Summary: When certain circumstances arise, Bashir and Garak end up looking after the youngest members of the O'Brien family.
"Garak, do you have a blue whale?"
"I thought that Terran whales were grey or black with accents of white…and why are you specifying the color?"
"Because the dolphins are grey in this deck. Do you have a whale?"
"Go fish, doctor."
With a sigh, Julian reached for the next card in the pile on the table.
"Very well, my turn…" The tailor made a short show of shuffling through the cards in his hand though his eidetic Cardassian memory had already absorbed the information on each card. "Molly, do you have a crocodile?"
"Ooooh!" Molly gave a disappointed moan as she gave up the cheerfully grinning green reptile.
"Courage, my dear. You're still beating the doctor. Now-"
Garak cut off his next question as the doors to the quarters slid open.
Keiko and Miles O'Brien came upon the most unlikely scene. Garak, Bashir, and Molly sat cross-legged on the carpet with Molly's small plastic play table at the center of their circle. It held two stacks of cards on the surface and several matches of animals were placed before each player.
As the parents entered the room, the doctor and the tailor started guiltily as if they had been caught doing something underhanded. Molly immediately leapt up and her cards scattered as she ran forward to greet her parents.
The two crouched adults rose more slowly. Bashir thought he heard Garak's knees give a loud cracking sound. They were both older than the typical age suited for squatting on floors.
Miles's expression was inscrutable, no doubt wondering if a couple of hours were enough for Garak to thoroughly corrupt his daughter. The thought made Bashir take a step forward and put himself between his friends.
"Molly wanted to play Go Fish, but we didn't have enough players to make it an exciting game. Garak was good enough to volunteer while he was returning a book to me." Bashir drew himself up to his full height.
"I beg your pardon for the intrusion." Elim took a step around the doctor, indicating that he had the matter handled. He shot his friend a brief glance that held a glimmer of amusement.
Former operative of the Obsidian Order, Julian thought...right…
"You're not intruding at all! It sounds like a fun game. Did you have a good time, sweetie?" Kieko turned to her daughter, smiling.
"I beat Julian!" Molly seemed very proud of herself.
"You did?" her father said enthusiastically. "Well done! You're an O'Brien all right."
Bashir smirked. He was relieved that Miles had not lost his decorum in regards to Garak. The engineer could tease the doctor as much as he liked but Julian was adamant that the Cardassian was not going to suffer any discourtesy directed towards him. It was Julian who had persuaded Garak to join him in the first place.
"Thank you for looking after Molly, and thank you, Garak, for keeping Julian in line."
Wait…what?
"It was a pleasure, Chief. Well doctor, it's nearly time for supper and I really must try the new Bajoran restaurant on the promenade. Perhaps you'll accompany me?"
The human blinked at him. "Errr…sure."
"Wonderful! Have a pleasant evening." Elim gave a little bow to the O'Briens and steered the befuddled doctor out into the hallway.
As Julian was led through the habitat ring accompanied by a steady stream of Cardassian chatter, he tried to determine just how he and Garak had gotten away with babysitting an O'Brien together. He had been expecting arguments, objections. What a strange universe it was to entrust young children to their combined care.
The second time Garak had looked after a youth had been at an art festival. Ordinarily, Elim's outfits would have been center stage to such an occasion, but there was a small drawback to the event. It was a Bajoran festival, and all other races and species were excluded except for the appreciation and purchase of Bajoran creations.
Quark's had a table set up on the upper level for banner painting. For a small fee, anyone could contribute to the temporary decorations that would adorn the interior and exterior of the bar. The proceeds went to Vedic temple charities.
Garak had invited Ziyal to work on the banners with him. He knew of her passionate love for the arts and he did not wish for her to feel cut off from her people's customs because of her hybrid status. She informed him that she would already be attending the event. She was babysitting Molly with the help of Jake Sisko while the O'Briens went about their duties. Keiko had to give a short welcoming speech and Miles had to attend to an urgent docking problem. Ziyal was well loved by Molly and the Cardassian treated her as a younger sibling.
Elim met with her at the booth on the promenade amidst the jewelry sellers and sculptors. She had Molly in tow. The child clutched at Ziyal's long pastel blue dress and looked around with wonderment.
"Garak!" Molly gave an excited call.
"Hello, my dears. How are we today?" The Cardassian exchanged a brief palm press with Ziyal.
"I want to paint!" The youngest O'Brien seemed impatient, but Ziyal smiled in understanding.
"We will in a moment. Look, the booth is just over there."
Molly practically vibrated with youthful anticipation. Garak handed Molly the latinum slips for their painting fee and instructed her to give it to the Bajoran presiding over the booth. Ziyal squeezed his hand in thankfulness.
They were given a banner divided into sections. It was non-digitized, an old fashioned painting method that suited Molly's hands-on approach. Garak briefly advised her on some ideas for her painting and they got to work. Ziyal created flower outlines that she let Molly color in with her paint. Garak drew a quick and abstracted portrait of the emissary. He had determined that the best way to improve his people's relations with this event was to cater to typical Bajoran subject matter.
Molly took her time on her piece, learning to make slow and purposeful marks with Ziyal's help. The young O'Brien soon discovered the delights of finger painting, much to their dismay. After pressing her fingers to the banner, she turned to them and asked in the sweetest most angelic voice if she could paint their faces. She had seen Bajoran face painting at the last festival and she wished to explore it further. After some debate, they caved and let her highlight their ridges with yellow and Ziyal was given an additional abstracted flower on her cheek.
