~ The Wayne Family ~

Jason would never admit it, Dick knew, smiling at his younger siblings. Hell, Tim wouldn't either. Damian and Bruce especially wouldn't. He could barely believe any of them had done this to begin with. This was- entirely- a once in a lifetime experience.

And that was why he had to take a picture.

Don't you understand? He HAD to.

Jason's form was scrunched over next to the bed, by Daire's slumbering form. Tim had dragged the chair over and fall asleep on the other side of the bed, his back arched awkwardly. His book closed and set aside, hand over Damian, as if reaching towards Daire. Daire had many nightmares over the night, so he probably helped soothed her through one, Dick concluded, smirking in awe.

This whole thing was just too darn cute!

And Bruce- Bruce just made this all the more urgent. Bruce, once sitting at the edge of the bed by his blood son, was now draped across the foot of the bed. A place only made possible by the duo's small frames in the large bed. His knees bent over the edge, letting his feet dangle and gently scruff the floor. One arm was thrown lazily above his head, his face was right next to Daire's feet.

Alfred dutifully passed the camera to Dick, a steady but small smile gracing his aged features.

Dick held it up, waited for it to focus, and captured the amazing sight.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

In hindsight, not checking if the flash turned on or off was a grave mistake.

His family, the Bat family, full of light sleepers, woke at the sudden change in lighting, bolting in upright positions. Dick managed a slightly blurry but overall decent picture of all the sleepy heads sat upright, staring at him.

Of course, then they gathered their wits and bolted for him. He slipped the camera into Alfred's possession as he started to run, sliding the first camera out of his gloved hands.

Alfred made no move to indicate the switch, keeping his perfect posture as the rest of the family chased after Dick, scrambling over the bed and each other in the process.

Jason had hopped on the bed, walking over Daire and Damian. Tim and Bruce were halfway to the door, eyes twitching at the pound Jason made on the floor. He easily caught up to Tim, throwing the smaller boy into Bruce and slowing them both down. Jason rocketed passed, determined to get to Dick first.

"Dick!"

Bruce's firm hands went to Tim's shoulder, keeping him from stumbling over. He didn't wait to see if the boy was okay, though, leaving him at the doorway while shouting, "Jason! Dick!"

Damian, the small devil, darted passed a dazed Tim. "Grayson!"

Daire stayed in bed, alert but smiling softly. Her sparkling eyes drifted over the now empty spots her family had slept in. They had stayed with her throughout the night.

"Did you sleep well, Miss Daire?" Alfred asked, pleasantly.

Daire nodded. Alfred didn't hear, but he knew she whispered a quiet, "Yes," by lip reading.

He smiled in kind. The words, "I'm glad," came out in a light tone, his posture relaxing yet still formal. A moment passed, followed by a loud crashing clang and threatening shouts.

Daire giggled, eyes now at the door; Alfred sighed, glaring at the door.

"Alfred?" a whisper sounded.

His attention turned back to the girl. "Yes?"

Hesitantly, she held her arms out. "H- Hug?"

His eyes widened at the unusual question. The Bat family wasn't known for such direct and sentimental affections. But he relaxed once more, stepping forward to wrap the child in a warm hug.

"Of course."

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

If anyone guessed who was in charge of the Wayne household before, no one did now.

It was definitely Alfred.

Furious at the mess the boys of the family created, he yelled and scolded them for an hour, then made them clean the mess to his spotless standards. He refused to let Daire help, instead balancing his attention between the boys and keeping her happy. For someone of his age, he proved to be great at multitasking.

Bruce tried to get out of it the most. His main excuse: "I have a meeting at Wayne Enterprises."

The meeting started at nine; the family woke up at nine thirty. And Alfred's response was, "Like you attend those silly matters all the time, Master Bruce. Now get to work."

Okay, those weren't his exact words, but you get the picture.

Jason got smacked with a fly swatter when he tried to sneak out. And Alfred sent him an infamous Bat-glare when he found out, too. Alfred poured a gallon of cold water over Tim when he fell asleep. Dick got his music device taken away when he did more dancing then cleaning. Damian did nothing of the sort. Alfred showed up any time one of the others tried to sneak off or start a fight, so Damian begrudgingly did his work.

He wasn't going to be made into a bigger fool then he felt at the moment. And if his father couldn't get passed the butler, he doubt he could.

Or could he?

Worth a shot.

Damian waited for Dick, Jason, and Bruce to start bickering. Sure enough, Alfred soon appeared. He settled their quarrel and took off to make them some refreshments. A minute after Alfred left, Damian slipped out of the room. Of course, the blame of the previous fight flared a new fight, so his presence was unnoticed.

Not too close to be heard behind him but not too long as to be caught red handed.

His family was full of idiots.

He found his sister in the library, sitting at the chess table. Her book nor eyes moved as she greeted, "Hi, Dami."

"Tt, what nonsense are you reading now?" Daire was as schooled and educated about the world as he was, with a high reading level. Yet when given a choice, Daire went with frivolous fiction stories.

Finally, he had Daire's full attention. "It's not nonsense. It's actually really good."

"Shall we discuss over a game of chess, sister?"

"You just want to get out of cleaning." Damian neither confirmed or denied the accusation. "But fine-" her book snapped shut, "-but I'm first."

"Tt, whatever. I'll still beat you."

"Tt, no you won't."

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Damian won.

By the time he was discovered, the young duo were immensely into the game. Daire pleaded to Alfred, wanting to finish the game. And Damian's lack of previous escape attempts did well to win him an early release, much to his brothers' dismay.

