milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Byers is having one of those "I don't feel like doing anything, sue me" days, so instead of working on his latest article, he's got a copy of The Washington Post laid out in front of him and a cup of coffee right next to it.

Hazelnut coffee, to be precise.

He loves Milliways.

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Cue one mother carrying a Bjorn with a teddy bear in it over her shoulder and her baby in her arms.

She might be staring at the Post in amusement.

"I prefer the Times myself."

Be that London, not New York.

Byers smiles at the sound of Sarah's voice.

"Hey, you two," he says, looking up at the... trio? "Three. Did you have twins and not tell me?"

Sarah chuckles despite her grimace. "I certainly hope not."

She gives Valerie a little bounce and Teddy falls out of the Bjorn and on to the table. Valerie watches with wide eyes, arms flailing towards the bear.

"She won't go anywhere without it, lately. And it's a flipping pain to carry in addition to her."

Babies, Byers has just decided, are officially ADORABLE.

He gingerly picks up the bear and peers at it with a grin. "I love bears," he says, and oh -- is the bear waving at you, Valerie?

Why yes, yes it is!

Valerie's eyes go even wider. They follow the bear's paw back and forth as she begins to babble.

"Apparently, so does James. She even has matching booties he purchased at the zoo."

They're beige cotton felt with brown bear paws on them. Sarah wiggles one of Valerie's feet to show them off.

"Hi Valerie!" the bear says.

(Byers sounds very strange when he attempts to bring his voice up an octave.)

Sarah giggles. She takes a seat to balance Valerie on the table, carefully supporting her head.

"Say hi, Valerie."

The bear gets a gurgle for a hello.

Byers raises his eyebrows, clearly amused.

"Here you go," he says, handing the fluffy bear over to Valerie.

"How're you, Sarah?"

"Quite well," Sarah responds as she helps Valerie into a sitting position. The girl's arms flail about in a poor attempt to get her bear. "Valerie went to the zoo for the first time."

"Did she have a nice time?" he asks, although he seems to be a bit distracted with making the bear wave at Valerie again.

Valerie stares at the bear again, eyes fixated on its hand.

"She did. Her father spoiled her rotten."

"I'm glad to hear that," he grins. "She deserves to be spoiled."

And now the bear is dancing!

Not surprisingly, the bear's moves are the same as Byers'. Neither of them have any rhythm. But they're both cute!

Valerie's blue eyes go wide and she starts to gurgle again. It's exciting! Her Teddy doesn't dance often enough.

"Funny," Sarah responds with a sideways grin. "That's what most people tend to say about her. She's a little charmer, this one."

"She gets it from her mother," Byers says matter of factly, as the bear busts a fluffy move.

Valerie kicks her legs. It's another vain attempt to interact with the dancing Teddy. Funnnn!

Sarah, meanwhile, blushes. "I actually assumed she inherited that from her father. I'm really not much of a charmer, you see."

"I disagree."

He grins at Sarah for a moment before turning his attention back to the baby.

Teddy has the sudden brilliant idea to tickle Valerie's little feet. :D

"You haven't really met James then, have-"

But Sarah's question is cut off by a loud stream of happy noises from Valerie. It's not laughter, she's still too young for that, but it's clearly amusement. Her blue eyes are fixated on Teddy as she wiggles around in Sarah's hands.

"The only James I've met wasn't very charming at all," Byers says, chuckling at the baby. "Is she always this loud?"

Tickletickle!

"You don't happen to be of the opposite sex," Sarah points out, still giggling. "And you're tickling her. Which means extra attention. She likes it, a lot."

More squeals simply prove it.

Edited 2008-01-22 01:34 (UTC)

Byers half-rolls his eyes. "That is no excuse for being rude," he says with a smirk.

He's surprised she hasn't pulled the Baby Grip of Death on the bear's face yet.

"No," she agrees. "But that's James."

Valerie is having far too much fun squealing and flailing to be proactive.

After a great deal of amused laughter from his end, Byers surrenders the bear to Valerie, placing it where she can actually reach it.

Valerie reaches forward towards the bear, nearly pulling herself out of Sarah's grasp and tipping forward.

Sarah giggles and shakes her head. "Unlike her parents, she slept rather well last night."

"Like a baby?" he snickers, folding up his newspaper.

"A baby desperate for her father," she responds, tugging Valerie back from tipping forward again. "Valerie woke up in the middle of the night crying for him. And, of course, I had to go check on her first."

"Ouch," he flinches. "That's almost as bad as waking up to someone sleepwalking in a dream game of Dungeons & Dragons."

IT HAPPENED ONCE.

Twice, actually, but they don't talk about that.

"I have no idea what that's like."

To be honest, Sarah isn't even sure that she knows what Dungeons and Dragons is.

"But let me tell you, sleeping against a wall is far more comfortable than you'd imagine."

"Isn't it?" he snickers.

"Try sleeping against the wall of a van. Now that is an experience."

(He had to see a chiropractor for a month after that.)

Sarah chuckles. "Thankfully, I have absolutely no reason to experience that."

"That's what I thought, too," he snickers.

"Can I get you anything? Tea?"

"Tea would be lovely," Sarah Jane admits. "If you wouldn't mind."

"Of course not!"

And then there is a waitrat with tea and a refill for Byers' half-empty mug.

Sarah beams, although there is a hint of surprise at the quick service. She picks Valerie and Teddy up off the table (with little protest from the baby) and into her arms. Best to keep her safe from hot liquids.

"Getting along better with the waitrats, John?"

"I'm trying."

The waitrat refuses to look at him.

"... and not doing such a great job."

Sarah shrugs, moving Valerie to one arm so she can sip her tea with a free hand. "Some things do take practice."

Pout.

"I'm great at being nice!"

"To rats?"

"... well, I never had the opportunity to be nice to rats before."

He actually refused to go near them, even in labs.

"It's not that hard," Sarah insists. "All it takes is a little bit of patience. Isn't that right, Valerie darling?"

"Oh, don't drag her into this!"

He sounds mildly offended, but he's smiling.

Sarah Jane giggles. "Are you afraid she'll side with me?"

"Maybe."

But if he has Teddy and Teddy is dancing...

He does have Teddy. And Valerie is transfixed.

Sarah, meanwhile, is smirking. "Thinking of using the bear as leverage then?"

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