#genfic

Eddie laughed, the amusement of Buck’s scrambling winning out over his general annoyance at being in this situation at all.

“It’s for school. They have to take care of a baby doll for a week,” Eddie said, patting the baby’s back until the crying stopped.

“Man, that sucks,” Buck said, eyeing the thing. “Shouldn’t Chris be watching him then?”

“Here, hold him so I can get dressed,” Eddie said, handing the doll off to Buck. “And yeah, Chris should be watching him. But the geniuses who scheduled the assignment forgot to take into account that the PSATs were happening today. They told the kids to find other arrangements. They called it a ‘good life lesson’.”

Buck rocked back and forth while holding the baby, keeping a hand on his back. “There’s no, like, pause button?”

“No pause button on the real thing, is there?” Eddie said, bending down to tie his boots. When he was finished, he reached out and took the baby back from Buck. He shifted it around to the crook of his arm. “Can you grab the diaper bag for me?”

Eddie and Buck walked up into the loft. Hen was sitting on the couch and turned to look at Eddie.

“You too, huh?” Hen said. She had a pillow wedged under her elbow and was feeding the baby from the plastic bottle that came with it.

“Karen couldn’t take it?”

“No, she’s in meetings all day,” Hen said, checking to see if the baby was done with the bottle yet. It was not and made some fussing noises to tell her so.

“So…what’s the plan when we get a call, you two?” Chim asked, folding his arms. “Can’t have both my paramedics on babysitting duty. And no, you’re not bringing those things out into the field with you.”

“We’ll figure it out, Cap,” Eddie said confidently.

As if on cue, the tones sounded and both babies started crying.

“Diaz, you’re staying behind,” Chim called out as they all started to scatter.

Hen gave Eddie a victorious, though slightly apologetic, look before foisting the baby onto him and jogging down the stairs.

Eddie sighed, the sound of both babies crying audible over the tones.

***

The apparatus bay was empty when Maddie walked into the 118. She was off work today, Jee and Nash were with the Lees, so she was taking advantage of the child-free, work-free day to run errands at her leisure. Since she was in the area she thought she’d pop in with some lunch.

She let the plastic bag of sandwiches hang from her wrist while she started a text to Howie. If they were coming back soon she’d stick around, otherwise she’d leave his sandwich in the fridge for him.

”Oh, come on,” she heard a voice say from upstairs, followed by the sound of a baby crying.

Maddie abandoned her text message and shoved her phone into her back pocket to go see what was going on. Maybe someone had been dropped off in the baby box?

“Hey, everything okay up here?” she called out as she reached the top of the stairs. Her eyebrows shot up when she saw a baby with a blanket over it, laying on the kitchen island unattended.

“Oh my god,” she said, rushing forward.

Suddenly, Eddie’s head popped up from behind the kitchen island. “Maddie?!”

Maddie startled, then put a hand over her racing heart. “Eddie, what’s going on? Is that…?”

“It’s not real,” Eddie explained quickly, then stood upright. In addition to the baby on the counter (that, now that Maddie gave it a good look, was definitely not real), Eddie had a baby strapped to his chest. His uniform shirt was unbuttoned and he’d taken some paracord, a harness, and some carabiners to jerry-rig a baby carrier. There was also a big strip of medical tape across the baby’s head to keep it up against his bare chest.

“Oh my god,” Maddie said, laughing and shaking her head. “What on earth are you doing?”

Eddie sighed, looking incredibly frazzled and overwhelmed. “Well, the only way I could get Hermione to stop crying was to strap her to my chest. I couldn’t keep her head from flopping around so…” he gestured to the tape.

“But why is your shirt half off?”

“Babies like skin to skin, right? I thought it would help,” Eddie said, looking distressed when the baby on the counter started crying louder. “I’m trying to make Hermione a bottle and Grogu needs a diaper change.”

“Grogu?” Maddie asked incredulously, daring to approach the mayhem.

“Yeah, you know, Baby Yoda.”

Maddie actually didn’t know. At all. But she picked the baby doll up off the counter. “Grogu isn't a baby name.”

“It is according to Chris,” Eddie said, filling a plastic bottle with tap water, then he frowned. “No, that’s too hot,” he mumbled to himself

“Class project?” Maddie asked as she held the baby in one arm and started rifling through a diaper bag with her free hand.

