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Daniel Witwicky had finally been released from First Aid's constant care exactly a month before what should have been his due date, now weighing a hearty six pounds thirteen ounces and nine inches longer than when he had made his dramatic and outrageously early appearance at 21 weeks. (Spike and Carly had both seen enough over the years not to argue when Blades had landed at Sherman County General in place of the EMS helicopter that was to have transported the barely living newborn to OSHU's NICU in Portland). Hoist and Ratchet had assisted in the monitoring, of course, but both were the first to admit that when it came to having the coding and skills for biological maintenance, First Aid was the "go to" mech.
If technology outside of the United Nations-Autobot treaty had been used on (and in) the Witwicky baby to allow for his survival and development, no one was saying a word. The only mech who would have protested had taken one look at the 10 inch infant floating in the womb-like incubator (designed and built as a backup as soon as the conception had been detected), twitched his sensor panels several times, then had commended First Aid for his work and asked if there were any supply requisitions he should move to the top of the queue.
With Daniel now healthy and developing normally, attention had returned to other matters, namely the completion of Autobot City as a foundation for Metroplex to subsume. But First Aid had been keeping several sensors on the human family in addition to the regular checkups. After Spike had been called back to DC for several weeks, the medic had spoken with Recline, asking him to pay Carly and baby Daniel a visit.
To say that Recline's smile and field had lit up all of Medical would not be an exaggeration.
"I've never had the opportunity to recharge humans before," Recline said when he finally loosened his embrace of the medic a tiny bit. "Anything I should know?"
"You've got the files to keep them safe. Fairly firm surface for Danny, by human measures, though you'll be monitoring his breathing, so I have no concerns about SIDS. Other than that, just follow your spark, Recline. It hasn't steered you wrong," First Aid nuzzled the taller mech's chest.
"So when do I get you for an offshift?" Recline asked, not ready to let go and lose the medic's shape along his torso quite yet. His field washed through the comforting, familiar one of his friend, automatically smoothing out the frazzled edges.
"I recharge pretty well with my brothers," First Aid said wistfully, squeezing him a bit tighter in gratitude for the offer. "I don't want to take up time when others might need you."
"Who says I want you to recharge?" Recline gave the medic and extra firm squeeze.
First Aid laughed brightly. "You can't tell me it wouldn't end that way, snugglesnakes," he teased, deliberately using the nickname Spike had given Recline shortly after seeing his charging cables for the first time.
"Well, yes, and your point is?" Recline asked with mock indignation. "If your brothers can't go an offcycle without you, then I can recharge the whole lot of you. I may not have enough surface area for a whole gestalt, but I certainly have enough cables and ports. And I promise we'd have loads of fun at the slumber party before I call lights out."
"You are incorrigible," First Aid scolded, retracting his mask and stretching upward to give the berthformer a coveted kiss (mechs on the Ark swore by their power). "And, my brothers are very much in favor of that idea, by the way, the next time you can fit us into your schedule. But an offcycle alone with you would be really nice, too, Recline."
"I'll get the rest of them out cold and keep you awake a little longer," Recline stage whispered.
"Like your protocols would even let you keep an overworked medic online," First Aid said, reluctantly breaking the embrace, but not before letting his hands linger on the berthformer's backstruts and aft. Recline was built to be pleasant to touch and encouraged as much touching as possible.
"Hmm, I bet I could convince my protocols that there are some things that would make you recharge extra well," Recline surged his fields in just the right way to illustrate.
First Aid gave a little squeak, and then took a step away, his mask snapping back into place. "Okay, you have to go now, before I do something I'm not supposed to on duty," First Aid scolded, his hands sternly on his hips in contradiction of the smile that somehow showed even through his visor and mask. "Go give Carly a good night's sleep. Primus knows she needs it."
Recline gave the junior medic a saucy salute, then headed out the door. Flirting with his friend (and scoring an appointment with the whole gestalt) had done just what he'd needed it to in terms of steadying his own field. He had to admit, he was more nervous and excited than normal at the prospect of new patients. He'd spent time with biologicals on one of his expeditions with Sparkwire, but he'd never had a chance to actually perform his function with one, much less a mother and infant. Organic lifeforms' fields were different. Far more simple in some ways, and yet intricate in others. He couldn't wait to engage in the complex dance of spark manipulations that would have his fields harmonizing with theirs, to know for himself the similarities and differences, and weave his peace into their patterns.
