I know it has been a while since I first came out with this, but I still keep getting alerts and reviews. That and I was inspired after the latest episode, Complications.
"I was just mad you weren't there to babysit your niece." ;)
So on to Surprise part 2. Get ready for some laughs. And I do not own these characters at all no matter how many times I borrow them…
Cries broke the silence of the early morning. Artemis turned her face into the pillow and groaned. "How in the world did Jade have the patience to care for a baby?" She grumpily mumbled.
The blonde sluggishly rolled out of bed and with heavy steps, began her trek to the spare bedroom quickly transformed for the special delivery dropped off unexpectedly the night before. Artemis froze and widened her eyes as the cries suddenly stopped. Her sister would kill her if anything happened to her daughter. She quickly made a beeline to the baby's room, her heart racing. Artemis stopped in the doorway to see Wally holding her niece, slowly rocking her back and forth in his arms. He looked up and smiled as Artemis neared.
"Seems like all Lian wanted was some company." He whispered. The baby indeed had droopy eyelids as she held tightly on Wally's finger with her tiny hand. If Artemis wasn't so tired, she would have awed at the sight. She leaned against the wall behind Wally, stifling a yawn.
"Go back to bed." He told her, not taking his eyes off the baby in his arms. "You were up late the other night studying for your big exam. I got her."
Artemis sighed before leaning over to give him a soft kiss on the cheek. "You're a lifesaver."
He grinned as he softly added, "Among other things,"
Artemis rolled her tired eyes and lightly nudged him before walking out. She turned back to watch Wally gently place Lian back down in the crib. Artemis never imagined him this good with kids since he was an only child and had a few cousins that she knew of. She shook her head of the oncoming thoughts before they could intrude farther. Her lack of sleep was beginning to lead to imagining more kids which she did not even want to think about. Artemis passed out as soon as she hit the soft pillow.
The sun's rays leaked through the curtains, giving Artemis an unwanted wake-up call. She blinked a few times, taking in the calmness of the morning. her phone beeped on the nightstand. Artemis picked it up and examined the message from Zatanna, confirming the time and asking if it was alright to bring a friend when they got together later. Artemis texted back that it was fine before leaning back into the pillow.
She stared at the ceiling, thinking of things to do later when unrecognizable gibberish was heard from the other room. Artemis' eyes widened in realization as she shot up. "Great," she mumbled, hurrying out of bed. She peeked into the other room to see Lian sitting up and babbling happily away. Artemis groaned and leaned her head on the door frame.
"What is it?" Wally asked quizzily as he approached her from the kitchen, bowl of cereal in hand.
"I forgot about Zatanna coming over."
Wally stared at her as he took another bite, not sure why she was concerned. "I'm sure you can come up with something to do. There are many places around—"
Artemis shook her head. "How are we supposed to explain the baby practically left at our doorstep… so to speak?"
Wally drank the milk and zipped over to put the bowl in the sink before he answered. "The truth. That you're taking care of your niece. Which by the way, when is Jade coming back?"
"Probably a couple of days, but that's not the point." Artemis replied, nearly flailing her arms.
"Look, it's not like we suddenly inherited a baby for good." Artemis looked at Wally incredulously for even mentioning the idea. Lian by now had noticed the couple and happily giggled, reaching her arms out.
"Tell you what," Wally began as he headed over to pick the baby up, "Let me run to the store and get a few things before Zatanna gets here. When is that?"
"10,"
"Good," Wally grinned as he handed the baby over. "And I think someone is ready for a diaper change." He sped off into the bedroom and seconds later emerged dressed in his casual clothes. "Have fun. I won't be long." Wally grabbed the keys and was gone.
Artemis sighed and went for the bag Jade left, pulling out a diaper. She paused, taking whiff and reaching for the baby wipes. "I'm so not cut out for this," She said aloud as she held Lian out at arms length and headed to the bathroom.
