Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Once Jason had been up from his nap for a few hours, and Bruce had gone to bed since Jason insisted that he was big, Dick walked in, holding a few grocery bags.

Already, Jason was standing up from the couch and going to him, circling him as Dick clicked his tongue and started to coo.

“Well, hello-!”

“Where were you?” Jason interrupted, his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised in suspicion and annoyance.

Dick knew Jason knew. He was expecting a “Hi, Dickie!” Not a grumpy kinda big Jason. So he took a deep breath and started explaining.

“I was with a friend, bub. You remember Miss Kori? Starfire?” He asked softly, in a gentle voice.

Jason followed Dick into the kitchen as he started to put away some groceries he had apparently gotten. He furrowed his brows.

“Yeah, I remember her. Why didn’t you tell me that you were dating?”

“It just never came up. But Bruce knows everything, I guess.” He chuckled, closing a cabinet door.

Jason was trying hard to stay big during this conversation, he wanted Dick to think he was reliable and not just a baby.

“But- you could’ve told me.” He did not sound reliable in the slightest. His voice wobbled and had little pout to it.

Dick looked at Jason skeptically, the way he was standing, he definitely had a wet diaper. “You’re right, I just never thought to, but I’m telling you now.”

Jason nodded once. Dick noticed the small movements in Jason’s face, his eyes downcast, his nervous lower lip. He stepped closer to Jason and put a hand on his arm, giving him a worried look.

“You okay, bubba? You seem a little in between.”

In between. It basically meant that Jason was feeling little, but trying to act big. It happened a lot. Dick always took it upon himself to help Jason fall into the little side.

“Yeah, dunno.” Jason bit his lip, brushing it off and looking into one of the bags Dick was emptying.

Dick stayed quiet for a moment before stepping away and emptying the last bag. After that, he smiled at Jason.

That was fine. But Jason knew what would follow that sweet smile; he’d coo and Jason would inevitably start to feel smaller.

“So, what did you and Daddy do? I hope you had a nap.” Dick said changing the subject. He said that last part mostly to himself and Jason felt his face heat up.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He barked, squirming with annoyance.

Dick raised his eyebrows at him, and Jason instantly lost a little bit of confidence. Dick leaned against the counter and crossed his arms.

“Hey. I didn’t mean anything by it. Just that rest is good for you, right?”

Jason nodded. He wished he had the strength to walk away. Wished he could revert back to his past self, the closed off asshole who didn’t bother with his family.

But way more than that, deep down he was thankful he had the strength to stay and let Dick help him.

“Um, we went to the bat cave.” He mumbled as deep and rumbly as possible.

Dick let his smile stretch wider when Jason answered, and took Jason’s hand, leading him to the large black couch in the middle of the living area. “You did?”

Jason squirmed under Dicks gaze, it was obvious he was trying to help Jason be very little again. Plus, a wet diaper wasn’t exactly comfortable.

“Uh huh. I saw the Batmobile and stuff.” He mumbled yet again, looking away.

“Wow! That’s very cool, bub.” He had Jason sit on the couch and then gently pushed Jason flat onto his back, lifting his legs onto the sofa, which caused the man to furrow his brows.

“Wha- Dickie noooo.”

He understood once Dick pulled his cargos down and off. His diaper was embarrassingly wet, so he tried to sit back up to cover it. Dick kissed his forehead and suddenly Jason lost every urge to fight.

“Shh. You’re okay, Dickies here. If you lay down, I’ll tell you all about Kori and I.”

Jason laid back, breathing heavily. “But Timmy and Damian are here-“ he whined as Dick stood back up to go grab a clean diaper from across the room.

Usually, Dick would never change Jason out in the open like this, he’d always either take him to his room or Jason’s. But he was right, everyone was asleep, and Dick knew they wouldn’t be up anytime soon.

Even if they did wake up and stumble into the living room, it wasn’t a completely new sight for them. Dick might not change Jason in front of anyone else, but he’d always check, which, safe to say embarrassed Jason as much as it helped him stay little.

Dick got the diaper and a package of wipes, and paused to kick his shoes off before sitting back in front of Jason, whose face was hidden behind his giant hands.

