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Jason was going to get home late from patrol. He said he would be back by 8 pm and now it was 10 pm. You were getting increasingly upset that he wasn’t here yet.
You clutched the fox stuffie that he got you. Trying to pretend it was Jason instead. You whined into the stuffie.
“It’s not fair.” You thought.
You knew he had responsibilities as Red Hood but you were feeling so small you couldn’t fully comprehend that. Sometimes you felt smaller than usual, this was one of those times.
You brought your thumb to your mouth despite knowing Jason doesn’t like when you do that.
“You’re gonna make your thumb raw kiddo you have a paci for a reason.” He would say.
You missed him so badly. He was coming home soon but it was so hard for you to have rational thoughts when you felt so little. You were just upset he wasn’t here. Tears started falling down your face and before you could stop it you were sobbing.
You didn’t even hear the door open or Jason calling your name, only realizing when he lifted your chin gently.
“Hey hey what’s wrong? I know i’m late i’m really sorry. Really.” He said and you hiccuped and lunged into his arms.
“Oh baby…i’m sorry…shh it’s okay i’m here now.” He whispered and rubbed your back, pressing soft kisses to the top of your head.
After a few more minutes of back rubs and forehead kisses and comforting words you managed to calm down.
“Hey…can you tell me what happened?” He asked but you felt so little, even speaking felt difficult. You just put your thumb back in your mouth and buried your face in his chest.
“Oh…you feeling that little? C’mon let’s get your thumb out of your mouth…I got your paci right here.” He said, gently tugging your thumb out and replacing it with your paci. He bounced you a bit on his leg and kissed the side of your head. He could tell you were regressing further than you usually do. But it was okay he knew how to care for you when you’re just a little baby.
“My baby’s really little today hm?” He chuckled and reached into the bedside drawer, you often kept little space related things in there so it was easy access. He pulled out a rattle. He shook it a few times to get your attention and then passed it to you.
You laid against his chest holding your stuffie and shaking the rattle.
“There we go…” He muttered grabbing the tv remote and putting a soft kids show. nothing too exciting and overwhelming but something nice to have as background noise. It was mostly for him since you were too little to really pay attention to it.
He shuffled on the bed to change positions, he was sitting against the headboard and he laid you on his chest, keeping you steady with one arm.
You started to babble a bit, and your attention stayed on Jason, you stared up at him, wanting him to look at you.
“Hey there kiddo…” He said as he rubbed your cheek. You smiled and continued babbling. You loved when he talked to you.
“Let’s see…how bout I tell you about my day. It was an absolute shi- er…it was a really bad day. But it’s all better now since i’m with my little baby.” He grinned and ruffled your hair.
You giggled. His words weren’t really processing to your brain in this state but you were just happy he was talking to you and smiling at you.
“Let’s go get you a bottle and then i’ll put you to sleep.” He picked you up and held you against his hip and headed for the kitchen. He pulled out a bottle from the cabinet and you tried to reach for it.
“No hey- it’s not ready yet kiddo give me a minute.” He chuckled, keeping it out of your reach.
“Baba.” You babbled. “Yeah that’s right i’m getting you a bottle.” He replied.
He filled it with milk and brought you back to the bed. Laying you in his lap with your head. against the crook of his arm. He brought the bottle up to your lips, letting you latch on, he was careful not to tip it too far.
After finishing you let go of the bottle with a pop. He smiled and patted your back a bit. He wiped some milk that trickled down your lip and then kissed your forehead. You let out a small yawn and nestled into his chest.
“Time for bed now okay kiddo.”