Batman carried the toddler to the Batmobile. He had run out and got a car seat and a few other necessities while the team was with Robin. As soon as the car started rolling, the young boy fell asleep. After arriving at the cave and changing both himself and the slumbering child, Bruce carried Dick up to his room. He tucked Dick into the sheets and put pillows on the side to make sure he didn't fall out of bed. Next to the bed, he put a baby monitor on the nightstand before gently closing the door and walking downstairs.
Alfred walked into the living room where Bruce was sitting.
"I suspect Master Dick is the reason for the car seat and child supplies?" Alfred asked, knowing the answer.
Bruce sighed silently. "He set off a trap in a scientist's building. We couldn't isolate the chemicals that caused him to become a three year old, and the scientist won't talk."
"I'm sure you will figure it out soon enough." Alfred walked out of the room, leaving Bruce to reflect on what was soon to come. He was finally getting used to taking care of a teenager. How was he going to handle an acrobatic, hyperactive child?
…
Dick slowly opened his eyes as he woke up. He rolled to the side to find pillows locking him from the side of his bed. He pushed them to the bottom of the bed and sat up, rubbing his eyes as he jumped off the bed. Not realizing how high the bed was, the small boy fell on the ground with a thud.
"Ow." He moaned as he held the foot he landed on. He sat on the floor for a minute before deciding to go find something fun to do. He snuck to the stairs, seeing that no one was around.
He looked up at the tall banister with wide, joy-filled eyes. He jumped onto the banister and scooted to the angle down the stairs. He squealed in joy as he descended the stairs. His ride came to an end as he slipped off the banister and on to the hard floor.
He whimpered before he started balling. He soon felt a strong pair of arms lift him from the floor.
"B-Bruce." He choked out between sobs. Bruce just held him tighter as he walked towards the kitchen.
"Dick, what were you thinking? That was reckless and impetuous." Bruce scolded. He set the boy down on the counter as he grabbed an ice pack from the freezer.
"Wha-what?" Dick asked as he sniffled and held the side he fell on. Bruce Re-worded his scolding for the child to understand.
Bruce looked at his watch as Dick held the icepack to his side. It was about 8 in the morning and the boy hadn't eaten since earlier the day before.
"Do you want some breakfast?" Bruce asked in the kindest tone he could. Dick nodded his head quietly and Bruce grabbed Dick's favorite cereal from the cabinet. He started pouring a bowl when Dick shook his head.
"You don't want this cereal?" Bruce asked his son, who nodded his head. Grabbing another box and showing it to Dick, he shook his head again.
Instead of going through every box of cereal in the cabinet, he put all the boxes on the counter. Dick pointed to the box with chocolate pieces and marshmallows. Bruce shook his head.
"That's too much sugar for breakfast. How about something healthier." Dick pouted for a second before crawling over to the cereals. He grabbed the box he had chosen earlier and opened the top.
"Dick, I said no to that cereal. There are plenty of other cereals you can eat." Bruce motioned to grab the cereal but Dick pulled back the box.
"No Dick. You are not eating that for breakfast." Bruce grabbed the box out of the little kid's hands. "I don't even know why we have this cereal."
"I bought that for Master Dick. I thought he would preferred it over his usual choice of cereal."
Bruce looked over at Alfred grabbing a bowl and milk and putting them on the table. Bruce let Alfred take the box from his hands and poured a small amount of cereal in the bowl. He unscrewed the top of the milk before Dick shook his head and started eating the cereal with his fingers. Bruce smiled and rolled his eyes.
Dick only ate a small amount of his breakfast before he got too antsy and he jumped off the chair he was sitting in.
Bruce followed Dick as he ran around, performing different flips and acrobatic stunts. He knew the boy was a trained acrobat, but he didn't trust Dick to fully know the limits his little body now had. Bruce scooped the toddler into his arms and walked up to his room.
"How about we get you changed and then we can go see the team. Sound good?" Bruce saw the small boy eagerly nodding his head.
Bruce had most of the supplies he bought for the boy in his room. He shuffled through the bags and found the shirt, jeans, and shoes before carrying everything to the boy's large bathroom.
"Do you need some help?" Bruce asked as Dick tried to unsnap the button on his pants.
"I can do it." Dick kept trying, but no matter how hard he tried, his little fingers couldn't get it. Admitting defeat, Bruce knelt down and undid the button. He got the pants off before Bruce set him on a changing mat. He discarded the pull-up that he had put on the boy the night before and put a fresh one on him.
