Other Gifts: Britt, Christmas 2016 -- Honorary Grandpa's Big Invention
Skipping forward to Christmas 2016, here we have a present for my friend Britt! She plays the Alice to my Secundus Victor Butterfly Boy, and at the time of writing this, they'd recently had their first child together, a son named Chester. I'd joked about Doc making a self-rocking cradle in one of my threads post-birth, and decided to expand upon the topic for the fic. A good chunk of the inspiration came from an AU BTTF Fic by Kirsten Sheley, where Marty ends up stuck in the 1880s with Doc and Clara and thus is around when their first child, Jules, is born. As demonstrated in the opening sequence of "...And Baby Makes Four," Doc's inventions for children don't always work out. . .
“So you’re absolutely certain it works as it should.”
“Yes.”
“No more turning upside-down.”
“No.”
“No more swinging so fast it eventually flings itself through a window.”
“No.”
“No more bouncing instead of rocking.”
“No, although I’m thinking of adding that back in as a feature.”
Alice lifted a dubious eyebrow, holding Chester close to her. “Didn’t it put a permanent dent in your floor?”
“Well, obviously I’ll raise the height first…but I assure you, the rocking function works perfectly,” Doc told the anxious parents. “I’ve tried it with three different bags of flour and two eggs, and all of them have survived intact.”
Victor and Alice exchanged a look. On the one hand, Doc was a certified genius. And both of them trusted him to never, ever do anything to intentionally hurt their son. The man was capable of creating wonders, and the fact that he’d put his vast intellect to the task of helping their baby sleep through the night – it was touching, it really was.
On the other hand, they were the parents of a fragile newborn, and Doc’s inventions always seemed to have one last kink that needed ironing out… “Do – do you mind giving us a demonstration?” Victor asked, fiddling with his tie. “Just so we can see–”
Doc produced a bag of flour from behind his back. “It’s fine,” he told Victor as he put it carefully inside the cradle and covered it with a blanket. “If it were my child, I’d want as many redundant safety tests as possible too.” He adjusted the flour bag minutely, then flicked a switch.
SHRIEEEEK, SHRREEEEEEK, SCHIREEEEEEK –
Chester started wailing, clearly not a fan of the sound. Doc grimaced, then set his jaw. “All that proves is that it needs to be oiled!”
Victor and Alice both laughed. “It does look like it works,” Alice nodded. “Good job, Dr. Brown. Now turn it off before my ears start bleeding.”
“Yes.”
“No more turning upside-down.”
“No.”
“No more swinging so fast it eventually flings itself through a window.”
“No.”
“No more bouncing instead of rocking.”
“No, although I’m thinking of adding that back in as a feature.”
Alice lifted a dubious eyebrow, holding Chester close to her. “Didn’t it put a permanent dent in your floor?”
“Well, obviously I’ll raise the height first…but I assure you, the rocking function works perfectly,” Doc told the anxious parents. “I’ve tried it with three different bags of flour and two eggs, and all of them have survived intact.”
Victor and Alice exchanged a look. On the one hand, Doc was a certified genius. And both of them trusted him to never, ever do anything to intentionally hurt their son. The man was capable of creating wonders, and the fact that he’d put his vast intellect to the task of helping their baby sleep through the night – it was touching, it really was.
On the other hand, they were the parents of a fragile newborn, and Doc’s inventions always seemed to have one last kink that needed ironing out… “Do – do you mind giving us a demonstration?” Victor asked, fiddling with his tie. “Just so we can see–”
Doc produced a bag of flour from behind his back. “It’s fine,” he told Victor as he put it carefully inside the cradle and covered it with a blanket. “If it were my child, I’d want as many redundant safety tests as possible too.” He adjusted the flour bag minutely, then flicked a switch.
SHRIEEEEK, SHRREEEEEEK, SCHIREEEEEEK –
Chester started wailing, clearly not a fan of the sound. Doc grimaced, then set his jaw. “All that proves is that it needs to be oiled!”
Victor and Alice both laughed. “It does look like it works,” Alice nodded. “Good job, Dr. Brown. Now turn it off before my ears start bleeding.”