Dick - 30
Jason - 28
Kaden - 5
Damian - 15
Bruce - 49
Grandpa
Dick, Jason and Kaden arrived at the manor, carrying a few bags for little Kaden. Alfred greeted them and the made their way inside, and Jason knelt before his son.
"Okay, behave for Alfred and Grandpa Bruce, okay?" Jason asked, petting his son;s hair. Kaden nodded, a smile on his little face as he hugged his father. Jason hugged him tight and then Dick, kissing his forehead.
"Are you sure this okay Alfred?" Jason asked. Alfred chuckled in amusement and patted Jason's arm.
"Yes I'm quite sure Master Jason. I shall look after young Kaden and I assure you he'll be fine while you're on your...trip," Alfred replied. Jason gave a nod and knelt down before Kaden one final time and hugged him.
"I;m gonna miss you baby bird," He murmured, kissing the little boy's head on more time.
"Bye daddy. Bye papa. Come back soon, okay?" Kaden called, waving goodbye to his parents.
"We will, and then we'll go to the carnival, all three of us, just like we promised, okay?" Dick called back, waving back to him. Kaden waved one final time before Alfred closed the door, picking up Kaden's bags and leading the little boy by his hand to his bedroom here in the manor.
"Alfred?" Kaden asked, looking up at the old man. Alfred glanced down at Kaden and flashed a smile.
"Yes?"
"Why do you talk so funny?" Kaden asked. Alfred chuckled in amusement and came to a stop before Kaden's door, pushing it open.
"Here we are Master Kaden," Alfred said evenly, moving into the room and setting the bags down. He knelt in front of the boy and said "and to answer your question, it;s because I came from England. Everyone talks like this there." Kaden cocked his head to the side, curious.
"Why's that?" he asked. Alfred chuckled again and patted his hair.
"Well, because people talk differently from all over the world," Alfred explained, getting back to his feet. He moved out of the room, with the curious boy following behind him as he continued "you see, there are different people all over the world. They talk different, they look different, and even act different. But inside, we're all still the same."
"Wow! You know a lot! I wanna meet different people too!" Kaden said cheerily, flashing a toothy grin. Alfred flashed a warm smile and patted the boy's head.
"And some day you will. Of that I have no doubt. Come now, it's almost lunch time, you must be hungry." Alfred led Kaden down to the kitchen where he cooked chicken fingers and homemade fries. Kaden was rather easy to please when it came to food, though Alfred insisted on a vegetable. Kaden chose broccoli, with, of course, cheese.
Of course, once he was finished, he insisted on helping Alfred with clean-up. So there Kaden was, with his sleeved pushed up, standing on a stool beside Alfred and helping him to wash his own dishes.
"You're a magnificent little helper, Kaden," Alfred said to him, flashing a smile.
"Papa, daddy and I always clean up together at home," Kaden replied, grinning from ear to ear. He grabbed the sink hose and sprayed Alfred with a quirk spurt, giving a bubbling laugh. Alfred stumbled back a bit in surprise and Kaden's smile faded at the look on his face.
"Master Kaden!"
"Uh oh." Alfred frowned at him...then a smile spread across his face, followed by a laugh as he quickly snatched the hose from Kaden and sprayed him back, the little boy letting out an infectious giggle as he jumped off the stool and ran around the corner of the kitchen island.
Alfred laughed and placed it back where it belonged, grabbing a towel and drying himself off, then tossing it to Kaden. Kaden grinned from ear to ear as he dried himself off while Alfred got back to cleaning.
"Thank you for lunch Alfie!" Kaden called as he skipped off through the manor. Kaden was looking for his grandfather, but everywhere he looked, he could not find the man. He did, however, find an old board game called "Battleship". He smiled brightly and grabbed the game, making for the one room he hadn't looked; his grandfather's study.
Kaden stopped before the door and gave a knock. There was a pause, followed by a "come in." Kaden pushed the door open and found his grandfather sitting at his desk, at his computer.
"Grandpa!" Kaden said cheerily, running up to the desk. Bruce looked up from his work and smiled.
"Hello Kaden, it's nice to see you!" Bruce replied, offering a smile. Kaden giggled a bit and slid the game onto the desk.
"Grandpa, you wanna play with me? I found this old game we can play!" Kaden chortled. Bruce's smile faded a bit as he glanced back at his computer.
