Work Text:
They discover it completely by accident. It’s been a rough month for all three of them. Amelie is teething, which means she’s constantly uncomfortable, and not at all shy about letting her fathers know it. Eric, who has been stuck at home with a colicky baby for the past week and a half while Jack was on a roadie, is starting to let his frayed nerves show. And Jack, despite being tired and sore, knows that his husband needs a break. So he opts to do his workout in their apartment building’s gym and sends Eric out to get lunch with a few friends he’d made in the PR department.
Amelie won’t stop fussing as Jack tries to get his workout gear together and pack a diaper bag (because this is the reality of new parenthood - you can’t go down a few floors without a tote bag full of supplies).
“Shhhh, ma cherie,” he tries to soothe her while she wriggles in her carrier as he laces up his sneakers. “I know, I know your mouth hurts. Please hush bebe, it’ll be okay.” He gives her a teething ring, which keeps her satisfied until they get into the elevator, which she absolutely hates, and combined with her already extremely limited and thoroughly tried patience, means that she starts screaming as soon as they start moving. The sound of a baby wailing is horrible on its own, but when it’s echoing in an enclosed space, it’s enough to make Jack worry about the integrity of his eardrums. By the time they reach the gym, he’s managed to get her to quiet down enough that she’s just whimpering instead of out and out shrieking.
It’s absolutely heartbreaking. And even though he knows that she won’t remember this and will be completely fine, and this is something that everyone experiences and forgets, he still hates seeing his baby girl so miserable. He feels even worse now for leaving Eric by himself with her for so long. Eric used to worry over the frogs when they were sick, and they were all grown-ass men by the time they got to Samwell. How he’d kept it together for this was a mystery. Luckily the gym is totally empty in the middle of a weekday, so he doesn’t have any witness to his pathetic parenting as he tries everything he can think of to cheer her up. He tries putting her on the ground while he does push-ups and kissing her nose when he drops, he makes faces at her in the mirror while he lifts, keeps up a constant stream of soothing babble as he goes through his routine, but she refuses to be appeased.
When it comes time for cardio, he makes a last ditch effort and grabs the sling from where he’d chucked it in the bag. He settles Amelie against his chest and turns the treadmill on low. For the first couple of minutes, Jack is so focused on getting into a rhythm of his feet and his breathing that he doesn’t notice it, but when he tunes back in to check on her, he realizes that she’s gone quiet, just staring up at him with a placid expression as they bounce along. He smiles down at her, and she lets out a happy squeal. Jack laughs, and his chest feels so loose and light. Finally, he thinks. I did something right. He decides to extend his goal on the treadmill for a long run. He’ll be feeling it tomorrow, but it’ll be worth a little extra burn if he can keep Amelia comfortable for a little longer.
That’s how Eric finds them when he comes home from lunch, Jack jogging along at a leisurely pace, their daughter cradled against his chest and cooing happily.
“What do we have here?” he asked, stepping fully into the gym.
“Eric!” Jack turns to smile at his husband. “Hey, what’re you doing here?”
“I came home and I didn’t see you back yet, figured I’d make sure you two weren’t crying in a corner down here.” Jack huffed a laugh.
“No, we’re good. Although it was a near thing earlier. This is the only thing that’s worked so far. I decided to make it a long run because I’m kind of scared to stop going now.” Eric smiled softly at him.
“Well when you finish up, we should make sure you two eat something. And then maybe I’ll change and take her back down here. I’ve been a little sloppy about keeping up with my conditioning anyway.”
“I always offer to run with you.”
“At ass-o’clock in the morning! I don’t like my abs that much.”
“I only have a couple more minutes on here.”
“I’ll go get a bottle and some sandwiches ready for you two when you come up.”
“Thanks, Bits.”
“You’re welcome, honey. I’ll see you upstairs.” Eric waved as he swept back out the door, and Jack waved back.
“What do you think, ma cherie? Time for lunch?” Amelie squealed and reached up to grab hold of the earbuds dangling from around Jack’s neck. “I’ll take that as a yes.” He does his cool down, and tosses the diaper bag into the carrier in favor of keeping Amelie balanced on his hip, bouncing her all the way up the stairs to the apartment, her delighted giggles echoing up the stairwell the whole way.