Exhausted and unsure of what else he could possibly do for his very upset and loudly crying daughter Connor just held her against his left shoulder and walked her back and forth from the livingroom to the kitchen as a means of comforting her. Keeping the soft warm purple blanket to swaddle the baby wrapped around Hannah to keep her as comfortable as possible Connor closed his soulful brown eyes and ran scan after scan over the three week old baby's body to try to figure out why she was so restless, and seemingly so upset.

"Shh..." Lightly Connor patted and rubbed her back with his right hand to try to get her calm down a little. As he paced back and forth between the two rooms Sumo watched his every step from his pillow in the corner of the livingroom, and thumped his tail slowly on the floor every time Connor returned to the livingroom with the baby in his arms. "Please, Hannah. I'm trying to help you."

The small baby continued to cry and Connor felt terrible on his tiny daughter's behalf.

"You have a clean diaper, you have had your formula for the evening and don't want anymore, you're not running a fever, you're uninjured, you're warm and you're dry..." Standing in the middle of the kitchen with his L.E.D. pulsing a steady red Connor moved his right arm to hug Hannah instead of just rubbing her back as he noted the time. It was almost three o'clock in the morning. "Please, I don't know what to do for you. But I'm trying to help you. I really am."

As Hannah continued to cry Connor suddenly felt his heart beginning to break and he just slowly lowered himself down to the floor to sit cross-legged and held his distressed daughter to his shoulder in utter defeat.

"I'm sorry, Hannah. I'm doing everything I can."

"Connor?" Hank walked into the kitchen and looked at his son sitting on the floor his with granddaughter in his arms and up against his left shoulder. The red tinted L.E.D. might as well had been a red flag in Hank's eyes. "What's wrong? It's going on three in the morning."

"Hannah is upset and I don't know what to do for her..."

"That's why you're sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor?"

"I don't know what to do and I'm... Maybe I'm not doing this right."

"Doing what right? Being a father?"

"Yes."

Wincing a little as Hannah cried even louder Hank just sighed and shook his head a little. "As long as Hannah is being fed, being clothed, is clean and has a soft bed of her own then you're doing things right."

"Why is she still so upset? I've tried everything that is considered appropriate for infant care and she's still crying."

"Because babies cry, Connor. That's how they communicate with the world."

"...But I can't understand her. I have to be doing something wrong."

"Alright... Let me see her." Taking Hannah from Connor's arms Hank looked his granddaughter in her teary eyes and sighed a little. "For the record you can't rely on parenting books. Every kid is different and therefore ever parenting style is going to be different."

"...Whatever style I'm using is ineffective."

"Knock it off, kid. You're doing fine."

"I don't think I am."

"Connor, you're fine."

"Then why is Hannah so distressed?"

"Again, babies cry." As Hank began to rubbed his own right hand along Hannah's back the more experienced father gave Connor an empathetic stare. "Ever hear of colic?"

"I'm familiar with the condition, yes."

"My guess is she's going through a bout of colic and just being fussy."

"...What if she's just unhappy because of me?"

Fighting the urge to laugh Hank sighed again and continued to rub Hannah's back. "I think you're giving a newborn way too much credit here, kid."

"But how do I-" A sudden but tiny burp from Hannah silenced Connor as she too began to quiet down. The red L.E.D. flashed to yellow and stayed as such as Connor himself noted Hannah's sudden contentedness. "...Oh."

"So she was just a little gassy. It's uncomfortable for babies to endure and hard for them to communicate. She's so small and that's a lot of discomfort for her to endure by herself."

"She isn't unhappy?"

Looking down at Hannah's face as she quieted down and her crying ceased Hank just smirked and gave Connor a strange glance. "No, kid. She's not unhappy. She was just gassy."

Standing up from the floor Connor looked at his daughter's face again and saw that she was suddenly much calmer and seemed ready to fall asleep. "I hope she doesn't continue to suffer from colic on a regular basis."

"You and every other parent on this planet, son."

Taking Hannah back from Hank's arms Connor sighed in relief and continued to rub his hand along the small baby's back to help soothe her to sleep. "...I'm sorry I awoke you. I'll try to be better at parenting from now on."

"Seriously? You don't get 'better' at parenting, son. You just learn how to handle situations quicker over time."

"I still feel as though I let Hannah down tonight."

"You didn't. You just need to learn what makes Hannah act like Hannah so you can figure out quicker if she needs her diaper changed, needs something to eat, needs another blanket, needs to be burped or just needs to be cuddled for a while. Stop doubting yourself when it comes to taking care of her, you have good instincts and you already put her above everything and everyone else. You're a good father."

"What if it's not enough?"

"It never feels like it's enough, son." Escorting Connor out of the kitchen and down into the hallway Hank watched as the deviant gently placed Hannah down into her crib to sleep for the night, and saw the deviant's L.E.D. return to blue from yellow. "But you're doing a great job at being her dad."

"I hope so."

"And remember, you are the only one who can say what's best for Hannah and that comes from hands-on experience. NOT from a damn book."

Rubbing his hand along Hannah's tummy Connor was now confident enough to enter rest mode himself and let Hannah sleep. "I'll do my best to remember that."

"Good."

As the senior detective quietly took his leave of the bedroom Connor called out to him in a low and curious voice. "Hey, Hank?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think gassiness and colic is why Gavin is often in a foul mood?"

Laughing at the silly question Hank just gave Connor a dismissive wave of his hand and continued down the hallway. "Goodnight, son."

-next chapter-