Wanted to write something for the holidays and this is all I could come up with.
Title- Christmas Revelations
Summary- Three days after Christmas Lian tells her Uncle Dick about a discovery she has made.
Characters- Dick Grayson and Lian Harper.
DC owns them
Rated G
It was just three days after Christmas when Dick found himself standing in at the last minute as Lian's baby sitter.
He had to admit to feeling a little nervous about the whole idea at first, of course he loved the little girl as if she was his real niece, but he'd never been called on to look after her overnight before. A few hours here and there had been the most he'd ever been asked to do. But surprisingly, his worries had eased almost immediately, and after a full day of childish fun and adventure, he admitted he was thoroughly enjoying their time together.
He finished reading her bedtime story, and set about tucking her in. Roy was just lucky that he had been able to rope Tim into doing his patrol for him..or maybe it wasn't Roy that was lucky, maybe he was the lucky one, he thought, as he smiled down at the big brown eyes that looked up at him.
"Will daddy be home tomorrow, Uncle Dick?" Lian asked, it wasn't that she didn't want to stay with her Uncle, but she always worried when her daddy went away to work, and she couldn't help but wonder just how many owie's he would come home with this time.
"I think so Lian. At least that's the plan." he said, knowing he didn't have to explain to the little girl that sometimes, in their line of work, that plan might change.
Lian frowned. "My daddy nearly missed Christmas this year, Uncle Dick. He didn't come back from work till way after lunch."
Dick sighed, and sat down on the edge of the bed, feeling bad for the little girl. Being the daughter of a hero was hard on any child. "That must have made you feel very sad." he said sympathetically
"It did, a little bit...but not really." Lian stated, somewhat cryptically.
Dick struggled for a moment to make sense of the child's statement. Lian loved her father, she was always excited to see him come home from missions..It seemed an odd for her to say that she wasn't really sad that Roy was late for Christmas. "What do you mean, Sweetheart?"
Lian's eyes widened in excitment as she began to talk."When I was staying with Uncle Ollie while daddy was away, I was asleep, but then a waked up." she screwed up her face a little as she concentrated on the memory of what had happened late on Christmas eve..She had kept her discovery to herself. It was a hard secret to keep, but she hadn't wanted her dad to find out.
In a way she was glad he was late to Christmas, that way he hadn't discovered what Lian had found out. "It was really late, and I could hear talking, so I sneaked out of my room to see if Santa had come." She sat up, looking at Dick with a mixture of awe and excitement. "I saw Uncle Ollie putting the presents under the tree. Uncle Connor and Aunt Mia were helping him." her big brown eyes, sparkling with the revelation of her discovery, locked with Dick's brilliant blue ones. "Santa isn't a real person Uncle Dick..'cause Uncle Ollie is really Santa!" she declared, relieved to share the weight of that secret with someone else. She was pretty sure Uncle Dick would keep Santa's real identity a secret, Uncle Dick was good at keeping those sorts of secrets.
Dick blinked not sure what to say to this particular revelation. He certainly didn't want to shatter any childhood illusions, but he also didn't want to lie to the child."Um..Did you talk to your dad about this?" he finally managed to ask.
Lian looked at him with a shocked expression." I can't tell daddy that, Uncle Dick..He'd be really sad, he thinks Santa is real." It amazed her that her Uncle Dick had even suggested that, surely he knew how excited her daddy always got when Christmas was coming.
Dick tried not to smile at the little girls protective streak towards her father. "Well what do you think about this little discovery that you've made?" he asked, hoping the little girl wasn't going to be too upset.
Lian spent a moment thinking about the whole thing. "Its okay." she stated in a matter of fact voice, nodding her head in approval.
"It's okay?"
"Yeah, it's okay. And now I know why daddy always gets presents, even when he hasn't been very good. It's 'cause Uncle Ollie would let him break the rules, 'cause he's family." Lian stated, her little mind working over the pros and cons of having Santa in the family."But you need to keep this a secret Uncle Dick..I don't want my daddy to find out and be sad that Santa isn't real." Lian looked very serious, Her dad was always telling her to be good because Santa would be coming, she knew he really believed in Santa.
"Okay, sweetheart, it'll be our secret, I promise" Dick kissed her forehead, and tucked her in, smiling as she snuggled down. He stood up, then reached down to tuck a stray lock of glossy black hair behind her ear. "Sleep well Princess."
"Uncle Dick?"
"Yeah?"
"If Uncle Ollie is Santa..then Uncle Connor, and Aunt Mia must be Santa's elves." Lian declared with a nod, that made perfect sense to her.
Dick dropped his head to look at the floor, struggling to hide the smirk that appeared on his face."Hmm, maybe you're right. They just might be...Goodnight Princess."
"Goodnight Uncle Dick..Oh, and Uncle Dick?..."
Dick paused as he reached for the light switch, and turned back to the puzzled little face that looked back at him. "Yes?"
A seriously thoughtful look settled on the little girls face, she frowned. "How do you think Uncle Ollie found the time to take all those presents around the world to all the good kids, and still got back in time to cook breakfast?"
Dick tried hard not to, but he couldn't help it..he chuckled. "That's definitely a question you're going to need to ask your Uncle Ollie." There were some things he just couldn't answer.
Lian nodded, deciding she would do just that when she next saw her Uncle Ollie, and she might just ask him for that pony she wanted as well, after all, there should be some real advantages to having Santa in the family.
end