“Yeah, Grogu is Chris’s and Hermione is Denny’s.”

“I see,” Maddie said, taking a diaper and some wipes out of the bag before setting the baby back down on the counter. She certainly wouldn’t change a real baby up there but it seemed good enough for…Grogu.

“I’m not calling him Grogu,” Maddie said, unsnapping the onesie. “What about Greg?”

Eddie looked at her like she was crazy, which was hilarious coming from a man with a fake baby strapped to his bare chest. “Who names a baby Greg?”

“At least it’s a human name,” Maddie said, taking the wet diaper off the baby doll with a grimace. “So these dolls actually pee? Please tell me they don’t poop too.”

“No poop, thank god,” Eddie said, testing the baby bottle temperature on the inside of his wrist. He looked down, seeming to realize now that he had to unstrap the baby to feed it.

“This is what my tax dollars are going toward? Fantastic,” Maddie said. She winced sympathetically as she heard the rip of the medical tape separating from Eddie’s skin. Based on the hissed curse that followed, it probably took some chest hair with it.

Maddie finished cleaning up baby Grogu and got a fresh diaper on him. “Does this one need a bottle?”

“No, that one’s good,” Eddie said, piling up rope and carabiners as he removed them, the baby crying louder and louder.

Maddie kept Grogu in the crook of her arm, then scooped up Hermione in the other before Eddie could drop her.

“Thanks,” Eddie muttered as he finished untangling himself, then buttoned up his shirt.

It took a few minutes, but soon enough Eddie was sitting on the couch, giving Hermione a bottle. She didn’t think she’d seen anyone look so awkward with a baby - including Buck the first time he held Jee.

“You know, if my high school had had these my life might have turned out differently,” he said, managing to spill half the bottle down the side of the baby’s head. “I mean, I wouldn’t trade Chris for the world but I probably would have been a little more careful, y’know?”

“Eddie, you’re…you’re missing her mouth.”

Eddie looked down and sighed. “Dammit,” he said, shoving the bottle a little more forcefully into the mouth hole. “I kinda missed this stage with Christopher. I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

“Well, getting the bottle into the baby’s mouth is a good first step,” Maddie teased gently. “You’re doing fine.”

Maddie looked down at Grogu, whose eyes were closed so he must be asleep. She had no idea how these dolls worked or why Eddie had two of them.

“Sorry, taking care of another baby is probably not how you wanted to spend your day off, huh?” Eddie said as he set the empty bottle aside.

“Probably not how you planned to spend yours either,” Maddie said. “Don’t forget to burp her.”

Eddie hoisted the baby up onto his shoulder and started patting her back. “Thanks for your help.”

“You’re welcome,” Maddie smiled.

***

Chim jogged up the stairs to the loft eagerly. Maddie had texted that she was there. Of course he was excited to see his beautiful wife, but he was also excited for the beautiful sandwich she’d brought with her.

He reached the top of the stairs and Maddie looked over from the couch and quietly shushed him.

“What’s going on?” Chim whispered as he approached.

“They’re sleeping,” Maddie said.

Chim looked and saw Maddie had a fake baby in each of her arms. On the other couch, Eddie was sprawled out, mouth hanging open, sleeping hard like he’d exhausted himself.

Also, as I added to a previous post, I planned on making a google spreadsheet. Well, I did, although I don't think the online version of excel is all that bad. Still, google is free, so here you go. :)

In both spreadsheets, the general fics are still undergoing changes, I am currently in the process of sorting all of them. Please still check them out, there are some really good ones in there.

Also, as I am still going through all of my bookmarked fic recs from other people as well as my own favorited fics, keep in mind this list is not the final product I am still updating it constantly, at least for the time being.

If you have any issues, let me know by either commenting on the google sheet or sending me a message on here. I hope you all enjoy all these fics.

PS. Lately I've been getting into NCIS again so I've been working on a spreadsheet for that fandom, I've got quite a bit of that finished already so be looking for that maybe some time soon.

The tropical sun was bright above the Pacific island owned by the Kaiba brothers. They were well into the first afternoon of their two-day vacation when the group decided they’d had enough swimming and card games for now, and it was time to look for a different kind of fun. When Mokuba informed them that there was a beach volleyball court just a little further up the shore, the choice was obvious.

“I’ll pass,” Kaiba dismissed the idea immediately. He had just settled back onto his sun lounger under the shade of a parasol and was about to reach for his laptop to finally get some work done.

