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It had been well over a month since Izzy had started to be small around him again. It would happen at random times, mostly at night but sometimes during the day, Izzy would start being quiet and follow him around closely until eventually, Ed would go down to the Captain's cabin to properly take care of him.
Izzy even started to ask for Stede occasionally, which overjoyed the man immensely. Stede was a natural carer, it made sense since he already had children, but it did seem like he was made for it. He absolutely spoiled Izzy when he was small, giving him all the attention in the world. He had even bought more soft blankets the last time they had gone to port just because he saw that Izzy had taken a liking to them.
The one thing that was bothering Ed was that Izzy refused to talk about it. He had tried confronting the man a few days after he had been soft with him for the first time in years , but he had made an excuse to leave and did every time Ed tried to bring it up. He just wanted to know why it had stopped. Why after so long of being soft and sweet with Ed did he stop out of nowhere with no explanation? Why after so long did he start again? Not that Ed was complaining, he loved when his Izzy would be soft and let Ed take care of him, but there were just so many unanswered questions.
___________
Izzy had been sitting on Ed's lap for hours, cuddling up against him while the man hummed and petted his back. His mind was fuzzy and blank, all of the problems in the world had simply disappeared.
"Hey, buddy,"
Izzy hummed in response, trying to keep his eyes from falling shut.
"You gettin' sleepy, huh?"
Izzy shook his head, he didn't want this to end.
"You sure bud? You seem pretty sleepy." Ed said, lightly brushing his fingers through his hair.
Izzy's eye's shut as he weakly shook his head in protest. He was just resting his eyes a second. Nothing more.
"Okay sure Iz, love you, kiddo." Was the last thing he heard before he drifted off to sleep on his dada's lap.
___________
Ed had been laying on the couch with his legs over Stede's lap as he listened to the book that his co-captain had been reading since they got down to their cabin after group story time. He looked up when there was a faint 'tap tap' on the door. Barely loud enough to even be considered a knock. Stede patted his leg before shutting the book.
"I'll get it, love," Stede said before getting off the couch and making his way across the cabin to open the door.
"Izzy, what a pleasant surprise! Oh- are you quite alright, dearest?"
Ed perked up when he heard Stede. He looked up at Izzy whose knuckle was in his mouth and his eyes were glassy and red like he'd been crying. He was up and at the door in what seemed like less than a second.
"Hey hey hey, buddy, what's wrong?" Ed asked softly, trying to figure out what could've upset him to the point of tears. He had been fine earlier and seemed to be in a decently good mood even around the crew for once. Ed didn't know what could've caused him to change so rapidly.
Izzy let out a small sob before he practically fell into Ed, wrapping his arms around his body like he was scared to let him go. Ed picked the boy up in an instant, holding him close and letting him cry into his shoulder.
Ed saw Stede close the door before he motioned him to bring Izzy over to the couch. As much as Ed loved carrying Izzy, he wasn't as young as he used to be and couldn't do it for nearly as long. He carefully carried him over before slowly sitting down, careful to keep Izzy as comfortable as possible. Stede sat down next to them, putting a hand on Izzy's shoulder and gently rubbing it while he sobbed.
It felt like hours before Izzy's sobs eventually fizzled out to faint hiccups. It was more realistically ten or so minutes but neither Ed nor Stede knew what to do. Izzy had never cried around them before- at least nothing like this. Especially so out of nowhere when he seemed to be doing so well. So Ed had sat there holding him close while Stede had soothingly rubbed his shoulder, both of them telling Izzy how it was okay and he was going to be okay.
When Izzy's breathing finally evened out, Ed felt it was appropriate to finally ask him what happened.
"Hey, sweetheart?"
"Wha?" Izzy mumbled back, Ed could tell his finger was back in his mouth but he wouldn't comment on it right now.
"Can you tell me what's got you so worked up?"
"Bad dream,"
"Oh, poor thing." Stede cooed, pressing a kiss to the side of Izzy's head.
___________
It was cloudy out, Izzy could tell there would be at least rain, if not a full-blown storm. He had been preparing, tying everything down with part of the crew. But in the back of his head, he could feel the familiar fuzz making its way through. It almost always did now during storms, ever since Ed had started taking care of him and telling him that it was alright to be scared.
