A/N: ZareEraz here! Hey everyone! It's been a little bit but I'm happy to return with a new chapter! Yay! (*´∀`*) I hope that you enjoy it :3 Just for your information, there will be one more chapter in the future, but I cannot say when I'll be able to post it because I am just slammed in life right now. I'm grateful for your support! Happy reading!
Chapter Ten Six Months Later
Buggy awoke to the sound of her crying baby. She rolled over and glanced at the clock and groaned when her brain calculated that it had only been an hour and a half since she'd been up for the last feeding and the sunrise was just barely starting to turn the sky gray. Roger had also been incredibly fussy after his bedtime, crying and refusing to go to sleep, and Buggy just couldn't figure out what was wrong. Eventually, the poor, wailing baby had tired himself out, much to her relief. Much not to her relief, he was then up two hours later for his first night feeding, which continued more or less every two hours after that.
Buggy groaned again, feeling her exhaustion down to her bones and wishing desperately that Roger would just quit crying and go back to sleep. No such luck and the woman threw her covers off and pushed herself up into a half-kneeling position. She briefly glanced at the empty space beside her – where Shanks would have been sleeping if he were there – and her heart ached deeply for a moment. She then flopped back down on the bed and resisted the urge to glare at her baby, her exhaustion multiplying by at least two, if not three orders of magnitude.
"Fuck. It's early, don't you know," she sighed, turning her head back towards the crib. "I should call you a little shit for waking me up again, but then I'd be a bad mother." She grumbled into her pillow for a moment, but then just sighed. 'You never give Mommy enough sleep." She paused for a moment and added, "Just like your daddy, now that I think about it. Though he keeps me up for very different reasons than you do."
The bluenette rolled over and sat up, sending her hands to gather up her squirming baby from his crib. "Alrighty, Roger, quit fussing. Food's here." She unbuttoned her nursing shirt and helped the little guy latch on. Once he was going at it, the woman petted his little red head, lightly playing with the blue hairs that had popped at the base of his head. They had just started coming in a week ago and were multiplying fast. She smiled, at the little under-layer, smug that Shanks' traits hadn't completely taken over her baby's head.
"I wonder if Daddy will notice when he comes home," she mused, smiling. "He'll probably say that I just couldn't stand my baby not having my flashy hair! What do you think?" Roger was too occupied with eating to listen to his mother and instead, he nipped her with his one bottom tooth and she jumped a little. "Geez, kiddo!" she hissed, trying to stay as quiet as possible so she didn't disturb his feeding. "You're daddy does that a lot too…are you going to be just as much trouble?" In response, he nipped her again. "Yeah, you're going to be just as much trouble, you stinker."
Buggy didn't say much after that, dozing off while her baby suckled. Her head would bob just enough to keep her from falling completely asleep. When Roger was done, she tucked her boob back in and floated him over to his crib so she could maybe sleep for another hour. The baby was gracious enough to let her do just that, and both mother and child got the same hour of sleep. By the time Buggy woke up again to his noises, the sun had started to properly rise and someone's diaper needed to be changed. The bluenette stretched with a huge yawn, popping her limbs off and reattaching them again as she lowered her arms.
"Alright, let's get you changed and dressed, little man," she announced, yawning hugely and taking the boy over to his changing table and putting on a fresh diaper.
In the beginning, poopy diapers had seemed the worst thing about babies but then Buggy decided that spit up was the worst because it was less predictable and got her clothes dirty more often than diapers, and a few nights into parenthood, she then decided that the lack of sleep was actually the worst part about newborns. There had been a serious learning curve when it came to everything baby, and even though she had prepared, there was no way to fully be prepared to take care of a newborn. She and Shanks had bumbled around doing their best, but it took a while to get into the swing of things. There were many times neither of them could figure out why baby Roger was fussy or what he needed, and they'd both spent many sleepless nights up walking with their child, trying to soothe him. They'd worried (and were still worrying) over every little thing he did, when he was upset, if he was accidentally bumped, if he bonked his head on something, if he got his hands on something he wasn't supposed to have, if he put something strange in his mouth, and a million other things. They'd already reached their wits' end a million times, but were doing pretty alright – Little Roger still had all his limbs and that had to count for something.
And on top of everything else, Buggy then had to learn to take care of her baby by herself the first time Shanks had had to leave her alone. There was no doubt that Buggy would have help – her crew was eager to do absolutely anything involving the baby – but the problem was that Roger wanted mommy, not Auntie Vida or Mohji, or Cabaji, or Galdino, and sometimes not even Grandpa Crocus (who was third favorite). And sometimes all he wanted was daddy and those times sucked the most because Buggy also wanted his daddy but neither could have him. So while there was help, Buggy still needed to do the bulk of the work and she could only do her best. She was doing her best right now too, as Shanks was gone on his second trip away from Karai Bari Island.
She missed him terribly, like there was a wound in her chest that ached whenever she thought about him. He'd been gone for three weeks now, and every time she couldn't calm baby Roger on her own, Buggy would think that Shanks would've known just what to do to soothe him. The all-knowing baby books had mentioned that fathers shouldn't be discouraged if they didn't have the knack for figuring out what baby wanted as mothers could, but in Buggy's case, it was totally unfair that more often than not, her idiot boyfriend had a better understanding of what Roger needed in any given moment. (However, if asked Shanks who was better at taking care of their baby, he'd wholeheartedly agree that Buggy was the best at figuring out what their baby needed and that it was all he could do to keep up with her.) There was just something about Shanks singing "Binks' Sake" at two in the morning that calmed the baby down so quickly that Buggy couldn't replicate. He liked it when she sang other little songs and shanties, but he loved "Binks' Sake" when his daddy sang it the best, followed quickly by both mommy and daddy singing it to him. There were little things like that that only Shanks could seem to do right.
