Sooooo heeeyy. Me again. Still looking for a beta. This story is getting good, yes? (Told you I would get a big ego =) ) Know what would make it even better? No grammar mistakes! Know how that would happen? If I got a beta. Know who would be so happy that she would write two long chapters in one day if she got a beta? Me!
*There is no way for me to write this scene without there being an angle where it could be taken inappropriately. That was not my intention at ALL, and I am sorry if it brings up triggers. The scene was just a segway so Peter could give Neal cuddles and comfort!
Also, I raised the rating of this story because it now contains (a few) swear words. I hope that doesn't offend anyone!
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Elizabeth looked down the stairs to make sure it was all clear before walking down the stairs with Mozzie in tow. When she got to the bottom she smiled when she saw her two boys sitting on the couch talking. Neal was still sitting in Peter's lap.
"Peter" Neal said with disbelief and a look. "You use curry in Indian cuisine, not Chinese."
Elizabeth had no idea how they would have gotten on that topic in the short time she was upstairs, but the mention of food reminder her that their dinner was waiting for them.
"Speaking of food" she said as she interrupted Peter before he could respond "why don't you boys get washed up while I set the table?"
"What's for dinner?" Neal asked as he was placed on the floor and Peter stood up behind him.
"Italian from the small restaurant around the corner." She said, knowing that Neal loved going there, if not only because of the feisty waitress. Today though, the suggestion only earned a wrinkled nose. A cute wrinkled nose at that.
"I don't want Italian."
"Neal, you don't even know what El got for you. Let's go wash our hands and see what goodies she brought home. She might have even got some of that famous Tiramisu" Peter said with a hopeful gaze to Elizabeth.
"Of course, but it's only for good boys who eat their meal first" El responded while looking at Neal. He had a mutinous look on his face, but decided that arguing wouldn't be worth losing the chance for Tiramisu.
"Okay." Neal said while grabbing Peter's hand and pulling him to the sink so he could wash his hands. The sooner they ate, the sooner they could get their dessert. Peter stood there behind Neal for a minute before deciding the easiest way to get Neal's hands washed would be to lift him up. They were going to have to pull out one of the stools from the basement if the boys did not start to grow soon.
Once everyone washed their hands and the table was set they all sat down for dinner. Peter and Elizabeth had wine, Mozzie and Neal got milk.
"I'll take some wine to, Mrs. Suit" Mozzie said after she finished pouring Peter's cup. He had drank all his milk and was holding his glass out for El.
"Moz, if we are not going to give you coffee we are not about to give you wine."
"But that's different. I don't care if I drink coffee. But I always have wine."
"Mozzie, you're not getting any wine." This time Peter chimed in.
"Peter, I get it. I really do. And you are right, you shouldn't give a normal child wine, but I am no normal child." Peter snorted internally, you could say that again he thought. "I am only shrunk so I am sure alcohol won't affect me like it would a different kid or Neal"
"Hey!" Neal said. "If Moz gets wine, then so do I!"
"One glass isn't going to hurt." Mozzie continued to argue.
"No. Neither of you is getting wine. One day without it won't kill you. And not only that, but right now you are both under 21, so it would be illegal." He and El were going to start to have to come up with better excuses, as 'it is illegal' was starting to get overused. At least it was something neither boy could argue. Mozzie looked longingly at the wine, but let the issue go. Neal followed his lead, as he was facing the island where the precious dessert sat, and really he could have wine any day, but Tiramisu was a special treat.
The meal went well with everyone explaining how there day went. Elizabeth explained about her nitpicky client who almost threw a fit because the napkins were not robin's egg blue, but were ocean blue instead. Mozzie told her with enthusiasm the walk they went on with Satchmo and Peter told her about the game. Neal was rather quiet through the meal because he realized he did not have anything positive to say about the day. Elizabeth knew what had happened that day, so she let the issue drop.
Once dinner was done Peter put the dishes in the dishwasher while Elizabeth got out the plates for dessert. She decided to forego their usual coffee with dessert, because it was not fair to Neal and Mozzie if she drank it when they could not. Peter looked longingly at the coffee maker, as it was already going to be a long night, and especially so if there was no coffee.
