Chapter Text
"Jo" Kate yawned as she felt the older woman pull herself out of bed for what felt like the 50th time that night, the cries from down the hall the obvious reason for them both being awake.
"I'm sorry Kate" Jo hated that her daughter was waking Kate, it was barely 2am and already she'd been through to the nursery four times to settle the cranky infant "I don't know what's wrong with her." Jo felt like she was on the verge of tears, Eleanor had been grizzly all week and she was exhausted, but Kate had worked a full week and then driven for over three hours to see her, Jo felt like the least she should be able to do was settle her child to let Kate sleep.
"There's nothing wrong with her" Kate sat up in the semi darkness, the room lit only by the soft glow of a nightlight plugged in on Jo's side of the bed and Jo couldn't help but notice how the duvet pooled around Kate's hips as she told her, "she's just doing what babies do Jo, but you're exhausted. Let me go?"
Jo was torn, as far as she was concerned, Eleanor was her daughter, she should be the one who had to get up with her in the middle of the night, Kate shouldn't have to take care of her, "you've been at work all week Kate and…"
"And you've been caring for Eleanor all week" Kate stood from the bed and kissed Jo softly, "if we need you, I'll wake you, but for now" she kissed her again, "sleep." And with that she was gone, Jo unable to stop herself staring as Kate, clad in just a sports bra and a pair of running shorts, left the room. "Oh dear" Jo heard Kate over the baby monitor, her voice soft as she scooped the baby into her arms, "where's that happy little girl gone hey?" she asked as, unbeknownst to Jo, Kate began to gently rock Eleanor in her arms, "you've worn your Mummy out haven't you, so you're going to have to make do with me tonight" Eleanor let out a quiet squark, "I know" Jo could almost hear the smile in Kate's voice, "I think your Mummy's cuddles are the best too, but I'm sure you'll survive with me for one night."
Jo woke with a start, frowning when she saw the bed beside her was empty, her stomach twisting with anxiety as she glanced at the alarm clock by her bed, the red numbers glaring back at her telling her she'd slept through Eleanor's 4am feed, in fact, she'd slept for almost four hours straight for the first time since her daughter had been born. She was slightly unnerved by the silence so she forced herself out of bed and down the hall, the wooden floor cold against her bare feet, in her haste to check her baby was okay she hadn't bothered to put her slippers on. "Oh" Jo wanted to cry happy tears as she stepped through the open door to find Kate fast asleep in the rocking chair, Eleanor tucked up in a soft blanket as she slept too, curled against Kate's chest, the strap of Kate's sports bra clenched in her tiny fist, Eleanor's comforter laid against Kate's shoulder.
"Jo?" Kate stirred as a thick blanket was placed over her bare legs.
"Sorry" Jo kissed her cheek, "I didn't mean to wake you."
"I didn't mean to fall asleep with her" Kate admitted with a yawn. "I was just going to sit with her for a while to be sure she was gone."
Jo smiled and stood to her feet when Kate gently tugged on her hand, smiling as she found herself carefully pulled onto Kate's lap, tucking herself around Kate and Eleanor. She moved the comforter so she could let her head fall onto Kate's shoulder and adjusted the blanket to cover them both, realising, as Kate slowly began to rock the chair, just why the baby had fallen asleep so easily in Kate's arms, "I really do appreciate you letting me get a couple of hours sleep Kate, thank you."
Kate kissed Jo's temple, chuckling quietly and kissing her lips when Jo tipped her head upwards, hinting that the kiss to her temple wasn't enough. "I really don't mind helping out when I'm here Jo, obviously I don't want you to feel pushed out, but if you want to express some milk so I can share her feeds, or if you want to feed her and I get up to change her, or any combination of the two, then I don't mind Jo, I really don't."
"I, I feel like she's my daughter, you shouldn't have to take care of her." Jo whispered.
"I know you went into this thinking it would just be you and Eleanor, but I'm here now, I know I'm not here all the time, but when I am here, I don't mind pulling my weight, I don't mind getting up with her to let you sleep."
"Okay" Jo nodded against Kate's shoulder, she didn't know what it was about the younger woman but she never felt as comfortable, as content as she did when Kate's arms were around her, and, sitting here, curled up with Kate and her daughter as the sun began to peek around the edges of the curtains, nothing had ever felt more right, "I'll try not to hog the baby so much".
Kate laughed and kissed Jo again, "if anyone's allowed to hog her, it's you, but if you want to share cranky baby duties, then just give me a nudge and tell me it's my turn."
Jo pressed her lips to Kate's for a third time, "I do love you Kate."
