Chapter One

Dexter Collins woke up startled as the alarm clock blared. Seven straight hours, he thought to himself. That's a new record. Nathan had had a tantrum the night before and it had taken Dexter, Amara, and Robert half an hour to get him to calm down. He quickly stopped the alarm and reset it again for six fifty-five AM the next morning.

Well, I better go get Nathan up before he has a fit for not following the schedule, he thought as he struggled to shrug into black skinny jeans in his half-asleep state. He put on a dark grey V-neck t-shirt, his dog tags, familiar bomber jacket, and charcoal converse, hopping to Nathan's room as he bent to put them on.

He quietly cracked open the door to Nathan's bedroom, revealing a pigsty of a room with a blue bed in the middle, which in turn housed a sleeping teenager buried under a dark blue duvet. Dexter crept to the side of the room and opened up the blinds, revealing the whole of the Upper East Side. He walked to the side of the bed and drew back the duvet, gently shaking Nathan to wake him up.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," he said to Nathan, who in turn cracked a brown eye open and quickly shut it due to the light. "Come on, Nathan, you need to follow the routine." At the mention of the word routine, Nathan finally opened his eyes and inched out of the covers.

"Come on, Nat, you've got school today." said Dexter. Nathan immediately put his hands to his ears and shook his head back and forth rapidly. Dexter grabbed his hands and lowered them, making Nathan look at him so he could understand what Dexter was saying. "Nathan, it's seven o seven, if you don't get dressed by seven fifteen, you'll be behind and we'll have to rush around to get ready. Now stand up, please."

He took Nathan's hands in his own and stood him up. "Take off your sweatpants." Nathan did as he was told and waited for Dexter to pick out his outfit. Dexter walked to the closet and opened it. He grabbed a pair of dark wash skinny jeans, along with a light green shirt and walked over to the bed Nathan was standing next to. But apparently, Nathan wanted to wear another shirt, because he slapped the green one out of Nico's hand and ran back to the closet.

Dexter went over and took Nathan by the shoulders, pulling him back from the hamper, where he had already found another shirt, a dirty dark blue one that smelled quite sour. He pried it out of Nathan's vise-like grip and put it back in the hamper. Nathan made a loud whine a protest and started to reach for the shirt again, but Dexter stopped him and said, "Nathan, that shirt needs to be washed. You've worn it twice this week already, and you need to wear a different shirt."

Nathan whined again and crumpled his face as if he was about to cry, and Dexter knew that he was about to have a tantrum. "Alright, Nathan, you don't need to cry, I'll wash it tomorrow along with your other clothes, so it can be clean and fresh, okay?" He smoothed down Nathan's hair, and it did the trick, calming him down so that Nico could dress him and get his backpack.

"Okay, Nat, it's time for breakfast, so get your routine binder and let's go." Nathan shuffled over to his bed where crouched down under the bed and produced a neon blue binder covered in Bubble Guppies stickers. He then went to his nightstand and shuffled through it, picking something up and hiding it in his hand. He walked back over to Dexter, who took his hand and led him through the narrow hallway to the kitchen, where Nathan's mom, Amara Jackson- Hunt, was standing at the stove making blue pancakes, and his step-dad, Robert Hunt, was sitting at the table reading the daily paper and drinking his daily "cup of joe," as he liked to call it.

"Good morning, you two!" Amara greeted the two as they walked into the kitchen, taking out two sets of plates, forks, and cups, and putting them on the table. "Morning, Nat, morning Dex," Robert playfully greeted them, ruffling Nathan's hair until he halfheartedly glared at him and eyed his hand violating his short undercut hair. Robert got the idea and removed his hand, grinning back at Dexter as he moved on to Nathan, enveloping him into a bear hug and rocking him back and forth until the kitchen was filled with the sounds of peals of laughter.

"Sit down and get ready to eat." Said Amara. "It's seven twenty eight. Nathan's show comes on in two minutes." The three sat down while Amara served them her famous blue pancakes. Before she sat down though, she turned on the T.V. just as the show 'Bubble Guppies' came on.

