Telling his whole life story took time. Cody talked for an hour before he noticed Fox had fallen asleep. He wasn't offended. Life stories could get tiring and Fox was probably exhausted, he never slept well when something was troubling him.
"Good night, Fox'ika. I love you." Cody kissed the top of Fox's head before he adjusted Fox's position so he could get up without waking the boy. He remembered putting a baby Fox to sleep like it was yesterday. They grow up so fast...
Cody tiptoed out of Fox's room. He quietly walked down the stairs. He didn't expect to find Obi-Wan asleep on the couch. In fact, he expected the man to be gone already.
"Obi-Wan." Cody gently shook the other man's sleeping form. He was pretty sure spending the night at Cody's couch wasn't what Obi-Wan intended and even if it was, he sure didn't want to fall asleep in that position.
"What?" Obi-Wan asked without opening his eyes.
"You fell asleep on my couch."
"Five more minutes."
Obi-Wan didn't seem like he wanted to wake up. "You don't want to fall asleep like this, Obi-Wan. Come on. Lie down."
Obi-Wan grumbled unhappily but he let Cody guide him to lie down. Cody didn't get just how Obi-Wan fell asleep half sitting, half lying like Cody found him.
Cody found a clean blanket. He threw it over Obi-Wan who was sound asleep again. Cody would never guess him to be such a tight sleeper. Hopefully he was going to sleep through the babies crying too. Obi-Wan wouldn't get a lot of quality sleep otherwise.
"Good night, mesh'la." It slipped easily. Mesh'la. Beautiful.
Every single morning, Cody woke up early. Not because he wanted to but because the kids did. So yes, it was a surprise when Cody woke up to a silent room after six in the morning.
Cody got up. Wooley was gone as well as Boba. Fox probably took the baby, or maybe Emerie. Oh, wait. Obi-Wan stayed the night. That's why everything was so silent. Obi-Wan had it under control. Cody owed that man a dinner. A lot of dinners, actually. And his life, also.
It turned out that Cody was right. He found Obi-Wan drawing pictures with the kids. Cody had no idea how he got all the kids to draw with him, the only one interested in drawing was usually Wooley and sometimes Echo.
"Good morning." Obi-Wan smiled at Cody. He looked well rested. Did Boba screaming his lungs out not wake him up at all? Cody was envious. He wanted a good night of sleep too.
"Hi."
"Cody! We are drawing our characters for a game!" Echo told him excitedly. "Do you want to join in?"
"Yeah, sure." Cody sat down on a chair. He thought about asking Obi-Wan to hand Boba over but the boy looked far too comfortable in Obi-Wan's arms. Cody got it, he really did. He would also be all happy and snuggly if Obi-Wan held him close like this. "I think you will have to explain just what am I supposed to do."
Obi-Wan handed him a paper. "Just invent a character and draw it."
Cody started scribbling something. He wasn't quite sure what it was just yet. He's never been good at drawing.
"Cody, look!" Echo shoved his picture right in front of Cody.
"That's a very nice drawing, Echo."
"I know." Echo beamed at him. Cody hoped Echo never lost his confidence.
"Look at my drawing!" Fives demanded. He showed Cody his picture of... something.
"That's a beautiful drawing, Fives. Can you tell me something more about it?"
"This is knight Kote the brave."
Kote. Cody wondered if Fives chose that name randomly or if perhaps he knew what the word meant. He definitely didn't name his character after Cody. The younger kids didn't even know Cody's real name and even if they did, Fives wouldn't name a knight after him. "Kote? Why Kote?"
"Fox told me a story about a brave boy called Kote. He said that the name meant glory in mando'a. It sounds a bit like your name."
Cody chuckled. "That's because it is my name."
"No. Your name is Cody."
"That's not entirely true. People call me Cody, that's right, but my real name is Kote. I just decided that I liked Cody better."
"So Cody is just a nickname?" Echo asked. He looked betrayed.
"Yes."
"I'm not calling you Kote," Fives announced.
"That's fine, Fives. You can call me however you want. I don't really care if you call me Cody or Kote."
"Can I still call me knight Kote?" Fives asked.
"Of course you can. But now you have to make him beautiful. Like me."
Cody could feel his brother looking at him with a scrutinizing look. He just hoped Fives wasn't going to call him ugly in front of Obi-Wan.
"I will make him like you but prettier."
"Can't wait to see it." Cody ruffled Fives' hair. He watched Fives draw for a moment before returning to his own drawing. He decided to draw a fox. He was quite skilled at that.
***
"Cody?"
"Yes, Fox?"
"Draw a fox." Fox handed him a sketchbook and a pencil. Of course he wanted Cody to draw a fox, he was obsessed with foxes. The photo of an arctic fox that Fox found in the newspaper was still hanging on the wall next to Fox's bed. Foxes had to be a part of every bedtime story or Fox wasn't satisfied and Cody had to tell another one. The t-shirt with a fox Cody got in a sale as a joke, the one that started Fox's hyper fixation with foxes, was Fox's favorite t-shirt and Cody had no idea what he was going to do once Fox grew out of it.
"Okay." Cody drew a fox. They already studied it with Fox, he knew how to draw foxes.
"Too long." Fox pointed at the fox's right leg. It was a tiny bit longer than the other legs. Cody thought Fox wasn't going to notice. He underestimated Fox's perfectionism.
"Is it better like this?"
"Too small." Fox pointed at the fox's tail.
Cody did his best to redraw that. "What about now?"
Fox gave Cody's dubious drawing a careful look. "Good."
***
"I didn't know you can draw." Emerie glanced at the picture Cody was making.
Cody shrugged. "I've got practice."
YOU ARE READING
Cody learns to love
FanfictionCody was used to looking after his younger brothers. It wasn't easy but he could manage. He's been looking after Bly since he was five. Then came Rex, then Wolffe. And then Fox. By the time, Cody moved out and didn't hesitate to take his little brot...
