Dick sat in the back seat of Mrs. Clarke's car as it drove up the path to Bruce Wayne's mansion. The first time he'd come to stay there, everything had been so rushed and he'd been so distraught that he hadn't had a good look at the place. Now, as the car traveled a safe twenty five miles per hour through the winding drive, the sprawling mansion came into view. Dick couldn't help but be in awe of the massive building. The windows looked old, the kind he'd really only ever seen on churches before. The outside was completely brick it definitely didn't look like any home he'd seen before. Even the front door was overwhelmingly large. He guessed it was about the height of two fully grown men as he waited outside with Mrs. Clarke.

On the other side of the door Carly, Bruce and Alfred were waiting impatiently for the arrival of the house's newest resident. Bruce had his arm draped casually around his wife's waist, drawing her in to better calm his own nerves. Cary was fidgeting nervously by his side. She checked her hair in the Entrance Hall's mirror, ensuring not a single strand was out of place. She wanted the family to look put together and for once to live up to the expectations of Emily Clarke. Alfred, for his part was watching them both remembering all too well how nerve racking his own interactions with social workers had been all those years ago.

"You look lovely, Mrs. Wayne." The Butler assured her. The doorbell dinged. Alfred turned with the same poise and grace that he'd always had and opened the door.

"Carly!" Dick launched himself across the entrance hall so that he could wrap his arms around Carly in a tight hug. Carly hugged the boy back, feeling his little body giving off a surprising amount of warmth. When their hug had concluded, Dick offered Bruce a handshake. They hadn't known each other very long, but being around the couple always made Dick feel safer.

"Would you like to see your room?" Bruce offered. "Carly and Alfred have been working incredibly hard to get things ready."

"You mean I get my own room?" Dick grinned. He'd never had his own room before. Even when he was still with the circus, he slept with his parents in a trailer with no separated living quarters.

"Well, you might have to share with Leo." Carly smirked remembering how well Dick and the cat got along. "He's been sleeping in there every night since you left."

"Leo is the cat." Bruce explained to Mrs. Clarke as the group paraded upstairs to inspect Dick's new room. Up on the fifth floor of the mansion, Carly led Dick down the hallway to his new bedroom with his hands over his eyes.

"Alright," Carly said as she flung open the bedroom door." You can open them now."

The room was entirely different than it had been a few weeks ago. The walls had been scrapped and freshly painted a bright shade of blue. The trim boards around the room were a red, Superman red, just like Dick had wanted. Carly and Alfred has even gone through the trouble of painting Superman's "S" logo above the bed. It had gotten the Kyrptonian seal of approve from Clark himself the previous night but Bruce couldn't mention that with present company around.

All the furniture in the room was brand new from the pair of dressers, to the bed, to the empty shelving unit. A brand new Justice League bedspread had been made up on the mattress too. Carly and Alfred had wanted Batman and the other members of the league to at least have a little representation in the room. Even if it was only for their own amusement. The room was sparsely decorated since Carly had wanted to give Dick a chance to express himself and his personality in the space. Aside from a cork board on one wall and a TV next to it, the wall's only other decorations were a few old posters from Carly and Bruce's childhood trips to Haley's Circus. Alfred has taken great care in preserving them over the years and the brightest and most colorful had been selected for framing and hung in the young boy's new room.

"Elenore!" Dick ran to the bed and scooped up his stuffed elephant that he'd missed so much. Carly had placed the elephant and her tiger companion lovingly atop the bed's pillows. "She says you did a great job taking care of her while I was gone." Dick told Carly with an approving smile. "She also said that Leo helped." Dick sat down on the bed next to his feline friend and began lightly stroking his head.

"That he did." Carly nodded. "Do you think you will be all right here for a little while? We're going to talk with Mrs. Clarke, but Leo can stay with you."

"Okay." Dick nodded. The adults gathered themselves and started leaving the room. "Carly?" She looked back at her son and waited. "Does the tiger have a name?" Dick asked holding him in one hand and Elenore in the other.

"Not yet. We can name him together if you want. Maybe Elenore has a few ideas?" Carly winked before following everyone else out of the room.

Things moved quickly after that. Once all of the "T"s were crossed and the "I"s were dotted, there was a skillful flourish of a pen from Bruce's hand, and a tick-tick scratch from Carly's and then Dick Greyson was legally in their custody. It would be a much lengthier process for them to officially adopt him, but at least for now they had the satisfaction of knowing Dick would be safe with them in the mansion.


A/N: It's been awhile since I've updated this one, but I was working on my Santa Clause fic, which always consumes my life at Christmas time every year. I'm hoping to finish it off at some point within the next couple months, but in the meantime I need to show some love to some of my other stories. Thank you so much for reading alone. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)