One shots #1:
Bailey was sitting on her bed in the infirmary with her daughter in her arms, she was wrapped in a knit plum purple blanket that had been a gift from one of her coworkers at the supply and storage building and she had a small knit white hat on too. She hadn't opened her eyes yet since they were still fused together but according to Dr. Hastings once she was twenty eight weeks old, which was only two weeks away, she'd be blinking and her eyes would be able to form images so she'd be able to see her parents for the first time. Now though only a week after her birth her rate of survival was up to ninety-five percent though Hastings said she was still premature and would need NICU care for long periods of time. More good news was it looked like Bailey had gone into early labor from the high levels of stress Tommy's kidnapping had put her through and it wasn't due to something wrong with her internally. So she'd been given a clean bill of health which took a load off her and Tommy's minds.
Tommy was going to take shorter shifts at work so he could stay with TJ while Bailey stayed in the infirmary with their little girl. Right now though TJ would just be getting out of school and Tommy was going to give him a bath before bringing him over to meet his sister. They wanted to get all the school germs off him first though since the baby's immune system was still delicate. They still had to make sure the room she and Bailey were in was kept at a certain temperature and they had to put her under a heat lamp when they changed her diaper or clothes to keep her warm since she was still too young to regulate her own body temperature. There was still a machine nearby for her breathing tube that ran under her nose and another machine that had a tube hooked up to feed her. Bailey had to pump until the baby's instincts to nurse had developed so her body wouldn't shut down that function too soon, Hastings had described it as a 'use it or lose it' bodily function.
Bailey cradled her daughter in her arms and her face was hurting from how much she'd been smiling lately. Just looking at her new little baby brought her such joy and reminded her that pregnancy was such a gift and she was so grateful she got to experience it twice now. Her baby girl wiggled a bit in her arms as she readjusted herself and Bailey loved seeing her little face, especially now that it had more color and less of that white blue-grey tone to it. Now it was pink and healthy looking and Bailey looked forward to watching her grow.
Then the door to her room opened and she looked over her shoulder to see Tommy and TJ walk in. Tommy was in a tight white shirt made of a thicker material then plain cotton and TJ had a shirt with cars and trucks on it.
"Momma! Momma!" he cried excitedly and Tommy immediately shushed him.
"Shhh, quiet TJ, remember? Babies need quiet or they'll cry."
"Oh yeah." TJ whispered before he tip toed the rest of the way to his mother making both her and Tommy chuckle lightly. Then he climbed up on the bed and shimmied over to her.
"How was school?" Bailey asked him.
"Good. Miss Lisa had the whole class make a card for you and the baby and they all signed them and drew pictures. Papa helped me hang them up at home so you can see them when you get out of the in-firm-ree."
"That's great TJ." She said and noticed he'd started sitting up taller obviously trying to get a better look at the baby in her arms wrapped in purple. She looked up at Tommy and he grabbed TJ around the middle and picked him up.
"Here bud, can you see her better?" he asked as TJ stretched his neck to see and Bailey angled her arms.
"She's really, really tiny Papa." He said softly as he watched her.
"You were that little too TJ." Tommy said as TJ looked amazed. "But you stayed in Momma's tummy longer.
"Why'd she come out early?" TJ asked as Tommy put him back down on the bed.
"She was excited to meet you." Bailey told him which made him smile. Then the door opened again and there was a light knock on the frame as they saw Warren and Doc coming in.
"Hey." Warren greeted softly smiling from ear to ear. "Are you guys up for company?"
"Yeah, come on in." Bailey replied, since the baby was still at risk of germs neither Doc or Warren asked to hold her which Bailey was more than fine with, if it were up to her she'd never stop cradling her little girl.
"So Red says she's been progressing really well, all things considered." Doc said with his hands in his pockets.
"It's still been pretty tough but we're hanging in there." 10K said with a sigh.
"Well the apocalypse is like rehab Kid. Take it one day at a time then do the next indicated thing." Doc shrugged.
"What's rehab?" TJ asked and all the adults shared a look.
