A/N I am sorry for the wait! Life just keeps getting in the way! Just a couple of things that are not really related to my story, but I need to express with people who are obsessed about White Collar like I am. 1. Holy Crap. TOMORROW. The season premier is TOMORROW! I had a mini freak out today. 2. I was looking for advice under the "communities" on the fan fiction web site, and I saw that under the discussion of "what should be forbidden" was de-aged stories, stories in which Neal cries/has a "weak" moment and one where Neal is disciplined. THE HORROR! Those are the stories I actively seek! That being said, thankfully there are others out there like me, and I respect everyone's decision to read/write what they like. I will never write a slash story, but I know that it is a genre a lot of people enjoy. Thanks for bearing with my little spiel! Enjoy!
They all made it home in one piece, Neal having slept the entire way home and Mozzie just staring out the window. The way the shopping trip had gone, Peter and Elizabeth decided it would be better just to have lunch at home. Elizabeth also wisely mentioned that they did not know when or if the boys would return to their normal states, so staying out the public eye until they knew more might be a good idea.
Once home, Peter carried the sleeping Neal inside and laid him on the couch on his back. He barely stirred and Peter could not help but smile when a curled fist was raised to lay by Neal's head. Picking up a nearby blanket and tucking it around the sleeping boy, Peter took a moment to enjoy watching Neal sleep. It made Peter wonder if Neal was ever as at peace awake as he looked when he slept.
Peter left Neal on the couch and went to help Mozzie and Elizabeth with the groceries. With all three of them helping to put the groceries away they finished the task quickly. Elizabeth told Peter and Mozzie to start lunch while she got ready for her event. They were going to have a simple lunch of sandwiches, fruit and chips. Peter made quick order of cutting up the tomatoes while Mozzie grabbed the essential items from the fridge and started grabbing the plates while Peter assembled the sandwiches.
"Cheese?" Peter asked Mozzie.
"Lactose." He reminded Peter, who gave a knowing nod, before placing Mozzie sandwich on a plate and handing it to the boy to put on the table. Mozzie continued grabbing things from the kitchen and placing them on the dining room table.
At the unfamiliar shuffling of feet that did not sound like Mozzies, Peter turned around to see a still drowsy Neal rubbing his eyes with fisted hands to rid of the remaining sleepiness. Peter wondered why Neal woke up if he was still tired, until Neal explained that,
"Satchmo woke me up." Neal said as he made his way towards Peter who finishing up the last sandwich. "I want Cheddar cheese." Neal declared.
"I put Swiss on there, it's what you always eat."
"I don't like Swiss. I want Cheddar." Neal demanded once again.
"I understand that Neal, but for right now all we have is Swiss. So your only options are Swiss cheese or no cheese. Next time we go to the store we can get you some Cheddar." Peter could not understand what Neal's deal was. It was just cheese, the cheese he always ate.
"Well then I am not hungry." Neal said while crossing his arms with an angry look on his face. "And I am not going to eat." He insisted.
Peter knew that Neal had to be hungry. The pancakes that had eaten earlier could not have lasted that long. Plus, Peter did not want to have to deal with a tired and hungry four year old later. Sighing loudly in attempts to calm himself, Peter bent down so he was at Neal's level and said "Neal. I just told you that we only have Swiss cheese. You can take it or leave, but you are going to eat something. Clear?" Receiving a nod, Peter stood back up and grabbed the remaining plates and set them at the table.
By the time the table was set and the drinks poured, Elizabeth had come down the stairs.
"Looks delicious guys, thanks for doing that." Elizabeth said as she sat at the table.
"Yeah, except it has Swiss cheese" Neal muttered under his breath, loud enough for Peter to hear but not Elizabeth.
"What was that Sweetie?" El asked confused, unaware of Neal's foul mood since he woke up. Peter leveled Neal with a look to which he responded with a resigned "nothing". Elizabeth sent Peter a questioning look, who gave a small shake of his head to tell her that he had it handled. But Neal's attitude was only getting worse.
"I'm not hungry." Neal said as he took the cheese off his sandwich.
"Neal, baby, are you sick?" Elizabeth asked placing a hand on his forehead. She was worried that the de-aging process might have come with other consequences besides turning younger. Neal just pulled his head away from her concerned hand and told El that he was fine.
