Human AU: Night shifts

    A loud wailing dragged Lilac rudely into reality, where she was greeted by the familiar, empty blackness of closed eyelids that had yet to accept that she was awake. Lilac sighed as she forced her eyes to open, slowly processing the faint sihlouettes of the hanging light in the ceiling and the weight on her abdomen. It was familiar. It was home. Just like Francesca's somewhat demonic screeching from the nursery down the hall was also home.
     Slowly reaching out an arm to flick on the bedside lamp, Lilac set to clumsily trying to remove the weight from her waiste. Leo groaned as she grasped his arm, still lazily slung around her abdomen just as they'd left it, and pushed it back towards him.
"The raptor's awake." she grunted to him, her voice raspy from exhaustion.
Leo simply whined again and rolled to face away from her, "Then tranquilise her."
"Leo!" Lilac sighed in exasperation, reaching over and pushing at his broad shoulder roughly, feeling the muscles in her arms starting to kick back into gear as her senses accepted that returning to dreamland was a dream in itself.
        Another piercing scream ripped through the house, and finally the man beside her groaned and hauled himself into a sitting position on the edge of the bed, rubbing his eyes with one hand, carefully avoiding the scars that were finally beginning to fade from a viscious red mess to three thick pale lines. She felt a stab of anger and pity; the timing of the attack from Thomas Hunter couldn't have been worse, only a month after Lilac had taken Francesca out of Theo's arms. A newborn baby and a critically injured, somewhat traumatised first-time father were not a good combination for stress relief. And though things had gotten much better in the two months since then, they were still getting their bearings with the new and sudden changes to their lifestyle.
       Lilac pulled her legs up to sit crosslegged in the centre of the bed and ran her hands over his shoulders, stopping at the nape of his neck to rub her thumbs in gentle circles over the swirling form of the ebony tattoo that stood boldly against his tanned skin. She couldn't hold back the small smile as her husband's muscles relaxed a little under the touch. Leo glanced at her over his shoulder with a tired smirk, and the two shared a small laugh that was probably driven half by random love and half by hysteric insomnia. Then Lilac patted his shoulder once and the two hauled themselved out of bed and towards the nursery.

       Needless to say that Francesca was not very impressed by their slow response time.
As though to emphasise her outrage, the infant quietened upon their initial entry, only to screech even louder than before, kicking out her stubby limbs furiously as she did whenever she was upset....or happy...or hungry...or awake.
"Okay, chill out, firestick feet. "  Leo sighed, reaching down and carefully sliding her into the crook of his right elbow and holding out his left hand infront of her, holding her against his bare chest.
The wailing didn't quieten much, but the infamous firestick feet slowed to an occasional, random twitch as Francesca's round, tearful blue eyes became locked on her father's large hand. Her tiny fingers reached out to grip and bend his own even as she continued to cry, pawing at the golden band around his ring finger.
        Lilac chuckled in amusement and raised a hand to gently stroke the baby's head, feeling the soft, downy hairs that were so pale that she would question their existence if not for the feel of them and the way the moonlight filtering through the window set them aglow.
She grinned lovingly at the infant as Francesca pulled Leo's hand forward, twisting it to see the black letters that were inked onto his wrist.
"At this rate her first word is going to be her own name." Leo commented in the brief moment between wails as Francesca tapped at the tattoed writing curiously.
Lilac smiled, raising an eyebrow, "She's going to be a diva. I can tell."
"I wonder where she's learning that from."
Lilac glared at her husband playfully, earning that smirk that still made her stomach flip a little even when it twisted awkwardly on the left side as it was pulled by the scars, even when it was accompanied by greyish-purple shadows under weary green eyes.
         Settling to just smack his shoulder gently, she turned and headed to the piano in the corner of the small room, settling down on the familiar cushioned, deep maroon leather seat.
She didn't need a light any more. Even half-asleep, Lilac Munday could work her way around a piano in the dark better than she could manage getting dressed in daylight.
Closing her eyes briefly against Francesca's cries, she ran her hands along the keys, her mind rapidly scanning through all the songs that she knew- a careful selection. In the end, she settled for River Flows in You. It was soft, gentle, and it sent Francesca off to sleep as fast as a tranquiliser dart. Only this was legal.
         Opening her eyes, Lilac glanced over her shoulder to see Leo patiently stood behind her, gently rocking Francesca in his arms while the infant cried, her movements already slowing up as her father's warmth and security triggered her exhaustion.
Feeling a refreshed sense of devotion, Lilac turned back to the piano, and began to play.

        Throughout the song, Francesca's cries became quieter and quieter, until eventually the only noise to be heard was the gentle notes of Lilac's playing.
She didn't stop, even after the baby had ceased in her wailing. She couldn't- she could never leave a song unfinished or it would grind and pull at her all day.
Not that it was a problem. Even after Francesca's eyes had drifted shut and her breaths had evened out in her father's arms, Leo kept his hold of her. He would never interrupt as his wife brought a piece to a close, wouldn't even move from his spot behind her until she finally took her aching hands away from the piano and swivelled on the seat to ensure that Francesca had fallen alseep. There was no need to check though- it hadn't failed them yet.
        Smiling in exhausted relief, Lilac hauled herself onto her feet at quietly as she could, and gently pressed a kiss to the sleeping baby's head before Leo moved to the cradle and settled her back into bed.
Then they made their way silently out of the room, both heaving sighs of relief after the door clicked shut behind them.
Lilac had turned to head back to their room when she felt a pair of strong, warm arms slip around her waiste as her husband murmured into her ear, "You're getting good at that."
Tilting her head to the side to give him access to nuzzle comfortingly against her neck, Lilac chuckled softly, "I've always been good at that. You've just never appreciated it so much."
"Well anything that turns off the little raptor is worthy of all the appreciation in the world."
Lilac raised an eyebrow in considerate amusement, feeling his short, ruffled hair tickle her cheek and jaw, "Says the guy who broke my arm when I was in fourth grade. He seems really appreciative."
          Leo sighed dramatically against her neck, and Lilac giggled as he grumbled, "I told you that was an accident!"
"Liar. You hated me and you know it."
Lilac yelped as she suddenly found herself lifted off the ground, automatically darting out her arms to wrap around Leo's neck to keep balanced as he adjusted her in his arms, smirking down at her, "Well then I guess I have a lot of making up to do."
Rolling her eyes, Lilac nodded, "At least eleven years. And you can spend the next two or three of them helping with child-care night shifts. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am."