by Windsor Blue
A Favourite Uncle ficlet
Notes:This is a bit of a departure for me, so I hope you like it. It's kind of based on a friend of mine, who has a niece who can do no wrong.
The little girl next to him yawned, clear blue eyes scrunched up and strawberry blonde curls bobbing slightly, looking for all the world like a sweet-faced kitten.
"Are you sleepy, Gigi?"
She shook her head. "No, Uncle Trowa. I want to stay up with you. Please?"
Trowa smiled. Like I can say no to you. "All right, we'll watch the end of 'Mary Poppins' and then it's off to bed."
"Okay," she nodded, curling up against him.
He wrapped a protective arm around his little niece. Technically, she was Quatre's niece, and even then just one of many. With the number of sisters Quatre had, he could hardly help but have a busload's worth of nieces and nephews as well. In Trowa's estimation, most of them were terrible brats, but Giselle - well, she could do no wrong.
Of all Quatre's sisters, only Iria had welcomed him to the family, accepting him as a part of her brother's life. The rest regarded him with either suspicion or disgust, as if he had corrupted their sweet little brother with his "perversion". He had often wondered what they would say if they could see the gleam in the eyes of said "sweet little brother" when he handcuffed his tall lover to the bed.
He knew it was bitter of him to think so, but as far as he was concerned, Quatre had many nieces, but he only had the one.
So when Quatre had announced that there was a "family dinner" scheduled for tonight, he had called Iria immediately to offer his services as a babysitter.
Quatre had been a little peeved about it, but he could never say no to Giselle either, and Giselle wanted her Uncle Trowa to stay with her.
"Uncle Trowa, can I tell you a secret?"
"Sure, Gigi."
"You can't tell any of my other uncles, though. Especially not Uncle Quatre, because it might make him sad."
Worry tickled the back of his mind. What can a five-year-old need to keep secret? He drew an X over his heart with his index finger. "I swear I won't breathe a word of it," he said solemnly.
She craned her neck up to whisper in his ear. "Out of all of my uncles, you're my favorite."
Surprised, he looked down into her expectant face. "Why?" was the only thing he could think of to say.
"Well," she began authoritatively, "I love Uncle Quatre because he never ever says no, and I love Uncle Duo because he always has time for tea parties, and I love Uncle Heero because he'll carry me on his shoulders all day and never once say that I'm big enough to walk on my own, and I love Uncle Wufei because all his stories have a dragon and a princess named Giselle.but you're my favorite, because you do all of those things, and you let me stay up past my bedtime, and you can always fix my broken toys - even the ones that Daddy can't fix, and you taught me how to do somersaults and cartwheels. You're my most special uncle, and I love you best."
With that, she sighed happily and settled back into the crook of Trowa's arm. He sat there in a stunned silence for countless seconds, and finally felt a wide, almost idiotic grin settle on his face. He dipped to kiss the top of her head. "I love you best, too, Gigi."
He felt something warm splash onto his cheek, and the little girl looked up. "Uncle Trowa, are you crying"
Trowa swiped at his treacherous eyes with the back of his hand. "No, Sweetheart, I just have something in my
"Oh. Okay." She snuggled even closer and promptly fell asleep.
"Trowa?" A gentle hand on his shoulder roused him from his slumber. Blinking away sleep, he opened his eyes to meet a twinkling aqua gaze.
"Hi," he mumbled. "How was dinner? Where's Gigi?"
"Iria took her to bed," Quatre laughed softly. Looking pointedly at the plate-littered coffee table, he wagged a finger at Trowa. "Pizza and chocolate cake for dinner again? You're going to spoil that girl, you know."
"Not my Gigi," Trowa smiled, "She can do no wrong."
Quatre snorted. "Your Gigi. You're the only one she lets call her Gigi, you know. You should have seen the look on her face when Duo called her that - could've melted a glacier."
Trowa shrugged eloquently. "Duo's a bright boy - he can come up with his own nickname for her."
Pulling his love up from the couch by one arm, Quatre smiled. "Oh, I see. Invoking the privileges of favorite uncle-hood, are we?"
"Am I her favorite uncle?" Trowa blinked innocently. "I hadn't noticed."