The morning had started out so well. As the kids had gotten older it had become increasingly rare to have many of them around for breakfast. It was never quite as painful as it had been during the time when Roy had run off, the empty seat and ignored invitations at that time more a gaping wound that anticipation of the next visit. While Roy's health and his bond with them had since been mended, he did have his own home, child, and career to care for now. And unlike Wayne Manor across the country, the Queen penthouse did not have quite enough room for multiple family units to all have their own space.
While Oliver had been Artemis and Cissie's League mentor during their terms on the Titans and Young Justice, neither girl had lived with them for any extended period of time. Cissie had lived with her mother, as lackluster of a parent as Mrs. King-Jones could be, and Artemis had mainly lived at Gotham Academy during the school year and preferred to spend her summers at Titans Tower.
Mia lived at the university dorms now but still worked with Ollie on the night job; she remained a usual fixture at the breakfast table at least once or twice a week. Ultimately though, the only ones still living at home were Sin and Conner.
So today, with Cissie in town to coach an archery training camp, and Roy, Lian, and Mia coming by to say hi, they had almost all the old munchkins back in the house. They were only missing Artemis and her family, although the presence of even just one of her husband or children would have required about triple the amount of breakfast in order to be hospitable.
The speedsters were of course very polite about their metabolisms and wouldn't keel over at a smaller portion. Regardless it was generally agreed, between Bruce, Ollie, and the Kents at the very least, that it was rude not to at least try to have something approaching a full meal for them. This time the bullet was dodged as Artemis had a research deadline coming up and was thus busy this weekend, or Ollie hospitality would have had him flipping pancakes and frying bacon from the crack of dawn.
Cissie was helping Ollie load up serving dishes in the kitchen. Mia had dozed off again on the living room recliner, both crime fighting and college wreaking havoc on what passed as her sleep schedule. Sin and Lian had already busted out the coloring books
"Sin, go wake up Mia and put away the crayons. You and Lian can draw after breakfast," Dinah instructed her daughter as Roy started laying out the silverware, "And get Connor out here."
"I'll get him!" Lian cheered and ran off. "Connor it's pancake time!"
"Where is the little guy?" asked Roy, "I don't think I've seen him out yet."
"He said his throat felt funny," Dinah frowned, "A cold coming on probably, Sin's classmates all had one last week. She was pretty ticked about missing school."
For all her prodigious talent in combat, Sin was the only one of their children and proteges who had stuck with a decision to not become involved with the nightlife in a significant manner. As a result, she'd focused much more of her time into school pursuits than her older siblings had. Connor of course was far to young to be involved either, or even to have a full picture of what it was his family did. He had the fanatical hero-worship of superheroes that most young children have, but he possessed a generally mellow temperament that Dinah dearly hoped would steer him toward his sister's path of a less combative role in life.
Lian skipped back into the room as the last of the sides were put down and everyone began to settle into the chairs. A tiny bow clunked onto the table top a few seconds before the chair was pushed back and Conner's bright face popped into view. He'd had the toy bow approximately since the moment they were confident he wouldn't accidentally strangle himself with it and he brought it just about anywhere he was allowed to have it, and some places he wasn't. Dinah turned away from her conversation with Roy with a mild expression.
"Conner, sweetie, what have we said about the bow?"
"Mommy.." Conner whined back, ready to complain. Someone had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed.
"Mommy and Daddy don't bring weapons to the table, and neither do your brother and sisters."
"None but these deadly weapons," Roy joked, raising his fists into the air. Lian cackled.
"Ugh, Roy, why?" Cissie snarked and Mia rolled her eyes but smiled. A small voice interrupted.
"No."
"What was that Conner?"
"No! No, no, no!"
"Connor this is not up for debate! Go put it away."
Oliver came back into the dining room with a piled tray of pancakes just as the tantrum reached its zenith.
"NooOO!"
What started as just another temperamental refusal hit a different pitch half way thru. Oliver was the only one who caught the subtle crack, launching himself backwards out of the room to preserve the pancakes from the destruction to come. The others were a split second behind, diving for cover at the rising shriek.
The glasses cracked and shattered right off the bat. Dishes pitched. Fruits and sausages and granola scattered. Yogurt splattered. Cabinets and chairs rattled and toppled. Everyone in the room but Dinah clutched at their ears. The penthouse security system started blaring and the building alarm warning started counting down.
The screech broke off with a choke. The rest of the family began to peek from cover. All things told it hadn't been all that powerful compared to his mother and grandmother's capabilities, but then he did have comparatively smaller lungs.
Conner's blue eyes were wide with shock, his whole body trembling. After a moment where everybody stared at each other, Conner burst into sobs. Tears poured down his cheeks as he clutched his little bow to his chest. The screaming vibrato sputtered in and out as he wailed, causing the scattered table settings to rattle around him and increasing the child's panic.
Dinah and Oliver scrambled across the room to him. Roy was curled around Lian trying to calm her down while also craning his neck to check on Conner. Cissie had been winged by the blast, fallen from her chair; she was now grumbling to hide her shock and trying to pull fresh knots out of her hair. Mia was crawling out from behind the sideboard she's flipped for cover in a panic. Luckily that one was mainly tablecloths and extra silverware or there'd have been even more of a mess. Sin had vanished in the chaos.
"Sweetie, sweetie, it's okay! It's okay, everything's fine!"
"MO-mMY WHAt's HA-ppeNING?!"
Roy pushed himself off the ground and sprinted towards the entry way to shut off the alarm before the full building warning system went off and they had to deal with a lot of even more annoyed neighbors. Oliver winced and frantically dug thru his pockets for the earplugs. Of all the mornings to not have them on him-
"It's alright, little man! You- you just take after Mommy now! It's that great?"
"Was that his first Canary Cry? He can do that?! I'm so proud!"
"Mia, kindly SHUT UP!"
"Oh you cool it Cissie you're stressing him out!"
"Oh Lord a four year old with a Canary Cry, we're going to have to resound-proof the whole apartment!"
"Ollie you're getting hysterical- Conner, please breathe for Mommy okay? Deep breaths-"
Sin was next to them again, rumpled from rushing about and carrying an armful of stuffed animals. She proceeded to dump them in Conner's lap.
"Look Conner, I got your favorites! Please stop crying."
They ended up shuffling over to the living room couch, leaving Cissie to pick up the remains of the cups. It was running on twenty minutes later by the time Conner had settled down to the odd hiccup or two.
Connor gave a final sniffle and looked up at the rest of the family hovering around him waiting to hear his none crying voice.
"I'm hungry."
"Ha! Of course you are, worked up a big appetite after getting a super power!" Ollie laughed, relieved that was all wrapped up, "Luckily we've got even more breakfast in the kitchen!"
"Hey Dinah, how does eating on the couch sound?" Roy asked from dining room door, he and Mia already heading off to grab the food. While Cissie had picked up the dangerous bit, the table was still in total disarray.
"Man," Mia interjected, "Good thing the juice wasn't out yet."
"That sounds like a good idea Roy," Dinah said, ignoring Mia's comments, "Lian, Sin, why don't you help Conner pick a cartoon for us to stare at while we reheat the food and get ready to eat."