Pitch rubbed his head as he looked at the mass of bodies cuddled together on Jack's hospital bed. It was late, or early, Pitch couldn't decide which, but Jack had only just settled down enough to sleep, the drugs finally taking effect on his exhausted body.
"Hey," said Nona softly, walking in to the room and offering Pitch a steaming mug of coffee. "I thought you could use some coffee. It's the good stuff too, from the lounge."
"Thank you," said Pitch, unsure of how to proceed, it being so long since his last interaction with adults that didn't involve them trying to off him. "It's been a long day."
"I can imagine," said Nona, taking a seat next to Pitch on the small sofa in the room. "How's Jack doing?"
"Better I think," said Pitch uncertainly. "The doctor gave him some medicine for the cough and they gave him an inhaler to try later to help him breathe."
"I ran into his doctor in the hall and got him to sign release papers for Jack," said Nona, her voice soft and kind. "You can take him home whenever you like."
"I thought you had to keep him for longer," said Pitch.
"I promised to keep an eye on him," said Nona shyly. "I hope that's alright. I'll just pop over and make sure everything is going well. Is that alright with you? No offense, but you seem like you could use all the help you can get."
"That would be wonderful," said Pitch, relief clear in his voice.
Nona continued talking but Pitch tuned her out, immediately worried because he didn't have a place for her to see them at. He couldn't tell her that they lived at the North Pole and he had nowhere else to see them.
328 West Row came the soft voice of the Man in the Moon.
Pitch wanted to simultaneously thank him and yell at him for not saying that sooner.
"Oh, it looks like Jack is waking up," said Nona.
Indeed, Jack had begun to cough, the force wracking his small frame and waking Bunny, who had been sleeping with one arm thrown around Jack's stomach.
"You're okay, Jacky," said Bunny, sitting up and bringing Jack to lean against his chest, easing the pressure on his lungs.
"Jack, do you want to go home?" asked Pitch, getting up, reluctant to leave Nona but knowing he had to look after the youngest Guardian of them all.
Jack nodded miserably.
"Here you are," said Nona, handing Pitch the exit paper work. "If you fill that out, I'll check him over one more time. Then I'll help you get them all home and settled."
Pitch nodded and took the paper work while Nona began trying to convince Jack to let her check him out, using the bribe of going home as leverage. By the time Pitch was done, Jack was bundled up and sitting on the bed, blinking about miserably.
"Ready to go?" asked Pitch as he handed Nona the papers.
In answer, Jack just held his arms up to Pitch, looking so tired that Pitch couldn't help but smile as he picked the little winter spirit up. Jack immediately burrowed into Pitch's long coat, tiny hands fisting the shirt under it in a possessive grip.
"Where are you parked?" asked Nona as they made their way out of the hospital after she clocked out.
"We took the bus," lied Pitch. "My car was wrecked last month."
"Oh, well I'd offer to drive, but I don't have a car seat for Jack."
"That's alright," said Pitch easily. "We'll just meet you at the house. It's 328 West Row."
As soon as Nona was gone, Pitch herded the children to the bus stop. It was late, they were all only half awake, Bunny fully asleep in North's firm grip, Tooth and Sandy stumbling against each other, and Jack all but sleeping inside the warmth of Pitch's jacket. With no one else to see, Pitch used the shadows to transport them all to the house the Man in the Moon had indicated.
It was a small house in a modest neighborhood next to a park. Pitch sighed at the thought of living amongst the mortals once more but said nothing. Instead, he tiredly walked up the short path and through the unlocked emerald green front door.
The dark house was already furnished. Down a short hall Pitch found four bedrooms, two on one side, one on the other, and one at the end. Pitch had North set Bunny down on a bed in the room on the end, one that looked like it was tailored towards smaller people. Then North and Sandy both stumbled into the next closest bedroom and climbed into the bunk beds provided as if they had always lived there. Tooth skipped into her room, a flamboyant purple across the hall, and shut the door. Pitch placed Jack in the bed across the room from Bunny where the boy slept on.
A knock at the door alerted Pitch to the arrival of the nurse.
"Hello," said Pitch, letting Nona into the house.
"Hello again," smiled Nona warmly.
Then they heard Bunny yelling.