And Buggy, much to her detriment, conveniently forgot all the things that she could do that Shanks couldn't do right and would only remind herself of all of her mistakes. Of course, she'd tried to keep her unreasonable disappointment to herself, but Shanks had the uncanny ability to pick up on it and always made a point to tell her that she was doing a great job as mommy. But right now, Shanks was gone, and Buggy's worries and insecurities were all on her shoulders.
"Am I doing alright?" she asked, even knowing that Roger couldn't give her a proper answer. "I feel like I'm going to mess up at every turn…I'm constantly worried that I'm doing something wrong, Roge." Now in a clean diaper, the baby gurgled, smiling up at his mommy and reaching for her. Buggy smiled too, picking him up. "At least you're happy right now." She tickled his belly and got some cute giggles. Her baby voice came out as she said, "Can this good mood last at least twenty minutes, huh? Can it last a while, please?"
Roger was a generally happy baby, but when he was upset he had Buggy's temper and volume. Shanks had made one too many jokes about how their baby resembled her in terms of ferocity and unreasonableness, and the man had been punished accordingly until he got the hint to just keep his mouth shut about things like that – he didn't need both a furious baby and a furious Buggy in his life at the same time. Thankfully, today it looked like Roger was going to be reasonable, at least for the time being, and with him taken care of, Buggy placed the baby in his bouncy chair to keep him entertained while she got herself ready.
Her hair went up in its customary ponytail, her face was painted with her skull and crossbones and blue and red diamond accents and her signature lipstick. When it came to clothes, Buggy was still in her flashy-comfortable stage and dressed accordingly. Roger was probably going to throw up or pee on her clothes at some point during the day, so something comfortable and flashy, but not precious or expensive was required. She'd lost most of her baby weight after six months due to making an almost excessive effort when she wasn't exhausted to get back into shape so that she could still be the intimidating, flashy, and gorgeous Captain Buggy her crew and the world expected her to be. She was still a little extra squishy in some places that she didn't want to be quite as squishy, but she was doing the best she could. Buggy also couldn't have Alvida nit-picking her appearance at every turn once her mommy-grace period ended, so she was totally on it.
The bluenette opened up her closet and looked at the section of clothes that she knew she didn't fit quite right into yet, and the clothes that she didn't want to get ruined by baby stuff and sighed. If the bluenette was being completely honest with herself, she also wanted to feel sexy again, to be pretty not only for herself, but also for Shanks. She'd worried during her pregnancy that she wasn't attractive to him anymore, and her unbalanced hormones hadn't made those feelings any easier to deal with. After giving birth, her worries had not only not gone away, they'd also increased. The first six weeks after the birth were hell – she and Shanks were learning how to take care of a newborn and Buggy had felt pretty useless. She'd felt like her body had turned against her because now that she'd had her baby, everything should've gone back to normal, right? Wrong. She felt that she hadn't healed quickly enough and got frustrated when she kept having accidents peeing at unexpected times even though she wasn't pregnant anymore. Her body constantly ached, she still felt like she was leaking everywhere, her breasts were constantly sore from feedings, and her ankles and hands would still swell from water retention. Or she'd suddenly get "baby blues," feeling sad, hopeless, and overwhelmed at the prospect of caring for a child, and then felt bad that not only did Shanks need to shoulder his portion of Roger's care but also hers and also had to be the one to comfort her while she was going through her emotional upheavals.
The only saving grace she did have was that she could pop off her limbs and leave her body to rest while she did other things (which Crocus kept scolding her for because she needed to rest all of her body at least some of the time and the old man was frustrated that she wouldn't do that). By the time Buggy had healed enough to feel mostly like herself, she'd pushed herself much harder than she really should have. With a booming business to oversee, a rowdy pirate crew that was always getting into trouble, and a baby to take care of that also caused quite a bit of trouble, Buggy was busy all the time. Her stolen moments away from the baby were so precious and few, especially those with Shanks, and as she decided on what to wear until Roger threw up on her or something, Buggy sighed and really wished that she could have one of those moments with Shanks. Alas, he was away being an Emperor of the Sea for the moment. The bluenette threw on a pair of comfy trousers, and a striped shirt, looking rather plain compared to her preferred style. Then she turned to her baby with a smile on her face.
"If I can't look cute, at least you will!" she declared, going to a stash of baby clothes she kept in her room for just this reason. Baby Roger was then bundled into a red-and-white striped onesie paired with the cute little shoes and pom-poms on the toes that Shanks had brought in the first batch of presents. "There," she said, adjusting the last button. "Now you'll be the cutest thing on the island and everyone will be jealous!" Roger gurgled in response and started to suck on his fingers. Nodding in satisfaction, Buggy shrugged on her baby carrier and plopped her baby into said carrier.
"Mommy's hungry and there had better be food in the kitchen or someone's kneecap is getting stabbed." The baby gave out a little shriek of delight as his mother started to float down the hall at a rapid pace and Buggy took that as agreement and smiled herself. While that first part of the morning had been typical, and while she still felt like a wet towel that had been wrung out one too many times, Buggy was grateful that she had let her little man with her. His little gurgles and squeals were endearing, putting a lipsticked smile on her face.
"You like flying, don't you?" Buggy zipped a little higher and Roger shrieked loudly and patted his hands against his mother's chest multiple times. "I like flying too…a surprising benefit of the powers your daddy tricked me into getting." Roger blew a raspberry and Buggy smiled. "Yeah, I think he's an idiot too." She then did a very bad impression of Shanks' voice and added, "'I didn't mean to! You're the one that was trying to hide it!' like he wasn't the one who snuck up on me!"
