Suspended
Dick snuggled up against Jason's side as they sat on the couch together, watching movies. Dick had the day off and they were both feeling lazy today. Dick was dressed in naught but a pair of blue sweatpants and a white tank top, and Jason in red sweatpants and a black tank top. Nope, today, they were giving up on themselves and just taking a lazy day to relax in their cozy little apartment. And Star apparently had the same idea, as the now six-year-old dog lazily hopped up onto the couch and snuggled up on Jason's other side, head resting on his knee.
"What is this?" Jason asked, quirking an eyebrow, looking first at Dick, who looked up at him with a little smirk, then at Star, who also glanced up at him and may as well have been smirking too.
"Guess I'm not the only one who thinks you're cuddly, Jay," Dick teased, giving the man a little wink. Jason smirked and rolled his eyes, one hand pushing through Dick's hair, and the other patting Star, who gave a contented sigh. And the three of them were content to stay that way, except that the phone rang.
"D'you wanna get that?" Dick asked Jason. The man rolled his eyes once more and lazily pushed himself up off the couch and padded across the apartment, snatching up the phone.
"Yeah?" he answered, earning a snort from Dick.
"Someway to answer a phone, slob," Dick muttered in amusement. Jason mouthed back 'fuck you', making the man laugh a bit as he sat up on the couch. Star laid her head down on the couch and shot a look at Jason, then grumbled at the loss, which Dick snickered at.
"Kaden what?"Jason asked in an annoyed tone, expression darkening a little. Dick sat straight up then, expression turning serious. Was something wrong with Kaden?
"Yeah, we'll be right there," Jason answered, hanging up the phone. He sighed heavily and raked his hands through his hair and looked over at Dick.
"Everything okay?" Dick asked. Jason shook his head.
"No. Kaden's being suspended for fighting."
"What? That doesn't sound like Kaden," Dick replied, rising to his feet and crossing his arms over his chest. They'd taught Kaden to fight years ago after that nightmare with the Joker, but they made him promise not to fight in school, and he never had. So why now all of the sudden?
"Well, regardless, we need to get down to the school," Jason grumbled, scrubbing his face with his hands. He moved into the bedroom to get dressed with Dick behind him.
Fully dressed and keys in hand, they made their way out and off to the school.
When Dick and Jason arrived at Gotham Academy, they were led by the Principal's aid to his office (Jason was quite familiar with it, actually). Inside, sat Kaden with a bloody nose and a few bruises on his face.
"What the hell happened?" Jason asked, kneeling down in front of Kaden. The boy looked away, seemingly ashamed and the principal, a rather large man in a blue suit, cleared his throat to get their attention.
"Mr. Todd, your son was caught fighting with four other students. The other four students claimed he started it-"
"Bullshit," Jason said immediately, earning a smack on his arm. He glared over at Dick but he could see that the man agreed with him. There was noway Kaden would start a fight.
"As I was saying, they claimed that your son started it. But witnesses to the fight claim the other three boys have been bullying him for months," the principal finished. Jason spun on the spot and looked at Kaden who averted his eyes from his father in shame.
Jason knelt down in front of the boy and rubbed his arm soothingly.
"Kaden, look at me," he said in a calm, but firm tone. The boy looked up at him and Jason cupped his cheek, stroking his face with his thumb.
"Why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you go to a teacher? Or come to me?" Jason asked with genuine concern. Kaden sighed and pulled away from his father's touch.
"Because I'm your son. I'm not supposed to get bullied," Kaden replied. Dick groaned softly and face palmed; the kid had inherited one of Jason's worst traits, his tough guy attitude. But it was also kind of cute. Jason didn't seem happy about that though.
"Shit, Kaden. Just because of how I...grew up...doesn't mean you need to be ashamed to tell someone that you're being bullied, you hear me?" KAden gave a nod and Jason stood up and glared at the principal.
