Author: Zazu
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Kids
Pairings: 3+4+3, 5+R
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, nor do I own the characters. I have borrowed them here for some fun and creativity, and this is not for profit. I do, however, own the plot mentioned here, and any instances that you may find similar to real life events are purely a coincidence.
Notes: Not beta-read. This is a part of the babysiting adventures universe, inspired by Sharon's prompt "Babysitting adventures for uncles Heero, Duo, Trowa and Quatre. Wufei and Relena are the parents, of course". I should state now that the little drabbles in this universe will not be chronological at all!
Visit to the Aquarium
"Leila, no running!" Quatre called.
The girl giggled, dragging Trowa by the hand; Quatre watched, amused to see his lover bent over as he strode quickly to follow.
One of the Winner Enterprise subsidiaries, an architect company, had just unveiled a new plan for the renovation of the local aquarium. Before it was completed, Quatre decided that he wanted to tour the old one; they would most likely take it down and put another attraction in its place once the new one was built. When Wufei called, asking for Quatre and Trowa to babysit Leila for the afternoon, Quatre thought it may be a good idea to take Leila along.
That way, Wufei couldn't complain that they weren't doing educational things with his daughter.
"Uncle Meow!" Leila called. "This way!"
Quatre sighed. That nickname had come from Duo. He remembered the scene well; Duo had addressed him and Leila had looked up from her alphabets book, asking where the cat was. Duo had laughed, telling her that it was a nickname he had for Quatre, and Leila had looked confused and asked if Quatre said 'meow'.
Of course, Duo found it amusing to teach her to call him 'Uncle Meow' since Leila had been having trouble pronouncing 'Quatre' to begin with.
"Uncle Meow!" Leila called again.
"Coming!" Quatre jogged a few steps to catch up, taking her other hand as they made their way into the first level for viewing.
Leila was gripping his hand tightly, and Quatre wasn't sure whether it was because of her excitement, or because of the dark. He decided it was excitement when Leila pulled on his hand, running up to the counter, tiptoeing so she could see over it. A large fish swam by and she gasped, stumbling back only to have Trowa lift her up to stand her on the counter.
She clung to him, momentarily afraid of being too close.
"They can't touch you, Leila," Trowa assured her, pressing his hand upon the glass. Leila's hand gripped his upper arm as if trying to get him to put his arm down, but after a moment she realized that none of the fish were going to bite his hand. She still clutched him, but turned so she could look.
"Wow," she whispered.
"It's it beautiful?" Quatre asked.
"Big fishies," she commented, relaxing a little more in Trowa's grasp.
"Not only fish, there are turtles there, see?" Trowa pointed.
Quatre watched the two of them with a small smile. The feeling he had was similar to that of seeing Wufei carry the newborn Leila. Perhaps none of them had expected to be at ease with a child, and yet they had all taken to it like birds to flight. Trowa looked natural with his arm around Leila's waist, brushing her hair aside and pointing, feigning surprise and making her laugh.
And Leila never played favourites; she loved each and every one of her uncles. At that very moment, she turned in Trowa's grasp to reach a hand to Quatre. He moved closer with a smile. "Do you like it, Leila?"
"Yes!" she piped. "Uncle Meow, can you swim in there? Are they good fish? Do they bite? Why are they so big?"
Trowa was grinning at her many questions. A part of him wondered if the girl was naturally curious, or perhaps it was the influence of Duo who taught her to ask questions. He had no doubts that Leila would grow up with the need to learn and discover answers; that much was apparent in the way she asked questions and remembered the answers. But would she be inquisitive the way Duo was, or perhaps a little quieter in her search for answers, like her father?
"No, I can't swim in there, but they are good fish and shouldn't bite because the staff keeps them well fed. That's why they get along. Many of these fish are enemies out at sea, out in the wild. They're so big because they keep them from being hungry so they won't eat each other."
"Eat each other?" Leila gasped. "Why?"
"That's how life goes," Quatre answered. "It's the circle of life. Like how a bug eats leaves and a bird eats bugs, remember?"
She still looked confused; perhaps this was a lesson that she would need some time to understand. So Quatre distracted her by pointing out some colourful fish, and they moved on to see other parts of the aquarium.
