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I collapse into my old bed in the manor. Even after all these years, that old man couldn’t get rid of it. Or maybe it was Alfred in case I needed a place to stay. You know what?! I don’t care!
Annoyingly, I accidentally hit my hand on the side table. It takes unbelievable amounts of self-control to not break the damn thing.
I scream into the pillow before using all my force to toss it across the room. That’s when someone sits down on my bed. I tense, but don’t look up.
“Jason, what’s up?” Bruce asks, serious. I whine into the bed in complaint. “Are you angry?” he continues, voice suddenly softer. I pause, but eventually nod into the mattress. “It’s okay to be angry,” he soothes, petting my hair. “I’m proud of you for not throwing anything more fragile.”
I make another noise of complaint. “I think a shower or bath will help!” Dad attempts to hype me up. I glare at him, reminding him that I’m not that much of a little kid.
“C’mon, Bud,” he attempts to convince me. “You tracked mud through the house. You’re all sweat and stinky.”
I did? Whatever. Who cares? I bury my face back into the mattress, ignoring him. “Let’s just take a small showe-”
“NO!”
Even I’m surprised that I said it, but I don’t back down. “Not gonna!” I yell into the mattress. Bruce sighs, petting my hair again.
“Is that fair to Alfred?”
I whine once more, refusing to move. “…I’ll give you a reward,” he says. I sniff, looking up. He continues, “How about I read to you? Elmer the Patchwork Elephant!”
“You aren’t gonna!”
“I’ll never make you shower ever again if I don’t.”
That gets my attention. “…Never ever?”
“Never ever ever.”
I get to my knees, still frowning. “There we go! Feelin’ better?” he asks. I lie with a serious-sounding, “No.”
He grabs my hand, squeezing it as he leads me to the bathroom. “I’ll get you a change of clothes for when you’re done, m’kay, Jaylad?” he soothes, brushing my bangs out of my face.
“You’re gonna ruin my hair!” I complain.
“Right, I suppose you like it wild, don’t you?”
“I’m taking a bath.”
He thinks about it, looking me up and down, probably deciding if I’m too dirty for that, but eventually nods. “Of course.” I don’t want to ask him to stay, that’d be Hella embarrassing, so I don’t move and wait for him to figure it out. Eventually, he tilts his head and asks, “I know you can do stuff yourself, but do want me to stay so-?”
“Yes.”
He smiles, fond. “I’ll be right back.”
By the time he grabs the clothes and walks back in, I’ve already begun running the water. I rest my head against the corner, a little tired.
When it’s finally filled up, I look at Bruce, who gets the hint to turn around. I get undressed before getting in, then slosh the water back and forth. I’m surprised when Bruce laughs. “Let’s not get the water everywhere,” he lightheartedly tells me, getting a loofah and a toy boat to distract me.
I mess around with it, having to pretend there’s another one there. After a while, he scrubs my face. “Daaad!” I complain.
“Sorry, Bud, but you’re icky. Dunk down for me?”
I do so even though he’s being annoying. He fills up a cup with hot water and scrubs my hair with shampoo. “Her name is Reyland,” I inform him, pointing to the person with short hair inside the boat.
“Really? What a unique name there, Jaylad.”
I take pride in that. “I know!”
Bruce turns around again so I can get dressed. I stretch, a small noise escaping me. He chuckles, turning back around before asking, “You tired?” When I nod, he comes closer and picks me up. I feel small, but I know that it’s impressive that he can pick me up.
“Dad!!”
“Yes, Jaylad?”
“You’re strong!”
“Aw, thank you, Kiddo.”
He sets me down in bed gently, then gets in beside me. I keep a distance from him. “You’re a good kid, Jason,” he tells me.
I snort. “No ‘m not.”
“Yes, you are. You’re the best kid ever.”
“Seriously, you don’t have to make it up, I know I’m-”
He hugs me. He hugs me. “You’re an amazing son and have grown into a wonderful man.”
“…I don’t always feel grown...”
“That’s okay. You don’t always need to be.”
I rest against his arm, blinking back tears. “Shut up,” I warn him, a few drops falling out.
“Shh…it’s okay, Kiddo…”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
I can’t believe we just said that to each other. I mean, I never believed that we could. It’s like everything I told myself about our relationship is proving itself wrong.
We can be family again. No, we never stopped being family. We just got lost and came back.