My lovely readers! I'm so so sooooooooo so sorry for leaving you for so long! I'm sorry! But last year of high school is being a bitch and I got in some serious problems with my eyes and things like that. But not excuse is valid... I'm sorry! But this chapter is here now. I hope for you to enjoy it. Since I put some special thing in there.

Also thanks to all the people who reviewed last chapter, or follow/fav the story. You make me really really happy :3

I would like to officially announce that cocopops1995 will be the BETA reader of this story *claps and cheers* THANKS SO SO SO MUCH!

Happy reading!

Disclaimer: The characters or the song don't belong to me

Chapter Three

He was lying somewhere soft and warm. No sound around him besides someone's soft breathing. No sound... He opened his eyes slowly, trying to figure out where he was. His mind was a mess and his head and back hurt a lot.

"Maybe" he thought as he recalled where he had fallen asleep "It's because I slept on a couch" A couch?

He took a look at his surroundings. He was in the manor. And then he recalled the events of the previous day.

Barbara.

As the memories began to fill his mind his stomach flipped. He ran to the bathroom. Painful heaves made his body shaky and clammy with sweat. The floor was moving as well as the walls and the ceiling. The whole world was spinning and he was short of breath. Everything was just wrong!

"It's ok, Dick" a gentle hand was drawing shooting circles in his back while he emptied his stomach contents

"Just breathe, big brother. Deep breaths" He recognized Tim's soft voice trying to soothe him.

After what felt as an eternity the nausea seemed to ease and his body relaxed, almost going limp into the embrace of his little brother.

"How are you feeling?" Tim asked after a moment of silence in the bathroom.

"Crappy" Dick answered in a bitter whisper.

Tim went silent.

"Where's my daughter?" the older one asked with a hoarse voice; trying unsuccessfully to regain some of his composure.

"Jason is with her, she woke up like twenty minutes after you… went to sleep. We've been trying to get her to sleep, but she is restless and upset. She only seems calm with Jason but even he hasn't got her to sleep." Tim said with a note of amusement in his quiet voice.

"She likes him." Dick stated.

"She does, but I think she wants her dad." Tim said getting up from the floor and helping Richard to stand up. The acrobat tried his best to look a little more like himself by splashing some water on his face and hair, but the reflection in the mirror was way worse than he had thought it would. Deep shadows framed his blue eyes, his skin was sickly pale and his hair was messier than ever. He looked awful.

"You should go upstairs, she is in your room… or what used to be you room." Tim's voice was calm but it was obvious that he was tired.

"You should sleep too, you know." The bags under his younger brother's eyes were almost as large as his own, "What is it, three in the morning?"

"Actually two, you only slept for three hours." Tim told him while they exited the bathroom

"That's longer than I thought." he said, kind of surprised.

The younger one just glanced at him with troubled eyes.

While they were approaching the second floor of the extensive manor Richard thought of his daughter waiting for him upstairs.

"Robin doesn't want her father," he thought with grief in his heart "She needs and wants her mother." It was just a thought, he wasn't going to elaborate on it at the moment because he knew that once he did the world would collapse yet one more time. He wasn't ready. Not yet.

They opened the door to Richard's room and found Jason lying in the bed with baby Robin on his chest. Face to face. Tim couldn't suppress the smile forming in his lips. Jason was talking in whispers to the baby but when his gaze fell on Dick and Tim he stopped abruptly.

Ashamed and flushed Jason put the baby in his arms and walked over where Richard was standing.

At the sight of her dad, Robin flashed a tender smile and extended her little chubby arms towards him.

"Hey baby girl." Dick said extending his arms to take Robin. She was soft and smelled amazing. Her soft locks of hair were sticking out in odd angles but otherwise there was no sign of her being restless or upset.

Robin bounced lightly in her dad's arms with joy and started making soft little noises that lit up the faces of her uncles and dad.

"She ate?" Richard asked looking at Jason.

"No, but I don't think she´s hungry, after all this is not her normal routine and it's two in the morning, maybe you should rock her to sleep." the green eyed man suggested

"Maybe." Was the only thing Richard said before sitting on the edge of the bed with Robin cradled comfortably in his arms. Dick began a slow rocking motion with his eyes lost in his daughter's face. He wasn't smiling but his eyes were shining in a good way.