'Buh-, buh-, bubble, gup, gup, guppies!

Bubble, bubble, bubble, guppy, guppy, guppies…'

Nathan's eyes lit up and he started bouncing in his seat as the theme song played on. Dexter laughed at the sight of Nathan waving a fork with pancakes around. "Alright, Nat, eat so we can get to school on time. Where's your binder?" he asked.

Nathan produced the blue binder from under his chair. "Which day is it today?" Dexter asked. Nathan opened the binder to Wednesday, where it held his entire schedule for the day. He pointed to the little pictures as Dexter read out loud.

"Alright, so you woke up at seven, and you got dressed at seven-oh-five. We brushed your hair and washed your face at seven fifteen, so we were a little ahead of the schedule. Now that you've had breakfast and are watching your show, what comes next?"

Nathan pointed to a miniature picture of a toothbrush and toothpaste, running his hands through his hair as he did so. "Alright, let's hurry and do that before your bus comes." They both stood up and headed for the bathroom. Dexter grabbed a Superman lunchbox off of the counter and put it in Nathan's backpack by the door. Dexter walked in to find that Nathan had already wet up his green toothbrush and put Colgate on it. "Good job, Nathan," Dexter said, taking his hand. "Now smile really big for me." While Nathan grinned, Dexter lifted up their entwined hands and began to brush Nathan's teeth in a circular pattern.

"Now spit and rinse," Dexter said, handing Nathan a cup filled with water. When Dexter did this, Dexter grabbed a towel off the rack and dried Nathan's mouth. He then proceeded to brush his own teeth. Once everything was done, Dexter went back to his room and grabbed his book bag and wallet, closing the door on his way out.

"Let's go, Nathan," said Dexter, entwining their hands once again as they walked to the kitchen to get out the door. "Bye Amara! See you at five!" said Dexter as Nathan ran up to her to get a goodbye hug. Robert had already left for work by then. Dexter got Nathan's backpack and slid the straps over his shoulders.

"Behave, Nathan, and listen to Dexter! Love you two!" exclaimed Amara as they closed the door behind them. "Let's hurry and get to the bus stop. We can play the word game on the way there," said Dexter, as they walked to the elevator.

"What's this?" asked Dexter as he pointed to the door. "Door," said Nathan simply. "And this?" Dexter said as he pointed to the button. "Button." "Good words Nathan!" exclaimed Dexter as they walked in, Dexter pointing to various pictures on the tacked up bulletins while Nathan answered almost immediately. They kept playing the game all throughout the ride down, through the lobby, out the door and down the packed street, where a yellow school bus was just pulling up.

"Okay, Nat, are you going to be good in school today?" Dexter asked as they stopped in front of the bus. Nathan nodded. "Are you going to have tantrums?" Nathan shook his head. "Good, I want a sticker when you get off this bus today, got it?" Dexter asked, to which Nathan smiled and nodded his head.

Dexter smiled and leaned in for a hug, Nathan easily wrapping him up in a bear hug since he was a lot taller. Dexter pulled back and kissed him on the tip of his nose before walking him to the bus. But Nathan wouldn't go. "Nathan, what's wrong?" Dexter asked, before remembering. "Ah, your necklace, where is it?" Nathan pulled the dog tags which were identical to Dexter's out of his pocket and pushed it into his waiting hands, where Dexter fastened it around his neck.

They began walking to the bus again, Dexter giving Nathan one last kiss on the cheek before getting on while an aide stood aside smiling down at Dexter. "Have a good day, Dexter," she called. "You too, Ms. Chase." Dexter called back. The doors closed and the bus pulled away from the curb. Dexter waved to Nathan who was looking back at him, smiling. Once the bus turned into the street, Dexter and Nathan waved to each other until the bus drove around the corner, taking Nathan to The Gow School for the Physically and Mentally Challenged. Dexter turned away and began to walk to the bus stop that would drive him to his own school, McKinley High School, to begin the usual crap-filled day. I hope he does well today, Dexter thought as he absentmindedly tugged on his tags, boarding the bus to get to school.