After a morning of messes involving breakfast and emptied out shelves and cabinets (of which Artemis could not fathom what the baby could have been looking for while pulling everything out she could reach all over the apartment), Artemis just let Lian pound on a couple pots with a wooden spoon to her heart's desire, giving her aunt a migraine. At least Lian was happy and staying out of things at the moment. Artemis finished stacking back up the books on the shelf when the pounding and laughter ceased. She sighed in relief for her ears and head until she peeked around the corner to see the baby not with her kitchen drumset.
"Lian," She called out, searching around. "Where are you?"
The front door opened and Wally came in with a few bags in his hands. "Sorry, the lines were long. How are you holding up?"
"Fine," she replied, still looking. "Just trying to find Lian."
He almost dropped his bags. "You lost her?!"
Artemis was about to respond when she saw Lian a mere second before the baby tossed something towards her. Artemis dodged just in time, but it hit Wally smack in the forehead. Lian giggled and clapped her hands in delight.
"Found her," Artemis said with a small smile.
The speedster looked down at the small object now at his feet. "At least it was only a wooden spoon." He mumbled as he walked into the kitchen, stepping over the scattered mess to place the grocery bags on the counter. "She is definitely your sister's child."
Artemis continued to straighten things up as Wally started unpacking. Lian crawled over and tugged at his pants leg with a smile. Wally couldn't help returning it as he dug in deep to one of the bags, pulling out a small striped stuffed cat. He leaned over and picked Lian up, giving her the cat.
"Uncle Wally got you a little gift. This better make up for the spoon you threw at me." He added. She looked at him and gave a wide playful smile. Lian threw the cat at his face and giggled, Wally shaking his head and smiling anyway as he bent over to pick the cat back up. Lian this time snuggled the little stuffed animal.
Artemis watched the two for a while. "I am very surprised by you Baywatch."
He looked up at her. "What? Kids like me."
Artemis picked up the spoon from near the door and held it up. "Yeah, I can tell." She put the utensil on the counter. He shrugged it off and looked down at the baby in his arms who could barely keep her eyes open.
"Looks like you wore her out." Wally remarked.
"More like the other way around." Artemis added, leaning against the counter.
Wally went to lay her down right before there was a knock at the front door. "Just in time," Artemis mumbled as she went to answer it. She was greeted by a wide smile and a hug.
"It's good to see you again Artemis," Zatanna replied.
"You too Zee," Artemis answered. The blonde paused once she noticed her friend standing behind with a big grin. "I should have figured that you invited Dick to come along."
"Of course, why would I miss the opportunity to visit old friends?" The former boy wonder grinned wider as he followed Zatanna in. The two friends paused as they looked around the messy apartment.
"Rearranging the kitchen?" Dick asked with an eyebrow raised. Artemis glanced behind her and nodded.
"Um…yeah. Sure. Just had a bit of a mishap."
"I see. Need help cleaning up?" Zatanna offered.
"Yes, please. Would you?" Artemis hated how that quickly came out as desperate begging, but she was too worn out to care much. Zatanna smiled and said a chant to put everything back in its place. Artemis barely narrowed her eyes at her friend as she slightly smiled. "If only I could cheat like that."
Zatanna smiled brightly. "It helped, didn't it?"
"Yes, thank you."
"So we have some serious catching up to do." The young magician began as she took a seat on the couch along with Dick. "Anything exciting happen recently?"
Artemis took her time to sit in the arm chair beside them. "Well," she began, yet was interrupted by Wally walking back into the room.
"Hey Artemis, looks like she's not ready to go to sleep yet. All she wants to do is play." Zatanna's and Dick's eyes went wide as Wally entered the front room with a baby in his arms. "Oh, hey Zatanna, Dick,"
Zatanna fought herself to speak. "Artemis— I know that we haven't seen each other in a while, but I didn't think it was that long."
Artemis' eyes went wide at their obvious assumption. She put her hands in front of her to stop them. "No, no. It's not what you think. I can explain."