“Timmy and Damian are asleep, kiddo. But you might wake them up if you keep squawking.” He widened his eyes in a teasing way and Jason grumbled as he pulled his hands down.

“N-Nuh uh.” Jason huffed, pouting as he looked over towards what he had been watching on the television, which was a baseball game he’d seen before.

Dick clicked his tongue. “How long have you been in a wet diaper?” He asked as he inspected the wet diaper between Jason’s thighs. “You should’ve gotten Daddy.”

Jason whined, feeling younger now, Dick might’ve gotten on his nerves, but the man certainly knew how to make Jason feel tiny.

“Wasn’t long.” Jason mumbled, trying to ignore the comforting feeling of Dicks warm, large hand pressed against his hip. “Like half an hour maybe.”

Dick pursed his lips. “Did you tell him that you were big so he’d go to sleep?”

Jason frowned, he’d been caught. “I really was feelin’ big!”

Dick tried to not roll his eyes, obviously Jason was lying. If he really had been big, the diaper wouldn’t have been on or wet.

“Jay, don’t lie about this stuff anymore, lil dude.” He sighed, a smirk suddenly appearing on his pink lips. “If you don’t want Daddy to help you while I’m gone, Timmy always could.”

Jason’s eyes widened as he shook his head, his cheeks turning pink at the idea.

“Dickie no!-“

“Uh huh. Then no more fibs about being a big boy.” He silenced Jason immediately, silently laughing at the man’s pout.

“Tell me.” Jason spat, trying to change the subject again.

“About what? Oh, Kori?”

Jason nodded, his thumb slowly making its way to his lips. Dick untaped Jason’s diaper and cleaned him up as he thought.

“Well, we’ve only been on a few dates since we’re both busy,” He started, distracted as he wondered if he should check Jason for a rash. “You don’t have any owies do ya, champ?”

Jason whined, feeling completely vulnerable and slipping totally. “Dickieee! No!”

Dick smiled and pushed Jason’s t-shirt up so he could wrap the new diaper around Jason’s waist.

“Just askin’, drama queen.“

“Do you like Kori a lot?”

Dick smirked down at his little brother and patted the front of his Mickey Mouse diaper once it was snuggly on. “I do. You like her too, remember?”

Jason nodded as he sat up to watch Dick stand to grab Jason’s pants, which were crumpled on the floor.

“Did you get my cookies from the store?”

Dick exhaled a laugh, Jason switched gears so fast sometimes it was hard for Dick to follow. He walked back over and helped Jason stand up and step into his pants.

“Yes, I got your cookies, honey.”

“Really? Thank you, Dickie.” Jason quickly fell into Dicks chest and wrapped his arms around his waist, clutching his t-shirt with both hands. Jason sighed like he had just now been allowed to fully relax.

Dick nodded, grinning at his little brother, who was finally acting more like his baby brother. “Anytime, Jay.” He wrapped his arms around Jason tightly.

“Missed you. Daddy told me to stop runnin’ and yelled at me.” Jason pouted, being completely dramatic as usual to get sympathy from Dick.

Dick rubbed circles on Jason’s back, he hummed in response to Jason’s little complaint. “Well… did you stop running?”

Jason paused. “W-well…” he copied. “After he yelled I did.”

Dick tried not to laugh. “Did he really yell or just raise his voice?”

“Umm, don’ remember.” He ducked his head down and into Dicks neck, trying to be cute, which worked and Dick was immediately placing a kiss on top of his head.

“That’s okay. I’m sorry about mean ole Daddy. He should know that you’re just a little baby.” He cooed, hugging Jason tighter.

Jason grinned, loving the attention. “A baby?” He egged Dick on, wanting more. He sometimes needed Dick to really lay it on thick, or else he’d feel himself drowning in embarrassment.

Dick nodded. “Oh yeah. Just a baby.” He pulled away from the hug and raised a brow. “Does the baby want to help me wash dishes?”

Jason smiled brightly, nodding excitedly. “Uh huh! You said I was a good helper.” Jason said, biting his lip, obviously wanting Dick to say it again.

“I did say that last time, didn’t I? I need my good little helper. Come on, sweetheart.”

Jason giggled and blushed slightly at the infantile nickname, he clung to Dicks arm as the older man led him to the sink.

