Yay, new one shot! Not sure why I decided to write this, but the idea just came to me, so I'm just gonna roll with it. Main characters in this are Baird and Sam, and is set about 3 years after Gears of War 3. Be warned, this might be a bit longer than my normal one shots, but please strap in and enjoy!
Damon Baird pulled up to the Stroud estate with Samantha Byrne sitting next to him in their car. Marcus Fenix and Anya Stroud had called them for a favor, and Sam was personally excited while Baird just wanted to get it over with.
They both got out of the car and Marcus was standing in the driveway to greet them. "Hey Marcus," Sam said, bursting with joy while Baird was grabbing something from the backseat of the car.
Marcus nodded at her and directed them both towards the main house once Baird was done in the backseat.
Anya was standing in the doorway and immediately hugged Sam. "We haven't seen you guys in months!" Sam exclaimed, hugging her friend.
Basis shook Anya's hand and she smiled at him. "Come on in," Anya said. "He's in his room."
Anya and Marcus walked with Sam and Baird down a long hallway until they reached the end of it. Anya opened the door and a happy gurgling came from it.
Anya walked into the room and picked up her and Marcus' 10 month old son, James Dominic Fenix, or JD for short, and smiled at him. "Thank you so much for agreeing to watch him," she said. "Marcus and I need to go to New Ephyra to do some things and should be back in two days."
Anya then handed JD to Sam and Sam smiled at him. "No problem love," Sam said happily. "But before you leave, can I talk to you privately?"
"Sure. Marcus, can you watch James while we talk?"
Marcus grunted and took JD from Sam. Once the two women left the nursery, Baird looked at Marcus. "Can I tell you something Marcus?" Baird asked.
"You already said you'd stay, so no backing out of it," Marcus replied.
"No, I wanted to say thank you."
Marcus looked at Baird questionably as he put JD in his playpen. "You hit your head or something?" Marcus asked.
"No, not at all. Sam's been talking to me ever since JD was born about how much she wants kids. I'm hoping this weekend will change that. Once she sees how much trouble kids are, she'll change her mind and then it can be just the two of us again."
"Thought Sam couldn't have kids?"
"Yeah, neither could Anya, though. Still not quite sure what happened there, but Sam had herself tested recently and she still can't have any. But she's been talking about adoption recently, and she's not too happy that I'm not enthused."
Marcus looked at Baird completely unamused and said, "Whatever you want Baird."
Sam and Anya then walked into the room and Baird said, "Here's some toys I made for the little guy." He then directed their attention towards the boxes that Baird had brought in with him.
"Thank you Baird," Anya said. "We'll open them before we leave."
A few hours later, Sam and Baird are standing in the driveway, with Sam holding JD in her arms. "We'll be back in two days," Anya said. "There should be enough formula in the fridge to last a week, but if you somehow run out, there's also baby food in the cabinets."
"We'll be fine love," Sam said. "Now go on. You have a lot to do."
Anya leaned forward and kissed JD on the forehead. "Bye bye Sweetie," she said sweetly, stroking JD'S hair. "Mommy and Daddy will be back soon. Be nice for Uncle Baird and Auntie Sam."
"Bye James," Marcus said, kissing JD's forehead as well.
Marcus and Anya then got into the car and Sam grabbed JD's arm to make him wave goodbye.
The three of them watched as Anya and Marcus drove away, and once the car was out of sight, they all walked back into the house, with Sam still holding JD.
As they walked inside Sam sat down on a couch and placed JD on her lap while she bounced him up and down.
Baird looked at them and flashed her a Baird smirk, and Sam immediately noticed. "What the hell is so funny Blondie?" she asked, the irritation in her voice not unheard.
"Nothing," Baird said. "Just that what you're doing is supposed to be done by father's."
"You sexist asshole."
"Hey, watch your mouth! There's kids here!" Baird then moved towards her and mockingly covered JD's ears.
"Whatever. You're still a sexist pig."
"You say that like it's a new revelation."
Sam opened her mouth to counter that when JD suddenly started crying on Sam's lap. Sam picked him up and started to shush him, but the infant continued to cry.
"I think he might be hungry," Sam said, walking with JD towards the kitchen. Baird followed her and helped her grab a bottle from the fridge since her hands were full with the crying and now squirming JD.
He handed her the bottle and watched as JD drank the formula and stopped crying. Sam smiled at the baby boy and looked up at Baird. "We could have this you know," she said, her voice somehow sweet and pleading at the same time. "We could make it so JD has a friend to grow up with."
