Archive of Our Own ^beta

"I think this year the theme should be Five Nights at Freddy's," Bruce suggested to his children who were huddled up on a random rooftop. They had sent Tim off to do a task far away from there to occupy him.

"I still don't know what that is," Bruce added much to the amusement of the others

"It's a video game, but I think it's a good idea. Tim really likes FNaF." Dick nodded and looked around at the circle as everyone else agreed "It's settled then, FNaF is the theme."

Bruce was quite pleased with the fact that they were going with his suggestion "Now, who'll be in charge of finding the decorations?"

"Oh, I can do that, I know where to find the good stuff." Stephanie piped up with clear excitement on her face

"I guess I could also offer some assistance," Damian murmured, trying to act uninterested even if they all knew he'd always enjoyed helping to decorate his family members' birthday parties by making his costume decorations

Cassandra smiled and ruffled Damian's hair making the youngest Wayne frown, but he didn't push her away

"Like always, the ones putting up said decorations will be B and Jason!" Dick said with a grin. They always made the two tallest family members put them up, plus it was a good way for the two to bond since the activity didn't require too much talking and therefore wouldn't spark up any argument

There wasn't any pushback from anyone on that part so that left Dick and Cassandra to help Alfred in the kitchen with the food and cake preparation

Now that they had an action plan they quickly went their separate ways to do their patrol routes and this is where they had to lock in. Because this was when Tim usually chose to strike and figure out what they were planning for his birthday. He'd finish up patrolling his assigned area before going to stalk some of his family members and overhear their plans

Like last year he followed around Dick and Jason and heard he would have a Star Wars-themed birthday party and he decorated the house himself with the help of Bart, Kon, and Cassie and he even ordered some birthday cupcakes. Safe to say that the bats were annoyed that Tim beat them to it.

They made sure that everyone went on solo patrols tonight, but Tim still tried his hardest to find out something

"So, you're telling me you know nothing? Not even when the party will be?" Tim asked Dick with an annoyed expression on his face

"Party? What party?" Dick responded with a cheeky grin

Tim got similarly dumb responses from his other family members..

They all returned to the Batcave after patrol and Tim still hadn't accepted defeat as he pestered the girls "Okay, well you don't have to tell me anything big.. Just something," Tim said trying to put on his best sad expression "Like what about the cake flavor, huh?"

"Sorry, little brother, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow." Cassandra told Tim with a fond smile as Steph nodded "Yep." Stephanie said making the 'p' sound pop "Sorry not sorry, Timbo."

Tim groaned and rolled his eyes.

Everyone did their nightly check-up and reports before heading to bed. And as soon as Tim awoke he rushed downstairs. Nothing. They planned to have the party later than.. Tim spotted Alfred in the kitchen chatting with Cassandra and Dick and even Barbara. He looked around and nothing was even in the process of being cooked

Tin just went back to his room to get ready for the day. After he was ready he got a text from Kon that read "Come outside we're taking you to an arcade for your birthday,"

Tim raised a brow and glanced out his window to spot his best friends standing there with big grins and he chuckled before he responded with a text of his own: "Did my family pay you guys off to distract me while they decorate?"

"Maybe," Was the only thing Kon responded with

With Tim away from the house, it didn't take the rest of the family too long to decorate as Stephanie had already bought them and Damian didn't take much to finish making his. There were, luckily, no casualties in the kitchen so they were able to set the food out after Bruce and Jason set up the decorations

When they finished they got the notice from Kon that they'd be bringing Tim soon so they turned off the lights to do the classic surprise

"Is the blindfold really necessary?" The sound of Tim's voice and laugh could be heard from behind the closed door

"Yes, we were specifically asked to blindfold of you!" Bart said with a snicker as he opened the door so Cassie and Kon could lead Tim inside. Then Bart sped over to a table to get four party hats to put on

"Okay, take off the blind fold on 3!" Cassie said as she put on the FNaF-themed party hat Bart handed her

"1, 2.. 3!" Tim slipped it off to be greeted with the sight of his friends and family all yelling out "Surprise!" As they wore the silliest of party hats. Tim laughed and smiled brightly as he was squished in a hug by his friends

"Wow, guys.. For such a silly party theme it turned out pretty great." Tim muttered and he just couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the party. They watch the FNaf movie before having the party guests who've never played any FNaf games play the first one.

Though it didn't scare Bruce or Alfred much it was still fun to see their newbie gameplay, then they ate the delicious dinner that was just a spread full of Tim's favorites which ranged from very fancy dishes to the least refined dishes but they were what Tim liked and today was his day and he was very happy to spend it around the people and things he loved..