Baby Fever [Jacob & Edward]

5

The ride back home is quiet. Edward almost believes that they were going to traipse into the house, he was going to show Jacob to his room, and then he'll be left alone for the rest of the night. Honestly, his optimism after such a shit day amazed even him. 

He carries Bear inside and as soon as he unbuckles her from her carseat, he gets the strongest whiff of something pungent. It doesn't take him long to realize that she needs her diaper changed. He sits her atop his forearm and immediately realizes his mistake as he feels wetness soaking through his work shirt. She was going to need a bath. He turns for the stairs without thinking, strips out of his work shirt, and grabs all of the necessary items before coming back downstairs to face a very out-of-place Black who looks even more confused by the fact that he was now shirtless. 

The man is standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking around, clearly bewildered by what he was seeing. The house was big for one person. It was especially big for a bachelor who couldn't have children, but it had been built with the idea of two people and a potential child in mind and that just hadn't happened.

Bear doesn't have a bath tub yet, so Edward's forced to bath her in the sink. She doesn't seem to mind, little head resting against his fingers as he tries to slip the little, light pink onesie off of her tiny frame. 

"Need some help?" Black asks, mind clearly having caught up with what was going on as the scent of baby soap filled the air. 

Edward, admittedly, isn't expecting that. There is no audience for the man to put on a show for in Edward's home. Maybe he's just asking because he doesn't want to have to stand awkwardly by while Bear gets ready for bed. 

"Yeah," Edward says, tossing a poorly wrapped, seeping diaper in Black's direction and immediately turning back to dip the bottom half of her into the water. He doesn't think he's in the mood for anymore of Black's "help".

She seems confused by the change, wriggling against the feeling before realizing that Edward wasn't going to let her out any time soon. She resigns herself to staring up at him with this unimpressed expression. Edward doesn't take it personally. 

When her bath is over, he wraps her up like a tiny burrito in her towel and hoists her back onto his shoulder. She gets dressed upstairs, fighting her new, baby blue onesie like he'd somehow insulted her, before they head back down to get a bottle. 

In his absence, Black has found himself a seat at the island and is quietly looking over a file. He's shed his jacket, badge, and keys and his shirt is now rolled up to the elbow. At first glance, it looks like he's skimming over the contents of the file, but Edward can see that his eyes aren't moving. He's just intensely staring at what looks to be a random image. Edward doesn't bother him, fixing Bear's bottle one-handed and placing it in the bottle warmer. 

At some point, he must zone out while staring at the thing, because the only thing that takes him out of own empty thoughts is Bear attempting to rush him as she lightly bats at his chest while quietly whining. He swipes the bottle out, checks the temperature, and turns her so that she's being cradled before popping the bottle into her mouth. 

It takes him way too long to realize that he's being watched.

He doesn't immediately look away from Bear once he realizes, hoping that the moment will pass and he can just ponder over it later, but it doesn't. Black doesn't even bother averting his gaze as Edward finally turns around to look at him. Edward's going to say something snarky, maybe crack a joke about Jacob seeming at home in his "glass box", but it's like his brain stalls. Honestly, it's not even his fault with the way that man is staring at him with an intensity Edward's only seen when he's on a particularly harrowing case. That look was reserved for when the FBI needed to step in. Edward had never associated it with anything nice.