no rest for the wicked [jason todd]

thirty five

IT WAS HARD TO SIT STILL.

They had just eaten breakfast and were all gathered in the living room, wearing dumb matching pyjamas Dick had gotten them all. Tim was sitting next to her and a conversation discussing God knows what going on. Barbara had gotten there too after breakfast with her father — and the promise of coming home for dinner. Jason had run out to the store after they'd agreed on her taking a test to calm her nerves with the sole promise of getting something for her nausea. It didn't raise as many flags as 'Whoops, going to buy my girlfriend a pregnancy test because she might be having a baby!'

"Tye? What about you?" Dick asked, and suddenly, she sat up. He laughed slightly, turning away and motioned toward the tree. "Doesn't it need more handmade ornaments? I think we should have a craft day."

Before she could respond, the sound of a door shutting was heard. Moments after, Jason came into the room, flecks of snow still in his hair. "Stuff's in our room," he told Tye, sitting down on the opposite side of her than Tim. He leaned in and she brushed a hand through his hair, the warmth of her palm melting the snow. He smiled softly and pressed a kiss to her cheek before he fully pulled away. "What're we talking about?"

"Family craft day," Tim informed him, "apparently. It's what Dick seems to think we should have. We need more homemade ornaments."

He snorted and buried his face into Tye's shoulder, wrapping an arm around her waist. She kept a hand in his hair, running through it as if to brush out any knots. "We'll all make little handprint ornaments for Bruce, you know, you can bet he'd be happy with that. It's not like we're all practically adults or anything."

"I would," Bruce agreed from the doorway, sipping a cup of coffee. He went to sit down in a chair that was still free and set his coffee down on a table, folding his hands on his lap. He did, in fact, radiate the energy of a father when he sat there; like sitting at the end of the table. She didn't know what kind of father he'd been to them, but he already treated her better than her own father had. Jim did too. "I'm surprised you haven't started stacking your presents in front of you, Dick. Aren't you usually excited about this part?"

Dick raised a hand. "See, I would," he told him, "but Alfred said if I touched them before you came in, he'd make sure to spit in all of my food today. I thought it'd be better to listen."

"I'm goin' first," Jason said, reaching for a group of boxes with all similar wrapping paper. She recognized them from his corner of the bedroom. They'd been tucked in a little box and he'd threatened her not to touch them with a teasing tone. He handed one to Tim and then one to Dick, extended his arm to give one to Barbara. He set one in Tye's lap, and then lastly, he gave something between a grimace and a smile when he handed a box to Bruce. "Not exactly rich," he said, "so I couldn't get everyone a bunch of stuff."

It was all little things. Cute little things, but they were little nonetheless. When everyone had opened theirs, Tye couldn't stop the smile on her face. They were all so happy. She didn't remember a time where Christmas had been spent with people she'd loved, where Christmas hadn't been her eating takeout and watching Disney movies.

"You've got a gift, you know," Tim told her, patting her arm. "Are you ever gonna open it? C'mon."

She glanced toward Jason and then down toward the gift, trying to ignore how it felt like people were staring at her. She tore open some of the wrapping paper and then, without being able to stop herself, actually punched Jason straight in the shoulder. She turned toward him, something akin to a glare on her face, and even Dick seemed confused.

"Uh..." Barbara uttered, "what the hell?"

"Does that mean you like it?" Jason teased, smiling toward her, and she was livid. She didn't know how to speak as she stared right at him, and after a moment, she was crying. "Oh my God, babe, calm down, what's wrong?"

Tye wiped her own tears, managing out, "Jay, I said no, come on. We talked about this."

"It's a laptop," Tim informed the room, and Tye's hands moved to clutch the edges of the box. She still didn't seem to say anything for a while, and even Dick was smiling now.

When presents were done and over with, Tye retreated to the room quickly. She was surprised for Bruce to have gotten her something — not that she hadn't picked him out something — and was stuck staring at it even when she got to the room. It was a jacket, and she'd wondered if Jason had said anything. It was a varsity type jacket, custom made, and it had a couple patches on it. It had red on it too. She had no words as she laid it out on the bed, practically smiling from ear-to-ear.

Finally, she looked toward the bag and reached in. He'd bought a couple different boxes just to be sure, so she took them into the bathroom with her. When she was finished, she laid them on small folded, thick pieces of toilet paper and headed back out into the room. Jason was there now and gave her a smile, patting the bed. "Hey babe," he said, "whatever happens, it'll be fine."

"Yeah, I know," Tye told him, staring at the timer on her phone. She leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes, trying to block out even the thought of the tests in general. The timer shocked her from her relaxed state.

She headed into the bathroom and checked the tests. Immediately, she had to look back and forth between them, glancing over toward Jason where he stood at the doorway. She opened her mouth to speak but words didn't come out. Instead, tears filled her eyes. He was quick to pull her in close, pressing his lips to her cheek. He glanced past her to see the results of the test, and he almost didn't need to after gauging her reaction. He couldn't believe this was happening to them. He couldn't believe this was real life.