Plastic Cups

"No!" the toddler screamed, flailing and kicking as he was tossed into the small room, the door slamming behind him. He began to kick the door, still howling. "No! No! No! NOOOOO!!".

"Yes!" Raven growled on the other side. "Go potty."

Believe it or not, this was now a fairly normal scenario in the Titan Tower. Toilet-training the now two year old and some odd months Bo was tedious and a big pain, but a necessary one. The toddler often refused to use the toilet and often soiled himself. He would then be forced into the bathroom to change his clothes; which he also didn't like.

"You are a big boy, Bo," Raven informed him, opening the door a crack. "You can change your own pants."

"No!" Bo kicked the door some more. "You do it! You do it!"

Raven massaged her temples with her fingertips and wondered if this would ever end. The toddler threw his tantrum for about fifteen more minutes, and then there was silence. The Titan was just about to take another quick peek in when the two-year old called through the door, "I'm done, Waven!"

Now able to speak and understand words, Bo called the Titans he had once called 'Mommy' and 'Daddy' by their real names. Well, the names everyone else called them by anyway. Raven entered the bathroom to see the toddler wearing his new, clean shorts backwards. She sighed, but instead of pointing it out, she said, "Good job." She picked up his dirty shorts and discarded them into the bathroom hamper. "You wouldn't have this problem if you'd just use the potty like everyone else."

Bo only sniffed in reply, still pouting. They exited the bathroom together and Bo broke into run, smacking right into Robin's legs. Robin knelt down and said, "Watch it there, Champ." He picked him up. "Ready to go get pizza?"

Bo nodded excitedly. "I want lotsa cheese!"

Robin laughed and turned to Raven. She just nodded, her eyebrow arched slightly, and the other Titan looked at Bo. "Did you use the potty?"

"Yes," Bo lied, eyeing Raven pleadingly.

"No," Raven rolled her eyes. "You're such a fibber."

--

"Bumgorf, use your napkin," Starfire prodded, wiping the toddler's face with her own napkin.

The Titans sat at a round table on the room of their favorite pizza joint. The outside dining area was on the roof of the restaurant, and Bo often loved to watch the city below after he was done eating. Bo was now limber and lanky, deeply tanned with white blonde hair and blue green eyes. When Slade had given them the little addition, he had been but a baby, wobbling around with mismatch teeth.

"I have lemondade," he announced, gulping his drink through his straw. He always wanted everyone to know these kind of things. "It's pink."

"That's right," Cyborg nodded. "And your pizza is yellow."

"But not the sauce," Bo pointed out, peeling the cheese off of his slice and sticking it in his mouth. "It's red."

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Raven reminded him, reaching over to wipe his face.

"So what are we gonna get for dessert?" Beastboy asked. "Cheesecake? Ice cream sundaes? Shakes?" He turned to the toddler. "What are you in the mood for, Dude?"

"I want ice cream," Bo said, tearing his food into tiny pieces. "with the chocolate and white stuff on top."

"Whipped cream," Starfire informed him, proud of herself that she could teach somebody else about Earthly things.

--

"And that's when Batman jumped on Joker!" Robin whispered, sitting on the edge of Bo's bed. The toddler now had his own bedroom, though it used to be the evidence room of the tower.

"And then what happened?" Bo asked, his blue eyes wide. "Did Batman hit him?"

Robin almost laughed. "Oh, he did more than hit him. He was madder than Raven when someone drinks her tea."

Bo grinned knowingly, pulling the covers up to his chin. "So Batman was so mad?"

"Yup, and he beat up the Joker and put him in jail," Robin smoothed out the child's covers. "And everyone lived happily ever after." He leaned down and kissed his forehead. "The end."

"YAY!" Bo threw the covers off, stood up on the mattress, and started clapping his hands. He then picked up part of the comforter and clutched it around his neck. "I'm Batman!"

Robin laughed and laid him back down. "Go to sleep, psycho." He then planted another big kiss on the toddler before covering him up.

