Fic: What Goes Around
Title: What Goes Around
Author: Beadattitude
Warnings: None
Spoilers: None
Unbeta'd
Summary: What do you get when two guys who love math and physics have a baby? One smart, focused baby girl who brings out the geek early.
Author's Note: Bella seems wrapped my writing muse around her little finger today. Here's another visit with her, set enough months after Hurricane Bella that Bella has learned to talk a little. Enough to say what she really wants to eat. Also let me know if I'm way off base with the whole math thing, 'kay?
ETA: Now with art by chkc,aka Art!Zorro.
~~~
“Did you guys go out?” Rodney asked as he breezed into the kitchen, flush with post minion-bashing success.
“Yeah,” John said dully, munching on oddly-shaped bits of sandwich. “Had to get some stuff.”
“I could have…I mean, you could have called, I would have been happy to…”
“Thircles,” Bella interrupted, holding up a three-quarter-moon-due-to-bite-mark piece of cheese.
“That’s right, Bella,” Rodney said, rocking on his heels happily, “that is a circle.”
John made kind of a grinding noise.
“You okay?” John had progressed to torturing his sandwich crusts by slowly tearing them apart.
“Yeah. Just a long morning.”
“How come?” Rodney sat and plucked a still un-tortured bit of sandwich off John’s plate. He raised it to his mouth and stopped suddenly. “What did you do to this?”
“Bella won’t play with, won't talk about, won't eat anything but circles today,” John said, rubbing his hands over his face and into his hair, making it wilder than usual. “These are the not-circle bits.”
“Oh, really?” Rodney beamed at their daughter, charmed and proud. She beamed back.
“Thircles,” she whispered, and waved a carrot coin at him.
“Had to go get some cookie cutters,” John muttered, mashing the remaining bits of his sandwich in a vindictive manner. "You wouldn't believe what I went through to get her dressed."
“Cookie cutters? You couldn’t just use the...” John cut Rodney off with a look and Rodney flipped his palms up, placating his clearly-about-to-snap husband.
“Juice?” Bella asked very sweetly. “Juice, pease.”
Rodney put his hand on John’s shoulder. “I’ll get it. You just…finish violating your sandwich’s Geneva Convention rights.” Rodney got an organic apple juice box out of the fridge and hooked his pinky though the handle of one of Bella’s sippy cups, because neither one of them was comfortable with Bella and those tiny straws. He set the juice down on Bella’s tray to unscrew the top of the cup.
By the time he was done, Bella was looking at him with big, wounded Anime eyes and her lower lip was trembling.
“Sweetie?” Rodney said, confused, “I’ve got your juice right here, see?” He held up the juice box and waved it a little. “Happy little juice box for happy little girl?”
“Thircles,” Bella quavered, tears trembling in her eyes. “Thircles.” She sounded desperate.
“Put it in the cup, Rodney, hurry,” John said, his voice sounding a little quavery, too.
“What? Oh.” Rodney turned his back and decanted the juice in to the little cup, tucked the offending rectangular box under his arm and screwed the top on. “There,” he said, presenting the round-bottomed cup to his daughter, “juice. In a kind of circular, slightly modified part-spherical part-cylindrical...”
“Rodney,” John said warningly as Bella looked Rodney, wounded and skeptical and just about to tip over into not liking this at all.
“Sort of a three-dimensional circle,” Rodney amended hastily, and rocked the cup with his finger. “Circle that can rock and roll and give you yummy juice!”
“Th-thircle?” She still wasn’t quite sure.
Rodney opened his mouth to explain the nature of spheres and circles and cylinders and why juice couldn't be served in circular shapes until it was perhaps frozen, but John cut him off.
“Yes, sweetie, circle.”
Gazing suspiciously at Rodney, Bella picked up her cup and began to drink.
“Well, she shows admirable focus,” Rodney ventured. John snorted, got up from the table and carried his plate to the sink.
“Hmmmm,” Rodney mused, watching their daughter rock her sippy cup back and forth. “I wonder if she’s going to go through a whole shape phase? Oh my God, what if this is like the Wearin o’the Purple? John?”
Leaning against the counter, John gave him a tired smile and held up a slightly mangled package of cookie cutters.
“Ooooo, excellent thinking. But what if she wants, I dunno, say, a parallelogram?”
“Not that she can say that many syllables, but,” John fished out a diamond-shaped cookie cutter and turned it sideways. “And there’s that penne rigate that’s cut on a slant.”
