Eliwatts22's request about Bruce becoming a father. (Hope you like it! And I've decided to split your idea into separate chapters. One for each of the boys.) Bruce reflects on becoming Dick's Dad.

Chapter 37: The Firstborn

Bruce's POV

The first time I ever saw Dick was at Haley's Circus. He was seven years old back then; practically a baby. I remember watching his happy face smiling and waving to the crowd from the back of an elephant. I remember him climbing up the ladder after his parents. I remember watching my little baby cry when his parents hit the ground. It killed me. I couldn't stand there and do nothing. I couldn't let him turn out like I did.

It took me a week to settle on a decision and get the adoption papers ready. I was in shock when I discovered that he wasn't in an orphanage. They put my innocent baby in the juvenile detention center, because he was different, because, he was a Gypsy from a circus.

I remember entering his cell and finding my baby sobbing under his cot, lying curled up, shaking in fear, rambling in Romanian, and wearing a jumpsuit as if he were a criminal. That bitch, Ms. McClendon, his caseworker, had him put in a cell with a seventeen year old delinquent accused of involuntary manslaughter!

I remember getting down on the floor and trying to coax him out of hiding. He eventually crawled out. I can remember restraining myself from bashing the bitch's head into the wall, when I saw the bruises, dried blood on his nose, broken lip and black eye on my poor baby boy. He clung to me for dear life, when I carried him out of the hellhole he should never have been in the first place.

He seemed so small, so fragile back then. Alfred had given him a bath, fed him, took care of his injuries before putting him to bed, while I went on patrol. I had to find his parents' killer. I thought he needed closure for his parents' deaths, but I was wrong. He needed me.

I remember walking past his room the first two nights, without going in to check on him. I could hear him crying, but I didn't go in. I had never been around children before. I didn't know what to do. As far as I was concerned, he needed space, time for himself.

The third night was when I finally entered his room. Not because he was crying, but because he wasn't. I practically had a heart attack when I realized he wasn't in bed.

I searched for Dick for what felt like eternity, before I found him. Zucco. My baby was at the mercy of his parents' killer. Dick did what I had been trying to do for nearly two weeks, in the matter of a couple of hours. I remember the feeling of absolute terror watching Zucco threaten to throw my baby off the tallest building in Gotham. And he did. I can still hear Dick's ear shattering scream, as he fell, come to a complete stop when I caught him.

Zucco had gotten away that night. It's been fifteen years and I haven't found a single trace of the monster. But, I gained a partner and a son that night. I remember our conversation after I saved him from falling...

"I'm sorry. If it weren't for me, you would have caught him. Please, I want to help you! Please, I'll do anything to help you catch him! I promise I'll be good. I won't cause any trouble." Dick cried.

"What about your guardian?" I asked. I was upset that he would just willingly give himself to a stranger.

Sadly he replied, "He doesn't care about me. He wouldn't even notice if I was gone…"

His words cut me deep. Was I that bad of a guardian? How could he have thought that I didn't care? I was trying to bring Zucco to justice for him. I wanted him to have closure. But, he needed something else. He needed a father. He needed me.

I brought him back to the cave and he swore his allegiance to me. I then revealed who I really was. Things were different that after that day.

I can remember being forced to start wearing a T-shirt and pajama pants or boxers to bed. My sex life rapidly declined in my own home. I couldn't have women in my bed if a little boy in hideous Superman pajamas, clinging to a stuffed elephant was waiting on me to tell him everything was going to be okay and that it was only a dream and yes, it was okay to sleep with Daddy. (It's not like Alfred was going to allow me to have a woman over anyway.)

No more long patrols, unless of emergencies. No more partying until the morning. No more long business trips, no more wild parties. I had to change my entire lifestyle. I had a seven year old baby boy who depended on me to hold him, play with him, keep the nightmares away, make the bad days better, train him, keep him safe, read him his bedtime story, tuck him in, and be his father.

Dick is my firstborn. No first-time parent ever knows what to do. Mistakes are made and lessons are learned. I was not afraid of anything until I got Dick. Real fear is introduced to first-time parents. As far as a first-time parent is concerned, children are made of glass. You're so afraid that they'll get broken. Everything scares you and the fear never stops…

About two weeks after I was starting to learn how to be a parent, he had asked to go horseback riding. So, I took him to my stable where I kept my horses. I had gotten a trainer for him and waited with the other parents on the stands facing the arena.

I practically had a heart attack when he rode past the stands on my three year old black stallion, Tornado, at a full gallop and standing on the saddle, without a helmet, and screaming, "Daddy! Look! Watch this!" I practically strangled his trainer when he commented that my child was a natural with horses.

Soon after that, my baby was kidnapped for the first time. To hear the voice of your baby crying and calling out for you to come for him, while the bastard who threatened your baby makes his demands, it eats at your heart. No parent should have to experience something like that. Then when you finally find him, he's scared to death and crying into your chest as the criminals lay on the ground bleeding and unconscious…

And then your baby starts to grow up. He stops calling you Daddy. He stops reaching for your hand. He no longer wants a bedtime story. He deals with nightmares on his own. He turns into mouthy teenager who thinks they know everything. He stops coming to you with problems. He starts fights with you. He tells you that he no longer wants to be your partner. He wants to be his own hero, because he doesn't need you anymore. And you stupidly agree. How can you keep him safe if he keeps pushing you away?

But, I'm proud of what he has become. A strong, smart, athletic, handsome, kind, and caring man. He turned out different than I did. My soldier, my savior, my son is all grown up. He doesn't need me anymore. But, I need him.

He once told me that he was thankful that I saved him. But, it's not true. He saved me. He saves me from myself every day.

Unfortunately, school has started back. I'm taking AP Lit., AP Psychology, Economy, Math, and Teacher Apprenticeship this semester, not to mention it is my senior year. I'll be really busy with my schedule, senior crap, applying for colleges, scholarships, and all the clubs and organizations I'm head of. So, I will not be updating as much. But, I am still going to continue writing when I can and I am still accepting requests (it will probably take longer for me to write them though, but I love getting them.)

And for The Rambler(yours is almost finished), ForeverEponine, Xiaohou, Red Robin, Ivy Nights51101930, Eliwats22, I am still working on your requests. (Sorry it's taking so long.) I'll publish them as soon as I am finished with them. Thanks!