“You have to let go of my arm so I can roll my sleeves up, little man.” He chuckled as Jason looked a bit upset but let go of Dicks arm.

After a while, Tim walked out of his room, obviously still half asleep. He yawned and stretched as he chuckled when he saw Dick and Jason at the sink. Dick noticed him first and leaned back to see him.

“Hey, Timeh!” Dick was always so optimistic and cheery, it was as refreshing as it was annoying to his brothers.

Tim raised his eyebrows and walked over, standing so that Jason was in between Tim and Dick.

“Hey, Dick.” He looked up at Jason’s already annoyed face. “Hey.” Jason rolled his eyes at it, not responding.

Jason was suspicious, Tim had a deep, primal need to tease Jason at least once every time he saw him. Which Jason couldn’t blame the man for, since Jason was pretty much merciless about teasing or fighting his brothers when he was big.

But he was also already subconsciously pissed at Tim since Dick brought up the idea of Tim helping Jason with his… bathroom situation.

“Replacement.” He huffed, forcing himself to rapidly mature a bit and Dick clicked his tongue.

“Jason, no.” He quietly reprimanded, bumping the side of his hip into the side of Jason’s.

Tim smirked and Dick rolled his eyes, knowing that he was going to say something. Tim furrowed his brows and looked up at Jason, who already looked supremely pissed off.

“Ouch, that’s mean. Diaper ass.” He snarked, relishing in the tinge of a red blush coating Jason’s cheeks.

Jason growled and pushed Tim’s shoulder, just barely, but Dick gasped. “Both of you, cut it out.”

But Tim then lightly shoved Jason, he stumbled back into Dick, who had been huffing as he paused his dish washing to dry his hands, knowing Jason would probably be upset.

Jason retaliated by shoving the younger man back, a lot harder and Dick cleared his throat, growing frustrated.

“Okay- no. Enough-“

Jason grabbed Tim’s t-shirt collar, about to start throw a genuine punch.

Dick could hardly stand it when they slung insults at each other, but even he occasionally fought with his younger brothers. What he absolutely couldn’t stand though, was when they started beat each other black and blue.

“I’m actually going to beat the shit outta you.” Jason growled, it was still borderline intimidating since he was quite tall, but Tim wasn’t phased, especially since Dick was there to keep Jason in check. The diaper sticking out from Jason’s pants didn’t help his intimidating attempt either.

Tim rolled his eyes, reaching up and gripping Jason’s t-shirt too. “Yeah- uh dude? You talk a lotta smack for someone who had to be fed breakfast.”

“Dammit, Tim! You son of-“

Dick did not want that sentence to be completed.

“Hey, hey!” He harshly grabbed both men’s hands and broke them apart from their hold on the other’s t-shirt.

“Really, guys? Tim, come on. Can’t you be a little understanding?” He turned to Jason. “And you,” he pointed a finger in Jason’s face. “You started it. That was very naughty. We’ll talk more in a second.”

Jason practically crumbled at Dicks words and disappointed tone. He had sounded like an exasperated father scolding his snarky toddler.

Jason looked down at his socks, which were decorated with little tractors, and forced himself not to wail and fling himself onto the floor. At least not while Tim was around.

Tim also looked down, annoyed that he let himself get worked up, yet again. He didn’t even like fighting with Jason, but he couldn’t help it when Jason lured him into a fight.

“Yeah- no, you’re right. Sorry, Dick.” He was genuine. He then turned to Jason and frowned. “And I’m sorry, Jay. I was pretty mean, can you forgive me?”

Jason didn’t look up, but nodded with his arms crossed. Dick raised his eyebrows and cleared his throat, wanting more from Jason.

Jason inhaled a shaky little breath and whimpered. “I was mean too. Sorry, Timmy.” He sniffled, grabbing Dicks shirt.

Tim smiled. “All good, little bro.” Jason’s blush deepened. “I’m gonna go shower.” And with that he walked out of the kitchen, leaving a very nervous Jason and a disappointed Dick.

“Jay, you can’t do that. You know better than to stir stuff up, especially with your brother. Not only that, but you didn’t listen when I told you to cut it out, and you almost physically fought.”

