CHAPTER TWO: IN WHICH JACK GAINS TWO UNCLES AND ONE AUNT
The first thing North does upon his return to the Pole is set out the Northern Lights, calling the guardians to him with urgency. The second thing his does is hand Jack, still sleeping thank god, to Phil with the commands to renovate the bedroom closest to North's into a suitable nursery and to get the child into something that wasn't a blanket.
The third and final thing he does is up the protection surrounding the Pole to an eleven. It was already high to start with, but if the Snow Queen was right then Pitch would be keeping an eye out for winter spirits in order to finish his task. The thought of Pitch getting to Jack made North shudder, and thus, extra protection was a must.
Spells finished, North finally settled down into his favourite arm chair with an exhausted sigh. He was getting too old for this, he was. He had finally settled down in his study, a small room off the main workshop that was wonderful for planning and discussions.
And telling your teammates that you're now apparently a father, that works too.
Eventually Phil returns with a handful of laughing baby, now in footie pajama edition. The yeti is quick to drop Jack into North's awaiting arms, and in his garbled language informs North that the bedroom is in mid Reno, and that the Guardians are arriving.
Jack squirms around in North's arms, flailing around in an attempt to see more of the room around him. North sits comfortably, making sure to keep at least one hand on the baby at all times. North couldn't help the feeling that this particular child was going to be a handful, both literally and metaphorically.
On that note, was he even ready for something like this? Now that the gravity of the situation had worn off a touch, North couldn't help but think about the long term consequences to this agreement. Children were so vulnerable, so needy, and North wasn't sure if he'd be able to devote the amount of time needed to raise a child, let alone an immortal child. Oh god, what if Jack turned out wrong? What if he failed and raised Jack wrong? What if North broke him oh god he can't handle a child what was he thinking-
"So, North, what seems ta be th' problem?" A voice rings out through the study, generously coated in a think Australian accent.
North laughs, turning to look at E. Aster Bunnymund with a smile on his face. "Much has happened, old friend." North says, "And there is much to discuss, but we wait until others arrive, da?"
"Sure, sure, but- North." The rabbit's tone goes from teasing to surprised in a split second. "North. Where'd you get a baby?"
Said baby simply sticks a hand in his gummy mouth and coos, blue eyes flicking around the room in wonder. Eventually they settle on Bunny, only to flick back to North, then to the window, and back again.
"All will be explained, Bunny." North says casually, attempting to look mysterious.
"Right. But if I find out you kidnapped some kid and brought him here, I'm going back to the Warren faster than you can down a glass of milk, mate."
"Bah, you are no fun."
They exchange pleasantries for a while longer, Bunny making a point to not look at Jack for the entire conversation, even when Jack grows bored of scanning the room and goes to gumming his fingers and North is forced to make him stop in foresight of a bad habit.
Tooth arrives next, her slew of fairies following her every move as she flitters around the room at a mile a minute, poking and prodding at Jack who only flails around and tries to latch on to her arm in return. That in particular makes her nearly squeal, and North suddenly finds himself relieved of his armful of baby.
Sandy arrives last, though he doesn't show any amount of surprise or shock on his face when shown Jack, so North is forced to shove away the sneaking suspicion that the man of sand already knew what had happened in Antarctica.
Speaking of which.
"I am sure you are all wondering why Jack is here," North begins, not quite sure how to phrase that at least three hundred of the most powerful spirits in the world were dead. "The Winter Court was attacked... and defeated."
There's a collective gasp around the room, one of Tooth's teal hands coming up to cover her mouth as she does so, and then the barrage of questions begin.
"When?"
"Why?"
"How, North?"
The Cossack sighs, running a hand through his beard. "Pitch." He begins, holding up a hand to stop the inevitable onslaught of anger at the mention of the Nightmare King.
"Pitch attacked while they were distracted, while they were busy. He swarmed them, and they were unable to compete. When I got there almost everyone was long dead." He pauses, not sure if he should bring up Death or no, but continues on anyway.
"I was looking for survivors when I happened upon the Ice Queen and-"
"Is she okay?" Tooth blurts out, quickly apologizing. North understood. Toothiana and the Snow Queen were actually quite good friends, what with them being two of the few female spirits around. Tooth's face falls at North's silence, and she quietly casts a downtrodden gaze at Jack, who pulls a face at her.
"She was alive when I found her," The Russian continues, "But she is no longer. I was too late and wounds were too bad. But she asked of me a favour. That I look after her newly born son."
