Disclaimer: I... please finish the sentence for me, Captain Law. I'm not ordering you around, I swear.
Law: *looks at the author suspiciously* Land-ya doesn't own One Piece. Land-ya claims to own me and Cora-san, though, so... *unsheathes Kikoku* Room.
*Author runs for dear life*
Author's note: Sorry for the grammar/spelling mistakes, guys! Ehehehe... And by the way! I'll be welcoming questions, random or no, about anything and everything under the sun so if you have one, fire away! Personal questions (if the author deems as such) will be answered via PM, though. I'll be putting the chosen question before the start of a chapter, so ask away if you have any. That is, if you only want to. *smiles widely*
As requested by justaCupcake: "3-4 year-old Law saying he can do stuff (like going to the bathroom, taking a bath, getting dressed, etc) on his own because he's already a man and Cora-san freaking out because his baby is all grown up."
Well, it turned out more to be Law claiming to be a man already... but he's still *shuts up because author is about to basically summarize the chapter*
Already a Man
Corazon woke up early that morning feeling happy and energetic. He felt as if something remarkable was about to take place today and the young father hoped that it would be for his entire family's benefit. With a grin, the blond jumped out of bed and stretched. His grin widened in satisfaction when his joints seemed to pop with approval at every stretch and pull, the last vestiges of lethargy swiftly leaving him. Nodding, Corazon settled on the floor and started doing one-handed push ups.
Ten minutes later (and after doing some sit ups), Corazon quickly wiped the sweat off his face and discarded his tank top when the sound of footsteps reached his keen hearing. He looked at the alarm clock on his bedside drawer and smiled – no doubt his tiny angel was already awake. Honey brown eyes swept past the entirety of the room to check if there was something particularly hazardous to little children inside before settling on the door after he deemed that the place was quite safe and child-friendly. A wide smile graced his features when the door swung open to reveal his little three year-old son looking at him sleepily.
"Buenos dias, Law!" the blond chirped merrily at the raven-haired boy, wide smile ever present on his face. "Did you sleep we-"
"Breffest. Hungry," Law mumbled a bit grumpily, tiny fists trying to wipe the sleep off his eyes. "Papa Cora, wanna eat."
With that, Law stalked off towards the kitchen. Corazon blinked at what had just occurred and lifted a hand to scratch his not-itchy head, a bewildered expression painted on his face. Shrugging lightly, he pulled himself off the wooden floor, grabbed a clean shirt, and followed after his son.
Breakfast was in order.
+.+
To say that breakfast that morning had been messy was an understatement.
After burning his apron while cooking cheese omelet for Law, Corazon accidentally dropped his mug of coffee – because it was too hot and he didn't pay too much attention on how hot it actually was – which he replaced with another one, only to have it share the same fate with the first and NOT to mention the third mug that ended up smashed against the wall. He had settled for cereal but that one ended up badly – there was cereal and milk on the floor but by some miraculous intervention, the bowl remained intact.
The blond was too keen on acting like he did not know how those… disasters happened, but the look three year-old Law was giving him only gave way to what Corazon really had imbued in his bones since birth.
"Stupid clumsiness," he mumbled under his breath, looking quite chagrined as he proceeded to clean the mess he made. The blond waved a hand at his son in a don't-mind-me-just-eat-your-food manner and grinned. "Papa just keeps on doing dumb things that he can't help, eh?"
A fierce, thoroughly mortified blush appeared on Corazon's face when Law nodded in agreement, fork still in the toddler's mouth. The young father hid his embarrassment with a laugh and ruffled his son's hair.
"Sí. I'm a hopeless case," the blond admitted in mock defeat, a mock rueful smile on his face. "I'm so clumsy and I can't eve-"
The moment Corazon's free hand found the surface of the table, two unexplainable things occurred.
(For the sake of everyone's sanity, let's just ignore the sarcasm implied by the italicized word and pretend that we're all ignorant of the existence of Donquixote "Corazon" Rocinante's most striking feature. No, no, not his silky, golden hair nor soulful honey brown eyes, and most definitely not his angelic face and smoking hot body that every woman would die for, either.
Corazon was – must be – the clumsiest person in the whole of mankind.)
Corazon's hand slipped upon contact with the table. Law's glass of milk – still untouched by the child who was busy shoveling cheese omelet in his mouth – was sent toppling on the toddler's lap, but not before splashing the three year-old with a generous amount of the creamy liquid. The blond's excellent reflexes (thank heavens God loved him) allowed him to catch the glass before it could make contact with the hardwood floor.