"I don't want a sandwich."
Peter, his patience being worn to thin, replied with an irritated, "Just eat the damn sandwich."
Elizabeth sent Peter a warning look, before asking Neal if he wanted something else to eat. "We have some left over roast, or I could heat you up some soup? I am sure we can-"
"No, El. We made him a sandwich and he will eat it. He's just being difficult. It is the same sandwich he eats every time he is over."
Mozzie just sat there with slight admiration at what was happening before him. He could see the warning signs that Neal was getting upset and Peter would have to if he himself was not getting agitated. As it was Neal could not prevent the irritation rising in himself.
Neal knew he was being stupid and that he should just eat the sandwich. Truth be told, he was hungry and the lunch did look pretty tasty. But when Peter cut Elizabeth off after she was being so nice to him, he became upset. He just meant to push his plate to the side but his anger overwhelmed him and he ended up shoving if off the table completely. The clattering of the plate resounded around the room before there was a brief moment of tense silence. Neal's anger immediately disappeared, but before he could apologize, Peter spoke.
"Strike one Neal." Peter said, not even trying to hide the anger from his voice. "Pick that up. Now. I am going to fix you another plate, and you're gunna eat. Understood?" Neal had already started picking up the thrown food and gave a quiet "yes Peter" before Peter left to make him another sandwich.
Once the dining room floor was cleaned and Peter returned with another plate, an awkward silence filled the room. It remained until Mozzie started asking questions about El's event that afternoon. They kept their conversations light, taking about the weather and which foods paired best with which wines. Neal and Peter contributed very little and Neal kept shooting the older man guilty looks.
When they had all finished eating, Elizabeth told them that since they made lunch she would clean up. Mozzie offered to help, and that left Neal and Peter at the table. Neal had not said a word since his outburst and truly regretted what he had done.
Peter started reading the paper he had not finished that morning as he had had to explain the situation of Mozzie and Neal to Elizabeth. He sat at the table holding the newspaper up and read it until he felt a presence beside him. Lowering the newspaper he saw a sheepish Neal standing to the side of his chair looking like he wanted to say something, but too nervous to actually start the conversation. Peter thought he should get the ball rolling, wanting to hear what had Neal had to say.
"Neal." Peter said in neutral tone with a hint of curiosity. Peter was surprised that Neal had not offered to help Elizabeth clean up as he was usually always so eager to help her when he came for dinners before.
"Peter," Neal began in an almost embarrassed tone. "I am sorry about earlier." Neal continued looking down at the paper which now rested on the table where Peter had placed it, now fully engaged in the conversation.
"Neal, look at me please" Peter demanded softly, turning slightly in his chair so he was face to face with Neal, who now practically stood between Peter's knees. When remorseful eyes met Peter's, he felt a flutter in his stomach. Peter wondered offhandedly when his CI had started having that effect on him, and why now, when Neal was still mentally there but in a smaller body, that the feeling in his stomach intensified tenfold.
"I know you are sorry. Thanks for apologizing, but you don't need to anymore. What's done is done so long as it doesn't happen again, okay?"
Neal took a moment to process what Peter had said. Peter had made it explicitly clear before the shopping trip that tantrums would not be tolerated, and here Neal had thrown two in just as many hours. It did not matter that he was having difficulties controlling this new flux of emotions or that he was tired, Neal knew he had acted inappropriately now and when they had happened. He also thought about what Peter said earlier about this being his first strike. Neal had a vague sense of what that meant, but he was not about to bring it back up for discussion. He did not see a reason to shoot himself in the foot. Besides, he was not planning on earning another strike.
"Okay." Neal finally responded with a nod. And then a yawn.
Peter kicked himself mentally, of course the kid had been acting like a brat, he was tired. Peter had already realized that he acted wrongly when arguing with Neal earlier. If he would have been in the right frame of mind, Peter would have seen that Neal was upset and cut of the situation before it started, As it was, Peter had been on edge since this morning's shopping trip and the feeling had been growing the closer it came for El to leave. He had no idea how to handle children which was made clear when Neal had run off before. He had only had his eye off the kid for a minute and Peter could have been the cause of Neal getting hurt or kidnapped. On some level, Peter knew he was being unfair to himself. Children were always trying to establish independence and Neal was no ordinary kid, so of course he ran off the first chance he saw.
