The guardians were called on a mission. It's no problem at all. Except for Gamora, who was 'kindly' asked to stay and take care of Lotus. In other words, leaving extremely early before she could gear up and Peter leaving a note in the kitchen table saying he was sorry and that she could beat him up when they got back to the ship, as long as she didn't kill him.

She was stuck babysitting. So what? It's not like Lotus will start crying for her daddy's embrace…

"MUAH!"

Gamora rubbed the edge of her nose and growled in frustration. "Please, Lotus. Quiet down…"

She sat the baby on the floor beside the wooden blocks. Gamora sat in front of her and picked one singe wooden block. "Here. Look at this." She started to build a small tower. Luckily, Lotus diminished her crying to whimpering. Seeing her progress, Gamora keep building the tower until she was out of blocks. And it was demolished by a small pair of hands. Lotus started giggling. Good. That was good. It meant that she forgot about Peter. It meant: No more crying or any headaches for Gamora.

She rebuild the tower a few more times, and every time she did, Lotus demolish it. That was until Lotus grew bored and slipped away to find something better to do. She couldn't walk yet and she wasn't old enough to do so, so she just crawled. Gamora picked the baby up in her arms. Peter didn't know this, but Gamora loved to hold Lotus in her arms. She felt almost… motherly. It was something she never had. A mother. Peter would just laugh at how she hold his daughter, with such care. She'll just leave him a black eye if he did. And Lotus seemed to like it as well because she made the same thing she did with Peter, snuggle into his neck. Gamora smiled as Lotus tried to place her tiny fist inside her mouth. She reached for the sucker that was close by and gave it to her.

There wasn't exactly a lot to do. So she took Lotus to the head of the deck of the ship. Gamora sat down on the captain's chair and placed Lotus in her lap. She signaled to the space through the windows. "See that, Lotus? That's planet Xandar."

The baby didn't mind the planet. In fact, she looked like she didn't give a fuck about it. Her gaze contemplated something else. Lotus sucked the sucker several times before extending her little hand to that something that was floating in space. Unreachable.

"Those are stars, Lotus." Gamora said as she lowered Lotus hand. "You can't touch them." Lotus just cooed her head to her side. She clearly did not understood a word Gamora said, but the woman continued anyway. "They're beautiful, aren't they? But they are so beautiful, no one can reach them. They are too pure to be touched. We can only admire them from afar." By this point, Lotus had lean her head against Gamora's chest. "We fly through space, but even like that we can reach them. It's like they don't want to be touched."

Lotus eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Gamora continued. "They are beautiful but fierce. Their power is hidden by their remarkable beauty. They help us even if they're untouchable. They are our light in the darkness. And you, Lotus, you are Peter's shiny star in the darkness. Our shiny star. We all love you, girl." She planted a small kiss on the sleeping baby's forehead.

Gamora stood up and walked back to the dorms to place the baby in her crib.

OOO

"Hey, Gamora."

Gamora turned around her chair to see the asshole that just spoke to her. Said asshole, Peter, was standing in from of her… holding an injured right arm in front of him. It was bandaged already, Rocket probably did it on the way back. Suddenly, she didn't feel like punching him. Yet. "What happened?"

"Got shot in the arm. Nothing major. Rocket said this exact same words 'Why did you had to do it all yourself you dickhead!' while he was bandaging me."

"I would have said the same thing…" She mumbled.

"Sorry. I'll let Groot take care of her next time. He couldn't stop mentioning Lotus. Not even in plain battle. But if I let him, we won't have the team's muscle. So, I'll probably ask Drax to do it."

Gamora just smiled at the thought that Groot wanted to stay and babysit.

"How was she?"

"Lotus? She's fine. She's sleeping."

"That's good. What did you do to get her to sleep?"

"Nothing. Nothing." She said as she got up and walked towards Peter.

Peter raised a questionable eye brow. "Are you sure?"

Gamora punched him in his undamaged arm. "Definitely."