The trio thoroughly enjoyed the dolphin show and they went around to the petting section where Quatre paid for a few fish they could feed the dolphins. Leila giggled happily when an inquisitive dolphin swam close, and she leaned closer, listening to the sounds it made. Trowa extended a hand to rub its nose, keeping the dolphin's mouth away from Leila's hand so that she wouldn't be scared to reach out and touch it.
"Can I have one?" she asked.
"I don't think so," Quatre laughed. "Your Baba wouldn't want one in the house, I don't think. But if you like I'll bring you here again to see them."
She wasn't brave enough yet to feed the dolphin directly, but was entertained by throwing the fish out as far as she could where the dolphin snatched it out of the air. With a wave of Trowa's hand, the dolphin twisted and turned and waved a fin at them. Leila clapped happily and Quatre rewarded the friendly dolphin with another small fish. It swam up again and moved alongside them as they walked and extended its fin once more. Leila reached down and shook it gently, then laughed when it swam off, leaping up and diving in again before going to play with other spectators.
"Did you know that dolphins are really smart?" Trowa said. "Someone once drew a spot on a dolphin and gave it a mirror. It looked into the mirror, then swam away trying to see that part on itself to see if the spot was really there. Then it went back to the mirror to check again."
"So they like to be pretty like Mama?" Leila asked.
Trowa grinned. "Something like that."
The only display that Leila balked at seeing was that of the large sharks; they swam overhead and on either side of the walkway. She whimpered, pulling at Trowa until he bent and picked her up, so Quatre and Trowa decided to move a little quicker past the display and let her keep her head down.
But towards the end she lifted her head despite Quatre's warning that they were still at the shark display.
"Do they eat people?" she asked softly.
"Not here. We're safe here," Quatre said. "Out in the wild though, they will if they are hungry enough."
"Oh," Leila said.
"That one," Trowa pointed. "Is the great white shark. It's the meanest one."
"How do they see with their eyes so far apart?" Leila asked.
"They use their sense of smell," Quatre explained.
"Oh!" Leila looked thoughtful. "Like Baba when he smells me to see if I need a bath!"
Quatre looked at Trowa, trying not to laugh as he wondered what Wufei and Relena would think of their daughter comparing them to sharks and dolphins.
A trip out wouldn't be complete without a visit to the gift shop and Quatre helped Leila select a dolphin book that he assured her Wufei would read to her. Trowa chose a small stuffed dolphin for Leila and she hugged it happily, moving it in her hands and making noises to mimic the dolphins at the show.
When Wufei and Relena met them for dinner, Leila launched into stories of things she had seen, how big the jellyfish and fish were, how smart the dolphins were and spewing random facts that Quatre and Trowa had told her.
"Baba, can we go again?" she begged. "I want to see the dolphins again!"
"Of course, Leila," Wufei said. "We will go again soon, okay?"
"After we read the book," Leila decided. "I want to know more before we go, okay Baba?"
"Okay," Wufei agreed, smiling softly at his daughter.
It was drizzling outside when the five had finished dinner, so Wufei and Trowa went to get their cars while Quatre, Relena and Leila waited by the sheltered entrance.
"Thank you, Trowa," Wufei said, not only for the fact that he knew his friends would not accept his money for the trip but also for the place they had chosen to take his daughter.
"You're welcome, Wufei. It was a lot of fun," Trowa answered. "Quatre had been meaning to go, too, and the only exhibit we didn't spend a long time at was the sharks place. Leila was a little nervous, but even at the end she was brave enough to look up and talk about them, even though she didn't let go of my neck."
Wufei smiled. "She's getting a little braver every day, isn't she?" he asked softly. "Soon she won't be holding our hands, hiding against us. She's growing so fast."
Trowa grinned, nudging his friends. "Don't worry, Wufei," he said with a grin. "She's not even in school yet. She'll hold your hand for many years yet." He looked up. "My car is that way," he added, gesturing forward towards the right.
"Mine is right here," Wufei said, stopping by the family car. "Thanks again."
"Anytime. See you Saturday night at Duo's and Heero's?"
"See you then."
They separated with a nod, and as Wufei got into his car, he couldn't help but smile, watching Trowa walk to his car and slip behind the wheel. He wondered what he'd done to deserve his wife and his beautiful little daughter, or any of the four brothers that were close to him in all ways but blood.
As he drove out to pick up his little family, he decided that perhaps this time, there wasn't any reason for him not to deserve what he had.
OWARI
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