"Sorry Kaden, but grandpa is busy. He has lots of work to do. Perhaps later," he offered. Kaden, crestfallen, grabbed the game off the desk and left the study.
"Okay. Maybe later," he muttered. Alfred entered the study, watching the little boy go with a sad smile. He turned to Bruce then and frowned.
"Master Bruce, this is the third time Kaden has been here this month and you haven't spent any time with him," Alfred scolded. Bruce looked up from his work and frowned.
"I'm sorry Alfred, but I've just been-"
"Busy, yes. You were also busy, as I recall, with Master Dick, Master Jason and Master Tim," Alfred added. Bruce looked up with another frown on his face, and Alfred's expression softened "you yourself have said that you regret not being the father any of your children needed. And now you're repeating the same cycle again with your grandson." Alfred strode up to the desk and turned the computer off, looking Bruce in the eye.
"Go and spend some time with your grandson. Surely your work cannot be more important than him." Bruce heaved a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I don't...know what to do, Alfred. I haven't exactly spent any real time with normal children. Dick, Jason and Tim were all Robin, and I'd hardly call Damian normal," Bruce replied. Alfred scoffed.
"They were all normal children, Master Bruce. Kaden is hardly different except that he's not a Robin. Like any child, he just desires your attention. It doesn't matter what you do, just as long as you take some time for him," Alfred answered. Bruce looked at his old friend for several long moments, in silence before he finally pushed himself up from his desk. He stopped before Alfred and flashed a smile, placing a hand on the man's shoulder.
Bruce made his way out of the study to find Kaden. And find him he did. Poor Kaden was being tormented by Damian again.
"I'm not a mistake!" Kaden shouted. Damian snorted, glancing up at Kaden over the top of his book from where he sat in the lounge.
"You are a mistake. But I don't really have the time to deal with you. So why don't you go bother someone else. Preferably someone who matters as little as you do," Damian said casually. Kaden huffed in annoyance.
"The only mistake here is you! I don't know how a jerk like you-"
"That's funny, coming from a failed abortion," Damian snapped, hopping off the chair and approaching Kaden. He grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt and started to drag him out of the room.
"I don't care to have this conversation any more. You're a distraction and-" Damian droned on, but he was both interrupted and surprised by what happened next.
"Let me go you bully!" Kaden shouted with tears in his eyes as he lurched forward and headbutted Damian in the face. Damian cursed loudly as he let Kaden go, the little boy racing through the room while Damian clutched at his bleeding nose.
"Ah, you little-"
"That's enough Damian," Bruce called, patting Kaden's had as the boy hid behind him.
"Father-" Damian cursed, glaring at the little boy, but Bruce held up a hand and stopped him.
"You had it coming. Frankly, you deserved it for tormenting the poor boy. Now go clean yourself up and leave Kaden alone," Bruce said sternly. These kinds of things were hardly unusually around the manor. Bruce was practically an expert at breaking up fights at this point. Tim and Damian used to swing at each other all the time.
He heard a sniffling noise from behind him and Bruce looked back to see Kaden sniffling, eyes still watery. He flashed a smile before he knelt beside the boy.
"Am I a mistake?" he asked sadly, rubbing the tears from his eyes.
"No. You're not. Damian can be a bit...well...cruel. But he's not all bad. Give it time, he'll warm up to you," Bruce replied, patting the boy's hair. Kaden gave a little nod and hugged his grandfather, who gladly hugged the boy back.
"Sorry Grandpa didn't have time for you earlier. How about you and I watch some movies together?" Bruce asked. Kaden's little face lit up as he wiped the last of the tears from his eyes.
"Okay!" he said cheerily, bringing a smile to Bruce's face. He gently took the little boy's hand in his and led him to his personal home theater. There were comfy, black leather couches, chairs and bean bag seats all around a large coffee table and the home theater system itself was impressive to say the least. A large, 100 inch HDTV was mounted on the wall, with a home theater surround sound speaker system around it.
Bruce settled into the couch and Kaden hopped up beside him.
"Alfred!" Bruce called. Alfred came into the room minutes later as he fired up a movie. Alfred smiled at the sight before him and gave a slight bow.
"Yes sir?"
