Halt comes to visit Will, who is a young, sleepy, uncertain new father. They enjoy each other's company. This is a fluffy one. Big surprise.

024: No Time

Halt swung off of Abelard naturally, patting his old friend absently once his feet touched the ground.

"Good boy," he muttered, leading him down the path, Will's cabin at the end of it.

Vaguely, he thought about how strange it was that even though the small cabin had been his home, where he lived for more than ten years, it no longer felt like his. It was for Will and his family, he mused with the ghost of a smile as he stepped into the stables and nodded a hello to Tug. He was grateful when the horse greeted him back with a quiet snort, further securing his plan to surprise whoever was inside. As quietly as he possibly could, he settled Abelard in, removing his saddle and rubbing him down until he was comfortable. Then he stepped out and onto the verandah steps silently, avoiding the cracks and loose boards without a thought, having memorized them from the hundreds of times he walked up them.

All of the regular pieces of furniture were still set on the porch from he lived there - the two chairs and table set and the slightly larger, more comfortable rocking chair that Halt had left for Will when he moved into his apartment - but there was an unfamiliar object beside the larger chair that brought the small smile back on Halt's face.

A rocking cradle; beautifully carved and padded with soft blankets and cushions. It was empty, but he knew that it wouldn't have been laying outside if it hadn't been used that day.

Will must be here with someone, he thought, stifling the bout of excitement he felt in his stomach. The feeling was becoming more familiar to Halt in his old age, and he stubbornly wasn't going to let it become a part of him. He crossed the verandah and cautiously turned the knob on the door, bracing himself for the creak of the door. If Will had listened to his advice, he would have left the hinges unoiled to prevent unwanted visitors from sneaking in.

He pushed the door open and cringed as the silence shattered with a SQUEEE.

Of course, Will listened to his advice. Because Will was Will.

Halt breathed and stood perfectly still until the sound stopped ringing in his head before peeking his head through the door and peering inside. The living room came into view, neat and comfy as it always was, the bright noon sunlight streaming in through the window he passed from outside. There seemed to be no movement from anyone and Halt understood why when his eyes landed on the couch at the far end.

They were in the dark, past the sun's rays that gave a glare that made it hard to see, but Halt recognized the figure of Will - and someone else, but he couldn't be sure - comfortably laying across the couch. His legs were propped on the arms on one end while his head rests on the other. His face was turned slightly away from the door but Halt could see his eyes were closed and his face was peaceful.

Apparently the scream of the door didn't wake his former apprentice, which concerned him slightly, but Halt felt confident enough to move again, slipping through the doorframe and into the cozy living room. Stepping closer, he could see his former apprentice more clearly and nodded to himself.

Poor boy has been knocked out from exhaustion, he thought quietly to himself, smirking as he faced the tiny culprit.

Laying on top of Will on her belly, nestled in his arms and just as asleep, was Neveah Treaty, Will and Alyss's six-month-old baby. The young Ranger had one arm around her and another behind his head which he was resting his cheek on. They were both half-dressed in the summer heat, Will without a shirt and the baby clad only in a cloth diaper, her chubby cheek squished against his chest. One of her hands were tucked under her chin in a small fist, while the other limply held on to the silver oakleaf around her father's neck.

Halt had to hold his breath at that. It was too adorable for a cold-hearted Ranger like himself. He had to bite his inner lip to stop himself from smiling at the fact that the tousled brown hair on Will's head fell over his eyes almost exactly the way the brown hair on Neveah's did. As much as she hated to admit it, Alyss had birthed Will's twin, and Halt saw it more and more as the baby grew.

He could have stood there watching them with a smile that he didn't even notice had appeared on his face, for hours, if not for a rude interruption.

"So, are you going to stand there gawking or are you going to get yourself some coffee?" Will mumbled quietly without moving, his eyes still shut.

Halt's smile instantly switched to a scowl. Not only had he failed to sneak into his apprentice's home unnoticed - he should have known that the door squeak wouldn't get past a Ranger, no matter how tired he was - but he had also been caught staring googly-eyed and grinning at the said apprentice. This is not good for my image, he thought inwardly.

Outwardly, he said, "Damn apprentices," before walking sulkily to the kitchen.

"Hey!" Will hissed, his eyes flying open. He brought his arm from around his head to cover his sleeping daughter's ears. "Watch your language around my baby. She is too young to hear such foul language."

"Apologies...Darn apprentices."

Will smiled, glancing down at his child's peaceful face to make sure she hadn't been bothered by the break of silence before sitting up slightly. He stretched himself out as best he could without moving her around too much, arching his back and stretching his legs while still holding her securely to his chest. He peered over the top of the couch and found Halt rummaging in the cabinets, pulling out the bag of coffee beans and two cups.

"I'm assuming you want some?" The older man said, glancing up at him briefly before measuring out the coffee grinds into the pot.

"It's not simply a want. I need some," Will said, the desperation clear in his voice.

