Robin opened his bedroom window with a little more clunking about than he usually allowed himself. He'd stayed out all night even though there were no serious threats to the city. He didn't want to think about how alone he was this Christmas. Not again.

Just as he started working on getting out of his uniform, his commlink beeped.

"Robin here."

"Robin," it was Batman, "I need you in the Batcave immediately."

"What is it, Batman?"

"I'll inform you upon your arrival. This line isn't secure. Hurry. Batman out."

Robin sighed. So much for sleep.

The Redbird pulled into the Batcave at a breakneck speed. As soon as it was safely parked, Robin quickly emerged from the driver's seat.

"Batman, I'm here!" he called. No answer. "Batman?"

Alfred emerged from... somewhere. "Master Bruce is unable to entertain in these quarters, but if you do not mind, Master Timothy, I have taken the liberty of arranging a suitable outfit for you in the men's dressing room.

Robin blinked. "Alfred, what's going on?"

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say, young sir." Robin gave him a skeptical look. "I have, however been told that should you not comply with these wishes a certain Bat-girl would, pardon me, sir, shove your batarang where the sun does not shine."

"Martha," Tim growled.

"Yes, I myself wonder where I went wrong in teaching the young mistress proper etiquette."

"It's not your fault, Alfred," Tim sighed. "So where am I supposed to go after I get dressed?"

"The parlour, Master Timothy. Hot cocoa and fresh muffins and croissants will be waiting."

"In the parlour?"

"It is Christmas Day, Master Timothy. Perhaps you didn't get the memo?"

"Oh I got it all right," Tim bemoaned to himself.

After a much needed shower, Timothy Drake made his way up to the Manor's parlour. As usual the Manor was a perfect Christmas wonderland thanks to Alfred. He found more than hot cocoa and edibles in the parlour, though. He also found the entire Wayne family, including Babs.

"There he is!" Dick pointed out to the others. "Geez, kid, what took you so long? Fall asleep in the shower?"

"Maybe," Tim glowered.

"Uh oh, looks like we got a Scrooge on our hands," Dick teased. "NOOGIE TIME!" he then bellowed as he leapt over the couch.

"Hey!" Tim yelled, blocking the oncoming noogie.

"Master Dick!"

Both men froze. "Sorry, Alfred," the both recited in unison.

Snickering, Selina approached her two sons. "Merry Christmas, Tim," she pulled him into a hug and kissed his cheek.

Tim blushed. Selina had that affect on a guy. "Uh, thanks. Merry Christmas to you too."

Selina smiled. "That's more like it. Now come on," she turned to the rest of the room, "Let's open presents."

Tim blushed even deeper. "Um, all my presents for you guys are at home."

Barbara laughed out loud. "You think that's gonna stop this crowd, Timmy?"

"We shanghaied those before you even turned in for the night," Martha added, a Cheshire grin plastered on her face.

Tim sighed. He could never win in this crowd.

Many presents later, Tim had finally loosened up some. He sat on a sofa next to Barbara across from the other sofa on which Bruce and Martha sat. Selina sat in a chair next to Alfred, whom they had finally convinced to sit down already, while Dick delivered everyone's presents, momentarily stopping to open his own.

Martha was adoring the new pair of ice skates from Bruce. She'd actually hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. This rather threw Bruce, but he seemed happy nonetheless. Meanwhile Dick was tearing into a present.

"Who's it from?" Barbara insisted.

"Timmy boy," Dick answered.

"Stop calling me that!" Tim groaned.

"Oooo, lookit," Dick cooed as he pulled out the light-up clip-on tie Tim got him. "Dude, does my little brother know me or what?" Dick grinned like a mad man and clipped the tie on before high-fiving Tim.

Now it was Martha's turn to groan. "Ugh, Barbara, I can't believe you're reproducing with him!"

Barbara laughed. "Yeah well, at least I'm already used to having a kid around."

"Hey!" Dick cried out indignantly.

Everyone laughed at that. Except Tim. Who sat there. In shock.

"Alright Tim, your turn," Dick said still laughing, shoving a present at Tim.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Tim finally came to his senses. "Did she say...are you? Wait a minute!"

Barbara giggled. "Oh, Tim, I'm sorry, I guess we forgot you missed that little detail."

Tim just stared at her in shock.

"Uh, yeah," Dick swept a hand through his hair and moved over to his wife. "Babs and I are having a baby."

Tim stared. Then got very serious and said, "Babs, seriously. You could do so much better. Run away with me?" he batted his eyelashes.

Barbara, as well as the others, laughed out loud, especially when Dick cried, "Hey! Stop hitting on my wife!" and wrestled Tim to the ground.

Laughing, Tim finally relented. "Okay! Okay! Uncle!" He found himself upright again. "Seriously, congratulations you two," he hugged Dick, and the leaned down to hug Barbara and kissed her on the cheek.

Dick sighed, "What did I say about hitting on my wife, Drake?" as he shoved Tim's present at him.

Tim sat down with his gift.

"Who is it from?" Selina asked.

"Um..." Tim frowned when he saw the nametag. "My Dad."

The room fell silent. Dick touched his shoulder. "Hey," he said softly. "He loves you kid, he just..."

"Has a lousy way of showing it. I know." Tim sighed.

"You're always welcome here, Tim," Bruce piped up.

"Yeah, I know."

"Do you?" Martha was boring into him with those sharp blue eyes of hers.

Tim smirked. "Well, I know that if all else fails you'll beat me over the head with a club and drag me back to your cave." Suddenly, Tim found himself at the receiving end of a Bat-glare from Bruce. Dick, however, found this extremely hilarious and nearly fell over laughing. Tim sighed. Nope, he couldn't win in this crowd.

Later that day, all was quiet in Wayne Manor. Not a creature was stirring, not even...okay, well there was an Alfred stirring. He peeked into the parlour. They were all right where he had left them. Master Bruce was sandwiched between Madame Selina and Miss Martha on the sofa. The two women were curled up against him while they all slept. On the sofa, Madame Barbara slept leaning against the pillows, while Master Dick used her lap for a pillow, one leg draped over the arm of the sofa. Master Timothy slept on the floor in front of the fireplace. Alfred sighed. He hoped that now the boy understood how much he was cherished by his family. His real family. Nevertheless, it had been a good Christmas at Wayne Manor.