Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ The Little Cherub by Beautifulpurpleflame ❯ Ignored ( Chapter 7 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A/N: I do not own the Teen Titans. No, really, I don't. I swear to you I DON'T! Oh whatever.

Chapter 7

Within a month Beast Boy had made the transition into fatherhood quite easily. Raven had been right about Alex, and he had been calling him daddy since that very next morning. Hearing Alex calling him daddy just made Beast Boy feel like the happiest guy in the world. Raven even found that Alex preferred to be with Beast Boy than with her. As happy as she was for Beast Boy, she began to feel a little ignored by Alex.

He had just put Alex down for his nap and plopped down next to Raven, who had been sitting on the couch with her book. “He's asleep,” he said relaxing. “Wow, I never knew how much work it was to take care of a kid. And he's quiet and easy!”

“Yeah, thank goodness he doesn't take after you,” she said looking at her book.

Beast Boy could feel that Raven was a little tense, and that was never good. “Are you okay?”

“I'm fine,” she said turning a page in her book.

“Come on, Raven, I know you're upset about something,” he said nudging her.

“I said I'm fine,” she said getting a little annoyed.

“Are you mad at me?” he asked.

Raven hesitated and then said, “No.”

“Okay, what'd I do?” he asked sighing.

“Nothing, now be quiet, I'm trying to read,” she said pulling the book closer to her face.

“Raven you're obviously upset about something,” he said getting irritated at how they were going around in circles. “Now please tell me.”

Raven sighed and lowered her book down to her lap. “I'm just… feeling a little neglected lately.”

“Neglected?” he asked a little surprised. “Why would you feel neglected?”

“Maybe because I've barely gotten to see my son for the past month,” she said a little bitterly.

Beast Boy had never realized until then that Raven really hadn't been with Alex all that much. He had taken full charge of Alex and barely given Raven a second thought. For a second he thought, `Try not seeing or knowing your son for two years!' And then he felt bad for thinking this.

“I'm sorry, Raven, I just really like being with Alex,” he said innocently.

“Well so do I,” she said looking back down at her book angrily.

“If it makes you feel better I'll try to pass him off to you more,” he offered.

“No, he likes you more anyway,” she said, obviously a hurt sound in her voice.

“Oh he does not like me more,” said Beast Boy.

“Yes he does,” she said sounding a little jealous.

“Well… that's only because I'm the fun parent,” he said with a smile.

“Hey, I had plenty of fun with him,” she said defensively. Beast Boy paused for a moment and then started laughing. “What?”

“You? Fun?” he chuckled. “I'm sorry, but I just can't see you being a fun parent.”

Raven closed her book with a slam and stood up. She stormed out of the room and left Beast Boy laughing to himself. He came to a stop and realized that he really must have offended her. Obviously, she must have been a fun parent to have raised such a happy, loving child. He sighed and knew he had to go tell her that he was sorry.

Just as he stood up Raven reentered. She was putting a coat on and looked to be heading out. “Where are you going?” he asked jumping up.

“Out,” she said simply.

“Out where?”

“None of your business,” she snapped. “I need to take a walk.” And with that she left. Beast Boy knew he had to make things right with her. He found Starfire, told her to take care of Alex if he woke up, and headed out to find Raven.

He flew above the city in the form of a hawk and looked for her. After a while he found her sitting on a bench in the park. He swooped down and changed back to himself. She sensed he was near, but she wasn't about to get up.

“There you are,” he said walking up to her. She didn't respond, she didn't even look at him. He sighed and sat down next to her. “Look, I'm sorry I said that you weren't a fun parent. And I'm sorry I've been hogging Alex. But I can tell you right now that he doesn't like me more than you. So you don't have to be jealous.”

“I am not jealous,” she said a bit agitated.

“Oh come on Raven,” he said. “You've been the number one person in his life for two years and all of a sudden he starts choosing me over you. You have a right to be jealous.”

“Beast Boy, I really don't care if he likes you more than me,” she said in her usual tone. “I wouldn't be a good mother if I got mad at my son for loving his father. I just… I haven't had anytime to myself in a while and it's strange to me. I feel so lonely.”

Now Beast Boy understood. Alex was like her whole world, and now he had taken that away from her. She had dedicated her whole being to make sure he was well taken care of and that he always came first. Now she had almost nothing to do with him.

“Well, you've never had a problem being lonely before,” he said trying not to feel too guilty. “You've always preferred it.”

“That was before I had a son,” she said sadly. “That was before I knew what it was like to love someone so much you never want to be away from them. And have them love you just as much.”

Beast Boy had never heard Raven talk about love. She had never really experienced love; she wasn't allowed to. He had overheard that her mother had never been allowed to love her for fear of Ravens powers. He couldn't imagine growing up and never knowing that neither of his parents couldn't or didn't want to love him. And now she did have someone who loved her and she loved back.

“Gee, Raven, I'm so sorry,” he said as sincerely as he could. “I never meant to make you feel so… unwanted. I guess I was just trying to spend as much time with Alex as possible because I've already missed so much of his life.”

“Trust me, they weren't very exciting years,” she said in her normal voice.

“Still, I felt like the more time I spent with him the more I could catch up on all the lost time,” said Beast Boy.

“I know,” said Raven standing up. “I just have to get used to the fact that I have to share him now.” Then she started to walk down the path in the park. Beast Boy quickly got up and followed her. “You don't have to walk with me.”

