One day Wren got a letter in the mail, which was certainly unexpected. It was covered in stickers and the handwriting on the back was Sarah's.

I brought the letter to Wren, who was in his bouncer, watching my little pony while Ricky supervised in the background.

"Princess you got a letter"

This got both Wren and Ricky's attention. Ricky picked up Wren and patted the spot next to him, wanting me to join him.

I opened to envelope and pulled out the note with a puff of glitter, which made Wren's and Ricky's eyes light up.

"Dear Wren, you are hereby invited to Alex Nightshade's 33rd birthday party"

Ricky squealed and Wren just looked confused.

"I cant believe i forgot alex's birthday is coming up! Is there a theme??"

I read to the end of the paper

"says the theme is... superheroes, fancy dress"

"Ooo that's good. We're dressing up, no backing out like last time"

"Fine, Wren you excited?"

Wren looked up at me and put his fingers in his mouth which ricky immediately took out

"It jus me an Alex?"

"No baby, some of alex's friends will be there and they're gonna be a bit older than you but I'm sure you'll make great friends"

Wren whimpered, Ricky cooed and hugged him

"Aw it'll be fun baby bear, but if you really don't wanna go we don't have to"

"No I wanna, wanna say happy birthday to Alex!"

"great honey, and if you want, you can stay in my lap the wholeeee time, be my little itty baby and I'll protect you"

I laughed as Wren whined when Ricky started smushing his face.

Ricky just giggled and ruffled up Wren's hair

"When's the party?"

"Says it's Saturday"

"That's a bit soon but fine, text Sarah to say were going. I'll get Wren dressed"

Wren whined

"why?"

"Cause baby bear, were going to the shops to pick a present for Alex"

As Ricky took Wren off to the nursery, I sent Sarah an RSVP text. When suddenly a cry came from the nursery. I rushed to the cry and found Ricky comforting a crying Wren.

"What's wrong?"

I went in to comfort too as Wren sniffled and cried.

"Why the tears princess?"

"He doesn't wanna go to the shops"

Wren squirmed

"too many people see!"

"Princess, look at me"

Wren looked at me with tear stained eyes

" We need you to come to the shops, we don't know what to get for Alex and we need your help"

Wren sniffled

"weally?"

"Really"

^

"Baby bear let me see your pretty face"

Wren's hands remained clamped around his face as Ricky tried to get him to look around. Eventually picking him up out of the shopping cart and bouncing him on his hip.

"Wren, no one is here, open your eyes"

Ricky gave me a look, thinking i was a bit harsh but Wren peeked through his fingers, once he realised there was indeed no one else in the isle he perked up a bit. Looking around in wonder at the toy isle.

"Anything you think Alex'll like baby bear?"

Wren's eyes locked on a mesh bag filled with small stuffies

"She like space! Dat one!"

I took it down and put in the cart

"Good choice bubba-"

"Now! it's time to get your costume baby"

Ricky practically running to the clothing section as I had to keep up behind with the cart.

Ricky scanned over the adorable looking selection before turning to Wren, who looked very nervous.

"What do you wanna be baby bear?"

Wren spoke very quietly

"I dunno. don really know ooper eroes"

"That's ok honey, anything you like the look of?"

Wren cautiously scanned as well, he looked overwhelmed and I was about to stop him before-

"dat one"

Wren pointed to a robin costume and Ricky grew visibly more excited.

"That's perfect baby bear! Great choice, you can be robin, papa can be batman and I'll be the joker!"

"That's not a good idea, your gonna make like 50 kids cry dressed as the joker, you go way to over the top with costumes and I know it's gonna freak kids out"

Ricky pouted

"I thought you liked my over the topness"

"I love it babe but this is a children's party. How about... Wren can still be robin, you be batman and I'll be.. I don't know-"

"Clark Kent! You can wear your reading glassses and my superman tshirt under your boring business stuff"

"Hey my suits aren't boring!-"

Wren giggled

"-but that's a great idea"

Ricky was perky again as he threw the costume in the cart

" We just gotta grab some more diapers cause were running low"

Wren went bright red and hid in Ricky's chest. Ricky chuckled muzzled the top of his head before placing him back in the cart.