Jason and Tim took the sight as a cue to leave the young father alone with the baby girl. Then when both his brother had left Richard began to softly hum a well know melody that Babs used to sing to Robin.

"Heaven can wait and a band of angels wrapped up in my heart will take me through the lonely night, through the cold of the day. And I know, I know, Heaven can wait…" the sweet soft voice of Barbara singed to the baby the night she was born. It was a tender and soft singing. She was half lying in the bed with her daughter bundled in her chest. They both looked beautiful "…And all the gods come down here just to sing for me. And the melody's gonna make me fly, without pain, without fear…"

Then his wife looked up to him and smiled with adoration. He smiled back and got nearer to embrace both his girls.

"Give me all of your dreams and let me go along on your way. Give me all of your prayers to sing and I'll turn the night into the skylight of day. I got a taste of paradise, I'm never gonna let it slip away." Barbara kept singing in the same tender tone, caressing Robin's soft mop of hair while the baby slept.

And suddenly the song she was singing gained sense…heaven could wait…this was better. Barbara, Robin and Richard. Finally his own family. Yeah there were Bruce, Jay, Tim, Dami, Alfred, Steph and Cass. But these girls were just for him. Just his perfect little heaven.

The memory faded away when Robin sighed deeply in her sleep.

This was his heaven now, and he would have to accept it. His heaven was missing an angel. Maybe it wasn't even a heaven. Maybe he had been gifted with two angels and now one of them was gone.

A single tear rolled down his cheek.

Barbara was really gone and he was left with a three month old baby in his care.

Life was about to get messy.

"Don't worry, princess. We'll manage. It's what mommy would have done" he looked down at his baby, "You have your mommy's hair, and I bet you will have her personality too. You're going to be strong and brave and beautiful like her. You'll see my little Robin" he thought as he moved to the middle of the bed with the baby, "We'll manage." He lay down, placing the baby girl on his left side. Dick closed his weary eyes and sleep took him almost instantly.

Morning was barely beginning when a very tired Bruce entered the manor followed by Damian; who didn't look any better than his father. They made their way toward the kitchen where only Alfred greeted them.

"Master Bruce, Master Damian." he said as he flipped a pancake, "Coffee, Master Bruce?" he offered

"Please, Alfred." Bruce said, taking a seat and the bar of the kitchen. Damian excused himself and walked to his room, the boy was beyond tired after spending the night at the hospital. Jason had arrived in the morning to change places with them until someone else could take his place.

Both Bruce and Alfred watched the young boy until he disappeared through the door. Only then did Bruce let out a deep sigh.

"How is Dick?" The younger man asked as Alfred placed a mug filled with steaming coffee in front of him.

"Master Dick is… tired. He and young Miss Robin are sleeping in one of the rooms upstairs." Alfred didn't want to bring out the shattered state of the young acrobat but eventually Bruce's raised eyebrows made him talk, "He's shattered, Bruce." The use of only the name of the younger man testified to the graveness of the situation

"I don't know what can I say to him; when he left the hospital he looked so lost… and then we have his daughter in the mix of things… he shouldn't be in this mess, Alfred. He bore enough when his parents died and now Barbara…" Bruce ran his fingers through his hair in an act of tiredness and impatience.

"Master Jason and Tim filled me in." he said and was at that moment that Bruce noticed the slight redness of Alfred eyes.

"She was so young, Alfred. With her daughter and Dick; she had a life waiting for her." Bruce said with anger in his voice, "I was in the hospital all night waiting for news about what had… happened and the only thing that they told me this morning was that her blood was infected with some kind of bacteria that eventually reached her heart and infected it. Slowly the infection led to a cardiac arrest that they weren't able to fight it because of the weakened state of her heart. They'll have more answers in the evening but it seems legit." Bruce said, knotting his browns in frustration.

He was angry because apparently the thing that had taken Barbara's life was something completely natural, no robbers, no villains, no weapons or anything like that. Just a disease. Nothing they could take revenge on.

"You should go talk with Master Richard once he is awake." Alfred said with darkened eyes.

"Yeah, we have to sort out a lot of things, even more so with Robin here. I don't know what will happen with Nightwing and we still have the matter of the child being hidden from us until now to deal with." Bruce let out an exasperated sigh.

"Indeed, sir. Some things must be sorted out." Alfred added while turning to the oven to finish the breakfast

Tim joined them in the kitchen not long after; looking tired and somehow older than the night before.

