In celebration of this week's episode, have another. Your feedback has been fantastic, thank you. Enjoy!
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It was late, and they were all clad in pyjamas getting ready for bed, when Amelia started squirming in Jean's arms enough that she eventually handed her over to Lucien. It had become her sure-fire way to calm the baby down, even if only for a moment, and tonight it worked again like a treat.
"I don't know why she's fussing so much today" said Jean.
"Teething, perhaps?" asked Lucien, sticking his finger in her mouth to feel her gums. (Luckily, Jean thought, his hands were clean and free of scientific experiments, or she may have some explaining to do with Christopher). The gums felt firm, but still too soon to tell if a tooth was trying to break.
"Maybe" she answered. "I put a damp face washer in the fridge for her to suck on tomorrow, so we'll see if that settles her down"
"I've got her tonight" said Lucien lowly, rubbing the baby's back when she started squirming in his arms. "You go to bed"
"No, Lucien, that's not-"
"Jean, we'll be fine" he said, meeting her eyes with meaning. "I'll put her to bed shortly. I can't sleep myself just yet, so she can keep me company"
He rubbed Jean's arm with one hand as he held the baby in the other. She'd been coping wonderfully, but even so it had been over twenty five years since she'd been a parent to such a young infant, and keeping the house going while caring for a fussy Amelia had clearly tired her out a little. Jean wasn't really in a position to argue, and Amelia seemed much calmer in his arms than she'd been all afternoon.
Jean nodded, knowing he was capable of caring for the baby until she eventually drifted to sleep, and that he'd probably welcome a distraction from his usual liquid insomnia cure anyway.
"Thank you" she said softly, and gave him a short kiss for his efforts. She ran her hand down his cheek, and then down the baby's back as well, and with a smile started turning towards the kitchen door.
"Sleep well" he replied, smiling at her as she retreated out of the kitchen. He followed her as far as the hallway and watched her go, gaze lingering on the place she had disappeared, and then he turned his attention back to Amelia. She had buried her hand in his beard, fascinated by the texture as her own father lacked one. Lucien jutted his chin closer to her, encouraging the touch, and perhaps revelling in it a little bit. He remembered Li doing the same thing when she was a little girl, and the memory didn't bring the stab of pain he expected.
Li was a mother herself, safe in China with Mei Lin and her extended family, content in the knowledge that her long-absent father still loved her from across the ocean. They would never be close again, but they had at least mended their bridges, and it was a far cry from believing her dead for so long. He would take the blessings as they came. Still, looking at Amelia in her babyhood took him right back to those halcyon days in Singapore, and he rubbed her cheek with his scruff just to make her smile.
"Now" he said, walking slowly towards his consulting rooms, paperwork waiting. "Let's see what kind of trouble we can get into before bedtime"
It was only a couple of hours later when he saw Jean again. It was also, he noted, the early hours of morning. Amelia had dosed off at first but woke again a short time later, sooking for no good reason, and Lucien decided that yes, she must have started teething after all. He took her with him to the kitchen and fished the face washer out of the fridge, glad Jean had thought to put it in before bed, and it seemed to do the trick enough to quiet Amelia down; she sucked greedily on the cold, her fingers flexing in the fabric as she held it to her own mouth.
He walked back towards his office, bouncing Amelia just a little bit as he went, footfalls muffled by the rugs, keeping his voice soft so as not to carry upstairs.
"Now Miss Millie" he started, entering his consult room and heading towards the lab to the side. "What say you to mixing some dehydrate solutions?"
He had only just reached the door to the lab when he heard an equally soft voice behind him from the hall.
"Lucien, please don't blow up our granddaughter"
He stopped and started, turning around to see a sleepy and dishevelled Jean wrapping her dressing gown a little tighter around herself as she walked forward. She was smiling at them, but he could see the glint in her eye that told him she knew how much trouble he could get into if left unsupervised, baby or not.
"Jean. What are you doing up? It's two in the morning"
She stepped closer with one eyebrow raised meaningfully, a smirk almost on her face. "Babysitting" she replied. She came to him and held her hands out to take Amelia, who was again starting to blink as though sleep threatened to take her. He handed the baby over easily, watching Jean settle her on a hip with practiced ease, the two of them looking very sleepy.
"I hope we didn't wake you" he said.
"I was sleeping lightly anyway" she said, shrugging. "I went to check on Amelia, saw her cot was empty. I knew you must have been getting up to some trouble this time of night"
He at least had the good grace to look sheepish.
"You should get some sleep Lucien" she added softly, looking at him with her head tilted to one side. It gave the distinct impression that she was scrutinising him and coming up with a thousand answers all at once, all of them correct, and he smiled in acknowledgement. He also couldn't help but admire her, the easy way she cradled Amelia in her arms, unconsciously rubbing the baby's back. He would always need more sleep and she would always be harassing him to do so, but rarely would she be demanding it with their granddaughter held between them. It made for a scene that was domestic in a different way, and he didn't allow himself to linger too long on what-ifs and maybes. Their path was uniquely their own, and he could only be grateful that somewhere along the way two roads had converged into one and led them to this moment.
"I'm off to bed shortly" he said, giving her a gentle look that assured her he was listening; that he wouldn't just turn around and head for his lab anyway. Now that he'd been interrupted his fatigued caught up to him anyway, and his head thrummed with the need to sleep.
"Goodnight" she said. She leaned towards him and he met her half way. The kiss was light and lingering. He watched her leave the room with a smile, certain he looked like a love-sick fool. He was a love-sick fool in many regards, so he didn't mind it.
Amelia was peaking over Jean's shoulder, her eyes one decent droop away from closing altogether. He waved at her, knowing full well she wasn't old enough to wave back. Her eyes closed in response and stayed that way. He almost laughed, and then nodded in agreement, and rather than head towards his lab he walked out of his office, across the hall, and into his own room, closing the door very gently behind him.
