#roeder

~~~

Rosanna’s first birthday was just over a month away, but this was the first time Kaz had ever had to take care of her by himself. Most of the time he and Inej had both been home, and on the occasions when business called him into the city he was sure to never be gone for very long.

Everything else they’d done, they’d done together; whether that was dinner at the Van Ecks’ or day trips to their country home. It had been a strange year--both more restful and more exhausting than any other time in Kaz’s life, but he didn’t mind. He didn’t mind that he’d told himself he’d only be stepping back from full-time involvement with the Dregs for a few months and nearly a year had gone by with meetings only twice a week. He didn’t even mind Anika and Pim loudly exclaiming “he lives!” every time they saw him, like he’d gone missing in action months ago and wasn’t just working from home across the city.

Although this time they barely greeted him at all. “Is Rosie still awake?” Pim asked, one leg still hanging over the window ledge.

Inej looked up from across the kitchen, where she was stretching with one foot propped up on the back of a chair. She nodded in Kaz’s direction, where a happy and wide-awake infant sat on his knee.

“Rosie!” he boomed. “What are you still doing up at this hour?”

She babbled her own response, which Inej interpreted. “It seems someone neglected to wake her up when her afternoon nap was over.” She gave Kaz a meaningful look. “So she might even be awake when I get home.”

Anika grinned as her feet hit the floor behind Pim. “Ah, well the punishment fits the crime on that one, Brekker. Hope you’ve got a pot of coffee on.”

“She was fast asleep,” he explained. “No one likes to be woken when they’re sleeping that soundly.”

Anika shrugged. “Just make sure to keep telling yourself that when you’re still awake at three bells.”

Roeder appeared at the window a moment later, landing on the kitchen floor easily enough for a man who got the cast off his ankle only two weeks ago. His smile widened as he saw Rosanna. “Rosie! You stayed up to see us off?”

Rosie cooed happily, waving her little hands at the spider.

“Just in time, old man,” Pim said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Kaz was just saying you could borrow his cane for the job!”

Anika scoffed. “Saints--first he can’t get his own gimmick, now he can’t even get his own cane to go with it?” She wrinkled her nose. “I thought better of you, Roeder.”

Kaz smirked. “Anika’s right,” he said. “I’ve been doing the crippled thing for years.” He lifted his cane. “How about I break both your arms instead?”

“Yeah Roed, give you something with a little original flavour!” Pim said, still laughing.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re all so funny,” Roeder grumbled. “Just as funny as you were six weeks ago. How about a joke with some original flavour?”

“It’s called a callback,” Pim said. “Yours is just a knockoff.”

Roeder frowned, face as sour as if he were sucking on a lemon. “This is why I only like Inej,” He said.

“And because she does your job for you when you get an owie,” Anika said with an exaggerated pout. “You mustn’t forget to say thank you.”

Roeder threw up his hands. “This is still my plan! Without me there would be no job!”

“Alright,” Inej interjected, pressing her lips closed to keep from smiling. “If we don’t get started on this soon there really won’t be a job. Kaz, you have the blueprint?”

He placed the tube containing the rolled-up paper on the table with a flourish. Rosie reached for it, so Kaz shifted her onto his good leg, bouncing his knee gently to keep her occupied while they went over the plan one more time.

It was a good plan; Kaz had only two suggestions to improve it, and it only took them about twenty minutes to go through the plan once more from start to finish, working out any remaining wrinkles.

For all he was mocking Roeder, even Pim was rather extraneous to the job. All the heavy lifting would really be done by Anika and Inej, and if everything went smoothly, Roeder and Pim would do little more than stand watch.

He scanned the notes once more. If he’d agreed to do the job it would probably be him and Inej running the show by themselves.

It was almost enough to make him wish he was joining them. It had been years since they’d done a job like this, just the two of them; with more money than they knew what to do with, Inej didn’t think highly of jobs that involved stealing for “no reason.”

Luckily, Roeder had found a bank with a sufficiently predatory history to satisfy Inej.

He looked down at Rosanna, who kept trying to reach the tube the blueprint had been kept in, repeating “ba, ba” to herself. Bank?

He smoothed a hand over her belly, eliciting a giggle. There will be other jobs, he thought, fighting a smile.

“Alright, that about does it, I think,” Roeder said, checking the clock on the wall. “Shall we?”

Inej reached for Rosanna, who reached back enthusiastically, settling instantly into her mother’s hold. “Goodbye meja. Don’t keep Papa up too late, okay?” She turned her cheek. “May I have a kiss?”

Rosanna obliged, leaning forward to press her lips to Inej’s cheek with a loud “mwah!”

The three Dregs practically broke out in applause, and as they all took turns saying goodbye to Rosie, with a little prompting, they each got their own slightly-damp kiss.

“She learns a new trick every time I see her!” Pim exclaimed.

“A trick?” Roeder scowled. “Ghezen, Pim, she’s not a puppy…”

Anika gave a dramatic salute, backing up toward the window. “Do svidaniya, Brekker. And don’t worry, I promise we won’t make your wife save all our asses tonight.” She winked, slipping nimbly out the window.

“We can’t guarantee that,” Pim said, following her with less than half his partner’s gracefulness. “But we’ll do our best! Night boss! Night Rosie!”

“Ba! Ba!” Rosie called.

Roeder passed Rosanna back to Inej. “It should go smoothly, I think,” he said, scratching the back of his head. He looked between the two of them. “We seemed to work out any issues.”

Inej nodded, smiling up at him. “I think so, too. It’s a good plan, Roeder.”

He grinned, flushing a little when Kaz nodded.

“It’s not half bad,” he agreed. “And if anything goes wrong, of course, just blame Pim.”

He nodded, doing his best to look serious again. “Will do. Thanks for your help, boss.” He turns to Inej, opening his mouth to say something before realising he should probably give them a minute. “Right, well, see you out there. We’ll wait for you down at the canal.”

Once they were alone, Inej passed Rosie back to him, then surprised him by taking his face in both her hands, drawing him down to kiss him soundly. Her lips moved almost hungrily against his as her tongue explored his mouth as if for the first time. Her body was as flush to his as it could get.

When she eventually pulled back Kaz felt as though he’d been burned.

He bent his head to kiss her again. He didn’t care if she was late meeting the others down by the water. That could wait. It all could wait.

They separated when Rosanna started squirming, wanting to be put down. Kaz wasn’t about to just set her on the kitchen floor, so he moved her to his other arm, trading her for his cane.

Inej watched the exchange, then looked back up at him with an expression that made him want to tell Roeder just to throw the whole thing because the Wraith was his for tonight.

“I wish you were coming,” she said, a small smile gracing her lovely face. “Next time?”

He kissed her again, quickly. “Next time,” he agreed. Next time a job like this came up Ros would probably be old enough to be left with Marya… maybe even left at the Van Ecks’. If it was a short job--overnight, like this one. “I’ll see you when you get home,” he said.

She raised an eyebrow. “Both of you should be sleeping when I get home.”

He shook his head. “I’ll wait for you.”

Without a sound, she was out the window, disappearing like a shadow in the yard.

“Mama?” Rosie cooed, reaching after her.

Kaz kissed the top of her head. “You’re stuck with me tonight, love.”

Rosie turned back to him, her tiny eyebrows drawn together. “Pa… papa?”

He grinned. It had only been a week since she’d first said it, but he knew it would never get old. “There’s my clever girl,” he said, grabbing the rolled-up blueprint off the table and tucking it under his arm. “Now, let’s go get some coffee.”

