Cody learns to love

19

Cody usually enjoyed weekends. He still wasn't entirely free, you never are when you have children in your care. But he didn't have to go to work either. And he could properly play with his siblings and see them happy. He liked that.

But this time, it was getting a bit too much. He didn't get the quiet morning like usually because Fives and Echo were sick and Rex didn't take them to the park. They were also getting bored and restless after the days spent at home. And as if it wasn't enough, Cody, to his horror, woke up with a sore throat.

It was a chaotic weekend since the beginning. Of course it was. Cody's life would be much easier if Jesse didn't want to try if he could put out the fire with a rag. 'We learned it in school, Cody, it would work!' Cody's ass, he preferred the house standing, thank you very much.

As unexpected as it might be, Cody found his peace in chatting with Obi-Wan.

"Who are you chatting with? Something you are not telling us, Cody?" Rex asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Maybe Cody didn't find peace in the end.

"Fuck of, Rex. Go chat with Ahsoka."

"Yeah sure. Just wanted to let you know Echo has an apple and Fives has a bow."

"What do yo- shit!" Cody jumped up from his seat on the couch and sprinted upstairs. He knew he shouldn't have let Wolffe pick the movie. Fives shooting at Echo with an apple on his head was pretty low on Cody's list of things he wanted to see.

To his surprise - and there weren't much things that could still surprise him - the situation was already being handled.

"Fives, give me the bow," he heard Fox's steady voice.

"But apples are gross and I want to shot it!" Fives complained.

"Do you realize you could hurt Echo?"

There was no answer to that.

"Fives. Do you realize you could shot Echo and hurt him?"

There was a sniff, then: "I don't want to hurt Echo, I only wanted to hurt the apple."

Cody finally got to the door and opened. He would say nothing could prepare him for the scene he saw but the years of raising children did, in fact, prepare him for it. There was a confused looking Echo sitting by the wall, clutching a pillow and balancing an apple on the top of his head, a sobbing Fives with Jesse's bow in his hands and Fox crouching down next to Fives, trying to coax him into giving him the bow.

"It's fine, Fox, I will handle it," Cody said and when Fox walked past him, he muttered a silent thanks. Then he knelt next to the crying Fives who was still clutching the bow tightly. "Hey. Look at me, Fives'ika."

"I didn't want to hurt Echo, I swear," Fives looked at him with eyes red from crying and he wiped his nose with the sleeve of his t-shirt. Well, it was originally Jesse's t-shirt and then Kix's but now it belonged to the twins.

"I know you didn't, Fives. But you could. This was dangerous and you need to realize that," Cody scolded him gently. He wanted to pull Fives into a hug, comfort him and never let him go. But while three parenting guides wasn't much, it learned him enough that Cody know it was important Fives realized just how dangerous that was. And it was very dangerous given the fact there was an arrow lying near Echo and a new dent in the wall all too close to Echo's head.