This is a little something I made for a friend of mine on here, MistyStarsmind

They drew me a cute little digital pet, and this is the gift I whipped up in return (or, the sketch at least). It's literally been so long since I've drawn Al as a demon 😬😂

1927

Fawn's POV

Al held the door open for me as we arrived at the station. I smiled at him in thanks, and stepped in. My arms were currently full, the baby I was holding being wide awake and ready to tackle the day.

She sees this building every single day almost, yet somehow still looks around like it's the first time she's ever been inside the station before.

Which Alastor thinks is absolutely hilarious. He thinks the whole concept of babies not having object permanence is utterly amusing.

Peek-a-boo is his favorite game to play with her because of this reason.

Sometimes I wonder which one of them is the child.

Anyway, Juliette has been growing like a little weed. She gets bigger every week, and I can't believe how the time has flown by.

Everyone loves her, and they were all extremely excited when after three weeks of absence I showed up with her at work.

Alastor was no longer the star of the show, it seems. Everyone fawned over her, showering our baby with attention and praise.

She ate it up. Every bit of it, she really is her daddy's daughter. All that attention was like candy to her, and it still is.

Like usual, the reporters that were already at the office greeted Al and I, and then they greeted Juliette. It's quite adorable seeing all these young men get so excited over a baby.

They'll come up to her and talk to her, some of them will hold their hand up and let her grab their finger so they can "shake her hand".

It makes me happy that she didn't seem to inherent my social anxiety. It would be a shame if she were terrified of people, but she handles being in public very well. She's all smiles when it comes to meeting new people.

I couldn't ask for a better baby, honestly. Everyone always compliments on how well behaved she is, which is something I'm rather proud of. Al and I work hard to take care of her, and we spend a lot of time teaching her manners.

Al, especially. He started teaching her manners as soon as he realized she was beginning to retain information.

She also very recently has begun to speak! It was so exciting hearing her say "mama" for the first time.

Although, her very first word was "dada" and Alastor actually cried when she said it, but you didn't hear that from me.

When the folks around the office learned about her speaking, they all started trying to get her to say different things. I caught one of the guys trying to get her to say "kaleidoscope" the other day.

The best he got from that was "kede" and, I mean...he sorta taught her a word? It was cute either way.

Mostly, she spends her days with me in Al's office. I help where I can, but Niffty has taken over most of the secretary job.

Al once again opened the door for me as we entered his office, and I breathed in before sighing contently.

He closed the door and leaned down to give me a kiss. This was then followed by a grunt of protest from the little girl in my arms, who reached out to him and whined pitifully.

Al chuckled, "you know you're getting one, too, no need to be fussy," he chided her lightly, kissing her forehead afterward.

She giggled and I lifted my hand and waved as he walked over to his desk, looking at her with a smile.

"Say bye-bye daddy!" I said to her, and she quickly lifted her tiny fist and did a cute wave.

I know he's only walking ten feet away from us, but I'm trying to teach her how to say bye bye, and I think I've almost got it.

"Bah dada!" She said, and I chuckled.

Well, that's close I guess.

He looked up after he sat down and waved back at her before gathering his papers together. I sighed and walked over to the window with her, sitting her on the sill.

I fixed the bow in her soft, feathery hair. It was getting really long, and you'd think it would be me that would enjoy dolling her up, but Al is the one who started suggesting we put things in her hair.

So, now she wears bows and headbands.

Today it was a little blue bow and she was wearing a babydoll dress in that same color to match.

We do not have a shortage of clothing for her, and probably won't for the rest of her life. Edith has about ten new outfits for her every week, so we're set in that department.

My head swiveled towards the door when Niffty popped into the room, cleaning supplies in her gloved hands.

Until she spotted us, that is, and gasped. Out of everyone, Niffty was probably the most excited about the arrival of Juliette aside from Al and I.

"Hey guys! Good morning," she greeted, setting her stuff down quickly before taking her gloves off and hurrying over to me, "how's the little princess this morning?" She asked, and I moved slightly so she could see her.

"Nini!" Julie said, reaching for Niffty who promptly scooped her up into a hug.

"My goodness you're getting so big!" Niffty said, bouncing her.

The baby giggled and I smiled at them. It's refreshing to see Niffty excited about something other than cleaning, and Juliette absolutely loves her.

Her and Thomas both.

Tom is actually the only real name that Julie can say, now. It's simple enough for her to pronounce, and she got it on her first try. Whenever she tried "Niffty" it came out as Nini, so that's what Niff goes by.

And of course, she doesn't need to know how to say Alastor or Fawn, we're mama and dada as far as she's concerned.

While Niffty was occupying Julie, I sauntered over to Al and stood behind him, leaning over the back of his chair to peek at what he was editing.

The pen in his hand tapped against the paper in a manner that told me he was thinking, and probably having trouble with what he was reading.

After quickly reading the short article he was focused on, I deducted that he's probably concerned with the flow of the story.