“Come on, Nii-sama!” Mokuba begged. Right beside him, Nyra, Kaiba’s white dragon in human form, had her pleading, icy blue eyes fixed on him, while Yugi, Anzu, and Bakura lined up behind them.

Jounouchi remained in the background, tossing the ball from one hand to the other.

“Y’all just wastin’ time on beggin’ Moneybags if he ain’t wanna play. Besides, it’s better for everybody if he don’t kill the vibe on the court,” he said, but his expression betrayed just how much he wanted to face Kaiba in a volleyball match.

“How about we do three-on-four rotating teams?” Marik suggested as he returned, sipping on a Sex on the Beach and handing another glass to Bakura.

"Well, if we really can't convince Kaiba-kun..." Yugi turned back to his friends with disappointment. The others hummed and nodded in agreement. Nyra, however, kept her eyes on her rider, tucking a saltwater-dampened strand of wavy hair behind her ear.

At that moment, the ball popped out of Jounouchi's hand, and his attempt to catch it only made things worse: he accidentally smacked it, sending it even further away. The volleyball drew a graceful arc in the air, before landing on the top of Seto Kaiba’s head, then rolling across the laptop in his lap and down into the sand.

Most of the crew instinctively looked away, not wanting to see what was about to come. Anzu covered her mouth with her hand.

But much to everyone’s surprise, Kaiba didn’t yell, nor did he leap to his feet to lecture Jounouchi, who stared at him in shock with the faintest trace of guilt in his eyes. Instead, the CEO slowly closed his laptop, set it aside, then stood up with measured movements. He exhaled sharply, the sound loud in the tense silence.

“Should I take that as a challenge, Amateur?” he asked, his voice dangerously calm as his piercing gaze locked on the blond.

Jounouchi blinked in surprise, but a sly grin quickly spread across his face.

“Y-yeah, of course! In case you didn't know, I hit you on purpose, Kaiba! I knew you’d take the bait.”

The brunet chuckled softly with eyes closed, before bending down to pick up the ball.

“As clumsy as you are, I highly doubt that. But you know what? For your sake, Jounouchi, I’ll join in for a round, so I can prove that no matter the game or sport, I’m still leagues above you.”

“Do you mean…?” Yugi’s eyes lit up, while Mokuba and Nyra gave a high-five.

“Exactly.” Kaiba’s eyes burned with the same obsessive fire that they did every time he faced a worthy opponent in a duel. Only this time, it wasn’t about quick thinking, choosing the best strategy or having luck. Now they were going to play volleyball. 

 Without breaking eye contact with the blond, he issued his orders:

“Yugi, take the Amateur and two others; Mokuba, Nyra, and one more, you’re with me. Jounouchi begged for this, and now he’ll get it: I’ll crush him into the sand, once and for all!”

Soon, the teams took their places on the court: Yugi, Jounouchi, Anzu, and Bakura lined up against Kaiba, Mokuba, Nyra, and Marik.

“Is it really okay if I’m playing against you, Marik-kun?” the white-haired boy asked a little sadly, glancing at his boyfriend standing on the other side of the net, clearly eager to start the match at any moment.

“It’s just a game, Ryou,” the Egyptian waved it off, then did a few shoulder circles as a warmup. “But don't worry, I'll make it up to you after we beat you!” he winked at him.

“You wish!” Anzu shot back. “In case you didn't know, I'm pretty good at any sport.”

“You are a good dancer, I’ll give you that. But you’re no match for Nii-sama when it comes to volleyball!” Mokuba called over, his smug tone eerily similar to his brother’s.

“Not like he's got a choice. He gotta show off his talent, since he’s at a serious disadvantage with two midgets on his team. Especially with her.” Jounouchi jabbed a finger at Nyra, who pouted in response.

“We’ll see about that! Besides, you’ve got a midget in your team too!”

“Hey…!” Yugi began to protest, but Kaiba cut him off.

“Are you going to serve today, or what?” he asked dryly, rolling up the sleeves of his unbuttoned shirt.

With that, the first set began. Anzu delivered a flawless serve, the ball aimed to land right in the gap between the four opponents, had the CEO not jumped two steps forwards to return it. Yugi managed to save it from hitting the ground, though the ball lost momentum halfway, leaving it to Jounouchi to pass it back instead.

