As the Wayne Family grew, vacations became somewhat harder to manage. Dick and Jason were getting to ages where they would rather go out with friends. Damian had never been one for bonding. Even Tim was going through an antisocial phase where he locked himself in his room for hours at a time.

Meanwhile, Bruce couldn't fathom the idea of leaving Gotham unprotected even if he had Batgirl and Spoiler looking after things. Yet somehow, here they all were, Alfred guiding the car down a dirt road toward the old family summer home.

The boys all spilled out of the vehicle as soon as it came to a stop. They'd been sitting for hours and needed to stretch their legs. Alfred had all of the bags lined up by the door, ready to head inside, but first, he wanted to ensure he had everyone's attention.

"While I understand you are all looking forward to some good-natured frivolity, I must insist you employ some sense as well. I truly hope that this family can have one visit to this lodge without accusing the elderly of witchcraft or committing arson."

Bruce, Dick, and Jason all tried to feign innocent ignorance as they headed inside.


After a long argument over who would be bunking with who (Wayne Lodge only had four bedrooms and Bruce easily had the biggest family the place had housed in over a century), the boys decided a relaxing swim was in order.

The lakeshore was relatively empty, although this was expected since they'd come at the end of the summer season. After a few swim races and rounds of water wrestling, the boys found themselves rather bored.

"I knew this vacation would be a waste of time." Damian grumbled, pulling out his phone to check if he finally had service again. "Aw come on, Dami, where's your sense of fun?" Dick grinned, nudging Jay and Tim to back him up.

"I think mine melted." Jason griped as he slumped down to lie in the shade of the oldest brother's shadow. Jay did have a point though. It was unusually hot for the time of year, and they were all sweating bullets. "I vote we go back inside, blast the AC and watch TV." Tim reasoned.

"We could do that in Gotham." Dick whined. There had to be something fun they could do together. As he looked around the open space, Dick's eyes caught the tree line, and he had an idea.

"Let's go look for sasquatch." He suggested with glee, to which his brothers all groaned. "You want me to drag my ass through the woods looking for a half-human-bear thing?" Jason asked incredulously. "The heat seems to have rendered his brain more useless than usual." Damian muttered.

"Come on Dick, Bigfoot is a myth." Tim sighed. "That's what people said about Batman." Dick smiled, unfazed by their unenthusiasm. The three younger boys didn't look up, and Dick sighed. It looked like he'd have to break out his secret weapon.

"Pwease?" The oldest boy whined, giving them his best puppy dog eyes and jutting out his bottom lip. Even though he was the oldest, Dick knew how to play cute when he wanted to.

He could tell his brothers were teetering, on the edge of giving in. They just needed a little push. "Ya know it's much cooler in the shade of the trees." He told them, and the three boys all but raced to the tree line.

III

The shade did seem to put them all in better moods. Soon they were climbing trees and bird watching (Damian trying to catch robins to keep as pets). They had almost forgotten the main reason for their quest until they heard a rushing in the bushes.

"Bigfoot? Is that you?" Jason called only half-joking. Tim inched closer to the sound, pushing the foliage away slowly. Suddenly he let out a yelp and jumped back, clutching his hand.

A black snout poked out of the bush, sniffing angrily. Soon the whole beast was standing in front of them. A black dog with matted fur snarled at them. Dick tried to put himself between his brothers and the rabid creature, but Damian slipped past.

The dog focused its attention on the smallest boy. Damian started growling and bore his teeth right back. He had faced the cannibalistic Killer Croc. He would back down to this wayward mutt.

Seeing the little boy was unfazed, the dog stopped growling and inched toward him, sniffing curiously. Finally, it licked Damian's hand before tackling him to the ground with sloppy wet kisses. "Damian, be careful," Dick warned. "That thing could have rabies."

"Aw come on, it's friendly." Jason laughed and went over to scratch the dog's head. "He tried to bite me!" Tim cried, planting himself firmly behind his oldest brother. "You clearly made him uncomfortable." Damian huffed. "Her," Jason corrected. "No balls, see."

"Either way, you shouldn't pet strange animals." Dick told them. "Can we take her back to The Lodge?" Damian asked excitedly. "She would be an excellent guard dog."

Dick considered for a moment. While it may have been fun to have a family pet, he doubted Alfred would be ok with them bringing home a stray. "Maybe we could just leave her here and come visit during the day." Dick suggested. "That way, she'll be trained by the time we're going home."

Jay and Damian agreed while Tim was just glad his attacker would not be following them home just yet.


While Bruce and Alfred were curious where the boys went all day, they were glad for the peace and quiet and lack of trouble.

Jason, despite his brothers' protests that it was stupid, had named their new friend Sasquatch. Although the Great Dane was a bit distrustful at first, they managed to win her over with scraps they snuck from The Lodge.

Sasquatch proved quite trainable. Soon they could all get her to come, sit, and follow on command. But of all her trainers, Sasquatch was most fond of Damian. She often trotted alongside him as they roamed the forest and would snarl at the other boys if they tried to argue with him.

While they didn't like the idea of their bloodthirsty little brother having an attack beast, the boys did have to admit the way Damian played with his new furry friend was rather cute.

They had never seen the boy so at ease. Damian was gentle, dare it be said, loving to the beast. And the same could be said for Sasquatch.

III

"Why won't she come?" Damian asked worriedly. Bruce had taken the boys into town for a family outing, thus keeping them from Sasquatch for the day.

Dick had tried to tell Damian that the dog would be fine, but the youngest Wayne had pouted and whined until his brothers agreed to go with him to check on their pet. But now, after an hour of calling her name, Sasquatch was nowhere to be found.

"Maybe she's hunting or something." Jason shrugged. "Why would she hunt when we always bring food?" Tim asked. "Dami, it's getting late." Dick said gently. "Why don't we head home and look again in the morning?" Damian was about to consider the offer when a loud, pained howl echoed through the trees.

"Sasquatch!" Damian yelled and ran off in the direction of the noise. Thanks to their superior tracking skills, the boys soon found Sasquatch in a little dug-out den. She was shaking as if she was cold despite the warm night air. Worse, she seemed to have puked half her weight in half-digested food.

"It's ok Sasquatch. I'm here." Damian told the dog as he reached out to pet her. Sasquatch growled half-heartedly as if trying to assert her last shreds of dignity. "She looks sick." Tim whispered. "Maybe we should get some help." Jason said uneasily.

Damian was too busy petting the poor beast to even hear what was said. Tim and Jason raced back to The Lodge and, after a bit of frantic explaining, dragged Bruce and Alfred back to their furry friend.

It only took Alfred a minute to diagnose the situation. Sasquatch was in labor.

III

The Waynes spent the rest of that night running between The Lodge and the forest, grabbing whatever Alfred needed and trying to keep the mother-to-be comfortable. By daybreak Alfred, being the master of all skills he was, had helped Sasquatch deliver a litter of eight Great Dane puppies.

In all of his graciousness, Bruce allowed Sasquatch and the puppies to stay in The Lodge with them for the rest of their vacation. Damian spent every waking moment fussing over the little balls of fur.

While he was less than pleased he would not be permitted to keep the entire litter, he was glad his Father let him keep one of the puppies. "I shall call him Titus." Damian announced although it did seem ironic for the runt of the litter.

Even so, Titus joined the family and became Damian's ever-loyal companion.