Baby Roger blew another raspberry, as if in agreement, and then started to try and pull his mother's hair. "I can't tell if that was an agreement or disagreement." The kid sneezed and Buggy lamented the now-gone cleanliness of her shirt, but his little smile made it all better because he was being cute right now. There may be a diaper blowout an hour from now, or she may get spit up on the next time she breastfed, or he may scream his head off for no reason when he was supposed to take a nap, but for now, he was being a good boy, and that's all that mattered to her. That and bacon, getting lots and lots of bacon at breakfast mattered just as much.
XXX
Buggy was spending her late lunch with Roger outside on the beach in the shade, grateful for the break. She and baby had been in business meetings all morning after breakfast, scheduling and assigning jobs, taking stock of their inventory, procuring weapons and ammunition, receiving new jobs requests, and hearing reports on completed jobs. During said meetings, baby Roger - dressed in a cute yellow onesie that made him look like a starfish (complete with hood) – had sat in no less than six laps and took a nap curled up against Richie – he'd been passed from Buggy to Auntie Vida to Galdino to Mohji and Cabaji to Crocus and finally ended up next to Richie. He was also a huge distraction to any of Buggy's goons in attendance and they'd had to take no less than seven "play breaks" where the mercenaries took turns playing peek-a-boo and entertaining the child. Roger was pretty good with the whole gang, but whenever he started to get uncomfortable and cry, he went right back into Buggy's arms. Trying to be a good mother, she soothed her little boy until he was content enough to start holding out his hands for a friend to take him, after which the passing began again.
Buggy chewed on her sandwich moodily, terribly exhausted and knowing that there'd be a mountain of work still to do after her break.
"You're so lucky that you don't have a job," she told Roger, who was alternatively shaking a rattle and trying to eat it as well. "I suppose I could just foist the work onto someone else, but I've only been back at it for a few weeks after dealing with you for months." The infant blew a raspberry and then shrieked with laughter, causing her to smile. "You're right, let's let Galdino handle everything else today."
Somewhere in Buggy Town, the unfortunate man shivered in dread, feeling misfortune in his future.
Buggy took another bite of her sandwich, chewing happily this time, and glanced down at the Transponder Snail that she took with her everywhere. It was her direct snail to Shanks and she was anticipating a call at some point today. "Maybe when Daddy calls tonight he'll tell us when he's coming back, hm? Wouldn't that be nice? To have Daddy back?" Roger repeated "ba ba ba" back to her, minimizing his mother's voice. Buggy picked up her little starfish and sat him on her lap. "Say 'mama, 'Roger…Ma-ma." As if to spite her, the kid started babbling, "da da da" while she tried to prompt him to at least say "ma ma ma." Largely unsuccessful after a few minutes, she sighed and set him down on the blanket again to play. She flopped down as well, once her sandwich was gone, and just watched her baby entertain himself.
As she watched, little groups of her mercenaries went about working and kept walking by in little groups. They were looking at the pair, but Buggy chose to ignore them and just watched her baby push himself up and let himself back down on his tummy. It was so cute how he kept doing it over and over until he got tired and flopped on the blanket. But even her baby couldn't distract the woman from the quietly forming crowd that was making a perimeter at a distance around the blanket. A cross vein poked out on her forehead the more her goons gathered, but she held in her annoyance, not wanting to upset Roger.
Someone whisper-shouted, "Captain Buggy!" and she had to hold back from snapping at him.
"What?" she asked, very irritated.
The whisper-shout came again. "Can we see the baby?" The crew's eyes were shining so brightly that the bluenette had to look away from them so as not to be blinded.
"Fine! Fine!" she snapped back. "But then you have to leave us alone, got it?!"
They all whisper-shouted, "Yes, Captain Buggy! You're the greatest!"
Buggy sighed and gently picked her baby up. She lifted him up under his armpits. Her hands detached and in a moment the little starfish was floating high enough for all to see him. The kid was having the time of his life, giggling and wiggling around in the air – Roger always liked it when Mommy took him high, it was so much fun!
The hoard of besotted mercenaries let out a huge, "AWWWWWWW!" and then started chattering about how Roger was the cutest baby and how of course Captain Buggy would have the cutest baby and how she was the best mother, etc. Buggy rolled her eyes and held her baby aloft for a few more moments before gently swinging him side to side while she brought him back to the ground. He squealed in delight as his little legs swung in one direction and then the other, but then started crying when he realized that the ride was over when he was back in his mother's lap. Buggy tried to soothe him for a few minutes, but then gave up and floated him not quite so high as last time and did the swinging game again. It took Roger eight more times of swinging to tire himself out from giggling and shrieking. When he yawned and started to fuss in a different way, Buggy knew that it was nap time.
"Alright, you stinker," she said, "It's time to take a nap." The woman pulled off the child's hood and smoothed his messy, red hair, thinking again of how much it looked like his father's. Except for her bit, of course, and she was damn smug about that. Roger struggled in her hands, but when a blanket was placed over him and mommy lay down on her side next to him and hummed his favorite song, he felt very sleepy. His eyes closed and then opened a few times very slowly, but the fussing soon stopped and he was asleep. Buggy smiled as she finished her second round of "Binks' Sake" and was glad that he'd gone down without too much trouble. She was about to grab another sandwich but then found herself yawning as well.
Just a few minutes…she thought lying down on her side and curling slightly around Roger, though she knew that "just a few minutes" was a total lie. Buggy almost instantly fell asleep, the struggles and exhaustion of being a single mother crashing into her like a bat to the face.
