Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

October 10th 2030

Stephanie watched as the mugger ran off. "Attacking a pregnant girl is fucked up, man!" She yelled just before she threw a wingding (named by the original Nightwing, Dick Grayson and if she was being honest, it's the greatest name for a weapon ever) at him. A net wrapped around him and Stephanie turned to the pregnant girl in question.

She looked so young.

"I'll take you home to make sure your safe." Stephanie said.

The girl frowned. "I'm not from Gotham."

"Still. I got a jet."

"...I don't have a home. Not anymore."

"Oh. What's your name?"

"Cathy."

"Cathy, how old are you?"

"Sixteen, nearly seventeen."

"I can drop you off at a free clinic. It's the safest place in all of Gotham and they allow people to sleep in empty rooms when possible. The cops are coming for that asshole. I'll send them a report tomorrow." Stephanie did not want to leave a pregnant teenager out on the streets.

She couldn't offer her home while she was Nightwing. But Dr. Stephanie Wayne sure as hell could. She had a tendency to allow teens to spend a night or two in Wayne Manor if they didn't have a place to stay.

Annie Basil was working in the clinic that night. The daughter of the former villain Clayface was took after her stepmother, Dr. Victoria October, more than her father.

"Nightwing and who is this?" She asked.

Stephanie nodded. "Cathy. She just needs a check up for injuries and a place to rest for the night."

"Alright. Do you think I need to call Dr. Wayne?" Annie asked. Code for do you need to come in and I need to distract the patient for a while.

"Yes, unless Cathy here doesn't want to see Dr. Wayne." Stephanie said.

"I want to see Dr. Wayne." Cathy said.

Annie nodded. "I'll call her after we get you check in."

Stephanie nodded. "If you got her, I'll be off."

"Have a nice night, Nightwing."

Stephanie left to go change from Nightwing (crime fighting superstar) into Dr. Wayne (the not so humble doctor with a heart of gold).

She got a voicemail from Annie in the middle of her changing.

So she returned a few minutes later to the Martha Wayne Memorial Clinic.

"Annie? You called me?" Stephanie asked as she entered the room Annie left in the voicemail.

Annie nodded. "This is Catherine Samwell. Sixteen years old and about five months pregnant. Nightwing brought her in."

"Thanks, Annie. I'll take it from here." Stephanie said.

Annie lefted and Stephanie smiled at Cathy. "First pregnancy?"

"Yeah. I mean I'm sixteen."

Stephanie nodded. "Younger people get pregnant. I think I was about fifteen when I did. A few years ago I met a thirteen year old who needed an abortion, "

Cathy stared at her. "...you had a baby as a teen? But you seem successful..."

"I mean I gave my daughter up but I still got pregnant and had to deal with all the issues that came with it but I had my mom and some friends to help me through the worst of it. Do you have anyone to help you?"

"No. My parents died two years ago. The dad of the baby is… he's an asshole. I've been in foster care for two years, four different high schools, six homes; I've barely talked to my old friends. Most of them have moved on or won’t speak to me."

"So why Gotham?" Stephanie asked as she put on some gloves.

"My biological mother is from here. I want to find her… I'm hoping she can help me just for a little while." Cathy frowned.

"I hope you get the help you need. Any bleeding down there?"

"No."

"Alright. Baby been kicking or anything?"

"A little bit."

"Good. Lay down, I'm going to listen to the heartbeat."

Cathy laid down and Stephanie put her stethoscope on her stomach. It didn't take too long to find the heartbeat.

"Sounds good. So any clue on your biological mother's name? We can contact her. If not, I live in a manor with plenty of space despite the fact that many people live there or visit. You could stay a night or two until I can help you get good accommodations."

"My mom only had a paper saying that her name was Stephanie Brown, a woman from Gotham."

Stephanie froze up. This couldn't be.

It couldn't be.

"I know her." Stephanie said.

Cathy's eyes lit up. "You do? Do you think she would help me in anyway?"

"Yes. She would. She will. I have to warn you, she's got a wife and two kids and a step kid."

"Oh. I’m fine with that. The kids and they wife part. I’m bisexual."

"That’s good. I knew her back when she was pregnant with you. She was just a teen with a criminal for a father. Gotham was still recovering from the earthquake, the plague, and being cut off from the US." Stephanie said.

Cathy gave her a funny look.

"I was just fifteen when I had my baby. My dad was a d-list villian and Gotham was a shit hole. My mom was becoming a better mom and I had Tim, my best friend. My baby dad ditched and is god knows where still. My daughter was born on December 17th, 2013. I was just Stephanie Brown, and I was scared like hell so I gave my daughter away without even seeing her because I knew that if I did I would want to keep her. Later in life, me and my wife decided to have children but I had already had my tubes tied and she is trans so our girlfriend became our surrogate twice. I have a daughter named Barbara and a son named Timothy. My step daughter, Demi, is a result of my wife donating sperm to her ex and her wife and then them agreeing on sharing custody for complicated reasons." The last part was a lie but Demi was a partial clone of Cass and Rose so that was close to the truth.

