Oh, Brother {Nick, Jaime}

[Skye LeCroix]

Skye was thankful that Nick had hauled ass to get the baby room finished while she'd been preoccupied doing other things. She'd been tricked into a baby shower by some of the women from the Guild, though it was, thankfully, not as frilly as she'd expected. She had gotten more useful items than stupid things, mostly baby supplies, plus a sweet new scope for her rifle, which she was more than a little happy about.

She sighed as she looked around the room, which they'd finally painted a pastel sort of green. It was kind of pistachio, actually, which explained why Skye'd somehow conned Nick into going to Baskin Robbins to get her a pistachio ice-cream milkshake. Every time she went into the room she got hungry. She was glad that she'd be off of leave soon enough, or she'd get fat.

She peeked down at Nicole, who was currently passed out in the blanket Skye'd carefully wrapped her in. Already had hair, she did. Skye frowned. She hoped Nico wouldn't be as hairy as Nick, or she'd have an ape baby instead of a lioness on her hands. She looked up, brown eyes flicking to the door as she heard the distinct click of the front doorknob jiggling. Nick must've locked himself out. She stood with Nicole in her arms and began the descent down the stairs.

"Coming, coming!" she called. Nicole slept right through it.

[Nick LeCroix]

He'd gone a little further than just getting her a milkshake, and actually got her a container of the pistachio ice cream that she seemed addicted to lately, but he didn't get a bag out of the deal.  He managed to unlock the door, but juggling the keys, ice cream and milkshake was just annoying.  What topped it off was that his brother had called as he got out of the car, and Nick was just plain out of arms.

Getting the door open was beyond his abilities with the phone added into the mix.

Fortunately, Skye prevented him from having to do anything in the way of a fun balancing trick by just coming to open the door, and the instant it opened, he leaned in to kiss her lightly in thanks.  By the time he reached the table to set everything down, he was done on the phone. 

"Here you are, as much pistachio ice cream and milkshake as you should desire for awhile, and Jaime called.  He said he's gonna stop by for a visit," he announced, returning to her with the intention of taking Nicole from her so that she could attack her milkshake.

[Skye LeCroix]

Skye handed Nicole over in favour of the ice cream. Normally, she'd hesitate before passing her young off to anyone, but Nick wasn't even on the radar of people she'd need to worry about. Quite the opposite. She'd already gotten several photos of him curled up on the couch with Nico on his chest. "Sweet!" she cheered, rushing to the kitchen to get it into the freezer before it melted any more than it already had.

"Really?" she asked. She was excited. Jaime hadn't seen his niece yet, and Skye was anticipating a big reception for her from Jaime. He was as happy about being an uncle as Nick had been about being a father, and Skye felt lucky to have that in her life. She had gotten a little sad that her parents weren't around to see these things, but Jason, Stella and Ebere were her family now, so the gap had been filled. Sort of, anyways. Nobody could replace her parents, but the other hyenas came close.

"When is he supposed to be here?" she asked, coming back out of the kitchen so quickly she had to press herself against the wall instead of colliding into her baby-toting husband. The recovery from the birth had been positively wonderful in Skye's case. It was a complicated pregnancy, using the help of a doctor she'd met named Nero, to try and control, well, everything about her genetics, to be able to hold the baby 'til term, but she'd managed. They owed him a lot. As far as recuperation went, Skye was a shapeshifter, and naturally, she was going to be healing a lot faster than a human would. It didn't mean she still got to go right back to work, but it meant that she wasn't bed-bound.

[Donovan Miller]

It wasn't as if he hadn't wanted to see the baby.  Of course he had.  It was that his work schedule was absolutely horrendous these past few weeks.  He and several other detectives had been working nonstop to close a homicide case.  A nasty homicide case.  They had to work to find a suspect and once they had, it was even more work to get the fuck off of the streets.

Needless to say, he hadn't really had any family time.  Not for his brother, not for his sister-in-law and not for his new niece.

He parked his motorcycle behind Nick's car, unclipping his helmet and placing it on the handles.  A part of him, a very small and insignificant part of him, was nervous.  He had no idea what to expect.  A baby, a little lioness - that was it.  Would she hate him?  Would he make her cry?  He didn't often come in contact with babies, as much as he adored them, so he couldn't help the natural uncertainty that he felt.  He could only hope for the best.

Very slowly, he approached the front door of his brother's home and knocked his signature knock - one, one-two, one - and waited for an answer.  He shifted his weight between his feet, excitement and minor worry washed across his face.

[Skye LeCroix]

Skye glanced up from Nick to the door, though she'd already heard the characteristic hum of the exhaust note that Jaime's bike had. If he'd been human, she'd have probably nagged him about the bike every day until he got tired of it and either hid it or sold it, but since they were all shapeshifters... she kept her nagging in her head. She glided to the door, socked feet sliding her across the linoleum of the foyer, and opened it with a swing.

"Hey handsome!" she said, reaching up to give him a hug. "Nick's got Nicole for the moment, so I once again have two hands," she informed him with a laugh. Really, the sudden addition to the family had done wonders for her - she was practically buzzing with joy, and it radiated off of her.

"Nick!" she called, turning around and nearly running into the chest of her husband. She skittered to a stop, a worried look on her face as she realized she'd just shouted almost into Nicole's ear. Her eyes widened a little, and then her expression went back to its normal happy one. Nicole just looked at her, awake enough, but also more interested in looking passed her, to the other large figure in the room.

