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      	  Lily 
 by sam80853  

 Disclaimer: None if this is mine, and I, of course, don't make money with
this.

 Author's Notes: Thanks to the usual suspect [info]primroseburrows for her
patience and vocabulary, and knowledge of babies. Seems like I provided
the idea and she did the words - thank you *hugs*! 

 Story Notes: kid!fic

 

 Lily

 "Hey, Ray."Ray was slurping his first cup of coffee when he answered his
brother's phone call. He knew right away that something was up, something
he wouldn't be happy about. 

 "I'm just having coffee," Ray pointed out. Mitch should know better than
to call him this early. 

 "I figured," Mitch sighted. "Listen, I need to ask you a favour..." 

 "I'm not gonna taking care of your parking tickets." Ray interrupted.
"I'm working Homicide, I'm a freakin' Detective." Ray knew he was kind of
overreacting here but it was still early and he hadn't finished his coffee
yet. 

 "Ray!" 

 "What is it?" 

 "I need you to watch Lily on Friday night." 

 "Lily?" Ray asked stupidly, putting his mug down and running a hand
through his hair. 

 Babysitting? Ray wasn't so sure about that. He loved the little one an'
all, but he had zero experience with kids. 

 His wife--well, okay, ex-wife, Stella and he had wanted kids at one
point, almost in another lifetime, or Ray had, anyway. That was before
they got divorced, of course. Now it seemed rather unlikely that he would
have kids of his own - one would need a wife, or a girlfriend for that. On
top of it all Ray had figured, now that he was no longer married and
stupid in love with Stella, that he was attracted to men too. 

 "My daughter?" 

 "I know who Lil is."He started pacing now. Lily was his eight-month-old
niece, a cute little thing he saw on and off when his schedule allowed it.
Working as an undercover police detective in one of America's major cities
didn't leave much space for anything but solving crimes which seem to be
happening each and every second in Chicago. 

 "Friday night, you said?" 

 "It's actually the whole weekend," Ray's brother cleared his throat,
apparently knowing that this wasn't even short notice but basically an
ambush. 

 "I ..." 

 "Ray, please, it's really important," his brother pleaded. "I've asked
everybody, believe me, andyou're our last hope." 

 Well, if he put it that way. 

 "'Kay." Ray agreed, shrugging his shoulder. "I'm off on the weekend
anyway and I have nothing better to do. Lil and I can watch the Cubs on
TV." 

 "Thanks, Ray." 

 "Yeah, yeah." He hung up and attended to his coffee, not even thinking
that he might be in over his head. Ray was a cop, he was used to handling
criminals. How hard could it be? 

 ~::~::~ 

 Mitch showed up around 5:30, a huge bag dangling around his shoulder, a
happy, bubbling Lily in one arm and a portable crib in his hand. 

 "Thanks again for taking care of her", he said. He plopped Lily into
Ray's arms,where -- just Ray's luck -- she instantly started fussing. He
also set a brightly- coloured bag on Ray's kitchen counter. "Everything
you need is in here," he explained. "You have our cell phone numbers just
in case and ...," Ray's brother started to look as uneasy as his daughter
apparently felt in Ray's arms, obviously doubting his choice to leave Lily
with Ray. After all, Ray hadn'teven spent any time alone with Lily yet. 

 "Go!" Ray interrupted his brother's train of thoughts. "We'll have a
blast with no parents around, right, Lil?" 

 But Lily looked as doubtful as her father as she watched him movetoward
the door. 

 "Oh, c'mon, Lil." Ray tried to keep a hold on the wriggling babyin his
arms, watching her face turn red with her effort to get free. 

 "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all," Mitch said, stepping back
from the door. But Ray wouldn't have any of it; he opened the door and all
but threw his brother out. 

 "Enjoy your weekend," he said, shutting the door in his brother's face
and grinning at his niece. "Is he always like that?" 

 Lily didn't bother to give Ray an answer; even if she had been able to,
she had more important things to do with her voice right now. She started
sobbing, almost silently at first but with increasing volume. 

 Ray looked around helplessly, balancing the crying kid on his hip. He
started swaying, and then tried full-on dancing, but Lily didn't seem to
care at all. Not only that, but she was getting Ray's favourite T-shirt
all wet. 

