"Owie!" Hiro whined from beside the TV, clutching his elbow. The teddy bear previously in his hand dropped to the floor. The little boy looked to his brother with tear-filled eyes.
Tadashi rolled his eyes as he made his way over to the little boy. He dropped to his knees to be at eye-level with his brother, "What did you do, Hiro?" he asked calmly.
The four-year-old twisted to show the scrape, "I scraped it on the corner of the table…" he mumbled. Tadashi and took Hiro's hand, leading him to the bathroom. Hiro climbed onto the toilet and watched his brother sift around for a Band-Aid and Neosporin.
"Hold out your arm," Tadashi said. Hiro held it out while the older applied the ointment to the scrape. The little boy seethed, an 'owie' seeping by his lips. Tadashi slapped the Band-Aid on, "You're all good, little brother," he announced, ruffling Hiro's hair and helping him down.
Hiro ran out in front, "Aunt Cass, what'm I havin' for dinner?" he asked, tugging on her jeans.
She stooped down, smiling, "How's mac'n'cheese sound?"
"Yeah!" he giggled, jumping around.
Cass giggled as well to his happiness, "Why don't you go set the table?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" he continued his hopping with plates and silverware in hand.
"Need me to do anything, Aunt Cass?" the elder brother asked.
"If you could stir the cheese in his macaroni that'd be great."
"Yeah, sure," he stepped over and squirted the packet into the pot, mixing it in with the wooden spoon present.
"Owie."
"What're we having?" Tadashi asked, his aunt flipping something in the skillet over.
"Owie."
"Taco chicken," she answered.
"Taco chicken?" Tadashi laughed, "What is taco-"
"OWIE!"
Tadashi and Cass looked over, taken aback by the loud child. "What's wrong, sweetie?" Cass asked.
"My face hurts." Hiro lifted his upper lip and gestured to a tooth in the front.
His big brother walked over and looked in, inspecting the tooth, "Yep. Somebody's got a loose tooth," he stood back up and put Hiro in the booster seat before returning to the macaroni.
Hiro sat silent for a minute, fear on his face. After that minute, "Owie!"
"Hiro, honey, you'll be OK," Cass tried. They ate in near silence, only words being an occasional 'owie' from Hiro. "Alright, bathtime," Cass said after they ate.
"No!" Hiro jumped down, running off to his and Tadashi's room to hide under his bed. After some bribing and tickling, Hiro was in the tub with his knees up to his chest and hair flat against his head, soaked.
"I'm going to get your PJs," Cass said, leaving the bathroom. On second thought, she added, "No splashing and making a big mess!"
Tadashi came in after her she left, "How's that tooth?"
"It still huuuurts," Hiro answered dramatically.
Tadashi laughed, "You know it's gotta come out, right?"
"No it don't!" he covered his mouth protectively.
Tadashi nodded, "Oh yeah, I lost mine. I've only got one left, actually." He said.
"Nu-uh, you got all your teeth, Dashi." Hiro laughed, gripping the side of the tub.
"Nu-uh, these aren't the same. Their grown up teeth. When your body thinks you're ready to be a grown up, it gives you new teeth. You do wanna be a grown up, right?" He knew that Hiro, like a lot of kids, couldn't wait to grow up. Even if only to be more like himself, which was cute.
Hiro's eyes lit up, "Yank it out, yank it out, nii-chan!" He stretched out, reaching for the older.
"Get back in the water, young man!" Cass fussed when she came back in. She sat the boy's pajamas on the toilet and knelt down to attempt to clean her nephew.
"Aunt Cass, when does my tooth come out?" Hiro pressed on through the washcloth rubbing his face.
"Oh now you wanna lose the tooth? What changed?"
"Dashi!"
Tadashi snickered from the doorway, "What can I say, I've got a way with him." Cass rolled her eyes and finished washing Hiro and drying him off. She wiggled him into his favorite PJs, the ones with Iron Man on them. Hiro sat on the toilet while Cass got a damp cloth out, and the realness of the situation hit the four-year-old. Tadashi noticed the fear and crouched beside him, taking the child's tiny hand for comfort.
"On three, ready?" With a nod, she gripped the loose tooth, "One, two," Yank!
"OWIE!" Hiro cried out, throwing himself back and clamping his free hand over his mouth. A cup of water was thrust in front of his line of vision, and he hesitantly took it.
"Don't swallow, just spit it out in the sink." Cass said while washing off the bloody tooth.
Hiro spit, eyes wide at the amount of blood that had just come out of his mouth. Cass snickered and showed him the tooth. "Now we just put it under your pillow and the tooth fairy'll come." She cooed, tucking a strand of hair behind the child's ear.
"Tooth fairy?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot about her. She gives you money." Tadashi explained. Hiro grinned, jumping in excitement.
"Bed time! Bed time! Bed time!" he jumped, taking the tooth presented to him and running upstairs.
The next morning, Hiro woke with a grin that nearly took over his whole face. He flipped over and noticed glitter next to his pillow and his breath hitched. He gently lifted up his pillow and squealed, grabbing the silver dollar. "Dashi! Dashi, look, lookit, nii-chan!"
"What?" Tadashi groggily sat up, rubbing at his eyes.
"Look what the tooth fairy left!" he jumped on his bottom, waving the coin wildly.
Tadashi grinned, "Know what you're gonna do with that?"
"Gummy Bears!"
And thus my tradition continues of putting little characters through teeth loss.
Nii-chan = Big Brother, essentially.
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