Trying to update all of my Teen Titans fanfictions (This, Boys Support Boys, and Common Mistakes) before I leave for Thanksgiving break a week from tomorrow. This chapter's checked off but the other two will be harder and I still also have to do school work and Nanowrimo, so wish me luck!

Chapter 3

"Gar, Gar, Gar, no, no, no, no, no!" Bruce caught his youngest by the back of his cozy little Christmas sweater, lifting him through the air. Gar squealed in delight.

Gar raised his arms like Uncle Clark, flying through the air in daddy's strong arms.

"Those presents aren't for us yet!" After already celebrating two birthdays and two Christmases as a family, Bruce had kind of expected him to get the concept of presents by now. Kori and Richard and Raven had grasped it when they were three like Gar was now. But Gar didn't hold onto concepts as easily, and that was okay too. Gar's face contorted into a pout, almost breaking Bruce's heart.

Gar pouted, looking forlornly at the boxes, raising an open palm down to his forehead and pulling it away in a Y shape, asking Bruce for an explanation.

"Because we have to wait until tomorrow. It's a surprise," Bruce thought about how to best phrase it, "it's a game."

Now Gar brightened, a smile taking over his face as he brought thumbs up A shapes together, delighted by the prospect of a game.

"Here's how we play," Bruce held Gar close, whispering like it was a secret between them and distracting from Alfred's repeated rewrapping of the lovely gifts. Gar was beaming while he snuggled close.

"We're going to go upstairs and get ready for bed and," his voice changed to assert the excitement of the scenario, "tomorrow morning when everyone is up we're going to eat breakfast and open all those presents!" Gar grinned in excitement and clapped, though Bruce didn't know if it was presents or breakfast that excited him. Bruce's grin matched Gar's infectious smile as he waved two 5 handshapes and he kissed the boy's forehead.

"Yay!" Bruce agreed, carrying him upstairs, running a bath, and changing him into warm and soft pajamas. He carried Gar towards his room, before feeling a tug on his shirt. He looked down and saw his oldest son.

"What's up, Vic?' He asked, crouching down with the sleepy tot to reach his and Victor's preferred level of communication.

"We want to have a Christmas sleepover in my room," the six-year-old explained.

"Oh, okay. Try not to stay up too late though, Gar is already nodding off and tomorrow is going to be a big day."

"We won't, dad. I promise." Victor frequently made himself the martyr, holding himself accountable for any of his sibling's mistakes. He was the oldest after all.

"Alright, is everyone in your room already?"

"Yes."

"Then let me go say good night to everyone and I'll let you have your fun."

"Okay." Victor smiled up at him. It was easy to get along with Bruce's oldest, Victor was incredibly smart, kind, and responsible.

They moved through the house towards Victor's room, Gar humming to himself. Victor's room, usually neat save for the occasional scattered lego set, was now decorated with blankets, pillows, and sleeping bags. Richard and Kori cheered when the final Wayne child joined the party, apparently a well-planned event that Bruce had been unaware of until now.

"Good night kiddos. Try to get some sleep tonight, Christmas will come faster if you go to bed at a decent time."

"Don't worry daddy, we'll sleep," Kori promised, the four-year-old smiling sweetly.

"Eventually," Richard added with a mischievous grin.

"Be responsible," Bruce urged, setting Gar down on a pile of pillows near where Raven was reading silently. He kissed Gar's forehead, then Raven's, moving next to Kori, Richard, and Victor.

"Good night kiddos, I'll see you in the morning."

Gar waved his hands in the same 5 handshape, cheering at this new game, only wondering a little bit why he wasn't tucked into his own bed.

It was Bruce, not the children, that was unable to sleep from excitement. At three he awoke and crept through the well-decked halls and spied on his kids, all cuddled up together, comfy in their matching pajamas that would feature in numerous pictures in the morning. Bruce snapped a secret picture of the child pile now, Kori snuggled against Raven, Gar using Richard and Victor as pillows, Victor wrapping an arm protectively around every sibling he could reach.

After visiting the little ones, Bruce snuck downstairs to make sure that the presents were all in place. Victor was getting his first bike without training wheels, Kori had a massive dollhouse in store for her, Richard was getting the remote-controlled helicopters he'd been begging for. Raven, quite predictably, had asked for more books, but Bruce had also gotten her an intricate journal. Gar was both the hardest and the easiest to shop for. Gar was happy with anything and everything. Bruce frequently found Gar and Richard duking it out with wrapping paper tubes or hiding in cardboard fortresses. Gar's prized possession since March had been one of Bruce's old sweatshirts that had almost been discarded, which Gar carried around everywhere. Gar had everything he ever wanted. So you could get him anything and he'd be delighted by it, but he couldn't make you a list of his desires. So Bruce had found a few more soft toys to add to Gar's ever-growing collection of comfort items, and a few coloring books that would quickly be filled and tossed aside. Nice gifts, but gifts that disappointed Bruce immensely. Because these were the kinds of things he would just surprise his kids with if they were behaving or had had a tough week. So it didn't feel like Bruce was really driving home the significance of Christmas for Gar. Gar didn't know why the holiday was special.

And maybe that was okay. Maybe life was better for Gar because he derived the same joy from Christmas as he got when he found a cool stick outside. His outlook was always so bright, as long as he assumed he was safe and comfortable. Bruce loved his littlest boy for all his eccentricities, but even the ever-bubbly Kori could differentiate between Christmas and last Tuesday. So, despite appreciating Gar's mindset, Bruce did not understand it in the slightest. But that was okay. Christmas would be wonderful regardless. When Bruce thought back to all those Christmases he'd spent without a family, he couldn't imagine it any other way. When he went to bed, he knew he would wake up just as happy as each one of those kids.