Author's Note:
Hello again people!
I'm sorry for the late update.
Long story short (and without bothering you with my problems), I just wanted to say that I am in a pretty bad place mentally right now and I'm really struggling to see the meaning with everything, sadly that also includes that I'm not really seeing the point of me writing my fics.
That being said, I'm not going to give up on my fics but the updates may take longer depending on my mental state.
Motivating comments is appreciated but of course in no way necessary.

A note for this fic is that I couldn't get any good ideas, so this is more or less another filler chapter, hopefully you won't mind.

CHAPTER 15

Peter was awakened by a sharp poke in his side and he groaned before he twisted his body away from whatever was poking him.

"Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter."

His name was whispered several times and he let out another groan as he realized that the 6-year-old was not going to let him go back to sleep.
He opened his eyes and looked at the boy, who was leaning over him while looking like he was about to burst from excitement.
Where did children even get all that energy from, and why couldn't they at least share it?

"What?"

He asked, apparently too loud because Neal put a finger over his mouth and hushed him.

"Don't shush me."

Peter said, a little grumpy from being woken up this early in the morning, a look on the clock told him that it was a whole hour before the alarm went off.
Neal ignored him and instead he looked over his shoulder to make sure that Elizabeth was still fast asleep.

"I wanna make mommy breakfast."

Some of the grumpiness disappeared when Neal explained himself, it was very sweet of the kid to want to make his mother breakfast, he just wished that the idea hadn't entered his mind so damn early.

They ended up making Swedish pancakes with strawberry jam and a bowl with a simple fruit salad, since Elizabeth loved both of them according to the boy.
They decided to make it a breakfast in bed so Peter placed the food and a cup of newly brewed coffee on a tray before he carefully carried it upstairs.
Neal went ahead and peeked into the room to see if the smells of pancakes had woken her up, but found that she was still sleeping like a baby.
Neal jumped up on the bed and crawled over to his mother, gently shaking her shoulder.

"Mommy wake up!"

Elizabeth woke up with a start, her brain programmed to recognize her son's voice even if she was in a deep sleep.

"What's wrong, sweetie?"

She immediately asked in a tired but worried tone, thinking that Neal had woken her up because something had happened.
Peter chose that moment to gently place the tray on her lap and Elizabeth looked up at him in surprise.

"We made you breakfast!"

The child exclaimed and pointed at the tray, where they had managed to make the food look picture worthy.
Tears welled up in Elizabeth's eyes as she kissed Neal on the forehead and thanked him.
She then turned to Peter and motioned for him to lean down, which he did without any hesitation, and she placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.
The kiss caused the 6-year-old to scrunch up his face in disgust, but he quickly stopped when he received a pointed look from his mother.

Even if the breakfast was meant for Elizabeth, while the boys would eat downstairs, they all ended up sharing it, and Peter was once again hit by that warm feeling.
Neal put some jam on Elizabeth's nose and she tried to reach it with her tongue to lick it off which caused the boy to let out those adorable giggles.
He smiled like an idiot when he watched them, it was so incredibly easy for him to imagine a life with them, and so easy to imagine an alternative universe where they were a family.
The thoughts filled him with an indescribable happiness, but of course the good feelings couldn't last forever.
As soon as Elizabeth left the bed to go to the bathroom Neal started to glare at him.

"I don't want you to date her."

Neal repeated the words from yesterday but at least this time Peter didn't wonder why he was against it.

"You could date someone else."
The kid suggested and Peter just sighed.

"Neal, I don't want to date someone else."

He frowned at him, not at all understanding that Peter only had eyes for Elizabeth and no one else.

"You could date Diana instead, she's nice."
"Oh believe me I'm not her type."

Neal opened his mouth to protest but quickly closed it again when Elizabeth returned.

"What are you boys talking about?"
"Nothing."

Neal answered before jumping off the bed and walking to the door, giving Peter a last glare before he left the room.
"Elizabeth, I don't want to pressure you but maybe you should talk to him about us."
She sighed before promising to sit down and have a talk with him later.

Peter didn't really want to leave the house and go to work, his mind kept replaying different kind of scenarios where Neal and Elizabeth got hurt and kidnapped.
He really wanted to stay at home and protect them, but he had to go to work so that they could, hopefully, catch this guy soon.
In the end catching Scarface was the best way to protect them, even if it felt almost impossible to say goodbye and walk out the door.
He didn't leave them all alone though, he had placed two agents outside the house, one in a car in the front and one watching the backyard.
Despite that, he kept worrying and he called both the agents and Elizabeth every single time he got a minute over.

The day felt impossibly long but it finally ended and Peter rushed to his car.
It felt good, knowing that there was someone waiting for him when he arrived home.
Sure, Satchmo had always made him feel welcomed home but the thought of not only an excited dog but a beautiful woman and her child greeting him made that warm, wonderful feeling come back.
When he walked through the door though he was only greeted by a surprisingly calm Satchmo, he learned why the dog wasn't as excited as usual when he walked into the living room and felt the tension in the room.
Satchmo didn't like it when humans fought or when there were tension between them and he prefered to stay away.
When the dog had greeted his master, he walked up the stairs to escape it.
Neal was on the floor, and based on his clenched fists and the tears rolling down his very red cheeks he was in the middle of a temper tantrum.
Elizabeth was sitting by the table, head in her hands, and he couldn't tell if she was sad or frustrated or maybe both.

"What's going on here?"

He asked, in a calm voice, but received no answer from any of them.
Neal got up from the floor and suddenly his anger was directed at Peter, and he instantly realized why the kid was so upset.
Elizabeth had done as she promised, she had sat down and told him that they were going to give it another shot, and Neal had, as expected, not taken it that well.
The boy suddenly started to yell att Peter, but the agent couldn't really understand everything since the kid was so upset that he kept stumbling over his words and all that came out of his mouth was an incoherent mess.
He did however hear four, loud and clear words that left the 6-year-old's mouth.

"I hate you, Peter!"

The kid was obviously trying to get a reaction out of him, trying to get him to show his "bad side" just like the other men, based on the challenging look in his eyes.
Peter could however see something else in his eyes too, he saw fear and that's why he didn't take any of Neal's angry words to heart.
The boy was terrified of ending up in a bad, abusive situation again and Peter couldn't really do anything but show the kid that he wasn't like them, show him that he was better than them.

"I wish you were dead!"

Neal said with an angry, challenging voice and Peter had to admit that those words stung a little even if he knew that Neal was just trying to get a rise out of him, trying to make him show that he was just as bad as the others.

"That's enough."

Both Neal and Peter froze at the low, threatening tone Elizabeth used and Peter was glad that it wasn't directed at him.
That tone scared the living daylight out of him.

"Stupid mommy."

Neal said in a low voice because apparently the kid had a death wish.
Peter saw the anger in her eyes and for a second he thought that he would have to stop Elizabeth from strangling her own child.

"Neal, go up to the guest room and don't come out until you're ready to be nice again!"

The order was in that same terrifying tone and Peter didn't even want to know what would happen if Neal decided to defy her.

"Fine!"

Neal yelled, sticking his tongue out at his mother before stomping up the stairs while muttering quietly to himself.
As soon as her son left, Elizabeth sat down again and the anger seemed to transform into sadness.
Peter didn't hesitate before rushing over and putting his arms around her, promising her that he would get over it and it was all going to be okay.
At least he hoped that it would all be okay.