"Thanks for coming with me, Merri," Laurel says, giving the older woman a signature Pride smile.

Merri waves her hand in the air and lets the other one drift to rest on her slightly rounded stomach, "Oh, don't mention it, Laurel. I know the baby stuff can be...overwhelming."

"Tell me about it!" Laurel laughs, her pretty face lit up by pregnancy hormones and a happy smile. "Orion and I were looking at strollers for three hours the other day!"

It's nice, having someone else to talk baby things with, Merri thinks. But it's also a little bit too "Father of the Bride Part II" what with their pregnancies being so close together. Chris had laughed when she told him her thought. He'd fallen off the bed he was laughing so hard, actually. It was a little funny, Merri could concede.

"The simpler the better," Merri advises. "We learned that the hard way. The top of the line stroller completely collapsed under the pressure of travelling to visit my mom and dad."

That had been a disaster and a half. Merri still occasionally laughed at the memory of Chris' shell-shocked face as the stroller simply collapsed out of nowhere. It also meant he'd had to carry Gus everywhere they went for nearly a week.

"Noted," Laurel says. She scans the wall of onesies in front of them. "Green and yellow are good neutrals, right?"

"Mmhm," Merri agrees, plucking a few off of the wall and dropping them into her shopping basket. "Gus wore only green or yellow for the longest time and so will this one."

"Where is the little peanut?" Laurel grins. "I thought she was so excited to help?"

Merri laughs. "You of all people should know that Gus' attention span lasts for less than three seconds. She and Chris probably wandered off to the stuffed toy section."

Laurel nods, agreeing with Merri's assumption, and the two women continue to look at baby clothes, cribs, and various other accouterments, trading stories and questions along the way.

Eventually, Merri looks at her watch and jumps. "Oh! We've been shopping for almost two hours! Maybe we should wrap this up?"

"Probably!" Laurel says absently, looking through the items in her basket. "I did tell Orion I'd meet him for lunch."

"It's almost three!" Merri exclaims, laughing. " I think you might be late."

Laurel shrugs, "It's fine. He's used to it. Oh! Can we swing by the furniture quickly? I wanted to look into getting a big arm chair for the nursery."

"Of course," Merri agrees easily. "Chris and Gus may be over there with some books or something anyway."

They move slowly, navigating the busy store with full carts. Laurel, not used to the extra weight, moves even slower and bumps into quite a few displays. Merri tries not to giggle, but it is a little funny, especially since she was that way during her pregnancy with Gus.

Laurel stops suddenly and starts to giggle wildly.

"What's wrong?" Merri asks, concern lacing her tone. She peers around Laurel's shoulder and breaks out into giggles herself.

There, in the middle of the furniture section, are Chris and Gus. The tiny toddler is sprawled on an overstuffed couch, face down and fast asleep. One arm is dangling over the edge of the couch and one tiny sneakered foot is propped up against the back of the couch. It's, quite frankly, adorable.

Next to the couch, a stuffed armchair holds Chris. Merri imagines he must've pulled it over to the couch, since a small group of similar armchairs are several feet away. Merri pulls out her phone and snaps a few pictures. Chris, slumped in the chair, his head resting against the back of it, and mouth wide open, is also fast asleep. He has one hand resting protectively over Gus' back, and Merri melts.

She takes one more picture for good measure before brushing her hand over Chris' cheek.

"Chris, baby, nap time's over," she says quietly, but firmly. His cheek twitches under her hand and he makes a grunting noise.

Merri and Laurel lock eyes and laugh. Laurel is leaning over Gus, gently stroking her pudgy cheek, but the little girl is more like her father than anything, and only grunts. Laurel laughs longer and twirls Gus' dark hair between her fingers.

"The peanut is out for the count," she reports to Merri, a soft smile on her face.

"Chris," Merri says again, her fingers threading through his short hair. "Come on, wake up."

As she raises her voice a bit, Chris startles awake.

"Huh? 'M 'wake. Wa'n't sleepin'," he babbles, blinking rapidly.

"Sure you weren't," Merri rolls her eyes affectionately. "We weren't even shopping that long. I can't believe you fell asleep."

Chris, wide-awake now, simply stares at his wife. "Weren't that long? Are ya kiddin' Mere? Any time in these stupid lady stores is too long."

"Stupid lady stores?" Merri repeats, a scowl forming on her face. Laurel has a similar disgruntled expression on her face.

Chris winces, knowing he's made a mistake. "Aw, Mere. Ya know what I mean. It ain't stupid. Gus-Gus an' me, we jus' needed some sleep."

Merri softens. This, at least, is very true. Gus had been having trouble sleeping for the past few weeks, insomnia and nightmares. Chris, the wonderful man that he is, had been up with her. Even on nights that he had been out late keeping the city safe, he came right home and curled up with Gus, keeping her safe when she couldn't sleep.

They hoped her sleeping problems were a consequence of the new baby upheaval and would wane soon. But until then, Chris was the one staying up with her.

"Okay," Merri concedes, "We can go home. I shouldn't have made you and Gus come along anyway."

Chris grins and stands up, "Music ta my ears. Whatta ya ladies say to some lunch? 'M starvin'."

He lifts a still-sleeping Gus into his arms. Her head flops against his shoulder and a tiny fist wraps around his shirt. Chris hopes absently that she won't nap too long, since that'll ruin her already messed up sleep schedule.

Laurel and Merri share a look.

"I'll call Orion and tell him to meet us!" Laurel grins and they set off for the cashier.


Gus wakes up in time for the requisite pregnant-lady trip to the ice cream parlor.

Of course.


A/N: Hi guys! I have a new snap for you! I've been seriously disappointed in NCIS Nola's second season. I'll still be writing, I'm sure, but I'll be ignoring LaSalle's atrocious mischaracterization and Percy's practical sainthood. You'll still be getting Cherri from me!

In this fic, I have Laurel as around 26 years old. I don't think her age was ever really specified on the show, so I'm playing a little fast and loose with the timelines here :)

Also, this fic was inspired by a picture Kim Kardashian posted of North and Kanye months ago. I know, what a place for inspiration, but the picture really is adorable!

Let me know what you think :)