Halt nodded. It was very likely that the young father had not gotten any time in the day to make his own. He placed the pot on the fire after filling it with water, then moved back to the living room to where Will was reclined on the back of the couch, Neveah cradled in the crook of his arms.

"Now, what brings you sneaking and snooping around the cabin in the middle of the day?" His former apprentice asked lightly. There was a small smile on his face, but Halt could see by his eyes that he was tired.

He shrugged. "Just came to visit, I suppose. I just finished my patrolling around the fief and completed my report to the Commandant - Oh stop, don't give me that look." He rolled his eyes when Will widened his eyes and gave him a baffled look at the news of him doing his job competently.

"Finishing a report in a timely fashion?" Will looked impressed. "I take one week off to be with my family and suddenly you have become a new person. Who are you and what have you done with my father?"

"Relax yourself," Halt snorted. "I'm much better at reports than you. I just need a couple of extra days, you procrastinate until the last possible moment."

"That's…" Will hesitated. He about denied it, then remembered the time he wrote a five-page report twenty minutes before the mail carrier arrived. "...probably correct."

"Of course it is. You are Will Treaty, the master procrastinator."

Will opened his mouth to retort, but his daughter took that moment to shift around in his arms and his attention was instantly diverted. Her face scrunched and her head turned from side to side, and for a moment it looked like she would wake up. Her hands came up to violently rub her eyes, but when Will held her tiny fists away to stop her from accidentally scratching herself, she settled, stilling and burying her face into her father with a sigh.

Will blinked, unsure of her sudden movements. He clicked his tongue and shrugged. "She must be upset that you're being mean to me."

"Perhaps," Halt said, standing up to attend to the coffee pot. Moving away also served to hide his smile. "Or maybe she got excited at hearing absolute truths for once."

"Hmm..." Will ignored the jab. He stroked his daughter's cheek gently with the back of his finger, contemplating whether to wake her up or not. Judging by the position of the sun they had been asleep for about two hours, which wasn't much, but she had already napped a few hours earlier. If he woke her up now, he could feed her and let her play and then put her down again in time for when Alyss came back from work. One thing he wasn't sure of was if it was a good idea to wake a baby from sleep.

He was working it all in his mind when Halt walked back in with two steaming cups of coffee in his hand. His mentor placed one cup down and held the other out to him, and Will made his decision. He gently set his daughter down on the cushion beside him, tucking her in a way that she didn't fall, and took the cup from Halt.

With her asleep, he could talk peacefully with Halt without the constant distraction of watching over his infant.

"How is life as a father?" Halt smiled, giving him a meaningful look. He did not have to hear the thoughts to know that Will had made a couple dozen quick decisions in his head in just the few minutes he had gone to get the coffee.

The younger Ranger chuckled, taking the first sip of his coffee. "It's been the hardest thing I've had to do in my life."

Halt raised an eyebrow. "The hardest?"

"Yes," Will nodded sagely. "I know it sounds ridiculous but it's true. Not because caring for a baby is hard - I've gotten used to the routine of it all, and Alyss does most of the work - but because I'm completely out of my element. I don't know what I'm doing"

"You have been doing very well, Will," Halt said softly. He said it to comfort his friend, but also because he believed it wholeheartedly.

Since Neveah was born, Will had become an exceptional hands-on father and a supportive husband. For someone who had never experienced anything like that in his life, Halt was warmed by it, because he knew Will had also never experienced anything like it as an orphan. "I'm sure every parent doesn't know what they are doing, but you've managed to keep your child happy and healthy. That's important. You can't be too hard on yourself, you know."

Will took a sip of his coffee, raising his eyes eyebrows with a conceding expression. He had heard those words many times, and only partially listened to the advice. "I'm not trying to be hard on myself, but with no guidance…" Will shrugged, setting his cup down. "So far, everything has been okay. Neveah makes things easy because she's just a little sweet angel." Halt smiled at that and could see the untrammeled love in Will's eyes as he gazed at his sleeping daughter and the sigh that escaped his chest. "I just hope that when she grows up, and I'm not around as much as I should be because of my Ranger duties, that I have done enough in our time together. Taught her enough, guided her enough, loved her enough...you know?"

"I know," Halt replied, the warmth he felt could be heard in his words.

Will could feel it, and he felt better. He smiled then, speaking in a lighter tone. "Tell me about your week than? I heard you threw another incompetent noble into a moat?"

Halt smirked. "A fountain, actually." Will laughed.

And for the next hour, Will and Halt spoke about the goings on in their lives and around the fief, comfortable in each other's presence. The conversation went from Halt's Ranger duties to the gossiping drama at Castle Redmont that had Will "losing brain cells, I swear", to the two men's home life, to some diplomatic news Halt heard from Pauline about Hibernia, to what to cook for dinner.

They could have gone on and on without any recollection of the time. It was why Halt had come to visit Will in the first place. Spending time with his apprentice is relaxed situations like these made it seem like there was no time at all.

I wrote more for this fic, but it was starting to center around Will's baby and that wasn't the point. Babies are just cute and Will deserves one.