Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ The Little Cherub II by Beautifulpurpleflame ❯ The Way Things Were ( Chapter 8 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

AN: I do not own the Teen Titans people!

Chapter 8

Raven was awoken by her aching stomach, longing for food. She slowly got up and saw that Arielle and her crib were gone. For a second she panicked, but then she remembered that Beast Boy had taken her. She calmed her nerves down and then started out to the kitchen.

She saw Cyborg and Alex sitting on the couch cheering on the last few minutes of the game. Alex was jumping up and down on the couch, making Cyborg laugh. She smiled as she began to fix herself something to eat. Alex caught her out of the corner of his eye and turned.

“Mumma!” he yelled and crawled off the couch. He had barely seen his mother for the past few days and he had missed her horribly. He ran to her and wrapped his arms around her.

“Hi sweetheart,” she said with a smile and stroked his head. He looked up at her with a large smile.

“Do you wanna watch the bazketbowl game with me an Uncle Cyborg?” he asked excited.

“I would, sweetie, but I'm really tired,” she said. She saw his happy smile disappear and he sighed in disappointment. She couldn't handle it. “Okay, I'll watch it with you.” His smile returned and he hugged her again.

She sat down with a bowl of cereal and pretended to be interested in the game. Alex sat as close to her as he could. He never wanted her to leave his sight again. He was beginning to not like having to share her with Arielle. Once she was done with her snack Alex scooted right onto her lap. She was still a bit sore, but couldn't bring herself to move him. She loved him so much and had missed him as well.

When the game was over it was time for Alex's nap. Raven was weak, but she found the strength to carry him to his room. She owed it to him for not being able to spend any time with him the past few days. She tucked him in and sat there until he fell asleep. As he drifted into his afternoon slumber he held a subtle smile on his face that just warmed Ravens heart.

She decided to check on Arielle next. She reluctantly went to Beast Boy's room and opened the door. She saw him lying on his back with Arielle fast asleep on his chest. He was rubbing her little back and looked quite comfortable. She went in and as she did Beast Boy looked up. She held no expression on her face as she walked over to him. She softly picked Arielle up and left the room.

Raven sat down in her rocking chair and began to feed her daughter. The child seemed exhausted from all the crying she had been doing and drank greedily, trying to regain her strength. Raven was never so relieved to hold Arielle and have her not cry. She sighed and closed her eyes, letting Arielle take all of the remaining strength out of her.

Beast Boy entered and saw Raven sitting in the rocker with Arielle feeding off of her breast. He saw that Ravens eyes were closed, but he knew that she knew that he was there. He went over to her and stood silently next to her for a while.

“She's all set for now,” said Raven in her old monotone voice. “You can leave.”

“I don't want to leave,” he said staring at his feet.

“Fine,” she said through her teeth. “Then just stand there.”

And he did, for a few minutes. The tension between them was growing and he knew that he had to stop it. So he sighed and took a seat on the bed. “What do you want me to do to make you not hate me?”

Raven was quiet for a few moments. She finally sighed and said, “I don't hate you. I'm just… very aggravated with you right now.”

“Fine. What can I do to make you not aggravated with me anymore?”

“I don't know,” she said resting her head against the back of the rocker. “I just… I don't know.”

“Well I can't do anything if I don't know what you want,” he said putting his face in his hands. He was tired from all of the thinking he had been doing lately. He just wanted it all to be the way it had been. He had been happy then, and he was pretty sure she had been to.

Arielle had finished and Raven went to burp her. She prayed that the babe wouldn't start crying again. One too many pats on the back could set her off again. But she didn't cry and she burped out all of the gas confined in her little tummy. Then she lay on her mother's shoulder and went back into sleep.

Beast Boy watched as a wave of relief swept over Raven. A subtle smile graced her lips, as she knew that her daughter was now asleep and would not begin to cry. He stood up and went over to them. He slowly picked Arielle up off of Ravens shoulder.

“What are you doing?” she whispered quite alarmed.

He hushed her and took Arielle to his room, lying her down in her crib. He then went back to Raven, who was just getting up out of the rocker. Before she could say anything he wrapped his arms around her and held her. She wasn't sure what he was doing, and at first she rejected him, but he only held her tighter. Soon she couldn't fight it and she let him hold her.

“I'm so sorry,” he said as sincerely as he could. “Please forgive me.”

“Do you know how much you hurt me?” she asked.

“I know, and I'm really sorry,” he said holding her closer. “You don't deserve that. I should've been here to help you, but I was being selfish. I don't want to be that anymore. I want to be with you. I want to make you happy.”

“You were making me happy before,” she said trying not to start crying again. She couldn't stand that all of her hormones were still out of balance due to her pregnancy. “I just don't understand why you had to go screw all of that up. Why did you have to actually put thought into this one thing, when you never think anything else through?”

