It was no doubt the best day of Alex's life; he had finally set up his coffee shop and named it Dora's Coffee Haunt after his sister. The official opening was due in a few hours and he couldn't wait for that time to pass as well.

Stephanie and Tim had dropped by early in the morning to help him with the arrangements despite his polite refusals. And right then the two were making sure that the place looked real cozy and comfortable.

"Alex, are you going to run an entire shop by yourself?"

"For the time being, yes," he replied, checking the coffee system in the kitchen, "but when Dora will come to stay with me, soon I hope, then she will be here to help me out with it."

Tim looked up sleepily, "who's Dora?"

"His sister, Isadora, you forgot already," Steph hit his head in an attempt to get rid of his drowsiness.

"Ow," he rubbed his head, "you're so violent. Go easy on my head, there's a lot of valuable info up there."

Alex's eyes flickered towards the clock again then swept over the entire premises, "I think we're done for now. Everything's in place and it looks good. Thanks a lot you two, for helping me out."

"No problem Al, we're always glad to help a friend in need," Steph added, smiling brightly.

"And you just happen to be a very good friend of us who brews the best coffee in Gotham," Tim mumbled, "I love you, Alex."

Alex laughed seeing the almost sleepy look on his adorable face, "your caffeine addiction is really bad, kid."

"If I could get married to a coffee maker, I would," he mumbled in reply, blue eyes dropping shut until Steph shook him awake again.

"By the way, Al, what are your plans for the shop afterwards? Like are you going to add things to the menu. Right now, there's just coffee."

"I might," he mused, a thoughtful look spreading on his face, "but it would be too much to handle right now. I don't have any help here except for you two and though I appreciate all you've done for me a lot, I can not employ you as full time workers, that would mess with your studies and I don't want that. I guess I will just let this go with the flow for now and when there's enough money saved for additions and managing them as well, then I'll see what we can do about it."

"Hey I have an idea," Steph spoke up, green eyes shining in excitement, "since you've just set this shop up and there's still a lot to include, how about we start like a little summer camp to raise funds for it?"

"Summer camp?" He raised an eyebrow slightly confused, "how so?"

"Like you do awesome latte art, right? How about we hold short classes to teach latte art in return for some funds for the coffee shop. It would help a lot. I have a lot of friends who would be delighted to join."

Tim agreed and though he was apparently almost asleep, he seemed to have heard her words clearly, "wow Steph, you do have a brain... Impressive..."

She shoved him and he almost fell off the chair, "shut it."

"Hey, I'm fragile luggage. Handle with care or I'll break," he exclaimed, blue eyes widened in alarm as he grabbed the table to stop himself from falling down.

But the table gave way and if Alex hadn't stepped in to catch him, Tim would have fallen with the table on top.

Tim shrieked in alarm but relaxed as he realized that he had been saved, "Alex, you're my savior."

Steph rolled her eyes, "now if you're done showering Al with all of your flattery, straighten up because its almost time for the opening."

Tim nodded, "finally... The much awaited moment draws near."

At the opening, their first customers were Richard and Barbara who had found out about the shop from Steph and Tim. It was the first time for Alex to meet any other Wayne aside from Tim and Steph so he was a bit nervous at first.

But Richard was known for his social skills that he had put to use immediately, befriending Alex and congratulating him on his shop's opening.

Steph was excitedly telling Barbara her idea of holding latte art classes to raise funds for the shop and she seemed to like that idea too.

Slowly but eventually, the shop was full with customers and Alex had gone to the kitchen preparing all the orders while Stephanie was at the counter, taking the orders. Tim had dozed off to sleep once again but the delicious aroma of the coffee would rouse him every now and then and he would ask Richard to get him another cup.

"At this rate you'll drink up the entire month's supply, Timato," Steph rebuked him as she placed what seemed like the fiftieth cup of coffee in front of him.

"I'll pay for it... No worries..." Tim mumbled as he downed the hot coffee in one huge gulp.

Richard was looking at him as if quite alarmed, "you sure that's healthy, Timmy?"

"Well... If you want me to be honest, then no, it's not healthy and it burns my throat," he replied, "but on the other hand, I'm used to it. Coffee that's not hot doesn't work the same for me."

By evening, all three of them were tired but needless to say, Alex was thoroughly delighted that his and Dora's long held dream of opening a coffee shop had come true at last. They closed the shop a little before dinner time and the Waynes as well as the rest of the customers gradually dispersed.

At night when he finally went up in his room to sleep, he looked at his phone thinking whether or not to tell Dora the great news.

But then he decided against it, thinking that it would be much priceless to give her a surprise when she finally came to Gotham.

There were still a few months left until her graduation and she told him that she would book a ticket to Gotham right on her graduation day because she was just as eager to reconcile with her brother.

And he couldn't wait for that day to come soon. It had been years since he had seen his sister and though he knew a lot would have changed both for him and for her as well, still their affection for each other would always remain the same.

***