It should have been Nyra’s turn to return it next, but when Marik noticed the girl was nowhere near the ball, he acted quickly and helped her out. Bakura passed the ball back with some difficulty, and it successfully landed in the sand barely half a meter from Mokuba's feet.

“One point here!” Jounouchi whooped.

“Sorry, Nii-sama!” Mokuba turned back, but his brother only let out a low, displeased growl. It was obvious to the entire gang that if anyone else had made a similar mistake, they would’ve already gotten an earful.

Anzu served again. This time, Nyra was the first to reach the ball on the other side, and with Mokuba and Marik’s help, they sent it back over. Jounouchi received it with ease, but Kaiba slammed it down hard with a powerful jump, and the ball crashed into the sand right between Yugi and Bakura. He then claimed the right to serve with a smug, triumphant grin. 

The back-and-forth went on for quite some time, during which it became clear that Seto Kaiba wasn't just talking big, he actually had some talent for the game. Perhaps less surprising was that Yugi Mutou proved to be a real threat to him only in Duel Monsters: this time, Jounouchi, or even the perpetual cheerleader, Anzu, presented a much greater challenge for him. Kaiba wasn't exactly happy that it was the Amateur whose moves he had to watch out for the most, yet it didn’t hold him back from spreading his sarcastic remarks. 

“Well, well, I'm impressed! Looks like there is something you're not completely hopeless at,” he scoffed.

"I'd hold my tongue if I were you, Kaiba," Jounouchi snarled. “In case you didn’t notice, we're just one point away from victory."

By the end of the first set, Mokuba finally started to get into it, and among the pair of Marik and Bakura, clearly the Egyptian was the more skilled one. Even so, the white-haired boy kept trying, occasionally scoring points, other times the ball ended up caught in the net.

The clumsiest by far, however, was undoubtedly Nyra, but no one, not even Kaiba held it against her. Except for Anzu, everyone present had already seen the dragon in her true form, and not for a moment did they question that her talent lay elsewhere, not in ball games. Which is why, whenever the volleyball came her way, she either let it land in the sand, screamed, or lunged in a desperate attempt to send it over to the opponent’s side, usually ending in an awkward fall.

The first set was ultimately won by Yugi’s team, while Kaiba’s took the second. Everything came down to the third, which had been intense from the very beginning.

At one point, when Yugi’s team was in the lead, the spiky-haired boy and Anzu — both in the front row — jumped for the ball at the same time: the result was a huge collision, and the ball landed on the ground behind them. Anzu tried to get up, rubbing her achy head, but the weight pressing down on her kept her pinned.

“Yugi…”

When she looked up, she was surprised and increasingly flustered to find Yugi sprawled across her, his bare torso pressing against her tummy. Everyone around them laughed, while her friend sprang to his feet as quickly as he could, his tomato-red face likely visible even from the neighboring island. Nevertheless, to satisfy the already impatient Mokuba, he helped Anzu to her feet and tossed the ball to the boy so he could finally serve.

Bakura passed, Marik returned it, and Jounouchi’s well-aimed shot was barely blocked by Kaiba. Neither team could be certain of victory.

But somehow, Yugi’s side pulled ahead again, and much to the CEO’s dread — who just couldn’t allow Yugi and the Amateur to beat him — the ball soared straight towards Nyra.

He watched with bated breath as his dragon prepared herself to receive it, her hands positioned correctly for once. Regardless, he was ready to jump in at any moment to intervene, even considering pushing her aside if he must. But there was no need for that: Nyra managed to send the ball cleanly over the net, and Bakura failed to catch it.

The dragon girl was so proud of having scored a point that she hardly cared that she staggered from the force of the hit, then promptly tripped over her own feet. Just as she braced for a hard landing on her bum, two strong arms reached under her shoulders, and her back collided with a firm chest. A shiver ran down Nyra’s spine. She didn’t even need to turn around to know who her savior was.

“Clumsy little dragon,” her rider murmured into her ear. Nyra spun around and, without a word, stood on her tiptoes, clutching at his shoulders as she planted a grateful kiss on his cheek.

“Kaiba-kun, did you just…?” Yugi exclaimed in shock, astonished to witness his old rival react just as awkwardly to Nyra’s closeness as he had to Anzu's. Marik laughed heartily at both of them before waving his arm.

“Hey, pass the ball already! Let me serve the winning shot!”