When he reached the modified storage room that served as the Witwicky's apartment, he signaled politely, his audials detecting the shrill cries of the infant within. Daniel was, apparently, what the humans termed as a 'colicky child', something that was completely normal, according to First Aid, but which could cause significant distress for the caretakers. "Just a moment," Carly's exhausted voice came through the intercom. He could hear her trying to settle little Danny inside, which only seemed to upset him further.
"You might have to come back later," the frazzled mother said through the intercom again a moment later. "I... this just isn't a good time."
"Carly, it's Recline. It doesn't have to be a good time. I'm here to help. Will you let me?" Recline asked gently.
"Recline oh... Aid did say you might stop by. I'm... I just..." the door slid open. While Recline didn't possess the coding to have an appreciation for human physical attractiveness, even he could tell that Carly was not her normal lovely self. The skin beneath her eyes was darker, the normally smooth waves of her blonde hair were sticking out in every direction, and stress pheromones radiated off of her as surely as the raggedness of her bioenergetic fields. She held Daniel awkwardly in her arms as he screamed and screamed.
"He just never stops," Carly admitted over the high-pitched shrieks, a wane smile on her face and tears in her eyes. "And I know Aid said I should try to sleep when he does, but when does he sleep? His naps are forty minutes long, at most, and I have three articles due and have to use that time, or I'll never get tenure. I've already risked that with the extra long maternity leave. When Spike's here, I can at least get a break."
"And how about nighttime? Are you two getting any sleep then?" Recline asked, kneeling to be closer to her level. His field was already extending to include the two bioenergetic ones before him. He wanted to reach out and hold them both close, but wasn't certain how Carly would feel about that yet. The infants's cries subtly changed frequency as the berthformer focused first on smoothing and harmonizing the energies around the tiny, fiery being, finding the right resonance. He knew Carly would find it easier to relax once the crying had stopped. Her genetically coded instincts demanded that she do something to soothe him, and with a colicky child, that was near impossible.
"It's awful, Recline," she admitted, "To think I once privately scoffed at parents who complained so much. I'm used to staying up late grading and preparing lectures, how much harder could it be, right? But getting an hour or two of sleep here and there, in between hours of screaming that won't stop? The only time he isn't crying is when he's asleep or nursing, but if I over do the nursing, he gets an upset tummy and it's even worse." Recline could sense the shaking of her exhausted hands as surely as he heard the tremble in her voice. In the literature he had read, he knew colicky babies had a far greater risk of accidental or even deliberate injury from their caregivers as the stress built from having to care for an inconsolable child day after day.
"May I please hold him, Carly?" Recline asked softly.
"I guess," Carly replied, looking desperate to hand him off. Recline cupped his hand and Carly put the shrieking baby in it. The metalogel automatically adjusted to Danny's tiny shape, cradling him as he carefully brought his hand to spark level where his field could have the greatest impact. The crying stopped immediately, the baby's eyes wide as if he suddenly had something to notice aside from his distress. Recline began humming and crooning the way he would to an especially distraught mech, and the baby's movements stilled further. He extended a soft frond from one of his uncharged cables, no thicker than Carly's own index finger, and tiny hands immediately grasped on, followed by the infant's mouth.
"I don't know whether to love you or hate your right now," Carly admitted, giving a slightly hysterical laugh. "Do you know how many times I've tried to get him to take a pacifier? And he doesn't stop crying for anyone, except First Aid. Not me, not Spike, not any of the mechs who've tried."
"I have some theories about that," Recline admitted. "Danny got a lot of First Aid's field for the fifteen weeks he was in the incubation chamber. Especially when Aid hooked it up to his own systems to monitor during his offcycles. I'm using First Aid's resonance frequency right now."
Carly was silent for a moment. "It probably shouldn't surprise me that Spike and I would have a baby who imprinted on a giant robot from outer space," she said softly, shaking her head. "I can't ask First Aid to do any more than he's done, and with Ratchet already at Autobot City..."
"I can help, Carly," Recline said gently. "And I may even be able to help some of the others learn how to adjust their fields the right way. You don't have to do this alone."