Baird went silent, a rarity for him, and then he looked at JD. "I think he's done," Baird said, looking at JD.
Sam looked and saw that the bottle was now empty, so she stood up from the chair she was sitting in. "Can you hold him for a bit while I wash the bottle?" she asked, attempting to hand JD over to Baird.
Baird hesitated for a minute before holding JD by his armpits, and held the infant far away from him with his arms extended.
After Sam walked away Baird smirked a bit at JD, and the baby giggled. "You are kind of cute, you know that?" Baird asked the infant, not expecting a response.
JD looked at Baird for a minute before spitting up undigested milk all over the blonde mechanic's shirt. "Ugh, yuck!" Baird said, holding the baby further away from him.
JD then started to cry, confused by why the bright haired man had started yelling. Sam ran towards them and took JD from Baird. "What happened?!" she exclaimed, shushing JD.
"The kid threw up on me!" Baird exclaimed, looking at the mess on his shirt.
Sam continued to shush the baby boy and even rocked him in her arms a bit. "It's okay Honey," she said sweetly. "You're alright. That bad man didn't mean to yell at you."
"You're taking his side?!" Baird yelled in anger.
"Baird, hush. He's ten months old. It's not like he knows any better."
JD then stopped crying and Baird glared at him. "I'm gonna go get a new friggin shirt," he said, walking away in a huff. Despite how quickly he walked away, though, he could still hear Sam laughing from the kitchen.
About ten minutes later, Baird was walking around the massive house to find JD and Sam and he eventually found them in the nursery. The nursery was surprisingly cheerful for having been painted by Marcus. The walls were a very faint light blue with white on the bottom, separated by a thick molding. There were pictures hanging from the walls, mostly of JD and his parents, but also some of the exotic scenery Sera used to have before Emergence Day.
Sam was standing above JD and holding his arms up so that he was standing on his legs. "What are you doing?" Baird asked, the sarcasm still strong in his voice.
"Anya said he's old enough to start walking soon, and she likes to do this to encourage him," Sam said.
Baird sat down in the rocking chair and watched as Sam played with JD, smirking. "What exactly are you smirking at this time?" Sam asked, an annoyed expression on her face.
"You look like a mom doing that," Baird commented. "You know that, right?"
"Maybe because I want to be one."
"Oh, God, not this again!"
"Why not? You always manage to duck out of the conversation Blondie, but not this time."
Almost as if on cue, JD started fussing in Sam's grasp, making her pick him up. She then sniffed the air and looked at JD, who was giggling. "Don't think this gets you out of that conversion Blondie," Sam said, placing JD on the changing table in the nursery. "Now hand me a diaper and that teddy on the floor."
Later on that evening, Baird was watching as Sam fed JD another bottle for his dinner and then burped him without getting spit up on herself.
They then went into the nursery and Sam sat on the floor with JD, rolling a ball back and forth with him. Baird watched as the infant was completely mesmerised by the ball, and how much Sam was delighting in him.
JD then yawned for a second and Sam picked him up. "I think it's time the little bugger gets to bed," she said, rocking him in her arms.
Baird put his arm around Sam's shoulders as she started to sing a song to JD. Baird had never heard the song before, but Sam sang it so beautifully that it made him curious.
As Sam finished the song, JD yawned again as he closed his eyes and fell asleep in Sam's arms. She carefully set the baby down, careful not to wake him.
She and Baird excited the room, with Basis turning off the lights and gently closing the door. "Where did you learn that song?" Baird asked just outside of the room, his voice still hushed.
"My mum sang it to me as a kid," Sam said, her voice quiet as well, but for different reasons.
"Sorry to ask."
Sam took a deep breath and sighed. "It's alright," she said, smiling a bit. "She loved me so much. I just wish she was still around to see all this. A world without war. Me happy."
"I'm sure she would have loved it. Now come on, let's get to sleep."
Sam groaned as JD's crying echoed through the baby monitor and through their bedroom.
"Blondie," Sam said, nudging the mechanic with her shoulder. Baird groaned lightly and she nudged him again. "Baird, get up!"
Baird rolled over with a loud groan and looked at Sam, eyes winced in annoyance. "What?" he said, the sleep still strongly embedded in his voice.
"Go calm down JD love."
"Why don't you do it?"
Sam then glared at him and shoved him out of the bed. "Because I got him the last three times. Now go!"