"I know" Kate rubbed noses with Jo, "I love you too… and someone" she shifted her attention to Eleanor when she felt the baby stretch against her, "thinks they're missing out on kisses and snuggles" she smiled as she moved Eleanor to her other shoulder, so she was cradled between herself and Jo.
"She's probably hungry" Jo gently stroked Eleanor's cheek, smiling when Eleanor reached out to grab at her finger, "she was so comfortable with you she slept through her last feed, it's what woke me up."
"Want me to give you some privacy?" Kate offered, thinking Jo might struggle to feed Eleanor in the position she was curled up in.
Jo shook her head, "come back to bed with us?" she suggested.
Kate would never be able to turn down an offer like that, but she was surprised when Jo shuffled to sit against her chest and she couldn't stop herself placing a soft kiss to the side of Jo's neck as she wrapped her arms around her, one arm around Jo's waist, the other around the baby, helping to support her as she fed. Despite the fact that they had a young baby, and their time together was never long enough, Kate loved the moments she spent with Jo, everything just seemed slower and more relaxed than it did in The City and Kate couldn't wait until this was her full time life.
AC12 hadn't been the same since Hastings had been forced to retire, Steve had been talking about moving on, and so had Kate, but her injury had made her consider if now was the time to leave the force completely. She'd stayed with Jo for another week after their surprise meeting, and she'd driven down every other Friday since, occasionally arriving after Jo was in bed and, now she was back at work, only able to stay until Sunday afternoon, or the crack of dawn on Monday, but that wouldn't be the case for long. They'd spoken for hours after Kate's return, clearing the air and talking about the events that had led them to here. It had become painfully obvious that neither woman wanted a long distance relationship, so Kate was working out her notice and waiting for the sale of her house to be finalised, every time she drove to Jo's, it was with her car full of as many of her things as she could fit and Jo's spare room was slowly becoming full of Kate's stuff as they got closer to the day when she'd make that Friday afternoon drive for the last time.
"Hello" Kate cooed as Jo lifted Eleanor to her shoulder to wind her, the baby's face lighting up as she gurgled in recognition of the other woman, "is happy Eleanor back now?"
"It certainly seems that way" Jo smiled as she patted and rubbed at the baby's back.
"Oh dear" Kate leaned over and grabbed a cloth from Jo's bedside table when Eleanor burped and brought up a little bit of milk, wiping gently at her mouth. "Have you thought about bringing her back in here while she's grizzly?" Kate asked, "either bringing her cot in or just having her in bed with you?" It had been Jo's suggestion to move Eleanor into her own room, the woman wanting to be able to spend time with Kate without worrying what she might be witness to.
"Do you think it would help?" Jo asked.
Kate shrugged, "it wouldn't hurt, I used to bring Josh into our bed all the time when he was tiny, partly because it pissed Mark off, but mostly because I do think it helped Josh settle better."
"Mark didn't like it?"
"Nah" Kate pulled a face at Eleanor as the baby lifted her head from Jo's shoulder to look up at her, "he said that if I was around more in the day then I wouldn't need to bring him into bed at night, because obviously a baby cutting three new teeth at the same time was crying because I'd been at work all day" she rolled her eyes even though Jo couldn't see her, "and I was always the one to get up with him in the night, so if I was given the choice between, having Josh in with us and getting six hours sleep before work, or getting up none stop to settle him and going to work on two hours sleep it was a no brainer."
"No offence Kate" Jo continued to rub Eleanor's back even though she knew she had no more wind to bring up, "but it sounds like you married a bastard."
"None taken" Kate laughed, "in my defence, he wasn't a complete bastard when I married him. I said from the off that I didn't want kids, I was honest, said I might change my mind when I was older but at the time I'd rather focus on my career and he was okay with that. Then Josh happened and I think Mark thought that seeing two blue lines on a plastic stick would suddenly make me maternal, that I'd give up everything to be a housewife and I, that wasn't me, Mark never seemed to understand how a 'mother' could still want to focus on herself and build a career."
"What do you want now?" Jo asked softly.
Kate smiled and kissed Jo's neck again, hearing the question Jo didn't ask, "I still don't think I'm ready to give up everything and be a housewife, but I wouldn't mind raising another baby, so long as it wasn't with him" she joked before pulling Jo a little closer with the arm around her waist, "I want you Jo, and you and Eleanor come as a package, and I would never try to change that. I wouldn't have turned my car around that night if I didn't want this."
Jo tipped her head back to rest on Kate's shoulder, "I love you".
"I know" Kate leaned forward to kiss Jo gently, "I love you too."
"I could stay here forever" Jo sighed as she turned slightly and snuggled into Kate.
Kate kissed Jo's hair, "there's no need for us to be up yet, so why don't you try and sleep for a little bit longer?"
Jo shook her head, "I think I just want to stay here with you, is that okay?"