Jason squirmed, still holding onto Dicks shirt, sniffling. “H-he made me mad!” He looked up, into Dicks understanding, but strict eyes and knew this wasn’t going to end well for him.

Dick nodded. “Bud, I know. He was being difficult, and I’m sorry. But that’s not an excuse to be mean. We don’t call each other names, and we’re nice to our big brothers, right?”

When Jason stayed silent, Dick stared at the man and kept talking.

“Have you ever thought that maybe Timmy wants to be a good big brother to you?”

“He’s not my big brother.” Jason mumbled, annoyed.

Dick sighed. He wished Tim and Jason could get along, he knew they’d be close if they just attempted to not kill each other. “He is right now, baby.”

Jason’s bottom lip wobbled as he tugged on Dicks shirt, moving closer and wanting a hug, which Dick picked up on.

“I- I don’t wanna be bad.” He whispered, feeling tears stream down his cheeks. Dick frowned and pulled Jason to his chest.

“Baby, you aren’t. You are such a good boy, I tell you all the time how good you are.” He cooed, lifting Jason up and carrying him into the living room.

Jason had officially started sobbing, mumbling jumbled words that sounded incoherent. Dick shushed him, gently rocking him as he sat down on the couch.

“Buh- and an’! I wan’- mmm, D-Dickieee.”

As he rocked Jason, Dick saw something shoved in between the couch cushions, a stuffed bear. Jason’s favorite stuffed animal, he kept it with him practically all the time.

Dick reached over and grabbed it. “Hey, look what I have.”

Jason sat up and hiccuped, his eyes lit up when they landed on the bear. He reached out for him and smiled a bit when Dick handed the toy over.

“Do you think you can calm down? Let’s talk like big boys, okay?” He knew Jason would perk up at that.

Jason nodded eagerly, he wanted to be a big boy! He wiped his tears with the back of his free hand harshly, but kept sniffling and letting out the occasional whimper.

“‘M a big boy.” He silently pleaded with Dick to agree with him.

“Yes, you are.” Dick raised a warm hand and gently pulled Jason’s hand down. He then took his other thumb and softly rubbed the skin under Jason’s eye. “You remember how this went the last time this happened?”

Jason groaned and nodded. “D-Dickie, no timeout. I wanna sit with you.” He sobbed, falling forward once again into Dicks comforting chest.

Dick frowned, he supposed talking about it like big boys wasn’t going to work with Jason.

“Okay. How about you sit with me for 5 minutes and then you do timeout?” He offered, and Jason nodded, curling into Dicks chest.

For five minutes Dick rocked Jason, rubbed his back, and hummed. When the five minutes was up, he made sure Jason was feeling calm and wasn’t crying hard anymore.

“Okay-“

“No timeout?” Jason sat up and pouted, hoping Dick wouldn’t be able to tell him no.

“Jay,” he sighed. “You can do it. Only 5 minutes, I’ll stay right here on the couch and you can hold Teddy.” He winced at Jason’s face once he sat up. “I’m not mad, it’s just for you to calm down.”

Jason’s eyes were huge and full of tears, he hated the idea of being away from Dick. He shook his head quickly and let out a sob when Dick stood up, still holding him. Dick grabbed a large pillow off of the couch and took it with him.

“Don’ want a timeoutttt!” Jason wailed, loudly sobbing; he obviously didn’t care if anyone heard at this point, he knew he needed a few minutes to calm down, and deep down he wanted it, but he also wanted his big brother.

Dick walked over to the corner of the room, trying not to cave and take Jason back over to the couch to watch cartoons.

He set the pillow down and struggled for a moment to untangle Jason’s fingers from his t-shirt, and then his thighs from around Dicks waist.

“Alright, Jason.” Dick said, more stern, which had Jason pouting but shutting up. “Now, I want you to sit here on this pillow, and you aren’t going to leave until I say that your time is up.” He plopped Jason’s padded bottom onto the pillow.

“Mmm- NOOOO! I wanna stay with you, Dickie!” Jason screeched, trying to sit up onto his knees and reach up for Dick.

Dammit. Dick thought as he felt his heart pang with sympathy.