Baird grumbled as he got up off of the ground and walked towards the nursery. He opened the door and heard JD crying and turned on the light. "Hey kid," Baird said, still miffed he had to be woken up. "Be quiet."
JD ignored the blonde and continued to cry, even increasing his volume a bit. Baird sighed and picked up JD, holding him the way he saw Sam holding him earlier.
"Come on kid, go back to sleep," Baird begged, even shaking his arms a bit in a attempt to calm the infant down.
JD continued to cry and Baird realized that the baby probably wanted something. He considered the possibilities. His nose wasn't complaining at all, so clearly JD didn't need a new diaper. Baird had heard Sam give him a bottle the last time she got up, so that wasn't a possibility either.
"Do you want a story?" Baird asked, thinking he wouldn't get a response besides crying. To his surprise, the infant did respond a bit by whimpering and moving his arms towards the rocking chair, indicating he wanted to be rocked as well.
Baird sighed and sat down in the rocking chair, using his feet to move the chair. "Alright, do you want to hear about the time that your Uncle Cole and I were almost arrested?"
JD had stopped crying all together, his eyes wide with fascination. Baird knew that this kid had already heard several stories about the adventures of Delta Squad by his parents, so he decided to branch out and tell the story of Kilo Squad.
"Alright, so a long time ago, there was a big bad Locust named General Karn that was going to hurt a lot of people in a real pretty city named Halvo Bay."
Baird then pointed to the picture of Halvo Bay on wall to show JD. "Me and a group of friends, including your Uncle Cole, had a plan to stop Karn with a big missile. But according to our boss, Colonel Loomis, we weren't supposed to use it. It was supposed to be used for a bigger threat. But everybody agreed that we should go against Loomis and fire the missile anyways.
"We fired the missile and wanted to make sure Karn was gone, but Loomis and his men arrested us. Loomis put us all on trial during the middle of a big battle, and we weren't allowed to fight at all. Just as Loomis was about to shoot me, the Locust came through the doors and started hurting people. My friends and I all escaped and managed to save Loomis's life.
"We found out that General Karn was still alive, but we all managed to take him out, making all of the Locust retreat. Loomis was so happy that he didn't die that he decided to let us off and we all lived happily ever after."
Baird looked down and saw that JD was asleep in his arms and carefully got up and put JD in his crib. Baird looked at the sleeping baby and smiled a bit. "That was lovely Blondie," Sam said from the doorway, making Baird jump.
"Jeez!" he exclaimed. JD stirred a bit when Baird said this, and he quickly ducked out of the room before the baby could wake up.
Once they were outside of the nursery, Sam smiled at him. "Good story," she said, smirking.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever," Baird responded. "I just thought of something that would get the kid to sleep. I think it worked, though. Until you scared me and almost woke up the kid again."
Sam walked up to him and pecked him on the cheek and said, "Good job. Now let's get some sleep."
The next day, Sam was sitting on the floor, playing with JD. They were rolling a ball back and forth with each other until Sam got up. "I'm gonna get some water," she said to Baird, who was sitting on the couch in front of them. "Want anything?"
"I'll pass."
Sam walked away and Baird looked down at JD, who was staring wide eyed at him. Baird looked around the walls at some of the pictures. The biggest one was of Anya and Marcus on their wedding day, with Anya in a beautiful flowing white dress and Marcus in a tuxedo and for once, without his do rag. This made Baird chuckle a bit since, without the do rag, Marcus' hair was rather puffy.
Baird looked back at JD and saw the baby standing on two legs. He looked back at the pictures and then-
Baird quickly looked back at JD, and sure enough, his eyes didn't deceive him and JD was standing on his own. He was about to take his first steps.
"Sam!" Baird yelled. "You might want to get back here!"
"In a minute Blondie!" Sam yelled from the kitchen. "Just watch him!"
"I mean it! Get your ass in here!"
Sam walked into the room and looked at Baird, clearly miffed. "What the hell is so important Blondie?!" she yelled at him.
Baird didn't even look at her, but instead pointed at JD. Sam looked where Baird's attention was and where he was pointing and gasped.
JD looked up at both of them and moved his right foot, and then his left foot. "JD!" Sam exclaimed. "You're walking!"
Baird smirked a bit as JD clumsily walked towards them. Sam had her arms out to him, but he completely ignored her and moved towards the other person in the room.
"Woah, woah, woah kid," Baird said, watching as JD moved towards him. "Go on, go to her."
