Author's Note: A Berrymen fababy ficlet by request set after Forget the Wrong That I've Done and I'll Pick A Star From the Sky and before This Lovely Easter Morning.

Unbetaed so all mistakes are my own.

One Sweet Angel Sleeping In My Arms

Midnight moonlight shining through the curtain lace
Paints a perfect picture on your perfect face
One sweet angel sleeping in my arms
You are the promise I knew God would keep
You are the gift that makes my world complete
~Angel's Lullaby, Reba McEntire

Leroy Berry has a lifetime of memories—good, bad, painful, bittersweet, and euphoric. There are the ones he'll never forget and the ones he wishes he could; the ones that have faded around the edges over time and the ones that are still as crisp and clean in his mind as if they'd happened only yesterday. And so many of his very best memories are centered around his beautiful baby girl.

He's been the best father he could be—he and Hiram both—but he knows that it hasn't always been enough. They'd missed moments they shouldn't have missed, always blaming their careers or some opportunity they couldn't refuse, and they will never be able to replace the absent memories of performances and school plays and dance recitals that they'd never seen. Still, somehow, despite the mistakes and the missteps that they'd made along the way, he and Hiram had managed to raise a beautiful, brilliant, loving, successful daughter.

And she'd snagged herself a beautiful, brilliant, loving, successful wife who'd given her a beautiful, brilliant, loving, (and undoubtedly successful-one-day) daughter of her own.

Leroy doesn't intend to miss a single important moment with his grandbaby—even if it means stealing her away from his husband.

"You've monopolized her for twenty minutes already, Hiram. It's time to share," he insists, reaching out his aching arms.

Hiram rolls his eyes. "Twenty minutes is barely a drop in the bottomless ocean of time. Is it, my little bubbelah?" he coos down at the wide-eyed baby in his arms.

"It's a pretty big drop when your ocean is drying up," Leroy mutters. "We're not getting any younger, you know."

"Well, I know you certainly haven't gotten any more patient in your old age," Hiram teases mildly.

Leroy frowns at the implication that he's old, but his irritation quickly fades when Hiram moves to gently pass the baby over to him. His fingers nearly itch in anticipation as he carefully scoops up his perfect granddaughter. A gurgling cry comes tumbling out of tiny bowed lips, and Leroy is quick to snuggle her into his chest. "It's okay, sugar plum. Pappy's got you."

"Pappy?" Hiram asks in amusement, pushing his glasses higher on his nose with his index finger.

"Yes," Leroy confirms, grinning down at Calliope as she gazes up at him with curious eyes. "I've decided you can be grandpa. Pappy is much more dignified." And far less aging, he thinks.

"How do you figure?" Hiram asks with laughter in his voice.

Leroy pulls his gaze away from the baby just long enough to send his husband a scornful look. "It just is," he says by way of a certainly unnecessary explanation.

Hiram outright laughs at that. "Whatever you say, dear," he concedes as he leans into Leroy's side, wrapping an arm around his shoulders so they can both gaze adoringly down at Calliope in her little, yellow onesie.

She already has a full head of dark hair, and Leroy can just tell she'll have the same natural curls and waves that Rachel does, though she still battles against them with endless conviction. As he studies the shape of her eyes and mouth and her round little cheeks, he can almost convince himself that he's traveled back in time twenty-eight years.

"Oh, Hiram," he breathes reverently. "Look at her. She looks just like our Rachel."

"Except for the nose," Hiram murmurs in agreement, reaching out to stroke a gentle finger over Calliope's and receiving a happy coo for it.

"I'm sorry you couldn't pass that along to another generation," Leroy offers with playful gravitas.

"Funny," Hiram responds dryly. "Just for that I think I'll have to teach her to call you Gramps."

"You most certainly will not," Leroy scolds in horror. He's far too young to be a gramps. Well—maybe not in actual years but certainly in mentality. Why, he's still in the prime of his life!

Sensing his dissatisfaction with the unsavory moniker, Calliope begins to fuss a bit in his arms. That simply won't do—after all, he and Hiram happily volunteered to watch over her for a few hours so Rachel and Quinn can catch up on some much needed rest. They're currently napping in the bedroom, and that door is a paltry barrier to dampen Calliope's cries should she decide to really exercise those lungs of hers.

"Uh oh…now you've done it," Hiram warns.

