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It had been three days since Usopp had seen his crew, but they were the last thing on his mind.
He sat on the edge of a large plush bed, his wife laying comfortably just behind him, and a swaddled form in his arms. It was quiet but for the birds in the tree outside and the clinking of Kaya’s teacup. In his arms, the baby slept silently, arms curled almost harshly against her body, head cradled in his broad hand.
He couldn’t help but grin dopely as he watched the baby sleep. After all, she was so small! She had caramel skin, a blend of both parents, but her eyes and hair matched Usopp’s. He could only think to himself gratefully that her nose was Kaya’s.
Noise stirred from outside of the room, nothing quite coherent, but nothing unexpected either. Usopp offered the resting child to Kaya, taking her tea and kissing her as he stepped towards the door.
“Make sure they know she’s sleeping,” Kaya murmured with a smile.
Usopp met Merry in the foyer and let him get the door-- more out of habit than obligation. As the door opened to reveal his crew, he couldn’t help but smile more broadly. He wasn’t sure he’d stopped smiling since his daughter had been born.
Luffy slingshotted into Usopp’s arms, almost sweeping him off of his feet in a hug. “Usopp! It’s been so boring without you in town,” he whined, but his complaint was silenced quickly as Nami walked forward, batting him on the head.
“He deserved some personal time, he’s not yours alone anymore bastard!” She turned to Usopp sweetly, “Congratulations to you two, Usopp.”
“Thanks, Nami.”
The rest of the crew filed in more tamely, Sanji with bags of groceries, asking directions to the kitchen and announcing he would be making dinner for the new parents. Zoro came in holding two wrapped boxes, and not seeming to know where to put himself. Chopper was already crying, and hugged Usopp as soon as he was able. Franky and Robin came hand in hand, Robin carrying a box and Franky a suspiciously riding-horse shaped present. Last came Brook, his violin in both hands and cane balanced on his wrist, fingers fiddling with the pegs.
When Sanji returned from dropping groceries off in the fridge, Usopp clapped his hands together. “Before I let you guys upstairs, you have to promise to be quiet. The baby is sleeping and Kaya’s still tired from it all.”
“Yow! We’ll be SUPER quiet!” Franky gave a double thumbs up, and despite his exuberance, kept his voice to a whisper.
The group was lead up the stairs, and Usopp peeked into the room just before letting anyone in.
“Everyone at once, or do you want smaller groups?”
Kaya laughed softly, and waved him in. “Everyone’s fine; she just woke up after all.”
Usopp pushed the door open, allowing the crew to enter.
The small flood of guests surrounded Kaya on the bed, Usopp taking his place with legs crossed next to her. Several gifts were set on the trunk at the foot of the bed, Franky setting his more reliably in the corner of the room.
Most everyone’s attention was on the baby, Nami already poking a finger at the little girl’s face, her doey eyes fixated on the red haired woman. “She likes you Nami,” Usopp praised.
“Would you like to hold her?” Kaya offered.
Nami’s eyes shot up at that, almost as excited as they were when treasure was mentioned. “Can I?”
“Of course!”
With that, Nami took a seat on the bed, and let Kaya direct her arms until the baby rested along her arm, head cupped in one hand.
The baby cooed, eyes locked on Nami. It earned an aw from the crowd, and a dose of heart eyes from Sanji. “Nami-swan, you’re a natural!”
“I’ve never held a baby,” she confessed honestly.
A large number of the crew murmured in agreement, and Usopp’s eyes widened. “Wait, raise your hand if you’ve never held a baby.”
After a brief moment of hesitation, four hands went up: Luffy, Zoro, Robin, and Franky.
“How have you never held a baby before!” Usopp couldn’t help but laugh in surprise.
“They’ll have the chance today,” Kaya promised, and the four practically lined up.