Not only that though, Peter was worried about how Mozzie and Neal would progress. It was obvious by Neal's outburst that they were more than capable of acting like their physical ages, but for the most part they were still acting like their normal ages. If Peter could not entertain a normal kid, how was he expected to interact with a de-aged child?
Pushing his concerns to the side, Peter asked Neal if he wanted to finish up his nap. Which just proved he would not be able to handle this afternoon.
"I wasn't napping, Peter!" Neal exclaimed, clearly ruffled by the older man's word choice. Peter noted how quick Neal when from somber to an angry four year old, and wondered if that was normal.
"Okay, okay!" Peter said with his hands up in a defensive manner. "I just thought you might want to sleep, you look tired"
Neal was not buying it though. He was a four year old, and four year olds do not nap. He was resting earlier because he had a late night and need to so he could make it through the day. It was obviously a onetime situations, and once he got back on his normal sleeping routine he would be fine. Neal did not notice that he had dropped the "physically" from describing himself as a four year old.
"Whatever. I am going to watch some TV." Neal explained. Neal did not know what else he could do, he did not have art supplies here and it was obvious Peter would not let him leave the house. And his body was exhausted and he did not feel up to doing much anyways.
Peter shook his head with a dry smile and watched Neal climb onto the couch before he returned to reading his newspaper.
Much too soon in Peter's opinion, Elizabeth finished cleaning up and said she had to leave for her event. But before doing so, she pulled Peter to the side and gave him a couple of pointers for the afternoon. She gave him suggestions of what they could do for entertainment and reminded Peter of what things warranted an emergency. She also reminded him that he needed to give them snacks, but she would be bring back take out for dinner. She told him not to hesitate to call her, but choose wisely as she this was a very important client. Giving her a nod of understanding he said with more confidence than he felt that they would be just fine and that she should enjoy the event.
"Neal, Mozzie" Elizabeth called "Come here please, I have a surprise for both of you."
Very quickly the two boys were standing at attention in front of her, eager for their surprise. Both of them knew from experience that Elizabeth gave the best presents. Granted in Neal's case it was usually wine, so he really had no idea what to expect now. She pulled out some colored pencils from her bag and handed them to Neal and then pulled out a book on urban legends to give to Mozzie.
"I didn't have a lot of choice at the grocery store, so for now that is the best I could do. I promise that tomorrow since Peter and I have the day off, we can go shopping for more stuff." Elizabeth explained. She knew that her gifts were not anything special, but she was trying her best to make light of a difficult situation.
"Thanks Mrs. Suit! I am sure this will provide a lot of entertainment when I have to explain to Mr. Suit that these legends are not in fact just legends. In fact, I know for certain that this one did-"
"Great, El. Now you are just encouraging him. As if he needed any more conspiracies to believe in." Peter said good naturedly, cutting of Mozzies rant.
Neal on the other hand just stood there holding the pencils. "Hey, Neal, isn't there something you want to say to Elizabeth?" Peter said.
Neal knew what Peter wanted him to say, and he knew he should say it as well, but he could not bring himself to do so. Was he really supposed to be excited over common Crayola pencils meant for classroom use? And she did not even get him any paper, so he would probably have to use printer paper as well. At that rate, it would not be worth his time to use them.
"Neal" Peter nudged.
Neal was taken away from his thoughts and looked at Peter and then Elizabeth. She was looking slightly hurt at Neal's lack of response, which made Neal feel kind of bad. Here she was doing something nice for him, and he did not even give a glimmer of appreciation.
"Thanks El, these are great!" Neal told her with false cheer that none of them missed.
"You're welcome baby." She said while laying a hand on his shoulder. "And on that note I need to be going." She gave his shoulder a small squeeze and then placed a maternal kiss on top of his head before repeating the process with Mozzie. Peter got a chaste kiss on the lips and a smile and a soft but encouraging "you'll do great".
And just like that, Peter was left alone with Neal and Mozzie.
A/N I am SORRY! I know I haven't updated quickly, please don't be angry! I will hopefully have another chapter up for tomorrow, for the season premiere! This is the chapter I am least proud of, so I hope you think it is okay.