 "You know, your uncle is a cop," Ray said, grabbing for his badge, and
showing it to her. "See? Detective, Chicago P.D." 

 Lily wasn't impressed. 

 Ray kept moving around his apartment trying to calm his niece, but she
seemed inconsolable and kept on wailing into his shoulder. 

 "C'mon, kiddo." Ray sat down on the couch in his living room, picking up
a section of the Trib from the coffee table. Maybe the funnies would cheer
her up. 

 No such luck. 

 Lily was still crying when someone started knocking at the door. Ray
almost didn't hear it because Lily was sobbing directly into his ear. 

 "What?" Ray demanded loudly when he opened the door. He eyed the guy
standing in the hall curiously--faded, too-tight blue jeans, white shirt.
Dark, groomed hair, greyish-blue eyes. 

 "I couldn't help noticing the distress of...," the guy started saying but
Ray wasn't in the mood to wait for further explanations. 

 "You wanna help, or talk?" he asked, walking back to his living room, the
entrance door still open invitingly. 

 "If I may," the guy said, stepping hesitantly into Ray's apartment and
closing the door behind him. 

 Ray was sitting on his couch again, Lily on his knees. "She won't calm
down." 

 "I see." The guy rubbed his eyebrow like his next word might offend Ray.
"Did you feed her?" 

 "Feed?" Ray looked up at the guy. 

 "Oh dear." 

 The stranger took matters in his own hands and reached for the bag on
Ray's kitchen counter. He pulled out a prepared bottle and handed it to
Ray. 

 "Shouldn't it be warm or something?" 

 "It's at room temperature, and Iwould imagine she doesn't care at this
point." Ray placed the bottle to Lily's mouth and she instantly grasped it
with both her hands and started sucking greedily. 

 The following silence was almost deafening to Ray's abused ears. He had
almost forgotten that he wasn't alone when he heard the stranger clear his
throat. 

 "If I may introduce myself,"the helpful stranger said, tugging at his
non-existing collar. "My name is Constable Benton Fraser of the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police. I first came --" 

 "You're the Mountie," Ray interrupted; he had heard rumours that the
famous Mountie and his deaf wolf had moved into his building, but he
hadn't cared much until now. 

 "It would appear so, yes." Fraser confirmed. 

 "Thanks for, um." He pointed at Lily, who was still inhaling her bottle. 

 "My pleasure, Detective Kowalski." 

 "Ray," Ray said automatically before it dawned on him that he had never
mentioned his name. 

 "I read your name on the mailbox," Fraser explained like he has read
Ray's mind. 

 "Oh, okay." 

 "Have you eaten yet - Ray?" 

 "Nah, I just got home from work and then this mess started, and--" 

 "Understood. Would you like to eat with me, then?" 

 "Huh?" Ray looked up from his niece into kind of pleading eyes, like the
guy desperately wanted to have a bite with him. "Yeah. Okay." He said.
"Nothing much in the fridge, though." 

 "Perfectly all right, Ray, I could prepare dinner at my place and just
bring it over. If you don't mind," Fraser added like he wasn't too sure
that he was really welcome. 

 "Sounds like a plan," he hesitated. "What do I call you? Benton? Ben?"

 "Whatever you like, Ray. Most people call me Fraser." 

 Ray grinned at him briefly before he returned his attention back to Lily.
"All right, Fraser-buddy." 

 "I ... I'll be back, then." 

 "Yeah, replied Ray as he watched Fraser leave. 

 ~::~::~ 

 When Ray escaped his bathroom, Lily placed on his hip again, there were
delicious smells coming from the kitchen. He went to investigate,
discovering Fraser had set the table, obviously comfortable in Ray's small
kitchenette. 

 "Ah, Ray," Fraser said when he caught sight of Ray. "I took the liberty
of..." 

 "Smells great," Ray interrupted and took a seat. "Better than the
bathroom anyway," he grinned pointing at Lily's fresh diaper, and from
Fraser's answering smile he gathered that he understood. 

 "I'm glad." 

 "I think I'm gonna have to disinfect the can," he said, digging into his
food. "Or just never use it again." 

 "That probably won't be necessary," Fraser smiled again, putting food on
Ray's plate faster than he could eat it. 