Both mother and baby napped in the shade for several minutes before anyone noticed them, at which time Galdino was walking past with a huge stack of new jobs, looking for Buggy to approve them. To his dismay, she was asleep, and he knew that if he woke her or little Roger up, he'd get a knife to the kneecap. The man sighed and set down his paperwork and sat on the blanket near the pair, keeping an eye on them so that Buggy didn't tip over and squish her baby in her sleep. While he quietly worked at organizing the stack of job requests better, the wax man looked at his partner in crime and her baby sleeping peacefully. Both of them were drooling at this point. Galdino rolled his eyes, but then his gaze softened when Buggy's hand unconsciously moved and found Roger's little hand.
He took a deep breath and sighed, begrudgingly saying, "You may be an idiot, but you're a decent mother if nothing else." The three of them spent another half an hour quietly napping, until a ruckus from a few nearby goons who got into an argument and started a brawl. The noise woke the baby up, who woke Buggy up, and she was livid.
The bluenette soothed her baby for a moment, passing him to Galdino when Roger was more under control, and then went to scream at the troublemakers. She ended up lecturing them all until they were on their knees, cowed by their glorious leader. When Buggy had sufficiently threatened her underlings she stalked back to her fussing baby and an uncomfortable Galdino. While he did help out with Roger, he was less adept at taking care of infants; he much preferred the company of teenagers if he had to spend time around any minors at all, especially well-behaved teenagers like Miss Goldenweek.
"Oh, quit looking so put out," she huffed, taking a squirming Roger from his arms. She placed her baby against her chest and started to bounce him. Distracted, his cries faded into disgruntled gurgles and that was more than Buggy was expecting.
"Hey, don't make fun of me!" the man protested. "I'm just not good with babies and I was only trying to help!"
Buggy took a look around and found that Galdino was trying to help her out – sorting and organizing her own work. She felt a little ashamed for snapping at him, but she was too stubborn to let him know that. Nobody could blame her though – she'd just been woken up by a crying baby and a commotion and was very grumpy as a result. The woman looked around again, bouncing her baby.
"Fine," she conceded, turning back towards town. Buggy decided to be forgiving after all and let the extra work she was going to drop on Galdino slide. She could be nice when she wanted to be after all. "Let's get going."
She started walking and the wax man quickly gathered up the stack of papers again. Then Buggy sent her head to the near groups of her goons and ordered them to clean up her picnic and put the baby's toys back in the nursery. They snapped to attention and gave their great Captain Buggy several compliments before scurrying off to do her bidding. Additionally, every other Buggy Pirate swooned over their captain and her baby as they walked into town, whole streets clearing to let them through. As Galdino hustled to catch up to the clown, he still couldn't believe that those idiots were so taken in by her. But contrarily, he had to admit that their gullibleness and her act did come in handy quite often.
Galdino caught up to Buggy's back and saw little Roger peeking over her shoulder. He was looking at him with big blue eyes and then giggled, causing everyone around them to coo over him with hearts in their eyes. Galdino rolled his eyes as the kid squealed as Mommy Buggy bounced him playfully and half the street fainted from cuteness. As ridiculous as it was, the wax man also had to admit that at the rate little Roger was charming the same goons, he was going to be just like his mother.
XXX
Buggy was disgustingly giddy, she'd gotten the best news today and nothing could ruin her mood – well, almost nothing. But because she was happy, this also meant that her mood swings were careening out of control if anything made her unhappy. She had just finished berating yet another unfortunate goon for spilling beer on her pants and stomped off to change, leaving little Roger with the lovely Auntie Vida. She huffed and puffed and cursed all the way to her room and then slammed the door. She yanked her pants off, threw them into the ever-growing pile of both her and Roger's clothes, and then flung open her closet, looking for another pair of pants. However, the second that she was cleaned up and changed into a pair of short shorts, her attitude instantly changed back into the ecstatic mood she'd had before alcohol had been spilled on her and she floated all the way back down to the dining room.
Alvida was playing peek-a-boo with Roger with the help of an enthusiastic Richie and Buggy watched from the doorway. They had a crowd of at least thirty enamored mercenaries, who were highly invested in Roger's reactions and giggles, and no one had noticed her again yet in the lunch bustle. She wanted to savor the rare moment of anonymity and looked into the chaos that was her crew. For all the trouble they were and for all the messes they made, her crew was really great, especially because they boosted her ego and put her on a pedestal that she did not deserve, no matter how stressful and unreasonable that was. They rolled with her craziness and even added to it, but at the same time, they also made her life easier in the little ways. Playing with her son, for example. So, she watched, letting all of them have a few minutes without her.
But of course, someone eventually noticed her and all of their lives revolved around her again, like she was the sun and they were her little planets. Except for Alvida, of course, who believed that she was the center of the universe, even though it was clear that little Roger was actually the center of the universe. All eyes followed him as he was handed back to Buggy and Auntie Vida had had her fix for the next few hours. Buggy let her goons fawn over her and her child for the rest of lunch and then told them all to get back to work in an uncharacteristically nice way. Everyone was pleasantly pleased, and when asked, Buggy wouldn't say what was making her so gracious. It was because she was in a good mood, but she knew that Alvida would give her crap for the actual reason if she said it to the crowd. So instead, she talked to her baby as everyone scurried off after lunch.
"Daddy said that he'd be back today, isn't that fun?" Buggy asked, holding Baby Roger and giving him his favorite stuffed lion. Shanks had also seemed excited about something else besides coming home, the snail giving her secretive looks while they talked. The woman was burning with curiosity along with excitement. The boy just blew a raspberry at her while she thought and started to eat his lion's ear. "Party pooper," she replied, and then teased, "Don't let Richie see you do that. He might get worried that you're going to gum his ears off! Well except for that one tooth, that is."
She walked back to her office with a spring in her step (though the baby didn't feel it because her feet were springing separately from her floating body), and Buggy settled in him into one of his four cribs for a nap. Kissing his forehead, Buggy said, "Now, be good for Mommy and take a nap. I've got some work to do." Roger babbled at her again and the bluenette tried for the millionth time to get him to say "Mama" so that she could gloat to Shanks about it. However, Roger didn't say anything coherent and she huffed, "We'll try that one again later, you stinker."
