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If anybody had asked Timothy Drake why he was rushing around his house, he would have said he was impatient.In reality, he was excited.His parents had called the week before, had promised that they would be home on Christmas Day. Apparently they had a gift for him, a souvenir from one of their expeditions, and he’d be lying if he said his hands weren’t shaking with glee.It was currently December twenty-fourth. He had less than twenty-four hours until his parents got home, less than twenty-four hours before he got to see their faces and bask in their presence. He had almost everything ready for them, too! He’d busied himself the day before with cleaning the mansion top to bottom so every crevice would be sparkling clean. Not a single speck of dust was left in the house. He’d also wrapped garland up and down the stair railings, hung lights and fake crystals over doors, and covered tabletop surfaces in fake snow and mistletoe. All in all, he was pretty much ready for their arrival.Except for one last thing: the Christmas tree.Since his parents were almost never home for Christmas, he’d never put up a Christmas tree on his own, so Tim used his monthly allowance to hire a few workers to come inside and put a real tree in the foyer. It was giant, if he was being honest— he would need a ladder to decorate it. But as the workers left, ruffling his hair, commenting on the decor, and stepping out into the snow outside, he felt eagerness rush through his veins. The next thing he knew, he’d set up a tall ladder in the foyer, snatching up a roll of garland and climbing the ladder to start wrapping the garland from the top.The tree smelled like Christmas, too. It smelled strongly of pine, of course, but also faintly like the fresh snow that was falling from the sky. With the fireplace roaring and crackling in the background, Tim had the vague feeling that he was on set for a Christmas movie. Like he was the main character in a feel-good Hallmark flick about the importance of family over the holidays, or something cheesy like that. Probably with horses. Hallmark liked horses in its movies.It took an hour or two, but eventually the garland was wrapped around the Christmas tree, and he was able to move on to the lights and ornaments. He took a short break, though: he grabbed a piece of bread from the fridge and snacked on it while he put a Frank Sinatra record on his dad’s record player. His dad wouldn’t mind, right? Tim had been super careful with the record, and, well— it was Christmas Eve.He crept back over to the Christmas tree, finishing his bread and staring in awe at the tree that seemed to dominate the foyer. It felt warm, giant, and safe, kind of like— kind of like Batman! He wondered briefly if maybe his parents would take him to a gala on Christmas Day, so he could see the Waynes. He hoped so. If he got to see his parents and Batman and Robin in the same day, he was sure he would just keel over and scream in delight. He wouldn’t cry, he assured himself. Drake men weren’t supposed to cry.With that thought, he climbed the ladder again, draping Christmas lights over the branches of the tree. He made sure the Christmas lights were all white, because he’s heard his mom a few years ago making comments on how tacky the colored lights looked. Hanging the lights took another two hours; when he checked the clock, it read 10:13, which was technically past his ‘bedtime’, but when had he ever listened to that anyway?Tim felt a smile creep up onto his face as he dug into the boxes of ornaments. His parents had never really gotten personalized ornaments like the ones he’d seen on television. They stuck to the pretty, magazine-worthy ones, and they were all red, silver, and gold. Tim kind of hoped that his parents would give him an ornament as a present. Maybe something they’d made for him, like those macaroni stars he saw in movies! Oh, or maybe he could make some macaroni stars for them. He knew Santa wouldn’t give them any, because Santa wasn’t even real. He actually kind of prided himself on knowing that, because a lot of the other eight-year-olds still wrote letters to Santa, not even aware that their parents were the ones who gave them presents. But since Tim’s parents weren’t usually there, he’d figured it out when he was six! And he was glad he did, because there was one year that he’d thought he must just be on the naughty list, and he’d cried himself to sleep. But he had been little back then. Now he was eight, and he was decorating an eighteen-foot tree by himself, and his parents were going to come home for Christmas! And maybe they’d even give him the presents they’d talked about for his birthday! He hoped they would. They’d never sent them in the mail like they’d promised.Now, usually, Tim would scoff at his childish behavior. He was being so clingy. Normally he would scoff at his own stupid thoughts and brush them away.But on the other hand, normally Tim’s parents weren’t coming home, so he decided he was allowed to act like a little kid just this once.There weren’t quite enough ornaments to cover the tree, so he started spreading them out a little more, keeping them in view of the front door— he was also a little stingy towards the top of the tree, but it was just because nobody was going to see it. Finally, he snatched the star and clipped it to the top of the tree; he clambered down the ladder and dragged it away, admiring the Christmas tree in all of its glory. With a wide grin, Tim dragged the ladder into the garage and folded it back down before grabbing his parents’ gifts from the kitchen counter and setting them nicely under the tree. It