THE WOES OF A SINGLE FATHER ; BATFAMILY && SUPERBAT

Chapter 04

Sometimes
being a brother
is even better
than being a superhero

by Marc Brown

★

"Come here, Damian!" Dick called out, an empty milk bottle on his left hand while his right hand holds out a baby rattle. "Come to big brother, Damian!" The teen gave the baby rattle a light shake, trying to attract the baby's attention.

No response. The baby seemed to find fitting many of his fingers as he could into his mouth more entertaining compared to whatever Dick had just said to him.

"Damian, come!"

Nothing. The child continued to chew on his fingers and a pair of bright chartreuse hues stared back at frustrated eyes of his elder brother.

"Damian!"

"He's not a dog, dickie bird." Jason, who was playing a video game on the other side of the room pointed out the obvious truth. "You can't expect him to go over just because you called him. Not to mention, he is only six-months-old. I doubt he can understand what you're saying."

Dick puffed his cheeks to show his dissatisfaction. "I'm trying to make him walk!"

"Seriously? He's only six months old. He can barely crawl and you want him to walk?" Jason raised a brow in disbelief at the teen.

"I'm going to teach him how, starting from now." Dick said persistently, folding his arms across his chest and gave his baby brother a stern look. Tim, who was reading an encyclopedia on the couch, rolled his eyes at Dick's stubborn attempt. In some ways, he was glad he became a member of the house when he was much older than Damian.

Damian, who had been watching his brother's every movement since the beginning, grinned back at Dick's stern gaze. The baby pulled his sticky fingers out from his mouth as he extended his arms at the elder boy, asking for a hug.

"No, Damian. No huggy until you learn how to walk, or at least crawl." Little Damian made a noise at not getting the hug he was expecting. The child reached his arms out again, demanding an embrace from the brother who would usually smother him with affection.

"Come on, Damian!" Dick was becoming frustrated as his younger brother seemed unaffected by his multiple calls. As Damian grew tired of reaching out his arms, the boy began to suck on his thumb. The thirteen-year-old picked his baby brother from the mattress, then hefted the boy on his feet.

"I know you can stand up!" Dick huffed and puffed. "Just put your feet down like me!"

Maybe Damian finally understood what his older brother was trying to say, because at long last, he straightened his legs out and managed to stand unsteadily while holding a tight grip on Dick's shirt for support.

"Good! That's right, Damian!" Dick gushed, and that earned a grin from the baby as he looked up at his brother. "Now... the hard part." Dick pried Damian's hands off his shirt carefully and took a few slow steps back, waiting to see if Damian could keep his balance. When he was sure Damian wasn't going to fall, he stepped further.

"Okay, Damian! Now walk to big brother!" Dick exclaimed out in excitement as he held his hands out to show his encouragement.

Damian frowned and stretched his own little hands out, wobbling back and forth. "Pa!"

"No, I'm not Papa! I'm Dick! Say it, Di-ck."

"Pa!"

"Pa is what you call Bruce, Damian! I'm not Bruce! Now come to big brother, Damian!"

"Pa..." the baby murmured again, looking down at his unsteady feet. Damian took a deep breath and managed to take one shuffling little step forward.

"You did it!" Dick cheered out. "Now do it again! Walk to big brother, Damian!"

Brows furrowed in utmost concentration, Damian took another wobbling step. He moved his foot to take another, but he began to sway. Before Dick was fast enough to step up and catch him, the boy fell flat on his face.

There was an instant silence in the room. Jason lost his concentration on the game he was playing, while Tim looked up from the encyclopedia he was reading. Dick bit his lip in worry and hurried over as Damian pushed himself up. This wasn't good. There was a little red mark on Damian's nose from the fall; his eyes were filling with tears and his lower lip trembled as a sign of impending outburst.

Uh-oh.

The same thought ran across the three brothers' minds. Jason and Tim abandoned what they were doing immediately and rushed over to make sure Damian's state wasn't more aggravated than it seemed. God knows what Bruce and Alfred would do to them if they knew Damian was injured.

"I'm not involved in whatever troubles you've caused, Dickie-bird. But knowing Bruce and Alfred, your actions are going to cause troubles to me as well! You better come up with something to stop his cries before Alfred arrives!" Jason hissed out at Dick. The boy was definitely not looking forward to having his video games taken away for another week again.

Tears were starting to leak out from the corners of Damian's eyes. His face was screwed up, preparing to wail. Dick knew he had to act fast before his brothers and he got into trouble.

"Tim... go and peek through the door. Make sure that Alfred isn't coming before we stop Damian's cry."

The six year old nodded his head and immediately stood up and ran over to the door. He took a quick glance towards the hall to make sure Alfred hadn't arrived yet before he gave Dick a thumb-up.

Dick immediately tugged his cheeks out. Damian's face relaxed, the misery on his face changed into curiosity -- though his nose had started to dribble and he was still whimpering.

Now that he had his baby brother's attention, Dick stuck his tongue out and crossed his eyes. The expression he made caused a giggle to come out of Damian. Dick continued to make several funny faces before he dragged Jason in to help him. In the beginning, the younger boy denied helping, but after a few pleas, Jason gave in and tagged along with Dick.

When the two brothers puffed their cheeks and pulled their ears out at the same time, Damian finally rocked back and forth with laughter, the tears long forgotten.

Dick grinned along with the baby's laughter while Jason and Tim sighed in relief. The two could feel a heavy weight being lifted from their shoulders as Dick picked Damian up from the floor.

"I'm sorry, Damian." Dick placed his brother on his lap before giving his baby-soft hair a gentle tousle. "I was too harsh to you. You don't have to learn to walk yet if you aren't ready. I'll carry you to wherever you want if that is what you need right now."

Even if Damian couldn't quite understand words yet, the gentle tone his brother used caused him to grin as he wrapped his arms around his brother's shoulders, leaning against the crook of his neck.

Dick echoed the smile. "I love you, Damian." he said, fondly. He pulled his little brother close into a hug and it was then, in the brief moment -- a foul smell started to emit out from the baby's diaper. It didn't even gently waft over, it just hit their nostril in an instant.

Oh no.

" ALFRED!!! "

To be continued.