Dessert also went well, and Neal practically licked his plate clean. Just as with breakfast, Neal got his food all over his face and hands so Elizabeth went into the kitchen and got a wet washcloth and returned to the seat beside Neal. She started wiping his face with it, but Neal tried to pull away.
"Liz'beth" Neal whined. "I can do it myself!" he said. El was skeptical but gave him the rag, and Neal wiped his face half-heartedly and missed half his face. He did not even attempt to wash his hands. Elizabeth grabbed the cloth back from Neal and grabbed his chin gently but firmly enough so he could not get away and wiped the boy's face and then repeated the process with his hands. The entire time Neal was letting out complaints and kept squirming to get away.
"There!" She said when she was done. "Now how about we put away the dirty dishes and go watch a movie?"
"I saw you guys have Casablanca" Neal said. "I haven't seen that in ages!"
"Choose again." Peter told him.
This did not make Neal very happy. Peter had been denying Neal things all day and when he chose a simple thing like a movie, he was once again refused. Peter did not even give him a reason, and Neal didn't give him the time to.
"You have got to be kidding me P'ter!" Neal yelled "I just want to watch a movie, an' you aren't even going to let me do that?!" he continued, working himself up. "Are you that power hungry? You don't want me to have any fun. If you didn't want me here, just say so. 'Cause I obviously can't do anything right!" By now he was all out shouting.
"Neal, what is the matter with you?" Peter said with restraint. "I just told you to pick a different movie. If you would have let me explain, I would have told you there is a scratch in that one."
"Oh."
"Oh is right. You need to stop yelling at me at every little thing. Not only that, but we are all watching the movie together so that means Neal doesn't get to decide. You can suggest something, but we all need to agree. Understood?" Neal nodded. "I asked if you understood Neal."
"Yes, Peter" A well chastened Neal whispered.
"Okay then, why don't you and Mozzie see what we have while Elizabeth and I finish up in the kitchen?" At that Neal walked to the living room and Peter joined El in the kitchen.
"I can't do this" Peter told El as he walked in the kitchen. El turned around and gave him a hug.
"Oh Hun, you are doing just fine." She encouraged.
"I can't do this. He is driving me up the wall. I just wanted to leave." Peter admitted guiltily.
"But you didn't." She said, holding him at arm's length away. "You didn't and that is what is important. What I saw in there earlier and what I heard happened with the coffee proves to me you can do this. It's hard, and it probably won't be easy for a while, but you are doing just fine Peter Burke." She said honestly with a smile, looking Peter in the eyes. Peter hugged her once more soaking up the reassurances she was giving him. With a little more confidence, he ended the hug, and together they walked into the living room ready for movie night.
"So what did you boys choose?" Elizabeth asked as she sat on the couch with Peter.
"Singing in the Rain" Mozzie told her as he put the DVD in. Peter groaned whereas Elizabeth told them it was a great choice. Neal came and sat in between the two adults on the couch and Mozzie chose to grab a pillow and blanket and plopped himself on the ground a foot away from the TV. Everyone enjoyed the movie and half way through Peter made them popcorn at El's suggestion. Once the movie was over, she saw Neal leaning heavily into the couch and yawning.
"I think it is time for bed." El declared. Neal shot up at this.
"It's only 8:30!" He said in outrage.
"Which is already probably too late, you were half asleep through the movie." El rationalized.
"No I wasn't. I was just into the movie. I don't think I have ever been to bed before 9."
"Well that changes today" Peter told him. "Go upstairs Neal, we will be there in a minute to helo you get ready for bed.
"But I'm not tired!" he wailed. "Come on Mozzie, tell them it is too early!" Neal begged of his friend who was silent up until now. Truth be told, Mozzie really was tired and knew it, but it would be bad form not to protest the early hour.
"Suit, Mrs. Suit. Let's be reasonable here, we aren't-" Mozzie started before getting cut off by Peter.
"The both of you need to go upstairs now." Peter told them decisively. Mozzie had put his protest in, so could in good conscience got upstairs.
"Neal."
"No." Neal said, standing in front of Peter with his arms crossed. "I'm not tired and I am not going to bed yet."