 "Where is your wolf?" Ray asked curiously. 

 "Half-wolf," Fraser corrected, "and I'm afraid Diefenbaker is otherwise
engaged today. The details are rather sketchy; he's very secretive about
his whereabouts." 

 "He always like that?" 

 "I'm afraid so, yes." 

 They engaged in a relaxed conversation while Lily was sitting on Ray's
lap, eating some of Ray's potatoes and veggies. Everything seemed
perfectly normal - Ray with a kid on his lap and somebody interesting to
talk to opposite from him. And they didn't even talk about work, or at
least, not much. Ray already knew that Fraser was liaising with the 27th
police district. Every officer had heard about the Mountie andRay Vecchio,
Fraser's unofficial cop-partner. He did not know about `the killer's of
Fraser's father' or `the reasons' `why' he remained in Chicago. But Ray
figured when it came to corrupt cops, Canada wasn't any different than the
States with how they treated the ones who discovered it. 

 "Perhaps you can lay her down now, Ray," Fraser suggested after what
seemed forever. 

 "Hey, Lil, you wanna go to sleep now?" Ray asked in a whisper, carefully
lifting the sleeping kid and carrying her into his bedroom. "Out like a
light," he said when he returned, catching Fraser doing the dishes. 

 "I should do the dishes," Ray said, half-heartedly. He was about to fall
asleep on his feet too. 

 "I'm almost done, Ray. Don't bother." 

 "Thanks, buddy." Ray sat down on his couch heavily. "Never thought a kid
that age could make so much trouble." He sighed deeply. 

 ~::~::~ 

 Fraser finished up the dishes and went to join Ray. He smiled to himself
when he noticed Ray was snoring lightly. 

 Endearing, he thought, and immediately chided himself for his improper
thoughts. But he couldn't deny his attraction. He had only known Ray for a
few hours, but it felt like they had known each other forever. 

 "Ray?" He whispered, touching Ray's shoulder lightly to not startle him.
"Hm?" 

 "You probably should go to bed, Ray." 

 "Okay," Ray mumbled but didn't move. 

 "Ray?" 

 "'M good, Fraser." He snuggled deeper into the cushions. 

 "You'll experience a sore neck in the morning, Ray." 

 "Wouldn't be the first time." 

 "All right then." Fraser had never had such a discussion with somebody
who was, apparently, deeply asleep. 

 "Go to sleep, Fraser." 

 "As you wish," Fraser took the blanket from the back of the couch and
draped it gently over Ray. "Sweet dreams," he whispered softly, and left. 

 ~::~::~ 

 Ray woke suddenly, noticing two things: Lily crying in his bedroom and a
polite knock at his front door - how a knock could be polite was beyond
him. 

 "Come in," Ray said, opening the door for Fraser before he rushed into
his bedroom, picking up an unhappy Lily. "Hey, hon, what's up?" 

 Apparently a lot was up the way Lily kept sobbing in his shoulder. 

 "Bad dream?" Ray asked Fraser who was standing in his living room, his
half-wolf by his side this time. "He came back, huh?" Ray pointed at
Diefenbaker. 

 "Apparently," Fraser answered, reaching for Lily, who immediately went
silent as she settled against his body. "He's not very forthcoming with
information about his whereabouts, though." 

 "A guy has to have his secrets," Ray smiled, putting out his hand for
Diefenbaker to sniff. 

 Lily eyed Diefenbaker curiously, her small hand reaching out to touch. 

 "He good with kids?" 

 "Yes." Fraser bent down so Lily could run a hand through Dief's fur.
"He's very protective of the vulnerable." 

 "Okay, good." Ray said and sat down on his couch, yawning. 

 "You should go back to sleep, Ray," Fraser suggested, slowly pacing up
and down the living room. 

 "I can't just dump the kid on you." 

 "Nonsense, Ray. You're tired and I'm perfectly capable to taking care of
Lily." 

 "Oh no, buddy," Ray smiled and stood, reaching for his niece who started
fussing as soon as she left Fraser's arms. 

 Ray looked curiously between his niece and Fraser, handing her back. She
went calm again. 

 "How do you do that?" 

 "I assure you, Ray, I'm not doing anything." 

 Ray took Lily back and she immediately started wailing. 

