Author's note: Lovely reader for-prim asked for some Gale/Maggie bonding time. I thought about this lovely little one shot as I was contemplating the request. I also have an idea for when Maggie is older, but that one will probably take a while to get to as I am currently supposed to be working on National Novel Writing Month. I am behind on my word count.

The title comes from the Brian Adams song (covered not too long ago by Clay Aiken) Everything I Do (I Do it For You), which was the theme in the Kevin Costner Robin Hood.

Happy reading!

Everything I Do

Gale walked into the house and put down his things by the door. Maggie crawled to him with a happy squeal.

"Hello, Maggie. How was your day?" He asked as he picked her up and kissed her cheek.

She grinned at him and then pointed toward the living room where Annie was just standing from the floor. "Mama." She said.

"Yes, Mama. What about her?" He kissed his wife. "Hi, there."

"Hi." She yawned. "Finn is staying with a friend tonight."

"Oh, is he?" He kissed her again.

Mags clapped her hands and giggled.

Annie smiled and rubbed her daughter's back. "I have a massive headache. Would it be okay with you if I go lie down?"

"No problem. Are you okay?" He put a hand against her forehead.

"I'm fine. Just feeling a little off."

"Well, I'm sure it didn't help that this little one was wide awake before I got up. Did she ever go back to sleep?"

"Not until after lunch." She yawned again and then kissed her husband and daughter.

"I'll make supper, honey. Just relax. Mags and I are fine. Aren't we, sweetie?" He put his nose in Maggie's hair and breathed her in as he swayed back and forth with her.

She leaned against her father and let out a content sigh.

"Go on, honey, we're fine." He kissed Annie once more.

"I just changed her, so she should be fine." She kissed the baby girl's cheek. She ran her hand down Gale's arm and then turned.

"Let's see, what should we make for supper, Mags? What was Mama planning, do you think?" He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. "Hm…" He rummaged around. "I think there's some chicken in here. Does that sound good?" He took the chicken breast that Annie had defrosted.

"Uh!" Maggie said, reaching for the open fridge. "Uh!"

"What, baby? You thirsty? You want your cup?" He put the bowl of chicken on the counter and then took out her cup of milk and handed it to her. "Cup, Maggie. You need to learn to say it. And I'd really like it if you said 'Dada.' Can you say that?"

She smiled around the spout of her cup and then put her head on his shoulder.

"You say Mama all the time." He put her down on the floor. "I'll start supper and then we can play. Would you like that?"

She smiled and sat her cup down on the floor. She crawled over to Gale as he stood at the counter and prepared the chicken for supper. He smiled down at her as she pulled herself up on his pant leg.

"What are you doing, Maggie-Moo?"

She laughed and patted the cabinet door.

"I'm going to need a pan from in there soon, but not yet. And I know that you like to drum on them, but Mama is sleeping and that would be too much noise, sweetie."

"Uh!" She said with a frown, pounding on the door again.

"No, Maggie." He said. "Go play with your blocks."

Her smile returned and she dropped down to the floor and crawled into the living room.

Gale put the chicken in the oven and washed his hands. He then took the bowl of potatoes and sat down at the table to peel them as he watched Maggie playing contently in the living room.

She crawled back in when she noticed him watching. She pulled herself up on the chair. "Dada." She said with a smile.

Gale froze. "What?"

She smiled and said nothing else. She patted his leg.

He leaned down. "You can say it again, baby. Say 'Dada.'"

She laughed and said, "Dada!"

Gale laughed and put the knife down he was using to chop the potatoes. He picked her up and swung her around. "Yes, I'm Dada. That's right, Maggie!" He laughed again and kissed her.

"Dada!" She announced happily, pounding him on the chest.

He kissed her again. "I love you, baby girl." He walked around with her for a while, kissing her again and again. "I love you so much. Do you know that? You're my special little girl. You're my only little girl. My Mags Hazelle." He kissed her again. "And I will get back to this cuddling once I have the potatoes on to boil."

He sat her on the floor and then quickly finished the chopping and then put the potatoes into a pan and filled it with water. He sat it on the stove and then scooped Maggie up once more. He turned on the burner and opened up the oven to check on the chicken. He turned it down.

Maggie patted Gale on the chest. "Dada." She pointed to the living room impatiently.

"Well, okay." He walked with her into the living room and sat her down beside her blocks.

