A/N: I'M BA-ACK! :D I bet you're glad to see me :) If you read 'Stitches,' then welcome back! Thanks for returning! If you're new to this story, you can either a) Read the first story, 'Stitches', or, if you can't be bothered, b) just read this and keep in mind that Stein and Marie have a little baby girl, Shelley Yumi 'Stitches' Stein. This story starts at about the time where the last one finished.

Oh, and all of the chapters in this story begin with a diary entry by Marie :)

Now that's out of the way, let us begin in the same place our last story started; the bedroom. (See what I did thar?)

~Stitches – 1 week old~

So...
I was told to keep a diary of things that happen in Stitches' life. So, I'm going to. No matter how stupid Stein thinks it is.

Stitches, Stein and I have been home for 4 days now; and other than a severe lack of sleep we're doing pretty well. Stein is holding her at the moment; and may I just say, he looks mighty adorable. Is adorable the right word? Fatherly may be more apt.

I don't know if I'm more proud or infatuated with the way Stein has taken over the new role of 'Dad.' I have to admit, I was worried for a little while that he wouldn't be able to do it. But, he's proved me 100% wrong and he seems to be a natural. Not that he'd admit anything like that.

I think I'm settling into the whole mother routine fairly well. The lack of sleep jolted me a little bit, but I knew I had to get used to that, so it wasn't a shock so much as an annoyance. But, it's worth it. Stitches is just… she's gorgeous. She's got my eyes but Stein's hair; I hope she doesn't freak out about that too much later in life.

It's really nice to be in a family again. I haven't been in one for so long. And I don't care how my daughter turns out. No, scratch that, our daughter. Stein and I don't care how our daughter turns out, what she likes, who she decides to be; she will always be loved.

Now I'm rambling.

Oh my.

Stitches just threw up all over Stein. I'd better go and help him.

Marie x

The clock on the wall read 3:56 am.

Franken Stein and Marie Mjolnir laid, relatively motionless and asleep, next to each other in the bed they shared. At the end of the bed, in a small bassinet, laid their now one-week-old baby daughter, Shelley, who was more fondly known as Stitches. They'd had a rather uneventful night; Stitches threw up on Stein, she wouldn't go to sleep until midnight, and she refused to stay still. Pretty run-of-the-mill.

Marie turned over in her slumber, pulling herself close to Stein's chest and nuzzling into it. It had been a long while since she could get that close to him, considering the size of her pregnant stomach up until a week ago.

Stein stirred slightly and awoke, though not completely, and wrapped his arms around her waist. He fell back to sleep, an action which he had learnt not to take for granted with a baby around the house. The past few nights had been disruptive, to say the least. Stitches was not a particularly bad sleeper, per se, but she was a baby. And Stitches wasn't one to be inconsistent.

Her golden eyes opened, though they didn't focus on anything. Stitches had just begun to concentrate on specific things, but it was dark in the room. This confused the little girl. And, like any good infant, when something confused her, or made her feel any sort of negative feeling, for that matter, she would cry.

The scream rang out through the entire room. Marie looked up at Stein, bags under her eyes. Her golden eyes were weary. Marie had a lot of reserve, but it hadn't exactly come to the surface by four in the morning.

"I've got her." Stein said, scratching his head and grabbing blindly for his glasses on the side table. He eventually found them, sliding them on and walking over to the infant.

"Alright, alright, I heard you the first time." Stein said, picking up the little girl and placing her over his shoulder, rubbing her back whilst pacing back and forward across the room. Marie looked over at him, wearily.

"You're such a...great...dad." Marie said, falling back to sleep. Stein rolled his eyes and couldn't help but smirk. He went to place the now calm infant down in the bassinet. As he did, she began to screech once more. He raised an eyebrow and picked her up once more.

After walking around with her for a little longer, she stopped crying once again. But, once more, as he went to put her down in the bassinet, she began to sob. Stein rolled his eyes.

"Alright." Stein said, holding Stitches with one arm against his chest, cranking his screw backwards until it clicked with the other. He looked over at Marie, who was fast asleep, curled up into a little ball. Stein sighed, looking down at the intently staring golden eyes of his daughter.

"Looks like it's just you and me, Stitches." Stein said. The little girl cooed happily, her eyes blinking quickly. Stein shook his head and chuckled.

"You get that from your mother." Stein said, walking the little girl out into the main room in his laboratory. She continued to make generic baby noises, though she was seemingly tired. She continued to rest her head against Stein's chest.

"If you're that tired, then why won't you let me put you to bed?" Stein asked the newborn, exasperatedly. Her eyes opened at her father speaking and she glared up at him with slightly too much aggression for a one-week-old.