“Hello, Mr. Tactical.”
John shot him with a finger gun. “That’s Colonel Tactical, retired, to you, buster.”
“What if she….”
“Rodney. She’s barely fifteen months old. Even ahead of the curve as she is, I don’t think she’s going to start asking for decohedrons this week.”
“But…”
John pointed at himself. “Aeronautical,” he pointed at Rodney, “and Mechanical Engineering and Physics and Astrophysics. I think we’ll be okay. What we can’t find we can fabricate."
“Right.”
Bella craned her neck to look up at Rodney. “Thphere?” she asked, and poked at her cup. “Thircle?" She frowned at her cup again, watching it rock. “Thphere?”
Rodney couldn’t help it; he grinned proudly and reached out a hand to brush Bella’s peachy cheek. "Circle," he said, picking up one of her pieces of bread and holding it up like a monocle. Bella grinned at him. Rodney dramatically rolled it in his palms for a moment and then opened his palm and presented her a compacted bread-ball. "Sphere!"
Bella frowned. "Ball."
"Yes, ball. A ball is a sphere."
John slithered to the floor and lay there, moaning.
Eyebrows scrunched together, Bella regarded the sphere. "Ball," she said firmly.
"A ball is a sphere. It's a more grown-up name for ball."
"A big girl name," John offered. Rodney shot a smile at him. Bella always wanted to be a big girl like her cousin Madison.
Bella mulled that over. "Thphere, Papa?"
"Yes!" Rodney leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "And a thircle, I mean, a circle is part of a sphere." He bit the bread-ball/sphere in half and showed the uneaten portion to Bella. "See? If a sphere is cut exactly in half you get a circle. A great circle. It's the largest circle that can be drawn on a sphere."
"Papa," Bella giggled, clearly thinking he was nuts.
"Okay, so this one is a little mushed up, but I swear, it's true," Rodney told her earnestly, snitching a piece of cheese from her tray. "Mmmm, that circle is great."
While Bella laughed and clapped, John let out a snort. “You’re making dinner,” he announced, holding up one finger. “Meatballs. Wheel pasta.”
“Peas?”
“Thircles.”
“And spheres,” Rodney prompted.
“An’ thpheres,” Bella agreed.
Author: Beadattitude
Warnings: None
Spoilers: None
Unbeta'd
Summary: What do you get when two guys who love math and physics have a baby? One smart, focused baby girl who brings out the geek early.
Author's Note: Bella seems wrapped my writing muse around her little finger today. Here's another visit with her, set enough months after Hurricane Bella that Bella has learned to talk a little. Enough to say what she really wants to eat. Also let me know if I'm way off base with the whole math thing, 'kay?
ETA: Now with art by chkc,aka Art!Zorro.
~~~
“Did you guys go out?” Rodney asked as he breezed into the kitchen, flush with post minion-bashing success.
“Yeah,” John said dully, munching on oddly-shaped bits of sandwich. “Had to get some stuff.”
“I could have…I mean, you could have called, I would have been happy to…”
“Thircles,” Bella interrupted, holding up a three-quarter-moon-due-to-bite-mark piece of cheese.
“That’s right, Bella,” Rodney said, rocking on his heels happily, “that is a circle.”
John made kind of a grinding noise.
“You okay?” John had progressed to torturing his sandwich crusts by slowly tearing them apart.
“Yeah. Just a long morning.”
“How come?” Rodney sat and plucked a still un-tortured bit of sandwich off John’s plate. He raised it to his mouth and stopped suddenly. “What did you do to this?”
“Bella won’t play with, won't talk about, won't eat anything but circles today,” John said, rubbing his hands over his face and into his hair, making it wilder than usual. “These are the not-circle bits.”
“Oh, really?” Rodney beamed at their daughter, charmed and proud. She beamed back.
“Thircles,” she whispered, and waved a carrot coin at him.
“Had to go get some cookie cutters,” John muttered, mashing the remaining bits of his sandwich in a vindictive manner. "You wouldn't believe what I went through to get her dressed."
“Cookie cutters? You couldn’t just use the...” John cut Rodney off with a look and Rodney flipped his palms up, placating his clearly-about-to-snap husband.
“Juice?” Bella asked very sweetly. “Juice, pease.”