Elim had never been on the receiving end of such innocent and childish contact and it warmed him in an indescribable way. For a brief moment in time he felt the temptation others might feel in the need to have a child. He considered what it would be like to care for a morally uncomplex being, to raise them as one's own and teach them about the universe. As warm fingers dotted his brow with sunny yellow, he closed his eyes and smiled.
"Well, don't you look nice."
Elim opened his eyes to see his doctor friend grinning gleefully at him.
"You did a fantastic job, Molly."
Elim huffed a laugh. "I would not be so quick to comment, doctor. You may be chosen as the next painting surface."
It was then that Keiko appeared and came to collect her daughter, thanking Ziyal and Garak for their assistance. Keiko wore her best silk dress and her hair was bound tightly up. She carefully wiped off Molly's colorful fingers with a damp towlette. Molly pointed out the most interesting booths to visit next and the mother and daughter left them to converse.
Bashir gave his friends a clean cloth from the painting station to attend to their faces. Elim handed it off to his younger Cardassian friend.
"You know, I think I might leave the paint on for the day. It brings out my best features and young Molly wouldn't wish for her work to be destroyed."
"I'm going to leave my paint on too." Ziyal put the towel back.
Bashir shrugged. "Well, it's your faces. I'm surprised Molly didn't go all out on decorating you both."
"Fortunately, she was collected before we became canvases to her whims. Now, may I treat you both to some traditional ring bread? There was a dough baking booth just by the Bajoran fruit seller."
"I would enjoy that." Ziyal smiled and took his arm in preparation to be led down the promenade.
The doctor grinned as he walked alongside them. He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at the tailor.
"Are you sure I'm not intruding?"
"My dear doctor, the moment I feel inconvenienced by escorting and feeding two attractive young people, I will let you know."
Julian smirked and Elim beamed.
The third time that Garak and Bashir had gotten caught up in the role of caring for a child had been when Yoshi needed a vaccination. It took a matter of seconds to perform. Miles handed him off to Julian and let his friend take him to the infirmary where the precious medicine was kept. The doctor had patiently let Miles drape a bag with infant emergency materials over his shoulder despite the doctor's protestations that he would only have Yoshi for a few minutes. The medicine was off the distribution list, so he could not bring the hypospray with him.
After a hypo to the neck and shoulder area, Yoshi was ready to be taken back. The baby was somewhat squirmy after the treatment, but not hungry. Bashir had tried tempting him with a bottle to no avail. Holding a discontented little O'Brien, Julian crossed the crowded promenade.
"Doctor! Oh, it looks as if you have a friend with you."
Garak came up beside him as Julian readjusted his hold. The Cardassian's expression was unusually soft as he watched the doctor bounce the fitful baby in his arms.
"Kirayoshi, I believe. Such a peculiar name…but fitting…is that your satchel beeping?"
The doctor grumbled as he heard a telltale whirring and chirping sound of a device on his person.
"Here, hold him for a minute while I fix my tricorder settings. It must have gotten bumped in my bag."
The Cardassian suddenly had his arms full of heavy human baby. Elim supported the child in an awkward approximation of the proper position until the doctor adjusted his hold. Julian reached downward and fumbled in the interior of the satchel.
The infant made a small discontented squawking sound, as if sensing the sudden transference. Yoshi was about to start laughing or crying, likely the latter. The Cardassian handled the situation in the only way he knew how.
Julian found his beeping tricorder. It had been switched on to a scanning setting. It was likely that the baby bottle had set it off when it knocked against it. He really should shut off his medical tricorder more often to prevent-
A clicking sound pulled him away from his thoughts. He heard a soft voice making guttural clicks and soothing hums. Julian recognized the language of Kardasi. He froze, tricorder in hand.
His Cardassian friend held the infant with care and spoke softly to him in his native tongue. Elim was smiling as he cooed at the baby. He glanced over briefly.
"Did you manage to shut off your tricorder, doctor?"
"Errr…in a minute."
Julian turned off the device and stuffed it back into his bag. He reached for Kirayoshi again. Garak hesitated before handing the infant back, giving a little parting caress to the baby's brow. He traced his fingertips over the top of the child's eyebrow area and the center of the forehead with a serene smile. With the baby in his custody again, Julian turned his attention to his friend.
"You were speaking in Kardasi."
Elim nodded. "Yes. It seems that I instinctively revert to my native language while I'm around hatchlings."
"Hatchlings?" Julian looked pensive as he rocked Yoshi. "Oh, Cardassians must call their babies that shortly after they leave their eggs. Yoshi must seem large compared to the infants you're used to holding."
Cardassian babies were tiny and fragile after they kicked their way out of the egg. Hybrid Cardassians developed in a way that was suitable for live birth, but full-blooded Cardassian infants entered the world after being encased in a shell. They were spiny and clawed at that age too, lending them extra protection and means of escaping the egg. As they grew larger, their scales and ridges smoothed out until the adult's scales were silky smooth but hard and difficult to damage.
"Doctor, just how many infant children do you think I would have the opportunity to hold? I'm not exactly the most popular shopkeeper on this station and while I was on Cardassia…I hardly think an operative would be trusted to care for hatchlings."
"For a Cardassian who never holds babies you certainly have a way with them. I think Yoshi's about to fall asleep."
The infant had stopped squirming. After several sleepy blinks and gurgles, Yoshi drifted off to dreamland in the doctor's arms.
"I'd better get him to Miles. I'll see you at lunch tomorrow."
"Until tomorrow then."
Bashir set off with a smooth stride in an effort to not wake his charge. Garak watched the two younglings leave and felt a surge of affection for both of them. Humans were adorable in their own mammalian way. He felt very fortunate to be well acquainted with them.
The End