"You know it is" Kate pulled the duvet over them both.
"And you're comfortable?" Jo was always conscious of Kate's leg when she curled herself up in the younger woman's lap.
Kate ran her hand through Jo's hair and kissed her gently, "I'd tell you if I wasn't. I promise"
Despite saying she didn't want to sleep again, it didn't take long at all for Jo to doze off back to sleep and Kate moved carefully to better support Eleanor as she laid against Jo's chest, gently stroking the baby's back in the hope that she too would fall back to sleep again and not be tired and cranky through the day. She wouldn't complain if she was, she knew Eleanor couldn't help it and Kate had already decided that she'd stay until Monday morning, it would mean she'd have to be in the car by 5am just to be sure that she'd be back in The City in time for work, but it meant she'd get to spend as much time with Jo and Eleanor and she got to make sure Jo got as much rest as she could. "Shh" she rubbed Eleanor's back when the baby began to get restless, "it's okay Beautiful, you're okay." she tried to lift Eleanor from Jo's loose grasp and almost instantly identified the reason for her distress, "okay, just a second" she cooed quietly as she kissed Jo's temple, knowing there was no way she could get up without waking her partner.
"Kate?" Jo frowned, "wha… Eleanor?"
"She's fine" Kate kissed Jo's temple again, "she just needs changing, I'm happy to do it but I'm going to need you to move over so I can get up."
Still half asleep, Jo did as Kate asked, pouting slightly when she moved from Kate's warm body to lay on the cold sheets, "you don't mind?"
"Not at all" Kate kissed Jo again as she stood from the bed, "you go back to sleep Darlin', we'll be back before you know it."
As promised, Kate slipped back into bed just a few minutes later, Eleanor happy in her arms now she had a clean nappy and Kate was happy to see that Jo had dozed back off to sleep in the few minutes she'd been gone. "I'm sorry" Kate said softly, rubbing Eleanor's back when she saw the baby yawn, "am I boring you?" she smiled softly and kissed Eleanor's hair, "come on" she shuffled slightly to get herself into a more comfortable position, "you go back to sleep for a little while, I promise you won't miss anything."
Jo stretched slightly as she woke, but found herself unable to move far, and, as she slowly opened her eyes she realised it was because of how close she was to Kate. The younger woman had laid down in the bed after changing Eleanor's nappy and, in her sleep, Jo had moved closer, her face nuzzled between Kate's shoulder blades, her arm draped around her waist. She sat up slightly to glance at the clock surprised to see she'd slept past 7am, Eleanor had slept past 7am, "oh" she covered her mouth with her hand, unable to stop the surprised gasp, Kate had her back towards the middle of her bed, but her body was curled protectively around Eleanor, the baby sleeping peacefully in Kate's embrace, Kate's head tilted towards Eleanor in a way that made it look like she'd fallen asleep whilst kissing the baby's head.
A single tear rolled down Jo's cheek as she watched them both sleep, the two people in this world that she loved more than she thought possible to love anyone else. When she decided to have a baby, she knew she'd be doing it alone, that it would just be her and her baby, and she'd accepted that. She knew she'd be doing everything alone and she didn't mind that, but it had been hard, especially when Eleanor was cranky like she had been for the past couple of days. But then Kate had come back into her life, she'd walked straight into Jo's life, slotting in like she'd never been away, from the moment they first met again, she'd been nothing but loving and supportive of both Jo and Eleanor, and Jo almost couldn't believe that Kate was hers, that she and Eleanor were lucky enough to be loved by Kate.
She reached over, carefully lifting Eleanor from Kate's loose grip when she saw the baby wake, "hello" she smiled softly, dropping her head to rub noses with her daughter, kissing at the fingers that reached out towards her, "I know" she whispered, "I sleep better when Kate's here too".
"Morning" Kate rolled onto her back when she woke, smiling when she saw Jo sat up beside her feeding Eleanor.
"Morning" Jo smiled, "thank you for getting up with her" Jo hadn't realised quite how tired she'd been until she'd managed to get a few hours of completely undisturbed sleep and suddenly wasn't quite so exhausted any more.
"You don't need to thank me" Kate lazily rolled over to face Jo, draping her arm across her thighs, "I'm here for the both of you, I'll get up with her any time." Kate stayed where she was until Jo finished feeding the baby when she pushed herself to sit up and kissed Jo's lips, "I'll go make a start on breakfast yeah?"
Jo nodded and smiled, leaning over to steal another kiss. She felt sometimes like she was addicted to Kate, like she couldn't get enough of her, "I love you."
"I know" Kate smiled, gently stroking her thumb along Jo's cheekbone as she winked cheekily at her, "I love you too."