JD continued towards Baird, seemingly ignoring his request. He walked towards Baird until he fell over onto the mechanic's boots. Baird picked him up and smiled a bit.
Sam looked at them and smiled at the entire scene, and Baird took notice. He placed JD back on the ground and watched as he stood again. "Go on," he said, giving him a light shove on the back towards Sam. "Go to her."
JD continued toddling towards Sam, giggling the entire time. When he got to her, Sam laughed and picked him up. "Good job Sweetie!" Sam exclaimed, ruffling JD's hair.
Baird looked at them and smiled. "Yeah," he said quietly to himself. "Good job kid."
The next day, Sam and Baird were standing outside with JD being held by Sam as a truck pulled up. Anya exited the truck and Sam set JD on the ground. "Go on," she said, shoving JD on his back lightly.
The baby then walked clumsily over to Anya and she put her hands over her mouth. "James!" she exclaimed. "You're walking!"
JD giggled as he fell onto Anya's feet and she picked him up. "When did this happen?" she asked, walking towards Sam.
"Yesterday," Sam said. "Little bugger stood up when I was in the kitchen and walked straight over to Blondie here."
Baird chuckled awkwardly a bit while rubbing the back of his head. Marcus exited the truck and looked over to Baird. "Did you get what you wanted?" Marcus asked the mechanic.
"Something like that," Baird said.
"Hello?" Sam asked. "Earth to Baldie."
Baird shook his head and looked at his special lady friend. It was now twenty two years in the future and they were in their house in New Ephyra together. "What happened?" Baird asked, confused.
"You dazed off and had that look in your eyes again."
Sam then grabbed the back of his now bald head and pulled him in for a kiss. "What were you thinking about?" she asked him.
"The past," Baird replied vaguely.
"Good past or bad past?"
"Any past that had you in it was a good past. I was thinking about that time we had to watch JD."
"That was over twenty years ago. What made you think of that?"
"Mainly the events of today. It feels so weird to see JD running around with a Lancer."
"Is that the only reason you thought about that?"
"Okay, there might be other reasons."
"Talk to me."
"Do you have any regrets?"
The question took Sam aback a bit and she looked at him confusingly. "What do you mean?"
"Is there anything in your life you wish you could have done differently?"
"I'm still not following."
"Do you want me to spell it out for you Sam? Do you wish we had kids together?"
Sam gasped slightly at the question and thought got a moment before answering, "No."
"Come again?"
"I said I don't regret it."
"But you always talked about how you wanted kids."
"But not at the expense of losing you. And besides, you know I can't have kids."
"Neither could Anya, but JD is here."
"JD is a miracle baby. I know I couldn't have had kids."
"There are other ways of having kids you know. We could have adopted or something."
"Listen to me close Baird. I don't regret a single moment I spent with you. I love you, and I always will, so I also respect your wishes. I knew you didn't want kids, and I didn't want to drive you away. I chose you over having kids, and I'm happy I made that choice everyday. Okay?"
Baird thought about the question before smirking at Sam. He pulled her onto the bed he was sitting on and she exclaimed in alarm. They kissed each other passionately while removing each other's clothes.
He pulled away from her kiss and said, "Okay Sam."
THE END
I had quite a bit of fun writing this story, and it feels good to actually finish a story for once. Baird and Sam always seemed like a cute couple in my eyes, and Gears of War 4, along with Gears 5, made me think about whether or not Sam and Baird had kids together. Since there were no children of Sam and Baird mentioned, I assumed they never had any. But I thought that Sam might have wanted them, but I also knew that there was no way that Baird would want kids due to his terrible childhood. So this story came into existence.
And just as an FYI, the reason that I didn't write Sam's lullaby like I do for all of my other stories is for two reasons. Number One: I listened to hours of lullaby music and honestly couldn't find a song that would match Sam's voice.
Number Two: I wanted this song to be a song that people could relate to. Sam's lullaby that her mother sang to her can be whatever you want. If you grew up with a lullaby as a child that your parents always sang to you, that can be Sam's lullaby. If you ever heard a beautiful lullaby and thought it was the greatest thing ever, that is Sam's lullaby. Sam's lullaby can be whatever you want it to be and I thought that would be a pretty good idea. I personally think of Song of the Sea, the lullaby that the movie was based on, but that's just me. The song can be whatever you want it to be.
Anyways, I think that this ending card has gone on far too long, so with that note, thank you so much for reading this story and I hope you enjoy it. Please leave a comment, I love reading them! Bye!