Meeting the Wilsons
A thick, dismal fog shrouded Gotham city, suffocating the inhabitants and obscuring the sky with a choking cloud of pollution. Stifled beams of light pierced through small gaps in the fog announcing a new bleak day as Grant Wilson entered the diminutive kitchen in his flat.
It was - like all the rooms - rather small for so many people, with just enough space for the cabinets, oven and fridge against the wall with the windows and a rectangular wooden table with six chairs to be crammed in. Half empty mugs and assorted spices and sauces occupied random places on the table and counters and a greasy frying pan yet to be cleaned had been left from yesterday.
He leaned against the countertop after pouring himself a cup of tea, trying (unsuccessfully) to wake himself up properly. His siblings and dad were most likely asleep, wanting to sleep in as long as possible during the holidays but he wasn't tired and was already planning how to spend the day. Gaming with friends or a trip to the park to play football sounded nice, he mused as keys clinked in the lock and the door opened.
His father walked through the doorway, sporting a large backpack, grocery bags in one hand and the other... Some kind of strange bundle resting on his shoulder. He could only make out what looked like a coat... was it clothes?
'Where are Rose and Joey? Go and get them, I need you all here to tell you something... It's... important.'
Slade's had muttered this with a sigh, sounding tired as though he hadn't gotten enough sleep. Grant thought all this was quite strange as he went to fetch his siblings. The bundle was weird, as was this kind of uncommon family meeting, which he could only remember happening once, when his parents were getting divorced. If his dad normally wanted to tell them something he'd just say it. The whole situation felt off.
After the two younger Wilsons had shuffled into the kitchen, rubbing their bleary eyes, Grant could now see the bundle from before propped up on a kitchen chair.
It was a boy.
A gargantuan, tattered coat enveloped his tiny figure making him unrecognisable to Grant earlier. But there was no mistaking it now that across from them sat a sleeping boy.
The others must have noticed him too as they stared, wide-eyed.
'Uh, whatcha got there?' asked a half-conscious Rose.
'Shopping.' replied Slade shortly, gesturing to the grocery bags.
'You bought a kid at Walmart?' asked Grant sceptically.
'Well no. It doesn't matter where I got him from, the thing is-'
'Is that even legal?' Grant asked, 'He's not gonna live with us, is he?'
'Look, ok, I said- well-.' Slade stopped in his tracks and sighed, putting his head in his hands. Whatever this was about, thought Grant, he clearly hadn't thought of what he was going to tell them.
'So, this is Harry.' Slade began, 'and, uh, long story short he's an orphan with no living family and, well, will be... Living with us for now, I guess. Or maybe permanently, actually.'
'Did you adopt him then?', signed Joey.
'Well, I mean... not legally yet, but I will. So... he's your... brother now I suppose, though you don't have to call him that.'
'Oh come on! Another one?' Rose groaned.
Grant took back what he thought earlier. This was beyond weird. His dad just shows up with some random kid and... adopts him? Like how does that even work? Where did he get him from? And most importantly why didn't he tell them beforehand? This was even worse than when he found out about Rose, at least Slade had had somewhat of an excuse with being her dad. But this was entirely unexpected and... random, really. He thought Bruce Wayne was the one with an adoption problem, not his dad, and he really didn't want this to escalate further. Two little schists running around being annoying were enough, thank you very much, without a sudden adoption of more.
A quiet rustle and moan broke him out of his thoughts. Harry had started to stir, moving in the chair and blinking open his bright green eyes.
'W-where am I!?', he asked in a panicked voice, looking around rapidly.
'Um, ok I got this,' Slade mumbled to himself before turning to the child before him, 'So, uh, I'm D- the guy from earlier and... this is my flat in Gotham City, USA. These are my children: Grant, Joseph and Rose, and you will be staying here with us until I work everything out.'
'Uh, hi?,' Grant stammered as Joey smiled at Harry kindly when the boy looked their way when they were introduced.
'How old are you? And where will you be sleeping?', Rose demanded aggressively.
'I'm almost seven...' he trailed of and looked up at Slade.
'Actually, he's going to have to share with you, Rose, since you're the same age. Harry, I packed some things for you, but maybe it'll be better if we take you shopping to get some proper clothes. And glasses. Oh, plus a bed and stuff. You know what, I'll call Wintergreen to take you all today when I go to work. So... maybe show him around the house while I make breakfast.'
'Who's Wintergreen?,' asked Harry curiously as they began to walk through the corridor.
'Our dad's friend, my godfather. He's great.' signed Joseph.
'Um, I'm sorry, what was that?'
'Joey's mute.' deadpanned Rose, 'He uses sign language. You'll have to learn but I guess the rest of us can translate for you for now.' then she relayed the message.
'Now this is the best room in the house!,' Harry was lead to a tiny box bedroom which Grant knew for a fact was a reformed cupboard. It wasn't too small for a past storage cupboard/room and had a window on the left, an extremely messy bed, cupboards and a door to the extremely diminutive room Rose used as a wardrobe.
'I have no idea how you're gonna fit in here but we'll think about that later.' Rose continued, kicking assorted clothes and stationary under the bed before they were called for breakfast.
