Baby Lupin - Tumblr Posts

TMS is out here confirming what we already knew!

Lupin x Jigen is canon!!!

Spread the word!!!

TMS is out here confirming what we already knew!

Lupin x Jigen is canon!!!

Spread the word!!!

"Lil' Lulu, lil' Lulu, with freckles on your skin... In and out of trouble but mostly always in!" Ed sang to the baby as she wandered down the hall with Lupin in the baby carrier, Ein at her heels.

"He's got freckles?" Jet inquired, glancing up from his bonsai as the trio paused outside his door.

"Nope! Not yet anyway. Not enough fun in the sun," She replied. "Of course you'd know if you ever bothered to hold him! Hold him, hold him, Texas hold 'em, aces wild - time to fold 'em! But don't fold the baby. They've got spongy bones but they'll still break if you aren't careful," Ed told him seriously.

"I'm surprised they let you hold him. Faye's been so adamant about having Lupin in her arms constantly that I've hardly even seen Spike toting the little guy around," Jet remarked. He didn't want to outright say that he didn't think Ed was responsible enough - or, well, capable of holding still - to be trusted with the newborn. "Where are those lunkheads anyway?"

Ed shrugged carelessly. "Hopefully passed out. They were both looking rough when Ed took over. 'Member after Vincent when Spike-person got back to the ship and slept for days and days and days and Faye-Faye refused to sleep at all because she was so worried even though she kept saying she wasn't?"

That had been bad, Jet remembered. It was the most hurt he'd ever seen Spike - at least prior to his confrontation with Vicious - and Faye had not handled it well. Probably that was due to Spike having gotten back in seemingly decent shape only to collapse down the stairs into the living room before he could find his way to the couch. Then again, that was likely the worst Ed had ever seen Spike or Faye since the hacker hadn't been on board after the Tower takedown.

"That bad, huh?"

Ed nodded, pulling faces at the infant in the carrier she wore. Jet was glad to see it was the one for the baby and not the one Ed had been using constantly for Ein. "Faye-Faye was a wreck, as Spike-papa put it. Ed took Lupin from her when she kept crying and then Spike-papa came in the room looking as tired as the egg-drink mornings. Said as long as Ed wore the baby and didn't run or jump or twirl or dance or swing or cartwheel or somersault or do *anything* other than walking the halls, well, it was okay." She regarded the carrier as she spoke, patting the fabric. "It's smaller than Ein's and Lupin weighs less so it's much easier than carrying Ein around. And Ed knows how precious baby Lupin is so no acrobatics or flailing about. Using this even lets Ed have hands free to give Lulu a bottle or shake a rattle in his face. He's mostly just sleepy though - kind of boring really."

Relieved to hear about the rules and Ed's clear understanding of the responsibility of wearing the baby around, Jet focused back on the name she kept calling the baby. It was no surprise she'd found a nickname for him already and really Jet wasn't too confused to hear her call the baby boy by a girl's name. Ed had insisted months ago that names were not gender specific, after all.

She had given her attention back to the baby after calling him boring and was smiling down at him while singing again. "Lil' Lulu, we love you-lu just the same - the same! Lil' Lulu, we love you just the same!"

"What's that you're singing to him, Ed?" Jet asked then.

The hacker looked over at him, grinning. "It's from a cartoon from even before Faye-Faye's time! About a wild child with smarts and heart. Ed will play it for you on Tomato later. Ein wants to go sit on the couch with us so he can watch the baby too,"

Ein gave a quiet yip as if to confirm Ed's statement and turned his little body around to head back towards the living room.

"You can join us, Papa Jet!" Ed assured Jet then. "Spike-papa and Faye-Faye might be dozing for a bit and, well, we won't make you hold the baby but Lil' Lulu is gonna be hungry soon and Ed hasn't actually made a bottle yet..."

Rising to his feet, Jet hastened over to the door, putting his hands on Ed's shoulders as they began to follow Ein.

"You just keep that kiddo in that holder, Ed - he seems happy there and the last thing we need is for him to start bawling again. I'll handle the bottle situation - I already had to help Spike figure it out once so I know what to do. We'll just find something kid friendly to watch on TV while the others get some rest, hey?"

"Hooray!" Ed rejoiced. "A nice quiet afternoon on Bebop-Bebop!" She grinned down at the baby who was blinking at her sleepily. "You'll learn that naps are everyone's favorite hobby on this ship, Lulu. Then you won't be as much of a hassle to your folks! They both love to sleep," She confided to the infant. "I bet you'll take after them one day!"

"Normally I'd advise against that, Lupin," Jet said. "But that would be pretty helpful. Try not to take after your folks too much though - they've got a lot of habits no one needs to emulate."

Ein, trotting ahead of them, yipped in agreement again.

"Hmm..." Spike frowned down at the device in his hand that was indicating his target was nearby. A glance around the laundry room revealed nothing to him but there was obviously something he was missing.

