Work Text:
You yawned, turning off your PADD and stretching. A glance at the chrono told you you only had to stay awake another thirty minutes before Leonard returned home from his double shift. With your own shifts having been hectic too, you and Leonard hadn’t been able to spend much time together, so you were determined to stay up now. You rose silently from your seat, deciding that it wouldn’t hurt if you got ready for bed now. You didn’t think either of you would remain awake for long.
You had just finished changing into a pair of sleep pants and one of Leonard’s t-shirts, when you heard the cry from your quarters second bedroom. You rushed to the other room. “Hey…hey sweetie, what’s wrong?” You asked softly once you saw your daughter, Jaime, huddled up in her bed and crying quietly. “Did you have a bad dream?” You sat on the bed, and the four year old immediately clambered onto your lap, clutching her favored stuffed toy tribble tightly.
Jaime nodded, snuggling into you and sniffling. “Want Daddy.”
“I know, sweetie. Daddy’ll be home soon, I promise.” You murmured, wrapping your arms around Jaime to hold her securely as you stood and exited the bedroom so you could move to sit on the couch instead.
Almost as soon as you’d sat down, the door opened and Leonard stepped in. He spotted the two of you immediately, and frowned. “Hey you two, what’s happened?”
“Daddy!” Jaime looked up as soon as she heard her father’s voice, holding her arms up to him. Leonard was next to you in a flash, and scooped up the girl in his arms. ‘Bad dream’ you mouthed silently when Leonard looked down at you in concern. Jaime clung to Leonard, small hands balled up in his shirt, still sniffing softly.
“Same dream, sweetheart?” Leonard asked quietly, rocking Jaime in his arms gently. When she nodded, seeming to hold onto Leonard a little tighter, he brought a hand up to stroke through her thick dark hair. “It’s ok. You’re safe now.” Leonard murmured, before beginning to hum the tune to a song you’d never learned. It was their song, and you were more than happy to let them have it.
You watched them from the couch, smiling as Jaime slowly relaxed in her father’s arms. She’d been a daddy’s girl from the moment she was born, looking up at the both of you with a scowl that was so reminiscent of Leonard’s own, that the whole of MedBay had laughed at the sight. In turn, Leonard had fallen head over heels in love with Jaime from that first moment too. He’d taken to being a father again like a duck to water, and he doted on Jaime. It warmed your heart to see them together.
Finally, Jaime settled completely, resting her head on Leonard’s shoulder. “You ready to go back to sleep, darlin’?”
“Can I sleep with you and Mommy?” Jaime asked, looking up at Leonard. You bit back a chuckle as she used her wide hazel eyes to give Leonard her best puppy dog eyes, knowing full well he was never able to say no to that look. Your girl was smart.
Leonard still glanced at you though, waiting for your nod. “Just tonight, darlin’, okay?” He answered with a smile. “Now how ‘bout you and Mommy go and have a warm glass of milk, while Daddy puts his PJs on?”
“Okay, Daddy.” Jaime beamed up at Leonard. You rose from the couch, taking Jaime back from Leonard’s arms. Leonard pressed a quick kiss to your cheek, and you smiled at him.
“You want a glass to?” You asked, settling Jaime on your hip.
Leonard shook his head. “I’m ready to fall straight to sleep.” He murmured, kissing your lips softly before kissing Jaime’s forehead. “You go get that milk.”
You nodded, leaving Leonard enter your bedroom while you took Jaime into the kitchen. It didn’t take long for you to produce two glasses of warm milk, and you watched with a smile as Jaime carefully drank from hers. Even though Leonard would never admit it, Jaime was practically his mirror image.
“Can we get Alphie, before we go bed?” Jaime asked, licking off her milk moustache. “Wanna show Daddy that I fixed him.”
