A/N Thanks for all the positive feedback guys! It really brightens my day. So many mixed reactions about Mozzie! I didn't intend for him to be that cruel, it was supposed to be more sibling rivalry. Also, just a reminder, I did mention the characters would be OOC. Thanks again for all the comments, I truly appreciate them.
I am a terrible person and lied. I got a beta and very clearly didn't put 2 chapters out in one day. This one is unbetaed because I wanted to get it out today, since it has been forever. Sorry! Life got in the way and now finals are here, blah blah blah. So on and so forth. Onward with the story!
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Peter had Neal on his hip as he walked up and down the stairs brining the boxes with his nephew's things in it to the living room to be sorted. Peter had tried several times to set the boy down, but was met with resistance in the form of Neal letting out a whine and clutching painfully at his back.
Two trips later they brought all the boxes up the stairs and into the living room. Peter placed them all on the floor so that it would be easier for Neal to dig through. One of the boxes had only books in it, which appeared to interest Neal the most. Peter had taken a seat on the floor beside Neal and simply sat and watched the boy with amusement at how Neal was even more curious at this age than his adult age.
When Neal plucked a book out of the box and stood there staring at it for several minutes, Peter himself got curious at the odd behavior and asked the boy what he was looking at. Neal looked up at Peter, confused as if he forgot that the older man was still there. Neal looked once more at the book before walking towards Peter sitting on his lap so they both had their legs straight out. Peter scooted back against the couch so he could sit more comfortably. Neal placed the book in his lap so it was facing up and Peter read over his shoulder that it was If you Give a Mouse a Cookie.
"Before my dad left, my parents would read me this story every night. When dad did the night shift, we would read it together before his shift began" Neal remembered fondly. Those were what Neal like to refer to as the good years. The years before his father left and his mom lost herself to grief. That was a time when Neal was in a real family who did things like eat family dinners and read bedtime stories.
Peter easily read Neal's face and vowed he would never give Neal a reason to have that look again. So he picked the book from the boy's hands and opened it and started reading it out loud. Peter could feel Neal tense up when he first started reading, but after about the third page he relaxed against Pete's chest. This was a new situation for Peter to be in, reading to a child, but he decided he could get used to it. He could get used to the way Neal would use his finger to follow along with the words he was reading out loud. He could get used to the way Neal would eagerly point out things in the pictures that Peter himself did not notice. He could get used to Neal turning the page for him after the boy had soaked up everything the pages had to offer.
Just as they were finishing the story, Mozzie and Elizabeth walked in with Satchmo from their walk. Neal went to climb off the older man's lap, but Peter easily wrapped his arm around his waist and pulled him back in his lap. Peter could tell that he was much more uncomfortable however. When he got to the end he removed his restraining arm from Neal and the boy instantly climbed off.
"How was your walk guys?" Peter asked as he stood up.
"It was good. The neighbor's dog from down the street was out again and nearly tipped this guy over" El told them with a smile as she placed a hand on Mozzie's head. Mozzie responded by grinning widely and telling Peter eagerly that,
"Satch saw a squirrel and tried to run off 'n I was holding the leash and he nearly pulled my arm off, but I was holding on really tight, but he still ended up dragging me until El grabbed the leash from me and then told Satch to stay and then Satch did." All in one breath.
"Well it sounds like you guys had a busy walk then!" Peter said. He allowed them a few minutes to put their coats away and to get settled before telling them that they needed to have a family meeting. Elizabeth was surprised that Peter would suggest a family meeting, and it made her wonder what possibly could have happened in the last half an hour that he would decide to do so.
Peter led them to the kitchen where he had Mozzie and Neal sit on one side of the island and Peter and Elizabeth stood on the other.
"First off, Mozzie, Neal told me what you said to him earlier and I don't appreciate it." Peter said with a stern look to the older boy. "I know we are all getting used to this new situation, but pitting against each other is not going to get us anywhere."
"Mozzie?" El questioned as she had no idea what Peter was referring to. Mozzie crossed his arms before looking down at the counter defensively. When he was not forthcoming with details she prodded further. "What did you say to Neal earlier?" Still, he remained quiet. "Neal baby, what happened earlier?"
And then Neal told her exactly what he told Peter earlier. He told her how mean Mozzie was and how upset he was that no one was listening to him and that they were constantly taking Mozzie's side. When he was finished, Elizabeth felt terrible. She felt horrible for not noticing how mean Mozzie was and even worse for not even asking for Neal's side of the story. She should have recognized that Neal was not the type to use violence, and she should have questioned him about it. She vowed to herself never let it happen again.