The washer itself was closed and the glass door showed that there wasn't so much as a washcloth inside. The clothesline inside was empty of anything drying, so there was nothing for anyone to hide behind. There was a basket of laundry on the floor next to the washer but - oh, wait. The heap was shifting in a way that clothing did not usually behave when lumped in a pile.

Either Ein had tucked himself in for a nap - possible but not likely when the clothes were all clean and smelled too strongly of detergent - or Spike had finally found the goal of his search.

"Luuuuupin," He crooned, setting down the scanner device on top of the washing machine.

The pile made a sound like a very muffled childish giggle confirming his suspicions. Grinning now, relieved that he'd found the baby before Faye had woken from her nap, he squatted down and started removing items piece by piece as he worked to dig out his son.

"You're quite the escape artist, kiddo," Spike remarked, lifting a final blouse to reveal the messy mop of his son's hair which was super staticky from the fabrics he'd been concealed beneath. Toothless but grinning hard, staring up at his father with mischievous eyes so much like Faye's that they always made Spike's heart swell, the baby waved his arms at his father in a bid to be picked up.

Obliging, Spike scooped up his diaper-clad infant, bringing Lupin up to his face so he could blow a raspberry on the boy's bare belly. Lupin squirmed in his arms, shrieking with delight.

"That was a pretty smart place to hide, considering how much you hate clothes. It would've been the last place I checked if you hadn't been wiggling around in there." Spike continued to talk to the baby despite the fact that, at ten months old, he likely didn't understand much of anything being said. "You're lucky I found you before your mom discovered you were missing! Feeding you is always the first thing she tries to do after waking up,"

Little Lupin began wriggling more excitedly in Spike's arms, looking around the laundry room eagerly. "Wah! Ma!" He cried.

Spike froze momentarily. While the baby had been impressing everyone with his ability to crawl - and therefore get into trouble - he hadn't been nearly as interested in turning his babbling into actual words. DB had assured them that most infants didn't master their first words until closer to the twelve month mark, but Spike knew Faye had been trying her best to encourage him to speak.

"What's that, little man?" The lanky bounty hunter asked his son, trying to catch his eyes as the baby continued to look around for Faye. "I mention food and you automatically look for mama, hey? Maybe you do understand more than I thought. Huh. Whatcha want, baby? Use your words!"

Lupin settled down with a little sigh. He leaned his head forward, nearly bonking into Spike's chin, and made a whining sound like Ein. "Wan mama!" The baby cried piteously. "Mama mama mama!"

Well that was pretty damn clear. Pride surged in Spike even as he felt himself melt a little over Lupin's sadness about Faye's apparent absence. Cuddling the baby close to his chest, Spike rubbed his hand soothingly on Lupin's bare back.

"Ohh it's okay, kiddo. We'll go to her, no worries. C'mon, let's see about finding you some clothes and waking your mama up, hey?"

Bouncing in Spike's arms with renewed enthusiasm at Spike's words, small head cracking into Spike's chin from his exuberance and making his father wince at the abrupt flash of pain, Lupin began to babble in response. "Um um! Mama!"

Grinning, Spike moved towards the door leading down into the bowels of the ship. "Keep it up, hey? Don't you go getting shy about it when we get to your mama, 'kay? This'll make her day. Yeah, you're just a lil mama's boy aren't ya? Yes you are, yes you are! It's okay, I love your mama bunches and bunches too. And I love you, little man, even if I'm not your favorite." Spike laughed to himself. "Hard to compete with the food provider!"

"All right, Spike-o, let's roll." Jet called out as he emerged from the kitchen, hands busy screwing the lid onto a thermos of coffee.

"Can't."

Frowning, Jet looked up from his task to see his lanky partner sprawled out on the couch with baby Lupin passed out on his chest.

Smirking, Spike raised his hands off the baby to spread them in a "what can you do" sort of gesture.

Jet sighed. "Seriously? Can't you just put him in the playpen to sleep?"

"I could try, sure. But chances are that'll wake him. He tends to notice when he's taken from someone's body heat. If you really want though..." Spike made as if to shift into an attempt at just that.

Hastily waving his hands back and forth in a negative motion, coffee sloshing within the thermos in his good hand, Jet felt a rush of relief when Spike relaxed back onto the couch. Disturbing the baby was Jet's least favorite thing to do. Lupin had an unearthly wail when he was mostly unconscious and trying to stay that way. It was not a good sound.

"Nevermind. I'll just get started on these assholes myself. Maybe Faye will be done getting groceries and wanna pitch in. I'm sure she's been dying for a chance to kick some ass."

Spike made a noise that could have been agreement. Jet glanced back at the other man to see his eyes were shut. No doubt Spike was not far from passing out himself.

Shaking his head at the laziness that seemed to be a Spiegel gene, Jet went to the storage locker in the corner of the room and took out a pile of blankets to lay on the floor between the couch and the coffee table. It wasn't much of a safety precaution and truthfully Spike had never let the baby roll off him but it made Jet feel a bit better about walking away from the sleepy pair.

