The Greatest of These

All previous disclaimers apply.

“Sheira, please,” Duo was on his hands and knees in front of the baby girl, at the moment rubbing her eyes with her tiny fists as tears fell silently from them. Duo was beginning to think that if she didn’t stop soon he would start crying, too. For week and a half that felt more like a month and a half neither of them had gotten nearly as much sleep as they needed. Sheira had been fussy with her want of Wu Fei, but Duo knew that it wasn’t safe. But, how could he explain it to an infant? He was fine for most of the time, like when he rocked her in the chair or gave her her meals, but he just couldn’t change how much she wanted her daddy. So now, instead of screaming like any other baby, she just sat in the middle of the living room floor, crying silently and rubbing her eyes to let him know just how tired she was. He was beginning to think that he would have preferred the screaming, because her tears were killing him with guilt.

“Baby, c’mon,” he tried to work up the energy for a smile for her, “You gotta sleep sometime, right, Sweetheart? You’re only making both of us feel bad. C’mon, Sweetheart.” He held his breath when she looked up at him momentarily, then moaned when she just laid down on the blanket he’d laid on the floor and continued to look up at him, tears coming faster and harder so that she was working herself into a good case of hiccups.

“Oh, baby,” he murmured, picking her up. She buried her face in his neck and continued to hiccup, “I’m sorry, Sweetheart. I know you want to see Daddy. I want you to be able to see him, too. But, you just can’t right now. Please don’t be mad at me, baby. Please, my Sweetheart?” She just continued to cry silently on his neck as he stood and walked back and forth across the room. Back and forth, back and forth, hoping that the constant motion would somehow lull her to sleep. Nothing was working. She just wouldn’t sleep and he knew that it couldn’t be healthy for her. He had just about decided to call Cammi and ask her what to do, when the doorbell rang.

He shifted her gently as he walked down the hall so that she was laying her head on his shoulder and not his neck and opened the door. Relief flooded him. He felt his knees go weak with it and hand to grab onto the doorknob to steady himself a little.

“I love you,” he said earnestly, “I adore you. Leave your husband and run away with me to Bora Bora. We’ll change our names, get tans, and have wild sex on the beach every day.”

“Oh, Duo,” Relena smiled as she stepped into the foyer and out of her shoes, “That sounds great, except that tans are bad for your skin, and if we had wild sex on the beach I would get sand in the most uncomfortable places.”

“And you couldn’t stand to leave your husband and children?” He lifted an eyebrow in play as he closed the door.

“That, too,” she set a hand to his cheek and kissed him briefly, “How are you holding up, Sweetie?”

“She hates me,” Duo sighed, “She really hates me. She doesn’t make any noise to begin with. She just sits there and looks at me with those dark eyes and the tears just fall and they never stop and she’s breaking my heart, Lena, and neither of us have really slept and I don’t know how much longer I can take this and . . .”

“Sweetie, breathe.” Relena tried to keep a sympathetic look on her face, but couldn’t help but laugh just a little, he was so dear when he was frazzled. And he was only frazzled because, he might not know it yet but, he had begun to think of Sheira as his little girl and it hurt his heart when she was unhappy, “Why don’t you leave her to me for a little bit and go take a nap?”

“Relena,” Duo ran a hand over his face, “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t want to put you out or anything. I mean, you’ve worked all day already.”

“A half day. At a desk. It’s only noon, Duo,” Relena smiled, “I haven’t had babies around for a while, but I still remember how much more work it was than even running a planet. And I had Heero and my mother there to help me. Now, you’re taking care of a very ill man and a baby? Honey, everyone needs a rest sometime. Go take a nap. I’ll be just fine.”

“But, what about Heero and the kids?”

“They’re in the colonies spending some time with Quatre and Trowa and the kids. I couldn’t take any more time off of work, but I wasn’t needed for the rest of the day either, so I thought I’d drop by and give you a hand. I hate going home to an empty house where no one needs me for homework or scraped knees or kisses before bed. Don’t make me feel useless, Duo. I won’t take kindly to it.”

“Braver men than me have crumbled under that tone of voice,” he sighed and handed the sniffling baby over to Relena. Sheira looked up at the new person holding her and snuggled right into Relena’s arms, closing her eyes.

“There now,” Relena nuzzled Sheira’s cheek gently, “Isn’t she just beautiful? Such a sweet baby girl.”

“How do you do that?” Duo scratched his head in wonder.

“Sometimes it just takes a woman’s touch,” Relena murmured, “She probably won’t remember Sally at all. She’s much too young. After a bit more time she’ll probably forget her completely. But, for right now, a woman smells different, holds her different, kisses her different. She remembers that much and relates me to her mother. How’s Wu Fei?”

“A bit better. His cough isn’t sounding as deep and his temperature is hovering just over a hundred. Speaking of, I need to put another glass of water by the bed. He needs to keep hydrated.”

“Sleep, Duo,” Relena commanded, “This little one is down for the count. She probably won’t wake for a while. I can take care of everything for a bit. Let me.”

“Okay.” Duo finally gave in completely to his exhaustion when his vision blurred momentarily, “Thanks, Lena. A lot.”

“My pleasure,” she smiled and reached out to push him toward the living room, “Sleep.”

“Yes, Mother.”