"I will destroy you!" Jason shouted at the top of his lungs as he stooped down to grab one of Bruce's shoes to chase Dick with. (Bruce forgot to put them up after a gala, he kicked them off and left the ugly things where they dropped.) The two boys were supposed to be doing homework, but they had grown bored with the math homework they had been working on. They both had started to talk and Jason and Dick felt tied down after so much homework. Chasing each other... just happened. Dick and Jason knew better, but what was the fun of having a huge house with the best banisters to slide down on if you didn't take advantage of it?

"Haha, you'll never catch me, Jason!" Dick said as he threw his head back to see Jason chasing him. Their laughs echoed all through Wayne Manor as the boys ran after each other roughhousing. Jason still waving the black leather shoe like a sword without ever trying to really hit his brother.

Alfred stood in the doorway of the kitchen where the boys stopped suddenly. "Sorry, Alfred," Dick said as he smiled widely at the older and Jason had been told a trillion times, "Do not run when your siblings are asleep."

"You and Jason both know no to run around the house. Jason, please go put your father's shoe back where you found it," Alfred tasked him as he gave him a pointed look. Jason ignored the look knowing that Bruce would freak if his shoes weren't where he left them.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" Dick asked when Jason scurried off.

Alfred stopped for a second before he answered, thinking back to Bruce adopting Dick when he was just a toddler. The Flying Graysons had been murdered and their small son had escaped out of the tightrope walkers arms. The circus member had been babysitting him, but the shock of their death she had let him go to toddle to his parent's dead bodies crying with every step. Bruce's heart had broken for the small child and he had picked him up and comforted him like he had been comforted so many years ago. Cute as the child was, Bruce knew the Gotham Foster System would break him. If the Batman hunted down the killers in less than a week, it was seen as merely a coincidence. All crime in Gotham was hated by the Batman, after all. The GCPD was thankful for the criminals bound and gagged outside of the precinct.

"Your mother and Father are busy. You know they go out at night most nights," Alfred decided on saying as he turned back to his work.

"Why?" Dick asked, "they go out every night come after Cass, Tim, and Dami are asleep and I never see them come home. They wake up tired and have bruises all the time."

Jason snickered as he looked at Dick's innocent face, Alfred gave Jason a muted glare.

"One day you shall understand, Dick, but that day isn't today. You and Jason have about thirty minutes before bedtime go ahead and get ready and I'll tuck you in," Alfred replied.

"We are too old to be tucked in we aren't Cass, Tim, or Dami," Dick huffed as he was off-put at not being told what his parents really were doing at night.

"Then shall I stop tucking you in at night?" Alfred asked as Jason walked back to them.

"No, I just feel old for it," Dick said.

"Why do you feel that way?" Alfred asked. Dick had never said anything about feeling too old to be tucked in at night. He was always seemed to like being tucked in by Alfred, Bruce, or Selena. Dick thrived on being loved and cared for in the ways only parents or grandparents could provide, simple forehead kisses and goodnight hugs.

"The kids at school said that it was babyish to be tucked in. Plus they are jealous because they don't have an English grandfather. I tell them about things we do together and they think I'm lying, but I know not to lie," Dick explained to Alfred as Jason listened in and craftily snuck to get a cookie only to be foiled by a glare from Alfred.

"Kids are stupid. They don't know us and why should we please them?" Jason lashed out. He enjoyed learning in school, but it was hard to make friends when he felt so different from the kids that went to private school with him. Jason remembered living in Crime Alley with his mother and the kids he knew back then weren't anything special, most of them were bound for jail. Crime Alley was the worst part of Gotham and Jason's accent betrayed his origin. Bruce and Selena understood how that felt, and tried to get him involved in clubs that would have kids his age, but he was guarded with everyone.

"Jason, not everyone is like that. They probably are jealous of you two. You'll both make friends in time, and it might not be at school. Oliver Queen is coming over in a few weeks and he is bringing his son, Roy. You could be friends with him," Alfred suggested.

"I don't know. Why is Oliver Queen coming? Wayne and Queen industries don't do business together, do they?" Jason asked. He was young, but he had a habit of listening to Bruce and Selena's conversations. All of the kids had walked in on a conversation only for Bruce and Selena to stop talking.

"They are considering it," Alfred replied as he checked the time. Bruce would be a fourth of the way done in patrolling Gotham. Selena was in the cave on the comm watching out for him. She would have been with him bringing Justice to Gotham, but she still had a month to go before Alfred cleared her for their night activities. Damian would be two months old, and she would be fully recovered from his hard delivery. They all were thankful for Damian's uncanny ability to sleep through anything. Dick could be doing cartwheels down the stairs, Jason could be chasing squirrels with sticks, Tim could be riding a scooter through the Manor, and Cass could be doing baby ballet with loud music, and Dami wouldn't stir. At first, it scared Bruce and Selena until they realized that their child was a heavy sleeper.

"Why don't you two get ready for bed and I'll be up to say good night in a moment," Alfred told them as he motioned for them to go to their rooms.

When the boys scampered away Alfred used the phone in the kitchen to call down to the cave, barely a minute ticked by when Selena answered, "Alfred is there a problem with Dami?" She asked in a worried voice.

"No, no, problem with any of them. Sorry for worrying you, I wanted to check in on the night's work," Alfred apologized.

"It's quiet. Pam is keeping her promise to not terrorize Gotham. She is coming by next week if Bruce didn't tell you. Joker and Harley are, surprisingly still in Arkham. Hang on, I've got movement on your left. Sorry, Alfred, I got to go," Selena ended the intercom call as she became the eyes for Batman from the safety of the cave.