"Jacky says he can't breathe!"
"Bugger," grumbled Pitch under his breath, heading towards the bedroom.
The two adults walked in to find Bunny on Jack's bed, the younger boy leaning against him and drawing shallow, labored breaths.
"Jacky says his chest hurts and it's hard to breathe," said Bunny again, glaring at the adults as if it were their fault. "Fix it."
"He just needs to use this inhaler," said Nona with her easy smile once she noticed Pitch all but drowning. "It's easy, Jack. See, you just shake it up, put this end in your mouth, and push the top down while you breathe in. You do that twice and it'll make breathing much easier for you."
Nona held out the small red inhaler but Jack shied away as if it were on fire.
"Jacky likes blue," said Bunny.
"Well he get's red," said Pitch, exhaustion and patience running close to the surface. "Just take the inhaler, Jack."
Jack shook his head because small or not, no one did stubborn like Jack Frost.
"Do you want me to help?" asked Nona, crouching so she was eye level with the child.
Again, Jack shook his head no and burrowed farther into Bunny's side.
"Give it to me," snapped Bunny. "You're wasting time and he still can't breathe."
Bunny snatched the inhaler out of Nona's hand and shook it up. Then he turned to Jack and looked the little boy in the eye.
"No listen up, Jacky," said Bunny sternly. "You're going to be a good boy and use this inhaler like Miss Nona said. It'll help you breathe. Okay?"
"No," gasped Jack, shaking his head, small tears leaking from his eyes.
"Jacky, I'm gonna count to three," said Bunny, holding up three fingers. "On three, you have your mouth open and ready or I'll make you sleep in Tooth's room tonight."
Jack's eyes got impossibly wide.
"One," said Bunny. "Two."
Jack shook his head stubbornly.
"Three."
Jack opened his mouth slowly. Bunny put the inhaler into his mouth and waited until Jack inhaled before he pushed it down, letting the medication puff into the toddler's mouth. Then he did it again. Jack coughed and spluttered, glaring at Bunny while simultaneously curling farther into the older boy, but his breathing eased.
"Good boy," said Bunny with a smile. "Now sleep. I'm tired."
"You'll be okay with him?" asked Pitch.
"Yes," said Bunny with a yawn. "He'll fall asleep soon."
"Okay," said Pitch. "Sleep well."
Bunny stuck out his tongue to Pitch for good measure but Pitch decided to ignore him.
Nona smiled when Pitch offered her tea.
"Bunny seems rather protective of Jack," stated Nona.
"Yes," agreed Pitch, placing two steaming mugs on the kitchen table and joining the nurse. "Bunny has always been a protective one and is particularly protective of Jack. They argue and snipe like no other but in the end, Jack really only trusts Bunny and Bunny would never let anyone hurt Jack if he could help it."
"What about North and Tooth and Sandy?" asked Nona.
"North is a pompous one," said Pitch.
"But who isn't at that age?" laughed Nona, her laughter far more appealing sounding than Pitch had imagined. He wanted to make her laugh again just to hear it.
"True," said Pitch with a nod of his long head, a small smile at his lips as he remembered he was talking to a mortal and North was just a child. "He has his moments, he just doesn't know how to control his volume. Though he does find the wonder in everything. Tooth is much the same. I swear, sometimes I think those two are twins, the way they are always together and constantly on the verge of flying away with their energy. Sandy is more grounded but never write him off. If anyone is in charge of that group, it's him. They couldn't function without him. Well, Jack could. But Jack is controlled by no one, does what he wants when he wants, but is the most selfless little thing I have ever met."
"You sound very fond of all of them."
Pitch paused, surprise creasing his features.
"Yes," he said slowly, nodding, shocked at the honesty of the statement. "I am."
*I am so sorry that I haven't updated in ages. It took me a sad amount of time to get this chapter out. Like, working on it for days just to try and find the words to say what I wanted, which is not normally my issue. So, I am sorry. I hope you enjoyed the cuddly chapter. Up next, I think I want to make them go to school or something...or try separating Jack and Bunny and see how that goes down.
Of course, if there is something you really want to see, let me know and I'll try to work it in. It's not really a cohesive story, more of one shots in chronological order so far. Always- Ari