“I know,” he said catching up to her. “I just want to talk with you some more.”

“It never fails,” she said with a slight chuckle. “No matter how many years pass by, you still can't help talking to me even after I tell you to go away.”

“Old habits die hard,” he said with a smile.

“Guess so,” she said with a weak smile.

They walked for a little while through the park silently. They watched kids playing and parents watching. They both thought about taking Alex there to play. Then they realized that Alex was probably waking up now.

“We should probably be heading back to the tower,” said Beast Boy. “Unless you want to keep walking alone.”

“No, I'm ready to go back,” said Raven. Beast Boy gave her a smile and the two headed back towards the tower.

When they got back Alex was sitting in the common room with Starfire and Robin. Starfire was playing on the floor with him and Robin was sitting on the couch watching TV. As soon as Alex saw Raven and Beast Boy walk in his face lit right up. He raised his arms up and said, “Daddy! Hold ya!”

Beast Boy went over and picked Alex up. “Hey buddy, you're up from you're nap.”

Raven tried to let out a quiet sigh and went to put her coat away. Beast Boy heard her sigh with his sensitive ears and watched as she left.

“Is Raven okay?” asked Robin.

“Yes, she seems quite sad,” said Starfire getting up off the floor.

“She feels like Alex is ignoring her,” he said putting Alex back down.

“You have been spending a lot of time with him,” said Robin.

“I know,” said Beast Boy. “I guess I just didn't notice just how much. I hate seeing her so sad. It makes me so upset to see her that way.”

Suddenly Alex stopped what he was doing, which was playing with a car on the floor, and stood up. The three watched as he started to walk out of the common room.

“Alex, where're you goin?” asked Beast Boy following him.

But he didn't answer. He left the common room and made his way down the hallway. Beast Boy followed him and watched as he stopped in front of Ravens room. He pushed her door open and went inside. Beast Boy found this all a little strange and walked over to Ravens room.

He looked inside and saw Alex climbing into his mother's arms and hugging her. “I love you,” he said in his little voice. Raven hugged her son tightly and said, “I love you too.”

Beast Boy had just witnessed his son's powers at work. Alex had sensed his mother's distress and went to make her feel better, for he began to feel as low as she was. He stayed back behind the doorframe and listened to what was going on in the room.

Raven sat on her bed with Alex sitting on her lap, facing her. She wasn't forcing him; he just wanted to be there. His eyes seemed to melt her and make her feel completely better. She wondered if it was another form of his powers. Healing eyes.

“You sad, Mumma?” he asked as he felt her hands.

“No,” she said in a soothing voice and smiled. “I am never sad as long as you're near me.”

“Daddy's upset,” he said concentrating on her fingers and stumbling over the words as they came out of his little mouth.

“He is?” said Raven, not sure if she should believe him. “Why's daddy upset?”

“He said that that you were sad,” said Alex putting her hand down. “An-an he gets upset.”

Raven smiled at him and said, “No no, he's not upset.”

“He's not?”

“No,” she said kissing him. “Now why don't you go play?”

“'kay,” he said and climbed off of her lap and down off her bed. She watched as he made his way out of her room and into the hall. She concentrated and watched him with her mind and made sure he made it to his room. He went in and began to play with some of his toys. Raven lay back onto her bed and sighed.

Beast Boy had turned into a fly as soon as he heard Alex coming so he couldn't see him. Of course, as he passed he did look on the wall for a second, and then went on his way. Once he was in his room and started to play Beast Boy turned back and decided to see if Raven was alright.

“He saw you,” she said not even opening her eyes.

“I know,” said Beast Boy chuckling and entering her room. “It must be that bond we have.”

“Must be,” she said rubbing her temples.

“He sure is special,” he said sitting down in her bed. He wasn't sure if he was pushing the boundaries, but it felt like the right thing to do.

“He's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me,” she said in a heartfelt voice.

Beast Boy gave her a smile, even though he knew she couldn't see it because her eyes were closed. He thought for a few moments and then said, “Have you… always thought that?”

“That he's a blessing?” she asked.

“Yeah,” said Beast Boy hesitantly. “I mean, was there ever a time when you wished he hadn't… come along?”

“Never,” she said looking over at him. “I did wish for many things. I wished I knew what to do, I wished I had some help, I even wished that you weren't his father (no offense).”

“None taken,” said Beast Boy, even though he was slightly hurt.

“But I never wished that he was never born,” she said sincerely. “It never even occurred to me to wish for such a thing.”

“So… you never even considered getting rid of him?” asked Beast Boy, hoping she would know what he meant.

At this Raven sat right up and stared Beast Boy straight in the eye. “Not even once,” she said as serious as can be possible. “I would never have thought of such a thing.”

“Okay, calm down,” he said getting a little scared at her expression. “It was just an innocent question. I mean, can you blame me? I was just curious.”

“Well now you know,” she said lying back down.

“You're not mad at me, are you?” he asked.

Raven was quiet for a moment. Then she sighed and said, “No, I'm not mad at you. It's just a touchy subject.”

“Can I ask why?”

Raven was quiet again. She slowly sat up and leaned forward, holding her hands. “My mother… my mother was going to kill herself… when she was pregnant with me,” she said hesitantly. “She didn't want to bring me into the world because… because I was the child of Trigon. If it wasn't for the monks of Azarath stopping her, I wouldn't be here.”

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up such a painful subject,” he said looking at the floor.

“It's okay,” she said in a scratchy voice. “You didn't know.”