Chapter 21: Tantrum
AN: Hi again! Since I'm not going to have time to update this weekend, I decided to update now :P Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter as well! XD And A HUGE thanks to CHiKa-RoXy for the idea in this chappy! *heart and hands virtual cookie*
Important Note: Since it's a nightmare finding a Romani translator, I'm just going to use Romanian for the sake of my sanity. Sorry! . And the italics next to the Romanian will be the English translation.
Jason winces, holding the toddler at arm's length as Dick screams bloody murder. "Make him stop!"
"Holding him like that isn't helping any! You need to try to comfort him!" Megan calls out, trying to take Dick. Jason hands his brother over willingly.
"Ugh. Whatever. Just make him shut up!" Megan sighs, cradling Dick close, and rocking him in her arms to try to calm him down. Dick continues to bawl, not having any of it. A small brunette girl, around the age of five, walks up to them, from a table nearby. She tugs on Megan's skirt, pointing up at Dick.
"Este el bine?" Is he okay? Megan stares at her blankly, having no idea what she just said. Dick pauses his sobbing, looking down at the girl. "Ce este greşit?" What's wrong? He sniffles, wiping his eyes.
"Mami şi tati au plecat." My mommy and daddy are gone. His eyes water as he hiccups. "Ei nu te intoarce." They're never coming back. She frowns, trying to reach up to take his hand. He reaches out, taking it.
"Le vei întâlni din nou într-o zi. Dar până atunci, se pare a avea o familie care te iubeşte." You'll meet them again someday. But until then, you seem to have a family that loves you. Two adults walk up to them, smiling warmly down at their daughter.
"I see she made a friend…" The woman states. "Jaelle, honey. It's time to go…" The small girl pouts up at her parents.
"Can he come? He seems so sad!" They look over to him wearily.
"That depends if his family will let him…" The father states. Jason sighs heavily, running a hand over his face.
"We need to get him back home."
"No. I'm not going home." Dick states defiantly, crossing his small arms. "I'm going with Jaelle." Jason's eyes narrow.
"You're going home."
"No."
"Dick."
"No."
"It isn't a question!"
"NO!" Dick shouts angrily, glaring up at his older brother.
"That's IT! Bedtime!"
"You can't make me! Asshole!" Jason's eyes widen.
"Who the hell taught you that?"
"Dami."
"Megan. Hand him over. It's time for a spanking." Jason growls, reaching to grab his brother. Megan holds Dick away from Jason.
"No! Don't hurt him! He's just grumpy because he's sleepy!" She cries, clinging to him protectively.
"I don't care! He needs to be taught manners!" Jason hisses, earning a snort from Roy.
"You're going to teach him manners? You have none yourself!"
"Shut up!"
"What's going on here?" They all freeze in horror from the voice of the Bat. Bruce frowns, looking over at Dick. "We're going home. Alfred still needs to bandage your leg."
"I'm not going." Dick huffs, looking away from his father. Bruce's eyes narrow.
"Richard John Grayson. We are heading home. Now. Don't make me say it again." Bruce's voice drops an octave, instilling terror in the other heroes in the parlor. Dick shrinks back, hanging his head in defeat.
"Sorry, Daddy."
"Now, apologize to Jason." Bruce nods towards his rogue son, who looked as though he was ready to make a run for it.
"I'm sorry, Jay." Dick murmurs sadly. Bruce sighs, taking his son from the still frozen martian.
"I'll take him home. The rest of you, aside from Jason; get out of my city." With that, the billionaire turns swiftly and walks out of the ice cream parlor. Dick looks up at his father shyly as he snuggles closer to his father.
"Sorry for leaving without telling anyone…"
"It's alright. Just don't do it again." The toddler nods, letting out a huge yawn.
"I love you, Daddy." Bruce smiles softly, gently ruffling his son's hair. Dick beams up at him, hearing the unspoken, but understood 'I love you, too'.
"Get some sleep." Dick nods, drifting off as Bruce tucks his jacket around the toddler to keep him warm.
Tim and Damian sit quietly in the kitchen, each sipping on a steaming mug of hot chocolate. "I still can't believe that Bruce beat us to it." Tim grumbles, stuffing another cookie into his mouth.
"I can. He's Father."
"True…what do you think he told the reporters to leave?"