had taken him days to figure out what to get his parents, but ultimately, he’d decided on a scrapbook for his mother— so she could take pictures of all her expeditions and digs— and a new tie for his father, because he didn’t really know what his father would want.The Frank Sinatra record had ended and was spinning silently on the record player, so he carefully lifted off the needle and tucked the record back into its sleeve, putting it back in its place on his dad’s shelf. He closed the record player’s lid and then dusted the top— just for good measure— and turned back to the rest of the foyer.It was marvelous. The tree was a giant guardian over a peaceful room. Everything was festive, and the tree was decked out in decorations. It was finally warm in the mansion’s ground floor, because of the giant fireplace, and it was snowing outside. Tim crept towards one of the windows facing Bruce Wayne’s manor, wide eyes blinking silently at the glowing windows betraying festivities within. Usually, he would be jealous, but tonight he just felt happy!He curled up on the couch nearest the tree and turned on the television, pulling up Home Alone. He’d heard it was a classic Christmas movie, and he’d never watched it before, so he was pretty excited about it.Maybe he could watch it again with his parents! He paused the beginning of the movie as another thought struck him. Maybe instead of that, he could watch it for the first time with them!Tim turned off the television with a smile and strolled around the room, turning off all the main house lights and switching off the gas to the fireplace. He glanced around the room one last time; by this time tomorrow, his parents would be here, and he wouldn’t be the only one to admire the sight. He crept upstairs, excitement thrumming in his chest. He brushed his teeth and washed his face, just to make sure he would look presentable for his parents in the morning, and then flopped into bed. He had been certain that he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep because of his excitement, but he proved himself wrong, because as soon as his head hit the pillow he was out like a light... / -- .. ... ... / -.-- --- ..-.-- .... -.-- / -.. --- / -.-- --- ..- / .- .-.. .-- .- -.-- ... / .-.. . .- ...- . / -- . / .- .-.. --- -. . ..--..Tim woke up to the sound of birds chirping, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and looking around his bedroom. Sunlight streamed in through his window right onto the lower half of his bed.Sunlight?He scrambled out of bed, racing downstairs. His parents were home! They were finally home, and it was going to be an amazing day! They were going to love the presents he got for them, and they would hug him and kiss his forehead and tell them they loved him!They were finally, finally, finally home! It was going to be a great Christmas! He searched the entire first floor of the mansion, and when he found no signs of life, he frowned a little, but remained undeterred. His parents had just flown in from across the globe, after all, so they were probably still sleeping. It was no problem! He could wake them up! It was past eight, anyways, so he was sure they would appreciate it.He crept upstairs, a smile creeping back onto his face, and knocked on his parents’ door, humming softly with glee.“Mother? Father?” He called out softly, knocking again. Well, they were heavy sleepers, he knew that from all those mornings after galas. He quietly opened the door, squinting and peering into the darkness.“Mother? Father? Merry Christmas,” he added, in hopes of not disappointing them with his anxious tone of voice. Silence. His smile fell from his face; his heart sank into his ankles. He stepped out of the room and closed the bedroom door.“…Mom?” He hurried to the banister overlooking the foyer, raising his voice. This was a gamble— his parents wanted him to be proper, so hearing casual names would make them upset, but he was willing to risk it. Maybe they were just… hiding? Or maybe their flight hadn’t landed yet!“Dad?” His voice echoed, but there was no response. Tim frowned and hurried to his bedroom, snatching his phone off the desk and trudging downstairs. He checked his messages and flopped onto the couch next to the Christmas tree, turning on Home Alone again. Hello darling! I know it’s last minute, but your father and I were called away to London for business, and we won’t be able to come today for Christmas. We love you and we’ll see you at Easter! Don’t go over your monthly allowance! xoxoTim put his phone down next to him and cradled his head in his hands, swallowing back the lump in his throat. Of course.He should have expected it. He should have known to not get excited. It was one of the rules he’d made for himself, anyway, because he knew they always broke their promises.Tim stood up and walked over to the window facing Wayne Manor. Everything looked quiet over there. Tim wondered if Batman and Robin would go on patrol that night, or if they would stay home as a family. The lump rose in his throat again, and he flopped back down onto the couch, wiping at his eyes to get rid of every single stray tear. He focused on the movie playing in front of him.“I made my family disappear.”Tim flinched, but kept watching the movie, face crumpling even further into despair as he watched the family move Heaven and Earth to get back to their son.Why wouldn’t his parents do that for him?As the family in the movie hugged on Christmas Day and the movie ended, the foyer seemed to expand in size, and the air felt like it grew colder; Tim suppressed a shiver, shutting off the television and burying his face in his hands.Then he started to sob.