Babysitting
Rating: AP
Category: Fluff
Summary: Rick and Lisa babysit Dana Sterling. This takes place a few months after the end of The Macross Saga.
This is so cheesy and sappy and stupid I'm quite humiliated about the whole thing, but, well, here it is. This is just a brief little scene that I wanted to put
down on paper, nothing more. Read at your own risk of cuteness shock.
"What the...?" Rick surveyed Lisa's living room in disbelief.
He'd thought he'd surprise her by showing up unannounced,
letting himself in with his key, and then...well, he was hoping she'd
express her delight at seeing him in a very specific way. He
was completely unprepared for the sight that greeted him instead:
toys all over the floor, a plate of half-eaten cookies on the coffee
table, and a slowly spreading puddle of milk on the carpet. "Uh,
Lisa? Are you here?"
"Rick?" Lisa appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, looking a
wreck. Her hair was in every direction, there was a mysterious
dark stain on her shirt, and she looked more exhausted than
she used to after battles with the Zentraedi. "What are you doing
here?" she asked abruptly.
"Nice to see you too," he retorted. "Sue me for wanting to
surprise you." He held out the small bouquet of flowers he'd
picked up on his way over.
Her face softened. "Oh, they're beautiful. I --" She turned her
head back toward the kitchen. "No, sweetie, that's not food,
put it down, okay? Thank you. Good girl." Looking back at
Rick, she smiled weakly. "You caught me at a bad time. I'm
baby-sitting."
A look of horror spread over his face. "You don't mean..."
She nodded. "I'm afraid so. Dana."
His shoulders slumped and he walked over to where she
stood, handed her the flowers, kissed her perfunctorily, then
looked past her shoulder into the kitchen. And groaned.
"Oh, Lord."
Dana Sterling, a huge smile on her cherubic face, sat on
top of a thick technical manual that Lisa had apparently
decided to use as a makeshift booster seat. The daughter
of two of the greatest flying aces who'd ever lived was at
the moment enthusiastically shoveling up spoonfuls of
creamed peas and dropping them on the floor.
Lisa raced over to her. "Dana, honey, please don't do
that." She took the spoon away from the toddler and
attempted to actually get some peas into Dana's mouth
instead of on the floor. "Come on, it's good food, you'll
love it, I promise...Rick, would you mind cleaning that up
for me?"
"I'd like nothing better," he grumbled. He set the flowers
down on the counter top and grabbed a sponge, then set to
cleaning up the goopy green puddle on the floor next to
Dana's chair. "How the hell did you get roped into this?"
he asked.
"Please don't curse in front of her, she's bad enough as
it is." Lisa offered Dana another spoonful of vegetables,
and Dana scrunched up her face. "Max was just complaining
to me how he and Miriya never have any time alone any more,
and how they're always so tired, and never get to go out, and...
well, he got me feeling so sorry for him that I offered to watch
her, just for tonight."
"Sucker." He finished his clean-up job and went about finding
a vase for the flowers. "So when's her bedtime?"
Lisa glanced at her watch. "Not for another hour or so."
"Wonderful."
"Oh come on, Rick, she's not that bad. Are you,
sweetie?"
"Papa says I'm a good girl!" Dana said brightly.
"Papa's blinded by love," Rick muttered.
"Rick," Lisa said warningly.
He knew that particular tone of voice only too well. He
shut up. Instead he occupied himself with opening her
refrigerator and rooting around inside for something edible.
He'd grabbed a bite at the commissary earlier, but the food
there was hardly satisfying. "Got any leftovers?"
Silence.
"Lisa?" Uh oh. "Uh, honey?" He peered over his shoulder
to find her staring at him with fire in her eyes. Oops.
"I think you have me confused with a Shop-n-Save," she
said, her voice dripping ice.
He smiled sheepishly, hoping he looked charming and not
just insincere. "Sorry."
"I'll bet." Pause. "There's some pasta in that green bowl."
"Have I told you lately that I love you?" he said, smiling for real
this time.
"Not enough," she retorted.
Hmm. Make a mental note of that one, Hunter, he told himself.
He found the pasta and cradled it lovingly while he procured a
fork, then sat down at the table opposite Lisa and Dana and
munched happily.