Dick took care of the rest of his clothes, except for his little feet. They went back out into his room and Dick grabbed two pairs of socks out from a bag that was on the floor. He took one sock from each pair, putting a green sock with blue spots on his left, and a black and white stripped sock on his right. Bruce chuckled at the boy's odd preference of socks while he put the child-sized converse on his feet.
Bruce picked Dick up and sat him on the bed. "I'm going to pack some things and talk to Alfred. Then you'll go play with the team, okay?" Dick nodded and Bruce went to talk with Alfred.
"Alfred, I'm going to drop Dick off with the team while I interrogate the scientist."
"Are you certain you want to trust the team with Master Dick right now?"
"Dick seems to like them, and I got a call from Barry last night saying that Wally and everyone else really wanted to help take care of Dick."
"Very well then sir. Where is Master Dick anyhow?" Alfred asked.
"He's waiting up in his room."
"I don't believe it's a very good idea to leave him alone with nothing to do." Alfred warned Bruce.
Bruce ran back up to the room to find Dick climbing his dresser, reaching for the various items sitting on top. Bruce grabbed the boy off and gave him a light smack on his behind. A small gasp escaped the little boy's mouth as he looked up at Bruce.
"Don't climb on anything Dick! That's way too dangerous! I'm sorry I hit you, but you need to be careful. No climbing, and if you can't reach something, ask someone for help. Okay?"
Dick nodded and placed his head on Bruce's shoulder.
"Are you tired?" Dick shook his head. "What's wrong?"
"I'm bored." Dick pouted as he started looking around the room for something to play with. Bruce mentally cursed at himself for forgetting to buy toys for him to play with. Bruce grabbed a hoodie from another stack of clothes he bought and stuck it on the boy. He carried Dick downstairs and grabbed some paper and a few colorful pens.
"Do you wanna draw?" Bruce watched the boy eagerly grab at the paper and pens. Once the boy was content holding the papers, Bruce carried him to the cave and strapped him into the car seat. While Dick started drawing little stars and different objects, Bruce ran back up to Dick's room, remembering to grab the child-sized sunglasses he bought just in case the team wanted to see him.
The ride to the base was short and fun for the toddler gleefully drawing in different colors. When the Dark Knight picked him up, he held on to a picture he drew for the team. Batman carried Dick into the living room and kitchen area where the team was sitting with a dark cloud hanging around the team. Wally had gotten up to get a snack from the fridge, but seeing the Bat holding Robin, he nearly fell off the couch trying to run over to his friend.
"Rob!" He exclaimed in joy. The rest of the team shed the depressed vibe hanging around them and went to see Robin.
"Hi Robin! What is that you're holding?" M'gann pointed to the sheet of paper in his hand.
"I drew you guys a picture." Dick's 'R's were like 'W's ' or he left the 'R' out completely. The picture was a sketch of everyone on the team. Conner and M'gann were standing Next to Kaldur, who was in the middle, with Artemis and Wally standing beside each other.
Batman handed Robin off to Kaldur who held him firmly so he would fall. While the rest of the team was preoccupied with Robin, Batman took Wally towards the hall.
"Um, what's up?" Wally asked nervously. He had known the Bat for years, yet Wally was still afraid of the Batman.
"Since you know Robin's true identity, I'm going to let you use this for today." He handed Wally a few different credit cards all in the name of Dick or Bruce.
"I bought him most of the necessities. Clothes, diapers, wipes, and children's aspirin just in case." Batman handed him a messenger bag filled with a few diapers, a changed of clothes and a few other items for taking care of a child.
"What would you like us to get him? We all want to help." Wally asked in the calmest tone he could gather.
"Toys, lunch, anything to keep him occupied and safe. He may have been thirteen, but for now, treat him the age he is now." Batman left Wally standing with the bag and the credit cards. He stuffed the cards in his pocket before joining the team again.
"Hey Robin, you wanna go get some new toys?" Wally asked in a cheerful and childish tone.
"Yeah!" Dick squeaked eagerly before remembering he was supposed to be thirteen. He calmly said sure, but with his 'R's coming out wrong, he didn't sound so mature.
"Then lets go shopping for our little buddy!" Artemis tickled Robin's stomach, resulting in a giggling ball of joy that made their hearts melt.
They loaded up the ship and set out for the mall, everyone planning to make it the best day for their little bird.
…
Who's ready for the mall? I might actually get the next chapter done tonight as well!
I'm sorry I'm kind of putting off finishing another chapter for Drink, but I'm really excited for this story! Please be patient! I promise I'll make the next chapters of it worth it!
Reviews always make me super-super-SUPER Happy people! And the more people review (CUTE IDEAS FOR THIS OR ANYTHING ELSE ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED!) the quicker I usually post!
Thanks for reading! Enjoy!