"Mozzie, why did you say those things? Neal is your friend and you knew it would make him upset" El asked with concern. This was truly out of character behavior for Mozzie. She knew it went beyond Mozzie being upset with Neal.
"It wasn't like that!" Mozzie cried out, trying to defend himself.
"So you didn't make fun of Neal for wetting the bed or needing extra help?" She asked angrily at Mozzie. Seeing Neal's pink cheeks, she added, "Because that is nothing to make fun of him for. He is in the body of a four year old and can't help it."
Mozzie didn't say anything because he had done exactly that. Plus, Mozzie wasn't entirely sure why he said those things in the first place. Elizabeth was right, Neal was his friend, and looking back at it, he had indeed been cruel to him.
"I'm sorry Neal, I shouldn't have said those things" Mozzie said sincerely with a sideways glance to Neal. Neal easily accepted the apology as he himself had done some things in the last few days that he was not particularly proud of either.
"Thank you for apologizing Mozzie, but I think a time out is in order" Peter told him.
"Very funny suit. Time outs are for little kids." Mozzie said, playing it off as if the man was kidding.
"Mozzie, I am serious. Neal had one because he pushed you down, but you played a big role in why he did it, so you get the same punishment." Peter told him, remaining resolute. Elizabeth gave him a nod in agreement.
"No way in Hell, Peter" Mozzie said, dead serious this time. Sure he felt bad for what he said, but he already apologized for that, and he did not feel bad enough where he thought further punishment was in order.
"Mozzie, if you choose to use that kind of language then you are choosing to have more time added to your time out" Elizabeth added, electing to chime in to put up a united front with Peter.
This did not go over well with Mozzie. He hopped off his chair and yelled "I am seven, not two. I am too old for that!" before crossing his arms and glaring at Peter.
"Number one, you are not too old. And number two, there is no reason for you to yell at us like that, so I think a timeout is in order. So either you can march yourself into that corner, or I can help you and you can deal with more consequences." Peter returned with his arms crossed and leveling his own glare at the stubborn boy.
Perhaps it was because he had seen this same scenario with Neal earlier and saw that arguing only led to further punishment that Mozzie walked to the same corner where Neal had sat the day before without any further remarks. Peter picked up the stool that Mozzie had been sitting on before and walked it to the corner and told Mozzie "seven minutes".
"Seven!" Moz cried. "That's longer than Neal's" he whined out. "That's not fair!"
"Mozzie, you are older than Neal, so that means you get more time. One minute for each year." El told him.
"S'not fair" Moz pouted and crossed his arms but let the issue go. He still had Peter's threat in the back of his mind. Peter noted the time before joining Neal and Elizabeth at the island.
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"Can we go shopping now Liz'beth?" Neal asked.
"We will have to wait a bit Sweetie" She told him.
"We aren't done with our family meeting yet either" Peter told Neal. When both Neal and Elizabeth looked at him confused, he explained further. "We still have to go over rules and consequences. These behaviors from the two of you stop now." He said seriously.
"How much longer?" Mozzie asked four minutes later from the corner.
"Three minutes to go, you are doing good bud" Peter told him.
Mozzie swiveled on his stool to face the island before saying, "I think I should be done now. Neal only had four minutes and that seemed to be perfect".
"You'll be done in three minutes as long as you sit there without talking. We already told you why it is longer, and if I hear one more word out of you I will add time. Now turn around, I will tell you when your time is up." Peter said firmly.
Mozzie looked like he was about to argue, but thought better of it. He turned around with a huff but remained silent otherwise. Three minutes later, Peter walked over to where Mozzie sat and told him that his time was up. The boy instantly hopped off the stool and let out an enthusiastic "about time!" Peter grabbed the stool with one hand and Mozzie's shoulder with the other and walked both back to the kitchen island. When everyone was back to their original positions, Peter started talking again.
"Alright boys, it would appear that this situation is not just temporary. So for the time being, we need to set some ground rules. Number one, the arguing and backtalk ends now." Peter told them, making sure to make eye contact with both of them.
"Well maybe if stop treating us like children, we wouldn't need to argue" Neal mumbled under his breath.
"What was that Neal?" Peter asked sternly, knowing full well what the boy had said, but wanting him to repeat it again.
"I'm just saying, if you didn't treat us like kids, maybe we wouldn't have to argue with you." Neal repeated, more respectfully this time, but still with a side of defiance. Peter ran a tired hand down his face before addressing the boy.
