Joey walked calmly around the tower, making some show of poking his nose into things. Mama seemed somewhat happier today...at least outwardly. Joey could tell that inside she was as torn up as ever, but she was determined to move past it. Joey hoped his plan would help fix things further.
He'd left the file with the sent message open in the green boy's account. He had been nearby when the green boy looked at his files and saw it. Joey was surprised with how the green boy reacted. As soon as he saw the message, he turned to stare at Joey, suspicion heavy in his emotional energy. The green boy was smart. He knew Joey had set this up, and made it look like the green boy had. When he actually read the sent message, he grinned, came over, and patted Joey affectionately on the head, calling him a good boy.
Joey's plan would work as far as that went, at least. All that was left was to see how it worked out. Also, Joey would have to remember to act surprised when they got here, or Mama would suspect. Then he remembered: the human had said Mama could feel people's hearts the way he could. An empath, he'd said. Joey knew they were coming, and when they got here, Mama would know that Joey knew. It seemed the plan was doomed from the start.
Then the doorbell rang. "Joey get!" he cried, running for the door. Maybe if he saw them first, it would still work. But Joey didn't make it to the door first. When he got there, Mama was already there, hugging the arrivals: a blond girl, a red headed boy, and a blond baby boy. Joey felt genuine surprise at how strong Mama's emotions for these three were, how much she needed them.
Mama turned. "Joey, come here."
He nodded. "Yes Mama." He approached happily.
The girl looked up. "Raven, why'd he call you Mama? Is he your baby?"
Mama pursed her lips. "In a way," she said finally. "Sort of in the same way you guys are my kids."
The girl looked really happy. "Does that mean we can call you Mama?"
The emotion Joey felt from Mama would have made him cry if he had tear ducts. "Yes, you can," she said at last.
"MAMA!" the three kids shouted happily, hugging Mama.
Joey then found himself taking action he didn't fully understand. Leaping up, he clung to Mama, positioning himself between her and the kids. "My mama!" he said petulantly.
Mama laughed, a warm, rich laugh that made Joey's heart soar. "Joey, these are your brothers and sister; Melvin, Timmy, and Teether. Kids, this is your new little brother, Joey."
Joey and his new siblings exchanged glances. "What is he?" his red brother asked.
"He's an alien, like Starfire," Mama explained.
"He don't look like Starfire," the littlest one said.
"He's a different sort of alien," Mama said with a smile.
"COOL!" all three of Joey's siblings said. Then they began to roughhouse a bit. Joey was careful to use very little strength, as he didn't want to damage his new siblings.
Mama smiled as she watched, then frowned. "What brought you kids here, anyway?"
Joey's sister looked up. "Beast Boy. He sent us a message that you were feeling sad and lonely, so he asked us to come by to see if we could cheer you up."
Mama smiled. "Gar..." she mumbled under her breath, shaking her head. "Come on, let's go say hi to everyone."
"YAY!" Joey followed his siblings as they raced into the tower. He wondered when they would mention the invisible teddy bear. Joey would have brought it up himself, as it wasn't invisible to him, but he didn't want to make waves. He still didn't swim very well.
Upstairs, Joey watched Mama approach the green boy. He set himself near enough that he could listen unobtrusively.
"Beast Boy, thanks for bringing them here."
"Don't mention it, Raven. Maybe this can make up for what I said a little."
"*sigh* ...What gave you the idea to call them, anyway?"
"Joey. He makes you happy, they make you happy, and you mother all four of them. ...seemed like a good idea at the time."
The green boy was fast on his feet, Joey had to give him that. Hopefully he'd shut his mouth before he outraced himself. Luckily, the conversation ended not long after as they all went out on a picnic.
Joey had a great time at the picnic grounds. He was introduced to the invisible teddy bear - named Bobby - and enjoyed food and games. What he enjoyed most, though, was the sense of family that pervaded the gathering.
At long last, they returned to the Tower, and Joey and his siblings went with Mama to her room while another room was being set up for Melvin, Timmy, and Teether.
