"Honey, I'm home!" I shouted, having used my copy of their house key under the mat moments earlier. Aunt Iris peaked out at me from behind a wall.
"Morning Wally," She greets "Barry isn't awake yet. Want some breakfast?"
"Nah, I'm good. I ate at home."
"Okay then. Make yourself at home. I gotta go get ready for work. If you get hungry, there's food in the kitchen." She came up to me and grabbed my hand, pulling me along with her. I don't know why she had to get ready for work because she was already dressed. "I need to show you where Barry is first though. Come on!"
"Did you set up a room for him?"
"Yeah, actually. There's not much in there, but I think I did okay. She stops abruptly and pokes a door. "This is it!"
"Can I go in?"
"I'd be disappointed if you didn't." I nodded and opened the door. The room didn't have much in it, as Aunt Iris stated earlier, but it did have the essentials. There was a crib, a dresser, and an old reclining chair. The bag I had given her was placed on a hook behind the door, but that was the least of my concerns. No, the thing that really caught my attention was the little, very awake speedster trying to flag me down. I couldn't help but smile.
"Wawy!" He cooed.
"Uncle Barry!" I mimicked, laughing as I picked him up and spun him around. He giggled and nuzzled himself into my shoulder. Aunt Iris just smiled at our antics. "I thought you said he wasn't awake yet."
"I didn't think he was. Anyway, instructions are on the table in the dining room. I'm going to get going."
"Awww," I said in disappointment and Barry pouted from his perch on my shoulder. She remained unperturbed however and gave us both kisses on the forehead (Barry gave her a peck on the cheek) and she went out the door. I turn to my uncle, my head abruptly coming to rest on his back. He gave a small cry of protest in reply and began to squirm for a few moments before relenting. A smile stretched itself across my face as I walked out of the room with my uncle slung over my shoulder like Santa with a sack of gifts. On the way there he babbled softly and grabbed at my hair.
I find it weird how comfortable this is. I mean, I always knew that when I eventually settle and get married and stuff I'd want to have kids, but it's not like I have experience. Yeah, we take care of kids sometimes on the job. It's an occupational thing. And yeah, I've seen my mom babysit kids from around the block, but that's nothing compared to doing it yourself. Still, taking care of Uncle Barry is almost unnaturally natural to me.
I got to my destination surprisingly quickly and glanced around. Sure enough, Aunt Iris left a small book (How did she even have time to make that?) on the dining room table entitled How to Take Care of a Baby Speedster by Iris Allen. I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped my lips as I sat down and grabbed it. The book itself was about twenty five pages long and offered numbered instructions as to what to do and a paragraph or two that explained how to do each thing. Barry cautiously slid down my chest and onto my lap as I read a little out loud.
Let me give you an example of how this went: "7. Make sure Barry gets constant attention. Babies, especially meta babies, are typically high maintenance beings and don't do too well on their own. Keep an eye on Barry at all times. It's been shown that physical contact keeps babies alive too, so don't be afraid to cuddle." Keep babies alive? What does that mean? I went and looked it up on my phone after reading that. Apparently, babies need human contact or they'll die. My arm immediately flung out into a protective hold around Barry. My kid isn't going to die anytime soon, especially not from something as stupid as me not hugging him. I almost missed the look of wonder that spread across Barry's face as he moved his head to stare up at me. I kept reading.
Pretty soon I felt immersed in enough knowledge to take care of him for the day and decided to stick the book back onto the table. Barry started whining and squirming shortly after I did that and it wasn't long before his cries echoed in the air. "Come On Wally, think…" The book! I carefully picked it up again keeping Uncle Barry secure in my arms.
"If a baby is crying it could mean many things such as:
He is in pain
He is hungry
He wants attention
He needs a diaper change
He needs to be burped
He is tired and needs a nap"
Okay, but how do I know which one it is? Taking the initiative, I roamed off into the kitchen. I found a note taped to the refrigerator that said to warm up a bottle of formula. Racking my brain for instructions, I placed the kid in the high chair, picked up a bottle, and put a pot of water on the stove. I began to pace around and look for ingredients when Barry got bored. I didn't think much of it at the time, but hindsight is 20/20. Here's a little tip: Never, ever, let a speedster get bored. Ever. It's not a good combination. So, as I was distracted, Barry took the opportunity to start vibrating. The highchair was not built well for children who are apparently able to overheat things. Why, you may ask? Simple. The chair began to melt. I glanced over as Barry began to clap, giggle and fall. I felt my eyes open wide as I sprinted over to him, slid on a kitchen rug, and ended up with a small blonde kid in my arms. He was giggling hysterically. I, on the other hand, had floor burns across my back and side and a dull burning sensation where some of the melted plastic had landed.
"This should be… fun." I groaned.
Since I figured that bored Barry equals pain for me, I think I did a decent job keeping the mini Flash occupied. We watched The Incredibles, he played with some toys aunt Iris had bought (I'm still not sure when she did that) while I recorded, and he took a nap while I caught up on anime. I almost felt like I had gotten the hang of babysitting, but at the same exact time I sort of still had no clue what I was doing. And then the soft breathing coming through the baby monitor stopped and was replaced by loud wailing. I winced and slowly got up to check on Barry.
Well, slowly for me anyway since I'm Kid Flash, but whatever.
