Combo Prompt: Jason is a helicopter parent + Swimming Lessons
Alfred - 79
Bruce - 45
Dick - 27
Jason - 24
Tim - 17
Damian - 11
Kaden - 1
It was a nice, warm sunny day at Wayne Manor, as the entire family got together for a barbecue; Tim and Damian were wrestling in the grass, and Jason was helping Alfred with the cooking. Jason was terrible in the kitchen, but give him a grill and he did amazing work. The grill itself was more like a pavilion, and looked extremely expensive, but Bruce spared no expense when it came to their little family events. Frankly, and no one (with the exception of Alfred) would say it out loud, Bruce was going soft in his old age.
It had its own bar with seating for eight people, a grill, a deep fryer, stainless steel sink, food warmer, a mini fridge, LED lighting and even an iPod station with speakers that they were using to play music. Jason was busy cooking steaks, burgers and hot dogs on the grill while Alfred prepared everything else and stocked the mini fridge.
"Master Jason, why don't you go enjoy yourself and allow me to take over?" Alfred suggested. Jason glanced back at the old man and flashed a smile, moving out of the old man's way; one simply did not argue with Alfred. Dressed in a white tank top and red swimming trunks, Jason opted to lounge a bit in the sun, throwing off his tank top and making himself comfortable in a lawn chair. He heard Kaden giggle and Dick laughing coming from the manor, but didn't really bother to look. He heaved a contented sigh and folded his hands behind his head. That was until Damian and Tim's wrestling brought them his way and knocked him out of his lawn chair.
Jason fell to the ground with a thud, the air rushing from his lungs. He eyes flew open and landed upon the two perpetrators.
"Hey!" He shouted at them, getting to his feet. The two of them stopped for a moment to look in his direction before returning to their little skirmish. Jason grinned then and joined the fray, grabbing each of them back the backs of their shirts.
"Alright you little shits, time for a little payback! You're both going for a dip!" Jason said with a wicked grin.
"You wouldn't dare, Todd!" Damian fired back.
"Jason-" Tim tried, but Jason shushed the both of them and started dragging them toward the pool.
"Fight all you want, this is happening," he said with a laugh. Which quickly faded when he actually saw the pool. Dick was in the pool and had his hands out to Kaden who was standing on the edge of it. He gasped a little and dropped the both of them, running for the pool.
"DICK, GET MY BABY AWAY FROM THAT POOL," he shouted. Everyone dropped what they were doing when Jason shouted, all eyes falling on him, Dick and Kaden. Dick looked up at Jason in shock as the man grabbed Kaden up into his arms and hauled him away from the edge of the pool.
"Jason, relax. I'm right here with him," Dick said calmly, leaning against the edge of the pool.
"He could've drowned, Dick!" Jason snapped back. Dick glared at him a bit offended as he pulled himself out of the pool.
"I can swim y'know, Jas-"
"Yeah, well Kaden can't!" Jason interrupted. The others descended onto the scene as Dick and Jason's squabbling descended into fighting. Kaden started to cry, upset at the two of them fighting and that was when Alfred intervened, rescuing baby Kaden from the fighting pair. Jason turned to say something, but Alfred gave him one of his famous, well placed glares to silence him.
"You two are scheduled for couple's counseling tomorrow with Dinah. You've been fighting a lot, and I won't hear excuses," Bruce put in, eyes darting back and forth between the two of them.
"What?!" They both asked incredulously, as Tim and Damian snickered on the sidelines.
"It was my idea," Alfred pipped up, rocking the baby as he started to calm down. "I instructed Master Bruce to set it up. Frankly, you both need a little therapy." Alfred said with finality, making his way into the manor. Once he was gone, Tim and Damian busted out into a fit of laughter.
"Okay, that's it, you're both dead," Jason growled, chasing after the two of them.
._._._._.
Dick and Jason sat on a love seat in one of the sitting rooms of the manor with Dinah across from them. They'd been silent for the whole ten minutes so far, not talking to each other, or Dinah, but she was a patient woman, however. Finally, she opted to engage them.
"So Dick, Jason. Alfred and Bruce tell me you had an...incident the other day," Dinah said carefully. Jason sat up, shooting a glare over at Dick, then looked to Dinah.
"Yes. Dick tried to drown my baby," Jason said. Dick glared at him and shook his head.
"Lay off. I wasn't trying to drown him, I was trying to teach him to swim!" Dick retorted. Jason snorted, preparing a reply of his own, but Dinah interrupted him.
"Why did Dick having Kaden near the pool make you feel uncomfortable, Jason?" she asked. Jason gave her an incredulously look at the question.
"Why do you think? It's nine fucking feet deep!" Jason replied.
"I had it under control Jason! I was right there, he would have been perfectly safe!" Dick responded. Jason snorted and shook his head.
"You don't know that! Accidents happen!" Jason replied.
"You're overprotective, Jason!" Dick responded, getting to his feet.
"I am not!" Jason shot back.
"Jason, you hover over Kaden all the time, you've baby proofed every corner in the apartment, and you even hover when I'm watching him!" And so the two of them started bickering again. Dinah heaved a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was a patient woman, but even she had her limits.
"Jason wore water wings when he was fourteen!" Dick blurted out. The entire room fell silent, a horrified expression spreading across Jason's face. Even Dick seemed a little surprised by the admission. Suddenly, Jason scowled darkly.
"You swore you'd never tell anyone!" Jason snapped. "It's not like I had a lot of opportunities to learn how to swim when I was growing up on the streets, Dick."
"Did you just-" Dick began, scowling at the emphasis on his name.
"Yeah, I did-"
"Hold on, Jason," Dinah said firmly, interrupting them before another argument could break out "tell me a little bit about that." Jason's face burned red as he recalled the event, his first time learning to swim. He knew what Dinah was asking though.
"I...almost drowned as Robin once. Because I was ashamed to tell anyone I didn't know how to swim," Jason began, huffing as he ran a hand through his hair and continued. "Dick got wind of it and came by the manor to help teach me to swim. With water wings." Jason shot a glare over at Dick, who gave an innocent shrug.
"I wasn't trying to embarrass you Jason," Dick said In a soft voice. "I was just trying to help."
"I think I see the issue here. Jason, Dick is right, you're overprotective, but I think it has a lot to do with how you were raised," Dinah suggested. She smiled and nodded toward Dick. "Try trusting Dick a little bit more. He loves you and he's trying to help you. Let him."
"Jaybird, do you really think I'd ever let anything happen to Kaden?" Dick asked, patting his shoulder soothingly. Jason heaved a sigh and shook his head.
"No. No of course not."
._._._._.
A few weeks later, when the day was warm and sunny, the entire Wayne family attempted to have that barbecue once more, since the last one turned out...well, badly. Tim and Damien were playing football and Bruce was helping Alfred with the grill. As for Jason and Dick, they were both in the pool in their swim shorts, holding their hands out for baby Kaden as the little boy sat at the edge of the pool.
"C'mon Kaden!" Dick called to him.
"C'mon buddy, you can do it!" Jason added in. Kaden let out a shrill giggle and pushed himself into the pool. Jason flinched noticeably when Kaden fell into the pool, his heart hammering in his chest, but his fear was for naught, as the little boy bobbed back up the surface moments later, giggling happily.
"That's it! Swim to daddy!" Jason called. Dick smiled warmly as the boy attempted to swim to his father, guilding him with a hand on his stomach from underneath. Kaden reached out for his dad and let out a shrill giggle as Jason hugged him.
"That's my boy!" Jason said proudly. Dick smiled and pressed a kiss to Jason's temple.
"See? Nothing to worry about."