"You get that from your mother too." Stein remarked, sitting down on one of the chairs with the little girl. Stein held up the Stitches' head with his arm and laid his hand down on her stomach, which rose and fell with the little breaths that passed her lips. Stitches' soft, dainty hands laid on top of Stein's and she tightened her grasp around one of his fingers.

Stein looked down at the little girl, who seemed to have some innate bond with him. He didn't know what it was, but she acted differently around him that she did around Marie. She did know that Marie was her mother - that was obvious.

But there was some way that Stein was able to calm the little girl's demeanour. During the day, with Marie there, Stitches was relatively rambunctious and inquisitive; well, to the extent a one-week-old could be.

When Stitches was with her father, on the other hand, she was rather sedate and calm. She continued to keep a firm hold on her father's finger. Stitches would sigh, every so often, her eyes still open slightly. Stein would have gone to put her back in the bassinet, but he didn't want to risk waking Marie.

Stein simply sat in the chair with Stitches until Marie awoke later that morning, around seven. She walked out of the bedroom and saw the back of her partners head.

"Stein?" Marie asked, walking over to him. Stein turned his head slightly and looked over at her.

"How long have you been out here?" Marie asked, quietly, taking Stitches out of Stein's arms so he could stand up and stretch. He pressed his glasses over the bridge of his nose and looked up in thought.

"Since about four, I'd say." Stein said, scratching his head and cranking his screw backwards twice. Marie's jaw dropped as she held her daughter close.

"Stein! You should have woken me up!" Marie said. Stein shook his head at her.

"We were fine." Stein remarked, looking at the little girl.

"She glares like you." Stein said, chuckling slightly. Marie glared at Stein.

"I don't glare!" Marie said. Stein simply smirked.

"You're doing it, right now." Stein shook his head. The glare deepened.

"I am not!" Marie exclaimed. Stein crossed his arms and walked across to sit backwards on his chair. He swiftly rolled it over to Marie and Stitches once again.

"I don't glare, do I?" Marie asked Stein, turning her head away from Stitches. Stein nodded.

"Sorry." Stein shrugged.

"Yeah, well… you snore." Marie said, indignantly. Stein chuckled slightly.

"Do I just?" Stein asked, looking up at Marie. Marie smirked at him.

"Yep." Marie replied, moodily. Stein rolled his eyes and gave her the 'I-know-that-you're-making-this-up-and-there's-no-way-you're-getting-away-with-it' look. Marie sighed, lifting her daughter up to settle over her shoulder, her face filled with defeat.

"I don't snore, do I?" Stein asked, knowingly.

"Of course you don't." Marie giggled, rubbing Stitches' back as she began to snivel. Marie could tell it was a tired cry. Marie held the little girl out in front of her, getting a tiny, gummy yawn in response.

"She's going to go to sleep now, isn't she?" Stein asked. Marie looked down at the baby as her crying increased.

"Yeah, she wants to." Marie sighed, standing up and holding Stitches gently in her grasps.

"Really? You wake your papa up at an ungodly hour and now you want to sleep?" Marie asked the girl in a baby-talk voice. The girl sighed, her eyes closing inadvertently, and fell asleep in her mother's arms.

"You're too cute to stay mad at," Marie said through a yawn, "kinda like your papa. But don't tell him I called him cute. He'll get grumpy. And we don't want Papa to get grumpy, do we?" Stitches opened her eyes slightly and cooed at her mother.

Marie smiled and sighed, walking off to put Stitches back into her bassinet. Stein smirked at her as she walked out of the room tentatively, making sure not to wake Stitches.

She shut the door around and walked over to Stein, facing him and dropping her head to his chest. Stein pulled her head up with two fingers so he could see her, blinking tiredly and giving his partner a small, sleepy smile.

"She asleep?" Stein asked.

"I hope so." Marie said, half-heartedly. The two of them sat down on the couch, Marie sighing loudly and glancing at her partner.

"What's the matter?" Stein asked. Marie looked up at Stein and pressed her hand to the side of Stein's face.

"You look so tired." Marie said, quietly. Stein smirked slightly.

"I'm used to sleep deprivation. What about you?" Stein asked. Marie sighed and smiled sleepily.

"I'd be sleep deprived for the rest of my life if it meant spending more time with our daughter." Marie said, proudly. Stein smirked and wrapped one arm around Marie's shoulder, the other resting on her lap.

"You astound me sometimes, Marie." Stein replied. Marie looked up at him.

"In a good way, I hope." Marie giggled. Stein shut his eyes and pressed a kiss to the top of Marie's head.

"Of course." he replied.

A/N: Right, so, that was just to set the tone of the story and to get back into the swing of things. Alright, chapter 2 awaits!

Ooh, and just a little side note. You may notice a slight change in Stein's personality in this story. It's character development, not OOCness, I swear. This takes place over quite a long period of time. So, yeah :D Welcome back!