“Baby, sit on your bottom, please.” He gently helped Jason back to his regular sitting position and then crouched down in front of Jason and spoke slowly and softly, but firm and serious.

“I promise you can sit with me for as long as you want after this, you need to chill for a few minutes. I’ll be right over there.”

He kept it short since looking at Jason’s puppy eyes and pouty bottom lip made him want to pick the man back up.

He stood up after kissing the top of Jason’s head. “Face the wall, bud.” He walked off, only a few feet away and Jason turned as he sobbed so hard his chest rumbled.

“DICKIEEEE!”

Dick sat on the couch, trying to distract himself by turning on the tv, it was muted but even if it wasn’t, he didn’t think he’d be able to hear it over Jason’s screaming.

So he didn’t hear Damian’s bedroom door shutting and slurred footsteps shuffling down the hall.

“Don’t you know how to shut a brat up?”

Dick jerked his head up at the sleepy (and pissed off) looking Damian and winced.

“Oops. Did he wake you? He’s upset.” Dick said, obviously feeling terrible. Damian rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his red t-shirt.

“I gathered as much.” Pausing to allow Jason to wail for dramatic effect. “Seriously, just go over there and tell him to shut up.”

Damian was… not the empathetic type. He didn’t believe in the way Dick and Bruce would coddle Jason, he insisted that Jason needed a firm hand, literally. Neither Bruce nor Dick had ever spanked Jason before, but Damian was always rooting for it, both out of amusement and a desire for there to be discipline.

It’s not that Dick was against spanking Jason, he’d do it if it was necessary, he just wanted to stay away from it while Jason was already upset.

Dick shook his head. “He’s too young for that right now. He just wants me; I should go hold him-“ he went to stand up but was pushed back down by Damian.

“No way. He’s throwing a fit because he thinks you’ll cave. Go over there and address him by his full name, and tell him you’ll spank him if he doesn’t straighten up.”

Dick looked down, he didn’t want to, he really didn’t. But he actually figured Damian was right for once, Jason did need a firm hand every now and then; it grounded him and made him feel young and taken care of.

“Jeez, D. Remind me not to piss you off.” Dick chuckled, standing up and bracing himself.

Jason was currently not sitting up straight and facing the wall like a good little boy, instead, he was laying on his side and wailing while pulling on his shirt.

This time Dick didn’t crouch down, he stayed standing for a moment. His hands were on his hips in full on pissed off mom mode.

“Jason Peter Todd.”

Time froze for Jason. He stopped screeching and turned to look up at Dick, who, for some reason looked scary as shit. He’d blame it on being a naughty 2 year old.

“Wha-?”

“I want you to sit up straight and face the wall. Right now. Up.”

Jason stayed lying down and blinked a few times, wondering if he was hearing Dick correctly.

It wasn’t often that Dick had to be stern with Jason, Jason was normally a really sweet and shy, if not emotional toddler.

But occasionally, Jason would get angry or upset about something, he’d throw a toy or on rare occasion, try to hit someone. Only then would Dick be strict, speaking in his regular voice with a tinge of the tone of an angry father.

And really, as much as it scared Jason while he was little, it was so calming and grounding for the man. It was a healthy fear, not a real one.

When he was little, he just wanted to make Dickie proud, so when he messed up, sometimes purposefully, it was to be reminded that he didn’t have to be in control of everything, he didn’t need to beat something into submission; instead someone else could take the reigns and gently help.

Jason was immediately pulled from his thoughts when Dick snapped his fingers. “Did you hear me?”

Jason groaned, lightly kicking at the wall. Which, actually kind of pissed Dick off. So many times he’d told him not to mark the walls up or damage the house; he was just a little rebel.

“Sit up, right now, little boy.” Dicks real big brother voice had Jasons eyes widening and confidence disappearing. Dick raised his eyebrows and Jason squeaked and quickly sat up, his already red face darkening again.

“B-but Dickie-“ he voice was raspy and high pitched from screaming and Dick fought the urge to coo.

He finally crouched down, wanting what he was about to say to stick.

“Jason, this is timeout. You need to be quiet. If you turn around or yell or lay down one more time, I will come over here and spank your bottom. Yes?”