The child entertained himself while Buggy got to work and they both spent the afternoon working, napping, and playing – sometimes doing the napping at the same time. But even while Buggy worked, she was constantly getting distracted, not just by her baby, but also because she was anxious and excited for Shanks to come back. Sure it would be nice to have his help when Roger was unreasonable, but she also just wanted him. I've become so dependent on him…it's disgusting, she thought, tapping her quill against a job she was supposed to be signing off on. The ink left little dots all over the signature line and she swore, dabbing at the mess. But who can blame me? He's almost glued to my hip all the time whenever he's around! He's the most adorable and clingiest man ever! With the paper as clean as it was ever going to be, Buggy scrawled a quick signature and forced herself to fully read the next request. However, five minutes later, she was back to tapping her quill.
"I just want him," she sighed. "Your daddy has ruined me," she confessed, looking at her snoozing baby. She sent a hand over and softly brushed her fingertips again his red hair, so much like his father's it was so cute and even now Buggy could tell that he'd be a heartbreaker just like Shanks when he got older. "And so are you." My charming boyfriend and his charming baby, she thought. She gently petted his hair for a moment longer while Roger slept on, unaware of his mother's longing. The bluenette then pulled herself back into work, banishing thoughts of her boyfriend. She did well until Roger woke up and needed a changing and feeding and then she was back to swinging between giddy thoughts about Shanks returning and impatience for him to come back.
By the time dinner had rolled around, Buggy was getting really anxious to see Shanks. He hadn't said what time he'd be coming back, but surely she didn't have to wait much longer, right? That evening's dinner was being hosted outside as an impromptu party and Buggy was bouncing Roger on her knees in between eating. The baby was content to look at all the pretty fires dotting the beach, and pulling his star beanies off his head that Buggy had to constantly put back on. He giggled at the silly men doing acrobatics while Buggy's foot tapped impatiently (and independently of her leg) the lower the sun sank in the sky. It was beautiful, golden light bathing the breathtaking beauty of her island, but said beauty was lost on her as she stewed.
Alvida and Crocus eyed their partner and brat carefully from across their fire, seeing a mix of irritation and distress flit across her face from time to time when no one else was looking.
"If this goes on much longer, she's going to pop," Crocus muttered around a mouthful of food. "She was so happy earlier today too."
Alvida gave him a disgruntled look that he ignored and answered, "She finally told me that Shanks told her that he was coming back today, but he still hasn't shown up."
"But it's still today," the doctor pointed out, eyeing the woman's uplifted pinky as she ate even though there wasn't a teacup in sight.
"Clearly, she thought he was going to be back earlier," Alvida shrugged. "But she's going to have to deal with it, the lovesick idiot." Before Crocus could comment again, Buggy's head shot over and glared at the other women.
"I heard that!" she growled as the rest of her body – and her baby – caught up to her.
Alvida snapped back, "Good! And now you're acting like a moody asshole!"
Buggy's glare sharpened and everyone within earshot froze as the argument escalated. "What did you call me?!"
"I called you a 'moody asshole," Alvida teased maliciously, moving out of the way of Roger's little hands when he tried to grab her hair.
"Quit calling me names!"
"Then stop pouting like a child!"
"Don't tell me what to do!"
"I will if you keep acting like this!"
The two women continued to argue even as Crocus went over to the bluenette and scooped up Roger, tickling his belly and making him laugh as he was extracted from the commotion.
"You're going to be with Grandpa Crocus for a bit, doesn't that sound fun? Mommy and Auntie are having a go at each other and that's no fun, right? Who's going to be a good boy for Grandpa?" Roger giggled again as his grandfather tickled him under his chin while they made their escape.
The two women only noticed that both Crocus and the baby were gone when they'd both stopped their rants to take a much-needed breath. When they noticed that the baby was missing from Buggy's arms, they both dashed after the doctor, clamoring for Roger. This started another argument as Alvida insisted that she have the baby since Buggy got to spend all day with him and Buggy argued back that Roger was her baby so of course she could get him back! Crocus made the argument that since he hadn't seen the little man all day he should get to spend some time with him. The three of them jostled to hold the baby and Roger – being the good boy for Grandpa that he was – only squealed in delight as he was passed from loving arms to loving arms more gently than the words being thrown around were. Bystanders were placing bets on who would end up with the baby and if it wasn't Buggy, what their punishment would be when she got him back. Eventually, Roger did end up back with her, and while money changed hands she continued ripping into Alvida and Crocus even though she'd won the tug-of-war. Of course, both the woman and the doctor were stubborn and they didn't let go of the fight either. The fight only truly stopped when a voice rose up over the party commotion and froze Buggy to the spot.
"Buggy!" She heard a familiar voice calling to her, and a familiar man waving his arm at her as he emerged from the forest. Bathed in the golden light of the setting sun, the man's red hair blazed and his smile lit up her world. The longing she'd been feeling pierced her heart for one more moment and then eased out of her chest until she felt like she could fly. And then she did. The baby that Crocus and Alvida had been fighting over was quickly placed into the black-haired woman's arms and Buggy ran as fast as her feet would carry her, and then her body floated faster than her feet could ever carry her.