Time skip time skip time skip
They arrived at the Gotham shopping center after Harry had eaten enough bacon and eggs for five kids (Slade was evidently worried about how skinny he was, with good reason) and had met Wintergreen after Slade had left, mumbling something about adoption papers.
Each child had been given $50 to spend, though the younger three were to be supervised vigilantly so as not to instantly run amok in the sweet shops, and Grant had seen his dad give Wintergreen more money to spend on neccessities for Harry. The two of them were now chatting amicably, and he saw that Harry was now much more at ease after what seemed to have also been a disorientating morning for him.
They entered the children's section of a clothes shop, with mannequins dressed in flashy designer outfits that only the Gotham elite would afford, blaring pop music and snobby shoppers. Light reflected off the glass domed roof, as this was on the top floor, casting the entire shop in a warm glow. This was one of the better shops in Gotham, most things cost enough for the average citizen to afford, and it had proper security. 'Alright Harry, have a look around and take anything you like, I don't know what you already have so a couple of everything will do. I'm right here if you need help as well as the boys, though they should check if they're missing anything so we can buy it now while we're here.' said Wintergreen as Harry looked around with wide eyes behind his round glasses, mouth gaping open slightly.
'Close your mouth, Harry or you'll catch flies.' directed Wintergreen, 'Is everything alright?'
'Um, yes, sorry sir, it's just that.. well, I've never been allowed to choose my own clothes before.' the boy replied nonchalantly, then stopped, looking alarmed when he must have seen the looks on everybody's faces.
This kid was weird. Grant had made his judgement and this was it. He guessed that maybe some parents wouldn't let their kids decide what to wear especially when they were young but Harry behaved as though he'd never been in a clothes shop before, and while they did have quite a lot of freedom in his family, he thought that other children must have been at least allowed some input as to what they would buy for them to wear. That, and how enormous (for Harry's size) and tatty the clothes Harry removed from the backpack were, made Grant think that something was off. He was also way too small for a little kid about Rose's age, she was almost a head taller than him, not to mention his impeccable manners. No normal kid acted this way. Where had his dad gotten him from?
'How did you get stuff then? Did your parents just buy it for you? They didn't do a good job then.' butted in Rose rather tactlessly during the awkward silence.
'I wore my cousin's old clothes. Aunt Petunia said that since he's only a few months older I'll be fine and that she didn't want to waste more money on a freak like me and that I should be grateful they didn't turn me out on the streets.'
The carelessness with which Harry said this worried Grant. Normally children wouldn't say, or hear, this sort of thing. Grant already suspected an at least slightly abusive family, and although his siblings were too young to understand the severity of what Harry just said, they had to know that it wasn't normal what with how they were raised.
Wintergreen broke the ensuing silence by clearing his throat, 'Your aunt was wrong, Harry and now that you're with us you can choose anything you would like, within reason, of course, maybe stay away from designer fashion. Go on, ' he prompted at which Harry went off to the shelves.
Grant absentmindedly glanced at the racks before him, still musing about Harry, and not needing anything from here. Joey looked around himself and Grant saw Rose charge up to Harry and snatch the top shirt from the small pile in the boy's hands.
She scrutinised it, then wrinkled her nose in disgust. 'There is no way you're getting that! Here, try this.' she ordered throwing a different one at Harry, ignoring his futile, mumbled protests. 'Honestly, you won't get anything done by yourself, come on!' Rose yelled, exasperated, dragging him by the arm to the other side of the aisle.
It looks like these two will get along quite well.
Thirty stuffed carrier bags later, everyone stood in the entrance of Ikea after depositing the shopping into the white minivan Slade gave them to take shopping.
Harry had received an entire new wardrobe, hygiene products like a toothbrush, books, notebooks, new glasses, stationary and a pencil case, a duvet cover as they already had spare bedsheets for him and a few lego sets to play with. Then there was everyone else's shopping including - but not limited to - food (bought by Wintergreen but including snacks for the kids), assorted items they bought like sweets, shoes, a nightlamp, pyjamas and a videogame for Grant which he told an interested looking Harry he could show him how to play later, and a new backpack for Rose as her last one's zip broke.
Needless to say, they were quite tired after all that walking and shopping and the final task was the hardest to accomplish, namely: buy Harry furniture.
Grant and Slade had rushed with the measurements of Rose's room, so they weren't most likely very accurate and there was also the crucial dilemma of whether or not anything would even fit in there.
Slade had been grumpier than usual today and hadn't given anyone further clarification or instructions on anything past what he had said that morning before leaving at 7:30.
Therefore, they weren't properly sure what they were actually looking for among the vast numbers of beds in the shop, though it would have to be tiny to fit. Still, there was no other option- Slade didn't have a spare matress, the black, leather living room couch didn't expand so Harry would fall off, Grant and Joseph occupied the largest bedroom completely and it would be uncomfortable for everyone involved to share a bed which is why they now entered Ikea while Wintergreen gave a stern sermon about no jumping on the beds.
As soon as he paused, Grant watched Rose take off, grabbing Harry by the elbow and running off somewhere after shouting: 'Bye! We'll go look for something!' as an exhausted looking Wintergreen sighed deeply and a nonplussed Joey signed to Grant then went off in the childrens' general direction as he followed.