Tears began pouring down Carly's face, "I'm a horrible mom, Recline. I should be able to handle this! You all have far more important things to do than help with a baby."
Recline reached out his free hand and, and when Carly didn't flinch or protest, gently cupped her back. "You are not a horrible mom, Carly. You just have an unusually fussy baby who was impacted by the method of his final trimester of development. And as to the rest, you and Spike are Autobots, right? We take care of one another."
Apparently it was just the wrong thing to say, or just the right, because Carly had collapsed into the hand behind her back and was sobbing.
It had taken some convincing. Carly had been tempted to use the time Danny was asleep to catch up on her work, but Recline had convinced the exhausted mother to come with him and get some much needed rest (the apartment, sadly, was not large enough for him to transform into berthmode). He didn't feel at all guilty for the minor deception involved in the excuse that he wanted her with him the first time he watched Daniel, just to make sure "he was doing everything right," -- not if it got her some uninterrupted rest. He'd waited outside the door, continuing to croon and hum at the sleeping infant while she'd gotten "dressed and presentable" for the walk to the room that served as both his office and quarters, not bothering trying to convince her that no one would even notice the messy hair and bathrobe. It would make her feel more comfortable with him, anyhow, and that was the point.
He had surprised her by having chamomile tea available in his office. Heating water was simple for a mech who could so easily manipulate various types of wave frequencies, and he had stocked herbs and a couple mugs early on when he realized that there was a potential for biological patients. The fact was, he was downright giddy about having an opportunity to finally put those supplies to use.
Sadly, he did not have a comfortable chair for her, so he did something even better and transformed, shifting Danny without waking him to an oval shaped cradled area above his spark on the charging platform. He then molded another spot next to it that was just right for Carly to curl up in with her tea, forming a thin envelope of his mesh-covered metalogel on the softest, plushest setting that she could snuggle in as a blanket. It had been easy enough to mold a set of stairs into his berthmode, but she had hesitated before climbing up.
"You know, I've ridden with enough of you guys that this shouldn't be weird, but it is a little strange, Recline," she admitted, taking a sip of her tea at the bottom of the stairs, a hand reaching out to trace one of the ornate glyphs the decorated his base.
"Not for me," Recline said cheerfully, snuggling Daniel a little more when he stirred (at exactly the forty minute mark, he noted). The baby shifted right back into deeper sleep. "But this is what I do."
"It's just so strange to think that on Cybertron even the furniture is alive," she said thoughtfully.
"Well, most furnishings aren't sparked. My frame class is very specialized. Our code lineage goes back to a specific type of medics. Emergency responders transformed into ambulances, maintenance mechs had the ability to tow, and my kind were the medical berths, though we were far more rare, even then, and tended to focus on field balancing and alignment, as well as the relationship between frame, processors, and spark." Given human sensibilities, Recline opted not to mention that pleasureberths that were also part of his frame class's heritage. He didn't think she would need that type of treatment to fall asleep, anyhow. Maybe once she knew him better.
"Like a holistic doc," Carly exclaimed as she climbed up to the charging platform and saw the area he had molded for her to use. "Oh wow, that looks... really nice, Recline."
Recline thrummed with pleasure at the compliment as she carefully made her way across his charging platform to the nest-like area next to Daniel's smaller oval, right over his spark. "I'll change the configuration of it when you are ready to lay down, Carly," he said. "Be sure to tell me if there is anything that doesn't feel right."
"Don't feel bad if I don't sleep, though, Recline. I have trouble sleeping in new places," she warned as she curled into her area with an audible sigh of pleasure. "Though you do feel really, really good. Why does the air here feel different. It's... like slipping into a warm bath, without the water."
"Part of it is the temperature adjustments I can make to my metalogel, and part of it is that I have unique frequencies associated with my field," he explained, his spark giving a happy surge when she choose to curl up in the "blanket" he had formed for her, her tiny body now snuggled in part of his own like she was meant to be there. He tried to avoid doing too much to actively embrace her the way he might one of his mech patients, but did slowly meld the nest around her more closely.
She took a sip of tea and snuggled in further, leaning in to his embrace. Her brainwaves began settling into an alpha wave pattern, and he could feel her bioenergetic field relaxing slowly into his own, being drawn into harmony with the far larger one it was enveloped by. "I can't believe how well he is sleeping for you, Recline. I guess it shouldn't surprise me, though, considering what you said about First Aid's field," she said, stretching and yawning.
