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“Mommy. Daddy. We need to talk.”
Bruce raised an eyebrow and closed his book. Clark looked up from his computer.
In the middle of Clark’s office floor, Jason stood tall and determined with his fists clenched at his sides.
“Yes, honeybee?” Bruce asked.
Jason cleared his throat.
“I’m running away.”
Clark and Bruce simultaneously looked at each other from across the room. Through calculated eye movements and eyebrow raises, they were trying to figure out whose turn it was to start the conversation.
Clark broke eye contact first.
“Why, exactly?” He asked.
Jason tapped his foot and looked back and forth between his parents.
“Because I don’t like this house anymore. It’s too crowded.”
After the robbery, Bruce and Clark moved the family to a penthouse hidden in the city. The arrangement was temporary, just until everything settled down. They’d been here for a month.
“Baby, I know. But we’re not staying here much longer.” Bruce said.
“I’m running away, Mommy. Just let me.”
“Jason, I really don’t think you need to run away. Where are you gonna go?” Clark asked.
Jason didn’t know. He was thinking that if they said yes, he’d just walk to the park and sleep there.
“I don’t know. But I’ll find out once I leave.”
Bruce really wanted to laugh. Dick wanted to run away as well when he was Jason’s age. But for entirely different reason, though. The poor boy was upset because Clark said he couldn’t bring his snails in the house. He packed his bag, but barely made it past the second step.
It was cute. Just like this exchange was cute.
“But I’ll miss you. And so will Daddy.” Bruce said as he rubbed his stomach.
“You’ll be fine.”
Clark looked at Bruce and shrugged his shoulders. Bruce sighed and pushed himself out of his lounge chair.
“Well, at least let me help you bring your stuff.”
Bruce waddled over to Jason and took his hand.
“Do you need help?” Clark asked, getting up from his chair.
“Just tell everyone Jason’s leaving.”
Bruce folded Jason’s extra clothes and placed them in his suitcase. Jason sat silently on the bed.
“I’m really going to miss you, Jo. I’ll miss you a lot.”
“I’ll miss you too, Mommy. But this is my destiny.”
Bruce chuckled as he zipped the suitcase.
“Your destiny, huh? And how did you find that out?”
Jason secured his cröcs and tightened his pajama pants.
“I just know.”
Bruce sat down on the bed and started to button Jason’s coat.
“Hmm. I don’t think pajama pants and cröcs are running away attire. But I packed your sneakers just in case.”
Bruce pulled the hood over Jason’s head and secured the button at the neck.
“I also packed your toothbrush, your combs, and your lotion. Oh, and baby wipes.”
“Why the baby wipes?”
“Well if you run away you can’t have bath time anymore. It’s baby wipes or nothing out there.”
Bruce caught the surprise that flashed in Jason’s eyes. But, the man kept the same simple smile on his face.
“I’ll be fine.”
“I’m sure you will be. Are you excited?”
Jason nodded.
“Mhmm. There’s so many things I could do.”
“Like what?”
“Um, I can go to the park and play as much as I want, I can eat cookies for breakfast, I can get a dog.”
Bruce adjusted Jason’s glasses higher onto his nose.
“Hmm. Sounds nice. What kind of dog?”
“A big dog. Like Mo.”
“Oh? And where are you going to find a big dog like Mo?”
“I don’t know. Maybe Nonna can lend me him.”
The two got up from the bed. Bruce wheeled Jason’s suitcase over to him and opened the bedroom door.
“Well Mo’s in Italy and you’re running away right now, so you won’t be able to take him with you.”
“What?”
“Yeah. If you run away, you can’t see Mo again.”
Jason started to have second thoughts. He loved Mo. But this is what he needed to do, so he squared his shoulders and shook his head.
“It’s fine. There are dogs all over the world. I’ll find one eventually.”
Bruce stepped past him and smiled.
“Well, if you’re sure. After you.”
Alfred, Clark, Dick and Tim waited with sad looks at the bottom of the stairs.
“Hello, everyone. Thank you for seeing me off.” Jason said as he hopped down the stairs, his suitcase wheels bumping against every step.
“You’re really leaving, kid?” Dick asked, a pout on his lips.
It was fake. All their reactions were fake. Clark, Alfred and Dick knew that Jason wasn’t going anywhere, but they wanted him to feel like this was real.
“Yes. Don’t be sad.”
“We’re really gonna miss you, Jojo.” Clark said, wiping a fake tear from his eye.
Jason sighed and gave Clark a big hug.
“You’ll be fine, Daddy.”
“Heavens, what are we going to do without you, Jason?” Alfred asked as he held out a bag of sandwiches.
“You’ll figure it out. You can come visit me.” Jason said as he took the brown paper bag.
Bruce came from behind and put his hand on Jason’s shoulder.
“The twins are gonna miss you, honeybee.”
Jason turned around and put his hands on Bruce’s stomach. Then, he dipped his head and kissed it.
“Tell them about me, Mommy.”
Bruce bent down and kissed Jason’s forehead.
“I will. You be safe. I love you.”
Jason sighed and turned to Timmy, who was the only that thought this was real.
“Timmy? I love you. You can take my toys if you want.”
Timmy, almost in tears, waddled over to Jason and tucked his head between his brother’s legs.