He smirked at their shocked expressions, knowing they only came to watch him get in trouble. If looks could kill, Jason would have ripped out Damian's intestines and strangled him with them. Tim looked like he could have shot Damian in the head, burned him, buried him, dug him back up, staked his heart with a wooden spear, then buried him again for good measure. Dick was edging between cooing at the cute brother- sister moment and being angry, not that Grayson's anger ever lasted. Bruce just sighed.

Unfortunately, the cleaning didn't last much longer. And Alfred demanded them to spend time together, especially after last night/ this morning.

"So, what are we going to do?" Jason wondered aloud, pulling out a gun and a cleaning rag.

Bruce, who was pacing while going over some reports, snatched the gun as he walked by.

"Hey!"

"No."

"I wasn't doing anything!"

"Still no."

"For fuck's sake, B. I was just cleaning it!"

"Jason, you know I-"

""Don't approve of guns,"" he mocked, flapping his hand in a jabbering motion. "Yeah, yeah. Heard it all before."

"Yet you keep bringing them into the manor," Tim mused, flipping a page in his book.

Jason sent him a deadpan expression; Tim didn't look up to see it.

"Tt," Damian tutted, annoyed at the pointless banter.

Smuggled stiffly in her brother's side, Daire released a small giggle. Damian peaked at her, unable to stop the slight smile. He still found the fight childish and stupid, yet if his sister was happy, he'd tolerate it. For how long? He didn't know. But he'd tolerate it for now.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

"What?" Tim questioned Dick, an eyebrow raised.

He repeated, "We should have a family game/ movie day!"

"Why?" Jason ticked.

"Well, you're leaving tonight, and Tim's going back to the Titans tomorrow morning. It's our last night together as a family for who knows how long. I think we should spend it together."

"And I think you're an emotional lunatic," Jason shot back.

"I think it's a great idea, Master Dick," Alfred sided.

And with that, the Wayne Family Day began.

They started off doing typical family things, watching two movies and playing some board games. Alfred banned board games for the day after Jason lost and shot up the game (along with a table). He ushered them out of the house to reduce further mess making.

So they went to the Batcave.

The family that trains together stays alive, right?

Damian and Dick were the best to watch. They flipped and bounced around each other, passing off quick attacks. Dick, having grown out of his childhood slim figure, had taken a tactic similar to Bruce's, relying a bit more on strength than he did as a kid. Damian was strong for his age, but he only had so much strength. He relied on the weak spots of the body, knowing them all by heart. Dick still had his acrobatic grace, moving like leaves in the breeze. Still, his larger stature made it difficult to dodge some of Damian's quick attacks. But Damian hated losing. Each time he lost a battle, he was more determined to win the war, letting his emotions burn his technique away. Dick won, pinning Damian down with his larger frame.

Tim and Daire were nice to watch, too. Daire flipped around and made quick attacks much like Damian, years of training showing in her precise blows. She watched, quick to react and dodge. Tim, despite the late start, had trained hard, too. His quick, analytical brain helped, too. Their small figures demanded similar fighting techniques, and the exchanged series of quick blows, which the other did their best to block or dodge. Although they ran into several close calls, Daire gained the victory, flipping over Tim and hooking her arm around his neck. Her hands poised to brake the fragile supporter, she froze before delivering the fatal blow.

Bruce didn't appreciate the close call, even though Daire swore she wouldn't have carried through with the move. Keeping his dignity, Tim shook Daire's hand, congratulating her with the promise to win the next fight.

Jason, to the normal person, would be considered a bit scary. He let his anger fuel his fight. His overbearing muscle going into all of his attacks. Bruce, who had fought villains as strong as Superman, held his own against the brute strength. Jason had to dip a bit into his training as Robin to land a blow on him. Their strength leveled pretty well, demanding a more tactical fight than plain force. Of course, the more hits Bruce got in, the more anger Jason relied on. Not long after their fight started, Bruce won. It was the shortest fight of all.

They switched partners, careful to keep Jason from going against Tim. Although Jason had worked out many of his problems surrounding Tim (though the same could not be said about Bruce) no one wanted to chance sparking some forgotten resentment for the third Robin.

Next Dick suggested a Bat-a-rang throwing contest, which turned out to be rather pointless. They all had uncanny aim, hitting the center of the target every throw.

Damian was the only one to miss, his aim thrown off when Jason coughed, "Short stack!" mid- throw. It started another round between the boys, one that Bruce and Dick had to intervene before lethal force was used.

"I had fun," Damian admitted at the end of the day.

"Me, too," Daire agreed.

Jason, Tim, and Dick froze, eyes glued to Damian.

"What?" said boy snapped.

"Who are you, and what have you done with Damian?" Jason accused, hiding behind Tim. Tim rolled his eyes but was unable to move since Jason's large hands engulfed his shoulders.

"Tt, what are you going on about now, Todd?"

"You don't enjoy anything."

"I enjoy several things."

"Like what?"

"Not being around your fat ass, for one," Damian retaliated.

Dick laughed; Tim snickered. Daire's eyes widened, a hand flying up to cover her mouth.

"Damian," his father warned.

"No, no, B," Jason waved off. "I had that coming. I walked right into that one." He pushed Tim aside, walking straight up to Damian and wrapping him in a tight hug, lifting the child's feet off the floor.

"Wha-? Todd!"

"He's growing up so fast!" Jason jokingly cooed. "And he's so much like me!" He faked a few sniffles. "Our little baby bat is growing up, guys. It won't be long before he ends up like his father, with a million chil-"

Damian cut him off, finally freeing himself from his annoying brother's grasp and throwing him over his should, onto the cold, hard ground.

"Go die, Todd!" were Damian's last words before he marched back up to the manor.