Jason whined and covered his face. He could still feel the big part of him crumbling in embarrassment at his older brother threatening to spank him.

Dick really wanted to comfort him, but he could wait the 2 minutes that were left on Jason’s timeout time.

“Okay, Jason?” He pulled Jason’s hands away from his face and forced the man to look at him, to understand how serious he was.

Jason whined again, he didn’t want Dick to call him Jason! He wanted baby or sweetheart or even champ.

“M’kay.” He whimpered, squirming a bit at the thought of getting spanked. He knew if it even did happen, Dick would go way too easy on him. He’d probably even let him keep his diaper on. But that didn’t make it any less scary or humiliating.

As Dick stood up, he felt Jason grab onto his hand; he looked down and frowned. Jason was pouting up at him with the biggest watery puppy eyes Dick had ever seen.

“D-Dickie.” He whimpered, squeezing Dicks hand.

Dick knew that Jason wanted to be held and it took everything in him not to comply with his wish and snatch him up to coddle.

But instead, he gently removed Jason’s hand from his own and pet Jason’s hair. He threw a look over his shoulder to see if Damian was paying any attention and when he saw that he wasn’t, Dick crouched down and kissed Jason’s temple.

“Two minutes, baby.”

He went back to the couch, where Damian was sitting and sporting a satisfied, almost surprised look on his tanned face.

“That was surprisingly adequate. Except for that last part. Baby.” He rolled his eyes, hating the infantile word.

Dick sat next to him and grimaced. “Shut it. I know he needed a firm hand, but it makes me feel so… mean.”

“I’m mean. You are not. Yes, Todd is glued to you because you’re his big brother, but also because you are exceedingly kind to him. As well as weirdly motherly- seriously you act like a mother, Grayson.”

Dick laughed, but was grateful for the mini vote of confidence, even if that wasn’t what Damian thought he was doing.

“Gee, thanks. Ya know, it wouldn’t kill you to be nice to him either. Just a little pat on the head or telling him he did a good job at something, it would make his day. Probably his year.” He said, hopeful that Damian would listen.

Damian simply crossed his arms and watched whatever cartoon Dick put on. Dick assumed Damian had just tuned Dicks words out since he didn’t have snarky response to make about it.

Two minutes later, in the back of Dicks mind, he was a bit nervous that Jason would be wary of him now and that he wouldn’t want to be around him, even though they’d done this all before.

“Hey, bub. Times up now.” He said gently, standing up and hoping that Jason wouldn’t completely ignore him for the rest of the day.

But contrary to his beliefs, Jason stood up and immediately ran straight to Dick. He held onto him so tightly that Dick knew he wasn’t mad at him. Dick hugged him back, bringing a hand up to the back of Jason’s neck and rubbing it gently with his thumb.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. You did such a good job.”

“‘M sorry.” It was muffled by Dicks shirt, but Dick could hear the sincerity in his voice. “You mad at me?”

“No, I wasn’t ever mad. I just don’t like it when you fight and say bad words. But you are all forgiven.”

Dick waited for Jason to pull away from the hug, which took a good minute. “Would you like some apple juice? I’ll put it in your Cinderella sippy.” He asked, smiling at the thumb in Jason’s mouth.

“Ella?” Jason lisped, blushing yet again and Dick pinched his cheek.

“That’s right!”

Dick tried to help him understand that it was okay for little Jason to like things big Jason deemed as girly or stupid. The younger man mostly tried to hide it, but he loved princesses and occasionally the color pink. When he was big, it just seemed to add insult to injury when he saw dora the explorer on tv or one of his many princess sippy cups.

That was only when he was feeling it though. Usually, he’d be obsessed with Thomas the Train, or most likely, Mickey Mouse, who decorated all of his bandaids. Obviously, he was completely enamored by any superhero, specifically the justice league, and even more specifically, Wonder Woman. Safe to say he had a bit of a precocious crush.

“Sit down, we can watch Peppa. Damian, can you help him turn it on?”

At the mention of another name, Jason whipped his head down at his brother and withered.

“D-Damian?” He mumbled behind his thumb, and once he heard himself, he immediately pulled his thumb down and out of his mouth.

