beamerboyx wanted some good ol alfred content and I'm happy to oblige

I'm working on the last stories so if you guys do have requests they will be found in the new book after this since people wanted a third round! 

Alfred loved having Dick around. He'd been hesitant for Bruce to foster such a young boy who would need more attention than he thought the billionaire could provide but now that he had the young acrobat he felt like he had a new lease of life. It took very little to keep Dick entertained and he was too young to think of chores as anything more than a challenge. It wouldn't be long till the children at school let him in on the fact he was doing chores so Alfred made the best of it whilst he could. All it took to make his life just a little better was seeing that seemingly permanent smile on the boy's face. He had this aura about him that just screamed optimistism. Of course, they had bad days. Days where a dream especially got to Dick or a day where he was ratty from a lack of sleep. But those were rare enough to not be of concern. It seemed Dick was very happy at the manor and, if Alfred was alone to say it, the butler felt as though the boy was a peppy grandchild.

On a Monday morning, the day began as it always did. Dick was given a set of tasks that when he completed them he'd get a treat. Alfred made sure all the things on there would be achievable for such a small child to do so Dick wouldn't become frustrated when he couldn't do something. The boy looked over the list and chose to do the upstairs ones first then trotted off to do his first chore. Alfred took this time for a peaceful cup of tea in the kitchen. Now that he had a little helper he could have more me-time that he so very rarely got since the death of Martha and Thomas Wayne. He supposed his unofficial adoption of Bruce from such a young age helped cement the idea of Dick being his unofficial grandchild. He smiled to himself softly as he often did when he had that thought. Though he didn't approve of Bruce's more lenient parenting he supposed he wouldn't have had the child in his life had he been more insistent on the matter. He couldn't be too critical though. He too had allowed Bruce into a life of crime-fighting perhaps a little too young. Then again, Bruce hadn't been nine-years-old and tiny.

As he finished his cup of tea, Alfred heard something upstairs. It sounded like a thud. A heavy thud. He frowned to himself and went upstairs to investigate whereupon he heard a strangled cry. Instantly he knew that the sound had come from the attic. Dick must've begun with cleaning there. He dashed over to the door, up the steps then spotted the young boy. He was on the floor biting back sobs as a flood of tears ran down his cheeks. The butler soon spotted the problem. There was a large scrape on his knee. "My dear boy, what happened?" he asked worried, coming to kneel beside the distraught child.

"I-I tryin to-to clean n I-I forgot the st-stuff so I went to-to go get it n I ran to-too fast n I tripped," Dick stuttered through tears.

"I've told you before about running too fast. How about we get you downstairs and fix this up?" He helped the acrobat to his feet and led him carefully downstairs. He got him to the kitchen and lifted him up onto the counter. Dick sniffled and hiccuped as the butler looked through the cabinet for antiseptic wipes and plasters. He walked back over to the boy and opened the wipes first. "This will sting a little but we don't want to get it infected do we?" Dick shook his head in agreement. He took the wipe and gently rubbed off the dirt. He was glad that he cleaned the floors up there yesterday or this could be a lot worse. "There we go. All cleaned up. I'm afraid we don't have any fun plasters but I'll remember to stock up on some next time we go to the store," Alfred said.

"Thank you," Dick replied meekly. He rubbed at his eyes to get rid of the last of the tears and tried to look less glum. The older put the plasters on and gave the knee a small kiss. "All better," he stated. "I'll tell you what, how about you go watch some of the morning cartoons? You can do the rest of your tasks later." He took the boy off the countertop and received that wonderfully bright smile. 

"Thank you, Grandpa!" Dick replied before scampering off, although with a small limp, to the living room. Alfred waited there for a moment before chuckling.