Disclaimer: I do not own Jonny Quest or related characters.

It was Jessie's crying that woke Estella late one night. The fact the baby was crying out of fear made Estella hit the floor running. She pushed open the door to the nursery, not registering the change in Jessie's cry when the man standing by the crib picked her up. "Shh, shh, it's okay Jessie, shh, it's okay, Daddy's got you." The man murmured in a voice Estella would recognize anywhere.

She sighed in relief, collapsing against the door frame. Now she noticed Jessie's cry had changed from "I'm scared" to "Where were you? I missed you". Race, still cradling Jessie against his chest, turned to Estella.

"Sorry." He murmured, "I didn't mean to wake you, or her."

Though she was not only relieved Jessie was in no danger but relieved to see her husband had made it home alive from his last mission, Estella was understandably annoyed, "What were you doing Race?" She asked. It would take forever to get Jessie back to sleep now.

"I've been gone for a couple of weeks. I just wanted to check on her before going to bed." Race answered as Jessie's cries began to quiet down.

That was true, it had been a couple of weeks since he left for his first mission since Jessie had been born. Finding she couldn't blame him, Estella sighed, "Here, I'll take her. You're probably exhausted."

She knew Race barely slept when he was away on missions, either because there was no time or his mind was running a mile a minute.

"No. It's alright 'Stella. I've got her." Race responded. "Besides, it looks like she's almost asleep again."

What? It took her hours to get Jessie to calm down and go to sleep yet he could do it in a few minutes without even trying!? "How do you do that?" She demanded.

"Do what?" Race asked, completely confused.

"Get her to calm down and go to sleep that easy." Estella answered gesturing to the baby girl who already seemed to be asleep.

"I don't know." Race replied prompting Estella to roll her eyes.

After a long moment Race went to gently set the baby down in the crib. He sighed as he gently disengaged the hand that had grabbed onto the collar of his shirt. This action caused the baby to wake, tearful emerald green eyes looking up at him.

No longer annoyed, Estella watched with amusement as Race picked Jessie up again and the baby's tiny hand grabbed onto his shirt collar. "That answers that question." Estella snickered quietly. Jessie would stay asleep, as long as Daddy was holding her.

"Ha. Ha." Race answered dryly as he sat down in the nearby armchair.

Estella's amusement faded away as she suddenly realized what was going on, "She doesn't want you to disappear again."

"Disappear?" Race frowned, then understanding dawned on him. He sighed and looked down at his daughter, once again confronted with the fact that it would take a long time for her to understand he sometimes had to leave for awhile. To a baby he supposed it would seem like he disappeared for a long time. He shook his head, there was nothing he could do about it. Going on missions was apart of his job. It was something Jessie would eventually learn. Though, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

Wrapping an arm around his shoulders, Estella leaned down to kiss him. "Looks like you're going to be here for awhile." She smirked.

"I've been stuck in worse places." Race replied.

"Goodnight Race." Estella murmured. Then she leaned down to press a kiss to Jessie's forehead, "Goodnight Jessie."

"Goodnight Estella." Race murmured before he pulled her in for one last kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too." She replied. She left the nursery, both amused at Race's predicament and filled with dread at how much of a bear he was going to be tomorrow... if he didn't just sleep the whole day. Returning to the bedroom, she laid down and went back to sleep.