I don't own anything, but the twins, triplets, and Liza.


February 3rd:

Tim:

Tim had gotten up early that morning and got dressed in a business suit, much like the one he wore when he went to a board meeting. He then left his apartment and headed to court, since it was the day he had to fight for custody over Riley. Once at court he ignored the crowd and took a seat where he needed to be and he looked over at the other side of the room where a social worker was with Riley.

The court room wasn't very full either, just his lawyer, the social worker who was working against him, Riley, the judge, a police officer, the rest of the staff, and himself. "Mr. Drake, Mrs. Evans, here thinks you are unfit to be the legal guardian of Riley Lauren, due to you being only nineteen, what do you say to this," the judge said.

"I'll be twenty in only a few months and I argue I am a fit to be Riley's guardian. I've been working as a board member for my Adoptive father for two years now, I could of graduated at the age of fifteen if I had chosen too, I have a apartment in the better part of Gotham, and I am financially secure," Tim said calmly.

"But your honor, just because he is financially secure doesn't mean he can care for a child," Mrs. Evans said and Tim sighed not sure why the social worker had it out for him.

The Judge then looked at Tim waiting for his response and Tim said,"My brother got custody of twins he didn't know were his until they were six months. I have helped him and his nanny raise both of the twins for almost two years and six months. I also have two younger siblings and four more nieces and nephews that I watch from time to time. I know how to care for a child, your honor, in fact I already had another social worker approve my home and set up a room for Riley if I do get custody of her."

The Judge then looked at Evans and said,"Tim Drake has proven he knows what he's doing, Mrs. Evans, but before I decide I want to hear what Mrs. Lauren has to say."

Riley then looked up from spinning the spinny chair she was in and stopped spinning it and looked at the judge and said,"I don't want to be in a house with a bunch of kids!"

"Do you see Mr. Drake as someone you would like to live with?" the Judge asked and Riley nodded.

"Then it's settled, from this day forward Riley Lauren will be in your care, Mr. Drake, so do be a fit guardian," the Judge said the court session ended and Tim signed all the papers he needed to side to complete the adoption and went to the lobby where the social worker was waiting with Riley.

Tim then walked towards them and knelt down in front of Riley and smiled and asked,"Do you need anything from the foster home before I take you home?"

Riley shook her head no and Tim offered his hand and she took it and he stood up and looked at Evans said,"Thank you for being concerned enough for her future to question me, Mrs. Evans, I appreciate that you actually care for the kids you help."

Evans looked pleased with his statement and said,"I do it because no one else cares too," and walked away. Tim then sighed and walked out of the building and towards his car while holding Riley's hand.

Once to his car Riley yanked her hand away from his and Tim looked down at her seeing her put her hands on her hips and glare up at him. "Let's get this straight, Mister, I don't trust you and I don't like you," Riley said still glaring at him and Tim obviously didn't give her the look she was expecting so she looked even angrier. Tim looked at her amused more then anything, she looked like Stephanie with her hands on hips, but it was also amusing because despite her having good speech for her age, she still had the baby sounding tone of a five year old so it sounded funny hearing her mad.

"I don't care if you trust me and like me, Riley, that's not your job, but it is my job now to take care of you," Tim said and unlocked the car and he picked her up much to her dislike and put her in her car seat and buckled her up and shut the door. He then got in the car and drove to his apartment and once there he helped Riley out of the car and walked with her to his apartment.

Once in his apartment he loosened his neck tie and kicked off his shoes and said,"Well this is home sweet home, Riley," and Tim looked down at the fiery five year old.

"Don't talk to me," Riley said stubbornly and crossed her arms and Tim sighed, because she wasn't going to make the situation easy on him.

Tim then picked her up and said,"I can't talk to you then I'll just have to show you around and write everything down for you to read."

"Put me down!" Riley yelled in protest and Tim just shook his head.

Tim then carried her around the house showing her everything, well, at least trying to, since she was hitting at him which he ignored. He was seriously going to go through with not talking to her and use her own words against her. After about fifteen minutes of her hitting at him he took her to her room and put her down on her bed and stood up and crossed his arms and stared down at her with a disapproving look.

"Get out!" Riley yelled her whole face red with anger and threw her pillow at him and he simply stepped out of the way and left the room and shut the door behind him.

