spitfire one-shots

11 Days Before Christmas

Spitfire One-Shots Chapter 16

11 Days before Christmas

Day 11

Today Wally and Artemis had joint custody over Lian while her parents were out solving crimes or a reasonable facsimile thereof. To be perfectly honest, neither Wally nor Artemis was paying much attention to what Roy said to them on the phone other than that they had to take care of Lian for a day. In their defense, the connection was pretty shaky.

Jade dropped off her daughter at her sister's house early in the morning. They babysat for Jade and Roy often so they had an extra room for Lian with toys and a crib for her. Artemis forced Wally to open the door by promising she would make cookies for him later.

They only got a few hours of sleep before Lian started to cry. Well, it was less like crying and more like echoing wails bouncing off of the walls. Nothing they could do would cheer her up.

Artemis tried to give her a bottle, Lian threw it right back at her face. At least she had good aim. Artemis tried to change her but ended up getting kicked in the arm by a baby. She then got fed up and passed her niece to Wally who was equally as clueless.

Wally's solution was making funny faces at the baby and rocking the baby back and forth gently why making said faces. The baby did not give up, reaching it's tiny little fists forward to pound on Wally's neck.

There was no denying that was baby was Jade and Roy's. She certainly inherited their fighting skills.

At last, the spitfire couple set her down in the living room surrounded by toys. It calmed her down slightly. While the whole ordeal lasted about an hour, they were already exhausted. Once they jokingly vowed to never have kids, they decided it was best to find a way to distract her, like what they did with the toys she was slamming around.

"She is going to tear everything apart. Where do you suggest we take her?" Artemis asked her boyfriend, slumped against the couch.

"She's your niece, why don't you guys have some quality spending time." He got punched in the arm for that comment.

"You suggest that every time she acts out like this. I'm running out of places to take her, we went to the park, the beach when it was warm and even to a carnival. She was grumpy at first, and then calmed down when we presented her with entertainment. So help me come up with something Wallace!"

"What about the cave, we don't have to cook and there will be plenty of other people to coo over her while we take a well deserved nap." Artemis looked at him like he was crazy.

"That was the dumbest thing you suggested so far." She told him bluntly.

"Well why don't you come up with something better?" He challenged her. He should have known by now that she never backs down from a challenge to prove him wrong. It's against her nature.

"Why don't we take her to do something normal, non-vigilante parents would do." Artemis paused for a second thinking about it. Wally was sulking on the couch opposite of her because her idea was a lot better than his.

"How about we take Lian to the mall so she can get a picture with Santa." Even Wally had to admit that was an amazing idea. The change of scenery would help Lian have fun and get Artemis and Wally out of the house in the meantime.

Artemis found a spare change of clothes for Lian, a red velvet dress given to the young child by her grandmother. She looked adorable, but grumpy nonetheless. You would think Artemis and Wally would get used to it by now considering how much they babysat her.

It was only when they got to the mall did they realize one crucial flaw in the plan. The mall was crowded, especially where all the parents wanted their kids to take a picture with a guy in a fake beard.

Artemis and Wally waited on line for about 2 hours to get a 10 second photo. At least Lian fell asleep in the car and was softly snoring peacefully. Wally had to do go on a runs to nearby stores to get food. Mostly for himself, but he did offer Artemis a bite.

"You are gross." She told him, moving the stroller an inch. Her tone was less disgusted, and more teasing. Definitely an improvement from a few years ago when they could hardly stand each other. They have come a long way since then, although the bickering never seemed to go away.

"You love me Artemis." He replied bumping her shoulder lightly.

"Unfortunately Wall-Man." She leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.

"Move!"

"You're holding up the line!"

"Get a room." Those were just some of the things frustrated parents yelled at them. Somehow it became their turn to take the picture. Lian was beginning to wake up, and stretch her tiny hands.

Artemis picked her up and told Wally to take care of the stroller. He groaned about it under his breath, but continued to do it anyway. She promised him cookies later on.

Artemis placed her niece onto Santa's lap. She was so small in comparison to his lap, it was adorable. Lian, now awake was curiously looking around at her new setting. A teenager dressed like an elf came forward and gave the baby a candy cane and tried to gain its attention to the camera.

Lian looked at the man in a red inflatable suit and proceeded to stab him in the stomach with the candy cane. Her tiny little fists kept trying to pop the inflatable suit. The santa freaked out, picked her up and held her a few inches from him.

That was when Lian began to pull on his beard, laughing as it snapped against his chin with a loud sound. Meanwhile Artemis was taping the entire ordeal for her sister while Wally ran off to get popcorn. This was better than any picture the elves could have come up with.

They eventually took Lian away from Santa and apologized while holding in their laughter. It couldn't be said that a day with family was ever boring.

Once they got back home and put Lian back to bed, the couple sat down on their couch, both exhausted and amused by the day's events. Artemis leaned her head on his shoulder."Is this how it's going to feel like when we have kids?"

Wally kissed her on the forehead before replying. "It'll be even better." 

A/N: As promised here is another chapter. I am in the middle of writing Day 10 (I'm so behind!), and hopefully I can get that and Day 9 updated together tomorrow and the rest over the weekend. 

Let me know what you guys thought about this chapter? Isn't Wally such a sweetheart at the end, and Lian is such a trouble maker like her parents. I think I might have a future chapter with Artemis and Wally parenting. 

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