#captain-narraboth

A soft coo from the crib, like a reply, makes him laugh; James raises the camera back for another shot, and then one more. Kara is fighting a smile of her own, a warm fondness spreading through her chest at the sight.

She burrows her cheek against her pillow again, still tired, but happy; she loves the mornings like these, when the sun has just risen, soft light painting a quiet morning. There’s no pressing need to leave anywhere, or any particular task to be done—she gets to fall in love with life all over again.

A more impatient sound makes James finally set the camera aside, and he picks Marcus up out of the crib with a mock-exasperated whisper: “Don’t tell me you’re hungry again. I just fed you.”

Marcus rests his head onto James’s shoulder without another sound, as if he just wants to be held, and Kara watches as James melts; he cradles Marcus’s head to his chest, swaying just the slightest as if trying to rock him back to sleep.

It’s then that he catches Kara watching, and he gives her a sheepish smile. “Hey,” he says. “Did we wake you?”

“Just a little,” Kara yawns. “I heard you taking pictures.”

“He’s photogenic! Just look at this face,” James says, turning just in time for Kara to catch Marcus’s eyes fluttering shut.

Kara can’t help but giggle. “You already have so many pictures,” she reminds him, but it’s said so fondly all James does is shrug, not the slightest bit apologetic.

“And he looks cute in every single one,” he says. “Can you blame me?”

She can’t, of course; Kara, too, is unable to stop herself from marveling about Marcus any chance she can. He’s just so beautiful, every inch of him, long eyelashes and soft skin and the brightest brown eyes she’s ever seen.

And his smile—it’s every inch James’s.

“You need to let him sleep,” Kara says instead, “and get some sleep, too. How long have you been up?”

“You needed some sleep more than I did,” James tells her gently, and sets Marcus down on the bed, right by Kara.

Kara gives Marcus’s curled first a loving squeeze, watching as he briefly opens his eyes at the unexpected shift and just as easily drifts back to sleep. “Come back to bed with us,” she suggests, turning back to steal a glance in James’s direction.

“In a minute,” James promises, bending over to give Kara’s temple a kiss. It’s so ticklish it makes her smile, and he brushes the pad of his thumb over the corner of her smile before he pulls away.

Kara lets her own eyes close, resting her forehead against Marcus’s with a soft sigh. Faintly, she hears the click of the camera, again, and James doesn’t relent until he’s taken so many pictures even he will regret it later.

“James,” Kara tries to sleepily protest, “we don’t need any more pictures…”

The we need you is implied, and James gives in, setting the camera aside in favor of getting back in bed. Another kiss is pressed to Kara’s head, and then to Marcus’s, and James says, just before Kara fully goes back to sleep: “I think that was the best set yet.”