Chapter 26

Oliver woke up one day and saw it was a bit early in the morning, but he smiled, jumping out of bed and moving quietly through the halls, hoping his dad and papa weren't up yet. He checked on them and found them both asleep. Smiling, he quietly moved on, finding his uncle Angel still asleep too. Not wanting to disturb the spider being, the little boy moved onto the rest of the house, soon going to the kitchen.

To his surprise, his uncle Vox and aunt Magic were at the kitchen table, sipping coffee and conversing in sign language. Vox was the first to see him and chuckled. "Good morning, Champ," Vox said.

"Good morning, Champ," Magic signed with a smile. "It's a bit early in the morning, though. You okay?"

The boy nodded. "Just woke up early," he signed. "I want to surprise Dad and Papa, but I don't want them finding out too soon."

"What do you have in mind?" Vox asked him.

Oliver paused here and looked at the stove before his shoulders slumped a little. Magic noticed and looked at Vox before she realized what the boy wanted to do. "Vox, he wants to cook breakfast for his folks," she signed. "But he's not tall enough to reach the stove."

The television being stood up. "Well, that won't do," he said before going to pick up the young boy. "How about your aunt Magic and I help you, Champ?"

The boy looked hopeful and gave his aunt and uncle 'puppy eyes'. Vox chuckled and Magic silently laughed in amusement. "Alright, let's see what we got," the television being said.

The three of them worked in the kitchen and in no time at all, chocolate-chip waffles, blueberry pancakes, eggs, bacon, coffee, and fresh-cut fruit were ready to go and Vox whipped up a cup of hot chocolate for Oliver, who hugged him. Magic suddenly tilted her head and then smiled. "What is it, my muse?" Vox asked curiously.

"I hear Ozzy coming downstairs and I hear mechanical stretching, no doubt Fizz," she signed. "And Ton-Ton just woke up too. I can hear his footsteps."

Sure enough, Ozzy walked in moments later, carrying a still-waking-up Fizz in his arms. Angel was behind them, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Magic went up and hugged her brother before handing him a cup of coffee fixed exactly as he liked it. He gave her a sleepy smile before taking a sip of the coffee. "Oh, yeah, that hit the spot," he said, looking a little more awake now. "Morning, Little Dancer."

"Morning, Ton-Ton," she signed.

Ozzy gazed at the table, seeing Vox was serving up waffles, pancakes, eggs, bacon, and toast. "What's all this?" He asked curiously.

Oliver giggled. "Morning, Dad. Morning, Papa," he said, using his voice, which was sounding stronger as he had been practicing speaking more for nearly three weeks.

Fizz woke up at that and gazed at his son, smiling. "Aww, morning, Noodle," he said, reaching his mechanical arms out and scooping his son up into a hug, Ozzy hugging them both with a smile.

"Morning, Oliver," he said, nuzzling his son's forehead.

Vox smiled. "Oliver wanted to make breakfast for you guys," he said. "Magic and I supervised."

The female dancer smiled at Vox, seeing he didn't want to steal the boy's thunder.

"That was thoughtful," Angel said, smiling at his nephew.

Ozzy smiled again. "Well, let's all sit down and dig in," he said. "I can hear stomachs growling."

Magic giggled silently, signing something that made Angel Dust playfully catch her and give her a noogie, making her laugh silently while trying to playfully escape. Vox chuckled. "What did she say?" He asked.

He understood sign language for the most part, but was still learning. Fizz cackled in amusement. "She said she can't tell whose stomach is growling the loudest, though Angel Dust has a loud stomach," he translated, still laughing.

Oliver giggled and Ozzy laughed too. "I knew Magic was witty, but my goodness! What sass!" He said playfully.

"Why do you think she's getting a noogie from her big brother?" Angel asked with a smirk, squeaking in suprise and giggling as Magic tickled his underarms to make him let go, smirking up at him as she slipped away from him, her hands signing.

"You forgot, Ton-Ton, I'm sneaky too," she said.

"Alright, children," Fizz said, using his 'parent' voice, to which the two siblings looked at him before looking at each other with smirks before tag-teaming to tickle Fizz, the jester squealing as the spider being used all six hands to tickle Fizz's neck, underarms, and sides while Magic tickled his stomach.

Vox chuckled and looked at Ozzy. "Should we intervene?" He asked playfully.

"Nah," the rooster-like being said, smiling. "Let's not spoil their fun. Besides, I love hearing Froggie laugh."

Oliver giggled before going over to Vox and curiously, he poked the television being's side, making him jump in surprise, a laugh just barely held back. But the boy heard that laugh and grinned, getting down on all fours, ready to pounce as his tail wagged from side to side. Ozzy, seeing this, smirked. "Get him, Noodle," he said.

Vox got up fast. "Hold on! Wait, Champ!" He said, trying to back up, but Ozzy caught him and Oliver pounced, making Vox howl with laughter as the boy tickled his ribs. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Oh? Looks like Oliver found your most ticklish spot," the rooster being said with a chuckle before he began tickling Vox's underarms, making him squeak and try to protect his underarms, which left his ribs open to the young boy's tickle attack.

After a bit, Fizz tapped out and the siblings let him up with Magic hugging him. He chuckled, gently tugging the end of her French braid in affection. "You're lucky you're cute," he groused, the smile on his face taking the heat out of his words.

"Hey! I thought I took that category," Angel protested playfully.

"No, you're the silly one with the ticklish stomach," Ozzy countered without missing a beat as he and Oliver let Vox up.

That made everyone laugh and Angel gave the rooster a playful glare before he laughed too. "Alright, I think we all better eat before the food gets cold," he suggested. "Especially after Oliver worked to make it all special for Fizz and Ozzy."

He winked at Vox and Magic when he said that and they winked back. "Agreed," the television being said.

Everyone sat to enjoy the wonderful breakfast and Angel, Magic, and Vox insisted that Fizz and Ozzy not do any work that day. "It's your guys' days off, meaning you two don't have to lift a finger today to do anything except spend time with your son," Angel said.

"We'll take care of things for today," Magic signed.

"You two worked hard this week, especially after dealing with both Mammon and Valentino," Vox said.

"We really do need to see about getting those two to leave us all alone forever," Ozzy said.

"You can worry about that later," Angel said. "Right now, worry about finding enough blankets and pillows to make a fort in the living room with Oliver."

The boy perked up at that and grabbed both his dad's hand and his papa's hand, pulling them to the living room to get started on the fort. Magic looked at Angel and smiled, knowing why he had put emphasis on the two spending time with their son.

"I know," he said. "I don't want Oliver to ever feel the way we did, Little Dancer."

"That will never happen," Vox said, knowing the siblings had had a strained relationship with their father. "After we get the kitchen cleaned up, let's go play some games in the other room. I want a rematch against Angel for the other day."

"Oh, you're on," the spider said, smirking.

Magic smiled and shook her head in amusement, taking a peek in to the living room to see Ozzy, Fizz, and Oliver had created the fort and were watching one of the boy's favorite movies, which made her smile more.


Anyone catch the Disney's 'Hunchback Of Notre Dame' reference? :)

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GoldGuardian2418