Secret Surprises
Bruce shuffled around the manor confused. For the first time since he had taken Dick in, his son had blown him off. No matter how angry Dick was at Bruce, he had always shown up when Bruce invited him to a restaurant. Dick seemed to realize that that was how Bruce extended the olive branch, and the dinner always ended with them having a stronger bond than before.
Now, he wandered aimlessly trying to think whether or not he had angered his oldest son. The boy had been laughing and joking with him when he had invited him out to lunch. They had agreed to meet at Dick's favorite italian restaurant, and Bruce had waited for over four hours for Dick to show up before going home.
Passing the entryway for the fifth time Bruce was startled to see Dick struggling to balance twelve wrapped boxes. Walking to his son, he tries to take a few but Dick declined his help. "I got this Bruce. Don't worry."
Bruce furrowed his eyebrows but retracted his hands. "You didn't show up at the restaurant."
Dick's eyes widened momentarily before they became glassy and filled with tears. "I can't believe you didn't remember!" He sniffled before turning his back on Bruce and walking away. The stacked boxes were teetering constantly, and Dick let out a small yelp as one threatened to fall.
Bruce lowered his head slightly. "What could he have possibly forgotten? And why was it so important that he remember?
Bruce sighed. There was only one person that could be trusted for such valuable insight. Walking to the kitchen, Bruce went in search of Alfred.
The kitchen counter was filled with an array of baking goods. Bruce could see Alfred furiously whipping something in a bowl and on closer inspection it was icing? Alfred usually thought of healthier alternatives than the sugary confectionary treat, so it came to Bruce as a shock that the man was willingly making it. Not only that, but there was the largest cake that he had ever seen sitting on top of Alfred's kitchen counter.
"Master Bruce. Are you going to gape all day or are you going to ask me a question?" Alfred's reply came out in a short tone that the butler rarely used on him.
"Uh Alfred? I wanted to know what the importance of today was. Dick seems upset with me, and he blew me off earlier." Bruce knew that he had mumbled the last part, but he had no doubt the butler would understand him.
"Master Bruce. I'm afraid you are on your own. I promised Master Dick that I would not reveal anything to you, should you come asking. Why don't you go to your room and think it over some?" The butler didn't turn around from where he was mixing his icing and Bruce felt his shoulder's slump.
Following Alfred's advice, Bruce walked up the stairs and towards his room before he had an idea. Knocking briefly, he entered Tim's room. To his surprise he found Tim gathering balloons and streamers in a box, before leaning over to grab a canister of compressed helium. Bruce found himself not caring what his middle child was up too, he just wanted to know what he had forgotten. "Tim…"
He was immediately cut off by the boy saying, "Dick said not to tell you. Want to help me with my experiment? I was hoping to see the effects of compressed helium on the durability of balloons. I was hoping to use the streamers as a…"
This time Tim was cut off by Bruce leaving the room. Tim shook his head ruefully. "Looks like Jason was right. He's on a mission to find out what upset Dick and won't let anything stop him. Standing up, he quickly double checked his supplies before rushing downstairs and into the ballroom.
Bruce knocked on Damian's door before entering. Damian was playing music at blaring volumes and every once in awhile adding a song to a flashdrive. Turning the music off momentarily he said, "I will not betray Grayson's trust. Not even for you father." He proceeded to turn the music back on, and Bruce once again left the room in frustration, not missing Damian's scoffed whisper of 'idiot.'
Desperate for answers, Bruce knocked on Jason's door. He knew that Jason would just as likely try and stir up trouble than tell Bruce the truth, but he needed answers, and Jason was his last hope. Walking in, he noticed right away that the lights were turned off and Jason appeared to be playing with some sort of lights program on his laptop. Jason scoffed and turned on his desk lamp. "Well look what the cat dragged in. What could you possibly want in my humble abode?"
Bruce really hated the smirk on Jason's face, but chose to remain silent. "Let me guess Old Man, you want to know what's got Dickhead upset." When Bruce nodded, Jason's smirl seemed to grow in size. Bruce would compare the boy to the animated Grinch movie that Dick had forced them all to watch together. "No can do Old Man. Dickhead wants you to figure it out yourself. Said that you're a detective and all that shit. Was pretty upset too, so better think fast." With that, Jason turned to face away from him, effectively ending their conversation. When Bruce made no move to leave, Jason shut of the light and called out "Tick tock Old Man" before working on his laptop again.
