"Uncle Pitch!" squealed Jack, running circles around the living room, giggling. "Uncle Pitch, look!"
"Not now, Jack," said Pitch, his voice strained. "I'm making dinner."
"But Uncle Pitch," whined Jack. "Look!"
"Later, Jack."
Jack pouted, but persisted, clambering on top of the desk, his casted hand making a dull clunk as he did. His hand wasn't broken but it was bruised to the bone and Jack was active, so they had casted it to be safe. It didn't stop Jack but it did slow him down a bit at first. After several days though, he had gotten the hang of it and it was Friday night, Pitch was too busy getting dinner ready before Nona came over to keep a close eye on Jack.
Once on top of the desk, Jack giggled and jumped, reaching out to grab the mantle of the fire place. The desk was too far away, the jump was too small, and Jack was hurtling to the ground.
"Whoa," said North, catching Jack around the middle. "Careful there, Jack."
"Put me down!" demanded Jack, squirming inefficiently in the larger boys grip.
"Uncle Pitch, Jack tried to jump from the desk to the mantle," said North, lugging the struggling youngster into the kitchen.
"Jack," groaned Pitch, rubbing a hand over his face.
"But I can fly!" said Jack, all excitement and energy in an instant. "I tried to show you but you didn't look."
"Jack, no jumping off of things," said Pitch. "You hurt your hand already. Please, for just one week, please try not to get hurt. Can you do that for me?"
"No."
"Jack."
"Fine."
"Thank you," said Pitch.
Jack smiled sweetly up at Pitch and the Nightmare King almost wanted to forget the entire ordeal, but it only served to remind him that Jack Frost was a force to be reckoned with when he was his usual size and a downright terror when he was tiny.
"Go play with the others while I finish dinner," said Pitch.
Jack nodded and ran off. He found Bunny in their shared room, laying on his stomach on the floor reading a book.
"What you doing?" asked Jack, plopping himself down next to Bunny.
"Reading," said Bunny, not looking up from his book.
"Reading what?"
"A book."
Jack pouted for a moment, then turned down on to his stomach, mirroring Bunny's pose, clearly waiting for something.
"What, Jacky?" growled Bunny after several minutes of Jack staring at him.
"Story?" said Jack, looking meaningfully at the book and then back at Bunny.
"Not now, Jacky."
Jack frowned but got up and walked out of the room. He found Tooth in her room, coloring.
"Colors!" squealed Jack, running in and diving for the paints. He tripped over his own feet and tumbled down, spilling all of the paints, colors spreading across the carpet in a twisted rainbow that would have made Van Gogh proud.
"Jack!" yelled Tooth, jumping up as the paints ran onto her paper. "Why would you do that? How could you?!"
"I'm sorry," said Jack, blinking as he sat up in the middle of the paint mess, a splash of purple coloring his normally white hair. "I fell."
"You make a mess wherever you go!" screamed Tooth, stomping her foot in a childish display of frustration. "You ruined everything!"
"I'm sorry," whispered Jack, his lip quivering. "It was an accident."
"That doesn't matter!"
"Oi!" yelled Bunny, marching into the room. "Do you mind? I'm trying to read!"
"Take the brat back to your room and you deal with him!" yelled Tooth, tears streaming down her face. "I have his mess to clean up."
"I'm sorry," sniffed Jack, still sitting in the middle of the paint puddle.
"So he ruined your stupid picture," growled Bunny. "He's little! You don't need to yell at him."
"Both of you, please be quiet," said Pitch, calmly walking into the room.
He paused, taking in Bunny, glaring at Tooth, Tooth crying and glaring back at Bunny, and Jack sitting covered in paint, looking about two seconds away from tears.
"I don't have time for this," sighed Pitch.
"No one has time for me," whispered Jack, getting to his feet and running from the room, into the bathroom, and slamming the door shut.
Pitch, Bunny, and Tooth all looked at each other for a long moment.
"What did I miss?" asked North, walking down the hall, Nona following behind him with a smile on her face.
"Did everyone else in the house besides Nona give Jack the impression that they were too busy to play with him?" said Pitch slowly.
"He ruined my picture!" sobbed Tooth.
"I'll go clean him up," said Bunny, turning and heading to the bathroom.
"How about you and I get this mess taken care of, Tooth," suggested Nona with a kind smile. "Then we can make a new picture together. Just us girls."
"Okay," sniffed Tooth.
"Thank you," said Pitch, gratefully smiling at the nurse.
"Finish dinner," said Nona, taking everything in stride. She was learning that this house was never dull.
Pitch herded North back towards the kitchen.
"Let's get you cleaned up, Jacky," said Bunny, setting Jack on the closed toilet lid.
Jack sat passively, letting Bunny start wiping him down with a wet wash cloth.
"Come on, Jacky," said Bunny, scrubbing the purple out of Jack's hair with warm water. "You know Toothy didn't mean it."
"No one has time," whimpered Jack. "No one ever has time for me."
Bunny sighed and moved to crouch in front of Jack. The toddler looked at him with his watery blue eyes and Bunny was painfully reminded of how shy and quiet Jack had been in the beginning, cowering under a desk. In the time since then, Jack had opened up and showed his true colors, a fun loving kid who just enjoyed life. And now this, everything Bunny had worked so hard to avoid, had happened because he was more interested in reading than protecting the kid.
"I'm sorry, Jack," said Bunny. "I'm sorry that I made you think I didn't have time for you. How about we clean you up and have dinner? I bet we can get Uncle Pitch to give us ice cream. Sound good?"
Jack nodded and sniffed.
"Good," smiled Bunny. "Now let's get this purple out of your hair, shall we?"
By the time Jack and Bunny made it to the dinner table, Tooth had cooled down and was her happy, bubbling self once again. Jack spent about 5 minutes hiding behind Bunny.
"Jack, where do you want to sit?" asked Pitch, placing the last plate of food on the table.
Jack looked alarmed and tried to duck behind Bunny.
"Oh no, mate," said Bunny, pushing Jack around in front of him. "You answer Uncle Pitch."
"Where do you want to sit, Jack?" asked Pitch again.
"Next to Bunny?" said Jack, his voice barely above a whisper.
"You don't sound too sure."
"Next to Bunny," said Jack more confidently, a small smile on his face.
"There we go, next to Bunny it is," said Pitch with a smile, lifting Jack up to the appropriate chair.
Jack giggled when Pitch spent an extra moment tickling him, squirming happily until he was breathless and smiling, much closer to the happy boy he had become, which made everyone else visibly relax.