Lisa wasn't having much more luck trying to get Dana to eat.
Each time she got some of the green goop into Dana's mouth,
the kid spit it back out. "Why don't you just give up," he
suggested helpfully.
"I have half a mind to, believe me," she said. She tried a few
more spoonfuls, then sighed. "Okay, you win, Dana. But
don't come crying to me later when you're hungry, got it?"
Rick smothered a laugh at the idea of Lisa trying to bargain with
a one year-old. He tried for a moment to picture her with
her own child, but then it occurred to him that such a child would
quite possibly be his as well, and the image terrified him so
much that he quickly pushed it out of his mind. "So now what?"
"So now we let her play and hope that she doesn't destroy my
home any more than she already has," Lisa said wearily. She
put the little girl down on the floor. "Why don't you go play
with your toys, sweetie?"
"Don't wanna," Dana said, crossing her arms across her chest.
She looked frighteningly like her mother when she did it.
"Why not?" Lisa asked with an admirable measure of
patience. Rick suspected working with the Bridge Bunnies
had given her the tolerance of a saint. He grudgingly added
to himself that his antics had probably built up a certain
tolerance to childish behavior as well. He squirmed at
the thought.
Dana looked up at Rick. "Want piggyback," she said,
eyeing him demandingly.
Lisa let out a short laugh as Rick gasped in protest.
"Well, Rick?"
"Hey, look, I've had a long day, and..." He trailed off,
looked at the little girl, then at Lisa. How could he
possibly face that united front? "Okay, okay," he said,
resigned to the inevitable. He crouched down and helped
little Dana clamber up onto his back, then took off through
the house as Dana whooped excited war cries.

When Dana had finally been put to bed, Lisa joined Rick
on the couch with a tired sigh. "Well, I'd much rather go
up against Dolza than ever babysit that little girl again."
Rick smiled affectionately at her and pulled her close. "You're
not fooling me, Lisa. You loved it, you really did."
A faint blush tinged the bridge of her nose and she looked
away from him. "I suppose I did kind of enjoy myself, at
that. I'm not saying I want one of my own any time soon,
but..."
"But..." he echoed. She looked back up at him
hesitantly. "I guess, uh, that is kind of something we
should talk about, huh?"
"Oh Rick, not now," she said soothingly. "We're both too
busy to even think about anything like children at this point
in our lives. The mission --"
The mission was her baby. He thought it, but wisely didn't
voice the observation. "I know, I know, but it's something that
could, maybe, someday, come up in the future, isn't it? I mean,
if we're not on the same page about it, then..." He trailed off,
not wanting to complete the sentence.
"Well then." She looked him straight in the eyes, and he could
see the officer in her coming to the fore. "Do you want kids,
Hunter? Someday? Yes or no?"
"I --" He hesitated, wanting to give the right answer. "Yes.
Someday."
She smiled one of those slow smiles that drove him absolutely
crazy. "Good. Now shut up and kiss me, Captain."
He'd wanted to do nothing more since he walked in the door
that evening. He covered her mouth with his and wrapped
his hands in her long brown hair. He felt her hands steal to
his waist and rest on the waistband of his jeans, a promise of
things to come. As the kiss intensified he leaned her down on
the couch so that she was beneath him, her body straining
against his, her breathing quickening. He began to nuzzle her
neck, taking her earlobe into his mouth and sucking gently as
one hand moved to the buttons on her blouse.
"Rick."
"Mmm." He nipped at her neck, breathing in the scent
of her perfume --
"Rick, stop."
"Huh?" He raised his head and looked down at her. Lisa
jerked her chin toward the other end of the room. He followed
her gaze.
Dana stood there, her eyes wide. "Play game?" she asked.
Rick groaned deep in his throat and moved to go get her,
when he realized that if he were to stand up little Dana
would suddenly have a lot of questions about his pants.
"Um, Lisa..."
"I'll take care of it," she said, reading his mind and pushing
at him. He rolled off of her onto the floor, which sent the
baby into a gale of giggles. "Okay, Warrior Princess,
playtime is over," Lisa said firmly. She scooped Dana into
her arms and carried her back to the bedroom.
Rick just lay there, his face in the carpet, and wondered when
the hell Max and Miriya were going to get home.

End.