“I don't know,” said Beast Boy, happy to hear a little hint of the old Raven again. “But if you want, I'll never think again.”

Raven wanted to hate him. She wanted to so badly. But she couldn't. It was something about his voice and the way he was holding her. He was being completely honest with her. He was sorry and he loved her. And that was all she wanted. She wrapped her arms around him and held him back.

“That's all I want,” she said feeling those damn tears escaping.

Beast Boy lifted her crying face and kissed her. She had longed for his touch for what seemed months, even though it had only been a few days. She hated hating him. She loved him with all of her heart. Why else would she put up with him?

Beast Boy lay down on the bed with Raven in his arms. He had missed sleeping next to her and decided to try and catch up on all of the lost time. Raven fell asleep immediately. She was still exhausted and having him hold her was the final ingredient in what she needed to sleep.

An hour later they both decided to get up. Alex did a double take when he saw both of his parents enter the common room together. This wasn't to say that he was extremely happy and relieved. He ran up to them and gave them the biggest hugs his little body could give.

“Where's Arielle?” he asked once releasing them.

“She's asleep,” said Raven. “So make sure you're quiet in the hallway.”

“Okay,” said Alex in a whisper. This made both of his parents laugh. He grabbed his father's shirt and tugged on it. “Daddy, can we go to the park?”

“I don't know,” said Beast Boy looking out one of the massive windows. “It'll be dark in an hour or two.”

“Please?” pleaded Alex tugging Beast Boy's shirt again. “I want to play on the swings and ride down the slide. And then we can look for bats!”

“Bats?” laughed Beast Boy.

“Yeah!” said Alex excited. “Uncle Robin told me that bats come out when the sun goes down. I've never seen `em before.”

“Buddy, I'll turn into a bat right now,” said Beast Boy.

“No, I want to see real ones,” said Alex, feeling that he was losing this battle.

Beast Boy looked at Raven who gave him a slight smile. He sighed and said, “Alright, get your coat.”

Alex smiled quickly and ran off saying, “Yes!”

“We'll be back in like an hour,” said Beast Boy kissing Raven.

“Please don't rush,” she said. “He's missed you as much as I have, so you spend as much time with him as he wants. Let him decide when to come home and make sure he sees a few bats.”

“Fine, I'll change into one, find the lot of them and tell them to fly by,” said Beast Boy with a smile.

“No, do it the normal way,” said Raven firmly. “You sit with him and you wait for them to emerge.”

“But that'll take forever!” whined Beast Boy.

“Don't care,” said Raven leaning into the fridge.

Alex returned with his coat zipped up. He ran as fast as he could and hit Beast Boy's leg, almost knocking him over. “Can we go?” he asked with a large smile.

“Let's go,” said Beast Boy picking him up. “See ya later,” he said to Raven.

“Bye mumma!” said Alex waving happily.

“Have fun,” said Raven.

“We will!” said Alex in a loud happy voice.

Raven couldn't help giggling as the two left. She was beginning to feel better, for the first time in what seemed weeks. She then decided to go see if Arielle was up yet.

The baby girl slept soundly in her crib, which was still in Beast Boy's room. She seemed much more peaceful. Raven was now positive that she felt emotions, just as Alex did. She hadn't started crying until Beast Boy had taken his little “break” away from it all. She had gotten even more upset when they were arguing. Now that things had cooled off and the two had made up she was calm and happy again.

Suddenly she stirred and was about to cry. Not because she was upset, but because it was her only way of letting the world know that she was awake and in need of something. Raven quickly scooped her up and hushed her. The child quickly calmed back down and grabbed at her mother with her little fingers.

Raven changed her diaper and sat in the common room for a while, just for a change. Arielle didn't seem to mind; she just slept in her mother's arms. While she watched a little television Starfire and Robin entered.

“Hello Raven!” said Starfire. “Are you feeling well?”

“Yes, thank you,” said Raven with a small smile.

“How are you and Beast Boy?” asked Robin hesitantly.

“Good,” said Raven with a satisfied tone in her voice. “We talked.”

“That's good,” said Robin as he and Starfire sat down next to Raven.

“May I hold the baby Arielle?” asked Starfire.

“Sure,” said Raven passing the child over. Then she stopped and said, “Wait, I'm not going to start another argument between the two of you, am I?”

“No, we have done the talking,” said Starfire taking Arielle.

“We've decided to wait a year before we start having children,” said Robin.

“A year?” asked Raven.

“Yes, because I feel that one year is too long and Robin thinks it is too short,” said Starfire cuddling little Arielle. “So we have done the compromising.” She rocked Arielle back and forth in her arms and played with her little hands. She was a natural mother; very gentle and very calm. Raven hoped Robin was noticing this. She knew that it was going to kill Starfire to wait so long to have children after they got married.