"I have?" Leroy whispers incredulously, trying not to upset his granddaughter more but failing when her fussing turns into actual (thankfully, still low-intensity) cries.

"Well, you're the one holding her, Pappy," Hiram points out in that calmly superior way of his that never fails to frustrate Leroy—when it isn't turning him on, that is.

Huffing, Leroy adjusts his hold on Calliope, rocking her gently as he begins to hum the way he used to whenever his baby girl looked to be on the verge of a crying jag. The combination of the motion, the vibration of his chest, and the melody begins to calm Calliope almost instantly.

Leroy's humming turns into a more familiar tune, and soon he's softly crooning the age-old lullaby.

"Twinkle twinkle, little star.
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
like a diamond in the sky.

When the blazing sun is gone,
when he nothing shines upon,
then you show your little light.
Twinkle, twinkle all the night."

Hiram joins in halfway through as they sing their granddaughter to sleep, and when their sweet duet ends, Hiram presses a kiss to Leroy's cheek. "You've still got it."

"We've still got it," Leroy corrects, smiling at his husband.

Hiram grins back before dropping his eyes down to the sleeping baby. "We've been truly blessed," he muses, and Leroy knows he isn't talking about their exceptional singing voices or even their way with fussy babies. They're blessed because of their wonderful family, and for a time, they simply sit there in silence and enjoy the gift they've been given.

"Do you think they'd notice if we just take her home with us?" Leroy eventually wonders. He loves the weight of a baby in his arms again, surrounded by the sweet scent of baby powder and new life.

Hiram chuckles. "I think they might. Then again, they both seem pretty exhausted," he considers, tapping a finger to his chin thoughtfully. "They might appreciate the extra sleep."

Leroy laughs quietly, careful not to disturb Calliope. "They're new mothers. It's par for the course."

Judy had stayed with the girls for the first two weeks to help them get acclimated, and of course, he and Hiram have made themselves available at every opportunity—even Shelby and Beth have offered their help where they can—but he knows that Rachel and Quinn are still trying to settle into a routine that doesn't leave them both constantly sleepless and frazzled while they learn to take care of their daughter's needs. They have more than enough love to give her, but it's the time and energy that always seems to be in short supply with a newborn. Even so, they're both proving to be wonderful mothers, and Leroy can only imagine that they'll continue to get even better at it over time. He's so incredibly proud of them both.

Hiram sighs wistfully. "I remember when we first brought Rachelah home. She wouldn't stop crying."

"She certainly got an early start on developing those lungs of hers," Leroy acknowledges, feeling his eyes grow moist as a thousand memories of his baby girl when she was still his actual baby girl fill his mind. "Oh, I miss those days."

"I miss things about those days," Hiram admits, "but never sleeping through a night is not one of them."

Leroy chuckles again. "Touché." As much as he wants to take Calliope home with them and never let her go, there are certainly parts of caring for a newborn that he's not eager to revisit on a permanent basis. He decides then and there that he's perfectly happy being a doting grandfather this time around.

He loses track of how long they've been sitting there, but it's long enough for soft gray eyes to flutter open again and tiny lips to smack before Calliope begins to vocalize softly with some coos and gurgles. He and Hiram are both so enraptured by every little movement and noise that their granddaughter makes that they both fail to hear the bedroom door open and close—only realizing it had happened after Rachel pads into the room in her wrinkled t-shirt and shorts.

"Hey," she greets them sleepily, leaning over the side of the sofa to get a better look at her daughter, who is now fully awake, waving her arms, and squealing at the sight of her mother. "Is she okay?"

"She's perfect," Leroy assures her. "But what are you doing awake, baby girl? You're supposed to be napping."

Rachel shrugs. "I managed a short one, and Quinn's still sleeping," she informs them, smiling tenderly at the mention of her wife. "But I know this one will be looking for food soon," she says, gently scratching at her daughter's belly to Calliope's delight, "so I thought I'd get a bottle ready."

"We could have done that, Rachelah."

"I know, Daddy," Rachel admits, standing up straight once again, "but Callie always seems to be fussier when we have to use the bottle. She prefers Quinn's…um," she hesitates, vaguely gesturing to her chest while her cheeks grow a bit pink.

"Her breasts," Hiram supplies easily, and Leroy stifles his laughter. Rachel blushes a little more, silently nodding. For all her confidence, talking about her wife breastfeeding their daughter with her gay fathers seems to have left her tongue tied.

