The Return
Chapter 2
The sounds of the baby babbling hardly registered in the Chief's brain. She was on the bed, closer to the end, down by his feet, while he just relaxed on there next to her. Cortana had gone out early that morning, claiming she had work or something. Chief had been apprehensive about being with the baby alone, but so far, she was leaving him alone, choosing to just play with herself.
"You okay down there?" Chief glanced down at her before lulling his head back to the side. It slightly worried him, how she was ignoring him now. Would this be the way it always was? Would he be absent from most of her life and their rare encounters be awkward? "Miranda."
Cortana wouldn't be back for a few more hours and Chief knew soon he would have to actually interact with the girl. He'd have to make her lunch he was pretty sure. Cortana hadn't mentioned it, but he knew babies ate according to a schedule. No doubt soon she'd be hungry.
"Ah." The baby pushed up at the sound of her name before walking up towards his head. Chief frowned, seeing this. She could walk? "Hi."
He blinked as the baby sat down next to his head. Pulling himself up into a sitting position, he stared down at her.
"Hi."
The baby giggled at his response, reaching up for him. Master Chief just continued to watch her, curious.
"You can talk, you can walk. What else can you do?" Reaching down, he poked her in the stomach gently. "Miranda."
"Ah!" She grabbed his hand this time, giggling loudly. "Mama."
"She's out," Chief told her, glancing down the bed at the little girl's toys. "You can go back to playing if you want."
The baby didn't follow such commands though and continued to hold his hand. "Wawa."
Sighing, Chief settled back into the bed, laying down once more. Miranda just moved closer to him, patting his chest. He had spoken more than he planned to the baby. She was just that, after all; a baby. She didn't know what he was saying, so why waste his time talking to her?
Bored with him now, Miranda moved back down the bed to her toys, finding them much more entertaining. Chief almost called her back up to him, slightly offended that she thought those stupid, inanimate objects were more fun than him. Because they weren't. He and Cortana spent countless hours with each other and had yet to tire of one another. What was wrong with their daughter then to think that he wasn't entertaining? …Not that Master Chief cared. Because he didn't. At all.
"Hey." He pushed her gently with her foot, making the baby look back at him. "What are you doing down there anyways?"
Picking one of her stuffed animals up, she sat it on his leg, giggling softly. Chief just watched though, waiting for her to do something else. Still, she grew bored of him again and went back to playing alone.
"How do you play with these things?" Chief sat up again, this time moving down towards the end of the bed. The stuffed animal she had sat on him he just gave back to her, setting it in the baby's lap. "Miranda?"
"Nana." She put the stuffed dog down on the bed before moving to climb into his lap. "Hi."
"That wasn't what I wanted you to do," he told her as she leaned back against him. "I'm your father, sure, but I'm practically a stranger. You shouldn't take to others so well, not people you don't know."
"No."
"Can you say yes?" He looked down at her. "Seems like you can say everything else."
"No."
"Yes." He watched her dark eyes. "Yes. Yes."
"Yes." She reached up, trying to poke him in the eye, but he just moved to sit up straight again. "Yes."
"Okay, I get it. You can say it."
"Yes."
He stood then, taking the child with him. She whined at first, not wanting to leave her toys behind, but soon forgot about them as they headed into the kitchen. She knew what that meant.
"Cortana did not tell me what to feed you," Chief said as he sat the girl on the ground. "Or even if I should. Are you…do you want to eat?"
The baby nodded, opening her mouth and putting her fingers in. Chief watched her for a second before going over to the fridge.
"What can you eat then? Huh?" He frowned, shaking his head. "I don't even make my own food. How can Cortana expect me to make you food?"
"Uh-oh."
He frowned, turning to glance down at his daughter. She was toddling out of the room now, heading into the living room.
"Uh-oh what?" He frowned, closing the fridge. "Come back here. Now, Miranda."
When that didn't work, he set out after the girl, finding her sitting on the living room floor where some of her toys had been left.
"How many toys does a kid need?" Chief muttered, moving to pick her up. The baby whined at this, but he just shook his head. "You need to learn to listen better."
Still, he reminded himself, she was just a baby. She didn't know better yet. So instead of dwelling on her lack of comprehension, he headed back into the kitchen.
"You sure liked bread last night," John told her, going to get a piece. "You want some bread?"
It was probably the lightest lunch the baby had ever eaten. John just gave her a piece of bread before deciding his job was done and taking her back to the bedroom. He deposited her on the bed before standing in front of her.
"You should probably nap now that you've eaten and everything," he told the baby, who was licking her piece of bread. When he saw that, he frowned. "You eat it, Miranda."
"Ah," she responded halfheartedly, not looking up at him as she continued to lick the bread. "Yes."
