Chapter Text
“Dadddyy…” Lloyd whined as he pulled at the handle of the bedroom door, the metal knob ratting as he rocked back and forth with it clenched tightly in his small hands. Kratos huffed out a laugh as the boy’s expression turned from determined to distressed, eyebrows furrowing.
He was currently dressed only in his diaper and socks as he pouted up at him and Kratos couldn’t help but smile. The pudgy rolls of baby fat that lingered from his infancy that were now regularly hidden by his clothes were now visible, and somehow that made him even cuter. The added cuteness helped temper what would’ve been an otherwise unbearable half hour of crying, whining and near-screaming since Lloyd had woken from his afternoon nap in a less than cheerful mood.
“Open open open oooohhhpeeeen.” He jiggled the handle again in vain and Kratos chuckled to himself as he watched his son try to escape from the terrible fate of getting dressed.
Lloyd had figured out doors and door knobs at a relatively young age, but the apartment was old, and the old wooden door had been painted over so many times it stuck just enough to prevent a toddler from being able to push it open.
“Lloyd, you have to get dressed.”
“Done done!” Lloyd waved Kratos away with both hands, his head snapping back to the offending door. “Ooohppeeeen.”
“First, we get you dressed-”
“Den open?”
“Yes, Lloyd, then I’ll open the door.”
Seizing this momentary cooperativeness, Kratos quickly pulled the short-sleeved shirt over his son’s head, the boy almost reflexively punching his arms through the armholes despite his earlier protests. He looked at Kratos with wide brown eyes, his face scrunching for a moment as the fabric passed over his nose.
“Bellybutton.” His eyebrows furrowed and his voice pitched up in distress again and Kratos felt wry amusement war with apprehension as he took a steadying breath. Another tantrum looked to be on the horizon if this wasn't resolved quickly.
“Bellybutton?” He echoed, hoping, almost praying for clarity as Lloyd’s eyes welled with tears.
“Bellybutton goooooooone.” He was wailing now and Kratos swallowed, fighting back a smile as he crouched by the door, wondering if Anna could hear them on the other side. She must be laughing. “Bellybutttttoooon”
“Lloyd.” He set hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Your bellybutton isn’t gone…” He glanced at the boy’s now clothed stomach and bit his lip. How did you explain something like this to a freshly turned two-year-old? Lloyd was getting more and more articulate, his vocabulary increasing day by day, but he was still only speaking in two-to-three-word sentences at most. “It’s right here.” He poked his son in the stomach and Lloyd looked at him, still teary eyed, his nose starting to run. The words “bellybuttongone” running together as he half cried, half mumbled them over and over.
“Bellybutton?”
“Right here.” Kratos felt a smile on his own lips as poked him again and Lloyd gave a half giggle, a hopeful smile breaking through the tears at last.
“Right here!” He repeated gleefully as he poked himself in the stomach and Kratos let out a relieved sigh, tension running from his shoulders as he gave himself a mental pat on the back.
The tantrum was averted, at least for the moment. Lloyd was only half-dressed.