To Raise a Child, chapter 6

Saying that Oliver woke up would be like implying he slept at all, which he actually didn't. All night, the man had been kept up by Roy's stupid question...


The day before hadn't been easy; first he had gotten that call from preschool, then he had argued with Hal, after that Roy had thrown a memorial tantrum which got him to stay at Hal's place, just so Oliver had had to pick him up at night, then another tantrum this time at his mother's Manor which Dinah got to judge him for, and to top it all, Roy ended the day with that ridiculous self-pity party... Which was obviously ridiculous because there was no way on earth the kid really thought that.

Oliver refrained from groaning as he remembered the little sleeping form on the other side of the huge bed. Last thing he wanted was waking up the child and having to get up himself that early.

Oliver buffed. That why you didn't he love the boy? Roy HAD to be kidding... Every damn minute of Oliver's life revolved around that kid since the day he took him in, and now the ungrateful brat said Oliver didn't love him? One thing was getting death bulshit from his so called friends, whatever, they didn't get to be there every fuckin' seconds of his life to know how things were, but Roy did, so there was no way in hell he actually meant that.

Well, at least that's what Oliver had thought the first few hours. After hearing that nonsense coming from his son's mouth, he had decided it had been a long enough day without having to deal with yet another tantrum, so he had told the kid to go to sleep already. Apparently Roy was either tired or sad enough, because he didn't insisted, but he also didn't stir around or lean against him like he'd usually do, so that kind of left him thinking…

Maybe he was a little bit harsher than most of his friends, but most of them also they didn't have to deal with the same kind of tantrums Oliver did... Maybe Bruce, with Jason and all, but the rest of his friends' kids we're pretty obedient and calmed... Roy, on the other hand, bit, kicked, hit, screamed, cried, pinched, scratched, threw himself on the floor, destroyed everything, started randomly speaking in Navajo, and sometimes did all of those simultaneously when he got upset. Who the hell did they think they were to tell him how to act towards the kid?

Needless to say, between the boy's haunting tantrums and being at his mother's lugubrious manor, he hadn't rested well. He didn't wanna get up... Hell, he didn't even wanna be awake for like a week and just leisure around a little... Maybe that was what they actually needed, to take a damn break already. Between everyone breathing on their shoulders, the annoyingly nosy school staff and the judging looks everybody shoot their way, he felt more exhausted than ever. He'd kill for some rest...

However Oliver's wishes weren't always granted, and sooner than later Roy began to stir like he usually did before starting to wake up.

Well, damn...

"What time is it?" The first thing the kid thought as he hurriedly sat up was that he didn't want to be late for school, he had to be extra good that day... Even not fully awake, Roy still knew he was in for tons of trouble. Oliver had been mad at him before, but the previous day's events had been even more tiring and frustrating than usual for both of them. Usually, Oliver wasn't one for holding grudges, but he usually didn't have to go pick him up at Hal's or crash at his mother's Manor at midnight either... Besides, everyone had ended up mad at Ollie, so he surely wasn't really happy with Roy.

Oliver didn't really wanted to answer that question. The simple idea of having to get up to drive home and get Roy ready to school helped him set his mind.

"Don't worry about that, there's no rush today," that earned him a confused look from the kid. Usually, an angry Oliver meant one taking every opportunity to nag at him, not to tell him it didn't matter being late.

"How come?"

"We are taking a day off, we can just sleep in and go somewhere later instead of work or school. Let's think about it as your birthday present."

"But my birthday is in two weeks."

"We can do this again in two weeks, then... Unless you really want to go to school."

And that did the trick, because as weird as Ollie was acting, Roy would never let go an opportunity to skip school.

"No, it's fine! But aren't you like... Mad at me or something?" Unconsciously, Roy hid behind one of the huge pillows as the man suppressed a sigh.

"I'm not jumping out of happiness about all your shows from yesterday, but it's not like I'll be mad at you forever. As if I could."

Roy looked up at that and Oliver cursed himself when he noticed the kid's eyes had welled up. Roy tended to cry during tantrums, but that didn't feel like a tantrum at all.

"I'm sorry..." The boy mumbled, looking as if he were trying hard not to burst in tears, and that had Oliver feeling like shit. He could ignore cocodrile tears, but Roy looked actually sad right that moment.

"Hey, it's fine, Roy, I'm not mad," at least not then.

"But you were. You were so mad you wanted me to go back to the orphanage," unwillingly, his bottom lip started wobbling a little.

Oliver was pretty sure he hadn't said exactly that, but still it wasn't the time to discuss it.

"No, Roy, come on... I swear I didn't mean it. I wouldn't want you to go back ever."

"But you..."

"I can be an idiot sometimes, but I'm pretty sure my life would be like super sad and boring if you were anywhere else." And it didn't exactly get Roy to stop looking at the edge of tears, but it at least made him look less miserable.

"But... You said..."

"Look, sometimes I say no more then a bunch of crap. I'm sorry, I was mad, yes, but I never wanted to make you feel like I didn't want you around. I'd miss you too much..."

Roy shot him a hesitant look.

"Really?"

"I swear, I..." Before he could even finish, he felt an extra weight crash against his torso, and he was extremely relieved because just moments ago he could have sworn the kid wouldn't even consider hugging him ever again. "You know what?" He asked the child, pressing him Closer against him,

"Let's go swimming and then to the amusement park. You liked the beach the last time we went, right?"

And not only had Roy liked it, he had loved it! In Arizona, he lived in the desert and there were trees and mountains and even a river close from home, but he had never seen the ocean before arriving California. And as if it weren't already awesome, Oliver had taken him and thought him how to swim his first weekend there!

"Can we really go?" He cleaned his nose on the man's shirt.

"Sure, let's just go home and grab some clothes first." They had stayed the night at his mother's Manor because it was closer to Hal's house than his, but it wasn't like he wanted to stay for breakfast. Roy and his mom weren't exactly the best friends, "Then we can go get some breakfast at IHOP and to the movies before going to the beach." Maybe breakfast, movies, beach and amusement park were altogether a little too much, but it's not like it'd hurt anyone. Besides, what was wrong in wanting to make it up to the kid? Roy had exasperated him, yeah, but maybe that orphanage comment had been out of place.

It was just one day, after all.