"Here is the popcorn, cookies, and pretzels. And to drink, we have the lemonade, coffee, and, of course, hot chocolate." Alfred passed out drinks to everyone.

"Now, lets start this movie!" Richard smiled brightly as everyone grabbed their drinks and food and settled down.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The end credits started rolling.

"That was fun." Charlie said, stretching and yawning.

"Shhhh." Dick gently hushed.

Charlie looked over to see Damian asleep against Richard.

"Aawweee!" Cierra softly said.

"Yeah, the demon is cute." Jason said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Jason." Dick frowned at him.

"Whatever!" Jason rolled his eyes and walked out of the room.

"The demon?" Charlie whispered softly.

"Later." Bruce said, looking at the sleeping boy.

Richard scooped Damian up and whispered, "I guess it's time for bed."

"Awwe! But I don't wanna go to bed yet!" Steph got a little louder.

"Shhh. And bedtime. Go on!" Dick smiled at her.

Tim, Steph, and Cass all for up and went to their rooms.

"I'm going to tuck him in and then meet you two downstairs." Richard said, smiling as he looked at Damian.

"Okay, I shall make some more coffee." Alfred nodded with a smile.

"Why is Richard acting more like his mother?" Charlie asked, confused.

"Because Richard practically raised him while I was gone." Bruce said.

"And I take it that him leaving has been hard on Damian?" Cierra asked, her mind going back to earlier.

"Yeah, but we make do here." Bruce said with a slight frowned.

"Make do?" Charlie and Cierra asked.

"Damian only listens to Dick and sometimes me. If it's anyone else, you can forget about him listening." Bruce sighed.

"I thought you guys would be downstairs by now." Dick said.

"Your relationship with Damian is interesting." Cierra said.

"What do you mean?" Richard asked.

"You act like his mother more than his brother." Charlie said.

"Well, I was not only his parent but the others for a bit too. Damian was brought here shortly before Bruce disappeared. I had to go through all the sleepless nightmares, the arguments, the relearning, everything new with him. It was difficult but very much worth it. I think any parent could say that though. But Damian, going from trying to kill everyone to actually trying to care for the others, it's a big improvement!" Dick smiled.

"He tried to kill everyone?" Cierra asked.

"He tried to kill the others because he's "the only blood son!" I remember the day that tiny guy came in and tried to rip us all a new one. Tough fight even for a police officer! I won though and we respected each other after that. Then Bruce left and I was left getting phone calls from his principal every day. The beginning months were the roughest. We made it through though!" Richard smiled widely, reminiscing.

"Why was he so violent? How did you do it? Getting him to calm down I mean." Charlie asked.

"It was the way his mother raised him. It was either be on top or die. Anyone would be violent in that raising. As to how I did it... I'm not sure. There was a lot of fights but you need to have a lot of patience. I did things wrong, but I feel like every new parent isn't perfect. I owned up to it though. I talked to them all and was just there. The world gets lonely and ugly and having someone there is pretty important at a young age. Even now, it's important. It took a lot of tears and phone calls. We all made it through. We're still here and we're good." Dick said.

"It must have been tough going from single bachelor police officer in Blüdhaven to a CEO dad in Gotham." Cierra said.

Richard laughed, "It was more than tough! Gosh! There were moments where I wanted to walk out and never look back. But I'd hate myself if I did that. They're just kids. They already lost one family, already lost Bruce. They didn't need to loose me too. It was difficult going from a police officer with an apartment to a dad with a mansion and a thousand children. I gave up my job, my apartment, heck! Even dating I put to the side. I needed to be with them more than ever. I needed to be in Gotham for that all. I gave up everything for them. And I'd do it again. It was difficult but very much worth it. To see their progress. To see them happy again. It was worth losing everything else. Children really are the best reward. When they act good!" Grayson laughed.

Bruce chuckled as did Alfred.

"You understand when you have children. It really is a full time job!" Richard exclaimed.

"You keep saying it was difficult. What made it all so difficult?" Charlie asked.

"We all thought Bruce was dead. The first two to three weeks were mourning. Then came the anger for a month. It got to the point where we all had a giant fight between us and I had to break it up. I realized that I really had to step up to the plate. Bruce wasn't there any longer. Alfred, bless his soul, is a bit too old to take care of them. It was up to me to be the parent. So, I did. The pain from losing the first set of parents hit everyone, even me, pretty hard. Then we were all angry. Then I had to break it up and help everyone heal. I had to work with them all individually and together. It was a long process to get back to a functional family. I mean, we still have our dysfunction, but it manageable now." Dick explained.

"Wow." Cierra nodded.

"You're very strong, Richard." Bruce said.

Richard smirked, "I love you too, old man."

"Well, this old man needs some sleep!" Bruce joked.

"Okay! I should get some too. I'll see you all tomorrow!" Dick put his cup in the sink and went off to bed.

"He's grown so much." Alfred commented as he cleaned the mug.

"Yeah?" Charlie asked.

"Yes. From that little 6 year old to that grown parent. Master Richard has come a far way. And don't let him fool you. It was more than difficult. Damian got into fights everyday. Richard was pulling him off the other kids with little sleep. He jumped into the role of parent quickly. Sometimes I don't think he could even let himself mourn correctly. He saw the children and decided to be strong for them. He's grown so much." Alfred said, drying the mug and putting it up.

"Well, enough story telling! Time for bed!" Alfred smiled.

"We'll see you in the morning then Alfred!" Cierra and Charlie said heir goodnights and then went to get a peaceful night's rest.