When I got there I was met with a horrible stench and a fussy baby. Not wanting to take my time, I sped through changing him with a vague recollection of Aunt Iris' instructions. It only took me 7 tries to get it right. But let me tell you, that was more of Uncle Barry than I ever needed or wanted to see. He calmed down pretty quickly after that and I couldn't have been more relieved. I checked the clock on my phone; 2:28. I figured that now would be as good a time as any to go outside. In the list Aunt Iris left, it said that going outside was a good idea. Personally, I've never really understood why adults always tell you to go outside, but whatever.
"Come on, kid," I said cheerfully. He whimpered, but held up his arms none the less. "Let's go to the park." His green eyes locked onto mine until I started to run. He clapped and giggled as I sped around the room, grabbing anything that there was a chance I would need. And then I was gone, out the door, and to the park.
The park was boring. Granted, I was used to doing stuff with the team and Uncle Barry and Robin, so most things are pretty dull in comparison, but still. Even Barry seemed unexcited. I did see a girl from my school though, and she was totally checking me out, so win for me. She wasn't quite M'gann level hotness, but she definitely wasn't bad looking. I would love to walk into the cave with a babe like that on my arm and see Rob's and Arty's reactions.
Either way, Barry and I decided to turn in early. Now, I feel as though my trials in babysitting can be best summed up by Murphy's ever so accurate law. "Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong." So of course, there would be a robbery. And of course the police wouldn't be able to stop them. And, of freaking course, I would have to be the one to save the Flash's reputation. Why you ask? Because I'm the best darn partner this guy will ever have.
When I get back to normal he is giving me a raise or so help me God…
Anyway, I had to go into the jewelry store, with Barry who was in a baby sized Flash uniform. Of course it was Captain Cold, who, in case you didn't know, is one of Flash's rogues. The Rogues and I have a bit of a complicated relationship.
"Hey Baby Flash!" He's not referring to Barry with that nickname. "It's good to see you! Who's the kid? Did you get jiggy? Who's the lucky chick? Freeze a second… Did she break up with you and leave you with the kid? Do you need me to go freeze the wh-" My cheeks were burning a bright scarlet at that point. Barry looked like he was using every fiber of his being to keep his giggles to a minimum, the traitor.
"No Cold, I'm just babysitting. You don't need to freeze anyone. Watch the language by the way, the kid has young, impressionable ears." I chided, trying to get a more blank expression on my face. It wasn't working. Captain Cold sauntered forward lazily, his gun lax at his side. I ran and grabbed it easily, throwing it against the wall where it smashed to pieces. He groaned, exasperated.
"Every single time. Why do you do that Baby Flash? My guns are expensive you know. Whenever you break one I have to go through the trouble of collecting parts, parts require money, money requires me to rob something-"
"You could just get a job, you know like a functional member of society."
"-And robbing something takes time that I could be using to do something more productive! Like going to freeze the chick you got it on with!"
"Dude, for the last time, I didn't have sex with anyone!"
"You said the s word! Talk about watching the language! What happened to the kid's ears? Don't make me wash out your mouth with soap young man!" What deity out there did I anger exactly?
"... I don't even man."
"So, what do I call the kid?" He looked pensive for a moment, and then he seemed to have and idea. "How's about Mini Baby Flash the second! Flash's mascot? Ohh, what about Cold Junior? He can be my apprentice."
"Are you done yet?"
"Do you like Lieutenant Freeze? I mean, it's no Kid Cold or Coldboy, but I think it has a nice ring to it."
I sighed loudly and turned, waving. "Turn yourself in when you're done please."
"Sure thing Baby Flash! Bye Cold War Kid!"
DISCLAIMER THINGY: I don't own YJ….yet.
So reader, after about 4 months of procrastination and not wanting to write, here it is! Sorry for the slow updates, I really don't have any excuses other than I've been lazy and school is busy (also I'm sick currently, but ironically I write more when I'm sick). Moving on from that, I'm pretty sure I said the next chapter would be from Superboy's POV so I guess I should get to work on that. Also, longest chapter so far, so woohoo. I'm trying to make them longer. Would you guys rather have longer chapters and more space between updates, or shorter chapters and more frequent updates? R&R please!
Later Reader-chan!
P.S I'm trying to write a novel, so I guess I've been wanting to work on that too instead of this. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop doing this story or my other one, it's just that updates might be a little more stagnant.
P.P.S Batman v Superman was really good and if you haven't seen it yet, you should totally go.
P.P.P.S HOLY MOTHER OF MEGAZON! 5,000 views?! You guys are insane! Honestly, I am so grateful for you guys reading this. Thank you sooo much!
P.P.P.P.S. I don't read the Flash comics and there isn't a whole lot of Flash's rogues in the animated series, so I just made cold the kind of guy that likes to troll people in his spare time. Hope that's cool with you.
Cookie Cats for everyone! :3
In response to the reviews:
Smile-I'mTheEndOfAllThatYouSee: Yeah, I didn't figure many people had. Truth! The video cameras are such a good idea! That is definitely going to be a thing now *mischievous cackle*. Thank you!
calla2003: :D
Applegate 123: I'll do Roy and Artemis after I do Superboy. Thanks for the review!
PikaWings: Lol, I claim no responsibility for any permanent damage caused to your sister's ear drums :P. Your comment seriously made my day. Thanks for the review!