Alfred sighed as he walked up to go up the stairs to the boy's rooms he promised to tuck them in. Bruce and Selena were a matched pair, they both had a soft spot for orphans, justice, and love for each other that was unrivaled by any that Alfred had witnessed. He found Dick and Jason having a contest of who was the better at brushing their teeth. The adjoining bathroom was something that the boys squabbled over but refused to move rooms to have separate bathrooms.

"Can we have pop tarts for breakfast?" Jason asked as he finished brushing his teeth.

"No, when have I ever made pop tarts? You are growing boys, the very idea!" Alfred said faking his indignation at the idea. Alfred bade good night to both of them. As they chuckled at his fake outburst He checked on Tim and Cass the three-year-olds were sleeping so peacefully in their room it made Alfred's old heart full.

Cass and Tim started to share a room when Cass was the newest addition to the manor. Tim was used to sleeping by himself and had no problem adjusting to the manner. Cass was also used to sleeping by herself, but her room was brightly decorated and the bed was too soft. When Cassandra could go to sleep she was plagued by nightmares and would wake up crying. Cassandra was terrified of Bruce and any man that resembled David Cain in the least. Selena tried to make her feel welcome and comfortable, but Cassandra was wary of her too. Dick and Jason didn't know how to act around her, at two years old she was a barely coordinated ninja. (Two-year-olds don't have the best coordination.)

Tim was the only one that treated her exactly like a kid. Cass and Tim could be around each other without Cass feeling like she was in danger from adults. He didn't act like he was scared of her, it was almost as if he knew that she needed to be treated like other kids, so he treated her like he did Stephanie from the Library program that Selena took him too. Nights when she would wake up crying, she wouldn't be alone. Tim and her bedrooms were beside each other and Tim could hear her crying, he would waddle to her and hug her. Tim got smacked the first few times it happened. Eventually, they moved Cassandra's bed in to Tim's room so they would have separate beds. Selena and Bruce decided when they were older they would try to move Cass back in her room At three years old both of them had a better understanding of people than most adults. It was with time that she began to trust and love everyone in the Wayne family.

Alfred made his way down to the cave to see Selena giving Bruce advance warning of the gang war that had broken out. She looked seconds away from donning her catsuit and joining Bruce in the fight.

Alfred took in the scene before him on the screen, Bruce was fighting multiple assailants with no hope of reprieve. It was going to be a long night.

The next morning the boys and Cass were eating breakfast Bruce walked into the dining room. His ribs were sore and he realized no for the first time how well he and Selena fought together. When he was patrolling without her it felt empty.

"Daddy!" Cass exclaimed as her face lit up at seeing Bruce. She quickly raised her arms for Bruce to hold her. Bruce loved all of his children equally, but Cass was special she was his little girl.

He picked her up despite the protest his ribs were making. Last night he had been busy as Batman, he missed having Selena beside him. They were the best. She cuddled closer to him playing with the stubble that had grown overnight on his face. Bruce sank into his chair at the table as he held Cass close and nursed a hot black cup of coffee.

He looked at Dick and Jason as the debated if gymnastics were a "real" sport or not. Tim as he tried to put his pancake back together like a puzzle after he had cut it, and Damian was being carried around by Selena in a sling. Selena had been up for hours with Damian, her short hair was sticking up everywhere, and it looked like Dami spit up on her shirt, she still looked gorgeous to Bruce. He would always protect Gotham if it meant his family could walk in safety. Bruce smiled as Cass's baby small fingers rubbed the rough stubble. Batman was created to save the innocent. After all his baby had been through she managed to have an innocence that David Cain, for all of his trying couldn't dim.

The kids had no idea of what their parents did at night, all they knew was that their Dad had to be the strongest man alive. Jason and Dick would watch as he worked out. Sometimes Dick and Jason would have contests of who could do more pushups without stopping, other times they would stare as Bruce powered through one hundred sit-ups. The fun started for Bruce when his two oldest stopped watching him and ran to get Tim and Cass.

Bruce started doing push-ups again, but this time Jason and Dick jumped on his back. And then Cass was pulled on Jason's lap and Tim was pulled on to Dick's. Bruce strained under the weight of his kids. He managed to struggle through ten pushups with the extra weight before going down.

Laughs filled the exercise room as Bruce announced, "Your too heavy, and I'm too old."

"Nope, Dad, you'll never be old," Dick said still laughing as tears ran down his cheeks.

"Never?" Bruce asked questioningly.

"Yep, Alfred is ancient. Gotham was built around him. We live and do roughly the same things as he does so we will live that long too," Dick reasoned as he hugged Tim who stopped laughing only to get the hiccups.

"Alfred is 'hic' ancient" Tim giggled.

"Don't let him hear you say that," Bruce said as he laughed at Dick's child logic, and then goaned at all of his kids sitting on top of him.

~AN~

It took me longer than I thought it would for me to pull this chapter together, but I did in time Cassandra Cain's birthday today, (January, 26). I realized it too late to add in her birthday.

It's cannon that Bruce didn't have a lot of friends growing up and Selena knows what it's like to be judged by where she grew up. Jason is an extrovert, but he also has a problem relating to other kids.

I looked up the median weight of health children, all of the kids on Bruce as he did push ups would weight 184 lbs, or 83, kilograms.

It will be updated sporadically my college classes this semester are harder than I anticipated.