Doctor Dash

Chapter 4

Morning came all too soon with the sunlight trying to seep through the thick, heavy curtains of his bedroom. Danny forced his eyes to crack open despite his desire to remain asleep. His gaze fell immediately upon his son curled up beside him and half buried in the fluffy white comforter. Lex was already awake with his bright blue eyes gazing at his father and his blond locks in even more of a mess from sleeping. After managing to untangle his arm from the covers, Danny reached over and gave his son's head a ruffle.

"Hey there, grumpy locks," Danny greeted teasingly and received a frown from the young boy. He sighed internally, wondering if he would ever be able to make his son happy.

"Can we have pancakes?" Lex gave his father a pleading look, the one where sadness shone in his eyes as he pouted, the one that always broke Danny's heart and made him want to give his son everything that he asked for even though Danny knew he shouldn't.

With a sigh, Danny dragged himself out of bed. "I suppose we can have pancakes today. But don't expect me to give you pancakes every time you get suspended from school." He placed his hands on his hips as he glared down at his son.

Lex frowned, curling into an even tighter ball under the covers. The boy seriously knew how to pull at his father's heart, and if he kept it up, Danny wasn't certain how he would ever say no to him.

"Did I do bad?" Lex asked in a small voice, misery written all over his face and seeping into his speech. He frowned in that way he always used to do when he knew he was in trouble and was awaiting his parents to lay down the punishment. Danny saw that look many times in the past, like when Lex was playing in the house and broke a lamp or that time he tried to sneak cookies before dinner and ended up spilling them all on the floor.

"No," Danny walked around to the other side of his bed, "you did right to stand up against the bullies. The fighting part is where you went wrong." He grabbed Lex under the arms and pulled him free of the comforter. It made him proud that Lex would protect another boy from being picked on, but Danny really couldn't take his son turning into some violent child that acted out by punching other children. He frowned as he thought that maybe Sam was right about not starting to train Lex at such a young age. She was completely against the idea, though Lex was eager to learn when the topic came up for discussion.

As soon as his little bare feet hit the floor, Lex dashed out of the bedroom, heading straight for the kitchen. Shaking his head, Danny followed after his son. When Danny reached the kitchen, Lex was already pulling out mixing bowls and pans from the cupboards. But it was all too much for this little arms, and they clattered to the floor with loud bangs and clangs. Danny winced with each noise of the dropping pans. Lex glanced up at his father and cringed.

"Sorry," the boy mumbled softly as he lowered his gaze.

"Why don't you set the table?" Danny crouched and picked up the pans and bowls, sighing internally that his son grabbed out more than what he needed for making pancakes.

With a bob of his head, Lex went to grab forks and knives for the table. Danny set out one of the mixing bowls and got started on making the batter for the pancakes. He threw a glance over his shoulder from time to time to check on his son. Once he finished placing out the forks and knives, Lex sat in his seat at the table, his little legs kicking in the air as he waited anxiously for the pancakes to be ready.

"Did you like the new school?" Danny asked as he stirred the mix into a smooth consistency.

Lex shrugged, his shirt slipping a little down his shoulder at the action. "It was okay." He frowned, and his kicking stopped. "Those boys were jerks." He turned his gaze toward his father. "Is it bad not having a mommy?"