"Neal, we are not trying to degrade you in any way, but there are certain things you have to do or can't do because of your physical age. And you know it to, so it is high time you accept it." Peter explained. Neither Neal nor Mozzie responded. Peter counted that as a win because at least there was not a fight about it. Peter continued with the rules.
"Rule two, this sibling rivalry stops now. You are both in the same position of being de-aged and you need to start working with each other, not against each other."
"I don't know what you are talking about Suit, there hasn't been any sibling rivalry." Mozzie said.
"Sweetie, have you already forgotten what your timeout was about?" Mozzie's ears tinged pink. "We are here to help you both and we both have plenty of time for both of you. So what Peter means is that there will be no more hitting or antagonizing each other. Clear?" She waited for both child to give her a nod before moving on.
"Lastly, this pretty much sums up what Peter was saying, treat everyone with respect." El finished up. "This means no name calling, telling the truth, and treating property with respect."
This time Peter gave Elizabeth a nod of approval. It didn't appear that either child was offended by this rule, but Peter thought that the truth telling might be a difficult task for both of them.
"Is there anything either of you want to add?" Elizabeth asked. Mozzie shook his head, but Neal told them,
"If we have to follow rules then so do you."
Peter was about to tell him that they were the adults and he the child so they set the rules, but Elizabeth spoke before he could say anything.
"That's a very good idea Neal. These rules are applicable to us as well. Are there any additional rules that you think we should follow?" El asked kindly and sincerely.
Neal was stunned. He did not actually think that they would listen to him. Now that Elizabeth agreed, he did not have anything to add to the list.
"I'll think about it." Neal decided.
"I am sure you will" Peter said.
"Alright, well meeting adjourned. Why don't we get bundled up so we can go shopping?" Elizabeth asked brightly. With two excited "yes's" and one begrudged "if we have to" they all headed to the front closest. Elizabeth handed Mozzie his coat and hat and gloves while Peter helped Neal zip his coat and put on his hat. They would need to buy Neal some gloves as they did not have any in his size.
They got packed into the car and headed out to go shopping once more.
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They reached the mall and got a very good parking spot for a Sunday. Peter told the boys that the same rules from grocery shopping applied to this shopping trip as well. He had them repeat them to him so they were all on the same page.
As they walked into the department store, Elizabeth decided that they should divide and conquer as the boys were both different sizes and it would save time. Peter did not think this was a good idea, especially when Mozzie placed dibs on Elizabeth. Not that he didn't love Neal, but he knew that even as a child Neal would want to look impeccable. But as it turned out Peter did not get a choice in this and all he could do was watch Mozzie and Elizabeth walk away towards the shoe department.
Neal was not feeling the best about that decision either. He would rather shop with Peter as things were still awkward with Elizabeth, but the other side of him had seen Peter's choice in fashion and thought maybe it would have been beneficial to have Elizabeth there. He would just have to work it out. He looked up at Peter who had a deer in the head lights look.
"Elizabeth buy's my clothes for me" Peter said looking down at Neal. Neal sighed before tugging on the man's hand and headed to the escalator as the boy's clothes section was on the second floor. When they got to in front of the escalator's though, Neal's grip on Peter's hand tightened almost painfully. They looked so much bigger now that he was small and the sharp edges on the steps looked almost scary.
When Peter felt Neal's hold firm up, he looked down at him. He saw that the boy's face had lost all color and could feel him trembling slightly. It would have been funny that Neal was scared, except that he looked down right terrified. Instead of saying the comment on the tip of his tongue, Peter picked Neal up without comment and stepped on the escalator behind a woman with a ten year old son.
"Your son is adorable" She told Peter "Enjoy it while you can, because they grow up to quick" She said fondly with a smile.
Neal's face flushed red and buried his face in Peter's shoulder. He was not sure how Peter would handle this situation, as he was not his son.
"He sure is" Peter said, rolling with it as he understood how she would assume that. "It seems like just yesterday that he was in diapers" he added, intentionally trying to embarrass Neal. It worked as he could feel Neal's face heat up. He wished the mom and son a good day once they reached the top and stepped off towards the pants.
"P'ter" Neal whined, having lifted his head from the man's shoulders. "Why did you say that?" He asked, his face now only slightly pink.
"What was I supposed to say Neal? I couldn't very well tell her the truth could I? That you aren't my son but my CI who got shrunk" He asked the boy.