"So, where are the little bastards who laid a hand on my kid?" Jason growled. Dick moved behind the man and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
"Jason, calm down."
"No! Someone's been bullying my fucking kid, I want to know what the fuck's gonna be done about it! And why the hell is Kaden being suspended for defending himself?!" Jason ground out. The principal sighed and shook his head.
"We can't confirm or deny either of their stories, so they're all being suspended. Your boy sent three other children to the nurse's office. He's out for a week," the principal said with finality. Jason looked pissed, and Dick had to physically pull him out of the room to keep him from exploding.
"Come on Kaden," Dick called. The boy hopped out of the chair and followed his parents out of the building and to the car. Jason fumed silently the whole way home and Kaden didn't look at either of them.
But when they finally did get home-
"Okay, spill, what happened?" Jason demanded to know, turning on the spot as soon as Kaden came through the door. Star ran over to Kaden, wagging her tail happily. Kaden smiled and patted the dog on the head, but Jason shooed her away.
"Not now, Star. Be a good girl and go lie down," he said. The dog whined and slinked out of the room to go lay down in her doggy bed in Kaden's room. The boy looked up at his father and sighed, raking a hand through his black hair.
"It was nothing, just a stupid fight," Kaden lied, trying to escape the room, but Dick grabbed him gently, but firmly, by his shoulder to stop him.
"What have we told you about lying?" Dick said. Kaden looked up at the man and sighed yet again, which secretly annoyed Dick because Jason did that all the time too.
"Well...they started calling me names and shoving me around, and I tried to ignore it, tried not to fight like I promised you guys," Kaden said softly, glancing back between his dad and pa "but, um..." He frowned and fidgeted in place a bit, biting his lip.
"But what?" Jason asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Kaden looked up at his father and sighed again, much to Dick's annoyance.
"They started saying shit...like...my dad's a faggot, and I'm a gay baby so I...punched one of them," Kaden admitted, head bowing again. Jason and Dick exchanged glances and then Jason knelt down in front of the boy.
"You know you can tell us anything, right? And we won't get mad at you?" Jason asked. Kaden gave a nod. Jason cleared his throat as he prepared himself to ask the next question, one he wasn't entirely comfortable with asking.
"Are you ashamed of me and Dickie being together?" Jason asked. He knew from the get go that two men, raising a child would be difficult, especially the social aspect of it all. He knew Kaden loved them both, but...
"What?! No! I punched the asshole because he was making fun of my dad and pa!" Kaden exclaimed with a rather alarmed face. He couldn't really believe his dad would ask that; he'd never been ashamed to have two dads. Jason just smiled at him and hugged him.
"No need to get testy. Even if you were, it wouldn't change anything, yeah? Now tell me one more thing," Jason answered him. He looked Kaden right in the eye and asked "how did the fight go?" Dick snorted and Kaden looked at his father as if he had three heads.
"What?" the boy asked, confused.
"How did the fight go?" Jason repeated, lips tugging into a smirk. Kaden suddenly felt a bit more confident, chest swelling a little.
"Well, they started throwing punches at me, and calling you guys nasty names, so I...punched the first kid in the face and...well, beat the crap out of the other two. Sent them all crying to the nurse's office." Jason laughed and hugged his son.
"There it is! That's my boy!" Jason said proudly. Dick smiled and rolled his eyes.
"Shouldn't really be proud of him for sending some kids to the infirmary," Dick pointed out. Jason snorted and waved his hand dismissively.
"Self-defense Dickie-bird! And fuck what Dick and I said before; you fight when you have to defend yourself, okay?"
"Okay," Kaden nodded, hugging the both of them.
"Now, let's go get some pizza to celebrate!" Jason said as he proudly patted his son on the back.
"Alright! Can we go to-"
"We can go anywhere you want, champ!" Jason replied, leading the boy downstairs. Dick smiled after them and grabbed the keys up off of the table.
"Can't go anywhere without these!"