Hi guys!
This is the second story in the collection, it's called Running home to you .
The story is based off of the scene when Henry tells Barry about his first steps.
KatTheGracefulKlutz. Thank you so much! Flash is an awesome show, isn't it? Thank you for readying!
Running home to you.
"C'mon Barr! You can do it!"
Nora Allen looked up from the book she was reading, in the floor her husband was practically begging their fourteen month old son to walk, to take his first steps. But instead Bartholomew just held tightly onto the table bouncing up and down and roaring with laughter.
Nora smiled. "Henry, stop pestering him, Barry will walk when he has someplace to go." She told him, putting down her book and sitting in the floor beside her baby.
Henry rolled his eyes jokingly, but turned attention back to his son who was now trying to crawl over to where all of his toys had been placed. "Nuh uh, Bartholomew," he said, making his son stand, "try to walk, no more crawling."
Barry looked up at his father and began whining, causing Nora to laugh. "Come here Bartholomew, I gotcha." She said, making Barry hold out his arms.
Nora held him in her lap, playing with his tufts of brown hair. She kissed the top of his head. "Is daddy trying to make you walk before you're ready, Barry?" She playfully asked, causing him coo and gurgle.
Nora looked up at Henry, their eyes locking for a second, smiles on both of their faces. Their son meant the world to them, he was their light, they woke up every morning to be with him.
They looked down at Barry, his head was leaned against Nora's chest, his hand balled into a fist and placed in his mouth. He looked up at his mother and smiled, his forest green eyes glowing brightly with happiness.
Nora kissed the top of his head again, then stood him up, holding onto his hands as he stood on her lap. "Bartholomew!" She cooed, "are you teasing daddy?" She rubbed her nose against Barry's.
Barry scrunched up his face and let out a shriek at such a velocity that shocked his mother, that was the last thing she expected from her fourteen month old.
"Wow, didn't know you had that in you, Slugger." Henry laughed, rubbing the boy's shoulder.
···
"You know, Joe's daughter Iris started walking a month ago," started Henry, looking over to where his son stood in his portable crib while Nora cooked dinner, "she's three months younger than Bartholomew."
Nora rolled her eyes from where she stood. "Does that really matter?" She asked, "Iris is a completely different child, she's not Barry... and before you say it, Bartholomew is not a late bloomer, this is completely normal."
Henry picked up a knife and began to chop zucchini and squash. "Yeah, but he hasn't even taken a step, Nora, don't you find that a bit odd?" He sighed.
She turned off the stove and walked over to where Bartholomew stood. She absent mindedly ran a hand through his silky hair. "No, he just doesn't have anywhere to go." She told him, Barry joining the conversation with a high pitched coo, "he'll walk."
Henry sighed.
···
"So, Barry hasn't started walking yet?" Joe West asked, looking at the child playing with his daughter.
Nora sighed from her place in the grass beside them. "Not you too, Joe," she said, watching her baby try to catch up with the walking eleven month old, "Bartholomew will walk when he wants to!"
Joe was about to reply when Barry erupted with a wail, causing everyone's attention to jump to the children. Barry was sitting down tears running down his face, clearly upset that he hadn't been able to catch up to Iris.
"Hey," Nora soothed, picking him up and placing him in her lap, "I gotcha." She rubbed his back and wiped away his tears.
Iris waddled over to Joe and sat in his lap, watching as Barry's wails reduce to sniffles and whimpers.
Barry kept his head on Nora's chest, a few runaway tears falling from his eyes every once in awhile. He sat there until he fell asleep, then she moved him to a shaded part of the yard where they had laid a blanket earlier.
As Iris went to go join him the adults looked at each other. "Poor kid..." Joe sighed, adjust his position now that his daughter was sleeping beside Barry.
Henry nodded, looking at the babies. "I still can't believe Iris is walking before Barry.." He told Joe, causing Nora to sigh again.
····
Nora looked at Barry, he sat in the floor patiently waiting for her to be finished cleaning up dinner. It amazed her that he was watching her so intently, watching her go through the different phases of cleaning dishes, it really wasn't that interesting..
After she finished putting them away she turned towards her son. "Hey Barr!" She cooed, picking him up.
Barry smiled, and squealed, leaning in and putting his head against his mother's.
Nora kissed the tip of his nose, then walked into the living room where Henry sat on the couch finishing up some work.
Nora put Barry on the floor, then sat herself. Barry instantly crawled over to the table and stood up, looking at his mother and smiled wide at his achievement.
She chuckled and smiled back. "Hey Bartholomew, why don't you go get your dinosaur book and I'll read it to you."
Barry's eyes lit up as he dropped himself to the ground and crawled over to where they had placed all of his toys. He picked up the book and turned around, crawling back to his mother.
He stayed quiet, as Nora read to him, cooing quietly at the end, then taking the book from his mom and putting it in his mouth.
"Barry!" She gently scolded, taking the book out of his mouth, "we can't eat books!" She standing up, placing Barry on the floor, then putting up the book.
When she turned around she laughed in surprise as Barry took a wobbly step before running straight into her arms.
She held him tight, laughing and crying as Henry stood up and sat with his arm around her, laughing too as he ruffled his son's hair. "Way to go, Slugger!" He praised.
Nora held Barry close. "I told you," she said, wiping away a tear, "I told you he'd walk when he had someplace to go."
And he did, they didn't know it then, but that was the beginning of a lifetime of running for their son, The Flash.
