"You're pretty good with babies, Redfield.", an amused laugh escaped you as you watched Chris hold the screaming girl and get her to close her eyes and sleep within seconds.

He was one huge mountain of muscles and flesh, looked like he could rip a zombie apart with his bare hands and yet he acted as if this baby was a treasure made of glass.

As his fingers stroked through the short black hair of Rose, he looked a bit too soft.

Fragile even.

There was this hint of tiredness on his face, the years had marked him, but right at that moment he seemed to be at ease.

You had never seen him like this before. How strange, you did like seeing him like this.

With an unreadable expression on his face, he raised his head. A hint if grey shimmered in his hair and beard, making clear how old he actually was even though he did not seem nor act like it.

Maybe it was the dim light illuminating the van or the fact that everything was moving around, but you thought you could see a glimmer of pride in his eyes.

"You think?", he sounded like he wanted to giggle.

You nodded and caressed Rose's cheek with the tip of your finger.

"Cute little thing. Almost makes me forget she's more dangerous than a nuclear bomb."

"Do you want to hold her?"

He held the sleeping bundle out to you as if asking if you wanted to hold his very own child.

A slip second after the words left his mouth he cursed himself.

Shit, why did he sound so hopeful?

This wasn't his baby, it was Ethan's daughter. He wasn't supposed to be so excited about your comment that he was good with babies nor that you didn't take advantage of his moment of weakness.

And yet he was relieved that you didn't mock him. He even felt a bit ashamed that the comfort you made him feel put him at ease.

God, he really would have been a good father, you thought, smirking a bit.

The way he looked at the child and was excited about the little life was already criminally cute. You would have trusted this man with your own flesh and blood, if you had had one.

What would it have been like to have a family with him?

You blushed at the thought.

This was ridiculous.

You were not supposed to think this way.

The two of you had a bit of history but neither had ever considered dating the other. It had been a relationship that purely served the desire of the flesh. And to fight insanity and loneliness sometimes.

He would have never wanted you. His reactions towards your humour and behaviour were enough to be sure about that.

"Uh...", you smirked sheepishly. "I'm not sure. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. She's not mine, I don't want to-!"

"Take her.", the way he said it sounded demanding, like he really wanted to see what you looked like with a child in your arms. "Please."

Secretly, he had asked himself that question many times.

If anyone on the team had been good for kids, it was you. Even then he had seen how gentle you could be and if he was fully honest he could not be satisfied with the knowledge that you would never raise a good person to enrich this world. It seemed like a waste to him.

Hesitantly you stretched out your arms and he put the girl in them so that her head was supported and your hand was under her back.

She grumbled briefly, a small sound left her tiny lips, then she slept peacefully.

"God.", you breathed, afraid she might wake up and scream.

"Cute, isn't it?", Chris moved closer, his hand slipping behind your back and wrapping around your waist.

As the warmth of his breath brushed against the tender skin of your cheek, you shivered. His head tilted slightly to the side and his forehead pressed against your hair. His body felt as hard as a rock but at the same time it gave off a strange security.

"She's adorable.", you laughed silently.

"She looks just like her mom."

"Aren't kids supposed to look like their parents?"

He laughed softly. The sound made his muscular chest tremble. How buffed he had become.

"True. But she looks like Mia only. Ethan might as well could have not taken part in her making."

It felt so strange to hear him say this without the slightest hint of humour in his voice.

He didn't know why, but somehow this moment made him feel lighter. He enjoyed this company. Maybe a bit too much. His head turned and he dared to place his lips at the side of your head, without pressing a kiss onto that (H/C) hair of yours.

It still felt like he wanted to show a bit of affection, but you refused to believe he was trying to get closer.

At that moment you felt an inhuman longing.

Why did you feel this way?

All these years you had never missed anything, you had been satisfied with the life as it was. But just in this one second it felt like there was something you wanted but couldn't have. Something so far out of reach.

"Chris.", his name tasted strange on your tongue, sweet and yet bitter.

His eyes widened in surprise as he lifted his head and looked directly at you. His lips moved but he was unable to form words. You had rarely called him by his first name.

Mostly it had been in dark moments in which he had almost lost himself. Hearing it now, in a moment of weakness, with this weird undertone of nostalgia almost made him snap.

Your eyelids flickered as the sensation of heat spread on your face. You were not sure but thought he was leaning forward, his lips only a few inches away from yours.

His eyelids were lowered, he was breathing heavily.

"Captain!", a loud scream suddenly ripped the silence apart, making you both jump in surprise. "She's attacking!"