Scömìche One Shots (*PG-R*)

Baby Talk

Scott blindly reached over to the monitor and set it to mute, sighing when the screaming finally stopped. He looked over to find Mitch, thankfully, still completely out and took a moment to get himself together before bracing himself and stumbling out of the bed.

When he reached the nursery he was surprised to find Rose standing up in her crib, her fingers tight around the thin bars in the dim glow of her night light, sobbing so loud that he was amazed Mitch hadn't woken before him. He shuffled over and scooped her into his arms, pressing her small body against his chest and checking to see what was bothering her.

He tilted his head closer to her and sniffed. She smelled like baby powder and sleep; that soft, gentle "baby scent" that he loved. He breathed in a few more times before settling her little brunette head at his shoulder. "Thank god, Rosie. Not in the mood for diapers. What's wrong, sweetheart? Why were you trying to climb out?" He rocked her as he walked across the room. He tried giving her a bottle and double checked her diaper but nothing seemed to be wrong. She ended up in his arms for about twenty more minutes, his tired voice whispering comfort into her ear as he walked her around the room. Eventually her sobbing died down to tiny, sparse whimpers and she tugged at Scott's sleeve, begging to be put down.

He complied and watched her crawl over to her toys, sitting on the floor himself to watch. After a few moments, she returned crawling from her toy box and collapsed onto his lap, a small stuffed elephant in her hand. He rocked her as she played quietly with her little toy, and when she seemed satiated enough he lifted her back into her crib, setting her on the thin mattress with a silent prayer on his tongue.

He immediately regretted it when he heard the whimper and saw traces of wetness in her eyes even in the dimly lit room. Of course she wouldn't go back to sleep that easily. He sighed, picking her back up and letting her nuzzle into his shoulder. "Rosebud doesn't wanna sleep tonight, does she?" She babbled softly, hitting his arm with her soft toy.

Scott chuckled. "Not a good enough answer, sweetheart. What are you up at 3am for anyway? Aren't you a little young for a late night existential crisis?" he smiled at his own little joke and shifted her little body, trying to catch a glimpse of her face. She was wide awake and he knew she wasn't going to go back to sleep for a couple of hours, if at all tonight. He sighed, trying to remind himself that Mitch definitely needed the sleep more than he did and he would be nothing less than cruel if he didn't take the sacrifice tonight. He was free all day tomorrow and could sleep once Rose did.

"Alright angel, let's make a deal" he offered, adjusting the five month old baby on his hip. "We can go downstairs and play, but you're gonna have to be super, super quiet, okay? Dad has a meeting tomorrow morning and we are not waking him up, alright?" He stared at her blank face as she stared back at him, taking it as conformation that she understood the game plan. With that, he grabbed another one of her stuffed toys and headed down the stairs with the baby bouncing softly on his hip with each step.

"Wow, good girl! Already so quiet, and I didn't even have to remind you! Such a good listener" he cooed, reaching the last step and flipping the lights on as he headed to the living room. He gave her five kisses on her little cheek, making her smile. "And your dad's always making fun of daddy for talking to you so much all the time. You tell dad next time you see him that I'm right! You do get everything I tell you! Right, Rosie?" he whispered, plopping them down on the floor. Apparently, only one word had stuck out to her in his whole monologue and she shrieked out, "Daa!"

She made grabby hands and when Scott reached over to her, she pulled away, shaking her head. "No, daddy. Daa."

"He's sleeping, angel. He has work in the morning. Here, give daddy the elephant and we can play zoo."

"No! Daa!"

"Rosie, dad's asleep" he sighed, knowing where this was going. Why were babies like this? "No dad right now. Just daddy."

"No daddy!" she whined, those huge, fat tears filling her eyes again. "No! Daa!"

"Oh, rosebud. Come on. Be nice. I hate telling you no." He scooped the cranky baby back up into his arms, walking her around the room to find a distraction before she started crying for Mitch. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. "Don't you love me as much as you love him?" He kissed her head and cheek before pulling her tiny hand up to his mouth too, waiting for a good compromise to come to him.

"Okay, angel, listen up. I have another proposition for you" he began, patting her back as he walked them to the kitchen. This was, by far, her favorite part of the house, which was both surprising and not because she was banned from entering it most of the time. He let the baby gate swing behind him as he walked in and checked to make sure there wasn't anything dangerous sitting around. He frowned when he saw that she was still pouting and that one of those big tears that was welling in her eyes had found its way silently down his cheek.

"Oh, no, baby. No more of that" he used his thumb to wipe at the wetness on her face. "I don't want my baby girl to cry. Daddy's gonna cry too then. And louder than you, too. I'll wake...him up" he joked, pointing upstairs. At this point he was afraid to say his name in case it reminded her of why she was upset. "Okay, here's the idea. We are gonna make him some cookies and you can show him when he wakes up for work, okay Rosie? God I hope you go to sleep before then. We'll pack some up for his meeting in the morning with auntie Kirstie and uncle Kevin and we'll eat the rest while he's out. Don't tell him that part though. That's confidential. God, Rose, I wanna sleep. Please, baby, please!" he whispered playfully, tickling under her chin and making her giggle and squirm in his arm. "Please, baby! Just let me sleep after this! Please!"

After he made her laugh any traces of Mitch-induced tears away, he set her on the kitchen floor with her toys as he got the cookie dough out of the freezer and set to work. He rolled out the cookies on the pan sitting on the floor, letting Rose poke her fingers in the neat dollops of dough at her whim, sticking her fingers in her mouth before attacking a different one on the pan.

She clapped for Scott as he unceremoniously slid the cookie tray in the oven and screamed, "Caeee! Yayy, daddy! Caeee!" Scott bowed before wetting a napkin and wiping at her sticky hands and face. "Yay! Almost cake, just smaller and...and not cake. Such a good girl, helping me bake for dad. I bet you're tired after all that hard work, huh Rosie? Almost as tired as I am, even? Wanna take a nap while the cakes bake? I'll tell you a story" he bribed, picking her up again. Her eyes lit up at the word "story" and she clapped again, and he walked into the darkened living room with the too-awake baby clinging to his shoulder as he whispered to her.

"What story do you wanna hear, angel?" he asked, more for himself than for Rose. He knew Rose didn't care, words were pretty hard and she just wanted Scott's voice. "Want me to sing instead? I can't think of a damn story to save my life. Oops, I meant dang...or darn. Which one's cleaner? I'll have to ask dad when he wakes up." He immediately regretted reviving the "D Word" when she giggled into his shoulder and shrieked another excited "Daa!"

He groaned. She had been so close to settling down. This was his own fault. "Whoa there, sweetheart. You really want him bad tonight, don't you?" he whispered, bouncing her on his hip. "Should I be jealous? Which one of you should I even be mad at? Alright... I'll tell you about dad, if that's what you're trying to tell me. You better prove me right when you're older and tell me you understood every word I said to your tiny a- um, butt, or else Mitch would be right about me being silly for talking to our baby girl like she's a tiny adult." He settled onto the couch, leaning her back into him and rocking side to side on his back to comfort her. "And I am not here to lose. I can tell you a story about him, but I'm not saying that boy's name again tonight, okay? You love him so much you'll start screaming again. That's okay, I've been there, just not when he's trying to sleep. Alright, ready for story time, sweetheart?"