A/N: I'll be complaining about having to stick to that canon plot element that I do not like for ages. If it were up to me, we'd be telling him right the heck now. It's not, and here we are... and now back to our regular programming where we are hosting the spirit of Indiana Jones, if not actually his character...
Week 14 - UDC 9
66. Fedora
He entered the house to find Pete searching a drawer for matching napkins while fighting off a yawn, and Nick couldn't say he was surprised by that. "Good or bad?"
"Huh?" Pete blinked up at him, then shrugged and continued looking at the napkins. "That's like asking if there's a good time to embrace a cactus. Red or blue?"
Nick smiled and moved to also look in the drawer. "We've got napkins with ducks on them. Use those."
"Ducks?" Pete considered them as he pulled out the aforementioned white and yellow napkins. "Ducks it is. Why do you even have duck napkins?"
"Because they're fun," Helen said from the stove. "And it's 'we', Pete. We."
"Your house, Mrs. Bradshaw."
"Which you also live in," she reminded him, causing Nick to look at her oddly. "You're not a guest. You live here." She glanced over and smiled. "Understood?"
Pete nodded, even though he still did not look entirely convinced.
67. Whip
After dinner and clearing the table again, Pete was paging his way through the math puzzle packet tiredly when Walt looked over his shoulder. Then he pointed out two things and Pete smiled up at him. "Wasn't math a while ago for you?"
"Some things you never forget. What'd he do, give you an advanced problem on purpose?"
"By request," Nick explained. "...and I don't think Karen was actually going to, and then Pete sassed her into actually asking their teacher for it."
"She shouldn't have said it if she wasn't going to," Pete said through a yawn. "I love complicated problems and she knows it."
"Right." Walt sat down and gestured for the packet, taking in that Pete was yawning an awful lot. "That's enough. Bed with you."
"Don't wanna."
"Your other homework done?"
"Yes."
Walt held up the packet. "Then this can wait. Bed, Pete."
68. Satchel
Pete tried to take the packet back, only to stop when Walt glared at him. "All right. Book?"
"Get changed and we'll meet you there." Walt watched him go, then smirked at Nick. "Don't forget to brush your teeth!"
"Dad," Nick drawled jokingly. "Really?"
Walt shrugged. "We're giving him normality."
"Do I get to pick the book?"
"Go get changed and find one. Don't forget to brush your teeth, either."
From her seat in the living room where she was knitting, Helen smiled at him. "Did you ever think we'd take in a stray that loves being read to?"
Come to think of it, he hadn't.
69. Leather
Walt passed by Nick's room as he was getting dressed and looked in. "Pack a change of clothes."
Nick paused in buttoning his shirt. "Why?"
"Toddlers later, Nick."
Nick nodded and continued getting dressed. "Will do, Dad."
"Pete?"
"Already doing it!" Pete called cheerfully.
Nick froze momentarily at that, head cocked to one side. "Is he actually cheerful or did I just imagine it?"
"Oh, I think he actually is. Who knew that we could tell him dinner with toddlers and he'd be happy as a clam?"
70. Tweed
Over breakfast, Nick couldn't help but study the ribbons that Pete had on his uniform shirt with distracted interest. He didn't have many, but the ones he did have... academic award, community service, rifle team, drill team, color guard, basic leadership training, orienteering, aptitude... "You don't have a conduct ribbon."
Pete shrugged. "I kept getting into fights and Norling heard about it. He told me to work on physical fitness, then we'd see about conduct."
So it was a good thing, after all, that he'd gotten Pete into weight lifting...
"Why?"
"No reason. Was just studying your ribbons." That, and the cereal box had been read three times already.
A/N: That Rifle Team ribbon... Maverick eventually has not one, but TWO medals for marksmanship: Navy Expert Rifleman Medal and Navy Expert Pistol Shot Medal (It had to start somewhere, right?)