"You all look great!'

We all stood in the doorway of Sarah's house, all dressed up. Ricky settled on my old batman hoodie, which was even too big for me let alone him so he tied it at the back, along with a pair of black skinny jeans and a mask he made himself.

Sarah was dressed up as captain marvel and Alex soon came barreling around the corner dressed as hit girl.

Close to when Alex was first rescued by Sarah and James, Ricky and I were babysitting. Alex hadn't fully accepted her role yet and I felt sorry for the kid and let her watch kick ass. much to Sarah's dismay.

"Wrenny! I have castle, let's go play"

Wren looked up at Ricky for a approval before he was set down and Alex dragged his waddling butt to the back garden.

Before the party, Ricky we gave Wren some more rules for the party. As we were arriving early and staying late, Wren could play with Alex, but during the actual party with all the kids running around, Wren would be stuck to his daddies hips. Wren whined and protested as he wanted to play, but we assured him he could play all he wanted before and after because Alex's friends are bit too old for him.

"Oh! There's someone I want you two to meet, come on!"

Sarah lead us into the the kitchen where there stood a man, with an iron man mask on.

"This is my boyfriend Josh!"

"The one you met a few days ago?"

I was always naturally protective but this man gave me a weird feeling.

The man stepped in

"Actually we've been dating a few months, it's really nice to meet you two"

I was certainly shocked but Ricky's jaw dropped.

" What?!"

"What's the problem bro"

"You told me you were going on your 'first date in years'"

"yeah my first date that wasn't to chucky cheese"

Sarah snorted

Ricky still looked hurt

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Its complicated Ricky, you and David have been so busy, I didn't want to bother yous plus things are going pretty good and you two get very protective"

Ricky huffed and I chimed in

"It wouldn't have been a bother, it'd be nice to get know.. Josh, was it?"

Josh seemed lost in thought watching the kids outside

"Uh yeah, sorry but should he be up there?"

We looked out to find Alex leading Wren up the bouncy castle. It was a large slide and Wren was halfway up the ladder.

We dashed out. I shouted Wren's name which startled him and he nearly lost his balance making Wren yelp.

It wasn't up too high but he'd hurt himself if he fell. Ricky plucked Wren from the ladder. Wren whined and Ricky shushed him

"Wren what do you think you were doing? You should've called for me or papa, that's too high up for you"

.Wren's lip trembled

"A-alex say I b-be fine"

Josh spoke

"Alex"

Alex flinched but looked towards Josh, who looked about ready to lecture when Sarah jumped in.

"Alex, sweetie, Wren is a bit young to go on a bouncy slide by himself, next time remember to get an adult, ok?"

"ok"

I Wren still seemed upset at not being able to take the slide.

"Bubba, you wanna go down the slide on my lap?"

Wren shook his head, but I knew he wanted to go down the slide so I whispered in his ear

"Princess, the slides a bit too scary for me and I need your help"

Wren looked at me in surprise

"weally?"

"really, now come on"

I took Wren from Ricky's grasp, slipped off my shoes and climbed the ladder, with one hand; supporting Wren with the other as he clung to my neck. Ricky and Sarah gave little cheers and Wren seemed to realise the height, putting his face in my neck.

At the top, Alex was her normal giddy self

"Yay! thought you weren't gonna be aloud to slide with me, very sad but your are!"

I let my legs dangle over the edge and Wren sat in my lap, squeezing my hand

"If you want, we can just climb back down"

"nuh-no, wanna slide"

Wren kicked his legs and I laughed

Wren and Alex screamed as we slide down but ended in a giggling mess at the bottom of the slide.

[□][□][□][□][□][□][□][□][□]

The party was in full swing and Wren had retreated back into his shell. As soon as Alex's friends started to show, he was perfectly happy sitting in my lap while I interrogated Josh with David.

He seemed like a decent guy. From what he said, him and Sarah met in the park when she was with Alex and it just went from there.

I thought he was great, David remained sceptical but then again it was David.