Joey decided it was time to carefully begin broaching the subject. "Mama...we family, yes?"
Mama smiled. "Yes, Joey. We're a family."
Before Joey could follow up with his next question, his sister beat him to it. "Mama, who's our Daddy?"
Mama winced. Joey felt her thought, *I should have seen this coming.* Sighing, she asked, "Well, who do you think of as Daddy?"
Joey knew he couldn't be the one to ask it. Maybe he could guide his siblings to suggest it. "Alien lady?" he suggested with a grin.
"Don't be silly!" Melvin said. "Starfire can't be Daddy."
"Yeah!" Timmy said. "She's missing some parts for that!" He snickered.
"Don't be crude, Timmy," Melvin said intently. She glanced at Joey, then grinned. "Maybe it's Robin?"
Mama shook her head. "While he's certainly enough of a disciplinarian, you also need a nurturing side to be a father, and Robin really hasn't found his yet."
Joey tilted his head. "Mecha man?" he suggested humorously.
Mama laughed. "He can't handle kids at all."
Then Teether spoke up. "Beast Boy."
Mama flinched, but Melvin pounced on it. "Yeah, it must be! He's always spending time with us when we're here with Mama, after all!"
Joey nodded. "Always nice, but can be firm, too."
Melvin nodded happily. "And he loves Mama. It's SOO obvious!" Joey tried to hide his shock at Melvin's perceiving this.
Mama rolled her eyes. "Well, since you all have your heart set on it, sure, Beast Boy can be your Daddy."
"YAY!" they all cheered.
"Now go see if your Daddy has got your room ready yet."
Squealing happily, they raced out of the room. Joey and Mama were alone in the room. "Joey," she asked him, "why'd you make it look like Beast Boy brought them here?"
Joey flinched. He hadn't fooled Mama at all. "Mama sad. Sis and brothers make Mama feel better."
"That's why you brought them, Joey, and I thank you for that. But why did you make it look like it was Beast Boy's idea?"
Joey sighed. Then he looked up at Mama. It was now or never. "Why you tell Daddy you never have kids?" he asked. Since she said they could think of the green boy as Daddy, that's how he was going to refer to him from now on.
Mama winced. "You...heard that?" Joey nodded. "It's...a long story."
Joey grabbed the tips of his ears and tugged on them, demonstrating their length.
Mama chuckled. "Alright. ...you remember the red man from your dreams?"
Joey shuddered and nodded.
"He's my father." Joey gasped in shock. "When I turned sixteen, he activated a prophecy that had been around since I was born. Using our ties of blood, he compelled me to become his portal to this world. ...thanks to Beast Boy and the others, I found the strength to drive him back, but...he still exists. While he can't influence me the way he could before, any children I have will also be of his blood, and he'll have the same power over them he had over me. How could I consign any child to that fate, when I can so easily prevent it? And also...what if next time he gets through, we aren't able to send him back?"
Joey crawled up into Mama's lap, nuzzling her comfortingly. "That why you no be with Daddy, like masked human with alien lady?"
Mama nodded. "Beast Boy's a genuinely good soul. Kind, loving, considerate...he'll make a great father someday. He deserves to have that chance...and I can't give it to him. So...I have to keep him at arm's length..." Tears fell from Mama's eyes. "...no matter how much I love him." She held Joey tight, crying once more in chocking sobs.
00000000000000000
It was much later that night. Everyone was asleep...except for Joey. He was hard at work, writing out what he had learned in a flow chart.
The evil red man - Trigon - was Mama's father. His blood link to her let him control her when she was younger, and would let him do so to any children she had who were also of his blood. Because of this, Mama had decided to have no children. As such, Mama couldn't be happy with Daddy. Trigon was the only obstacle to Mama's happiness. This obstacle had to be removed from the equation.
Mama had said that Good Little Boys did what they could to make their Mama's happy. Joey wanted to be a Good Boy. Joey wanted Mama to be happy. His path was clear.
Somehow, someway, someday...Joey would kill Trigon.