Work Text:
Having a baby was odd. Not a bad “odd”. Just odd. Different. Strange? Describing it wasn't important for the moment.
Deciding he wasn’t going to be able to sleep with the sound of his child crying, Leon shifted in bed to instead face the ceiling. He didn’t need to look over to see that Ada hadn’t moved from her resting position. She faced away from him but her steady breaths continued. How could she possibly sleep through this?
Hearing the baby cry had made him feel uneasy. It was a signal that something was wrong. He couldn’t just keep ignoring it like this. He moved to get out of bed and immediately could hear Ada’s groggy yet stern voice through the cries.
So, she wasn’t fully asleep after all.
“Don’t.” It was all she had to say.
With a frustrated sigh he fell back on to his pillow.
“I don’t understand why I can’t go check.” He huffed, looking over at her to see her change position so she laid flat on her back too. “What if something’s wrong?”
“Then her cry would be different.” She said, like it was the most obvious thing, not even bothering to open her eyes. “She can’t be hungry yet and I just changed her diaper, she just wants attention.”
Leon furrowed his brows. How is this crying different from all the others? Crying was crying. And if his baby girl really just wanted attention, who was he to deny that?
“Can’t I just take a quick look?”
Ada groaned. “Do what you want. But just know that if you do, every time she cries like this she is going to expect you . Not me.”
She has a point.
Though, that didn’t mean Leon had to like it. But he stayed where he was. Ada had mentioned it to him before, how it would be best to let the kid cry so that they could get used to sleeping on their own. Waverly was almost six whole months now, a good time to start this form of sleep training. It had made sense to him then, but now that it was happening it took everything in him to not give in and hold the baby.
So he turned to hold Ada instead.
It wasn’t every night she was here, just like it wasn’t every night he was. Afterall, they still had their jobs, and while they tried to be here with their child together, it had proven to be difficult. For him, there was always work to do, cases that came up that required him to travel, reports to finish, the works. And he knew Ada had her own responsibilities she needed to take care of. But for right now, the three of them were all together, and it made him feel complete.
Now, if only he didn’t feel so guilty...
Eventually the crying finally stopped .
“See?” Ada whispered. She turned to face him and got a little more comfortable in his arms, ready to give into sleep at any moment.
“It still feels mean.”
She smiled at his response. “You would think that, wouldn’t you?” Before leaning in to kiss him goodnight.
= = =
Ada woke up before her usual alarm. Sitting up from bed she immediately noticed that her usual bedmate was gone. She knew how he preferred to stay in his bed for as long as he could before finally getting up for the day. It was years ago when he briefly mentioned that it was because he never knew when he would have the chance to sleep in it again. However, she had a pretty clear idea about where he had gone so early.
She smiled to herself, still not moving from her place in bed. Instead she took the time to admire how the sun crept through the curtains, lighting up the room rather nicely. She had seen it all before countless times, but there was something different about it recently. Not just this room but the rest of the apartment as well. She couldn't tell you when she stopped seeing it as just “Leon’s apartment” and instead as her home .
She leaned back against the headboard. She had never thought she would find a place worth coming back too. Even before Waverly, she supposed she felt a particular attachment to this place. It was why she always found herself coming back. Because he lived here. Even if he wasn’t physically there during one of her spontaneous visits, a part of him always was. The way people kept their homes was always so telling. Leon was there in the way he organized his clothes, the kinds of movies and albums he owned, the small plants he kept near the window, the color of his sheets, the shampoo in his shower, she had seen him in all of it.
In the beginning she had been merely an observer, but keeping her hands to herself wasn’t in her nature. It wasn't long before she had begun to rearrange some things here and there, sometimes even adding her own items; and each time, wondering if he would notice.
If he was ever annoyed by it, he never told her.
Now, she didn’t feel like an outsider, she felt like she belonged here, with them. All this had been so new. Unexpected. Being a mother. Up until now, her work had been the majority of her motivation. It was what she did so well. And now, she just had another purpose. And it felt nice.
For so long Ada had closed off the idea of ever being part of a family. But what she had now was different. It would be difficult, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. And it helped that she wasn’t alone.
With that thought, she finally removed herself from bed and made her way out the room and down the short hall. The additional small bedroom he had used as an office area of sorts was now repurposed to work as a simple nursery. He seemed a little too eager to get rid of the desk he claimed he hardly used anyways. Which hadn’t surprised her at all. Ada knew how much he loathed to bring any kind of work home, and the same could be said about herself. Here, she could separate herself from her work life and instead focus on other things she cared about.
She leaned against the frame of the door, taking in the view of his backside. Watching him slowly sway a bit from side to side and hum, rocking their baby as he went. She was quick to recognize the tune as one he often had stuck in his head. One of his favorites.
It was a sight she never would have dreamed of seeing before now. So cute.
She moved closer to the two people she thought about most. Her arms wrapping around Leon from behind. He stopped for a moment but soon continued with his movement. Just the three of them. Ada smiled against his back and felt his humming.
Waverly was making her own small sounds in content. Ada straightened up to look over Leon’s shoulder and down at the baby.
“I think she did pretty good sleeping all on her own.” Leon said with a hint of surprise. It was true, Ada was relieved that Waverly had not only fallen asleep but stayed asleep for most of the night. Leon
hadn't been the only one fighting the urge to go and hold her while she cried for her parents.
“You had doubt?” Ada turned to look at him as he softly shook his head with a smile.
“Of course not.”
They could get used to this. It was only the beginning after all.