"Here." He reached out to take the bread, planning on ripping it into pieces for her. His daughter though just began to cry.
"Stop that," Chief complained as she spit at him, whining loudly. "I'm helping you."
She thought that he had taken her food though and was less than thrilled about it. "No! Mama! No!"
"Here." Chief gave her a piece of the bread, holding it out like a peace offering. "Take it then."
She snatched it from him, still whining. "Mama."
"She's not here. I am." Chief held out more of the bread. "Here. Eat."
He fed her that way, the baby crying the whole time. She was eating though, so he mostly ignored her wails, figuring they'd stop soon enough. Still, she continued to cry even after she finished her lunch. Once that was over, he laid back down on the bed with her.
"Well, sleep then," he told her, the baby still just sitting there, whining. "Miranda."
"No!"
"You're bad when you want to be," he told her, shaking his head. "Stubborn."
"Mama."
"It's alright." John reached out slowly and patted her head. This was the closest he could come to comforting his daughter at the moment. "You don't have to be afraid."
Why shouldn't she be? Here this guy was, again, bossing her around. And now her mother wasn't even home! She wanted to be far away from him, that mean, bread stealing jerk.
"Your mother said you have to sleep in your crib, but I think we'll do just fine, the two of us, right here." John spared a rare smile at his daughter, hoping to put her at ease. "Miranda. I'm your father, after all. A father wouldn't hurt his child."
"No."
"No," he repeated back to her, trying to make the child happy again. She just tried to move away from him. "Miranda."
"No." She sniffled, staring at her father. "No."
"You're so small," Chief mumbled as he finally forced the baby to lay down next to him. Then, on an impulse, he poked her stomach gently, trying to get her to laugh. The baby just whined some more, not liking that.
"I don't know what to do for you," he told his daughter, who squirmed as he held her closer still. And he didn't, know what to do that was. She was whining over nothing. All he had done so far was be good to her. "Miranda."
Giving out, she laid out against him, yawning slightly. The guy was right; after lunch was naptime.
Master Chief laid there for awhile, watching the child sleep next to him. It was something to get used to, his new assignment. It was in no way the toughest thing he had ever done, not even close, but it seemed to be the most mind numbing. Taking care of a child so far was merely tedious. He got no joy from it, not so far. Not like he did when he finished a mission or battle. Maybe it was because his job wasn't done yet.
Chief woke up alone. This wouldn't have been shocking, had he not fallen asleep that way. He laid there for about half a second, not thinking for a moment about the girl that was missing. When he did, he shot out of the bed and headed out of the room.
"Here he is. Finally up, John?"
His face was impassive as he came into the living room, his eyes only on his daughter. She was seated on the floor, pushing that train he had seen in the nursery around. She didn't even look up at him, too intent on her play. Not that he cared. He just needed to know she was safe. That's all he ever needed to know.
"I thought…Why did you take her?"
Cortana just smiled at him, not moving from the couch. "We do have a guest."
He nodded at their…guest. "I can see."
"Hello, John," Catherine Halsey said as he went to stand next to his daughter, looking down at her. "I hear your year went well."
"As well as could be expected."
John thought that his daughter was oblivious to him until she suddenly ran her train into his foot, rather hard. "Miranda."
Giggling, she did it again. And again. She seemed to be enjoying herself.
"Cortana tells me that you've taken to Miranda well," Halsey said then.
Nodding slightly, John glanced over at her. "She's very…loud."
As if understanding this, the baby suddenly made a loud noise as she, once again, ran the train into her father's foot. Having enough of that, John moved away from her slightly, frowning.
"No," the baby said, pushing herself up before toddling over to him. She almost lost her footing and fell over, but she managed to steady herself against his knees. "No."
"She seems to like you as well," Catherine told him, smiling slightly at the sight. John found nothing good in it though and just continued to watch his daughter.
"She wants you to pick her up, Chief," Cortana told him as the baby found her balance only to begin holding her hands above her head. "She's saying up."
The baby was saying something, but it sounded more like just a grunt than an actual word. Still, if his wife said so…
"Not like that," Cortana scolded as he held her out at arms length, as he had done the previous night. "Chief."
He had no problem with holding his daughter properly. It was just…there was some snot running down her nose and he really didn't want that on him. He was just wearing a t-shirt and jeans, after all, no armor. She would get him…snotty.
She did too. The second he moved to hold her against him, the baby rubbed her nose against his shirt, effectively marking him. Yuck.
Cortana smiled at this, while Dr. Halsey laughed slightly. John didn't find it amusing at all, but chose not to get angry with his daughter for it. She would learn, in time, that bodily fluids are meant for one place; your body. Not on your father.
