May I have "childhood"?

(just don't kill Satchmo, please!)

Ha! I won't kill Satch, I promise. :)

Neal was aware that his family was unusual from an early age. There were a few years where it was great; he had a mom and a dad and friends to come to his birthday party. Then, everything changed overnight. He was woken from a deep sleep and carried out to a waiting car by a man he'd never seen. His mother was right behind him, but she didn't answer his questions or tell him anything more than to be still and quiet. It was dark and rainy the night his dad died, the night that his whole life changed forever.

After that, things were weird. He was given a new name, and they moved from apartment to house to apartment across the St Louis area. His mother faded more every year until she barely had anything to say to him. Gone were the days when she helped him with his homework or asked about his day at school or if his friends wanted to spend the night on a weekend.

Neal knew that she was sad about his dad, and he was sad too, so he learned to get along on his own. He got himself to school on time, and he did his homework every night. He brushed his teeth and combed his hair nicely and conned kids out of their lunch money with card games and tricks on the school bus so he would be able to eat lunch himself.

In those school-age years, Neal learned the valuable lesson of how to take care of himself.

Angsty bear picks - Haunting.

So, I just saw this very apt post on Tumblr, which for historical purposes reads: [note to self] "You'll never fully cherish the people in your life if you keep hoping for those who have left to come back and haunt you."

Note: This occurs in an alternate timeline where little Neal is three or four, and Peter hasn't found out that Neal faked his death (or perhaps Neal didn't fake his death).

It was the night of little Neal's birthday, and Peter found himself sitting at the kitchen table, singing Happy Birthday and waiting for his son to blow out his birthday candles. They were having a party that weekend with all of Neal's friends, so Peter and Elizabeth were the only ones there to celebrate on the actual day.

Tears came to his eyes when he sang his son's name and he thought of the other Neal, who would have loved being a part of this night. He would have bought his namesake some expensive art supplies or a junior lockpick kit or something that would have Peter giving him exasperated looks over his child's head. Then again, if Neal were here, his son would probably be named after Peter's own father or Elizabeth's beloved grandfather, and not a conman that Peter had spent years chasing and more years trying to reform.

Little Neal hopped out of his chair and then climbed up on Peter's lap and asked for The Story. He loved this story; it was all about how he got his name, about the man that had helped his daddy catch the bad guys.

Peter wanted Little Neal to know that he'd had a great friend even if he wasn't quite ready to tell the whole story about that friend's past. He would share that story too, when his son was old enough to understand. As much as it hurt to talk about Neal Caffrey, Peter never wanted to forget him.

Parent please?

No problem :)

Elizabeth always thought she would be the fun parent. It wasn't that Peter wasn't fun, but he had a certain... fear of children that led her to believe that he would be the strict disciplinarian, if only because he wasn't sure of any other roles. His father had been strict, and though they'd shared an interest and love of baseball, Peter and his dad didn't seem to have much else to talk about. To make matters worse, Peter's dad had worked a lot when he was young, and they were never very close after that.

Peter's mother had done her best to pick up the slack, but she'd also had to work, which left Peter alone much of the time. Where Elizabeth had her sister for companionship, Peter had been an only child.

The last month of her pregnancy, Elizabeth had fretted over this and actually made a list of things she thought Peter and the baby could do together to bond as their son grew up. She didn't expect Peter to be smitten right away. He often got up in the night to change diapers or bring the baby to her while she was nursing, and he found his own ways to bond with little Neal, which included watching Yankees games together but also included baby massages and belly time.

The years moved quickly, and Elizabeth often found herself in the role of disciplining Neal and sometimes also Peter when he instigated some sort of crazy playtime game that left them with a broken bedroom window or grass stains all over Neal's new jeans. More than once, she'd had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at them both while she was giving them a stern talking-to.

Elizabeth bonded with their son in her own way and made sure to balance her punishments with rewards for good behavior and manners. It was clear from an early age that Peter was going to make sure that Neal had the best life possible with plenty of opportunities for mischief and fun. Elizabeth wouldn't have it any other way.