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Bang on schedule, 2:00 am precisely, his blue eyes popped open and he looked around searchingly.
Not seeing anyone, he called out hopefully.
They always heard and they always came.
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Vin Tanner felt his son's awakening even before he heard the baby's questioning cry.
Disentangling himself from the bed clothes and the still sleeping form of his wife, Vin eased out of bed.
Pulling on a pair of jeans, he walked over to the cradle and picked up his son.
Not even a month old, baby Joshua looked up at his Dad with a focus that belied his age.
"Hey buddy," Vin murmured, lifting the baby into his arms, bundling him close.
Josh pushed a tiny fist against his mouth and Vin smiled.
"Figured you were a mite hungry." Tanner whispered, starting toward the bedroom door. "Lets see if your Mama made any bottles before we went to bed. I reckon' she did."
Navigating his way through the hallway of the darkened apartment, Vin walked into the kitchen and stood before the refrigerator. Taking a moment to adjust his grip on his son, the ATF agent opened the door and found several bottles prepped and waiting.
Pulling one out, he kicked the door closed and stuck it in the warmer.
Apparently the food wasn't coming fast enough and Josh let out a little squawk of annoyance.
"Sorry buddy," Vin apologized, bouncing the baby gently. "But I can't make it heat up faster."
As they waited for the bottle to warm, Vin walked around the kitchen, whispering softly to the little person in his arms.
After a few moments he checked the bottle and found it was ready.
Walking into the living room, he found a chair nearest to the large picture window that graced one wall and sat down.
Setting the bottle next to him, Vin adjusted his son so that Joshua could recline comfortably while eating then slipped the nipple of the bottle into the baby's mouth. His care was immediately rewarded by the sound of sucking.
Vin chuckled softly and looked down at his son. "Reckon I was right about you bein' hungry." He noted, blue eyes fixed on the little miracle in his arms.
Josh seemed to ignore him, his only concern at that moment was eating.
That was fine by Vin. He knew the main objective wasn't to have Joshua understand his words. It was for Josh to hear him speak period.
"Nice night." He began, glancing out the window for a moment. "Ain't a cloud in the sky. Stars are shining like diamonds." Looking down at his son, Tanner continued. "Y'know what stars really are? They're suns like the one we got. Sometimes they're a little different but they still do the same job. Lights up the sky of whatever planet they orbit. Orbit's when they circle around and around. Kinda like what we do with the table when we're waitin'."
Pulling the bottle away slightly, Vin checked to see if Josh was still hungry. Which, given the way the baby's mouth puckered and his eyes fixed on his father's face, he was.
Returning the bottle to his son's mouth, Vin picked up where he'd left off with his conversation. "Wonder if we'll be visitin' those planets by the time you're all grown up. It'd be real interestin' to see what's on ‘em wouldn't it? What do you think little guy?"
Joshua's eyes drooped slightly and the infant fought to keep them open, making his father laugh softly. "That boring huh?" Vin set the bottle aside and picked up a receiving blanket that had been left on the couch.
Tossing it over one shoulder, the ATF agent eased his son up and slowly rubbed the baby's back. "Promise not to tell Uncle Chris that I nearly put ya to sleep?" Tanner joked, slowly standing. "He'd never let me hear the end of that one y'know. Course, it might not be a good idea to tell*you* that. You might blackmail me for a better bedtime."
Wandering over to the window, Vin looked out at the city's darkened skyline. Listening intently, he waited for the soft sound of a burp. When it came a minute later, he adjusted Joshua again until the baby was reclining in his father's arms. "All done pardner?" He queried, watching as the infant's eyes slowly began to close again. "Guess so." He noted after a moment.
Staring down at the baby, Vin felt his heart seize. Josh did hardly anything ‘cept eat, sleep, dirty his pampers and coo occasionally...He hadn't done anything significant like cure a deadly disease, save an entire country from war, or anything along those lines. Yet as far as Vin was concerned Joshua Tanner was the most important person on the face of the earth.
"Y'know, not everybody out there is as great as they should be, pard." Vin informed his son softly. "People have a bad habit of tryin' ta hurt each other as much as somebody else hurt them. But whatever y'do, no matter how much somebody hurts you, you don't hurt back."
Josh lay quiet, sleeping soundly but still, Vin addressed his son as if he were an adult standing next to him. And to Vin he was. Who knew how much of what he was saying Josh understood. If he actually understood all of it then Vin wanted to say something more important than coochy coo and baby talk.
"And if you're hurt *real* bad then you just tell me, your Mama and your uncles. We'll take care of it." Vin tossed the bottle to the couch and started to walk with his son. "Like Uncle Josiah says, God gave you family to take care of ya. When someone hurts you its our job to make it right and when we can't make it right, well that's when we love ya as much as we can to make you feel better. "
Glancing up at the window he thought of the men that had taught him that lesson. It was because of them that he'd been ready to accept the love of the woman that had become his wife. The woman who'd given him the precious bundle in his arms.
Vin smiled. "So you see, pard, when you grow up, you've got to get yourself a bunch of friends like your uncles. Who knows, maybe Uncle Chris, Uncle Josiah, Uncle Nathan, Uncle Buck, Uncle JD and Uncle Ezra..." Vin laughed. "Now wouldn't that be a sight. Ez with kids...Well anyway, maybe they'll have kids and you'll all join the ATF and cause as much trouble as your Pa and his friends."
After a moment, he shook his head. "No, better not join the ATF. Your Mama and I won't have the nerves to watch you do the work we do. Better run a ranch and be a cowboy or somethin' safe like that."
With a nod to himself, Vin turned and carried his son back to bed. The odd chuckle escaping him at the thought of Ezra Standish perfecting the art of diaper changing and burping. Now *that* he'd pay serious money to see.
‘Remind me to tell the guys in the morning.' Vin decided as he crawled back into bed. ‘They'll get a bigger kick out of it than I did.'
With that still in his mind, the sharpshooter slowly drifted off to sleep again.
Finis