"So you already broke one of the house rules!" Neal said cunningly. Peter gave him a glare, because Neal knew full well that he could not tell her the real story. "Okay, fine. You couldn't say that. But you didn't have to say that about the diapers!" He exclaimed. Peter just smiled coyly before setting Neal down.
"What size are you?" Peter asked.
"I don't know! I have never bought clothes for a child before." Peter sighed before seeing a size chart that indicated Neal would likely be a small or medium. He grabbed both and Neal demanded he see what Peter had chosen.
"You can't be serious P'ter. Look at those! They are awful!" Neal said in horror.
"Neal, you are a kid. No one is going to care if they aren't designer."
"But I will. Pick me up, I want to see." Neal commanded.
Peter raised an eyebrow at Neal's declaration. "Excuse me?"
"I am too short, and I can't see the options. After you chose those ones, I am not about to let you pick again." Neal explained, oblivious to Peter's annoyance.
"I know what you meant Neal, but you can't just order me around. Do you want to rephrase that?" Peter said with forced calm.
Neal blinked at Peter. He thought back to what he had told the older man before realizing just how rude he had been. "Sorry," he said meekly. "Can you please pick me up so I can see my options?" He asked politely.
Peter let the issue drop and lifted Neal up. He let the boy choose his designs and grabbed two different sizes before they headed to the dressing rooms. He had Neal try on the different sizes and found he was a small. Four pairs of jeans later, Neal told him he wanted dress pants.
"Neal, you don't really need those, we aren't going anywhere fancy."
"P'ter, please?" Neal begged, whipping out his puppy eyes. Peter sighed before agreeing. The rest of their shopping went without a hitch until they got to the gloves. By some miracle Neal was happy with the winter jacket he had from Elizabeth's nephew. It might have also had something to do with the fact that when they went to scope them out the only ones available were bright colors as opposed to the black one he had now.
Peter picked out a simple black warm pair of gloves that he thought went fine with the black jacket Neal had. Neal had found a pair that looked identical to the ones Peter chose, or so Peter thought, but with a name brand.
"Neal, put those back please. I have a pair right here."
"I like these one's better." He told Peter before setting them into the basket Peter was holding with all of Neal's other clothes. Neal shook his head at first that this clothing store used baskets to hold clothes. He only shopped at places where an employee would hold them at the register until you were finished shopping.
"Those look exactly like these, but three times as expensive, and not nearly as warm. Put them back" Peter repeated.
"Peter, these are name brand, of course they are going to be expensive, but it is worth the price, I can assure you." Neal said as if it would actually convince Peter.
"Neal, we aren't even sure how long you will need them for. I am not shelling out money for them. Put. Them. Back." Peter said, a lot more firm than before.
"If it's the money you are worried about, I can always get cash." Neal said with a smile.
"Last chance to put them back, or I am getting you the cookie monster mittens." Peter warned. Neal knew he wasn't kidding, so he put them back. When Peter turned around to pick up the basket Neal quickly shoved the gloves under his shirt.
When they checked out they ended up with seven pairs of pants, nine shirts, one pair of gloves and a scarf Neal just had to have. Peter was tuckered out by the time they got to the register and had to drag Neal away from the dress shirts. Peter called Elizabeth and she told them that she and Mozzie were at the ice cream shop three stores down. She also told him that they had finished shopping half an hour ago. Peter groaned in jealousy as he set the bags down and slid his card.
Neal saw his opportunity and slid the pair of gloves he had stolen into one of the many bags they had. There would be plenty of time to take them out at home before anyone would notice. Once Peter finished paying, he grabbed the bags with one hand, and Neal's hand with the other. Neal did not even fight this as his stomach was kind of squirrely after what he had done. He played it off as hunger, and once they had reached Mozzie and Elizabeth he forgot all about it.
When they sat down, Peter saw they had already ordered so he set down the bags and took Neal up to see what he wanted. Peter had to pick him up so Neal could see all the flavors, and Neal chose strawberry while Peter got a vanilla.
When they were finished, El thought it would be a good idea to go buy some things to keep the boys entertained. The first shop they went to was an art store. The clerk looked at the two children and cringed. This was not the type of art store to bring your children to. El ignored the clerk and went for the paints and canvases that she knew Neal would like.
After that they ran over to the book store for Mozzie. She had Peter help the boys pick out books while she shopped at the department store across the hall. She had Peter hand over the keys so she could have the employees help her install the car seats while the boys were preoccupied.
Once she had thanked to store employee for helping het set up the booster seat and bringing it out to her car, Elizabeth called Peter and found out that they were done at the book store and were headed to the car. When they got to the car and Neal went to open the door before El called him over to the other side.