"Neal, baby, you are tired though. In your new body, your body needs more sleep. If you were still an adult I wouldn't think of making you go to bed this early, but as it is you need to go to bed now."
"M'not a baby!" he yelled at her.
"Neal, we are not going to argue about this. You can go upstairs now, or you can go upstairs after a timeout. Either way, you are going to go to bed." Peter told him, fed up. Neal thought about what Peter said and decided he really did not want another timeout. He knew Peter was not kidding about that and he was willing to play along with them for now, but he told himself they could not force him to actually fall asleep. Neal made sure to let them know that he was annoyed with them by stomping up the stairs in a huff.
"See what I have put up with all day?" Peter told Elizabeth. She smiled at him before telling him that the real arguing was just about to start and walking calmly up the stairs. Peter sighed before following her up.
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"Alright boys, let's brush those teeth!" Elizabeth said, starting the bed time process with something easy. She pulled out two new tooth brushes and handed one to each boy. Mozzie was just tall enough to reach the sink, but El pulled out a step stool for Neal. She left the boys in the bathroom and told them that she and Peter would be in the guest room when they were done.
"What did you mean when you said the true arguing is about to begin?" Peter asked Elizabeth while they were alone. Elizabeth was searching the box with her nephew's things in it looking for PJs for the boys.
"I bought pull-ups for Neal. Until we know for sure doesn't need them, he needs to wear them."
"Oh. Yeah. Good luck with that." He told El.
"Oh, no mister. That's you responsibility. He is going to be embarrassed enough and you are a guy so you get to tell him."
"Tell him what?" Neal asked as he walked into the guest room.
"Where's Mozzie?" Peter asked, trying to sway the conversation.
"Bathroom. Tell him what?" He asked again, his mind focused as El's voice had sounded rather tense.
"Neal sweetie, there is something you have to do tonight and you aren't going to like it. We promise we aren't doing this to be mean, or to embarrass you, we are doing this for your own good." Elizabeth stated.
"Something I have to do?" Neal asked, confused.
"Not do, really. Wear." Peter said. He bit the bullet and told Neal he would have to wear a pull-up.
Neal's face immediately flushed bright red.
"No. No no no no no no." Neal said with horror, slowly backing out of the bedroom door. Peter grabbed his shoulder before he could get to far and Neal tried to jerk free.
"Neal, like El told you, we aren't doing this to be mean. And come morning if you are dry" now Peter was the one blushing "then we can throw the rest of them away." Peter's words did nothing to calm Neal down.
"NO! I have put up with baths and the naps and the booster seats. Hell, I even did the time out and the absurdly early bedtime. I draw the line at diapers!" Neal cried out.
"Neal, sweetheart, I know this hasn't been easy. I know you have been going through so much and Peter and I can't even imagine. We are trying to make this as easy as possible and that means doing things you don't like sometimes."
"I don't care what you two think is for the best. I am NOT going to wear them and you can't make me" Neal declared with a stomp of the foot.
"Baby, maybe we all need to take a minute to call down and then we can come back to this issue. I took out a few pairs of pajamas that should fit, why don't you go select one for tonight?" She suggested, trying to give Neal some of the autonomy he was craving.
"It doesn't matter 'cause m'not staying here!" he howled before running out of the room.
"I'll go" Peter said as Mozzie walked in the guest room. Elizabeth exhaled loudly, finally realizing what the night must have been like for Peter. At least she got the easier child to take care of. She showed Mozzie the pajamas he could wear before having him lay in bed where they sat chatting. She always loved visiting with Mozzie as he always had some pretty good stories.
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Downstairs Peter found Neal trying to escape out the front door. Luckily his hands were not able to work the lock. Peter grabbed his shoulder and Neal yelled at Peter to let him leave.
"Neal, calm down." Peter told him firmly to no avail. When he saw Neal was not going to stop Peter picked him up, but Neal clung to the door knob with a death grip. "Neal, let go." He said loudly. Peter waited a few seconds before peeling the boy's fingers off the knob. Once Neal's hands were free he pulled him against his chest and started walking up the stairs. Of course Neal wasn't making this easy for him and was twisting out his hold. At the top of the stairs Neal bit Peter's arm. Hard. This time Peter couldn't put Neal down gently but dropped him instead. Neal was shocked with what he did and his anger left just as quickly as it had come. That didn't stop him from trying to run away.