"Who knows. However, I am certain that we will hear about it tomorrow on the news." Tim nods in agreement, glancing at the calendar on the fridge.
"It's Halloween tomorrow…"
"And?"
"If Dick is still a toddler, I'm sure he'll want to go trick-or-treating." Damian raises an eyebrow.
"What are you getting at, Todd?"
"He doesn't have a costume! And who is going to take him?"
"You're serious."
"Of course I am! Halloween is one of his favorite holidays!"
"Every holiday is his favorite." The two pause, hearing the door slam followed by a disgruntled looking Jason appearing in the kitchen. He heads straight for the fridge, and grabs a beer. "What crawled up your ass and died this evening?" Jason shoots the youngest bird a dark glare.
"I had to deal with the toddler from hell for an hour before Bruce showed up and saved the day."
"What are you talking about?" Tim asks, taking another cookie.
"Dick! I accidently woke him up and he became a demon child! He was screaming and bawling! Then, he called me an asshole! It's all your fault, Damian!" Damian rolls his eyes as he takes another sip of his hot chocolate.
"What he chooses to call you has nothing to do with me."
"It has everything to do with you when he learned the word from you!"
"Stop fighting…it's been a long day…let's all just get some sleep."
"Agreed." Damian states, setting his now empty mug down on the counter. He slips out of the room as the other two birds sigh heavily. They follow suit shortly after. It was going to be a long day.
The next morning, the thee birds sit at the counter in the kitchen along with their father. Bruce turns the page of his newspaper, not missing the curious stares he was getting from his sons. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Where's Dick?" Tim asks, deciding to try to get rid of the elephant in the room.
"Sleeping."
"…Where?"
"My room. He was still asleep when I left." Tim frowns.
"You let him sleep in the same bed as you?"
"He's five. I wanted to make sure he was safe."
"You're such a pushover." Jason grumbles, stealing a slice of toast. "All I know is, there's no way in hell I'm waking him up ever again." They all pause, hearing a small voice yelling from upstairs for 'Daddy'. "Ah…speak of the devil. It appears that you're being summoned." Bruce rolls his eyes, setting his newspaper down. He gets up and heads up the stairs, returning shortly after with a happy looking toddler in his arms. Dick beams, looking down at all of the food that was set out on the counter.
"I was good! I didn't walk, just like you wanted!" He chirms, as Bruce sets him down on the counter, being weary of the new cast on the toddler's left leg.
"Shouldn't he be in a chair?" Tim asks, frowning at the fact that Dick was crawling over to the plates of food, about to put his hands all over it.
"He's too small to fit in any of chairs." Bruce states as if it were obvious. Jason snickers, elbowing Tim in the ribs.
"See? Pushover." Dick pauses, a strip of bacon hanging from his mouth as he glances over to the calendar. His eyes light up excitedly as he finishes off the bacon.
"It's Halloween! Can we go trick-or-treating? Please?" He begs, looking up at Bruce with his best puppy eyes.
"You don't have a costume." Bruce states, not looking up at his son from the newspaper he had just picked back up. Dick looks down devastatedly.
"But…I thought we could go as a family…now that everyone's here and all…" Bruce sighs heavily, knowing defeat was imminent.
"Very well. We can get a costume this afternoon. What do you want to be?" Dick's face instantly brightens as he flips over the plate of pancakes, landing on his good leg, and leaps into Bruce's arms. The Bat catches him easily, raising an eyebrow.
"Thank you so much, Daddy!" Dick wraps his arms as far as they would go around the billionaire. "I wanna be a Ninja Turtle this year! Wouldn't it be so much fun if we could all dress up too?" The three birds look over at their father darkly as Bruce smirks.
"Whatever you want, Dick. You can even pick out the costumes your brothers are wearing." Dick squeaks in delight.
"You're the best Daddy, EVER!" He giggles excitedly, kissing Bruce's cheek. Bruce chuckles lightly, relishing in the evil looks he was receiving from his other sons. Making Dick happy was worth it. Not to mention the fact that he was going to have Alfred take lots of pictures of them all together. Oh yes. It would be wonderful blackmail material for later.
FN: Muahahaha! So, totally am going to incorporate my dream :P couldn't help it. But, who doesn't want to see ToddlerDick trick-or-treating? So adorable! X3 Until next time~! And Happy Easter again!