Work Text:
Water Walls
James was pretty sure he shouldn't paint the walls of the nursery, but what was he supposed to do? Q worked more hours than the clock and in any case, he couldn't really picture his alpha with a brush in hand and a bucket full of paint at his feet - no, Q was amazing with cars and he wasn't afraid of dirtying his hands with oil and various chemicals but paint? James had the feeling that it would all end up in his curls and it would be quite a bitch to wash away.
So, James took advantage of the fact that Q would be working a pretty long mission - he didn't envy 004: he always hated getting mixed up with Russian politics and he doubted that she liked it any better - and went to the DIY store to grab some paint; they had decided for a light blue, a soft colour that would brighten up the room and go well with the white furniture they had eyed up on an Ikea catalogue.
He was pensively looking at two swatches dry, trying to choose what shade was the most soothing, when a clerk approached him; James knew that she probably was just trying to do her job but as soon as he smelled alpha, James protectively cupped his bump and straightened his back - telegraphing how he couldn't be intimidated: he might be an omega and a pregnant one at that, but James knew one hundred ways to kill a person with a spoon and he wasn't afraid of using that knowledge to protect himself and his pup.
"Choosing a colour for the nursery?" She inquired.
"Yes" James answered, voice clipped.
The clerk smiled "I would pick that one" she said, pointing at the shade that seemed colder but that James knew would look the best when sunlight would bathe the nursery - he was tempted to say he preferred the other, just to spite her.
But then he realised that he had no reason to be rude - Q would be quite disappointed with him if he behaved like a caveman and forgot his manners - and he tried to relax, offering the woman a tight smile "Me too"
"Do you want me to keep aside some, so that your alpha can come and pick them up later?"
James felt the nerve under his left eye twitch: did he look like he needed an alpha's help? He had put on some weight, but not so much that his muscles had just disappeared.
He still could have easily lifted her if he had wanted to.
"No, thank you" he answered with a tight smile, which melted away as soon as her face twisted into a sympathetic expression: she clearly thought that he was a single parent to be and she pitied him because he didn't have a mate to baby him - the blatant prejudice shining in her eyes made James wish he still had his licence to kill, even if MI6 would have frowned upon him using it as an excuse to get rid of an annoying clerk and her entitled opinions "I don't need my alpha to do anything for me"
Her face clearly displayed what exactly she thought of alphas who let their omegas out without a leash and she left with a mumbled reminder to ask the staff for help if he had any questions.
James spared her sensibilities and didn't tell her that the nursery walls certainly weren't the first ones he would be painting in his life and focused back on the shelves in front of him, studying the array of colours: he had picked a base but he felt like the walls would be... too empty - too unadorned. As he picked a medium-sized bucket of the blue paint, James considered what kind of decoration would look nice a nursery.
They didn't know the sex of the baby yet - and he suspected that Q would like it, if it was a surprise for both of them - so, anything gendered like flowers or cars was definitely out of question.
Not that James intended to raise their pup on traditional gender stereotypes but since the nursery would transform in their bedroom once they grew up, he wanted to choose something neutral that would be adequate until their child started showing their own preferences, which James would nurture and encourage - no matter their sex or secondary presentation.
Especially if they had an omega child: he would teach them that they could be independent and that they weren't worth any less of alphas; that they could be whoever they wanted to and achieve whatever they would set their mind to.
No child of his was going to feel inferior just because they were an omega.
James hummed as a bright shade of red attracted his attention and his irritation with the clerk faded away as the perfect idea sprung to his mind: he knew exactly what he needed to make his baby's nursery a warmer place.
As soon as Q had unlocked the door of their flat, his nose had been assaulted by the characteristic smell of paint and a pair of hands had swiftly taken from him his glasses and pressed against his eyes. Even if he knew it was James, he couldn't help jumping a little; he was the Quartermaster, afterall, and even if James had retired from field duty, he still had his enemies: it wasn't that farfetched being afraid of someone entering their home to abduct one or either of them.
"I have a surprise for you" James stated, ignoring his mate's brief moment of panic - it would fade away soon, he knew how the other man felt.
"No welcome home? No hug? No kiss? You really missed me" Q teased and smiled as soon as he was rewarded with a peck to his cheek "The mission went well, by the way"
"I know, or I would have been called in to help on the comms" it was in his job description, afterall "Is 004 alright?" He inquired as he started to steer Q towards the nursery; pleasure curled in his stomach when his mate didn't protest or hesitated, blindly - literally so - following him and trusting him not to let him bump into anything.
It was so rewarding, especially if one considered how thing had used to be the other way around until very recently: it was Q who had always led and James who had tried to follow his instructions, fighting against his distrustful nature at the beginning when in his eyes Q had only been a little alpha who wanted to play in the grown-ups field.
James smiled and shook his head a little. If only his past self could see them now, he probably wouldn't have believed his own eyes - not that James would have blamed him: sometimes, he still woke up in the middle of the night and wondered whether what he has was real. Soothing himself was easy enough: he would caress his belly or turn to the side to find Q's body silhouetted by the moonlight, borrow closer to him until his calming and familiar scent lulled him back to sleep.
"She's okay, already on a plane back home" Q reassured his mate, fingers finding his thigh and caressing it tenderly.
"Careful" James hummed "Don't trip on the carpet"
"I trip on the carpet even with my glasses on" Q pointed out.
"Which is why I told you to be careful"
Q snorted: as if that ensured he wouldn't trip on it anyway. Still, he paid attention to where he put his feet until the texture under them changed back to hard tiles; he was ridiculously grateful about the fact they hadn't chosen parquet for their floors because Q could only imagine how ruined it would get with a pup in the house.
"Door in front of you"
"Do I need to open it?"
"If you can spare a hand" James said in a teasing voice.
"Only for you, darling"
Once they walked inside, James plastered himself closer to Q's back - well, as close as his belly let him - and briefly rubbed his cheek on his neck in a greeting manner, mingling their scents together after the stretch of time they had spent apart "Ready?"
"More than"
When James let his hands fall and instead wrapped his arms around his waist, Q realised he hadn't been ready at all: the nursery had been painted a glacial blue that he particularly loved because it reminded him so much of James' eyes - but that wasn't the best part at all.
On the wall opposite to the door, James has painted all kind of aquatic creatures one would see in an aquarium: an octopus, clams, jellyfish, eels, starfish, seaweeds, clownfish... they looked a bit cartoony more than realistic and Q loved it.
He turned into James' embrace and wrapped his arms around his shoulders to hold himself up as he kissed his mate "I love it" he murmured "And the baby is going to love it too"
"It still needs some finishing touches but I have to wait until the paint dries"
"It already is amazing in my opinion" Q shrugged, hugging James a little tighter "You are amazing"
James would deny blushing at those words even if he had been put in front of a barrel of a loaded gun.