 "Perhaps I'd better... " 

 "Yeah, you better," Ray said when the wailing increased. 

 ~::~::~ 

 When Ray woke up next morning, the sun was coming through the window. He
was still sitting on his couch, his neck sore like Fraser predicted.
Fraser was sitting opposite him in his armchair, Lily awake and looking up
at him. 

 Ray blinked with surprise when a warm feeling ran through him, making him
light-headed. 

 A perfect picture. 

 The small form of his niece protectively held by a sleeping Fraser,
Diefenbaker at his feet. 

 Shit, Ray cursed silently and stood. He was not falling for his Mountie
neighbour and his half-wolf, he was not. 

 "Ray?" Fraser asked sleepily, moving carefully with Lily in his arms. 

 "Coffee," Ray fled into the kitchen. "I need coffee first thing in the
morning." 

 "Understood." Fraser followed Ray. "Perhaps you could heat up Lily's
bottle so I can feed her," he suggested, reaching for the bag. 

 Ray rather rudely snatched the bag out of Fraser's hand. "I got it. Maybe
you wanna take Dief for a walk?" 

 As you wish, Ray," he said and handed over Lily, who surprisingly didn't
complain about it. 

 "See you later," Ray said, taking a deep breath when the door shut behind
Fraser. 

 "I think I'm in trouble," he told Lily who once again greedily drank her
bottle. "So, how was sleeping with him anyway?" 

 ~::~::~ 

 Ray's day with Lily went okay. 

 They read the paper and had a good laugh about `The Joke of the Day'. Ray
changed her diapers, fed her, they went to the park and not once did
either of them think about their helpful Mountie neighbour. 

 It was totally accidental that they strolled by the 27th on their way
home. So was the mistaken encounter with a dog that happened to be a
look-a-like for Diefenbaker. 

 "We don't miss him, do we?" Ray asked his niece, who was crawling around
on the ground, reaching for one of the many toys Ray discovered in her
bag. 

 But the funny thing was, Ray was missing Fraser, and wasn't that
hilarious? A guy he just met last night, a guy he had dinner with and who
had slept in his apartment. 

 "Shit!" 

 Sometimes Ray felt like he was too stupid to live - how could he fall
this easily again? 

 Ray didn't know if Lily was experiencing something similar but as soon as
it was time for bed she started crying, heartbreakingly. Nothing Ray did
calmed her down -- he apparently hadn't have the touch it took to put a
toddler to sleep. But he couldn't just knock on Fraser's door after acting
like a complete jerk this morning. After all Fraser had done, he'd
practically thrown the guy out on his ear. 

 Ray kept trying; he even sang, which made matters worse. Lily apparently
was no fan of ABBA. 

 After an eternity the knock finally came and Ray could have cried with
relief. 

 "Thank God, Fraser!" 

 Fraser took the crying child without words, and after a few tiny sobs
Lily snuggled happily against his shoulder. Ray watched amazed, a bit
jealous of his eight-month-old niece for being so up-close and personal
with Fraser. 

 "I hope I'm not intruding, Ray." 

 "Nah, Frase, you're always welcome." 

 Fraser rubbed his eyebrow, eying Ray sceptically. 

 "Look," Ray said, "This morning? Sorry about that. I'm not alive without
at least three cups of coffee." 

 "Understood." 

 Fraser took Lily into the living room. It really seemed all Fraser needed
was an apology and they were good again. It had never been that easy with
Stella. He'd always had to work for it with her. Hard. 

 "You want something to drink?" 

 "A glass of milk would be lovely." 

 "Milk," Ray whispered under his breath, looking into the fridge and
already knowing that he wouldn't find such a thing. 

 "Or water." 

 Ray gladly fetched a glass of water and brought it back into his living
room. "How was your day?" he asked stupidly, taking his seat across from
Fraser. 

 "Quite fruitful, I have to say," Fraser said, seesawing Lily on his
knees. "Ray and I were able to apprehend a malfeasant guilty of taking
advantage of the elderly." 

 "Good. Good." Ray had no idea how to proceed here, he couldn't very well
court the guy in front of his niece. That would be kind of weird. "I
bought food," he blurted out. "I could cook." 

 "Only if you feel comfortable, Ray." 

