Everything's Fine, I'm Talking To You

Sick

Lucy was growing up amazingly, a perfect combination of her parents: smart and funny, but just a little bit reckless (as much as a baby could be). Meeting Jake's mother (not father, Jake had been very clear that Lucy was not to meet his dad until she understood what a bad person he was), had proven to be very easy- mainly because she's a very accepting and loving person- but also because Lucy reminded her of Jake in so many ways (Lucy was not even 2 months old, but apparently she had "Jake's twinkle in her eye").

Impressing Amy's family, when she was a month older, was much more challenging- what with Amy's father hating Jake and all. In the end, it was Lucy's random choice that won Victor over. When alone with her, Victor took out two types of binder tabs; when Lucy grabbed for the more colourful, "better" ones he instantly accepted her as his granddaughter.

There wasn't much trouble until she was about 3.
  
 
"Daddy..." Lucy whimpered, tears in her eyes. She was sick. Very sick. It wasn't exactly life-threatening, and it couldn't be too bad as Amy had made sure their daughter had every vaccine and shot imaginable.

("Ames, is it even healthy for her to have this many shots in a row?"

"Jake, I've read about this stuff in books, it's better to get them all out of the way pretty early on. Trust me."

"I don't think I've even heard of some of the stuff she's getting vaccines for."

"You haven't heard of diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis, also known as DTP?"

"...")

"Aw, honey, you alright? What do you need?"

She was not alright, obviously. She spluttered weakly and Jake was close to tears himself. He knew that he and Amy would've had to deal with this at some point during this whole super-serious-parenting thing, they just didn't know it would be this hard.

Amy was still at work, as she couldn't take the stress of both of them not working, earning some form of money so they could continue living in their very nice apartment. They had moved when they had Lucy, obviously, and the new apartment was so much more spacious and lush. Bedrooms had gone from two (main and guest) to three (main, guest and baby). Lucy still preferred to sleep with her parents, though, especially during these times, where it's easier to wake her parents up if she was about to throw up.

Jake had tried to be a lot more mature with fatherhood, mainly because he wanted to be a lot more mature in his relationship with Amy. Of course, they had had mature moments in there relationship- not in that way! Well... yes, in that way, how else was Lucy going to come into this world? But, in other, sweeter moments. Like their first kiss, their first "I love you"s, and they were married. So yes, of course Jake could be mature when the time arose, but being a father was somehow different. Raising another human being was, in some ways, his most important assignment. Jake, unfortunately, knew how important a father was to a child first hand, due to his lack of a father figure himself (his idiot of a dad had also apparently impregnated six other women, meaning he had seven half-siblings as one of the mothers had twins. Jake managed to track them down due to pure curiosity and actually being pretty tight with them, and ended up having a Peralta vs Santiago sibling war which was unsurprisingly a lot of fun.)

Perhaps he was determined not to be as bad at his job than Roger was. Perhaps he wanted to prove to himself that he could do it. That he could see past the poop and vomit and the other gross things babies produced. He never wanted another human to go through what his family did. Not if he could help it.

"...water, please..." her small voice managed to squeak out. He wasn't sure how his heart didn't shatter right then and there, but he toughed it out and smiled sadly at his daughter.

"We could make you some of that magic potion that cures everything- that abuela taught us?" He suggested, kneeling down next to his and Amy's bed that Lucy was in. Her blankets were draped over her legs and she wore a thin cotton t-shirt that used to belong to daddy. Her temperature was fluctuating throughout the day and she had been suffering because of it. If Jake could, he would take all of Lucy's sickness, and transfer it to himself. It was strange- he had never properly felt that way with anyone else. Of course it wasn't as bad as when it had first started, but it still gave Jake a pit in his stomach whenever he saw her, seeing how much pain she was in.

Lucy nodded and smiled weakly, which quickly contorted into a frown as she broke into a coughing fit, attempting to cover her mouth with one of her tiny (and still very adorable) hands. Jake picked Lucy up, still coughing, and started stroking his hand up and down the short length of her spine. A few more painful seconds later, Jake could feel a small patch of dampness on his shoulder where Lucy's eyes were. The coughing subsided and ended with a sniffle.

"Can we go make the potion now?" Lucy asked quietly. Jake smirked, trying to stay happy and encouraging and whispered "yes" just loud enough for Lucy go hear. He took them to the kitchen where he sat Lucy on the island next to the sink.

"Hey, you're sitting up, that's a good thing, right?" Jake said, grinning, relieved to see his baby girl showing some signs of strength. Lucy grinned when he turned round and nodded. She honestly felt slightly better and Jake was so happy, happier than that time he caught a psychotic murderer in a single day. He teased Amy for weeks after that.

On autopilot, Jake grabbed the few ingredients he needed to make Abuela's Potion, dropping a kiss to Lucy's forehead as he filled the kettle up at the sink. After a few minutes of mixing the secret family formula (something that he took very seriously), he finished by squeezing lemon juice into it. He waited a minute to let it cool down and he poured Abuela's Potion into a sippy cup. He knew that with his luck Lucy would spill the mug and end up with it all down her front and Jake would get blamed for giving Lucy third degree burns.

Jake helped Lucy off the counter and they held hands as they walked to the sofa. They sat down and Lucy curled in his lap as she fell asleep to some old episode of Tom and Jerry. This. This is why the poop and the vomit was worth it.

He was still watching the Tom and Jerry marathon that was airing long after Lucy had fallen asleep, and he was so engrossed in the cat and mouse's antics that he didn't hear the door open and close as Amy entered the house.

"Hey babe," she said quietly, noticing Lucy asleep in Jake's lap.

He jumped slightly, Amy's words snapping him out of his cartoon-fueled trance. He grinned as soon as he saw his wife as she walked over sitting at his side, one of her hands on his lap, the other undoing her neat bun (I guess you could say she was letting her hair down aha).

"Hey Ames." He kissed her chastely on the lips, his smile still etched into his features.

Any sighed contentedly and Jake started to explain to her how much better Lucy was doing, and the Potion that he still very strongly believed in. Amy chuckled at this, rolling her eyes at her husband's child-like wonder.

They turned the TV off and gently woke Lucy up, asking her where she wanted to sleep. She opted for her own room, causing both her parents to almost squeal with delight.

Amy tucked her in, kissing her forehead before Jake did the same.

"And remember we're just next door so if it does get worse overnight you can come wake us up," Amy reminded.

"Goodnight, Lucy," Jake whispered as he gently closed the door.

As soon as the door was shut, both Amy and Jake quietly squealed and bounced on their toes happily. Lucy was getting better. She's sleeping in her own room. She's ok.

Jake didn't sleep that night, just in case Lucy came in to wake them up. Thankfully she didn't, and at 6am, he curled up next to Amy, and although she was asleep he spoke.

"I love you."