Rodney put his hand on John’s shoulder. “I’ll get it. You just…finish violating your sandwich’s Geneva Convention rights.” Rodney got an organic apple juice box out of the fridge and hooked his pinky though the handle of one of Bella’s sippy cups, because neither one of them was comfortable with Bella and those tiny straws. He set the juice down on Bella’s tray to unscrew the top of the cup.
By the time he was done, Bella was looking at him with big, wounded Anime eyes and her lower lip was trembling.
“Sweetie?” Rodney said, confused, “I’ve got your juice right here, see?” He held up the juice box and waved it a little. “Happy little juice box for happy little girl?”
“Thircles,” Bella quavered, tears trembling in her eyes. “Thircles.” She sounded desperate.
“Put it in the cup, Rodney, hurry,” John said, his voice sounding a little quavery, too.
“What? Oh.” Rodney turned his back and decanted the juice in to the little cup, tucked the offending rectangular box under his arm and screwed the top on. “There,” he said, presenting the round-bottomed cup to his daughter, “juice. In a kind of circular, slightly modified part-spherical part-cylindrical...”
“Rodney,” John said warningly as Bella looked Rodney, wounded and skeptical and just about to tip over into not liking this at all.
“Sort of a three-dimensional circle,” Rodney amended hastily, and rocked the cup with his finger. “Circle that can rock and roll and give you yummy juice!”
“Th-thircle?” She still wasn’t quite sure.
Rodney opened his mouth to explain the nature of spheres and circles and cylinders and why juice couldn't be served in circular shapes until it was perhaps frozen, but John cut him off.
“Yes, sweetie, circle.”
Gazing suspiciously at Rodney, Bella picked up her cup and began to drink.
“Well, she shows admirable focus,” Rodney ventured. John snorted, got up from the table and carried his plate to the sink.
“Hmmmm,” Rodney mused, watching their daughter rock her sippy cup back and forth. “I wonder if she’s going to go through a whole shape phase? Oh my God, what if this is like the Wearin o’the Purple? John?”
Leaning against the counter, John gave him a tired smile and held up a slightly mangled package of cookie cutters.
“Ooooo, excellent thinking. But what if she wants, I dunno, say, a parallelogram?”
“Not that she can say that many syllables, but,” John fished out a diamond-shaped cookie cutter and turned it sideways. “And there’s that penne rigate that’s cut on a slant.”
“Hello, Mr. Tactical.”
John shot him with a finger gun. “That’s Colonel Tactical, retired, to you, buster.”
“What if she….”
“Rodney. She’s barely fifteen months old. Even ahead of the curve as she is, I don’t think she’s going to start asking for decohedrons this week.”
“But…”
John pointed at himself. “Aeronautical,” he pointed at Rodney, “and Mechanical Engineering and Physics and Astrophysics. I think we’ll be okay. What we can’t find we can fabricate."
“Right.”
Bella craned her neck to look up at Rodney. “Thphere?” she asked, and poked at her cup. “Thircle?" She frowned at her cup again, watching it rock. “Thphere?”
Rodney couldn’t help it; he grinned proudly and reached out a hand to brush Bella’s peachy cheek. "Circle," he said, picking up one of her pieces of bread and holding it up like a monocle. Bella grinned at him. Rodney dramatically rolled it in his palms for a moment and then opened his palm and presented her a compacted bread-ball. "Sphere!"
Bella frowned. "Ball."
"Yes, ball. A ball is a sphere."
John slithered to the floor and lay there, moaning.
Eyebrows scrunched together, Bella regarded the sphere. "Ball," she said firmly.
"A ball is a sphere. It's a more grown-up name for ball."
"A big girl name," John offered. Rodney shot a smile at him. Bella always wanted to be a big girl like her cousin Madison.
Bella mulled that over. "Thphere, Papa?"
"Yes!" Rodney leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "And a thircle, I mean, a circle is part of a sphere." He bit the bread-ball/sphere in half and showed the uneaten portion to Bella. "See? If a sphere is cut exactly in half you get a circle. A great circle. It's the largest circle that can be drawn on a sphere."
"Papa," Bella giggled, clearly thinking he was nuts.
"Okay, so this one is a little mushed up, but I swear, it's true," Rodney told her earnestly, snitching a piece of cheese from her tray. "Mmmm, that circle is great."
While Bella laughed and clapped, John let out a snort. “You’re making dinner,” he announced, holding up one finger. “Meatballs. Wheel pasta.”
“Peas?”
“Thircles.”
“And spheres,” Rodney prompted.
“An’ thpheres,” Bella agreed.