She picked two of them up and banged them together. Thankfully, they didn't make a lot of noise with the small force she was using, so he didn't get on to her.

He picked up two more blocks. "Watch Dada, Mags." He sat one on the floor and then stacked another on top. "See? You try."

She looked on with interest. Then she leaned forward with her own and put it on top. She sat back and waved her hands with another happy squeal.

They played that way for a while. They moved on to rolling a ball back and forth. Gale got up and checked on supper after a while. He took the chicken out of the oven and stirred the potatoes.

He turned around to find Annie standing in the doorway with Maggie in her hip. She smiled.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Fine." She walked over and kissed him. "I've kind of been watching you for a while. Have I ever told you how hot you are when you play with our daughter?"

He returned her smile and kissed her. "Well, thank you, honey."

"Have you had a good afternoon?"

"We've had a very good afternoon. Maggie said 'Dada.'" He announced proudly, rubbing their daughter's back.

"Did she?" She looked at Maggie. "Will you say it for me? Who's that?" She pointed to Gale. "Tell me who that is."

She grinned hugely. "Dada." She put her face in her mother's shoulder and acted embarrassed.

"That's right, my sweet girl." Annie kissed her hair. "I love you both so much."

Gale smiled. "I love you." He kissed his wife. "It's too quiet without Finn here." He rubbed her arms.

"Do you miss him?"

"Yeah. A little." He rested his head against hers. "Don't you?"

"Yes. Very much." She wrapped her free arm around him. "But he'll be back tomorrow." She looked up. "You don't mind that I let him go without consulting you, are you?"

"No. I trust your judgment, honey. And he's been begging to spend the night with Ulysses for a while." He cupped her cheeks. "Gives us some time alone. Put her to sleep early and cuddle on the couch. Maybe…make love. A little more vocally than normal."

"It's a possibility." She smiled and kissed him. "The potatoes are boiling over."

Gale stole one more quick kiss and then turned to finish making the meal. Annie strapped Mags into her high chair and then went about setting the table. She handed the baby a spoon which she proceeded to use to bang on the tray and babble.

Annie kissed Gale's cheek as she passed him.
"Hey, how is that headache?" he asked as he put the mashed potatoes on the table and spooned some out onto a plate for Mags to cool.

"It's mostly gone. But it's been there all day. I've taken something for it, but I think it's just a side effect from the new medication."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'll take the annoyance of a headache over not wanting to get out of bed and contemplating suicide." She sat down at the table and sipped her water.

Gale kissed the top of her head as he moved to his seat on the other side of Mags.

She was still babbling as she looked at the plate of mashed potatoes. She stuck her hand in the mess and put a glob in her mouth.

"Mags, we use our spoons." Annie said, reaching over and helping her daughter scoop some potatoes on her spoon.

"Have there been any other side effects that you've noticed?" Gale asked as he watched them.

She shook her head as she cut a bite off her chicken. "Nothing major."

"What does that mean?"

"My mouth is dry. And I've been getting nauseous. But I've gotten the last one figured out because I was taking it on an empty stomach and they recommended definitely not doing that. But sometimes I just get so busy…" She smiled. "I'm fine, Gale."

"Good to know." He smiled. "And everything else is all right?"

"Yes." She took a bite and chewed for a long time. "Do you ever want more kids?"

He chewed in silence for a while, contemplating. He sipped his water before he finally said, "I think one day."

"I kind of hoped for a houseful of kids all pretty close in age."

"So you want to try for number three soon?"

"Maybe not just yet. I like experiencing all of Maggie's milestones. Maybe after her first birthday?"

"Okay. Sounds good."

"But I was told when I went to fill my prescription today, and my doctors failed to inform me of it, that my birth control may be rendered less effective because of the antidepressants."

"Well, we've been dodging bullets, haven't we?" He said with a smile. "We'll just have to do something else."

"I bought condoms today. After the pharmacist told me that."

Gale shifted uncomfortably. "Maybe we should have this conversation after Maggie is asleep."

"She's still not at an age where she can comprehend. It's fine."

"Well, I'd prefer her next word wasn't…" he lowered his voice to a whisper, "condom."

"If we don't use one, she'll be a big sister before any of us are ready."

"I wasn't debating that one, honey. I agree completely. But we can finish that part of the conversation later."

She smiled. "Okay."

They went on to more mundane topics about their day. They held hands across the table.