Chapter Text
“Stop it! That tickles!” Jim cried, drawing his feet back towards him.
Joanna sat back on her haunches and crossed her arms over her chest. She pulled a very familiar face–one that he had gotten many times from her dad. “Uncle Jim, I can’t paint your toes if I can’t touch your feet!”
He squirmed a bit. “But Jojo, it tickles.”
She raised her eyebrow–she’s seven! He can’t even do that!–before turning to look at Bones laid out on the couch. “Daddy, tell Uncle Jim he has to have his toes painted if he wants to come to my tea party.”
“Just have him lay his feet flat, darlin’. You can paint ‘em without touchin’ his feet,” he said without looking up from whatever medical journal he was reading.
Jim bent his knees before planting them firmly on the ground in front of him. “I think we can work it this way, right?” Joanna nodded before crouching in front of him to continue painting. “So why’d you choose pink?”
“Because it’s Wednesday,” she said shortly. Jim nodded to himself, because how was he supposed to respond to that.
With minimal tensing and toe scrunching, Joanna finished painting his toenails. She didn’t pause before she took his left hand to begin painting his fingernails. When she reached his ring finger, she switched to a gold polish before continuing again with the pink.
Her hands were steady, her movements very deliberate. She kept the polish mostly off his skin, except for his finger tips. He couldn’t deny that the gold complemented the vivid pink polish well; he’d always been pretty fond of gold as a color in general. Not that he was biased or anything.
“I’m glad you don’t have your dad’s style,” he stage whispered, eliciting a huff from the couch.
“But I have daddy’s hands, according to mama,” she said, moving onto his other hand.
“That you do. Do you think I could convince him to paint my toes sometime?” He asked, glancing over at the couch to see Bones raise an eyebrow at him.
“Don’t push your luck, kid.”
Joanna finished his pinky with a flourish. “Now don’t you smudge these before they dry, Uncle Jim. No royal can have smudged nails.” He saluted her, careful to follow her instructions. With a nod, she turned to look at Bones. “Your turn, daddy.”
Still reading from his PADD, he toed his socks off before readjusting so his feet rested on the floor. “Blue, please, darlin’.”
“But it’s Wednesday. That means you get pink.”
He finally looked away from his journal. “You mean me and Jim gotta match?”
“We all match,” she said, before lifting her foot in the air and wiggling her toes. Sure enough, the vivid pink could be seen across the room.
“Oh, all right,” he said with a soft smile. As if he would ever actually argue with his daughter.
He could get used to this: lazy days at home, feeling like a real family. Jim caught Bones’ eye over Joanna’s head as she set to work. His face broke into a wide grin, happiness bubbling in his chest when he got a warm smile in return.
Yeah, he could certainly get used to this.