He was embarrassed to say the least. Damian had definitely witnessed his little tantrum and the timeout. But, he wasn’t making fun of Jason, which settled the older man’s nerves.

“Sit down, pick an episode.” Damian said, his voice monotone; if not a little annoyed.

“I’ll go with you.” Jason looked at Dick and bit his lip, wanting to sit down, but not wanting Dick to leave.

Dick shook his head with a smile. “It’ll only take a minute. Sit with Damian.”

Jason watched Dick head into the kitchen and
sat down, closer to Damian than big Jason would’ve.

“Grayson will be right back, don’t start bawling, Todd.” Damian said staring at the tv, pulling up Peppa Pig.

Jason crossed his arms and sniffled. “I wasn’t going to!”

Damian turned to Jason with furrowed eyebrows and pursed lips, wagging the remote impatiently.

“Uh huh. Can you pick an episode? Or do you want me to pick?”

Damian’s voice always sounded harsh but Jason knew there wasn’t any real bite to it.

“I- I can pick.” He said, defensive and wanting to prove himself as a big boy. “That one.”

Damian said nothing and turned the show on, raising the volume and leaning back. Neither of them said anything. Jason too embarrassed and feeling too little, and Damian just liked the silence.

Damian had been thinking about what Dick had said and begrudgingly (and a bit awkwardly) leaned over to place a heavy hand on Jason’s messy black hair.

Jason’s eyes shot fully open and his blush spread to his ears. Damian didn’t look at him and simply gave his head a pat and then pulled his hand back.

Jason managed to keep his excited smile and giggle away, knowing he would be pissed at himself for letting Damian know how much that meant to him.

Of course, Dick saw the whole thing and clutched his heart dramatically before he walked in, acting like he’d been none the wiser.

Once Dick came back in, carrying a blue sippy cup with Cinderella decorating it, he sat next to Jason, sandwiching the man between his two brothers.

“Here. If you want a snack I can get you something.” He handed him the cup, which Jason took graciously.

“No, stay.” Jason whispered, leaning his head on the older man’s shoulder, holding Dicks hand with one hand and slyly drinking his sippy with the other, not wanting Damian to see.

“Okay, no problem.”

After a few episodes, Tim came back out and sat next to Damian, killing a bit of time until the two youngest would join Bruce for patrol.

They were all somewhat smooshed on one section of the couch, but it wasn’t too bad since Jason had slowly crawled into Dicks lap, feeling clingy and tiny so he didn’t care that Tim and Damian were right next to them.

“Hey, Jason. You okay?” Tim asked, leaning forward to look down the couch at Jason. Whose face he couldn’t see, but he heard his mumbled little voice.

“I’m good.” He meant it. So why did Tim still feel like a jerk?

Tim sat back, sorta relieved that his brother wasn’t upset anymore, but feeling a heavy pang of guilt about the name calling and almost fight that he allowed to happen.

As much as Jason didn’t want to be acting this vulnerable and young in front of his little brothers, he couldn’t find it in himself to be embarrassed.

They weren’t making fun of him, and the whole situation felt somewhat normal, since they were all just watching tv. He wasn’t watching since was straddling his big brother, and it was Peppa Pig, but still.

Plus, he wasn’t dressed like a total baby, usually Dick liked to dress him up cutesy to make him feel little, but today he settled for the clothes Jason picked.

Jason finished his juice, but kept the spout of the sippy in his mouth, chewing on it slightly against Dicks neck. Dick gently took it from him and ran his fingers through the man’s hair.

“Want your pacifier?” Dick whispered, wondering if little Jason was brave enough to use it in front of the demons, but predictably, Jason shook his head.

“Nu uh.” He whined and shook his head aggressively as he squeezed Dicks hand tighter. “Not a baby.”

Dick expected that, Jason always uttered that phrase at least once when Tim and Damian were around. It was cute, him trying to hold onto at least a sliver of his dignity. Even though Dick assured him that Damian and Tim wouldn’t make fun of him anymore than they usually do.

“Okay, bud.” He smiled, rubbing Jason’s back with his free hand.

Dick was highly aware that this wasn’t going to happen again very soon, Jason wouldn’t be this childish in front of Tim or Damian, so he soaked this time up, treasuring it.