Josh and David were called away by Sarah to help around and was left with squirmy Robin, suckling a pacifier in my lap.

"Who's that?!"

A voice suddenly shouted in front of me, startling Wren. One of Alex's friends, Tara, had spotted Wren and was trying to seen his face but Wren's head lay permanently smashed into my chest.

"This is Wren, he's Alex's little cousin and I'm his Daddy, it's very nice to meet you"

"Can Wren come play?"

Wren curled deeper into me as if trying to hide

"Wren's a little too small to play with all you big girls, he might get hurt"

"Why?"

"Tara!"

Tara's father, cool dude named Steve, came over

"I've been looking for you, stop bothering Ricky and, oh my god is this Wren? Sarah's mentioned him before, hes gorgeous"

"Wren come on, say hi to Steve"

I gave wren a little nudge and peeked out, giving a small wave before hiding again.

Steve chuckled

"He's adorable, how have you and David been doing?"

"Ah were doing great-"

I kept pleasant small talk with Steve until Wren suddenly stiffened in my lap and started squirming.

"Baby bear what's wrong?"

Wren just whined, I had a feeling i knew what was wrong.

I stuck a finger down Wren's diaper, making him squeak, and sure enough he was wet.

"I'll be right back Steve, duty calls"

"Haha, enjoy man"

Steve laughed as he lead Tara back outside.

"Come on baby bear, let's get you changed"

Wren whined, hiding once again

I found Sarah, who was stopping one kid from scaling the fence

"Um Sarah, where can I change Wren?"

Sarah pulled the boy if the fence and sent him running in the other direction

"What?"

"Wren's wet and I need somewhere to change him"

Wren let out a high pitch squeal that caught both of our attention

"Honey bear, you alright, what's wrong"

He looked up at me with glossy eyes, he was crying

"m-barassed"

I gave him a little hug squeeze and stroked his hair

"Baby bear I'm sorry if I embarrassed you, there's nothing to be embarrassed abou-"

I realised Wren was getting more upset

I whispered in his ear

"You wanna talk in private"

he nodded, and Sarah jumped in

"There's a changing mat in the upstairs bathroom, take your time but know that the C A K E is coming soon"

I nodded and briskly carried the slightly shaking Wren to the bathroom

I took the mat out from under the sink and layed in down, sitting Wren on it

"First, I'm gonna change you baby bear cause I know you're not very comfortable"

I layed him down and slipped off the bottom half of his two piece robin costume.

I changed him quickly to avoid fuss,, before pulling up his pants and taking out his pacifier. I pulled him into my lap

"Do you wanna tell me why you're so upset"

Wren let out a small whine and tried to burrow under my hoodie, but it was too small so I let out the clip in the back and he crawled inside, snuggling up to me.

"Baby, come on, talk to me"

"I- I-"

Wren started stuttering and I rubbed his back through the hoodie

"I no like when you say i u-use diapee with peepul dere an was too many peepul. no like"

"Oh I'm sorry baby, I didn't know it hurt you"

Suddenly the door opened and in creeped David

"Sarah said I could find yous here, what's wrong?"

"Just a few too many people and Wren was embarrassed because I kept talking about changing him in front of others, and that wasn't ok, was it Wren?"

Wren spoke out from under the hoodie

"Nuh"

David smirked

"Where'd that voice come from? I couldn't have been Wren because I don't see him anywhere"

Little giggles came from my hoodie as i looked down and saw Wren put a finger to lips. adorable

"Well I guess it's more cake for me and you Ricky"

Wren suddenly fell out of the hoodie and leaned on to the crouching David

"Cake?"

David laughed

"yes cake, they're about to start singing, come on"

David picked up Wren and I put the mat away before we all headed down to the kitchen where Alex was sitting in the middle while her friends were all around her.

She waved and motioned for us Wren to sit with her. David sat beside her with Wren on his lap.I stood behind them, wrapping my arm lovingly around David.

Sarah walked in with the cake. Her, Josh and Alex made it so I was told. Wasn't too shabby a real pretty chocolate cake covered in sprinkles and sugar superhero logos.