All eyes in the room flick to Jack, and then back to North in shock.
"An immortal child?" Bunny says, shocked at the very idea. "But. Immortal children aren't supposed to be... they're an impossibility."
"Da." North says solemnly. "And yet here he is." The Russian relives Tooth of the baby, his baby, and absentmindedly props Jack up against his belly so the child can get a good look at the room around him. Curious little thing, Jack Frost, yet another indication of him growing up to be a difficult child.
The others were bickering amongst themselves, mostly over what to do next. North was content to just sit back and let them fight whatever it was out. He was no longer in his youth, and in all truthfulness he wanted to go flop down and nap for a few hours. Jack mirrors his wishes, letting out a comically large yawn.
It isn't until the harsh ringing of an elf's bell rings through the study that all attention is turned to Sandy, who was glaring at them all and huffing in exasperation. Once all eyes are on him, the little golden man began his piece.
A golden snowflake puffed into existence above Sandy's wild hair, quickly turning into a tiny Snow Queen. The little image of the Queen began to cry over exaggerated tears, only for a sand moon to appear above her and begin showering her with it's rays. She then began to grow around her midsection, obviously pregnant, and the smile on her tiny golden face was as bright as the sun. The sand image then disappeared, collapsing in upon itself in a tiny poof.
The other Guardians looked at their oldest, before nodding.
"Should'a guessed Manny was behind dis." Bunny grunts, looking skyward.
Tooth gave a small smile, nodding to herself. "Eira always wanted children. I thought she had given up that dream a long time ago, but apparently not."
A silence descends on the group, all sinking into their own thoughts on what to do next. North slumps deeper into the chair, Tooth settles onto a nearby couch, occasionally whispering orders to her fairies. Bunny paces, hopping from one edge of the room to another. Sandy, North is pretty sure, falls asleep as soon as they all stop talking.
Finally Tooth sighs, looking at North pointedly.
"North." She begins. "I don't mean any offense, but are you sure you can even devote the amount of energy it takes to raise a child? Let alone the time? Jack's not like one of your elves, he's... breakable. All kids are."
"But zat is why we protect them, da?" North retorts, playing idly with Jack's single tuff of white hair. "I am not idiot Tooth, I know Jack is not elf. Much too cute." He accents this with a soft poke to Jack's belly, who in return flails around and babbles.
"Besides." The Russian continues. "I am best choice for replacement parent. You and Sandy are much too busy to tote around little one. Bunny, no offense, but I am closest genetic match to child. And Eira herself gave him to me. Jack is staying at ze Pole, and zat is final."
Bunny snorts at North's second point, but nods along all the same. "North's got a point." The rabbit shrugs. "The brat's mum gave 'im ta North, and hell if I'm getting in the way of that. I say North keeps 'im."
Sandy nods in agreement, giving North a thumbs up. Tooth sighs, but relents all the same.
"If anyone is asking," North says quietly, "Jack is my child from old romance with mortal woman. She died, and Jack came to me. This will be excuse for Jack being immortal, and maybe having powers."
The Guardians nod, the silent statement that nothing from this room would be repeated to anyone other than themselves go unsaid.
"Now, my friends," North says, standing up and ushering them out of the study. "Tonight we celebrate, da? We have new child to baby and coddle, to heart's content!"
They all laugh at North's enthusiasm, and with that the tension leaves the Guardians as they all gather close to meet their newest family member.
(THIS IS A LINE. ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL?)
Jack, for all extensive purposes, had been a tiny little angel. The key word being had, even as North sighs for the umpteenth time before trying again to get the fussy child to sleep. The great Russian tries once again to set the child down into the crib the yetis had thrown together. Jack doesn't like this in the slightest, whining and making displeased noises all while he buries his tiny fists into North's white beard. The baby doesn't even reach the bottom of the crib before North gives up as Jack gives a particularly hard tug on the hair. Lifting the child once again from the crib, to Jack's infinite delight, North lets slip a curse in Russian as the child buries himself into North's red coat.
"This had better not become habit." The guardian of wonder mutters, sinking into a nearby chair with a great sigh. Jack smiles slightly, and North can swear that the child is smirking.
But he still shifts Jack slightly, slouching into the plush of the red chair. It was a comfortable old chair, tall backed and sturdy, and dang it was really comfy and- wait no, no falling asleep, he had to keep an eye out for Pitch. Even though the lights were on, one could never truly abandon shadow, and Pitch had the fear of so many powering him... no sleeping. Even if the chair was nice and soft and the fire was blazing and warm. No sleeping, North chided himself slightly, even as heavy eyelids slid shut and a stupidly loud snoring filled the room.