"Some of the literature I read call the first three months after birth the fourth trimester, and during that time, babies just want to crawl back into the warm, comfy place they came from, and get really upset about it," Recline commented. "Since the incubation chamber was so womb-like, little Danny probably really does feel like he was just born."
"And instead of wanting to get back in me, he wants that chamber again, and First Aid's field," she said a little sadly, before shaking her head and brightening a bit on his sensors. "At least we know it isn't reflux. First Aid checked him for that. I once read that colicky babies are really just old souls who aren't so sure how they feel about being back for one more go around."
Recline vibrated a bit with laughter, this time deliberately hugging her with his metalogel so she would notice it. She hugged the "blanket" in return. "We had a similar legend about new sparks that were having trouble settling into their frames," he said. "Some tended to be rather cantankerous their first few vorns, and gave their mentors no end of trouble."
"So alike, yet so different," she murmured. "Recline, thank you. You don't... I can't...," she sniffed, wiping her eyes, and he began to gently massage her, thicker knobbles of metalogel kneading the knots out of her muscles. "I get really scared of what builds up in me when he's been crying for hours on end and I haven't slept in what feels like days. Suddenly I can understand the parents who shake their babies, and..." her voice trailed off and she silently started to sob.
Recline inwardly debated the merits of encouraging her to continue to talk about her feelings versus getting the rest she so desperately needed. He continued to massage her tense muscles, crooning, his fields subtly smoothing and soothing her own. She would be able to better face such demons after she'd rested, he thought. He used a charging cable to gently removed the tea mug from her hand when it started to list, slowly shifting her to a more prone position.
"Recline, that feels amazing," she finally said softly. "You are totally spoiling me."
"That's my function, and yours is to just relax. I'll take good care of Danny, and good care of you. Just sleep, Carly, whenever you are ready."
"Mmm... make sure to wake me up when he needs to eat, hon," she said, her words slurring with exhaustion.
"I'm on it, sweetspark," Recline agreed, his systems purring in contentment as sensors registered her brainwaves transitioning quickly to a theta pattern, and then more slowly into deep delta sleep.
Seven hours later, Carly was still out, now snuggled deeply into the outer layer of his metalogel, curled around and holding the "snugglesnake" he'd used twice to gently turn her and slip Daniel in to nurse. Both times she had stirred only enough to cuddle her baby a bit closer and fallen right back to sleep. Daniel was stirring again now, and judging by his bioenergies and brain waves, Recline guessed that the infant was heading toward a true waking cycle. Judging by the evidence of his olfactory sensors, the baby was also in need of a diaper change. He was about to reach for the diaper bag with another cable when he was pinged from the corridor with the ID of another visitor. He gave a happy trill and signaled the door to open, warning the mech outside to stick to internal comms for Carly's sake.
::She's still out?:: First Aid asked cheerfully as he entered. ::You look, as the humans say, happy as a dog with two tails.::
::I am,:: Recline agreed, purposefully wagging a couple of his cables.
::And how is the little scraplet?:: First Aid asked.
::Perfect, and waking up, though I don't think he's hungry. He just fed an hour ago. You want to take him so mama can sleep longer?::
::Absolutely, even if you are just trying to get out of the diaper change,:: First Aid teased, collecting the diaper bag and sitting on Recline's charging platform for a quick snuggle before he left.
::Yep, you know me, always trying to get out of caring for the needs of others,:: Recline agreed jauntily, wrapping his free cables around his friend for a hug.
::Thanks Recline, I've been worried about her,:: First Aid said, nuzzling a cable and hugging it extra tight.
::Little guy seems to like your field frequency a whole lot,:: Recline said gently. ::But don't you dare go beating yourself up about that.::
::I won't,:: First Aid promised, reaching over to pick up the tiny being he had worked so diligently to save, brightening his visor to catch Danny's attention as he woke and extending a manipulator from his finger for the baby to grasp. ::The colic will pass, and other consequences, whatever they end up being, are worth it. I know his parents would agree.::
::Baby just has two mommies,:: Recline said warmly. ::And a daddy, and a whole bunch of crazy uncles. He's a lucky kid.::