Raising Robins

In Public...

Damian had rarely been out to do chores with his father and brothers. The "Billionaire Boys", as the press called them, and their Father were somewhat of celebrities around the Nation, and especially in Gotham. But, as it was, Alfred was away in England, visiting his brother. Much had changed. The boys were now nearing the middle of the school year and it was beginning to get cold outside. No one had had even a single smack to their behind- well, Jason, actually got a paddle swat last week, but anyways- and the boys were feeling invincible. Although now that Alfred had been gone a full 12 hours, the order in the house was awry.

"Damian Thomas." Bruce warned. "I said put your coat on and I mean it."

"My mother had me train up in the snow in nothing more than shorts. The cold makes me have heightened senses." Damian replied, nose in the air.

"Yeah, like the sense that it's cold outside." Tim said, shoving his brother out of the way of the stairs. He wrestled with the sleeve on his left side and Jason "helped" by pulling the hood over Tim's head and demanding him to beg for mercy.

As the Merry Wayne Family made their way to the store to see what they would need for the week Alfred was gone, and what snacks they could sneak into the shopping cart, Jason controlled the radio. No one liked Jason's music. Dick said that it sounded too angry to which Jason replied that it matched his soul. Bruce chuckled.

"So this is where commoners buy their groceries?" Damian asked, loudly.

"Dude, shut it." Dick warned, as he took Damian's hand to cross the parking lot. "You can't just say stuff like that."

"Can I think it?" Damian sneered.

"You can shut the fuck up." Jason said, shrugging into his leather jacket. Tim was pulling his coat tightly around him. Jason looked up at the gold, glowing lights of Gotham Market and felt sick as he remembered being just under Damian's age and starving, trying to steal food. Bruce noted that his second eldest was uncomfortable.

"Jay, would you grab us a cart?"

It distracted Jason enough to get him out of a near flashback. "Uh, yeah. Sure, Dad."

Once they were inside the warm store, they looked around at what they could buy. Jason remembered that instant mashed potatoes were pretty good when he was a kid, but once you've had the real thing, like Alfred makes, there's no going back. Ah, yes. Food.

"We're getting ingredients. Not junk food." Bruce declared. "So Tim, put back the Nutella."

"So what, Dad, we should instead buy whole milk, sugar, and hazelnuts?" Tim asked, reading the label.

Bruce wanted to laugh but instead ignored the kid. It was funny, sure, but he wasn't about to give any sort of praise to his smartass son, when he knew Damian would try to one-up and go too far.

They made it to the cereal isle and then got bread, stopping finally to get fruit and a crap ton of green leafy things that Bruce often made into protein smoothies and occasionally talked the boys into trying.

As they checked out, Bruce let the kids load the items onto the belt and he handed Jason the credit card. Tim looked nervous. Bruce checked the receipt and found a couple of items thrown in casually that he did specifically not buy.

"Timothy." Bruce began, an eyebrow raised. "May I speak with you?"

Tim tried to play off looking cool, but felt his insides melting. "Yeah, sure." They walked out of the store and the other boys bagged things and Dick and Jason both knew that Tim had been trying to hide things in the tremendously large order of a 5 person family grocery bill.

Bruce walked his son behind Gotham Market towards an alleyway.

"Talk."

"About what, Dad?" Tim asked.

"Why?"

Now Tim felt like he was going to piss himself. He could lie, but he didn't want to risk a full-blown spanking.

"Because I run on coffee and junk food. It's addicting."

Bruce turned his finger and Tim sighed, turned around and got a hard swat that lifted him onto his toes. He stung his bottom out and followed his father to the car, which Dick was packing groceries into. Damian, still just seventy two pounds and 4' 5", was plunked and buckled into a booster seat.

As Tim buckled into the backseat after Dick, the second tallest son squished into the middle to avoid Tim and Damian stabbing each other, his father held the door.

"One in public..."

"...one at home." Tim said back, looking at the his feet as he put the buckle in place.