A Basket Full of Bats

Grumpy Morning

When Jason woke up and the power was back on he grinned. He hopped in the shower and scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed until he was pink and his housemates were banging on the door of the bathroom.

Wayne Manor was old. It had a huge number of room but it didn't actually have a huge number of bathrooms and most of the bedrooms had wardrobes rather than closets. There was even the remnants of an old bell pull system to summon servants although it was defunct and Alfred had threatened to actually use every last day of his vacation if anyone thought to repair it. He had worked at Wayne manor for over 40 years and rarely took vacation. According to his contract he could accrue vacation days. He could be gone for over a year without having used all of his vacation days.

"GET OUT OF THE BLINKING BATHROOM TWERP!"

"Brown just waddle down the stairs like a fat duck and use the downstairs washroom! Stop screeching like a banshee. Some of us were sleeping!"

"Stephanie, I think under the circumstances Bruce or Terry will allow you to use one of their washrooms," suggested Tim hopping from foot to foot. "Terry isn't even home yet."

"Terry's aftershave makes me toss my cookies and Bruce went to bed half an hour ago. I am not going to disturb him and if I WADDLE down the stair, there's going to be a little yellow trail following me you jerk wad!" Stephanie threw her hairbrush at Damian who caught it one handed smirked unpleasantly and confiscated the hairbrush.

"Ermmm,.." Tim gave up waiting and scurried downstairs himself.

Cassie was using the only other upstairs bathroom in this wing of the building. The bathrooms in the other wing (which was closed off when they didn't have guests anyway) required going downstairs, through the main hall and up a second set of stairs to get too. Cassie liked to read poetry while doing her business, so her business generally took rather long.

Stephanie waddled over to the other washroom. "Oh for the love of TP and bubble bath! She's got the classic jazz playing! She'll be all day! Cassie get the frig off the toilet and stay out of my makeup!"

Finally Jason came out of the washroom whistling happily. He grinned at Steph and dodged her swat.

"'Bout time you aggravating little wiener dog!"

Bruce woke up three hours later because Jason was in the music room banging on the drums like a gangster owed money by them. His face was red and his expression was furious. Bruce was thankful the baby's room was heavily sound proofed. "Jason what is that odd outfit you're wearing?"

Jason was wearing grey shorts and a long sleeved plaid button up flannel shirt. Jason hated button up anything with a passion.

"They won't let me hold him! I scrubbed extra long. I trimmed my fingernails and scrubbed under them like a girl. Bruce I even brushed my teeth and my hair! No one even told me too neither."

"Come here Bud," said Bruce with sigh. "Now that you've thoroughly punished the drum kit let's go for a walk."

"GAH! Thank God!" exclaimed Stephanie who'd been trying to get Jason to stop for half an hour. She had a massive head ache and it seemed Jason was determined to make her life miserable today.

Bruce corrected her with a sharp glare. The drums were one of Jason's safer outlets.

Steph rolled her eyes and wandered off to the TV room. All she wanted today was quiet and free access to the washroom. She was due in 18 days. All her body wanted was to sleep and to pee. Was that too much to ask? Oh and animal crackers with peanut butter. She changed direction and started waddling to the kitchen instead. Last night had been horrible. Everything ached today. The baby had a foot firmly lodged underneath her ribs on her right side and it kept kicking with a heck of an attitude. Her one leg kept going numb and right between the legs, all of it just ached.

Tim scuttled past still in pyjamas grinning and clutching a stolen expresso which he absolutely was not supposed to be allowed.

"ALFIE! Timmy's in the magic sauce again!", hollered Stephanie.

"STEPH! What the heck?!" protested Tim chugging the drink frantically as Alfred popped his head out of the kitchen. "Traitor!"

"Master Timothy!"

Jason was fairly calm. It wasn't Bruce that had told him he couldn't hold Dickie Bird. At least, this morning it wasn't. Last night after the trip through the chemical vents Bruce had told him it probably wasn't a good idea but that was different. Jason had the chemical burns on his knees to prove it. Dickie bird didn't need chemical burns on top of everything else.

"You know who else didn't get to hold him?" asked Bruce.

Jason gave Bruce a questioning look.

"Me. I'm his dad, shouldn't I get dibs? Right?"

Jason laughed at the very idea of Bruce calling dibs on something.

"Jason, he's sick right now and yesterday wasn't very restful for him. The poor little guy was so tuckered out he wasn't even waking up to eat. I actually saw him sleep through a diaper change if you can believe it. Maybe we should ask them again tomorrow."

"Yeah... ok.." agreed Jason reluctantly. "I thought the flannel would be extra good at keeping him warm and I could button it up around him. Ya know?"

"That showed forethought and planning."

"Could what happened to Helena still happen to him?" asked Jason softly.

Overtired children ask the hardest questions thought Bruce. "Yes." Bruce knew he should soften the response somehow but how? "In about two weeks his development should have reached the point where it is less likely to happen."

"He's one and a half months old and he's still littler that she was."

"Did you have bad dreams lasts night?" asked Bruce suddenly.

Jason nodded. "Dreamt of Pops 'cept, he had green hair. He broke a beer bottle and he was laughing and Dickie was crying and Pops was coming and I was trying to stop 'em. That's all I 'member."

Bruce ruffled Jason's hair and they changed directions towards the nursery.

Dickie was coughing and crying weakly.

Jason went to go stroke Dickie's head which he usually seemed to like. "Bruce is the eggie's heater broke? Cause he's really hot."

Thankfully it was Jason's favourite nurse this morning because Bruce could tell from her body language that whatever was going on was life threatening.

"His body's all hot and sweaty because inside he's fighting this epic battle against germs. Here, why don't you give him his superhero mask. Maybe that'll help." The nurse was always so animated when she talked. She passed Jason the blindfold from his sun lamp treatments; the one that Cassie had personalized.

Jason with a very determined expression on his face with extra gentle care wrapped the blindfold doing double duty as a superhero mask around his little brother's eyes.

Dickie's crying eased. Bruce suspected the illness had his baby overtired, overstimulated, head-achy and light sensitive so the mask helped the headache. The nurse wouldn't say it. Only the doctor would but Bruce suspected he was in for another of those he's not likely to make it through the next twenty four hours speeches. Those speeches... How would Damian put it? They were the hircismus(offensive armpit odor) of conversation. Bruce didn't want to listen to another of those speeches, not now, not ever again.

"Mr. Wayne, the doctor wants to talk to you," spoke the nurse.

Bruce listening to Richard's wheezy breathing and pathetic little coughs rubbed his hands over his eyes tiredly then, glanced over at Jason who was in a very gentle voice explaining to his Baby Bird that when you were fighting it was important to have a plan and to keep your guard up.

"I think his plan right now was to call for back up. That's why he was crying to make sure we knew he was in trouble. So, I'm sending in some medicine. That alright with you?", the nurse asked Jason while preparing an injection.

"Well, if he's asking for backup you gotta!" Jason answered earnestly.

Bruce smirked. That nurse was worth every penny.

Come on baby boy just keep beating the odds.