(THIS IS A LINE. ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL?)
Death was a creature of schedule. They lived for timelines and fixed events, and for making sure that each life ended when they had to, as well as keeping time running smoothly. Death saw to everything, as well as making sure that certain things happened when they did.
The annihilation of the Winter Court happened to be one of those things.
Sure Death had liked them as much as they could like a group of sentient beings, but there was still the fact that they had to die in order for time and space to keep on chugging as it was supposed to.
Omelets and eggs, and all that.
But it still irritated the finisher of life when Pitch Black sauntered alongside them as they worked, happy as a clam if the shark like smirk was anything to go off of. The King of Nightmares followed Death as they wandered the ice corridors of the Ice Castle, the skeleton occasionally stooping to disperse a soul to it's next destination.
The two dark figures walk in tense silence, Death not wanting conversation –or company for that matter- while Pitch is unable to find a place to start. The hallways, much like the rest of the palace, were grand and ornate, detailed with so much care and precision by those who's bodies now litter it's grounds.
Pitch is the first to break the smothering silence.
"I have changed my fate." He states proudly, displaying teeth Death would so very much like to knock out. "I've killed them all, have I not?"
Death chooses to correct him on the wrongness of the first point, but not the second, if not for Nicolas then for the child in the guardian's care.
After carefully choosing his words, Death creaks his jaw open, and stops to look at the young –at least to Death- king.
"You have yet to change anything, shadow man." They say blandly, "If anything, you have solidified your future."
Pitch splutters at this, glaring at the entity in front of him, his grey face switching from confusion to anger then back again, fluttering like a sparrow across the Nightmare King's face.
"What." He hisses, stalking up to the cloaked figure he tried so hard to mirror. "What do you mean? You told me that I would be slain by a harbinger of winter, but I have destroyed them all! How can I be killed by someone already dead?"
"Time works in mysterious ways, Kozmotis. What is true one day can warp into tomorrow's lie."
Pitch sneers at that. Death feels the small joy of victory course through their bones because pardon their French but fuck this guy.
"Stop talking in riddles." The Nightmare King demands, stomping his foot like a whining child. "I thought you were on my side of this war."
"I am on no one's side during a war; I am simply the aftermath of it all. And I like my riddles, so you can sod off."
Death re-enters the main entrance, still chipping away at the massive amount of souls to be dispersed and send on their ways.
"I always have my purposes." Death continues, waving a bone hand nonchalantly. "And you would do well not to question them. I say what I need to, no more no less. Do not think me an idiot because I will not play your moronic games. You are still going to die at the hands of a bringer of ice and snow, and as of now there is nothing that can change that."
"That's where you're wrong." Pitch hisses, slinking around behind Death. "Just because I have yet to kill them doesn't mean I won't. I will hunt them to the ends of the Earth, and there will be nowhere for them to hide, nowhere to run. I will destroy them, and you will be visiting them first, not I."
Rant concluded, Pitch slinks back into his beloved shadows to sulk and plot.
Death scoffs and goes back to work, bending over the nearest corpse with ease, all while muttering "Yeah, good luck with that, jackass."
On the exact opposite side of the planet, Nicolas St. North wakes with a start, suddenly unable to shake the feeling of being watched.
A/N Howdy doo everybody! Thanks for all of your great reviews on chapter one and for all the likes and follows :D Also, before you all ask, yes there is going to be an actual plot in the future of this fic, I just really wanted to get a crap-and-a-half-load of fluff because I can before we start the plot-relevant feels. Because reasons. And it's not one of my fics until blood starts flying. Jack is eventually going to grow up, given another a few chapters and he'll be our normal Jack Frost once again, meaning we can torture the shit out of him :D
In reply to a few questions that have been asked, North is the movie version in this (aka the old grandpa version) because I am woefully uneducated on the books and thus cannot write about them with any real intelligence, in a sense, so movieverse it is :D
Also, Jack is going to speak pretty much the way he does in the movie once he's grown, despite growing up with North. Usually a person's accent depends on where they were raised, as opposed to where their parents were. I can speak from experience (my grandparents both have outrageous accents, one British the other Irish, and all of their children including my father speak like any other Canadian) that this is the case. However, Jack may pick up some Russian from North, due to North flipping between English and Russian on a whim. If anything, I think he'd actually speak a lot of yetish.
Thanks for reading, guys!