Work Text:
McCoy stared at the crib. Molly had started to give birth at Hogwarts, and they’d been brought back from the mission immediately. Their daughter had wanted to make her appearance in the world just a tad early, and while Molly was enamored with the world of magic, she wanted an actual delivery ward to deliver her baby in, with her husband by her side. Mary Joanna Hooper-McCoy had been born after a scant three hours of heavy labor, and he marveled at how they had created such a beautiful person together. He’d had all sorts of plans, things he wanted to do, things he wanted to tell Molly.
And then she was gone, sent back home because of a stupid glitch, and he was alone in Atlantis with his daughter, the only piece of Molly left. Nyota came over and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently. Molly had gotten a few scant days with her daughter and then…
It wasn’t fucking fair.
“Do you want to hold her?” he got out, turning to look at his friend. The whole Enterprise crew that was in Atlantis was in his apartment: Nyota, Jim, Pike, Christine… Rose was there and so was Daisy and Zane and Sharon and Bucky. It was good that they were there, because right now all he wanted to do was drink himself into a stupor, but there was Mary to think about.
“Of course,” Nyota said, picking a sleeping Mary out of the crib. “I’m so sorry, Leonard. You didn’t deserve it.”
His grip tightened on the edge of the crib. She was right; they had deserved better. Molly would never get to know her daughter, and Mary would never get to know her mother unless Molly ran across another coin or the glitch that sent her home brought her back. There had been a physical ache in his chest when he’d tried to sleep in bed alone the night before, but he still held out hope.
Something would bring her back. He had to hold onto that hope, slim as it could be.
The two of them went out to the others. Atlantis had given his spare bedroom a makeover into a nursery as soon as Mary had been delivered, he was sure, but his bed was still large and that was one of the few reasons he thought she might come back. He saw Sharon was making coffee, Jim and Pike were making food, Zane and Daisy were tidying up, Rose was going through photographs with Bucky and Christine…
“Hey,” Zane said as he came up to McCoy and clapped him on the shoulder. “We’re going to set stuff up so you don’t even have to think about cooking or doing laundry for a while. If there’s any other way we can help, let us know.”
“Thank you,” McCoy said with a nod. This was not the way he’d planned on introducing Mary to his Atlantis family, but Nyota handed him his daughter and he held her up slightly in his arms.
“She’s beautiful,” Sharon said, coming up with a cup of coffee for her and one for Zane. “Have you picked godparents yet?”
“Leaning towards Jim and Nyota,” he said. “Provided they’re here if...something happens, they can take care of her.”
“Good plan,” Pike said from the kitchen. “And you know Christine and I are always willing to help as well.”
“Thank you,” he said as Mary opened up her eyes and yawned. He knew with his family there, until Molly came back, he and Mary would be in good hands.