"I hope so," Dick added in, "Because the baby kind of has your eyes and reddish hair."
Wally laughed as he replied, "Believe me, I first wondered the same thing last night."
Artemis glared at Wally before quickly turning back to their friends, giving up. "She's my niece okay. Lian. Jade dropped her off last night and asked that I watched her. I was surprised too to find out about her."
Zatanna eagerly took Lian from Wally once she got over the shock. "She is so cute!"
"So," Dick paused as he peered over Zatanna's shoulder to examine the baby again. "Roy then?"
Artemis and Wally nodded. Dick couldn't help smiling at Lian giggling as Zatanna played with her, taking her little striped cat and continuously tapping her on the nose with it. "Hmm… Good for him." Dick looked like he was about to say something else, but closed his mouth.
The rest of the day passed by quite nicely. Zatanna happily offered to keep Lian entertained, the baby amazed by the magician's little tricks, while the two women chatted about their lives. Wally offered to fix up a few snacks and even refrained from eating too much of them in politeness, much to Dick's teasing. The guys hung out, catching up on some competitive gaming at one point as well.
When it was soon time for their friends to leave, Artemis made the two promise not to tell anyone about Lian yet, until Roy wanted to. Artemis had a feeling that Ollie wasn't aware that he was considered a grandpa yet.
The next day went by smoother than the first. Wally and Artemis had a better handle on taking care of Lian. The blonde was so relieved that her boyfriend was there the whole time to help and was happy to.
By nightfall, the two were utterly exhausted on the couch, practically falling asleep to a kid friendly movie. Artemis had Lian cuddled up in her lap with her new favorite stuffed kitty cat from "Uncle Wally". (Artemis seriously recommended that he dare not say that in front of Jade) Wally himself was leaning against the back of the couch, his mouth opened and eyes closed as he faced the ceiling. That is how they were found a bit later that night.
Artemis barely opened her eyes to check the time when she saw a figure standing directly in front of her. She almost jumped up before recognizing it was Jade with her hands on her hips and a sly smirk on her face.
"Will you ever consider using the front door?" Artemis mumbled. Her sister responded by smiling wider.
"I see she wore you out." Jade glanced over to the now softly snoring Wally on the other side of the couch.
Artemis shifted to sit up, Lian snuggling closer with a fistful of blonde hair in her grasp. Artemis stared down at her niece with a loving smile. "I enjoyed taking care of her." She quietly replied, "She had fun torturing Wally." The ginger moved and slowly began to awake at the sound of his name.
"That's my girl," Jade said proudly.
The mother leaned over to pick up her daughter, Artemis fighting to pull her hair out of her strong grip. Lian blinked slowly with tired eyes as she was passed over. Once she caught sight of her mother, she peacefully smiled and snuggled close to her, still holding her little cat close to her chest. Jade looked curiously at the stuffed animal, but didn't say anything.
Jade shifted Lian closer to hold her with one arm as she picked up her bag. "Glad you had fun because I'm sure I'll need you to babysit your niece sometime again in the near future." Jade winked and took off. "Later sis,"
Artemis tiredly groaned, but smiled. It was tough couple of days, yet the retired archer couldn't wait for the chance to take care of her niece again. Scratch that. She could wait at least a few days to rest up. Artemis leaned back comfortably on the couch and let much needed sleep overtake her.
I don't care. I think Lian's old enough to be crawling since she can say a couple of words already.
I have been an aunt since I was six (an increase of nieces and nephews since then) so I've had tons of experience with little ones that they've even stayed the night in my room on occasion. Not a lot of sleep those nights, but it is ultimately worth it to see them just plain cute. :D
I really like how this turned out. I had loads of fun with this story in general when I really need to update my other story Multiplicity for those of you who are reading that. I'm just on a bit of a block for the next chapter, but hope to have it up Saturday latest. This will probably be only a two shot unless I get more to add. For now, count this as it for this particular story. Thank you so much for reading and don't forget to leave a review!