He finished up with the final knot before making his way below deck, the fuzz almost completely engulfing his mind. Ed had watch the previous night so was probably napping in their cabin. Izzy made his way below decks to the door of the small room and knocked.
He wasn't expecting Jack to be the one to open the door.
His mind couldn't deal with this right now, he needed Ed. Everything was too fuzzy and blurry and he needed help calming his nerves.
Izzy looked up at Jack, "Where's Eddi- Where's Ed?" He asked quietly, trying not to sound too childish as he spoke.
Jack just smirked at him before chuckling and shaking his head. "Doesn't wanna see you when you're like this, told me himself. Says it's weird."
Izzy's eyes widened. That couldn't be true. How did Jack even know about this? Ed promised he'd never tell anyone about it!
"Dunno what you're talking bout." Izzy huffed, his fists balling up at his sides.
"When you get all fuckin' sappy and shit with him, I see it all the time. Don't be stupid, Iz." Jack laughed, his figure looming over Izzy's.
"Asked Ed about it and he said he just does it cause he feels bad. Do you think he wants to spend his free time looking after some fuckin' baby? Nah man, can't stand it."
Izzy's fists uncurled and his head dropped. He felt his eyes well up with tears. His brain was fuzzy and hurting, he couldn't understand what was happening around him. It felt like someone was stepping on his chest, every second it became harder and harder to breathe.
"I…" He tried getting out, tears starting to stream down his face.
"Geez, no wonder he's sick of ya, fucking crying over nothing." Jack barked out a laugh, "Go on, let the big boys have fun." He said before closing the door in Izzy's face.
___________
“Do you wanna talk about it, love?” Ed asked softly. It wasn’t exactly uncommon for Izzy to have nightmares, but before when he was small and had them, he would just wake up Ed and ask to be held while he fell back asleep. Rarely did he ever sob like that, even when he was upset. Izzy nodded- something Ed was truly not expecting. Nonetheless happy that his little one felt that he could trust him enough.
“Was back on Queen Anne and- an-“ Izzy started, letting out a soft hiccup before continuing. “It was memory of when Jack said you didn’t wan me anymore,”
Ed was confused, What was he talking about? He arched an eyebrow before looking down at Izzy who had burrowed his face into Ed’s neck, almost like he was hiding from them.
“Oh darling, you must know that’s not true, Ed adores you!” Stede chimed in from beside them. Usually, Stede’s sweet words would somewhat reassure Izzy but now he just shook his head against Ed’s neck, letting out a small huff. I’m
Ed gently pulled Izzy back, earning loud whines of protest. He put his arms on Izzy’s shoulders to make sure he didn’t fall and so that he wouldn’t feel like Ed was letting go. He knew how much Iz relied on physical touch when his mind was all fuzzy.
“Babydoll, I know you’re upset right now and that’s completely okay and we’re not at all mad at you, okay? But I really need you to tell me what Jack said to you. Can you do that, love?”
Izzy stilled, his eyes dropping so he wasn’t looking directly at either of them. “Told me that you don't like takin care of me an that you jus did it cause you felt bad for me.”
Ed's heart dropped. A mix of emotions washed over him. He was devastated that Izzy spent so long believing all of the lies spewed by Jack. Mournful of all the years he could've spent caring for his precious boy if he had just known what Jack had said. Beyond enraged at Jack for what he had said to Izzy. What he had taken away from the both of them for YEARS. But he would think about all of that later. Right now he had to take care of the scared little boy sitting on his lap waiting for a response.
"Oh Iz, sweetheart, I never said any of that, I promise. I never even told him about any of this. I would never break a promise like that, bud. Jack's just a meanie, and I'm sorry that he lied to you. I'm so so sorry, Izzy." Tears were starting to gather in his eyes as he choked out the last bit. He looked at Izzy whose face was covered in dried-up tear tracks and snot from when he'd been crying, but his eyes were wide and his lips slightly parted.
"Don cry dada, ss' okay," Izzy said softly, reaching a hand up to put on Ed's cheek.
Ed smiled, putting his own hand over Izzy's smaller one. "I love you so much, Iz, I promise. Nothing Jack said was true and it's never gonna be, okay buddy? You understand that yeah?"
