while Lauren got settled. "Well, at least we know we have a good warning system in place."

"Poor Hale. Still, at least Taz didn't bite him. That wouldn't have been good." She held out her arms for her daughter.

"Nah, Taz knows Hale. He wouldn't bite someone he knew. He just didn't want him touching Charlotte." She kissed her wife gently. "I'll go finish our lunch while you give her hers...do you want to give her some banana puree after you've breast-fed her?"

"It does seem to be her new favourite. Banana for lunch, and then we'll try some of the chicken puree with dinner...does that sound good sweetheart?" Her only response was a suckle, and a small fist pulling at the lose end of her shirt.


Fifteen minutes later, a full and freshly changed Charlotte was showing off her new favourite trick, sliding around on her tummy. Kenzi found this fantastic, and was laying down on the floor across from her, scooting a colourful wooden penguin on wheels (a gift from her, and currently one of Charlotte's favourite toys) back and forth on the soft carpet, cheering and clapping her hands when the little girl wiggled over to her to get it. She gasped in shock when Charlotte pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, rocking slightly before flopping back down and putting the penguin in her mouth, dribbling on it happily.

"BO! Did you see that?!"

"Yeah, she's been doing that for the past few days. It means she's getting ready to crawl."

"Crawl? Isn't she too young for that? She only learnt to sit-up by herself a few weeks ago!"

"Yeah, babies typically start to crawl between seven and ten months, but Charlotte seems to be developing her motor skills quickly than most. Lauren says it isn't unheard of for some children to start crawling at five months...although it does mean she'll probably be toddling around getting into all sorts of trouble early as well." The succubus looked a strange mixture of proud and terrified at the idea.

"That's my little Charlie-bug! Guess your two amazing mums have passed their skills on to you huh?" She tickled the baby, who was clumsily stacking bright glittery rings on her mat, making her squirm and giggle, flashing her a gummy smile.

Both of her mother, who were sitting on the couch watching, smiled even brighter in response. No matter how many time she did it, it was magical seeing Charlotte smile. They both remembered that night, when she was only several weeks old, how she had smiled up at them for the first time, with wide blue eyes. That had been early too, but god if it hadn't brought them both to tears at the time. No matter how tired they were, no matter how bad their day might have been, one smile from their little girl never failed to make them grin in response.

The next comment from Kenzi, however, snapped them out of their memories.

"Just think, soon we'll be able to teach you how to break into the cookie jar!"