"SHANKS!" The cry burst from her lungs and she completely shut out everything else around her except for him. Heart pounding, Buggy disconnected her torso and swept her boyfriend up into a twirling, floating hug. Squeezing the life out of him, they spun higher and higher into the air and Shanks laughed joyfully as he was carried by his girlfriend. He hugged her back just as fiercely and even wrapped her legs around her waist to hang on the higher they went. Cheers rose up at the joyful reunion and when they finally came back down to the ground, Shanks swept his lover up into a fierce kiss. Buggy was grateful for his arm around her back or she would've melted into a puddle. She could've sworn that nothing had felt as good as when Shanks kissed her like this, desperate for her touch after their separation. She eagerly kissed him back, savoring his strong arm around her, the way his hard chest pressed against her, the tickle of his hair against her cheek, and even the discomfort of her big nose pressing into his face at an odd angle – she loved all of it. When they parted, Buggy's eyes were filled with tears that she hadn't expected and Shanks wiped them away gently.
"I'm home," he said softly, kissing her nose.
"Welcome back," she whispered, graciously leaving out any kind of insult. More cheers rose up around them as all of Buggy's goons gushed and the bluenette was too happy to make any kind of biting comment about their uproar.
But then the sweet moment ended and Shanks pissed her off.
"Where's my boy?" was the next thing out of his mouth and Buggy scowled furiously.
"Of course, I get, like, a minute of your attention and then all you're worried about is the baby!" She shoved his chest away from her and folded her arms, pouting at how little attention she'd actually gotten from her boyfriend.
Shanks smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, but I really want to see him!" he exclaimed. "It's been almost a month!"
"Sure, but you also haven't seen me for a month!" she argued back, mostly just for arguing's sake but with a little bit of genuine frustration. Despite feeling shunted, it felt good to be able to banter with her lover in person again, and even though she tried to look mad, the corners of her mouth kept turning up when she didn't want to. The argument went much the same as the one Buggy had just had with Alvida and Crocus, and eventually, both she and Shanks just threw their hands in the air and ended it. Alvida then held up little Roger for Buggy's floating hands, knowing that she was going to send them over for the kid. The bluenette placed the child in Shanks' arm and Roger reached his hands up to touch his father's face, recognizing him and smiling at his daddy.
"Hey there, buddy," the man said, kissing his baby's cheek. "I'm glad that you didn't forget me!"
"How could he?" Buggy interjected, still a little moody. "You're so annoying."
"Like you're not annoying as well?" he shot back, letting Roger pull on his hair. Buggy could feel another agreement brewing and glared at him, readying a retort. But the words died in her throat when another voice interrupted, one she had not heard in many, many years.
"Still arguing with each other I see. Some things never change." Buggy stiffened and then turned slowly to see a familiar face smiling back at her, a man whose presence she hadn't noticed until now. Tears sprang to her eyes, her heart instantly filling with decades of emotion. The man stood near the forest's edge, a huge grin on his face as she tried to hold back her tears. He looked older, his blond hair and dark beard now white, there were wrinkles on his face, and he dressed somewhere between a retiree headed to the beach and a homeless man than the Dark King he used to be, but it was still Rayleigh. Buggy felt like she'd been reduced to a child again, much like what had happened with Crocus – all she wanted to do was run into his arms and pretend that she was a little girl again. She tried desperately to hold onto her composure but failed miserably when she started crying and wiping at her smudged makeup.
"I brought you a gift," Shanks said softly, kissing her wet cheek, since he couldn't wrap his baby-occupied arm around her. Buggy was moving in an instant, her feet disconnecting from the rest of her body again as she threw herself into the older man's open arms.
"RAYLEIGH!" The former first mate of the Roger Pirates caught his little girl, but he still stumbled from the force of her hug. She squeezed him fiercely, burying her face in his shoulder and crying with joy. But Buggy didn't care about any of that. In the space of an instant, the years of separation expanded between them but also disappeared, as if one moment hadn't passed since they'd last seen each other through the decades between them were still there. That embrace felt more like the home of her past than anything else did, the presence of her second-favorite father enfolding her warmly.
Rayleigh chuckled as the grown-up Buggy cried into his shoulder, patting her back comfortingly. Just like Shanks, his little girl had become a stunning and formidable pirate, and while he'd kept an eye on her wanted poster and anything about her in the news, it was very different to finally see her in person again. The last time he'd held her, she was just a little sprout, barely on her way to becoming an adult. The years apart seemed like everything and nothing all at once, but here she was, clinging to him like she was a child again. He had a few tears of his own shining in the corners of his eyes, complimenting the huge smile on his face.
"Hey there, Buggy. You're looking good," Rayleigh said, his voice just as soothing as it ever was (when he wasn't yelling at her and Shanks for getting into trouble, that is). Buggy sniffed and looked up at him, her huge blue eyes swimming with more tears.
"You too…" she blubbered, "Just older, like that fart Crocus."
"I heard that!" came a shout of annoyance. The old doctor glared at her from where the bluenette had left him with Alvida.
"Well, it's true!" she snapped back. She then went back to sniffling and said, "I missed y-you s-so much!" to Rayleigh.
"I missed you too, Buggy," the man laughed, hugging her tighter. "I'm so happy that you're doing well."
"Oh, she's doing better than well," Shanks joked, walking over to them with baby Roger. "She's got the best boyfriend in the world!"
"Ah, that's right!" the old man joked. "I knew you two crazy kids would get together at some point!"
"You did not!" Buggy gasped, horrified that Rayleigh would think that after all the years she hated Shanks.
"I told you he did!" Crocus argued.
"You did not!"
The doctor opened his mouth to say that he had, but then he paused for a moment. "Oh, I guess that I only told Shanks that." Buggy was about to rip him a new one for being stupid but Crocus continued one with, "You should really stop crying, you're makeup is smearing."
"Shut up you old fart or I'm going to make you shut it!"
"You can't really do that when you're still clinging to Rayleigh like that," Shanks teased, pointing out that Buggy was still hugging the former first mate like her life depended on it. Rayleigh just smiled and rubbed Buggy's back lovingly.
"Come on, leave the kid alone," the old coater cajoled.
