aragarna | [Fanfic] The Great Book of Little Neal

Title: The Great Book of Little Neal
Author: Aragarna
Characters: Neal Burke, Elizabeth, Peter
Genre, rating: Your usual Burke family fluff, gen, general audience.
Word count: 669
Summary: Neal's bored, El comes to the rescue, for a trip down memory lane
Author's Note: This is the (fictional) origin story of The Great Book of Little Neal, an art project imagined with

kanarek13. Stay tuned!

The Great Book of Little Neal

Neal put the game on pause, and set the pad aside. For the tenth time in the last hour, he looked through the window. It was still pouring rain outside. He took the gamepad again, stared at the screen, and sighed. Changing his mind, he discarded the game, and jumping from the couch, he strolled to the kitchen, where his mother was cooking.

“Mom, I’m bored…”

Elizabeth looked up from her cooking book and tilted her head, smiling apologetically at Neal.

“I’m sorry the weather has been so bad the whole spring break, Sweetie. How about you help me cook dinner?”

Neal looked suspiciously at what was on the table and shrugged.

Elizabeth laughed. “Okay, okay. You don’t have to, if you don’t want to. Do you want me to put a DVD on, instead?”

Neal shrugged. He’d been watching movies all week. He knew them all by heart.

“I’m almost done," Elizabeth continued. "We can play a game together if you want. Mexican train, Spot it, Uno… How about you install it on the dining table here, so that I can keep an eye on the oven while we play.”

“’kay.”

Neal nodded and went to his room to pick the box of the Mexican Train. He went back downstairs and opened the box to set the game.

“You know what, hold on,” Elizabeth said. “I have a better idea.”

She wiped her hands with a towel, and walked to the bookshelf next to the TV set. She retrieved a large book, brought it to the table and opened it. Neal kneeled on a chair to look at it. It was a photo book.

“This is a book Dad and I started when you were born,” Elizabeth explained, turning the pages. “He called it The Great Book of Little Neal.”

Indeed, the book was full of pictures of Neal when he was a toddler, most of the time with his Dad – Mom is the one who always takes the pictures -, sometimes with Mom, and even a few with Uncle Neal and Uncle Mozzie.

“We haven’t updated it a while, but maybe, now that you’re old enough, you could help us continue the book?”

Neal was fascinated by the book. He reached out to turn the pages himself, back to the very first one, where he recognized his mom, with a big belly.

“Dad said we should start from the very beginning,” Elizabeth explained, chuckling. “He even insisted to add the very first picture of you – the sonogram that the doctor took when you were still in my belly.”

“Gross,” Neal said.

“And look,” she said, closing the book to show the front cover. “This is a portrait of you that Uncle Neal drew to illustrate the cover. So, what do you say? Think we should continue the book?”

Neal nodded vigorously.

Elizabeth rummaged through the boxes in the lower cupboards of the shelves and came back with a box full of pictures.

“There, have a look here. It’s all the pictures of us together. Pick your favorite, just a few, and we’ll put them in the book.”

Neal took the box and started looking through the pictures. He took one out, a large smile shining on his face. “Can we put the pictures of me and Dad at the lake?”

“Of course, Sweetie.”

“And me with Uncle Neal?”

The entrance door opened, and a rather wet Peter entered, shaking off the rain from his hair.

“Dad!” Neal peeped.

“Hey, Pumpkin!” Peter responded, quickly taking off his coat and shoes before walking to his wife and son.

He kissed them both tenderly.

“Your nose is cold,” Neal said.

“What are you two doing?”

“The Great Book of Little Neal!” The young boy cheered, brandishing a bunch of photos.

“Great idea. Want some help?” Peter asked, taking a chair.

Neal nodded with a smile and slid from his own chair to go sit on his dad’s lap, while Peter reached out for the treasure box.