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jehilew · 6 years

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In today’s edition of Jessi Spoils Her ‘She’s…’ Readers

This is a thing I wrote around Christmas, and it has been killing me not to show it to everyone. Because it is seriously adorable. And I have less than zero ability to just sit on finished work. I was still pretty iffy about sharing, because it’s pretty far into the series and a good sized spoiler, but @roguesboobfreckles a.k.a. the world’s worst enabler, had the goddamn nerve to point out that I hadn’t started this thing in a linear fashion to begin with, anyway, and that everyone already knows this is a Romy-gets-their-sunset fic, so what’s one more teeny tiny lil’ peek at the relationship endgame, eh??? It’s not like I’m anywhere even close to giving up any big plot points running the series, so??? Anyway, go thank her if you like being so spoiled, because she’s actually the very best.

Also, the song Remy is singing? It’s ‘Catch A Falling Star’ by Perry Como. My grandpapa used to sing it to me and my cousins when we were little, so it’s always got it’s spot with me.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…

Except this old rat, anyway. And the young'in on my shoulder, fightin’ sleep with all five pounds, thirteen ounces of her being. So really, Anna’s the only one sawin’ any logs around here tonight. It’s alright, though, me and the little one here, we gonna hang tight for a bit. Anna’s already been up with her, and now that the little bit’s tanked up and boob drunk, I’ve got her so Anna can get some sleep.

Nora turns her tiny, scrunched up face into my chest and squirms herself clear down to my belly, making all those little hissy noises that always herald a good squallin’ fit. “Non, non, chere-baby, none of that cryin’ eh?” I scoop her up just as she lets out a little shriek. “My pretty little Cotton-ears, come back up here and listen to your papa sing y’ favorite song, yeah?”

Adjusting the blanket back over her, I start hummin’ this song that’d stuck with me, something I’d heard coming off of Anna’s playlist the night our girl was born. Nora can’t hear me, found out a bit over a week ago that she’s deaf as they come, but it don’t matter none. I’ve put this little lady to sleep many times over the past three weeks just like this. It ain’t the sound of my voice she’s lookin’ for, it’s the vibrations in my chest, the thump of my heart, the rush of my breath, the empathic connection, things she can feel is usually what settles her down with me.

“Shh, shh, bebe,” I shush right over her ear, flinging myself wide open to her, projecting all the love and warmth I can throw at her, but she ain’t havin’ it, and starts sputtering and rootin’ around on me.

So much for being tanked up, yeah?

Nora pulls in a shaky little breath and tries to lift her head, lookin’ for the world like it’s about to roll clean off her shoulders, and sniffles a couple of times. I reach up to steady her (goddamn, she’s so little, her head don’t even fill up the palm of my hand!), leaning forward a bit to kiss her bright, orangey-red hair. She squawks again, kickin’ out her legs and throwing her head into my cheek.

“Ah, now, lookin’ to eat again so soon?” I swear it, Nora’s like a tick on Anna’s tit, much as she nurses. “C'mon, little milk monster,” I hike her up on my shoulder and get up out of the chair, “let’s you and me go look in the fridge, see if maybe your mama left y’ something to eat, neh?”

Nora screws up her face and lets it rip, turning red as a Coke can before she pulls her next breath, and fusses all the way to the kitchen, and through every second of me getting her milk out of the fridge and into a bottle.

“Catch a fallin’ star and put it in y’ pocket, never let it fade away,” I go back to that song, giving the bottle a low charge to heat up the milk, “catch a fallin’ star and put it in y’ pocket, save it for a rainy day.” I pause to kiss the side of her head. “Snowy days work for you, ma petite etoile filante? ‘Cause that’s all it’s doin’ out there tonight, yeah?”

Nora don’t let up a beat, screamin’ her little heart out at me. Chuckling, I give her another smooch over ear and check the milk’s temperature with a drop on the inside of my wrist. “Alright, Nora-chere, let’s get you this bottle, yeah? Maybe that make you happy?”

I talk to her all the way back into the living room, her squallin’ with every step I take. After I get us situated in the chair again, and Nora’s happily chowin’ down, I lean my head back and close my eyes, humming that song, feeling both of us relaxing and settling in.

Shit, I’m tired. Ain’t nobody ever lied when they said a newborn don’t sleep. Nora’s up about every couple of hours, ‘round the clock, needing a diaper change and lookin’ to eat. And by eat, I mean stay on Anna sometimes a handful of hours on end, nursing and napping in spurts til that woman’s about to lose it for some sleep.

That’s where I been comin’ in. Anna’s been bringin’ the baby to bed so she could maybe get some sleep that way, but Nora, soon as she pops off the boob, she’ll decide about two seconds later that she ain’t done at the all-night-buffet after all. Every now and again, like tonight, she really is still a bit hungry, but most of the time, she’s just lookin’ for someone to snuggle up into, so I been gettin’ up with her. It ain’t the most ideal situation, I don’t guess, but seein’ as how Nora doesn’t like to be put down, this is what’s gettin’ us all the most sleep around here.