He came across Ed and Ein playing tug-of-war with a knotted up sheet in the hangar. His mouth ached in sympathy for Ed's teeth, though she seemed hardly concerned about the risk she was taking.

"You two wanna keep an eye on the boys in the living room while I'm gone? Make sure nobody falls off the couch or anything?"

Ein released his end of the sheet to give a bark of what Jet assumed was affirmation and the action sent Ed into a backwards somersault that ended with her scrambling to her feet with a ridiculous grin.

"Aye aye, mon capitan!" She exclaimed, giving a jaunty salute before dashing towards the inner portion of the ship.

A thought struck Jet as he moved to climb into his zipcraft. "And no drawing on either of them!"

The squeal that came echoing back from the corridor made him glad he said something.

The Bebop was a damn ship of fools, but they sure made it a fun place to call home.

"I don't get it," Jet moaned. "How come I'm always the one who catches Lupin's colds? You and Faye are his freaking parents!"

Spike glanced over at Jet's ailing form sprawled on the couch. "Well, stop accepting the treats he offers you. That piece of cheese he shared with you yesterday? That wasn't cheese, that was the flu."

Jet grunted. "But I... you both take his offerings. He screams if you don't!"

Smirking, Spike shrugged. "Sleight of hand, old man. It's a skill you oughta learn."

Groaning, Jet curled into a fetal position. "And Faye? She doesn't do your little magic tricks."

At that, Spike laughed out right. "You're kidding, right? After all the times she's fleeced you, you haven't learned to watch her hands? She's no magician, but she's a goddamn cheat for sure."

Jet scowled at his partner. "I watch people's eyes. That's where their character is revealed. That's how you can tell if someone is bluffing..." He trailed off as if remembering the last time he'd been playing cards against - and losing to - Faye. "I... she... wait a minute..."

"Those cop-issue lie detector eyes are more of a liability than a boon, I think." Spike teased. "Anyway, he's just a baby. If you can't figure out how to pretend you've eaten something he's given you... well, plan on spending a lotta days as you are right now."

Jet whimpered.

Crash

It was a different sort of tired than the yawning screaming crushing exhaustion that had plagued her when he was a newborn. That exhaustion had been fraught with fear, snatches of slumber that was never deep enough or long enough to actually revitalize her in any way that counted. This exhaustion is filled with frustration instead. Endless hours on loop chasing an inexhaustible toddler up and down stairs repetitively (the pride in watching him conquer climbing had been likewise replaced with a sort of regret that he was suddenly so mobile) and her muscles ached in protest.

Normally she had some support. Ed was always delighted with careening around the ship, crashing into objects to make Lupin squeal with joy over the resulting destruction, and both of them often teaming up on poor Ein who certainly enjoyed a game of chase for a bit but whose stubby little legs got worn out long before the teen or toddler were ready to stop. And Spike adored treating it like a bounty gone sideways - he'd always thrived on the chance to dash after criminals so it was no surprise that he had so much fun with scrambling after the wee child. Even Jet at least served as a bouncer from time to time, reaching down to snatch the baby up whenever he'd rush into the living room or out onto the deck of the ship. Jet wasn't much for the actual legwork of chasing Lupin down, much like Faye herself who preferred cuddling and reading books and other sedentary activities that Lupin tended to disregard in favor of movement.

But Ed was off training for her next big race. Jet had taken Ein on a walk. Spike was after a bounty.

It was just Faye... all on her own... one beleaguered adult versus the indomitable spirit and never-ending energy of her toddler son.

She just wanted to curl into a ball on the floor. Or, preferably, snuggling into the comforter on the bed and passing the fuck out. Her patience had been spread thin and she could tell she was about to snap and that's the last thing she wanted to do.

Vague memories of a stern father glaring down at his discouraged daughter floated through her mind. A sharp-voiced mother halting the wild rampage of her crestfallen child.

What Faye remembered better than their disappointed and irritable expressions was the hurt that had spread through her young body. Chastisement made her flush and put a stutter in her joy that always derailed whatever adventure she'd been set on.

And Faye absolutely did not want to be that person with her own kid. She didn't want to make his lower lip pout... didn't want to see confused tears well up in those beautiful eyes...

She was a shit disciplinarian and honestly didn't want to change that. Her baby would be brought down enough in life - it was inevitable, that's just how living worked. But if she could at all avoid being the person to dim that light... well...

Peals of laughter drifted back to her from the rotating hallway and she smirked. Lupin always struggled to get out of that section of the ship. The chase was about to end... not with a whimper, not with a shout... but with Faye sitting herself down on the outside so he could see she was near and wear himself out with running on what was more or less just a giant hamster wheel. If she fell asleep out here then he'd wake her with a shriek when he wanted to escape into her loving arms. And in the meantime he'd rejoice over being able to dash endlessly while his mama was nearby.