Bailey was the one who changed the subject, "We were hoping you guys would stop by actually, we wanted to talk to you." Bailey said as she readjusted herself on the bed and TJ stayed by watching his sister diligently, already eager to be a good big brother.
"Oh yeah?" Doc asked. "Would that have anything to do with you finally telling us this little one's name?"
Tommy and Bailey looked at each other sheepishly, they had been going back and forth for the past week on what to call their Little K now that they knew she was a girl. They weren't as prepared as they hoped they'd be but they'd also lost another three months of decision making when their peanut decided to come early.
"Yeah, we finally picked something." Tommy said moving to sit next to her as he took his one hand and cradled the baby's head with it. "We both liked Charlotte."
"That's pretty." Warren said though Bailey thought she could see something in her face that was bummed they hadn't picked Roberta.
Bailey giggled, "And we liked Cassandra for a middle name."
Doc nodded and stroked his beard, "Nice, touching, but kinda long for a kid don'tcha think?"
"Well we did pick a nickname." 10K told them, "Charlie. . . Garnett was the first one to start calling me 10K, so. . . we thought it fit."
At that Warren did get a little teary eyed. "Charlie. . . beautiful."
"So TJ, you ready to be a big brother?" Doc asked and the little boy got really excited and started telling Doc about all the things he was going to do as a big brother, some of them so extravagant they made the adults laugh. Then 10K took advantage of the distraction and moved discreetly over to Warren.
"Can I talk to you in the hall?" he asked quietly and she looked at him picking up that it was something serious. She nodded and followed him out, Bailey saw them leave out of the corner of her eye but Tommy nodded to her and that seemed to reassure her that everything was alright as she turned her attention back to her children and their great grandfather.
"What's up baby boy?" Warren asked him once the door to Bailey's room was shut. Instantly 10K looked pissed and she knew shit was about to hit the fan.
"What exactly is Altura's legal punishment –" he began rolling up his right sleeve, " -for stealing someone's blood?"
Her eyes widened when she saw the bruise in the crease of his elbow. He hadn't let Bailey see it and he hadn't told her about it. She'd been through enough and getting back at Murphy was something he wanted to handle personally. Especially since Murphy hadn't really known what he was doing, judging by the size of the bruise on 10K's arm from the needle.
"What hap –" Warren began but one look at 10K as his eyebrows rose up to his forehead and she knew the answer as she ground her teeth together and spat the name, "Murphy."
One shots: #2
10K made his way from the infirmary room Bailey was in back down the hall to check in on their daughter. He stopped dead in his tracks in the doorway when he saw she wasn't in her plastic bassinette but was being held by Murphy. The wires were still attached to her as well as the feeding tube as the machines beeped at steady paces.
Murphy didn't look up at him but he could tell the red man knew he was there by the way he was smiling at the baby turned into a smirk that made his skin crawl.
"Do you remember what you said to me?" Murphy asked still not looking at him, "After Lucy died?"
10K felt his heart drop into his stomach as his mind raced with ways he could cross the room and get to his little girl before Murphy could hurt her. But he didn't have a weapon on him, only his antler. He'd still have to reach Murphy to use it, and by that point he could do anything – just dropping her would probably kill her she was so fragile.
He opened his mouth to respond but Murphy spoke first, "You said Lucy deserved a better father. Do you have any idea what that felt like to hear?"
"Murphy she's just a baby –"
"And the best way to hurt you right now." He replied still looking down at the bundle in his arms. "You said you didn't get the chance to bury Bailey, you didn't get that closure. That you were glad that I knew in that moment what it felt like to lose someone I loved."
"Murphy –"
"I wanted to tell you. So badly. Tell you what an idiot you were for believing my lie. To tell you that Bailey hadn't died in Spokane, that she probably was dead because you weren't there to protect her. Or that if she was alive she'd think that by now you'd abandoned her, that you didn't care about her as much as you said you did. I wanted to tell you the truth so you could hurt." He finally looked up at him, "Instead I hoped one day you'd love someone this much so you could feel what I felt when that was taken away."
Then he tugged the wires from the machines in one pull.
"NO!"