Tim then went to the living room and sighed in frustration, he didn't have this much trouble with the twins or Mar'i, though Dick's triplets were a different story. He was about to close his eyes and take a nap when he got a phone call so he answered his phone,"Hello?"

"How did court go, Timbo?" Jason asked on the other side of the line.

"Short and quick, though the kid has been a pain," Tim said with a sigh.

"That bad, huh, so does she remind you of Stephanie?" Jason asked.

"She looks like her, but she doesn't act like her at all! In fact she reminds me of Damian more then anything else," Tim said with a frustrated sigh.

"Wow, that must be hard, so when are you planning on telling the rest of the family?" Jason asked.

"In a month, I figured I would give her more then enough time to adjust before springing the rest of the family on her and vice versa," Tim said.

"Good luck with that," Jason said sarcastically and Tim knew what he meant. They had tried to hide the twins from the family, but they had been caught in the doctor office by Barbara, Dick, and Mar'i.

"I got a plan," Tim said calmly.

"Alright, hey, I have to let you go the twins are trying to pull the daisies out of the garden...," Jason said and hung up and Tim wished he had a recorder so he could of recorded that sentence come out of Jason Todd's mouth. He then snickered at the thought of Bruce's reaction to hearing that come out of his second oldest son's mouth. He then sat back and closed his eyes and let himself fall asleep.


Tim woke up a few hours later to the sound of movement and then the fridge opening. He then wiped the sleep from his eyes and got up and sneaked into the kitchen to find Riley trying to get everything she needed to make a sandwich, but was failing due to her height. She huffed in defeat and slammed the fridge door shut and turned and jumped in surprise seeing Tim there and looked up at him with a 'Deer in the headlights' gaze for a moment before remembering she was suppose to be mad at him.

"I just wanted something to eat," she grumbled and crossed her arms and looked away from his glaring off into space. He was a bit caught off guard at the way she worded her sentence, since it sounded as if she thought she was going to get in trouble for going through the fridge.

Tim then walked to the fridge and opened it and could feel Riley behind him watching him as he got everything he had in the fridge that could be put in a sandwich and put them on the counter. He then shut the fridge and got the bread from the cupboard and put it on the counter along with a few butter knives, two plates, and the peanut butter from the pantry.

"What do you want on your sandwich, Riley?" Tim asked looking over his shoulder at the blonde, who looked shocked.

"I thought you weren't talking to me?" Riley asked quietly avoiding his gaze and Tim frowned and turned around a faced her while leaning against the cabinet.

"Riley, I only stopped talking to you because you demanded I do so and maybe I shouldn't have listened, but I didn't stop talking because I didn't want to talk to you," Tim said in a calm tone.

Riley then looked at him with a uncertain gaze and asked,"Can I have a ham and cheese sandwich?" and Tim smiled.

"Sure thing, do you want it hot or cold?" Tim asked.

"Hot, you can't eat a ham and cheese sandwich with the cheese not melted," Riley said in a matter of fact tone.

"I can agree with that," Tim said with a small smile and fixed her sandwich and then put it in the microwave for twenty seconds and put everything back in the fridge and only left the peanut butter out and then microwave went off so he got the plate out and after making sure it wasn't to hot he handed it to Riley.

"Go on ahead to the living room, I'll be there in a minute," Tim said calmly and to his surprise Riley listened and he then got a banana and started making a peanut butter and banana sandwich. After that he cleaned up his mess and walked to the living room and over to the coffee table where Riley was and sat down beside her. Riley has already eaten a third of her sandwich and eyed him when he sat down criss cross beside her. Tim then grabbed the remote and turned the tv on and put on a kid's show which happened to be Tom and Jerry, instead of watching his usual shows, since he didn't want to give Riley nightmares.

Riley watched the show seemly amused by it and finished her sandwich and looked at Tim who was half way through with his sandwich and asked,"What are you eating?"

Tim finished chewing his bite and swallowed before saying,"A peanut butter and banana sandwich," and Riley looked disgusted.

"That sounds gross," Riley said.

Tim just shook his head and said,"It's not, here try it," and ripped part of his sandwich off, not caring he had bit off of his sandwich, they were family now so it didn't matter. He then held it out and Riley looked reluctant before taking the part of the sandwich from him and looked at him as if looking for hints of it being a trick, but when she didn't find one and took a bit from the sandwich.