Pointing to the paper, I put my other hand on his shoulder and leaned forward a bit more, "second paragraph needs a better introduction, and splice the last two sentences...the period makes it choppy."

He didn't say anything, but did what I said. It looked better after that but still needed some work.

Glancing up, I checked on Niff and my baby before looking back to the paper.

I hummed and ran my fingers through the back of his hair as I thought.

"I think it needs a few more jokes...it seems a bit dry. Plus, there were two more women killed last night, so you should probably try to break up the tension."

He made a footnote of that and I kept giving little suggestions, eventually going into a zone where all I was focused on was editing the paper.

Then I jumped slightly when I felt a little tug at my skirt, followed by the familiar giggle Juliette produces when she's amused.

Looking down, I smiled at her, and she held her arms up, "mama!"

I bent down and picked her up, bumping our noses together gently, "well, hi!" I said, and then looked over to where Niffty was watching from the floor.

"We were playing, and then she noticed you weren't paying attention to her anymore and decided that was unacceptable," Niff snickered, standing up.

She went back to her cleaning supplies, reapplying her gloves and picking up the small basket, "welp, it's time for me to go scrub some stuff. I'll see y'all at break time," she said, and then she was off in a blink.

Al sighed, and leaned back in his chair before pivoting to face us better, the tired smile on his face broadening when he laid eyes on Julie.

"Look at that big smile," he chuckled, and then she began to reach for him and whine.

"Dada," she requested, and I handed her over so she wouldn't toss herself out of my arms.

He took her and she put her hands on his face, giggling and smiling as she invaded every bit of his personal space. I covered my mouth to stifle my laugh as he lowered his eyelids and just accepted that this is what's happening now.

Then the door opened again, and we both looked to see who had entered, already having a pretty good idea. It's almost time to broadcast, so there's only one person it could really be.

"Al, you ready to deliver an earth-rattling segment to all the ears of the west coast?" Thomas entered, smiling as usual.

Alastor was still being harassed by our baby, but he pretended as if nothing were even happening, "indeed, my friend," he answered and Thomas laughed at the predicament he was in.

He stood directly in front of Al's chair and bent forward slightly, gaining Julie's attention.

"Tom!" She piped up, and he chuckled, holding his finger out for her.

She took it, and he shook her hand, "hello, little one! Causing your father some grief, I see?" He asked, tilting his head with an amused smile.

I giggled, "oh, yes. She's quite needy when it comes to him, she's always gotta have daddy's attention," I commented.

Which is true, if Alastor can be holding her, she normally will ask for him. If he's busy, however, she does seem to understand even if it miffs her a little.

Top laughed and stood back up properly, folding his arms behind his back, "she's precious. Oh, and by the way you two, I have something I need to show you during break today...something I have been working on for quite some time now," he said, looking rather excited about it.

Al and I glanced at each other, and I shrugged.

"Alrighty, my friend...so, shall we go?"

At that, Tom spun on his heel and made a motion towards the door.

"Hastily!" He replied, and I took Julie from Al before we all headed towards the recording booth.

**

Julie and I sat in the booth with Al, and she was in my lap facing me while he finished up his story.

I was teaching her how to play patty cake, holding my hands up for her to touch and praising her quietly when she did it correctly.

She seemed to enjoy it, smiling as she tapped my hands with her tiny ones.

That is, until she heard Alastor's parting words, her eyes widening and her body perking up as she looked over at him.

She recognizes those words and knows it means he's about to be finished.

He signed off and stood up, straightening the papers he was using before coming over to us and helping me out of my chair.

We made sure everything was in order before heading out of the booth. The walk to the break room was filled with Alastor messing with Julie who had surprisingly stayed in my arms.

He was walking behind me, doing something that was making her giggle like crazy.

"Do I even wanna know what you're up to back there?" I asked, smirking.

He snickered, and appeared at my side.

"You'll never know," he commented slyly, striding confidently next to me.

I rolled my eyes, smiling lightly before stepping through the open door leading into the break room.

Tom and Niffty were already there, talking by the coffee maker.

When they spotted us, Niffty smiled brightly and waved us over.

"Quick! C'mere you guys, Tommy has something exciting he needs to show you guys!" She said, nearly hopping in excitement.

I lifted an eyebrow.

He's gonna show us something? That's intriguing.

"Well, later. I was going to ask you folks if you could stop by my place after work today? It's at my house, and I don't have a photograph of it," he said, but I could tell he was just as excited as Niffty.

Glancing at Al, I shrugged, "we could drop Julie off at mama's, you know she basically tries to steal her everyday anyway," I chuckled.

Mama doesn't play when it comes to personal time with her grandbaby.

Al looked thoughtful, but I knew he would say yes.

"This is true, my darling...alrighty. I don't see what the harm would be," he agreed with a shrug.

So then it was settled.

I'm not exactly sure what Tom has planned, but I just have a feeling it has to do with why he's been dipping out of work constantly for the past year and a half.

Whatever it is, I can't say I'm not excited to finally find out.