"Neal George Caffrey!" He yelled at Neal who had gone half way down the stairs. "Come. Here." He demanded angrily.
At the use of his full name, Neal spun around quickly. Ellen was the only one he remembered who used his full name and was able to get the same result. When he saw Peter's face, he nervously walked up the steps and stood at Peter's feet where the older man was pointing.
"I'm sor-" Neal started to say before Peter cut him off.
"No, Neal. You don't get to apologize. This is the third time you have physically hurt someone today. It ends now. The next time you decide to hurt someone you are going to get a lot worse than a timeout. Now go to you room." Peter told him firmly. Peter took a few minutes by himself to let the pain fade away. When he looked down at his arm he saw teeth marks indented in his skin. Once under control, Peter headed into the guest room where he saw Neal arguing with Elizabeth.
"Neal, if it turns out you need them and you don't wear it, you are going to be a lot more embarrassed." She said gently.
"But I won't need them at all, so we can just drop it!"
"Sweetie, if you wear them tonight we can go out tomorrow and buy you some nice new clothes." She said, running out of arguments and patience and willing to say anything to get him to agree to the pull-ups.
"I am not going to negotiate with you about this!" Neal shouted back at her.
"That's good, because this isn't a negotiation. You're going to wear them. End of discussion." Peter said, fed up with Neal and this discussion.
"P'ter" He whined. "Please don't make me do this" he begged as he whipped out the puppy dog eyes. El was about to fall for them but after years of facing those eyes daily, he had built up an immunity to them.
"Neal, you can put them on yourself or we can do it for you. It's your choice" Peter said, finally giving Neal the ultimatum.
"Just put the damn pull-ups on Neal so we can all go to bed" Mozzie piped in.
"Mozz!" Both El and Peter scolded.
"I was just trying to help." Mozzie muttered.
*Ignoring Mozzie's comment, Peter grabbed Neal's arm and place him on the bed before asking Elizabeth to hand him one of the pull-ups. Neal anticipating what was going to happen, tried to wriggle his way off the bed. It didn't work as Peter placed a firm hand on his chest and held him down and in a blink of an eye took of his pants and underwear and quickly replaced it with the pull-up. Elizabeth handed Peter the pajama bottoms and helped Peter put them on the boy as he was kicking his legs wildly. The entire time this was happening Neal was screaming bloody murder.
Once his PJs were on, Neal was still not ready to cooperate. He kept trying to claw at the pull-up and Peter eventually grabbed both the boy's wrists. Peter was sitting on the bed to better hold Neal so he didn't hurt himself. After several minutes of yelling, Neal's screams turned into sobs and the fight left his body. And Peter once again found himself full of Neal.
"M'sorry!" Neal cried. "I hate this!" he managed to cough out between his sobs.
"I know, I know kiddo" Peter soothed.
"Sweetie, I am sorry this happened" El chimed in as she ran a soothing hand through Neal's hair "I can't imagine how hard this is for you, but tomorrow is a new day and I promise things will be better. We got through day one, which has to be the hardest." She said, here hand never leaving Neal.
Neal was starting to calm down, but he was not ready to leave Peter's arm. Tears were still streaming down his face as he buried it in the older man's shoulder. All of his anger and embarrassment was finally leaving him and it felt good. It felt good to have someone who cared there to be there for him when he was upset. If Peter didn't leave him after Neal had bitten him, he knew there wasn't much he could do to drive the agent away. Neal clutched tighter on Peter's shirt to get closer to him. Peter readjusted himself so Neal was more comfortable in his arms. After several minutes Neal's breathing evened out, indicating to Peter he had fallen asleep. Peter placed Neal gently on the bed and El covered him with the blankets. Peter patted the young boy's head paternally before wishing Mozzie a goodnight and walking towards the door. Elizabeth kissed both boys on the head before following Peter down the stairs.
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