I really ain’t complainin’ too loudly, though. Never thought I’d get any of this, and look at me now, eh? I can’t help smiling a little at that, 'cause guaranteed, there’s a fuckload of folks who’d shit themselves out if they saw me now, happily up all night at the beck and call of an itty-bitty dictator.

Heh, they ain’t even seen the best of it yet- Raven’s been hidin’ all along a mother-hen streak as wide as her life is long, and in her eyes, Nora can do absolutely no wrong. And she looks “just like my Anna-Marie”. (Except she don’t- 'tite-chere’s got the shape of my eyes and my chin. And don’t even get me goin’ on the whole, 'my Anna-Marie’ bit. Raven’s forever on my shitlist for her treatment of Anna.)

It don’t take long for Nora’s guzzling to turn to faint sucking noises, and I lift my head to find her eyes closed and her lips lax, dribbling milk everywhere. “Alright, little bit,” I murmur low, taking the bottle away and easing her up on her belly, “c'mon up here wit’ your papa, and lets you and me go night-night, yeah?”

A couple of thumps on her back later, and Nora burps, stretches, and curls up right in the middle of my chest, her ear over my heart, her little humped-up back curved into my hand, completely tapped out for the next little while. Reachin’ up to cup the back of her head, I lean over to kiss her.

“Catch a fallin’ star and put it in y’ pocket, save it for a rainy day,” I sing low into that bright head, “for when your troubles start multiplyin’, and they just might, it’s easy to forget them without tryin’, with just a pocketful of starlight…”

I finish out the song, just…just starin’ at her. Nora Poppy. All orange fluff, big, blue eyes, and her ears full of cotton. She’s beautiful, perfect, and she’s mine. How the hell I’d managed to spawn such a sweet, cute little thing…

She didn’t get any of that from me, that’s all her mama. I’ll make damn sure she don’t get none of the hell I did, either. Or any of what Anna’d caught, for that matter. Nothing but the very best for this little one, neh?

That still trips me up, that I’ve got a kid, I’m someone’s papa. Hell, I’d given up on this kind of thing ever happening for me, what with all the shit muckin’ up my past. Then, along comes Anna, and she don’t care about any of that, but was lookin’ like she didn’t ever want any kids, so it was still a no-go… Til she goes and decides she wants a baby, after all, gets knocked up on the first try, and just a handful of weeks later, gets a lung-full of terrigen mist. Seven months after that, here comes Nora, who for all counts, shouldn’t have even survived the mist, or at least not without severe complications. Or the meds Anna’d needed just to stay alive, herself…

I’m a real lucky bastard right now, to have gotten it all in the end, anyway- the incredible woman snoring in the back room, grouchy, desperate for sleep, and alive, and this tiny little thing keepin’ me up all hours of the night, and her only complication is she’s deaf.

Naw, I ain’t complainin’ a bit. I’ll take it all, and just fuckin’ live in it. Especially since we’re one and done. Whatever chances of more babies the mist might’ve left us, Anna’s medication took care of. Nora’s it us.

“You’re my very own fallin’ star, yeah?” I ask her, lightly runnin’ my thumb over the top of her head. Nora don’t even stir, just keeps on drooling a wet spot on my shirt while cuttin’ the tiniest snores I ever heard. “Ah, ma chere-baby,” I smile real big down at her, “you sleep just like your mama, she does the same thing, snoring and droolin’ all over your papa.” I pause, feelin’ that smile go a bit quiet, while at the same time, feelin’ like I’m about to either choke on my heart or my breath, 'cause my chest ain’t big enough for both right now. “Your mama, she’s my other fallin’ star, you know that? It’s just you two for this old boy.”

Nora’s lips twitch and her tongue clucks as she makes a few sucking movements with her mouth, like she’s nursing, finishing it off with a snore. Goddamn, she’s adorable! And it’s moments like this right here, where she’s passed out a squishy little heap on my chest, that I don’t give a fuck if I don’t ever sleep again if it means I can stretch this time out with her just a little longer, 'cause it’s all only for a short little while, anyway…

“You two’s more than enough, though,” I tell her, layin’ my head back, eyes closed and smiling. “Give me my two fallin’ stars to love on, and I’m a happy man, no?”

Catch a couple of fallin’ stars, my ass; more like they both dropped in on me, smashed me flat, and lit up my whole fuckin’ world.

Never say I don’t love you people, okay?? 💕

#gambit #rogue #romy #remy lebeau #anna marie #She’s.../He’s... series #Nora Poppy #btw...y’all the only ones gonna see this.#I'm not posting this on ffn or ao3 til it's turn.#Feel special😉#my fanfic

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