Tim watched her eat the sandwich and when she finished her bite he asked,"How was it?"

"You weren't lying," Riley said and took another bite and Tim chuckled and went back to eating sandwich. After they finished Tim cleaned up after them and then walked back to the living room and saw it was almost six o'clock, so he sat down beside Riley and watched a hour or so of tv before turning it off.

Riley looked at him bewildered as to why he turned the tv off and he said,"You should probably take a shower, bed time is soon," and she huffed in disappointment, but didn't argue. He then got up and showed her to the bathroom and showed her how to work the shower before leaving her be. Tim then went back to the living room and got on his laptop to check to see if had any messages or updates on any of his cases.

After about twenty minutes he heard the water turn off so he turned off his laptop and heard Riley yell,"Tim!" and he went to the bathroom and stood outside the door.

"Yeah?" Tim asked and the door cracked up and Riley looked up at him and he noticed she had a towel around her instead of clothes on.

"I don't have any clothes," Riley said looking up at him with her dark blue eyes and Tim mentally cursed himself forgetting to get Riley clothes before getting custody of her.

"Just put your underwear back on and I'll get you one my shirts and you can wear it tonight. We'll get you some more clothes and whatever else you need tomorrow," Tim said and Riley nodded and shut the door. He then went to his room and got one of his t-shirts and then walked to the bathroom and knocked on the door. Riley then opened the door some and Tim handed her the shirt and she took it and shut the door. Tim then waited for her to get done, and once she finished she came out in the shirt that looked like a night gown on her.

"Come on," Tim said and walked to the kitchen and walked to the fridge and pulled out a chocolate cake and cut to slices and put them on a plate. He then put the cake back in the fridge and handed her both the plates with forks on them.

"Go to the balcony," Tim instructed.

"But it's winter it'll be cold," Riley protested.

"Just go on," Tim said and Riley did as she was told. He then got to mugs out and made to cups of hot chocolate and went to join Riley and put a cup in front of her.

He then smiled at her and asked,"What do you see?"

Riley looked to the side and looked amazed and said,"I can see the whole city," and Tim's small smile grew a little.

"Yeah, that's why I picked this apartment, it has the best view of the city," Tim said and Riley smiled a little amazed by the view and how small the cars below looked. He then nudged the hot chocolate towards her and she took it a drank it while multitasking by eating the chocolate cake as well.

Once they finished eating and drinking there drinks Riley looked at him and asked,"Tim?"

"Yes, Riley?" Tim asked after he took the last drink of his hot chocolate.

"Can we go in now, I'm cold," Riley asked.

"Yeah, we can go in now," Tim said and stacked the plates and got the cups on them and followed Riley inside. He then put them in the sink and walked back and closed the balcony door. Tim then noticed Riley was standing off to the side unsure what to do.

"How about a movie before bed?" Tim asked and Riley nodded and they sat on the couch and Tim let Riley have the remote and pick a movie from on demand. In the end he ended up picking the movie Maleficent out and putting it on, and by time the movie was over Riley was asleep. Tim then turned the tv off and picked her up and carried her to her room and put her in bed and tucked her in.

He then went to his bedroom and changed into pajamas and crawled into bed and tried to go to sleep. Tim was almost a sleep when his door came open he snapped awake and he sat up and saw Riley standing there with her pillow.

"Riley?" Tim asked confused.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Riley said quietly and hid her face behind her pillow.

"Come here, Riley," Tim said and the five year old walked over to him and he faced her.

"What's wrong, Riley?" Tim asked with a frown as Riley refused to look at him.

"I had a nightmare...and I thought...maybe, I could sleep with you tonight," Riley said quietly, but also sounded scared and Tim frowned remembering for the first time since Riley came home that she was a only five. Tim then picked her up with ease and put her on the bed beside him and covered her up. The little blonde just let him coaxed her back to sleep and hugged her pillow while Tim lied on his side brushing her hair out of face.

Once Riley was asleep Tim said,"Happy, late birthday, Riley," and he went to sleep himself.

To be continued:

A rough start, but hey Riley came around a bit. Anyway another chapter done and I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you all for following, reviewing, and favoriting. Good night and kudos to you all.