It seemed to the Master Chief that the women were discussing something of importance and, as not to be a bother to them, he headed off into the kitchen. The child probably needed juice. He was pretty sure kids drank a lot.
"No," the baby told him as he went around the kitchen trying to find her a sippy cup. Could he give her a regular cup? He feared disaster would be the only thing to come from that. "No."
"You just don't shut up, do you?" Chief shifted the baby in his arms as he finally located where Cortana kept her sippy cups. There were some old bottles in there as well, but he was pretty sure Cortana had said last night the baby didn't use those anymore. "Huh?"
"No."
"That's what I thought."
Using the apple juice he found in the fridge, John quickly got the girl her drink. When he handed it to her, she didn't hesitate to begin drinking from the sippy cup, almost seeming ravenous with it.
"Oh," he said, watching her. He hadn't given her anything to drink the whole day. It hadn't even occurred to him, as he was rare to need a drink himself. He kind of felt…bad. She had needed something yet he hadn't gotten it. He wouldn't let it happen again.
When she finished with her juice, the girl just hit him in the head with the cup and attempted to say the word more. Chief frowned at her, but complied. He deserved the hit, he was sure, for not getting her a drink sooner.
It wasn't until after Dr. Halsey left that Cortana came into the kitchen. At that point, Chief was already seated at the kitchen table, the little girl in his lap. At the sight of her mother, Miranda promptly hit him again, this time in the chest.
"No," Cortana told her, frowning. "Chief, don't let her hurt you."
He snorted. "That would not only be impossible, but improbable."
"I meant don't let her hit you."
"She's fine," he said as the baby hit him with her hand now, giggling. "She's…playing."
"Well, we don't play rough," the woman told him, coming over to take their daughter from him. "She-"
"No." Chief held fast to the little girl though. "She's fine, Cortana."
They had a moment where the two of them just stared at each other, but she was the first to break, instead going over to the stove.
"Well," she began slowly. "What did you guys eat for lunch?"
"She ate bread."
"With?"
"…What?"
"How much bread did you feed her, John?"
"I gave her a piece of bread." How much clearer could he be?
"You gave our daughter a piece of bread for lunch."
"Yes."
"And thought it would be sufficient?"
"Yes." Or, well, he did before Cortana came in here critiquing him. "I'm no cook. I didn't plan on making her food."
Cortana groaned at that which only succeeded in making their daughter giggle. Shaking her head, the woman went over to the cupboard, pulling from it a box of some kind of animal crackers. She went over to the table and dumped a few onto it in front of the pair.
"That'll hold her over until dinner," Cortana told him simply as the baby reached out to grab a few. "See? She's hungry."
The Master Chief watched his daughter as she ate, almost smiling when she held an animal cracker up to him, wanting him to eat too. After a quick check, Chief found that Cortana was doing something over at the stove and wasn't paying them any mind. Leaning down slightly, he allowed to the baby to feed him which of course made the little girl giggle. She fed him a few more before just patting his cheek and going back to feeding herself.
"Dow'."
Chief frowned at his daughter. "Hmmm?"
"Dow'!" With that, she promptly jumped from his lap, landing with little grace onto the ground.
"Hey." Chief frowned at her. "You don't just do that. You could have gotten hurt, Miranda."
"She's fine, Chief," Cortana sighed as the girl rushed over to her, wrapping her arms around her mother's legs. "Dinner will be soon."
Nodding, he stood before heading out of the kitchen. If Cortana had the girl now, that was fine. Really. He could handle being away from her.
Still, he sat in the living room, straining to hear even the slightest whimper from his daughter. So far all he had heard was the girl's mother moving around the kitchen, fixing the meal, but that didn't mean much. Something could happen at any time. He had to be prepared.
When it was finally time to eat, Chief quickly came back into the kitchen only to lift the girl into his arms without prompting. Then, going over to the table, he took his seat, making sure to keep her in his lap.
"She has a high chair, Chief," Cortana told him as she sat a plate in front of him. "Just in case you weren't aware."
"She would rather sit here."
"Uh-huh."
"She would." As if to reiterate this, his daughter leaned back against him, yawning loudly. "She's comfortable this way."
"Is she?"
"Yes."
"Sure it's not you that's so comfortable?"
He leveled her with a strong gaze. "I'm not uncomfortable if that's what you mean."
Neither had a chance to say anything more as their daughter suddenly moved to grab something off her father's plate. "Yes!"
Chief sighed, shifting her slightly so she was out of reach of the table. "Stop that."
"Yes!" She reached out again, dismayed to find she couldn't get at his food. "Mama."
"You wanna sit in your highchair? Huh?" Cortana smiled at her. "Then you can eat."