"Hey" he said simply, leaning against the door frame "Steph is on her way here, I suppose we'll need a lot of help with this."

"I suppose." Bruce said sipping at his coffee, "Is Dick up already?"

"There are no sounds coming from his room, but you can try, maybe he is. Although I suggest letting him come out of his room when he is ready." Tim told Bruce as he received a mug from Alfred, "Thank you, Alfred"

"You're welcome, Master Tim." was said softly in response

After a moment of silence Bruce said: "I think we should start with arrangements of the funeral."

Tim face went pale at that but it didn't take long before he composed himself.

"I can do that with Steph." he knew it was going to be hard on both of them but someone had to do it and he knew it was going to be even harder for Dick.

"I know, but we'll have to ask some Richard for some details." Bruce said with a pained expression.

"Of course." Tim said and silence plagued the room once more. Making everyone remember the redheaded young woman who had loved Richard so much not even two days ago. Everything was silent until the unmistakable sound of a baby's cry let itself be heard.

Robin was awake, which meant Dick was also about to be.

This was going to get hard. Well… harder.

"Shhhh, baby girl." Dick said rocking Robin in his arms while pacing the room "I'm here… I'm here"

The sound of the door opening startled both father and baby.

"Maybe she's hungry?" Bruce's voice was low and somehow a little worried.

"It's time for her to eat breakfast, but her bag is in my car, I have to go get it" he said moving closer to his father figure, "Can you hold her for a minute?"

Bruce stared at Dick in surprise (as much surprise as Bruce can show).

"Do you want me to carry her?" he asked with a prickle of amazement in his voice.

"Please" the blue-eyed acrobat said with almost pleading eyes.

Bruce took the baby out of his first son arms. Feeling more than clumsy, she was so little and fragile. Even Dick hadn't been this little. He was feeling so uncoordinated and clumsy… He was the freaking Batman for god sake! He shouldn't feel like this!

"Mind her head." Dick said as he left the room.

Meanwhile it seemed as if little Miss Robin wanted to cry herself unconscious with a red face and tear-streaked cheeks.

"Hey… shhh… Calm down please…" But the baby didn't quiet down.

Bruce began rocking her gently trying to calm her down with just the enough self-control to not use his Batman voice (useless on a baby but he could try) not when the baby in his arms was his… his… granddaughter? The thought made his head hurt.

She actually calmed a little, just making little whining noises every now and then.

"Her name is Robin." the voice of Dick announced as he returned to the room, "Robin Marie Grayson." he had a bottle in his hand

"It's beautiful." Bruce commented, "She is beautiful too." he felt so out of place

"Thanks." Dick said with a tiny smile on his lips, "She looks just like her mom." and the smile disappeared.

He took his daughter and began feeding her. None of them talking at all, until the baby fell back asleep in her daddy's arms. Bruce was still standing in the middle of the room.

"I don't get why this is happening, Bruce." Richard said in a broken whisper that made Bruce's heat to clench painfully "We were going to be happy and now she's gone." he placed little Robin in the middle of the bed and covered her with the soft comforter.

Bruce didn't know what to say to make his son feel better, more than that he knew that there were no words that would have made him feel any better. So he did something he hadn't done in a long time, almost since Dick was just a kid. He hugged him.

"I'm sorry, chum. I'm so sorry" he said softly as Dick began to cry silently, "You'll be ok, chum" he repeated the long forgotten pet name he used to call him, "It's going to get better"

The stayed like that for a while until Dick let out a long sigh and gently tried to get loose from the hold.

"You know we are here for you, right?" Bruce asked looking his son in the eyes

Richard just nodded.

"We'll get through this."

Bruce was not one to comfort other people, but he was sure Dick needed this and he was willing to do it just for him. Everything he said he meant. Things were going to get better, eventually.

So? Did you like that little moment of Daddy!Bats I put in there? Don't worry, more is about to come I swear! And also we are going to see Steph next chapter :)

Hey! For those who don't recognize the song it is Heaven Can Wait by Meat Loaf, sorry guys, I'm obsessed with his songs C:

Also I hope I could get a chapter made for Christmas as a gift...or maybe a one shot since this story is still sad for holidays.

If you enjoyed it, please let me know in a review, I really love to read what do you think about the thing I write.

Until next chapter
-Aurum

P.S. I'M SO VERY SORRY TnT