A heavy silence blanketed the kitchen and it was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.
Father and son looked at the new mess with wide eyes, the latter then blinking when drops of milk travelled from his hair down his chubby cheeks. Corazon was quite sure that his face was now the same shade as Shanks's hair when Law shot him a look that could only be translated as look-what-you've-done-this-time-clumsy. Or at least that was how the blond interpreted it.
The toddler wiped his face with his small hands and surveyed his wet pajama top and bottom. Law picked on his shirt and pouted at the way the milk-stained fabric clung to his skin.
"Er…" Corazon started, feeling compelled to be the one to break the silence. He gingerly lifted his son off the chair and put the latter back to his feet. "S-Sorry about that, dear heart. Um, I'll… uh… clean up first before helping you bathe, alright?"
To the young father's surprise Law shook his head, took his top off, and wrung it to try to get rid of the remaining liquid. Corazon's jaw dropped at the grin his son flashed him and at the words he spoke next.
"Don't worry 'bout me, Papa," little Law said confidently, wide grin reminding Corazon of his older brother Doflamingo's. "I can do that myself. I'm already a man!"
The blond could only watch, mouth agape, as his son swaggered off towards the bathroom with a confident smile – who else could've influenced Law with… whatever the hell that was? – that reminded him of a promenading peacock.
Little did Corazon know that it was only the start of a long day.
+.+
True to his word, Law had managed to bathe himself entirely on his own. By the time Corazon finished cleaning the kitchen (without any more clumsy goings on), the blond then made his way towards the bathroom only to find his son wrapped in a towel and the place tidied up. If truth be told, the young father expected the tub still filled with soapy water and bubbles coating every inch of the floor but he found nothing of the sort.
A proud smile stretched his lips at his little wonder's proclamation that he had put away the things he used after taking a bath. Law even placed his ruined clothes in the laundry!
(The kid merely dumped his pajamas with the rest of the dirty clothes, but still…!)
What a responsible kid. Corazon was more than proud!
With a happy look on his face, Corazon followed Law as the latter trotted off towards his bedroom and helped the child pick up what to wear for the day. The three year-old ended up choosing a white hoodie complete with cottony bear ears attached on the hood and plain blue shorts.
"Here's your shirt, Law," the young father said, ready to help his son in dressing up. But the toddler merely took the shirt from Corazon and wore it himself, finding the right holes to where he should put his arms and head through. The same was done with the rest of his clothes.
"I'll tie your shoelaces!" Corazon offered helpfully, smile slowly transforming into a frantic expression when his son grinned and shook his raven head politely.
"I wanna do them on my own, Pa. I'm already a man!" came the toddler's reply.
He said it again!
Corazon internally panicked. Sure, he was proud that Law was already showing capabilities of doing simple things on his own at such a young age, but he couldn't help but feel uneasy at the unnaturalness of it all. When lunch came and his son still refused to be aided with things someone his age was deemed incapable of doing on their own such as refilling his plate with food and going to the bathroom on his own hours later, the young father's panic grew in strength even further.
"Law, bedtime," Corazon started rather cautiously that evening when he noticed his little son slowly nodding off on the couch. The blond turned the television off and moved to pick the little one up only for Law to stir and nod at his words. He shot the toddler a smile, opened his arms, and gently struck a wonderful offer no sleepy child would pass off. "Carry you off the bed?"
Little Law blinked at the inviting offer and looked up at his father with a small frown on his face. He yawned and hopped off the couch before giving his father a look of childish betrayal.
"Am not a baby 'nymore," the three year-old whined sleepily with a pout. Rubbing his eyes with his fists, he turned his back on the visibly-panicking Corazon and slowly headed off towards his bedroom. "Law's a man already!"
That reasoning again! The blond thought frantically, worrying his bottom lip rather viciously as he followed after his nearly stumbling son dutifully. My little angel kept on insisting that he's already a man the whole day. A horrified expression filled Corazon's face and he bit his nails in panic as realization dawned on him. What if he doesn't need me anymore?
A soft, keening sound escaped the blond, making Law stop on his tracks and look back up at the older male. Corazon stared back at his son, lower lip jutting out and trembling, and face scrunched up in exaggerated sadness. Big, fat tears streamed out of the young father's eyes and he pulled fistfuls of his shaggy, golden hair in horror when his son seemed to only blink up at him. What followed next from the taller male was a nearly incomprehensible word vomit to anyone listening that made the three year-old tilt his head to the side in utter bewilderment.
