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Slade glanced into the bedroom he and Addie shared and breathed a silent sigh of relief as he walked into the room. Dick had disappeared as soon as dinner had been over and he had worried that the little boy might have wandered outside. He sat the edge of the bed and caught the small handful of crayons that cascaded towards him even as he wondered how angry Addie was going to be if the wax got crushed into her sheets and bedspread.
“So this is where you've been hiding.” Curious blue eyes flicked up to look at him from behind messy black bangs.
“I wasn't hiding.” Dick told him immediately. The boy's eyes dropped back down the drawing pad in his lap and the child picked up a different color crayon before continuing to draw, more like scribble, on the open page.
“What are you drawing?” Slade asked as he shifted to try to get a better look at the paper. Dick immediately leaned down over the pad and blushed.
“It's not done Daddy!” Dick insisted. Slade chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair before laying back on the bed's pillows.
“I won't look.” He promised as he held the handful of crayons out and spread them across the bed so they were back within Dick's reach. The five-year-old examined the colors he laid out for a long moment before selecting a bright yellow and going back to work on his paper. “How long have you been up here?” Dick shrugged and Slade chuckled again as the tip of the boy's tongue darted out as he concentrated on scribbling the yellow crayon back and forth in heavy lines.
Not wanting Dick to think he was watching Slade closed his eyes and relaxed against the pillows. The house was blissfully quiet, a welcome contrast to the way it had been during the summer. Wintergreen and Addie had left for England with Grant and Joseph in tow the night before so the two of them could get the boys set up in their new boarding school and Addie had asked him to keep Dick with him at the Kenya estate so the young child wouldn't be underfoot as they were trying to get the boys settled in a dorm that would be bustling with parents and students.
The bed moved as Dick shifted and Slade smiled to himself as the small boy moved to sit against him. Dick yawned and Slade decided he would need to get the boy to bed as soon as he finished whatever he was working on. He heard the crayons roll again as Dick continued to fidget and he twisted his wrist to catch the pile as it slid. Addie would kill him if they got under him and were crushed.
“Be careful with these.” He chided gently as he spread them back out on a more level part of the bed. “You don't want them to break.” Dick nodded and picked a dark brown from the pile. Slade was curious about the drawing but Dick would show him when it was ready so he continued his ruse of pretending to nap so Dick didn't think he was trying to peek. A few moments later the bed shifted again and he opened his eyes to narrow slits to watch as Dick crawled up the bed. The paper pad was placed beside him and Dick knelt over him to shake him.
“Daddy?”
“Hmm?” Slade opened his eyes slowly and stretched, letting Dick believe he had actually been asleep. He sat up and tugged the tiny boy into his lap. “Did you finish your picture?” He asked. Dick nodded enthusiastically and partially shifted off his lap to reach for the pad before settling back against him and yawning again. Dick held the paper up and Slade slid one arm around the boy's waist before taking the pad and looking at it. The identities of the six messy stick figures dressed in big boxy clothes were immediately obvious
“Do you like it?” Dick asked hesitantly. Slade set the pad on the bed in front of them and wrapped his other arm around Dick's waist as he leaned down over the boy in his lap.
“Yes, I do.” He promised. Dick beamed and Slade hugged the boy tight and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. “Are you going to print everyone's names on it?” He encouraged. Dick was doing well with learning his letters and he wanted to take any opportunity he could get to help his youngest learn them faster.
“Will you help me?”
“Of course, I will.” He agreed. Dick wiggled out of his hold to reach his crayons and Slade let the child settle the pad back across his lap. When the boy was situated Slade tore a sheet out of the back of the book. He folded the sheet in half to make it firmer and picked up a black crayon to write with.
“What color?” Dick asked curiously.
“Whatever color you want. It's your picture.” Slade told him. He watched as Dick picked out a bright blue before looking to him for instructions. When he had Dick's attention he started neatly writing out the letters of each name so Dick could copy them then watched as Dick started to print each name over the figures on the paper. He had to stop the boy a couple of times before he could do something incorrectly but for the most part, he was proud of Dick's ability to correctly copy what he had written.
“Can I hang it on the refrigerator?” Dick asked as he worked to print the letters of Wintergreen's name.
“Yes.” Slade agreed. He was confident he could find a little bit of spare space that wasn't covered with something Joey had drawn during the summer and if he couldn't then something would just have to be taken down. “Addie and Wintergreen will want to see it when they come home.” He told the little boy. Dick beamed again and held up the pad as he finished.
“Did I do it right?” Slade nodded and took the pad from Dick when the boy yawned again. He set it on the bedside table and collected the handful of crayons that were scattered around them. Dick rested his head on his chest and Slade set the crayons aside before brushing his hand through Dick's hair.
“You need to take your bath and go to bed.”
“Daddy!” Dick whined softly. Slade shook his head to indicate he wasn't going to argue and lifted Dick off his lap and lowered him onto the floor.
“Go get your pajamas and shampoo while I run you a bath.” He watched as Dick disappeared from the room then got up and headed into the bathroom that was part of his suite. By the time Dick returned with his clothes he had the large tub half full of warm water and he waited long enough to see that Dick had everything he would need before retreating to the bedroom in order to give the kid some privacy. The bath took about fifteen minutes when he heard the water start to drain he relaxed and turned the lights off. A few minutes later the mattress shifted as Dick climbed up on it and Slade's nose was overwhelmed with the berry-scented shampoo as Dick crawled close to him and curled up. The child was asleep within moments and Slade decided against taking him to his room for the night.