Elias Walker's second son, Logan, was something of a late talker. At a little over a year, the boy's vocabulary was limited to 'Da', which was his name, 'Dee' for his older brother David, and several other simple words like 'baba', 'uppy', and 'more'. While there were other words on the list, it was still a short one. Since his baby's brother was already four, and happily chatting with everyone and anyone (much to Elias' concern), it seemed Logan had decided it wasn't a necessary skill. David, at that age, had been capable of simple sentences already. With Logan, not so much. Elias worried about him sometimes, but his mother had assured him that he'd been much the same at that age. So while he wasn't wholly reassured, he saw no need to consult anyone else.

On occasion his best friend Gabe would give him grief about it, but since he was usually cuddling with the baby in question at the same time, he didn't take it seriously. However. Trying to get Logan to say new words had become something of a game between Elias' teammates, with varying success. Shockingly, Logan was not a very attentive or helpful student, at one year of age, and had a tendency to toddle off at random. Gabriel was usually the most successful, after David and Elias himself. The blond baby had seemingly taken a shine to him, and with a mischievous grin like his son had, Gabe had had no chance of resisting his unconditional love. More often then not, if his kids were trolling around the office, Logan was in his lap and his curls covered by one great hand slowly combing through his hair.

Which was, much to Elias' amusement, exactly where he was today. He ghosted up behind the pair, quiet as he could be with his boots still on, and paused. "Can you say Gabe?" Said man asked absently, still penning through his paperwork even as he balanced Elias' baby boy on one knee. "Hm? Can you? Say Gabe?" Big brown eyes stared over the other man's shoulder, peering up at him. He winked at his boy, earning himself a giggle. That got his friend's attention. "What's so funny, huh?" The captain asked, poking Logan in the stomach. "Daaaaaaaa," Logan squealed, waving his hands around. "'Da'? How's it goin', Elias." Gabe rumbled without looking up from his papers, even as he wrestled Logan into one arm and held him up at an awkward angle.

"Taking the kiddos home- they need food and sleep before they turn into gremlins or something," He replied, taking Logan from the bigger man. David was already waiting down the hall, showing off his light-up shoes to Merrick no doubt. A hum answered him, and he took his leave. "Say bye-bye, Logan," Elias prompted, thoroughly expecting nothing from his giggly son. "Buh-bah!" The blond baby gurgled as he flopped against his father's chest. "Well goodbye to you, too," Gabe huffed on the tail end of a laugh as he carried Logan away. "You ready for bites, sweetness?" He asked absently, pressing a kiss to that curly head as an idea formulated and spun around his head. It was probably not a good one, the young father realized, but it would probably be funny. David trotted up to his side and he took the tiny hand offered to him, even as he thought.

With all honesty, the idea ended up being brought to life on the wings of a lazy Saturday morning with his boys about two weeks later. Elias had been pleasantly surprised with the results, since Logan rarely sat still long enough for something like his plan. A few prompts and a desperate wish for a camera at the sight of Logan's concentration did get him some results. Then what the blond boy had said had processed and he had been rolling on the ground wheezing as Logan giggled uncertainly and clapped ecstatically. "I'm going to get lynched by my captain and my friends 'cause of you," He crooned into the baby's face as he straightened up from his place on the floor. "Deedee how do you feel about victory pancakes?"

And here he was, Monday morning, with both boys in tow as he walked into the office. David, usually bouncing along in his light-up sneakers, was dozing one one shoulder, and Logan was clung to the other blinking owlishly. The hilarity began when Logan caught Keegan in his sights. An excited gasp was his only warning, still yet to get a second cup of coffee into his system. A croaked "I'm sorry," was all Elias got out before his baby shrieked a happy "Tea!" causing everyone in earshot to freeze. For a moment, you could have heard a pin drop. Onto the carpet. "What?" Keegan rasped, blue eyes wide. "Tea?" Logan cooed quietly, picking up on the uneasy atmosphere. When no one replied, the little boy began to tear up. Cheeks staining a miserable blotchy pink, the baby sniffled out a forlorn "Da, Da. Want Tea."

Keegan looked positively petrified, caught between responding to a name that would immediately be adopted by everyone who'd heard it for jokes and mockery, or making a baby cry. Black hair dipped momentarily before his friend steeled himself and said "Hi, Logan!" in as cheerful a voice as he could manage given the circumstances. It was a truly admirable effort, considering the fact that Merrick was turning purple. Elias felt a tiny face rub against his shirt, leaving tiny damp spots behind, before the little one threw his chubby arms out towards the freshly dubbed Tea. "Aw, Tea. Pick the poor baby up," He heard Merrick croon as he passed the unfortunate 'Tea' his curly-haired son. Frowning, Elias stared at Merrick. "Leelou, who's that?" The brunet asked in a saccharine voice.

Logan's head whipped around, light blond curls bouncing the smallest bit. Once more, his face lit up at the sight of his Da's coworkers. "Lick!" His son shrieked excitedly, waving his hands in Merrick's general direction. This time it was Merrick who flushed red, and Keegan laughed. In fact, the whole room went up in a roar as every man there, around fifteen, began to laugh. "Shortpants sure showed you, huh?" Someone called between wheezy chortles. After a short moment even the newly christened Lick began to shake as his usual booming laugh racked him. Elias was up in arm- knees bent, one arm wrapped about his waist as he choked on his own breath. "Oh, oh!" He shrieked when he looked up to see Logan's genuine confusion slip into giggles which turned to squealing bubbly howls of glee. The baby didn't get the joke, of course, but he knew everyone was laughing.

"Shit," Merrick huffed about seven minutes later, when the noise finally died down. "Lick! Not in front of the baby!" Keegan gasped in a faux scandalized tone, gently cupping his hands over Logan's ears. The was a long stretch of tense silence as everyone tried to keep control over themselves, which deflated like a punctured balloon when Elias' little boy giggled again. "Where does Daddy work, Logan?" Elias prompted with an air of finality, prepared to get one of the last few new words out of the way. "Goats!"

Torch inhaled sharply, and Neptune choked on the drink he was sipping to soothe his throat. "Oh my god," Grim moaned, head falling to his desk as he gasped for breath. Once more everything dissolved as everyone practically sobbed with laughter. "What the hell is going on in here?" The captain suddenly roared above the din, having appeared in the doorway. A hush fell over them all, except for Kick who was still twitching from the hiccoughs. Logan turned in place where he lay on the floor from when Keegan had sunk to the ground. Elias watched brown eyes meet each other and nearly whimpered when Logan happily shrieked "Gay!"

(Let it be known that it took several months for Kee, Melly(which eventually became Merry) and Abe to stick in Logan's mind)

So i'm not dead. It's been some time since I wrote baby Walkers though, so here you are. Please note that Logan began speaking in sentences about a week after this fiasco, and that nothing is so funny as hearing a toddler whine "Logan wants more, Gay,"

Also, I know the Ghosts team wasn't formed until 2005, but I wantsd convenient shenanigans and babies at the same time. I think it came out gravy.

Much love to you, darlings. Please consider this a gift for Baby New Year? Even though January's nearly over.