"Like mother like daughter," Hiram observes with a sly grin.

"Daddy!" Rachel reprimands sharply—though not nearly as loudly as she certainly would have if Quinn wasn't sleeping in the next room and Calliope wasn't right there.

"Don't tease her, Hiram," Leroy admonishes, barely containing his own amusement. "It's undoubtedly difficult for Rachel now that she has to share."

Rachel gasps in mock indignation, planting her hands on her hips amidst Hiram's laughter. "Dad! You too?"

"Sorry, baby girl," he apologizes laughingly, rocking Calliope in his arms as she squeals happily—seemingly laughing right along with her grandfathers. "Your daddy is obviously a very bad influence on me."

"You're both being terrible influences on my daughter right now," Rachel chastises, crossing her arms sternly.

Hiram pushes up his glasses again. "In the immortal words of Dr. Lopez…we're just keeping it real."

Leroy groans, shaking his head at his husband's sudden adoption of that terrible colloquialism, and Rachel frowns at them both. "Please don't ever, ever say that again," she pleads.

"I think I can promise you he won't," Leroy vows, sending his husband a challenging look.

Hiram holds out his hands in supplication. "Hey, we've gotta stay young and in the know somehow now that we're grandpas," he explains.

"Young and vital grandpas," Leroy quickly corrects.

Rachel's posture softens as she gazes at them with a loving smile on her lips. "The best grandpas," she declares with an affectionate smile, stepping around the sofa so she can lean down to press a kiss first to Leroy's cheek and then to Hiram's in turn. "And the best dads."

Leroy sniffles, feeling the moisture in his eyes spill over as his heart swells with love for his family. "Oh, we love you, baby girl."

"I love you too," she murmurs, her smile widening when Calliope squirms in Leroy's arms in an attempt to get closer to her mother. "And I love you, my pretty girl," she coos adoringly, laying a gentle hand on top of the baby's head as she squats down to press a kiss to her forehead.

And oh, his baby has a baby of her own, and she's such a wonderful mother, and now Leroy is a blubbering mess of big, warm, fuzzy feelings just looking at mother and daughter together.

"Maybe you should take her before your Dad drowns her in tears," Hiram suggests lightly, though his own voice is a little choked up. "I can warm up the bottle," he promises, standing from the sofa and placing a kiss to the top of Rachel's head before he retreats to the kitchen, discreetly wiping a tear from the corner of his eye beneath the frames of his glasses.

"I think she does want her mama," Leroy concedes soggily, noticing the way Calliope's little fist is wrapped around a strand of Rachel's hair. "Don't you, sugar plum?"

Calliope lets out a squeal, and Leroy and Rachel both shush her at the same time. Rachel carefully disengages her hair from her daughter's grasp before she moves up onto the sofa and slips her arms under Calliope's tiny body, lifting her out of Leroy's arms. The emptiness left by the loss of that beloved weight is instantly filled by the look in Rachel's eyes—still so very tired but shining with the kind of everlasting devotion that comes with the unconditional love of a parent for a child—and Leroy presses a hand to his heart as he takes in the sight.

Rachel gently rocks Calliope in her arms, smiling blissfully down at her daughter. "There's my little star. Were you a good girl for grandpa?"

"Pappy," Leroy corrects firmly. Rachel quirks an eyebrow at him, channeling her wife, but Leroy ignores it. "We've decided on pappy," he explains.

Rachel stifles a giggle, pursing her lips as she nods resolutely. "Pappy, then," she accepts, gazing back down at Calliope.

"She was an angel."

Still smiling at her daughter, Rachel nods. "I thought I heard her start to cry earlier. I was ready to run for her, but then she quieted down." She glances up at Leroy again with a grateful expression. "Thanks, Dad. You have no idea how exhausted Quinn has been. She really needed this afternoon."

"Just Quinn?" he asks knowingly.

Grinning sheepishly, Rachel admits, "Both of us." Then she's gazing at Calliope again with a tired sigh. "It can get pretty overwhelming sometimes."

Leroy wraps an arm around his daughter's shoulders, tucking her against his side. "I know, baby girl, but your daddy and I are happy to help out whenever we can. That's what family is for," he reminds her, happily gazing down into the beautiful face of his family's next generation.

It's a moment he knows he'll count among his happiest memories for years to come.