He shot up out of bed panting and covered in sweat. He moved to sit on the edge of the bed and rubbed his eyes. He started to hear soft crying and knew Charlie must be fussy so he got out of bed and headed for the baby's room. He hadn't realized that Bailey hadn't been in bed, for whatever reason she'd already been awake. He found her notebook open next to a pencil on the island in the kitchen and he peeked through the open door and found her bent over Charlie's crib in her cotton tee shirt and shorts that she wore as pajamas under her thin light blue robe that was starting to fall open. Her shorter hair was in two braids which helped keep it out of her face as she leaned over the rail.
"Shhh, shhh, little one." She cooed as she picked up their three month old daughter gently. Charlotte had gained a bit of weight and was much sturdier now then she'd been at birth, they both felt much more comfortable since she'd passed what had originally been her due date and was still doing so well. She still went for regular checkups with Red and Dr. Hastings who would come down from the Rangers Outpost but overall they were very pleased with her development. She was just like any other baby, you wouldn't even be able to tell she'd been a preemie. Bailey held where her neck met her head giving her the support she needed as she rocked her in her arms. 10K always loved to just watch her with their kids, he'd known since he met her that she was tough, tough enough to smash zombie skulls with a hatchet, but with their children she was so gentle he was in awe. She held the baby firmly so she wouldn't fall, but her movements were still so delicate and soft. She really was a fantastic mother, he thought as he watched her smile down at the baby in her arms. She gently rocked from foot to foot but Charlie still fussed. Then Bailey lifted her up a bit more and brought her bottom to her face, then she cringed. He almost chuckled, apparently Charlie needed a diaper change.
"Shhhh, shhh." Bailey cooed again bringing the baby to the dresser that had a plush changing pillow on top for her to lay the baby on. "Yeah, I'd cry too if I were sitting in what you're sitting in."
That time Tommy did chuckle as he stepped into the room. "Do you need any help?" he asked quietly not wanting to talk too loud and wake TJ up. Bailey turned to him and smiled.
"If you could grab her pacifier, that'd be great." She said before going back to the plush pad and laying the baby down. He moved to the nightstand by the foot of the crib and got the pacifier before he moved to stand behind Bailey watching her take care of their little girl from over her shoulder. Bailey took the pacifier from him and coaxed it into Charlie's little mouth before she got to work removing the stinky diaper which seemed to settle Charlie down enough that she held still for Bailey.
"Tommy she's looking at you." Bailey whispered as she worked and 10K looked to find Charlotte's eyes – a replica of her mother's – staring up at him like he was the most interesting thing she'd ever seen.
"Hey peanut." He said with a smile bringing his finger to Charlie's chin before her tiny hand shot up and her little fist wrapped around the end of his finger and held it tightly. He didn't dare try to move it away from her as he memorized her soft touch and tiny fingers. It felt like his heart was smiling whenever she did that so he'd let her hold his hand as much as she wanted to.
"Mmmm, yeah, you love your Papa don't you?" Bailey said noticing their little moment as she finished up with the new diaper and baby powder. "She's going to have dark hair like you."
He smiled a little at that, having noticed the little wisps of dark hair that had already started coming in on her little head. When Bailey was finished she picked Charlie up again which made her let go of Tommy's finger and cradled her in her arms as she moved and sat on the rocking chair. 10K followed her and sat on the small footrest in front of her as she tried to get Charlie back to sleep.
"You do a great job Bailey." He whispered and Bailey looked up at him looking a bit shocked before she smiled.
"I couldn't do it without you." She said as Charlie started to settle down. "Working enough to get the hours I'd need to get them food, and clothes, I'd never be home. Then they'd need a babysitter, practically from the moment they were born, I'd always need help. I could never do this alone. I need you."
He gave her a small smile, "That's why we make such a great team."
Then the door opened a bit more and they looked to see TJ standing there in his jammies with little dinosaurs on them.
"Papa I can't fall back to sleep." He said sounding exhausted. Tommy turned back to Bailey and the two shared a smile before he got up.
"I've got it." He told her as she nodded and looked back down at Charlotte in her arms as 10K left with TJ.
"Go pick a book, I'll lie with you for a while." He said softly as TJ eagerly pattered off to find a book.