~~~

The job did go well--smooth as clockwork, Inej thought. She was home an hour early, and since she was alone she even used the front door.

It was pitch black as she crept silently up the staircase, but she wasn’t surprised to see the light coming from the end of the hall, leaking around the edges of the door to Rosie’s nursery.

She pushed the door open, slipping in without a sound. The lamp on the table by the rocking chair spilled a warm, dim light over the room, and over its two occupants.

Inej pressed a hand to her heart. A few picture books sat on the little table, and blocks, stuffed toys, and a rattle or two lay scattered all across the orange and gold rug. Amidst the chaos, in a little spot on the rug cleared of the worst of the debris, lay Kaz and Rosie. Rosie lay with her head turned to her Papa, who was half on his back, half on his side, as if he’d fallen asleep watching her. A pair of twins, they were, with their messy black hair, fair skin, and half of her heart each.

Rosie was in her pajamas, at least, though Kaz was still dressed but for his jacket and shoes, which hung over the back of the rocking chair and sat by the edge of the rug, respectively. His cane rested across the seat of the rocking chair.

Inej scooped up Rosie, who opened her dark eyes sleepily to blink up at her. She might have tried to give a little smile, but even that effort seemed too much, and she was fast asleep before Inej even had her in the crib, pulling the little blanket over her legs.

When she turned, Kaz was rolling onto his side, brushing what looked like cracker crumbs off his waistcoat.

She sat on the rug beside him, criss-crossing her legs. “How was your night?”

He blinked a few times, nearly as disoriented as his daughter. “Lovely.” A few more blinks. “We read books, we played with… with Ollie--” he reached behind his back, shifting, pulling the stuffed crow from beneath him. “Ate some animal crackers. Tried to teach her ‘Rosie,’ which didn’t go terribly well.” He grimaced, lying back down on the rug. “Drank some coffee. Not enough coffee, apparently.”

Inej hopped over him, noticing how Kaz seemed to wake a little more with her sitting atop his stomach. “How does Rosie take her coffee?”

He watched her. “One cream, and one sugar.”

She hummed. “We’ll have to do something about that. Sugar isn't good for babies.”

He shook his head, still watching her. “No, it’s not.” He lifted onto his elbows. “How was the job?”

She grinned. “Oh, it was perfect, Kaz, you would have loved it.”

He smiled back. “I’m sure I would have. Anika didn’t have trouble with the vault?”

“No, she didn’t seem to.” She shrugged delicately. "Although she wouldn’t be my first choice for a safe-cracker, if I had my pick.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

She leaned down, placing a gentle kiss on his left cheek, then his right. “No,” she said. His jaw was just the tiniest bit scratchy with stubble. “She’s very good, but only because she learned from the best, I’ll wager.”

She could hear him swallow as she kissed the left corner of his mouth, then the right. “She’s more of a budget-friendly alternative?”

Inej laughed, her hands reaching for the knot of his neck tie. “I wouldn’t say that--”

He grinned wolfishly, sitting up a little straighter. “That’s alright, I’ll say it for you.”

She rolled her eyes, but kept untying the knot, tucking his tie pin into a pocket of her quilted vest. “I’ll just say that I too prefer the original.”

He stayed still while she detached the collar of his shirt, slipping it free. “You don’t seem tired, for having just spent your night robbing a bank,” he observed.

“No,” she agreed. “I feel rather awake.” She started on the buttons of her shirt, then paused. “You see, my husband told me he’d be waiting up for me.”

Kaz’s eyes were dark. “Ah. He’s an untrustworthy sod, that husband of yours.”

“He can be,” she said, then kissed him fiercely. She pulled back a little, resting her forehead against his. “But not to me.”

Kaz sat up, and Inej lifted just slightly to keep her weight off his bad leg. He rested his hands on her waist. “Still, he’ll have to make it up to you.”