"OHMYGODMYDARLINGBOYDOESN'TNEEDMEANYMOREBECAUSEHECLAIMSTOBEAMANALREADYPLEASEDON'TKICKMEOUTOFMYOWNHOUSELAWYOU'RESTILLMYBABYANDINEEDTODOTEONYOU-"
"Papa Cora."
"PLEASELAWDON'TGROWUPYETMYSQUISHYADORABLYCUTESONPLEASESAYTHATYOU'RESTILLMYBABYBOYANDYOUSTILLNEEDYOURAWESOMPAPACORA-"
"Papa Cora!" Law yelled in an adorably high-pitched voice a toddler his age could muster, effectively cutting off Corazon's frantic and pitiful rant. The little boy pouted when he finally caught his father's attention.
The young father's hands quickly abandoned tugging at his hair and ignored his trembling knees in favor of holding the child's shoulders and kneeling in front of him.
"Yes, son?!"
Law tched, shook his head in fond exasperation, and lifted a tiny hand to clutch his papa's nose and pulled. A series of ow's slipped past Corazon's lips (Law had a tight grip despite his size!), coaxing a small smile of amusement out of the little boy.
"You'll always be my awesum papa, Papa Cora," Law reassured the blond, prompting a joyful cry from the older male. The child's cheeks pinked with happiness at his father's joy, and he looked away to hide it.
"YES!" the young father cheered joyfully, tears of happiness trailing down his cheeks.
Law then pouted and puffed his cheeks indignantly. He let go of his dad's nose and smirked rather smugly which quickly wiped the goofy smile off the blond's face. The three year-old whispered quite ominously, "Law is already a man…!"
"NO!"
A~nd there you guys have it! (Hope it turned out to be alright... *laughs rather awkwardly)
Response to reviews from the previous chapter:
SEllen23 - Thank you! Really? Ehehe, pretty much done the same thing while I was writing that scene. *smiles*
sarge1130 - Very well said, buddy! *two thumbs up* You do? That's really nice to hear. *smiles widely* Thanks so much! *hugs you*
Son of Whitebeard - Ah, thanks! And I should've told you this since day one, but your username really rocks. *grins*
Transformers' BABY - Yeah, you're right. And he's scared that Law might hate him... Poor Corazon. I hope Law would tell his dear papa someday that he knows that he's adopted and he'll never hate Papa Cora for it. Here's an update, buddy! *smiles widely*
Lunapok - Ehehe, yeah! Should've known that all along! *grins* Thank you, and here's an update! *grins*
MissFennoSwede - That's good to hear. *chuckles* Yeah, my friends tell me the same... *hugs you* Thank you! I'm very glad you said that. Absolutely, and it's nice to imagine Law observing and studying every fact he sees quietly and on his own. And then everything seems to click and he realizes that he's not Corazon's biological son. And then Law thinking of the reasons why his Papa Cora lied and then realizing that his father's just trying to protect him, and maybe scared that Law might hate him. *laughs lightly* Smart, smart, and loving Law. *smiles widely*
Paulie MickeyJ - That's really, REALLY nice to hear! Thank you very much! Haha, yes I like that part, too. Law claims to hate Math but he's really good at it. *chuckles* You may be right... *chuckles again* Wah, but not really cool in real life, just your not-so typical weird human being... *laughs a bit* Ah, that's a wonderful question you have there. Throughout the chapters, Corazon's been depicted as working in the Baratie as a part-time/replacement chef. He'll be shown doing odd jobs in between future chapters, but his main job (as of now) is being a member of the board of directors of the family's many businesses, aptly named the Donquixote Group of Companies (ack, sounds so cliche, it's like I'm ripping off a popular group here in my country! Ehehe...). Corazon also has this inner Sherlock in him, so he acts as a consulting detective every now and then, so watch out for that in the future chapters (thank you, BBC's Sherlock). But in the future, mayhap, Corazon might enter the police force where his true skills lay in. Watch out for cop/consulting detective!Corazon in the future chapters!
Maya5392 - Yeeeeeeeeeeees~ Ehehe, same here! *weeps all of a sudden* *brightens up in an instant* Thank you so much...! *cries happily* You're very much welcome! *grins brightly*
Apple Bloom - Ah, we'll see about that... *zippers mouth shut so as to prevent myself from speaking of a specially planned chapter* THANKS SO MUCH, HERE'S AN UPDATE, BUDDY!!! *hugs you*
Here's hoping you enjoyed this chapter! See you in the next one! *smiles brightly*