Ch 10

                                    

                                          
4 years, 3 months, and 15 days later...
                          
"C'mon Dickie, blow out the candles and make a wish." Jason prompted, ruffling the 5 year old's hair.
                          
Dick smiled broadly, closing his eyes for a moment and blowing at the candles on his birthday cake. He peaked an eye open, looking to see if there were any candles still lit before he opened both eyes.
                          
"What did you wish for?" Bruce asked.
                          
"I can't tell, cuz then it won't come true." Dick said with a no duh tone of voice.
                          
"You can tell us." Jason said. "We won't tell anyone."
                          
Dick's face scrunched up in thought for a moment. "Well... if you promise not to tell..." He said, smiling widely when both Bruce and Jason nodded. "I wished to be big and strong like you and Jason!" He shouted excitedly, jumping up and hopping onto Jason's back.
                          
Bruce and Jason shared an almost imperceptible glance. 'If only he knew.' They both thought to themselves.
                          
Jason cleared his throat. "T-that's great... that's a great wish."
                          
"I knew it was! That's why I wished it." Dick said, using his tiny hands to mess with Jason's hair, trying his best to get it to stick up in a mohawk.
                          
"Stop it you little monkey." Jason teased, grabbing Dick and flipping him over his shoulder and into his lap.
                          
Dick laughed as Jason tickled his sides. "STOP, STOP, STOP!" Dick managed to get out between his fits of laughter. He managed to squirm out of Jason's grasp and he jumped away, wiping the tears from his laughter from the corners of his eyes. "Don't tickle me Jay." He said, covering his sides so Jason couldn't get at them to tickle him again.
                          
Jason put a fake pout on his face, but his eyes were still shining with mirth. Suddenly he shouted, "The floor is lava!" He pulled his legs up on his chair, expecting Dick to jump on one of the chairs or the table. He definitely wasn't expecting Dick to leap onto one of the decorative pillars in the corner of the room, climb to the top, and from there jump to the chandelier.
                          
Both Bruce and Jason sat there, mouths hanging open. Dick was definitely still the same acrobat he'd been before.
                          
"Bruce!" Dick shouted. "Your legs are getting burned off by the lava!"
                          
That startled Bruce and Jason out of their revorie. Bruce lifted his legs up, resting them on the table and patted them, feigning putting out the imaginary fire.
                          
"Oh no!" Dick said, causing Jason and Bruce to both snap their gazes back up to the chandelier, thinking something might be wrong. "The lava's rising! You have to get to something higher or else you'll burn up!"
                          
Bruce shot a look at Jason that said, 'This is why you don't start games like this with this child.'
                          
Jason gave a nervous laugh, running his hand through his hair.
                          
"Don't worry Dickie." Bruce said. "I have super breath. I'll cool the lava down so we can walk on it again." He took in a comically large breath and blew it out loudly.
                          
Jason stood up. "The lava's all gone." He said, looking up at Dick's face that was peeking over the edge of the chandelier.
                          
"You sure?" Dick asked.
                          
"We're sure." Bruce said, jumping a few times to hopefully make Dick feel like he could come down.
                          
Dick swung down from the chandelier, doing a flip in the air before landing in a roll.
                          
Jason crossed his arms and frowned at Dick's show of his acrobatic talent. Though he tried to mask his jealousy, Jason couldn't help resenting the five-year-old for being so great at something he himself hadn't even mastered yet... something that Bruce never failed to bring up in his endless comparisons of him and Dick.