Izzy nodded, "I understan dada, pinkie promise." He said, pulling his hand from Ed's cheek to wrap their pinkies together. "See, now it's offi- offic-"
Izzy grumbled before Stede cut in quickly, "Is official the word you're looking for, dearest?" Izzy nodded. "Yeah, that one."
Ed fondly chuckled and kissed Izzy's forehead. He was truly the sweetest boy. His thoughts were interrupted by Stede clearing his throat.
"I think it's time for bed, my dears. It's been quite an exhilarating night for us all and I myself am quite tired." He said, ending with a yawn.
"Yeah, let's get you ready for bed, bud. Sound good?" Ed hummed, hoping Izzy wasn't going to put up too much of a fight tonight.
Luckily Izzy just nodded and got off Ed’s lap without a fuss. Poor boy must be exhausted. Ed got up after him, he was about to go grab him a change of clothes before Izzy tugged on his sleeve. He looked down and saw Izzy looking back up at him with the softest expression on his face.
"Jacket,"
"Are you cold, doll?" Ed asked, a bit confused until Izzy tugged harder on his sleeve and whined.
"Ohh, do you want my jacket, bud?"
Izzy nodded, "Like used to do."
Ed smiled, remembering back on their old ships when Izzy got small. They didn't have soft blankets as they did on The Revenge so they made do with what they did have. Most of the time when Izzy was in bed, he would use Ed's heavy leather coat as either a blanket or something to hold in his arms while he slept. Ed didn't know why for a while -it couldn't be that comfortable, it was old leather after all- but when he asked Izzy about it, he said that it was Ed's and that's why he liked it so much.
"Okay, but can Stede help clean your face and get changed while I go get it?"
Izzy nodded and gave Ed a quick hug before padding his way over to Stede who was already ahead of them in getting clothes prepared in the auxiliary wardrobe.
It took a few minutes for Ed to find his jacket, as it hadn't been the proper weather to wear it in recently and he much preferred Stede's lighter clothes that didn't boil him in the sun. He should really try and get Izzy to try wearing those instead of his normal leathers.
When he eventually found it, he came back to the bed where Izzy was laid out with his head on Stede's lap. He was holding onto one of Stede's fingers with his whole hand.
"You were very brave coming in here and telling us that you were scared love," Stede whispered to the boy in his lap
"Mhm," Izzy mumbled.
"Such a sweet boy, isn't that right Israel?" Stede cooed.
"Mhm," Izzy repeated, his eyes slowly flickering shut.
Ed happily sighed, thinking how lucky he was to have the two most wonderful people in the world in his life.
"Hey Iz, you wanna be in the middle tonight?" He asked, lightly brushing Izzy's hair back that had fallen onto his face.
Izzy nodded, slowly getting up and crawling towards the center of the bed. He laid back down on his back and reached his arms out in the direction of Ed.
"Jacket!" Izzy demanded, making grabby hands at Ed.
Stede chuckled and looked back at Izzy before lightly shaking his head. "Izzy, can you please ask dada nicely for the Jacket,"
Izzy huffed but obliged, he wasn't used to having to ask a certain way when he was like this, Ed usually gave him what he wanted whenever he wanted.
"Jacket please dada,"
"Much better, dear." Stede praised as he slipped into the bed on the opposite side.
Ed crawled into bed next to Izzy and handed him the jacket. "That was real good manners, kiddo. Proud of you." He said, giving him a big kiss on the forehead that made Izzy smile. "Okay, do you want jacket on top of ya or wanna hold it?"
Izzy thought for a second before clutching the jacket closer to his chest. "Hold it."
"Sounds good, bud." Ed hummed as he pulled the duvet up over Izzy before laying down next to him. He wrapped his arms around Izzy, letting him bury his face in Ed's chest while he ran his fingers soothingly through his little one's hair.
"Wanna say night to Stede?" Ed prompted.
"Ni ni, Stede," Izzy said, though it was mostly muffled by Ed's chest.
"Good night, precious," Stede responded with a wide smile spread across his face.
"Night night, Iz. I love you so much, sweetheart." Ed murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of Izzy's head.
"Love you too dada." Izzy said softly, his face still pressed against Ed's chest so that he could hear his heart steadily beating as he drifted off to sleep.