When she was content with her time holding the baby, Nami offered her to Sanji, who seemed fairly familiar with the territory. He explained that it came with being a horrible flirt, and that babies had needed soothed on the Baratie before. The baby reached out for his eyes, though perhaps it was his eyebrows she was entranced with, Zoro teased. With a baby in hand, Sanji couldn’t retaliate against the teasing physically, and only hissed a half-assed “Shut up, Marimo,” before returning to cooing and smiling at the little girl.
They each got their turn, Zoro’s brief and stiff, but in good form. Nico held the girl and, when encouraged by the parents, even used her devil fruit to entertain her. Chopper shifted into his larger form and held the girl with a confidence that amazed the crew, before they remembered that he was one of two doctors on Drum Island, and had surely treated babies before. Luffy was surprisingly tame during his turn, stretching his face and earning a coo for it, but not tossing the baby into the air or scaring it with his volume as Usopp silently suspected. Franky held her in one hand, a thumb large enough to support her head, instead taking his other hand to trigger his hair roulette for the girl to watch enchantedly.
When Franky came to the end of the shuffle, he offered the baby to Brook, only just realizing the older man’s distance from the bedside, having taken his place in a seat by Kaya’s desk. “Your turn, Brook!”
He jumped in his seat, causing his cane to clatter to the ground. “Actually, I was thinking, she must be tired of all these new faces--”
“She can handle one more, Brook, she hasn’t cried yet.” Usopp grinned encouragingly.
“Ah, but...”
The silence hung, Brook fidgeting with the instrument in his lap, staring down at his feet.
“I don't think… she’ll like my face… rather, the lack thereof, as I don't have one...”
“Oh, Brook--”
“A-and my hands!” He held them up as if the crew hadn’t known they were bone. “They’re so stiff and hard, I don’t want to make her uncomfortable! It’s fine, I held babies before-- I’m not missing out.”
Though a skull couldn’t convey emotions alone, Brook’s slumped figure and downcast eyes led the crew to believe he was being polite.
Nami stood up suddenly, walking to the pile of presents.
“Sorry to open a present for you, Kaya--” Nami shuffled past the tissue paper and pulled out a pair of mittens.
“They’re a matching set, there’s booties and socks, too.” she explained. “I’m borrowing these for a second.”
She strode over to Brook, and he allowed her to take his hands and stuff them into the soft fabric.
“Perfect! Now there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Ah-- but, Nami, my face--” He flexed his fingers in the mittens, shocked at the sufficient solution.
“She doesn’t know what death is, she’s not going to understand to be scared of a skeleton.” Nami reasoned.
“If it helps, I have an anatomical skeleton for my studies, too. She’s seen it before and never startled.”
Brook looked to everyone in the room, clearly stunned, having already accepted that he wasn’t going to get to hold the little girl. Slowly, he placed his violin on the desk, and stepped over to the bed, sitting at its edge beside Usopp.
Franky moved to offer the baby, and though the skeleton was fairly clumsy in most circumstances, he took special effort to take the baby with delicate arms. Her big eyes looked for a similar set, instead settling on the feather boa around Brook’s neck, even reaching out for it.
“See, she likes you.”
“Ah-- that’s probably a choking hazard.”
The group laughed, but after Chopper murmured that it probably actually was, Zoro helped pull it off of the musician’s neck.
The girl’s eyes wandered, looking down at the musician’s colorful pants, then finally settling just to the side of his skull.
Brook looked over his shoulder as if to spot what had enchanted her, causing the group to laugh. He turned back to meet Robin’s eyes, and a knowing smile. “What is it?”
“Your hair, it’s like hers.” Sanji stage-whispered, causing the room to burst into laughter.
Brook stunned for a moment, before laughing himself. He held the baby higher, and she gratefully tangled her hands into the coils.
“Ah, I’m going to cry, I don’t want to cry on the baby--” Brook giggled the words, giddy. Usopp helped relieve Brook of the bundled girl, and he rubbed his tears away with a sleeve.
A small whine erupted from Usopp’s arms, then, and Usopp watched as, detached from the tall man, his daughter began to cry.