"Who's that?" she crooned, holding her hands out and wiggling her fingers impatiently to take Nicole from Nick; in one fluid motion she'd turned and held her up to Jaime.

"Say hi to your uncle!" she cheered. Nicole blinked a few times, golden-brown eyes narrowing in what seemed to be the scrutinization that only a cat could do, before one small hand sprang up, reaching for Jaime. It seemed that whatever the infant had been judging had come back positively, and she wanted to be held for a closer inspection.

[Nick LeCroix]

Nick didn't even get a chance to answer her question regarding Jaime's estimated time of arrival, since he heard his brother's bike pull up outside and shot his wife a grin.  How was that for timing?  Personally, he didn't think anything of Jaime having a motorcycle, and had considered one of his own in the past.  He was pretty fond of the one Jaime had, and he knew it was pretty much the thing his brother loved most in the world besides his family.  He didn't tell Skye that he'd considered one himself, mostly because he hadn't decided that he wanted one, and he didn't need to get the worried argument if he wasn't set on it.  Not that a motorcycle would really be more dangerous than what they both did for a living.

He'd followed Skye to the door after just a moment, just in time for her to yell for him in both his and Nicole's faces.  "Uh, present and accounted for?" he offered, frankly amazed that Nicole hadn't shrieked at the sudden volume, since even HIS ears had twitched just a little.  No, she was calm and just interested in what was going on, which was further proof of how great his baby was.  She wasn't a hassle.

He handed her off to Skye so that she could show her off to Jaime, smirking for his brother.  He was surprised at how busy Jaime had been, but they'd been in pretty close contact, and he knew the guy had been looking forward to this.  With as much as Jaime wanted a family, it was strange that Nick had ended up with one first, honestly.

[Donovan Miller]

"Hey, gorgeous," he answered into the hug.  It only took a moment then for her to call for Nick, and once his brother appeared, Jaime's vision honed in on the shifter in his arms.

His worries about the baby not liking him suddenly fell out of the window.

It must have been comical, the way Jaime's whole face lit up at the way the baby seemed to accept him.  He was a big guy, one that may not have looked particularly mean, but he was still downright huge.  Big guys, as a general rule, just seemed to always look silly with a baby.  And Jaime, well, he was certainly no exception.

He had a grin on his face, Nick and Skye becoming purely backdrops in his vision.  Just the little girl, a ball of chubby adorableness that was only matched by... nothing at all.  "Hi there," he said to Nicole, placing his index finger within her reach.  After a moment of just silently marveling at his niece, he glanced up at Skye and in turn, Nick, before saying, "She's adorable."  He grinned at Skye.  "Got her mother's looks, and thank God for that."  This was followed by a cheeky look directed at his brother.

"Would you mind if I stole her from you for a little while?  I think I'm in love with the best little niece ever."

Jaime must have sounded a tad immature, but that was how he was when he was excited.  He had the tendency to come off that way.  But God, he loved this baby.  Nicole was the best.

[Skye LeCroix]

Skye laughed when she realized Nick had been standing right behind her. She watched how Jaime interacted with her, and then held her hands up to him. "Go ahead! I'm not sure how human children are, but she's already trying to play with her toys. In the living room I've got a little stuffed lion, and she's really into that thing. She totally ignores the plethora of crap people have supplied for that little stuffed animal, but I guess I can't say I don't understand," she said, leaning in to give her husband a small peck on the cheek.

  Of course Skye could understand the appeal. Lions were fairly favourable in this household, after all.

  She sneaked away for a moment to get something out of her bedroom, and when she came back down the stairs, wherever Jaime and the baby were, and whatever they were doing suddenly became Kodak moments - literally. Skye held the digital camera up and began snapping photos, still grinning. Nicole's baby book was going to be huge by the time they were done.

  "I still can't believe she's a lion," she said, leaning against the couch.

[Donovan Miller]

The second permission was granted, Jaime swept up the little bundle of cuteadorablebaby and beamed down at her.  New favorite person?  That was an understatement.

"Got an affinity for lions, do ya'?" he asked Nicole, his voice airy in that I'm Talking To A Cute Baby tone.  "Can't blame ya', gotta say.  Great animals."  He laughed a little, offering his finger for the baby to chew on as he headed towards the living room to retrieve said lion stuffed animal that Nicole had taken a liking to.

Thankfully, the little toy was easy to find.   He assumed that the sofa had been the last place she had played with it as he scooped it up, a lion in either arm now, and he parked himself right there on the cushions.  "This what you want?"  He gave the baby her toy, to which she instantly stuck the tail in her mouth.

Babies were totally awesome and that just proved it right there.

Suddenly the camera's flash attacked his vision and he glanced up, grinning at Skye.  With a look back down at the baby, he understood exactly why she had gone to grab the digital camera.  It was incredibly apparent given how adorable the munchkin was.

"I still can't believe she's this lovely," was his answer.  He then said, "She needs to stay this small forever," all smiles.  He was beyond ecstatic that he had managed to get the time to visit, even if he still felt horrible about it taking so long.  He was definitely sticking pictures of this beautiful little creature in his office, though.  This sort of thing had to be paraded around, and Jaime was nothing if not loving.  Baby nieces merited showing off easily.