We all sang, off key of course. David made me promise before the party not to riff happy birthday like I did last year at his. It hurt, but I kept to the basic version of the song

Alex blew out her candles and every one cheered. Cake was cut, David took Wren's slice and Wren whined, no one was paying us much attention, far more focused on the cake.

"Wan cake please"

"No bubba I'll feeding you, you'll get filthy if I let you do it" .

David booped his nose and Wren whined and pouted.

After being threatened with no cake at all Wren happily ate the Cake, I stole a few bites, not wanting my own slice. I've been watching what I eat for years and I'm not gonna fall apart for a piece of cake.

It did taste fucking delicious though

□○□○■●■●□○□○■●■●□○□○■●■●

Alex waved really fast as her last friend left. Yay! This meant I could finally play with Alex.

She bounded over to me as I sat on daddy's lap.

"can Wren play now?"

I looked to Daddy and he said yes! He put me down and Alex hugged me, bone crushing type of hug. I squeaked and Sarah warned her to be more careful.

Alex gave her mommy big puppy eyes

"presents?"

"fine honey"

Alex dragged me to the coffee table covered in gifts. She reached for my one first, she had tried to open it when I first gave it to her but Josh said no so it was ripped.

I know it sounds mean and Daddy and Papa wouldn't like me saying this but I don't like Josh. I don't know why. I just feel uncomfortable around him and I don't like it. He keeps staring at me

Alex squealed as she opened the messing wrapped gift, revealing the stuffies.

"I LOVE THEM"

Josh, who was watching us, scolded her

"Alex, inside voices"

Alex said sorry really quietly and then went back to her normal volume, completely forgetting the other gifts,

She had a tendency to focus on stuff and forget everything else

"Do you wanna go to my room and play?"

I nodded and she screamed

"Mommy! Can me and Wren play in my room?"

Auntie Sarah called back

"Sure sweetie"

Alex dragged my waddling but up her stairs. but I couldnt really do stairs so I crawled.

Her room was stunning, purple carpet, with dark walls covered in painted planet's and stars covering the ceiling. She showed me how they glowed last time I was here.

She brought me over to her bed that had little side bars so she wouldn't fall off, it was like a more grown up version of a crib. I asked daddy if I could get one and he said I was too little.

We climbed on top, she emptied the small plushies, discarding the bag and we started playing space invaders.

"Wren, can I tell you something?"

I nodded, not feeling very verbal

"It's a really big secret, I can't even tell mommy but I wanna tell you so you gotta pinky promise"

I was intigued and nodded again

"Ok, you can't tell anyone"

I nodded and we intertwined our pinkies

"Joshy plays games with me"

I cocked my head in confusion

"Big girl games, they make me feel funny"

I don't like where this is going

"Sometimes they hurt but joshy says it makes me a big girl and I can't tell mommy or I'm just a baby and I'm not a baby"

Alex sounded like she was reassuring herself.

Oh no, I knew I got a bad feeling about Josh. I needed to be verbal cause I needed to make sure

"A-are you st-sticky afterwards"

Alex nodded her head excitedly.

" That bad, that no good Alex"

Alex's face got angry, maybe she thought I'd understand

I understand more than she thinks

"Wren you're just a baby, what would you know and you're just jealous he doesn't play games with you"

"Alex i-"

Alex silenced me with my pacifier and tears came to my eyes

"If you tell anyone, were not friends anymore"

She doesn't know, and I can't tell. My head hurts, I was getting a headache.

I slurred around the pacifier

"M-my head hurrs"

"Oh um, ill get your daddies"

Alex hopped off the bed and ran downstairs

She returned a few minutes later with daddy and Papa.

"oh princess, do you have a headache"

I nodded making teary eyed grabby hands. Daddy picked me and I cried.

"We should probably get going baby bear huh, are you tired"

truth be told I was exhausted. I nodded against daddy's shoulder.

Looking over his shoulder as we walked out I watched Alex hold up her pinkie with pleading eyes, I can't lose my friend.

I held up mine

Authors Note

Heyeveryone