Fun Ghoul rolled his eyes and gave Party an amused smile. "Well, it's too late to change your mind, isn't it? You've already had the baby."
"I love her, Frankie, you know that. I don't regret having her...I'm just worried. Aren't I supposed to be the leader?"
Kobra snorted. "I never listen to you."
Party eyed his brother with an unimpressed look. "You're my baby brother, you're not supposed to."
"It'll be okay, Gee. Bands is going to be safe, I promise." Fun Ghoul promised his boyfriend. "We should probably get this baby stuff prepared for whenever she's gonna need it."
Kobra nodded. "They don't stay asleep forever." Grace wanted to run to her uncle and give him a hug, but she stayed there watching her cousin sleep. Her parents told her sometimes adults just talked about "adult stuff" and to not worry about it.
~~~
"Whatcha up to?" Jet took a seat in the booth where Grace sat. It was dark outside now and baby Bandit was sleeping in the laundry basket on top of the table. Grace was once again watching her cousin. She wondered if she did the same thing Bandit did when she was a baby.
Grace had been wondering what they were going to call Bandit. They could only say each other's names inside behind closed doors. One day, she would be referred to as her Killjoy name constantly.
"What are we going to call Bandit?" Grace questioned when she looked up at her dad. Before, she had placed on her crash helmet that was covering her light brown curls.
Jet smiled at the sleeping Bandit. "You're really worried about your cousin's Killjoy name, aren't you?" After Bandit had been born, Grace asked her own Killjoy name. Jet thought it was sweet of how loving of a cousin Grace was being. It would be sweet when Bandit was old enough. Maybe the two girls could play, it sucked being a kid in 2019 right now.
Grace nodded. "I want her to be safe, Daddy. We can't say our real names because it's not safe for us to. We can't just always call her Bandit."
"You're so sweet." Jet bent down to peck Grace's forehead. He sighed. "Well, what should we call her then?"
Grace tilted her head and looked at her sleeping cousin. She knew there was one time when Dr. D referred to her as "Motorbaby" since she had been the only infant he had seen in a long time. He was aware of Bandit's birth, but he hadn't seen her yet like he's met Grace.
She thought about it for a second before speaking her random thought aloud. "Motor Bullet."
"Hmm?" Jet leaned a bit close to his daughter.
Grace shrugged. "Dr. D called me Motorbaby, remember?"
Jet nodded. "He hadn't seen a baby in a long time when he met you. He thought you were precious, which is obviously true." He booped Grace's nose and earned a giggle from his daughter. "I like the name. Motor Bullet."
Grace smiled delightfully at her dad's response to what she came up with. It would just mean that Bandit would be safe. When she was young, she had to learn why she couldn't say people's names.
"I was just wondering, why are you so worried?" Jet asked his daughter. He would hope Grace wouldn't have to worry, but in this world right now they had to be careful. She shouldn't have to worry about Bandit though. The grownups would worry about them both. "I love the you're being a caring cousin, but your uncles, mommy and I have it under control."
Grace frowned. "I've noticed Uncle Gee has been really worried about Bands. I wish he wouldn't worry so much."
"You're the best niece in the world, you know?" Jet was so going to tell Kobra all about how they had the sweetest daughter in the world. "Uncle Gee's worries are similar to how worried your mommy and I were when we had you."
Grace remebered her mom mentioning the earlier when he was talking to her Uncle Gerard. "But Uncle Gee and Frankie helped you both when I was born."
"Yup. Your mommy and I were terrified. We didn't want BLI/nd taking you away. We didn't want you getting hurt either. Uncle Gee worries about Bands the same way." Jet clarified.
"Uncle Frankie doesn't seem too worried." Grace pointed out. Then again, he was comforting her Uncle Gerard.
Jet shrugged. "One of them has to be levelheaded. I did when you were born. Your mommy wanted to hold you all the time because he knew that you were safe and with him. He had to rest though. Once, when your Uncle Frankie wanted to hold you and let him get sleep, your mommy pulled out his ray gun on your uncle."
Grace's eyes widened. No one ever aimed weapons at family. "But...it's Uncle Frank."
"Your mommy just felt the need to hold you during the first year you were born. I was able to convince him that everything would be okay. That he wasn't alone. We would all help keep you safe."
Grace looked at Bandit. "We just need to assure Uncle Gee the same?" When Jet nodded, Grace got up from her seat and pecked Bandit's forehead. "I'll keep you safe too, Bands."
Jet awed at the sight. "That's sweet, hon, but you're only five."
Grace turned to her dad. "Uncle Frank wanted to teach me how to shoot a ray gun."
"What did Uncle Frank say?" It was Kobra with a stunned face. Uncle Frank's in trouble, Grace thought.
Grace knew that Bandit was going to fine and so was her Uncle Gerard. She was going to help keep her cousin safe, she promised.
I'll keep you safe (Frerard/Rikey)
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