"Over here please, Neal" She requested.
"Why?" he asked suspiciously before going to open the door anyways. Peter stopped the door from opening with a hand resting on it before telling the young boy to do as he was told. Looking up at Peter he decided not to argue and walked over to Elizabeth.
She waited for Peter to finish putting the bags in the trunk before talking to Neal. A minute later she addressed Neal by crouching down to his height and grabbing one of his hands partially in comfort and partially because she did not want him trying to run away in the parking lot. She was hoping to prevent an outburst because she knew that both of the boys should have been in booster seats from their first car trip, but she hadn't had the time to get one. She was not going to risk Neal and Mozzie's life just because they were embarrassed.
Without further notice she opened the door with her free hand and Neal's reaction was almost instant at seeing the car seat. Neal tried to pull his hand from Elizabeth and kept shouting "no". She was losing her grip on his hand so Peter picked the screaming boy up.
Elizabeth sighed before walking to the other side and showing Mozzie the booster seat she bought for him. He got in without any protest, likely because he saw Neal's reaction and did not want to embarrass himself like that. She got him buckled in without any fuss before going to try and calm down Neal, who was yelling so much his face was red, and tears were streaming down his face. She felt kind of bad, but this was over something that was nonnegotiable. At least he had stopped pounding his fists on Peter's chest.
"Neal, Sweetie. I know you don't want this, but it is for your own safety. You need to be safe. I don't want to think what would happen if you weren't in a car seat and we got into an accident." She murmured softly as she ran a hand through his hair hoping to calm him.
"Neal, it's the law. And if you are doing this a second time around, you are going to learn not to break it. I know you're upset, but this is going to happen." And with that he tried putting Neal in the seat. The minute he was placed in it, he started wriggling to get his way out.
"Neal" Peter puffed out with exertion. "Stop this!" He shouted as he tried to pin Neal's limbs down. Elizabeth looked around the parking lot and realized how this might look to an outsider.
"Peter" she called to him "Stop." And Peter did, though he kept a firm hold of the boy. They were going to have to try a different approach. As Neal was still trying to wiggle away, Peter picked him up and he stilled almost instantly.
"Why don't you like this Neal?" El asked, looking the boy in the eyes.
"M'not a baby!" he sobbed out, as he was still crying quite loudly.
"No one said you were Neal. But the fact is that your body is small and it is unsafe to sit in anything except a car seat." She told him, rubbing a hand up and down his back.
"Mozzie's little an' he doesn't need one" He told her.
"He's also taller than you are bud" Peter chimed in. At this Neal turned his head so instead of resting his head on Peter's chest facing Elizabeth it was facing the opposite way.
"The truth is Neal that you can postpone this five minutes or an hour. Either way it is the only way you are going to ride in the car. So are you going to let me put you in there now or are you going to keep fussing?" Peter asked annoyed. It had already been ten minutes that they stood in the parking lot. Neal nodded his head.
"We don't know what you were nodding to Neal. Are you going to let Peter put you down now?" Another nod, but Neal didn't turn to make eye contact. Peter set Neal down tentatively, scared this was a ploy and he was going to try and escape at any time. Neal sat there relatively still for Neal while Peter fumbled with getting his strapped in. After Elizabeth double checked that they were secured, the adults got in their seats and Peter headed towards home.
Elizabeth looked back to make sure the boys were both secure and saw that Neal had unbuckled himself. She told Peter to pull over and with a concerned look he did as he was asked and left the engine running. When the car was in park, Elizabeth unbuckled her seatbelt and twisted to look at Neal.
"That is not okay Neal." Elizabeth scolded the boy in a stern voice. Neal had never heard her sound so stern before and he felt his eyes start to burn. "I was trying to be sympathetic before because I know you don't like this situation, but you do not get to endanger yourself like this again. Peter is going to strap you back in, and you are going to let him without any protest and you are going to leave it alone. Am I clear?" By now the tears were flowing freely down his cheeks, but Elizabeth was not going to be swayed. "Neal?"
"Yes, Liz'beth." He told her pathetically.
With Neal's acceptance, Peter got out and strapped him back in with much more finesse than the first time. And true to his word, Neal left it alone. Although that might have been due to the fact that he had fallen asleep, physically exhausted from all that crying.
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Bear with me, I have never bought clothes for children, so for simplicity sake I am saying Neal is a small. I don't think anyone would care, but I had to point it out just in case.