“Bye bye, Jojo. Be okay.” Tim sniffled.
Jason hugged Tim back.
“Bye, Timmy. I’ll be okay.”
Dick picked Tim up and moved out of the way so Jason could reach the door.
“Bye everyone.”
Clark and Bruce stood at the doorframe and waved as Jason stepped out.
“Brush your teeth! Scrub behind your ears!” Clark said.
Jason waved one last time before he pressed the down button on the elevator.
“I love you!” Bruce said.
Jason stepped into the elevator. It was happening. Deep inside he wanted someone to stop him, but they seemed eager enough to let him go.
The boy sighed as the elevator door closed and he was sent down to the lobby.
Back up at the penthouse, Clark was putting on his jacket and shoes.
“Don’t follow him to closely, Kansas. Just enough that you can grab him if something happens, alright?” Bruce said.
“I know. I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
“I bet five.” Dick said.
“Twenty. I know my grandson.” Alfred added.
“Okay five and twenty? Bruce?”
“Thirty.”
They were placing bets. Whoever was farthest from the amount of time it took for Jason to come back home had to pay for dinner. Clark was excluded because he could either walk slower or faster to match his time; it would be cheating.
“Five, twenty, thirty. Got it.”
“Okay, Clark hurry. I don’t want him to get too far.”
After a kiss from Bruce, Clark walked out the door.
“I’ll put tea on.” Alfred said as he walked away.
Jason was doing pretty good. He knows for a fact that he had been walking for hours, so he should’ve been halfway to Switzerland by now.
He ate his sandwiches, but he was still hungry. And it was a little cold.
The boy didn’t think there would be so many people here. The streets were crowded and nobody paid attention.
“Excuse me? Hi. Excuse me?”
An older couple stopped and looked down at Jason.
“Yes?”
“Do you know how to get to Switzerland? I need to be there as soon as possible.”
The couple looked at each other in confusion.
“You’ve got a long, long way to go. Why are you by yourself?” The woman asked.
“I’m running away. I just need to know how to get there.”
“Well, why Switzerland? There are so many other places to go.” The other woman asked.
“I just picked a place off my map. I don’t know why I’m going.”
A honk startled all three of them.
“That’s our cab. I don’t know how to help you, dear. Have a goodnight.”
The couple whisked past him as they whispered to each other.
“This is why we never had children.” Jason heard one of them whisper.
“How rude.” Jason muttered under his breath.
He was suddenly very tired. His feet hurt and he didn’t want to walk anymore. His arm was sore from pulling the suitcase.
He wanted his parents. He wanted to sleep in bed with them and keep each other warm. He wanted bath time and dinner at the table.
It was a bad idea to run away. But he was stuck and didn’t know how to get back home.
“Jojo?”
Jason gasped and turned around. There, towering above him, was his father with a sympathetic look in his face.
“Daddy? How did you get all the way here? We’re almost in Switzerland.”
Clark chuckled and picked Jason up.
“I was right behind you the whole time. You never looked back.” Clark said as he started in the other direction.
“Really? And you just let me walk all the way here?”
“You seemed pretty sure of yourself, babe. I didn’t wanna steal your thunder.”
Jason rubbed his face on Clark’s shoulder and yawned.
“I shouldn’t have run away.”
“It’s okay. Did you enjoy it?”
“A little. But then I started to miss you so it wasn’t fun anymore.”
“I’m sorry. But the good news is that Mommy is waiting for you to come home. We missed you.”
That made Jason feel good. It made him feel safe.
“I’m hungry. What’s for dinner?”
“We don’t know yet. Just sleep, okay?”
“Are you sure?”
They were only fifteen minutes away from where they were staying; Jason hadn’t gotten far.
“I’m sure.”
“Mommy, it looks like you’re gonna win. It’s been twenty six minutes.” Dick said.
Bruce smirked.
“I want Chinese food.” He joked.
Alfred was sitting on the lounge chair nursing a cup of tea and cookies, Tim on his lap playing with a toy.
“As I recall, Richard, you only lasted thirty seconds. We found you sitting on the step completely drenched from the rain. You got a cold the next day.” Alfred said.
Dick blushed and hid in Bruce’s arm, who was laughing softly.
“Don’t remind me.”
“And you were just so determined, too.” Bruce added.
“Ugh, stop!” Dick chuckled nervously.
A knock on the door ceased their laughter. Alfred looked at his watch.
“Twenty eight minutes. You win, Bruce.” He said.
Bruce pushed himself up with a grunt and went to the door. The babies were starting to take their pound of flesh.
When the door opened, Bruce laughed at the scene before him.
Jason was passed out in Clark’s arms, who was drenched in rain water and looking like he was on the verge of a cold. They both looked like sick puppies.
“Baby, come inside.” Bruce said to Clark.
“It started raining like ten minutes in.”
Bruce closed the door before he felt both of their foreheads.
“You have fevers. Al, can you get some towels?”
Clark took off his coat and helped Bruce remove Jason’s coat and shoes.
“He thought he was half way to Switzerland. He asked a few people how long it would take for him to get there.” Clark said.
Bruce stroked Jason’s damp hair.
“Maybe we should take him. What do you think?”
“After you have the babies.”
“How much do you wanna bet they’ll run away, too?”
“If they do I just hope it’s on a sunny day.”