Anon tumblr prompt! Too cute to pass up. Sigh...
Michael was three years old. Len and Barry had only had custody of the kid for 12 weeks. Married for over a year now, never any plans for kids, no real discussion about it anyway, though Len had wondered when Barry might broach the subject, seeing as how obviously amazing he would be as a father.
Len never would have expected he'd be the one to suggest adoption.
A night of patrol as Flash and Cold, as partners rather than nemeses, had turned up nothing but pickpockets and car thieves, making it a rather entertaining night, just them having fun. Until the domestic disturbance call came. They were closer than any uniforms, so Len insisted they check it out. Barry didn't hesitate to agree.
Damn asshole father likely would have killed his toddler just as he'd beaten his wife to death.
The only saving grace was that Michael hadn't seen it, been upstairs in his room. His cries, once Barry caught the man and knocked him out to await the police, were what sent Len sprinting up the stairs. No, Michael hadn't witnessed his mother's death, but who knew what he had seen in his short years. He deserved better than that. Needed something better to ensure that he didn't turn out like… Well.
In a way, the whole thing echoed how Joe had adopted Barry, so it seemed only too fitting to both of them to take Michael in.
They knew enough people in the system (as well as talented computer hackers) to make it fairly painless to adopt Michael right away. It helped that the kid had already attached himself to Len, reaching for him that first night rather than being afraid, and not wanting to leave his side when Social Services showed up. He adored Barry too, especially when he wore the Flash suit.
They taught Michael early on not to say Flash around anyone, because it was supposed to be a secret that Barry wore the suit sometimes, so whenever Michael wanted to see Barry go fast or put the suit on, he'd just go, "Whoosh! Whoosh! Pwease!"
Michael took to them both so well, amazingly well, and Len and Barry devoted themselves to the little boy as best they could.
It was the days when Len had nowhere to be but home alone with Michael that he cherished most. He'd always feared being a father. Feared he'd look in the mirror one day and see his own father reflected back, no matter how hard he fought against it. Barry reminded him every day that it never had to be like that. Michael reminded him too.
"Len?" Barry called in confusion when he got home, probably searching the living room for signs of them and concerned that he couldn't hear their voices.
Len felt a wave of embarrassment even as he called out, "Upstairs!"
Michael giggled with Len as they waited inside the canopy of the sheet they'd draped over the headboard of the bed with pillows built up as walls, leaving only a man-sized entrance at the end as their 'doorway'.
"Papa…get Daddy," Michael said in that over-exaggerated attempt at a whisper that children always did.
"Should we get 'im?" Len whispered back.
Michael giggled again and nodded. They crawled forward so they flanked either side of the entrance into the pillow fort.
Barry's laughter signaled his arrival. "What did you two do?"
Len held a finger to his lips, and Michael nodded again with a stifled, "Shh."
"Len? Michael?" Barry called with a playfulness in his voice that proved he knew exactly where they were. He peeked his head in through the opening, and Len attacked, grabbing Barry and yanking him into the fort, which nearly unsettled the pillows and caused the entire thing to collapse down on them. But somehow it stayed stable.
Soon Barry was half up on the bed, legs dangling out of the entrance as they all laughed, and Michael pounced on Barry's chest to tickle him with ineffectual flutters of his tiny fingers.
"We got you, Daddy!"
"You sure did, buddy. I bet this was all Papa's idea, huh?"
Len pulled on a semi-serious face. "Nonsense. Our kid wanted to build the pillow fort, not me."
"Sure, Len…"
"I may have had some structural input."
Barry laughed harder. "Oh? I don't know, I think we could make this even better. What do you think, Mikey? Should we bulldoze and start over so I can help?"
Michael pushed on Barry's arm, saying excitedly. "Whoosh, Daddy! Whoosh!"
"Guess I got no choice now," Barry shrugged.
He paused a moment to pull Michael down and kissed his cheek, then reached for Len in kind and pecked his lips chastely. They could save anything more heated for later.
"Okay, get ready…"
Michael giggled the entire time as Barry used his Flash speed to dismantle the fort and tossed everything onto the floor in a messy pile, then tossed Michael on top of the miniature 'comfy land', before reaching out a hand from where he stood off the side of the bed to help Len to his feet.
"Round two?"
"Get building then, Barry. I already did my heavy lifting for the day."
Barry just laughed, as Michael scrambled to his feet and started picking up pillows to help.
THE END