Always prepared for the situation at hand, Alfred had lunch already prepared and ready to serve as soon as Bruce and Carly had finalized their paperwork. Mrs. Clarke had also been invited to lunch with them, but she declined. The social worker wanted the new family to be able to adjust to their very recent change in lifestyle without her watchful gaze. Alfred, on the other hand had no such hesitation. He hung back in the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room and observed his family as they ate their first meal together.

"So, Dick, do you like your new room?" Bruce asked, trying to start a conversation with the boy.

"Do I ever!" Dick nodded with excitement. "It's really great. Thanks so much for giving me my own room, Bruce. And thanks for making it so cool, Carly and Alfred! It was really nice of you to go through all this trouble for me, even though I won't be staying here forever."

"Is that something you would like?" Carly asked. She watched Bruce out of the corner of her eyes, gauging his reaction. "To stay with us forever?"

"Hmmm..." Dick seemed to think about that for a minute. "I don't know." He answered honestly. "I mean I think I would like it better than living with someone who was a stranger, but we used to be strangers too. And I like being with both of you. And Mrs. Clarke said that I shouldn't get too attached to staying here since...well she said that you are both very busy and mostly likely wont want me around forever."

Carly watched as Bruce's hand clenched into a fist. She delicately placed one of her hands over his fist, both to calm him down and to hide the fist from Dick's view. She gave Dick her full attention and smiled sweetly at him. She didn't know how to tell the boy just how wrong Mrs. Clarke had been. Bruce on the other hand couldn't help but growl lowly into his plate.

"Dick, sometimes, adults say things without realizing how...hurtful their words are to others." Carly tried to explain. "I think Mrs. Clarke had good intentions when she worried that Mr. Wayne and I may be too busy to take care of you full time, but Mrs. Clarke doesn't...necessarily know everything about Bruce and me. Like I'm sure she doesn't know that we both took the full day out of work so that we can spend it with you today. So, while you are staying with us, please don't worry about if we want you here because we would like nothing more than for you to stay with us forever."

"Really?" Dick looked from Carly to Bruce.

"Of course." Bruce nodded. "Both of us look forward to having you here with us, Dick. We just want you to be happy and safe."

"Let's talk about something else," Carly suggested. "What would you like to do today, Dick? Our house is your house now, so we could go for a swim in the pool, play some board games, watch a movie..."

"I've always wanted to go and see a movie." Dick confessed quietly. "My parents promised to take me the night of the accident. Since it was the first time I'd ever performed. They said we could go together."

"Well," Carly gave Bruce another sideways glance, trying not to let on to Dick while she did so. "I could take you to the movies today if you want. We can go after lunch."

"Awesome!" Dick smiled. "Will you come too Bruce?"

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, Master Dick." Alfred chimed in from his spot in the doorway. He stepped forward so that the boy could see him. "I've just intercepted a call from Wayne Enterprises. It seems you are needed at work, most urgently sir."

"We could always go to the movies another time, I guess." Dick frowned. He looked down at his lunch and started playing with his food.

"Bruce, can I talk to you in the kitchen?" Carly asked her husband. She set her fork down, flashed another friendly smile at Dick and walked into the kitchen.

"Of course. We'll be right back." Bruce gently ruffled Dick's hair before following his wife into the kitchen. He shut the door behind himself so that they wouldn't be overheard.

"Okay, we're what twenty minutes into this whole parenting thing and I already can't handle it." Carly frowned.

"What are you talking about? You're doing wonderfully." Bruce disagreed.

"Did you see how upset he was when he told us what Mrs. Clarke said about us?" Carly brought a hand to her chest as if by doing so she could stop the minor ache in her heart. "Bruce, he's such a sweet little boy and for whatever reason he thinks the world of us. And I know that what she said wasn't as awful as it sounds. You were very lucky to have Alfred when you were growing up but for kids like me, kids like Dick, there is no certainty that the people who take you in will want to keep you. She gave him very good advice for someone in his situation, but..."

"But it's not something you want someone to say to our boy." Bruce nodded with understanding. "We'll give things a little more time, and I'm sure that once we prove to Mrs. Clarke that we are responsible enough to take care of Dick she'll help us make our mansion a perinate home for him."

"What about the movies, B?" Carly frowned as she once again thought of the look on Dick's face. "I know how you are and I can only imagine how you must be feeling. I know you don't want us to go..."

"Carly I can't go to a movie theater. You know that." Bruce crossed the room and took both of his wife's hands inside of his own. "But there's no reason why you and Dick shouldn't go. It's the middle of the day, and while I can't go to the theater without you, I might at least be about to get some work done. Maybe check somethings out that I haven't been able to in the shadows of the night."

"Taking the day out to help settle in your new foster son sure does make for a pretty solid alibi." Carly agreed. "Any of our friends in high places going to help out?"

"Most of the League works during the day in their own cities." Bruce explained. "Besides, Clark, J'onn, Barry and I only came across a few very thin leads last night. At this point I'm not sure we'll ever find out exactly what caused the Greyson's accident. Believe me that's as painful for me to say as it is for you to hear. Hard to believe that after all these years, it's almost like nothing has changed." Bruce shook his head in frustration. "But at least once of us can bring some joy to our boy, at least for a few hours. Take him to the movies, Car. I'll see what I can dig up while you're gone and when you get back, we'll always play some board games together or something." Bruce planted a gentle kiss on Carly's forehead.


A/N: Sorry that this chapter is just sort of a filler, but I have some good plans for the next one. :) I love working on this story so much and I really cant wait till we can get to the parts where Dick will be Robin or when he gets to meet the other Members of the Justice League.

Thank you so much dream lighting & Maple Sparks for your reviews of Chapter 29 and for being the ever loyal readers that you are! Thank you to everyone for reading, reviewing, following and enjoying. Hopefully I'll be back soon with another update.