Love Does Not Fix Everything, chapter 3

Bruce sighed tiredly, looking at his mug of coffee as if it held the answer to all his problems...

Alfred had went to sleep three hours ago, after tucking in the children and having made a lot of jokes about getting stuck, and the silence was giving him time to think...

Maybe Dick's complaining had been annoying at the moment but planted the doubt in his head... It was true that he had being paying a little bit more of attention to Jason recently, but he had been convinced Dick understood his new little brother was having a hard time adjusting... Apparently, he had been wrong. It hadn't been fair from him to expect an adult's reasoning from his eldest, who was still a little child.

He was sick of the entire situation. He had tried everything with Jason, and yet nothing had worked...

Bruce shook his head. He was not giving up on his youngest, but there was another little child that needed him, and it wasn't fair for him that Bruce didn't know how to handle his little brother.

*

The next day Dick didn't woke up as early as he was used to. It was Saturday and Alfred didn't wake him up on weekends, but usually Jason's screaming did. That day, however, he didn't hear any...

Bruce never let them eat while watching TV, and Jason always threw a fit about it because he liked having breakfast but he also hated missing the morning cartoons... Not that he hadn't enjoyed having a nice and peaceful awakening, but it was creeping him out.

He got up and started walking downstairs. Maybe there had been an emergency and everyone had had to go out...

However, everyone was home. And acting super strange...
To begin with, Jason was eating cereal right out from the box in front of the TV in the living room.

And no one, not even Alfred, who was drinking his morning tea, was saying anything about it... What crept him out even more was Bruce sitting on the other couch sipping from his coffee and reading the morning paper like everything was just alright, and it wasn't.

However, despite Dick's worried look, Bruce was not worried at all, not anymore. He had done a lot of thinking last night and, after a lot of consideration, he had arrived to the conclusion that, as always, Alfred was right when he had told him before that he had to pick his battles. It made no sense to keep arguing over everything with a little boy... He'd keep worrying about Jason eating and sleeping, which he didn't do much, but, at least for the moment, he was way too tired to do anything else.

"Good morning, Dick," he greeted his eldest when he spotted him on the stairs, "Did you sleep well?"

The lttle boy nodded his head and started walking towards him when he came out of his astonishment.

"Why is Jason eating here and watching TV?" It was just so weird to see. "I can take him with me to the kitchen if you want." Dick offered after sitting beside his dad.

"That's fine, I don't care."

The eldest boy looked at him incredously.

"You what?"

"As long as no one is dying or getting hurt, I don't care." Bruce was doing a titanic effort to convince himself.

"...Alright."

"Right, do you want some breakfast?"

"Yes, please."

"Let's go, then," Bruce stood up and headed to the kitchen, taking Dick with him by the hand.

*

Don't think wrong, Jason was happy and liked living in the Manor with Dick and Alfred, he enjoyed having them around and was eternally grateful with Bruce for letting him have a roof over his head and food on the table, he had not had any of these things some months ago when living on the streets, he hadn't even had them before when he lived with his mom, it was the first time ever he didn't have to worry about if he would be able to eat or not that day... However, no matter how grateful he was with the guy, there was just something about him that couldn't bring Jason to listen to him like he did with Alfred and Dick. Bruce was so awkward to deal with... He clearly didn't enjoy playing, didn't know how to talk with kids, and he always seemed annoyed whenever he had to deal with Jason... Which is exactly why he wasn't upset at all about this new attitude the man was taking. He didn't mind the guy stopping nagging him all the time, so whatever.
He had been watching cartoons in his pajamas all morning and he was pretty comfortable just like that. Until...

"I would not like them here or there. I do not like them anywhere. I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-am." Jason heard from Dick's room when coming out of the bathroom and couldn't help but freeze. He loved that book!

"Would you like them in a house? Would you like them with a mouse?" Without thinking about it at all, Jason stealthyly crept into the room where Bruce was sitting on the bed reading to his brother.

At first, the youngest boy had stayed by the door, but he unconsciously started coming closer and closer until suddenly he was leaning against the bed. 
By then, Bruce had obviously noticed him, but had decided to not say anything on the matter. However, he was not able to keep that stand for long when the little boy climbed onto the bed and kneeled beside him to see the pictures of the story, supporting his tiny little arm on Bruce's huge shoulder. Suddenly it was like he had not spent the last few months stressed out because of that kid.

"Not in a box. Not with a fox. Not in a house. Not with a mouse. I would not eat them here or there. I would not eat them anywhere. I would not eat green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-am." He had kept reading, and, like magic, Jason had gotten obviously more comfortable as he listened. Right then he had his cheek leaning on the man's chest and was sucking on his pinky, almost sitting at his lap. Bruce's heart was hopelessly melting.

"...And I will eat them with a fox. And I will eat them in a house. And I will lead them with a mouse. And I will eat them here and there. Say! I will eat them anywhere! I do so like green eggs and ham! Thank you! Thank you, Sam-I-Am."

By the time Bruce was done, Dick was not happy at all... While he loved his new little brother and was pretty glad Jason had spent the entire morning without crying or throwing a tantrum, the eldest had actually enjoyed the little time his father had been able to focus on him... Now, he was not a selfish boy, but there had been some time since he had gotten some attention from the man just to himself, and he had liked Bruce reading to him a lot that day... That until Jason had arrived. It had started as Bruce reading to him, and had ended up as Jason happily sitting on their dad's lap and snuggling against his chest...

"Where are you going, Dick?"

"Somewhere else," was the only answer from the boy as he exited the room.

The man was going to insist, but the youngest kid passed the pages of the book, so it was once again opened in page 1.

"Again" Jason cuddled closer, completely lost in the book.

Absolutely stunned by the little boy's behaviour, Bruce arranged his arm around the kid and started reading once again.

"I am Sam. I am Sam. Sam-I-Am..."