The Newest Wayne [COMPLETED]

Chapter 8~ Happy Birthday!

A/n: another short chapter! I'm sorry everyone. I swear the chapters will be back to their usual length by the end of the week. Chapter 9 will be longer and definitely better. This one is more of a prequel to chapter 9 than anything else, since the majority of this plot point will go down in the next chapter. Consider this a 'where they are now'.

July seventeenth, my fifteenth birthday. I didn't tell anyone that it was my birthday, I didn't bother. I had never celebrated it. I had been with the Waynes for almost a year, and I had officially become batgirl, whereas I had only been doing patrols and the occasional mission before, I was now a full-fledged proud hero. I tried to hide my birthday, I really did.

But let's face it, are we ever really alone in the Wayne house?

The answer is no.

"Happy birthday, Avery." Tim said, filling up his third pot (not cup, pot) of coffee. The entire kitchen reeked of energy drinks and black coffee every morning, a scent that I found a strange sort of familiar comfort in.

"Wait, What?" I nearly choked on my cereal.

"Your writing wasn't the only thing I found when I hacked your laptop." Tim smirked at me.

"Kid, why didn't you say something?" Dick asked, grinning.

He knew he was embarrassing me.

"I don't know." I shrugged. " ' Guess I just didn't think to."

"Well, we did. Happy birthday. So short notice, I would've gotten you something." Dick stared at me wide-eyed.

"Don't worry about it, Dick." I told him, gently swatting his hand from my shoulder.

"Well, it already is Summer vacation, it's not like we have anything to do but celebrate." Damian pointed out.

Damian already knew how my mind worked. He liked to make me think that I was doing him a favor, if I was going to care for myself. I may have had a fake amount of pride and confidence that I would use to prove Ethan and his friends wrong, but I had very little honest-to-god self respect. I couldn't help but fall for all of his reverse-phycology, each and every time.

"Yeah," Jason caught on fairly quickly, "why don't we just find something to do? Like maybe go out for lunch for your birthday?" His voice was saturated with implication.

"Why don't we go to Red Robin?" Tim suggested, though I couldn't tell if it was a joke or not.

"Get over yourself." Dick shot back. Cass wasn't awake yet, no surprise there. She had a tendency to sleep in when there wasn't anything going on. Alfred and Bruce were in the living room, doing whatever the two of them do. My guess: brooding.

"Remember a few months ago when we all got Burger King and then sat around in the park and just talked? That was fun. Until it wasn't so fun." I shook my head, remembering the sudden slam of the rock to my chest. That wasn't fun. Not at all.

"Let's do that again, then." Dick looked at all of us, and everyone muttered some sort of agreement at the same time. "Barbara can join us this time."

"Don't forget Steph." Tim pointed out.

"Steph too."

Stephanie Brown and I had a strange relationship. She was talkative, and she had a habit of going on tangents about whatever it was she had to say. I had a more quiet nature, which gave her an opportunity to talk my ear off while I typed out a chapter on my phone. Still, she had a sense of humor, and she was actually the one who taught me about makeup and helped me choose my dresses for galas.

I had never spent too much time with Barbara Gordon, but she seemed nice enough. I had taken her mantle, and by this point we were alternating on patrol. She would be downtown while I'd be in West Gotham, so the criminals would think we were the same person. She was the only person who could keep Dick under control, so, brownie points to her.

I put my bowl in the sink and went upstairs to get myself dressed. I chose a  light brown-beige tank top with a pair of dark green jean shorts. I looked...earthy. It was the outfit that I wore when I first walked the dogs in the woods with Damian and Tim, then of course Steph and Jason decided to secretly follow us, startling Titus and Ace and ruining the moment. Even by this point, I still reached for my hair ties, before remembering that I didn't have any hair to pull back.

"Jesus take the wheel," I muttered as I put my flip-flops on, "because I will run a bitch over if today goes wrong."

The rest of the family had never heard me curse, but I could talk like a truck-driver if I really wanted to. Of course, I only did whenever I would be talking about Ethan and Kevin. The two of them had stopped contacting me, except for a few Instagram messages this summer, which I'd promptly knock down with a witty comeback. I always smirked whenever I saw the little seen icon at the bottom of the message, and no reply.

I popped the door open and made my way back downstairs. Damian had already gotten dressed earlier, but other than that, everyone was still in their pajamas.

Tim was on the phone with Babs, giggling to himself at whatever she was saying.

It wasn't long until I heard the doorbell ring. Alfred was at the door before any of us could answer, and I noticed a head of blonde hair in the doorway. Steph was here.

"Ahhhh, Happy Birthday!" She said excitedly. "Tim told me. By the way, here you go." She handed me a small envelope.

Oh, so Tim told her.

"Thanks, Steph." I smiled at her. She was so excited, it made me break into a grin.

My birthday.

It was my birthday and someone cared.

They all cared.

My brothers.

My sisters.

My family.

The batfamily.