Bats in the Attic (Young Justice/Batman Beyond)

Easy, Yet...

The night ended with Warren bringing out a beer for everyone, yet not much conversation occurred. Instead, he found himself looking over the strict schedule Mary set up for her toddler which she expected the boy's father, or whoever was at the time in charge of child care. Dick handed Terry over to Warren and watched the tot taken off to bed.

Wally said something about him not necessarily knowing what he was getting into, yet Dick felt he would be fine. Taking care of a toddler didn't seem like such a hard thing to do, but Warren would be working from home tomorrow, having made arrangements with his boss. Watching Wally leave, Dick couldn't help see the reluctance to leave. A look of wanting to help wasn't a look of pity, yet there was that nagging feeling at the back of his head.

He found himself lying on his back, looking up the ceiling, reminding him of all the nights he slept outside. The rain pelted the windows, echoing through the room making him feel even more alone despite knowing Warren and Terry were also in the apartment. The anxiety he felt –

Taking a deep breath, Dick found himself getting up early and starting into his morning routine of exercises. The sun had yet to rise over the place, and yet he knew full well the sun rarely rose in Gotham, and instead, residents arose to find clouds greeting him.

The sound of a child waking up came from the other room, causing a sigh to escape Dick's lips. He headed over to the room he saw Warren take the toddler to. Taking a deep breath, he found Terry sitting on a toddler size bed looking at him, possibly miffed that Dick wasn't one of the parents he was looking for. Snot also dripped from his nose. Dick frowned, before scooping the child up, only to suddenly grimace. "I thought you were potty-trained?"

Terry struggled to get out of his arms, ignoring the question. His stuffed bat fell to the floor, and Dick carefully nudged the toy over to the edge of the bed, so nobody would trip on the item. He set the boy down, allowing Terry to escape through the open door. With a quick flick, the sheets came off, and he headed into the living room area. He found Terry over on the couch. "Say? You don't know where the laundry is, do you?"

The boy turned, allowing Dick to see the child slobbering on his hand. Terry's bright blue eyes blinked, before walking over and holding his drool covered hand. Dick swallowed, before taking Terry's hand. The child tugged, leading him to the small side room before taking off. Dick wiped his hand off on his pants before dumping the sheets into the machine.

The machine roared to life, reminding Dick of the times he sat on the dryer watching Alfred do the laundry, but how the man told him the rules to follow regarding different materials. The things the man drilled into his head – Dick shook his head. Memory wise, it felt as if he'd spent more time with Alfred than his foster father.

It also felt like he was forgetting something.

Specifically, upon arriving in the living room, he found Terry attempting to climb up onto the back of the couch. Dick sighed, hurrying over to scoop the toddler up, watching as Terry attempted to latch onto the couch's cloth material. He'd certainly not forgotten about his charge, but he had forgotten the fact Terry's clothes needed changing.

The toddler struggled to get lose but started yelling, which of course woke Warren up.

Warren stepped out of the room, rubbing his eyes. "You're both up already?"

Dick attempted to transfer Terry slightly to get a better grip on the boy. "Yup. I'm always up this early. I don't know about him, though."

"Mary doesn't' let him out of bed until eight in the morning, but it's only six."

"He's wet. I already put the sheets in the wash, but he doesn't seem to like me much."

The red-haired man sighed, before heading over to scoop Terry out of Dick's arms. "I'll see to it that he gets changed."