"Dobin?" The toddler's eyes glittered. "Are you Batman?"

Robin scrunched up his nose, still smiling as he shook his head. "Not quite."

--

Raven was still Bo's favorite. His closest parental figure. His mommy. Robin, however, had made a close runner up. He hadn't been as close and cuddly with Bo as the others when the first got him. In his defense, Bo had been just a baby, and Robin hadn't really known much about babies. Now that he was a child, and could talk, the Titan found him more enjoyable.

Things hadn't changed much since they'd gotten Bo, and at the same time, things had changed greatly. Raven and Beastboy were dating. They had been the Slade incident . The other Titans were still getting used to their public display of affection, which was rare. They obviously did all their cuddling in private. Robin and Starfire were dating too, but that was no surprise to anyone. Cyborg and Bumblebee were also dating, but Cy spent more time at her place than she did his.

Robin was now sixteen years old. He hadn't changed much physically. He'd always been petite, and though he was a bit taller than he was at fifteen, nobody really noticed. Perhaps it was because of Bo's drastically growth that everyone else's went overlooked. The Titans were surprised about how quickly Bo had developed. It seemed like one minute he was babbling nonsense and running around pigeon-toed, and the next he was babbling coherent nonsense running around on his lanky legs.

"Is he asleep?" Starfire asked as Robin stepped out of the toddler's bedroom. His own bedroom that Cyborg had built for him clearing out a large, unused storage closet.

"Yah," Robin shrugged. "He conked out pretty quick."

"I heard part of the story you were telling him," Starfire smiled. "You are a glorious story-teller, Robin."

Robin rolled his eyes modestly and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. "I've got stories up the wah-zoo, you know."

--

"Nuh-uh." Cyborg held the bathroom door shut as Bo threw a fit on the other side. "You're not coming out until you change your clothes, little brother."

Bo screamed on the other side. "Wobin! Wobin!"

"Robin ain't gonna help you," Cyborg said lazily, glancing longingly at his paused video game screen. "Now hurry up and put your pants on so we can both be done with this."

"Waven!" Bo tried a different approach. "Stahrfire! Beastboy!" He kicked the door. "Wobin!"

"Eh yo! Stop kicking my door!" Cyborg made a face.

Robin walked by, on his way to his mission room, and cocked an eyebrow. "He in there?" He asked.

Cyborg nodded. "Who else would it be?"

Robin slipped inside the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Bo looked up at him, a big wet spot on the front of his shorts. He held up his clean shorts and said, "You do it."

Robin knelt down. "Not happening. You're a big boy."

Bo began to cry. "You do it! You do it!"

"Would Batman ask somebody to change his clothes?" Robin smiled.

"No!" Bo sniffled, taking off his dirty shorts and underwear and passing them to Robin, who dropped them in the dirty laundry bin. He slipped on his clean underpants and shorts and sniffled.

"See? You're done?" Robin took a wad of toilet paper from the nearby roll and wiped the toddler's face. "That wasn't so hard." He picked him up and carried him out of the bathroom. Cyborg took him from the other Titan and held up his hand for a high five. Bo high fived him.

Robin went to his mission planning room while Cyborg and Bo played video games. He dug around on his messy desk until he found a thick, leather journal. The one they had taken from Slade's lair. He sat down in his chair and flipped it open to where a grainy picture of pink-faced infant stared back at him. He sighed and turned a few pages. A baby, fair haired and toothless looked at him. He turned to the last page and a haunting image of baby Bo stared back, around the age they had gotten him from Slade. He set the journal back down and picked up a drawing. A poorly drawn scribble of black and yellow. Batman.

"By the time he's ten, he'll be fit to be my apprentice." Robin had heard those words so long ago, but they still remained fresh in his memory.

The Titans had heard nothing out of Slade for months, nearly a year, but Robin knew better than to think he'd given up.

He only wished he hadn't.

To Be Continued…