But Shanks being Shanks had to keep pushing her buttons. "And you're blubbering like a baby," he snickered.
"Shut up…I am not blubbering!" she sniffled, clearly blubbering.
"Why weren't you this emotional when I came?" Crocus asked, slightly miffed.
"Because you started name-calling almost the minute you arrived!" Buggy's head flew off to argue with Crocus while the rest of her body kept Rayleigh hostage.
"At least I didn't blubber like a baby," Shanks commented, smiling as his lover screamed her head off.
"You did cry a little," Rayleigh teased, remembering how just yesterday the redhead had been so excited to have come upon his dingy and, with eyes that were definitely wet, greeted him with just as much emotion as Buggy was showing now.
"I did not!" Shanks retorted, but the slight blush on his cheeks gave him away. It was so cute, how the grown-up, manly-looking redhead had turned into a child before his eyes and he'd patted Shanks' back the same way he was patting Buggy's now. To be fair, the last time Rayleigh had seen either of his kiddos they had just been that – kids. Rayleigh was so touched by just how much his little troublemakers still loved him. He couldn't blame them though; he loved them just as much, if not more, so seeing his kids all grown up and successful with a budding family was more than enough to warm his heart. And speaking of family…
Rayleigh decided to leave Shanks with a little dignity and turned his attention towards the baby in the redhead's arm. As he pushed Buggy off of him, his eyes lit up as he asked, "Is that my little grandson?"
Buggy and Shanks both smiled hugely and the bluenette's head snapped back onto her neck. "This is little Roger!" she said, introducing her baby. "Roger, this is Grandpa Rayleigh." Shanks carefully transferred the child to Rayleigh's waiting arms and he and Buggy watched as tears filled the man's eyes. Little Roger squirmed in his arms, not recognizing this stranger.
"Whoa, there little fella," Rayleigh soothed, holding into the wiggling child, but after a moment he settled down and stared up at the old man with the huge blue eyes he inherited from his mother. Rayleigh smiled down at the little guy, noticing the little wisps of red hair peeking out from underneath his beanie that he'd clearly inherited from his father and couldn't imagine a more perfect baby.
"He's perfect." Rayleigh looked up at Buggy and Shanks, a huge grin on his face. "He's even better than you described him." Rayleigh looked at Buggy and Shanks, a huge grin on his face. "He's perfect!"
"We think so too," Shanks agreed.
"Of course he is!" Buggy nodded, smugly satisfied. "I made him after all! He's got to be flashy and perfect!" Shanks, Rayleigh, and the officers within earshot shook their heads knowingly at Buggy's ago while her goons cheered.
Rayleigh's attention was drawn back to the infant in his arms as Roger reached up to touch his face. "It's been a long time since I've held a baby," he mused, his thoughts drifting back decades. Then he smiled mischievously. "Not since I was changing your poopy diapers, Shanks."
"Hey! Don't say that!" the man blushed as his girlfriend giggled behind her gloved hand. Rayleigh winked at Buggy and then looked at his new grandson again.
"You've got a good name, kiddo," he said. "I'm sure you're going to be just as great a man as Captain Roger was." Then he laughed, "And cause just as much trouble as him and your parents!"
"I don't cause trouble," Buggy insisted. "I cause flashiness!"
"No, you cause trouble," Shanks agreed.
"You're the one that causes trouble!" she argued. "We're in this whole mess because of you!"
"Hey, you're the one who insisted on getting a ride on my ship! You started all of this!"
"Okay, but who barged into the room that first night, huh?! You're the culprit here!"
"I did not 'barge in' and if you didn't like it, you should've stopped me!"
"Don't you start that with me! You know that you seduced me, especially since you know you're devilishly handsome!"
"I'm devilishly handsome?" he asked eagerly, immediately getting off-topic.
"That's what you chose to focus on!?" Buggy shrieked. Roger squealed, hearing his mother's voice, and playfully grabbed at his grandfather's hair.
"And you're not half-bad yourself," he teased, pulling her close by her waist. Buggy blushed but before she could argue some more, her crew came to her defense.
"CAPTAIN BUGGY IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN ON THE SEAS!" accompanied by an indignant, "Hey!" from Alvida (who considered herself the most beautiful woman on the seas).
"You know you can reason with them," Galdino said, sliding up to the woman. "They're infatuated."
"They could still tell the truth about the matter," Alvida huffed. "I am the most beautiful woman on the seas, after all."
"You're the most arrogant woman on the seas, that's for sure!" Yasopp snickered, sliding up beside Galdino. He used the other man as a buffer for when the iron club inevitably came up to try and konk him on the head.
"Hey! No swinging that thing around the baby!" Buggy and Crocus snapped, more alike than they'd like to acknowledge.
"He started it!" Alvida said, pointing at Yasopp.
"No, she started it!" Yasopp insisted, pointing back at Alvida.
"I don't care who started it, I'm going to end it!" Crocus and Buggy shouted. They both turned to glare at each other, but before yet another argument could break out Shanks laughed at them.
"You two are hilarious!" he snickered and then he yelped as Buggy tackled him to the ground for making fun of her again. Shanks rolled over and over until he could pin her to the ground. He kissed her nose and then sprang up, running away from her parts as she tried to catch him.
"Get back here, you asshole!" she shouted.
"Not when you're screaming like that!" he shouted back. "The only screaming I want to happen should be in bed!"
Buggy's face turned beet red and she shouted even louder, "Don't say things like that! I'll kick your ass!" The man just laughed as his love chased him.
"You can kick my ass if you can catch me!"
As the chaos of Buggy's cat-and-mouse with Shanks continued and some of the captains' crew members tried to keep Alvida and Yasopp away from each other, Rayleigh was getting to know his little grandson.
