Robin one shot part 3!

12th Day of Christmas

is this self-indulgent because i have to get deadnamed and misgendered at Christmas? YES dear God, what I would give to see Grayson on my presents and not my deadname 

trans!Dick if you haven't guessed

Having a trans ward was a lot easier than Bruce thought. It was hard when it came to seeing the bigotry he'd have to face growing up and how people were for some reason deciding to recognise a child as transgender was inherently sexual but actually raising the child was no different. Dick had insecurities as all kids did, they were just gender-related. He asked all the same difficult questions that other children asked which really tested Bruce's ability to parent. The only thing Bruce saw as different was the fact they ran around at night to fight criminals. Without that, Dick would be a normal little boy to his mentor. Yet Bruce knew not everyone was as accepting as himself and Alfred and he'd spent a lot of time in the principal's office fighting over the injustice of the week. One week it was about using the bathrooms there, another it was about being deadnamed. What he would give to pull Dick out of school but the boy was determined to stay there and have one normal experience in his life. Given his drive and confidence in the face of transphobia, Bruce was dedicated to making this the perfect Christmas for him. Of course, Dick knew that he was accepted and didn't need an extravagant display of wealth as proof of it but this was Bruce. He was a billionaire who wanted to do everything he could and it was the least he could do. He knew there were hard days and things he couldn't do to remedy the situation but providing a wonderful Christmas full of presents was something he could definitely do. 

On Christmas morning, Dick awoke with excitement and raced to jump out of bed to look outside. Snow twinkled in the light and gathered on his window sill. He was completely enamoured with how it danced with the wind and watched it fall for a good while until he heard a knock on the door. "Come in!" he announced before returning his gaze to the white frozen fractals decorating the window pane and the ground below. Snow was probably one of his favourite things. When he was with the circus, it would gather on the tops of the trailers and one of the strong men would help him onto the roof to push it all off. It had to be one of his favourite jobs and he'd wait until someone walked past before he pushed it off on top of them. They'd give him a lighthearted lecture before moving on with their day. He'd miss doing that but now he had Bruce and Alfred plus all those wonderful coworkers of Batman. It wasn't the same but that didn't mean he loved it any less. 

"Good morning Master Dick," Alfred announced as he opened the door. There was a warmth that came from hearing his name. It felt like a warm hug that assured him that unlike the people out there who doubted him, those who mattered cared. His name meant something here as it always would. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas Alfie!" The older smiled softly at him, feeling a sense of comfort in seeing him so happy. "There's so much snow! Can I play in it?" 

"After breakfast and opening your presents, sir," he replied. "I brought up special Christmas pyjamas. Would you like to wear them?" Dick broke his gaze away from the window and raced over to him to inspect the clothes. It was comprised of red flannel pants and a long-sleeved jumper patterned with Santa hats. He nodded upon finishing his inspection, finding them bright enough even if they were only red, white and black. "We will be waiting for you in the living room. Whipped cream and marshmallows in your hot chocolate?"

"Yes, please! Thank you!" Alfred's smile grew at his manners and left him to get dressed. He waited until the older left before diving under his bed for a little box he'd hidden there throughout the whole of December. He felt bad about asking for money to buy gifts so he didn't. Instead, he built them something with materials he deemed fair game to take. They'd been hard to work on considering an adult had to be there when he worked with the equipment in the Batcave. He understood why he was watched, he wasn't naive to the fact he was ten and most ten-year-olds were kept well away from power drills, but that didn't stop it from getting frustrating. He found that he had to work on Alfred's stuff when Bruce watched and vice versa which made him look very suspicious but it was worth it. For Bruce, he made an unbreakable USB. He knew it was unbreakable because he'd tested it very thoroughly. For Alfred, he took inspiration from the James Bond movies and gave him a watch that could fire small sleeping darts just in case bad guys ever tried to get him. He hoped they liked the gifts since he knew they were making an extra effort to make Christmas special. Christmas always felt somewhat bittersweet because he knew that he was supposed to be spending it with his parents but they were gone. He wondered if he could visit them today.