 Fraser looked at him with bright eyes and Ray got the feeling Fraser
maybe was interested too. His heart skipped a beat and he felt a blush
creeping up his face which he tried to deflect by rubbing his neck. It
wasn't working, if Fraser's answering blush was anything to go by. 

 "I'm cooking," Ray declared and fled into the kitchen, a grin splitting
his face. 

 ~::~::~ 

 The evening went very much like the last one, if you didn't count the
flirting. "I'm afraid she's teething," Fraser frowned, trying to look into
Lily's mouth. She had started crying, and not even Fraser's presence
seemed to help tonight. 

 "Teething?" 

 "Yes, Ray, it would appear so," Fraser said. Lily grabbed his finger and
started chewing on it enthusiastically.

 "Anything we can do?" 

 "A cold washcloth may help, or a spoon." Fraser started gently massaging
Lily's gum while Ray went for a wash cloth.

 "How come you know so much about babies?" 

 "I read several books from my grandparent's library." 

 "About babies?" Ray would have figured a boy would look for something
else to read than babies. Or at least, teething. 

 "The reading material was rather limited," Fraser explained, putting the
offered spoon in Lily's mouth. "Also quite helpful at times." He smiled
when Lily stayed quiet and attended to her spoon. 

 "You're a freak." 

 "Understood."

 They quickly discovered that a spoon only got you so far. Two hours later
both men fell exhausted asleep on Ray's couch, their heads supporting each
other; Lily peacefully rested against Fraser's body. 

 ~::~::~ 

 Ray blinked his eyes open, feeling somebody intently watching him. 

 "Hi," Fraser whispered when Ray finally opened his eyes, his head resting
on Fraser's shoulder. 

 "Hey," Ray replied, taking in the sight of a sleep tousled Fraser with
his niece in his arms. "She good?" 

 "It would appear so," Fraser spoke under his breath, his eyes locked on
Ray's and Ray could see the moment Fraser made his decision and leant in. 

 Their lips were touching tenderly, just a brief brush. 

 "Ray," Fraser sighed, breathless. There was no space for him to move with
Ray on one side and Lily on the other. 

 "Yeah," Ray smiled; his hands came up to hold Fraser's face for another
kiss. A deeper one. Wetter. 

 Tongues touched, danced together. 

 The kissing would have easily become out of hand if Lily hadn't chosen to
wake up and make her presence known. 

 "Oh dear," Fraser sighed, his lips kiss-swollen and his hair even more
tousled from Ray's hands. 

 "I'm not done with you," Ray placed one final kiss on Fraser's mouth
before he stood, taking Lily with him. He heated one of Lily's bottles,
started coffee and couldn't stop grinning about his lucky fortune. 

 He apparently had missed the knock because of all the wild fantasies
running around in his head. Finally, it registered and he opened the door.


 "Ray," Fraser said when Marie-Anne, his brother's wife, rushed to Ray's
side, taking Lily into her arms. 

 "Mommy missed, you", she said, kissing her cheeks. 

 '"Ray?" Mitch was looking at Fraser, and it was kind of hard to miss his
tousled hair and wrinkled shirt. 

 "Fraser," Ray said, "My brother Mitch and his wife, Marie-Anne. My
neighbour Fraser, Benton Fraser. Of the...," Ray felt himself start
babbling, felt everybody's eyes on him like he had done something wrong. 

 "Perhaps I had better leave," Fraser suggested and left without further
ado. 

 "Ray?" His brother asked again, lifting an eyebrow when the door closed
behind Fraser. 

 "He helped me out with Lil here," he explained, one hand rubbing the back
of his neck. "She's teething." That obviously did the trick; now everybody
was focused on Lily and her new teeth. 

 ~::~::~ 

 It became quite ridiculous over the next few days; Ray didn't seem to be
able to get hold of Fraser. Apparently Fraser's schedule was as erratic as
Ray's. He left notes, and he received notes but he never laid eyes on
Fraser and he desperately needed to. He was even considering having Lily
over out of pure despair when an undercover position offer at from the
27th landed on his desk. As he read the description a grin spread over his
face. Maybe he didn't need Lily's help this time around. He was a
specialist in undercover, after all. 

 The End  
  

End Lily by sam80853 

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