The Leader
By: Rhuben
Summary-Rocky has always had a love-hate relationship with the title of being the oldest child in his family.
Samuel Douglas Jr.
Also known as Rocky.
Also known as "the leader".
Rocky could barely remember a time where he could turn a corner and not bump into one of his brothers. There was a time where he didn't have to fight for a time in the bathroom, or have to protect his fingers whenever food was around, or to even hear the dreaded words, "Look after your brothers, please."
He remembered being sat down on his father's knee as a toddler and being told about having a new brother or sister soon. "And when that day comes," his dad said in his low voice, "you're going to be an older brother. Do you know what that means?"
Rocky stared up at his dad, eyes filled with wonder. Samuel Sr. chuckled, jostling him just slightly as he dug his fingers into his son's ribs, earning a loud giggle from him. "That means you're going to be a big brother. You get to teach your new brother or sister everything. Like, how to get ice cream from the ice cream man, and how to play your favorite games, and how to get some extra candy from your grandparents."
"You're going to have new responsibilities now. Your mom and I are going to need help around the house with the baby. It'll be a big adjustment, but you've always been a great big help to us. And we love that about you. We're going to be very busy, but that doesn't mean we won't have time for you. Understand?"
When Colt came around, he didn't want to be a big brother. The constant crying, the smells, the look of the scrunched up face; it didn't matter how many times someone could tell him he was the exact same way, he refused to believe it. He helped out whenever her could (and whenever he was forced to) but his parents kept their promise. They made sure to give him plenty of attention.
And…Colt wasn't too bad as he got older. There was someone new to play with. His dad was right, he could teach Colt a lot, not that he knew much at that age. Just having someone look up to him, both figuratively and literally, was a new experience. One he liked and disliked all at the same time. A feeling that doubled in size when Tum-Tum joined the family.
His brothers got into absolutely everything. Whether it was because Colt was trying to get away from Tum-Tum or trying to get his own piece of attention, he was always getting himself in trouble. Tum-Tum just wanted to do whatever his brothers were doing and Rocky was often left being the one having to keep them out of trouble.
Mom's leaving the car for five minutes? If Rocky wasn't there they were bound to get themselves wedged underneath a car seat pretending they were coal miners or something. Not that it hadn't happened once before.
Dad wants them to sit in his office while he goes in for a "short" meeting? Smashes coffee cups, pens haphazardly thrown to the floor, papers scattered, and an arm wrenched free from a vending machine later, and they wished they had listen to Rocky's constant, "Knock it off."
He had gotten himself in enough trouble to be able to think up ideas and foresee possible consequences. It was no wonder he was dubbed "Rocky" on his day of names. Being described as "strong, solid, and cool like granite rock" was confusing to him at first. Getting bumped up from all white or all black to his now signature green was an exciting day but who really wanted to be named after a rock? But once he understood it, once he understood that his grandpa was seeing an unspoken strength inside him, did he accept the name.
And he sure did have a lot of strength inside him. It took every part of him no to fight back against his brothers whenever they ganged up on him, or whenever they brought their mom into an argument. "You're their older brother," she would say over and over again, accompanied with an "I'm disappointed in you" head shake. "You're supposed to know better. Set a good example."
"I know, mom. I'm sorry," he'd reply. All the while, Colt and Tum-Tum would be giving him Cheshire cast smiles behind her back. Oh yeah, it took everything in him to not pummel the snot out of his brothers every time they got him in trouble. "It won't happen again." He just had to slap on a smile and make her believe that everything was actually "fine."
He was the leader after all. Whether he wanted it or not, his brothers looked up to him and did everything he did. If they weren't around, he wouldn't have anyone to spar or to practice his pitching with. It would be a hell of a lot quieter, though.
When it came down to it, there wasn't anyone else he'd want Colt or Tum-Tum to follow.
A/N: I meant to have written this a looong time ago. So now I just have Tum-Tum left to do. I'm thinking of these quick stories as an introduction to how I'm going to write Rocky, Colt, and Tum-Tum for my idea for a 3 Ninjas story. In other news, I re-watched Kick Back last night. I still love these movies to death!
Thanks for reading.
Hope you enjoyed these.