"Jason! Come here! You can't run off like that or I'll never find you!"
"Sorry, Daddy," the little dark haired boy looked up at his father and wandered back to his side.
"Hold on to my hand," Bruce's hand dwarfed the tiny palm Jason held out, "Good boy. Now let's go find your brothers."
"Tim went that way! I saw him!" Jason pointed in the direction he had tried to run off. Bruce let Jason lead, keeping one eye on his son and the other on the lookout for his other sons. The July 4th festivities in Gotham always attracted a huge gathering of people and this year was no different. They had skipped the early afternoon Independence Day Parade through Old Gotham and the Financial District due to a late night out by three of the Manor's occupants. Jason wasn't particularly interested with the parade on television but insisted that everyone had to go to the amusement park set up in the largest green space available.
Jason was not tall enough to ride either of the two rollercoasters but had a blast on the other rides that he could go on. He was mostly enthralled with the bouncy castles and almost managed to give Bruce a heart attack when he disappeared in the ball pit. Tim and Damian had quickly lost interest in the children's rides and wandered off to find something else to amuse themselves with. Dick had disappeared for some privacy on the phone and never came back. That left Bruce alone with his de-aged son.
Bruce quickly realized that he had a problem. Tim had briefly mentioned something like it before but Bruce had been in Batman mode and avoided any external distractions from the mission. The problem with being a father to a rambunctious and overly adorable five year old, is building up the courage to say "no". Jason was probably the toddler who shoved dirt, bugs, and everything under the sun in his mouth. His mother must have pulled her hair out trying to keep her son from ingesting toxic items, something Bruce was failing magnificently at. Chili dogs (as predicted, Jason caved to Alfred's steak), carbonated beverages, cotton candy, and ice cream had all weaseled their way into Jason's stomach and Alfred was not going to be pleased. Bruce wasn't too happy with himself either but he could blame this all on the fact that tomorrow Jason would return to his angry teenaged self and be out of Bruce's reach yet again. Zatanna was ready with the counter-curse but claimed she needed one more night to prepare. In reality, he knew that she was just offering his family one last chance to be with young Jason before she reverses the spell.
"I don't see him! Where'd he go?" Jason looked inquiringly up at Bruce.
"Here," Bruce easily hoisted Jason onto his shoulders. The boy laughed loudly at his new height and weaved his fingers into Bruce's hair. "Now do you see him?"
"Yeah! There! The blue tent!" Jason pointed at the tent housing the photography competition. Bruce firmly held on to Jason's legs as he weaved them through the crowd. The volunteers at the tent were just starting to clear out as the natural light was fading. Tim was speaking with one of the judges but broke away when Jason screamed his name.
"Wow Jason! Look how tall you are!" Tim laughed, "Did you have fun?"
"Yeah! I went on the bouncy castle and the place with all the balls and the merry-go-round and the bumper cars-" Jason paused to take a breath, "-and I got my face painted, see?"
Tim chuckled at his brother's enthusiasm and complimented the American flag painted on one cheek and the Batman insignia on the other. He was also having a hard time imagining Bruce on the carousel. "I saw Damian down at the shooting games just ten minutes ago," he informed Bruce.
"Your information is outdated just like you, Drake," Damian appeared from the crowd behind them, "Are we almost finished here Father?"
"Not yet, Damian. We still have to watch the fireworks."
Jason cheered while Tim checked his phone, "Dick says he has a spot down close to where the bouncy castle was set up."
They headed back through the crowd towards where Dick had saved a spot for the fireworks, stopping once to buy several flexible glow-in-the-dark sticks. Jason immediately put one around his neck which lit up the bottom of his face in a green glow. Another he dropped one top of his father's head like a headband.
"We match Daddy!"
"Yes we do," Bruce chuckled, "I see Dick." They maneuvered around the limbs of people spread out across the grass. Dick was sitting on the large blanket he had brought with a familiar pretty redhead.
"Look who I found!" Barbara smiled at their greetings and Jason's enthusiastic hello.
"Barbie! Hi!" His father let him down and Jason stepped over Dick to wiggle himself in next to Barbara. He shoved Dick's leg over without looking away from her, "Want a glowy stick? We can match!"
"Thank you Jason," Barbara smiled and dropped a kiss on the boy's forehead, "I will take good care of it." Jason's cheeks flushed at the kiss but his beaming grin turned into a scowl when Dick poked him and he retaliated by elbowing his elder brother in the stomach.
"Ow! Your elbows are pointy!" Dick grabbed Jason's flailing arms and picked the boy up under his arm, "There's not enough room here twerp. Go sit with Dad."
"Why?" Jason squirmed and wiggled in Dick's hold, "She likes me better."
"She's just nice to you because you're a little kid," at least, Dick hoped that was the case. He dropped the struggling five year old on Bruce's lap, "Hang on to your son before I send him into the sky on a firework."
"What did you do, Jason?" Tim asked and Damian also looked curious.
"He's mad 'cause Barbara's gonna be my girlfriend," Jason huffed and crossed his arms at their amusement.
Bruce wrapped an arm around Jason's stomach, "Not until your older, hotshot," Bruce chuckled.
As the glow from the setting sun disappeared behind the wall of skyscrapers, the whistling of the first firework being launched echoed across the crowd. The explosion of red sparks was quickly followed by white and blue. The crowd 'ohhh'ed and 'ahhh'ed appropriately as the Gotham City Fire Department set off their 15 minute show. Jason reached up as one firework created a large explosion of gold glitter right above them. The sounds from crackling and twirling fireworks reverberated across the park. A short series of happy faces and hearts appeared in the sky and the crowd laughed and hooted when one of the hearts was distorted and closely resembled a part of male anatomy. Jason cheered and clapped with the rest of the crowd at the grand finale and although he was less vocal, Tim could see that Damian was just as enchanted.
When silence fell back over the park, the crowd clapped in appreciation and began to pack up their stuff. Bruce stood up and held Jason against his chest so the boy could rest his head on Bruce's shoulder. It was far past his normal bedtime and Bruce was hoping to avoid any crankiness. Dick gathered up the blanket and the group of six followed the crowd out of the park to their cars.
While waiting for the crowd to move forward, Jason turned his head to whisper in Bruce's ear, "Daddy?"
Bruce tapped Damian's head when his youngest spewed vulgar language at his third son, "Yes Jason?" Bruce whispered back.
"Do you love me?"
Shocked at the random question, Bruce turned to look at Jason. His son's head was resting tiredly on his shoulder, but the boy's eyes were staring imploringly up at Bruce. "What brought this on?"
Jason lifted one shoulder in a lazy half-shrug, "Don't know."
Bruce smiled and ran his free hand over Jason's shaggy hair, "Yes, Jason. I love you very much." That was the first time he ever said it to Jason. Something he would have to repeat later.
"I love you too, Daddy," Jason smiled and closed his eyes as he snuggled further into his father's shoulder. The others were oblivious to what had happened between father and son. Bruce was happy to keep the moment private.
YOU ARE READING
The Curious Case of Jason Todd
Fanfiction(The second book in The Curious Case series) After the incident with Tim Drake, Jason had made peace with the BatFam, all except Bruce. Now, when Jason takes a major hit for Damian Wayne, he is turned into a 5 year old version of himself But this...