"Look at your eyes! They're just like Buggy's and so big!" Little Roger smiled, getting used to the old man, and grabbed a lock of his long, white hair to tug on. "Ouch! What are you doing?!" he teased, bouncing the child up and down. "Such a sweet and happy baby! Just like your Daddy!"
"Just wait until he cries," Benn said, standing nearby. Both he and Rayleigh jumped gracefully out of the way as Shanks and then Buggy came whirling past and then jumped forward again as Alvida's club was thrown at a retreating Yasopp. "Then he becomes Buggy."
"Don't I know it," Rayleigh shook his head and gently pried little Roger's fingers from his hair only to lose his glasses. "You should've seen the fits she would get into as a child. It was a wonder that any of us had functioning eardrums by the time she matured enough not to shatter glass with her screams."
"She's still very loud though," Benn commented.
"It was a good thing that she didn't figure out how to use the gunpowder until later," the old man chuckled, getting his glasses back, and Benn joined him. Then they both winced as an explosion went off a fair distance away. They looked toward the black cloud now rising into the dimming sky for a moment before shrugging.
"I'm sure he's okay," Benn stated.
"Yeah, you're probably right," Rayleigh agreed. "Shanks is a tough cookie."
Benn added, "Well, he's a tough cookie until…"
"THAT'S IT! I'M DONE CHASING YOU!" Buggy came stomping through the trees she'd disappeared into with Shanks, fuming that she'd been thwarted. Just a few seconds later, the redhead was trailing after her.
"Aw, come on! We were having fun!" he whined, sounding incredibly besotted with her (which he was).
"We were not having fun!" she argued back. "I was trying to strangle you for being a pervert!"
"Can't stop that when I'm around you," he teased, trying to go in for a kiss. She floated her body away and then the chase started up again, this time reversed. Shanks ran after her with what the bluenette had dubbed his "kissy lips," perfectly capable of catching her, but prolonging the fun while she split into pieces to avoid him.
As everyone within earshot followed their progress around the beach again, Rayleigh asked Roger, "You're mommy and daddy are nuts, aren't they?" as the child got a hold of his hair again. He squealed in delight when Benn produced a rattle and happily shook the toy hard enough to bonk Rayleigh in the head. "Oh, geez. I forgot just how unaware babies can be." And then everyone had to get out of the way as Buggy and Shanks crashed through the beach yet again.
Crocus grumped, "And how unaware some adults can be," joining the conversation. He rubbed little Roger's beanied head and smiled when the child grabbed onto his finger and squeezed it tightly. Rayleigh laughed loudly at his comment, so happy to see his kiddos getting along so well, even if Shanks had now tackled Buggy's flying torso to the ground and one of her floating hands was yanking his hair back, making it impossible for him to kiss her. Everyone was laughing now, enjoying dinner and a show as Buggy tried to extricate herself from her lover's embrace.
She slipped out eventually and reconnected all of her parts, blushing furiously as she was teased by her officers and praised by her goons. She made a beeline for Rayleigh and her baby while Shanks trotted behind her smiling like an idiot.
"You two looked like you were having fun," the old man commented.
The woman's blush deepened a shade and she whirled around to yell, "I hate your guts!" at her lover.
He grinned and said, "You know you love me!" while wrapping his arm around her waist. She begrudgingly let his arm stay there as she led everyone over to the bonfires and insisted that Rayleigh have some food.
The whispers of him being the Pirate King's first mate circulated, just as Buggy's, Shanks', and Crocus' involvement in the Roger Pirates had been, but the old man didn't pay any attention to it. As far as he was concerned, he was just Ray, the ship coater who lived on the Sabaody Archipelago. And now, he was Grandpa Ray to the wonderful little boy sitting on his lap and rival of Grandpa Crocus as the two of them vied for the child's attention over dinner. Besides that, one round of Buggy complaining and two rounds of arguing between her and Shanks occurred over the course of the evening. At some point, six Carrier Bats came zooming into the party and bowled into the bluenette, causing a considerable amount of chaos when the woman broke into pieces from the tackle and hit several other people with her body parts. When she managed to pull herself back together, Buggy yelled at the bats (who Rayleigh would come to find out were Bluster, Bingo, Bozo, Boom, Bogus, and Buffoon) but they didn't mind at all and just kept trying to snuggle with their favorite person. The one called Bluster even flapped over to where little Roger was with Rayleigh and nuzzled his head, to which the baby squealed in delight and tried to catch the animal's wings. Bluster, with an air of long-suffering, carefully dodged the grabby hands and then went to nest in Buggy's hair. Hell, those bats were so comfortable that they ended up perching on several people's heads, with one called Bingo sitting on Shank's head for a bit until the man shooed him out of his hair.
And speaking of hair, Buggy gloated that Roger's red hair wasn't all red anymore. Shanks gasped in shock and pulled the beanie off to see the budding underlayer of blue hair that was growing. Buggy smugly declared that she was too stubborn to let Shanks' side completely determine what color of hair her baby had and he just kissed her nose after stating that she was generally just stubborn. That started a third round of arguing and it was hard to keep a smile off of Rayleigh's face, especially with a bat perched on her head like a tiara, squeaking as if to back up his mistress. The man's heart was so warm and full, being among old friends and new friends with the soothing sounds of Buggy getting mad at Shanks for one thing or another.
"Some things never change, Roger," he said softly. He didn't know which Roger he was talking to, but little Roger let out a laugh that seemed to speak for both of them as his mommy and daddy went at each other. Rayleigh smiled widely – there was no place he'd rather be in the world than where he was now.
And he didn't think Buggy and Shanks wanted to be anywhere else either, considering how they were holding hands even as they continued to argue with and tease each other well into the night.
To be Continued...
A/N: And there you go! Let me know what you think and I'll see you next time!