"She can eat here." Chief held his daughter tightly to him. "We can share."
"Fine, John, I give in. You win."
"Always."
"Wipe that smirk off your face."
"Smirk? I don't know what you're talking about."
"I'm sure."
After dinner, Cortana cleaned up the kitchen while Chief cleaned up his daughter. She had gotten slightly messy from the meal and he was wiping her face down. When he moved to clean her hands though, his wife stopped him.
"She's gotta bathe after this," she told him. "Go take her in to the bathroom and run her water. Not too hot. Make sure of that. You don't want to burn her."
Never. Carrying her from the room, John quickly headed to the bathroom where he promptly sat her on the ground.
"No." She made that odd noise again, the one Cortana said meant up. "No."
John just ignored her as he moved to run the tap in the tub. Miranda found resolve, instead toddling over to the side of the tub and looking in. When Chief looked down at her, she pointed in there, babbling something incoherent, probably trying to tell him something.
"That's right, baby," he heard Cortana coo as she came into the bathroom as well. "You're gonna take a bath, huh? You want Daddy to give you one?"
"Cortana," he warned, though he wasn't sure if it was for suggesting that he should bathe her or calling him by that name again. "I don't-"
"Wa!" The baby suddenly lifted her arms above her head. Chief feared she wanted him to pick her up again, but Cortana as always knew what the sign was for.
"Here you go," the girl's mother said as she got down on her knees to undress her. "You know what's next, huh? You wanted your shirt off. Daddy's not smart enough to get that."
Making a face, Chief headed out of the bathroom. He'd drawn the bath; his job was done.
"No," Miranda called after him as her mother finished undressing her. Pointing at her father, she babbled something else that Chief didn't understand.
"I'm not leaving," he told no one as he turned in the doorway, instead leaning against the doorjamb. He figured that was what was wrong. "Just standing back here's all."
Content, the baby focused her attention back on her bath. Chief had assumed she'd dislike taking a bath, as he thought most young children did, but Miranda seemed intrigued by it.
"What's wrong?" he asked ten minutes later when the baby started crying. She was in the tub at that point and had been happily mewling as her mother bathed her. Then she just started crying. "Is she okay?"
"She just got some soap in her eyes, Chief," Cortana said with what he assumed came with an eye roll. "Every cry isn't a call to action."
He crossed his arms, frowning deeply. "If you didn't get soap in her eyes, she wouldn't be crying."
"Do you want to do this, John? You can bathe her if it's that big of a deal."
He just grunted, still watching. His baby was still whining, no longer finding bath time fun. It wasn't until she was out and wrapped up in a towel that she was happy again.
"You know, Chief, that she's sleeping in her crib," Cortana told him when they finally made it to the little girl's bedroom. "Not with us."
"I never said she wasn't."
"I saw you took a nap this afternoon."
"You could say that."
"What did I tell you about sleeping in bed with her?"
"She was fine, was she not? She's safer with me anyways than she is alone." He moved to take the baby from his wife. "It's obvious."
"Is that what it is?"
"Yes." He frowned when the baby rubbed her nose against his shoulder again. "Does she have a cold or something?"
"No."
"I don't think she's supposed to be this…nasty."
"Oh, Chief."
"Aba. Hi." Miranda wrapped an arm around his neck. "No."
"Put her down now," Cortana said, nodding at the crib. "Let her sleep."
"Shouldn't we…read her a story first?" He sat her down in the crib before going over to the pile of books. "Or you should."
"No, no. It's your thing. Read to her."
"I don't…Cortana…"
"Then she goes to bed." Moving over to her daughter, the woman pressed a gently kiss against the baby's cheek. "Lay down now. You're gonna go to bed, huh?"
"No!" She reached her little hand out towards Master Chief. "Me!"
"You," he mumbled, setting the book back down before going over to her. Once he was close enough, he laid a hand on her head, stroking her hair slightly. "You have to stay. Goodnight."
When he turned to walk away though, she started to cry. He was quickly back to her, lifting the child into his arms.
"Chief-"
"She's upset, Cortana."
"She has to learn to sleep in her own room. And she had been. Before you."
"She'll sleep in her room," he assured her. "Just after I get to her to sleep."
"How are you going to do that?"
"Just hold her some. Worked this afternoon."
"Chief-"
"It's not like she has some kind of packed schedule. If she stays up a little, who cares? It's my second day home. I'm just getting to know her, really. And she's just getting to know me too."
"I know. There's time for that later. She needs her sleep, John. So put her down and let's just-"
"I'm her parent too," he said, heading out of the room now, his baby in his arms. "You've been doing it on your own for awhile, Cortana, but I'm here now. I'm back."
And he wasn't going away anytime soon.