Falling on his bed, Bruce began to think. He combed through the last few weeks he had spent with Dick, and when that didn't reveal anything, he thought back further. They hadn't spent as much time together in the last month as they had previously and Bruce was suddenly concerned that it wasn't because of their busy schedules but rather because his son was angry at him for some reason.
Bruce knew that he was not father of the year. He was constantly busy, was in Alfred's words, emotionally incompetent, had a quick temper, and committed aggravated assault on a nightly basis. Dick had never seemed to mind and had even said that Bruce was 'the best father that he could ask for.' But now Bruce had his doubts. What if he had slowly building resentment over the years and now hated him? It wasn't like Bruce hadn't given him enough reason with the missed birthdays, holidays, and sports games.
Shaking his head, Bruce tried to snap out of it. It had to be a single event, otherwise someone would have told him, and Dick wouldn't have looked like he was going to cry. Had the boy tried to make things work with Barbara again? Bruce knew his son was a romantic, but Barbara was just as emotionally incompetent as he was since her accident.
What event could he have possibly missed? He was shaken out of his musings when Clark Kent walked into his bedroom. "Didn't they ever teach you how to knock Boy Scout?" He bit out scathingly.
Clark gave him a disappointed look before saying, "I did. Several times in fact. I figured that you might of fallen asleep."
Bruce sat up and rubbed a hand down his face. "No such luck I'm afraid."
Clark cocked his head to the side slightly before saying, "Why are you up here alone anyways? Everyone else is in the ballroom."
Bruce was immediately up and flying down the stairs. It didn't even register that Clark had said the ballroom which was only ever used when they hosted society events.
Rushing into the room, Bruce choked down a curse when confetti was launched into his face along with a loud chorus of 'Surprise!'
Looking around, Bruce was shocked to see every member of the Justice League that he grudgingly called a friend, Selina Kyle, Lucius Fox, his butler, and all four of his sons grinning at him. Picking a piece of confetti out of his hair, Bruce muttered, "Huh?"
Laughter rang out among the assorted guests before Lucius walked over and clapped him on the shoulder. "Bruce you a fine boy there. Dick emailed us months ago about throwing you a surprise birthday party. He said that the hardest part would be keeping you from finding out. Looks like he did a good job."
Chuckling slightly, Lucius walked away and Bruce watched in confusion as Dick bounded up to him and pulled him into a tight hug, followed by hugs from the rest of his sons. Still confused Bruce turned to Dick and said, "I thought...but you...you were crying!"
Dick pouted. "It was so hard keeping you from being suspicious before today, we knew that we had to get you out of the house! So I started to talk about Italy before rambling about the new restaurant I went to, which made you want to ask me to my favorite Italian place. Jason suggested standing you up. Said that you'd be gone a lot longer than if I went. I hated it! Then when you came home, I burst into tears on command, thanks to Alfred's training, and set you up on a wild goose chase. That was also Jason's idea."
Bruce tried to process what he just heard, but couldn't. "So you didn't stand me up?"
Dick shook his head forcefully before saying, "Well I did, but it was for the greater good! I didn't want to."
"And you guys did all of this?" Bruce asked gesturing vaguely around him.
Tim grinned. "I did the decorations, Damian did the music, and Jason did lighting. Alfred made all the food of course. We offered to get catering, but he wouldn't hear it, even with a speedster coming."
"But my birthday is still.." Bruce trailed off. He couldn't have possibly forgotten his birthday, could he?
"One month, three days, and four hours away." Jason parroted. "Dick said that this was the perfect time. You wouldn't be expecting anything quite yet and it's not outrageously early. Dickhead put a lot of thought into when we should throw it."
Bruce blinked and felt all the information sink in. Slinging an arm around Dick's shoulder and one around Jason's he smiled. "Well, let's enjoy this party you through me. I want cake."
Bruce couldn't help but inwardly grin as Jason shook off his arm and Dick dragged him around showcasing each of his brother's contribution to the party as if he were a proud parent. He couldn't even feel mad that his sons had used emotional manipulation to keep the party a secret. They had obviously worked hard to make this party special to him, and for that, he couldn't help but feel grateful.
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A/N: Well...I don't know what inspired this one shot, but I wrote it around 1 a.m. so maybe sleep depravity?
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Please review and let me know what you think! Also, if you have any prompt ideas, let me know!
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What do you want to see next?
Making society bashes fun?
OR
Being sent back into the past?