“Okay, but we can’t spend too long doing it, alright? Daddy’s very tired.” You smiled clearing away your glasses when you were both done. You took Jaime’s hand and walked with her back to her bedroom where she picked up ‘Alphie’, the stuffed animal version of an Alfa 117 canine. It was adorable, really, watching as she carried both the large toy and her smaller tribble toy, but somehow Jaime managed. You knew better than to offer to carry either of them. Jaime was already independant, like both you and Leonard, so she’d never give up Alphie, her ‘patient’, or the toy tribble which had gone everywhere with her since Jim had given it to her when she was just a baby.
Leonard was just exiting the bathroom in his sleep clothes when you entered, and raised an eyebrow at the toys in Jaime’s arms. “What’s this?” He asked, sitting on the bed as Jaime jumped up next to him.
“Alphie got sick and I made him better!” Jaime grinned, holding up the toy to show Leonard the bandage wrapped its middle.
“You did!? Can I see?” Leonard took Alphie from Jaime’s hands, making a show of gently pulling back the bandage. The toy had split along the seam earlier that day, and Jaime, not wanting to replace it, had spent painstaking hours stitching it back together. Leonard expected the ‘wound’, and raised both eyebrows. “We need to hide Alphie from Jim! If he sees these stitches he’ll make you CMO instead of me!”
Jaime giggled happily, smiling broadly up at both you and Leonard. She’d been interested in medicine since the first time she’d visited MedBay while Leonard was working, but Leonard had always been cautious around the subject. You knew how much he loved that she already wanted to follow in his footsteps, but he wanted Jaime to do it because she genuinely wanted to, and not just because of him. So he always waited for Jaime to ask to play Doctors or visit MedBay, rather than suggest things himself, before showering her with praise at her amazing skills.
“I think we should put Alphie up on that shelf for tonight. If he stays in bed with us, we might jostle him, and we don’t want to break the stitches do we?” Leonard said, wrapping the bandage back around the toy.
Jaime shook her head vigorously. “And he’ll be close so we can make sure he’s okay!”
“That’s right. An injury like this needs observation, but thanks to your skill, Doctor, I’m certain Alphie’s gonna be just fine.” Leonard stood, gently placing the toy on the shelf.
Jaime giggled again, beaming up at Leonard through a yawn.
“Bedtime now, I think. Even two brilliant Doctors need sleep.” You stepped forward, pulling back the blankets so Jaime could clamber under them, before following her. Leonard climbed in the other side, and within seconds, Jaime had squirmed closer to Leonard until she was lying on top of him.
Leonard laughed softly. “Little monkey.” He huffed fondly kissing her forehead again.
Jaime smiled, yawning once more. “Love you Mommy. Love you Daddy.”
“Love you too.” You and Leonard murmured in unison. It only took a few moments for Jaime to fall back to sleep, and for a little while you and Leonard lay in silence as you watched her.
“She gets more like you every day.” You whispered with a small smile.
“There’s plenty of you in her too, darlin’.” Leonard carefully shifted, opening his arm in invitation for you to cuddle closer too. You happily did so, letting your head rest on Leonard’s shoulder. You understood why Jaime liked cuddles with her father when she was upset so much; Leonard’s arms brought a sense of safety you hadn’t known before meeting him. “I got a message from Jim earlier, telling me about our week off. Thank you.”
“You’ve been working yourself ragged these last couple months, and no one’s expecting to find new lifeforms in the next week, so it was easy to persuade Jim to sign us both off for a few days.” You hummed, leaning up to kiss Leonard’s jaw. “We could do with the family time, so unless there’s an emergency, you’re ours.”
“Darlin’, I’m always yours. Always. This, right here, cuddling with my two girls, makes me the happiest man in the universe.” Leonard replied, voice thick with sleep.
“And cuddling with you makes us the happiest girls in the universe.” You smiled. “Now go to sleep. You need it.”
Leonard was already half asleep as he answered. “She gets her bossiness from you.”
You chuckled quietly to yourself, and closed your eyes.
You fell to sleep to the quiet breaths of your husband and daughter.