"Could you perhaps bring us some snacks for our movies?" Bruce asked politely, flashing the man a smile. Alfred's own smile widened a bit as he gave a nod.
"Of course sir." They'd gotten a good ten minutes into the movie before Alfred returned with a small cart full of treats. Kaden's eyes widened and he made a gasping sound.
"Wow," he muttered. Two ice cream sundaes sat upon to top of the tray with all of Kaden's favorite things on it; mint chocolate chip ice cream with sprinkles, gummy bears, hot chocolate sauce, whipped cream and a cherry on top, with a hot brownie underneath it. Alfred handed a sundae each to Bruce and Kaden. But that wasn't all. There were a couple bags of popcorn, some nachos and cheese, and lastly a couple of drinks.
"I took a few liberties, sir. Will this do?" Alfred asked with a sight smirk. Bruce chuckled and gave a nod.
"Yes, thank you Alfred," he said, and turned to Kaden "we'll skip dinner, just this once. Don't tell dad or papa, okay? It'll just be our little secret. And Alfred's."
"Okay!" Kaden said cheerily, munching away happily on his ice cream sundae.
"Enjoy your movie, sirs," Alfred said smoothly.
"Alfred, you sure you don't want to join us?" Bruce asked, looking back at the man as he retreated.
"Quite sure. Perhaps another time."
The movies went on for a good few hours with both Kaden and Bruce laughing in amusement at the movies, occasionally trading commentary. Bruce didn't laugh easily, but he seemed at ease when his family was with him. And Kaden's own laughter was infectious. Not even Bruce could resist.
But night came and in the middle of their final movie, Kaden had fallen asleep. Bruce glanced down at his side, Kaden snoring soundly while leaned against him.
"Perhaps it's time to put the young master to bed?" Alfred offered, coming to collect the cart. Bruce gingerly picked the little boy up and Kaden wound his arms around his grandpa absentmindedly, still sound asleep.
"Don't worry Master Bruce, I shall take care of this," Alfred said smoothly. Bruce gave a nod and climbed the stairs to Kaden's bedroom. He pushed the door open then moved to the bed, pulling down the covers. He had to practically peel Kaden off of him, the boy was really clingy, and/or cuddly when he was tired. So he placed the boy in bed and tucked him in, then tried to slip out of the room silently.
"Mmm...goodnight grandpa," Kaden called tiredly, rolling over in his bed. Bruce flashed a smile toward the boy and closed the door quietly.
"Good night, Kaden."
A few days passed and Dick and Jason came knocking at the manor door.
"Alfred, hey! Where's Kaden?" Jason asked immediately. Alfred chuckled in amusement and gestured for them to come inside. Dick and Jason made their way inside, and Kaden came bounding around the corner. His face lit up as he spotted his parents.
"Daddy! Papa!" He shouted, raving toward the two of them.'
"Hey little wing!" Dick called cheerily.
"How's my little champ!" Jason called with a huge grin on his face, the two of them kneeling down and catching Kaden in their arms as he hugged the both of them.
"I missed you daddy! And you too papa!" Kaden said cheerily as Dick kissed his forehead and Jason ran his fingers through the little boy's hair. Bruce rounded the corner with a smirk on his face and the boy's bags in hand. Jason's smile faded a bit, into a slight smirk as he stood up straight and took the bags.
"He wasn't too much trouble, I hope?" Jason asked. Bruce shook his head.,
"Not at all. In fact, I look forward to his next visit," Bruce replied.
"Did you have fun with grandpa?" Dick asked, patting the boy's hair. Kaden looked up at his papa and smiled brightly.
"Uh huh! We watched movies and played games and-" Kaden went on as he grabbed the man's hand and tugged him out to the car. Jason chuckled in amusement as he watched them go, then turned back to Bruce.
"Thanks for looking after him." Bruce patted Jason's back, wrapping an arm around his shoulders as they walked back to his car.
"It was no problem." Jason hopped into the car and Dick started the engine. As they pulled away from the manor, Kaden rolled down his window and waved back to Bruce.
"Bye Grandpa!" he called back. Bruce smiled as he watched them go, waving as they drove away.
"So, can I count on you having young Master Kaden over more often?" Alfred asked, coming to a stop beside Bruce. Bruce leaned toward the man and flashed a smile.
"Definitely."