Cathy just stared at her.

Stephanie's heart was pounding. She felt like she was going to throw up.

"I don't-"

"I want to help you. I'm married to a millionaire's daughter. I can help you in any way you need. I understand a lot of what you're going through."

"I don't know what to say."

"I don't either. I never thought- listen you don't have to accept my help but you said so yourself you wanted to seek help from me."

"Okay. I need to- I need to rest.”

“Do you want to rest here or do you want to rest in a mansion?”

Cathy looked at her. Stephanie noticed that she had her nose and Dean’s eyes. “You just told me a lot of things that I need to process however I would be a dumbass to turn down that offer. Just don’t tell your family I’m your biological daughter. If I decide to leave, I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

Stephanie nodded. “I understand. I have one more question though.”

“What?”

“Do you like waffles?”

“No... I love them.” Cathy smiled.

Chapter Text

October 10th 2030

Stephanie opened the door for Cathy. “We have three guest rooms that are less likely to have a family member show up in the middle of the night to crash in.”

“Okay.” Cathy nodded as Barb and Timmy came running from wherever they had been before.

“Mom! You’re home!” Barb cheered.

“Barbara Crystal Wayne. Timothy Damian Wayne. Why are you both still up?” Stephanie asked.

“Mama and Mami aren’t home yet and neither were you. Then Uncle Duke and Uncle Jackson tried to tell the story but they don’t do it right.” Timmy pouted.

Stephanie frowned. “What do you mean?”

“They just don’t do it right.” Timmy hugged Stephanie. She smiled.

“Alright. Now, Barb, why are you still up?”

“I was practicing my martial arts so I can be Batman one day! Who’s that?” Barb pointed at Cathy.

“I’m Cathy. Your mom offered me a place to stay for a bit.”

“Tt. Mom, you’re just like Gramps. Always taking in kids in help, soon you’ll be adopting like half of Gotham.” Barb said.

Stephanie laughed. “Go to bed, both of you. I’ll be up to tell you the story in a bit, Timmy. I love you both.”

Her little terrors ran off.

“They’re sweet. You’re a good mother.” Cathy said.

“They are. And I try and I have two other moms to help me and a whole lot of family.”

“My mom… she read me a different bedtime story every night. And sometimes my dad would join in.” Cathy smiled sadly.

“They sound like they were good parents. I’m sorry they died.”

“They were good.” Cathy nodded.

Stephanie stared at her for a moment. “I’m sorry about what happened.”

“It’s fine, it happened two years ago.”

“Doesn’t mean it doesn’t still hurt. I have lost people I cared about other the years and I still carry the pain with me.” Stephanie said. Sure some of them came back to life or weren’t dead but there was still pain.

And of course, she was in a coma for a few months after being tortured.

Sure she did not fully understand what Cathy was going through but she knew pain.

She left Cathy alone in a guest room and went straight to Timmy’s room.

“Mommy!” Timmy was sitting in his bed.

“Ready for the story?”

“Yes, mommy!” Timmy wrapped his Batman blanket around himself as Stephanie sat on the bed.

“Once upon a time there was a robin. She was an odd robin because she was purple. An evil man named Cluemaster locked the robin and her mommy up.”

“I hate him.” Timmy crawled into Stephanie’s lap.

“But the robin grew smart and spoiled everything Cluemaster tried and eventually through hard work she and her mommy escaped.” Stephanie hugged Timmy.

Timmy smiled. “And then she met a boy robin.”

She nodded. “And then she met a boy robin who was kind and sweet. She might have loved him in another world but she didn’t instead she fell for a vulture.”

“Boo!”

“Shush. She fell for him and he ended up flying far away, leaving her with an egg. But she was so young. The boy robin helped her send the egg to a safe nest.”

“The beautiful bat!”

“Yeah, yeah. Soon she met a beautiful bat. The poor bat had been hurt so much by the most evil man, Cain. She was scarred and her voice was weak. The robin and the bat fell in love. They fell in love and then the robin was stolen away by the Black Mask. He hurt the robin so badly that she had to be secretly sent away. And the bat was heartbroken. She didn’t know the robin was alive.” Stephanie frowned, the scars on her body ached when she got to this part.

This story was her story, it was important that her children knew it. So that they knew why their moms were so protective, why their moms never let them out at night, why sleepover were to have check ups.

She didn’t want to invade her children’s space but she knew her enemies would use them against her. Or Cass’s enemies. Or Harper’s.

“But then came in a bluebird. The bat did not expect the bluebird nor did she know she was going to fall in love with her. But she did and then the bat had to leave to help save the world but she came back and the bluebird and her were still in love when the robin came back. The bluebird ended things with the bat because she knew the bat still loved the robin more than anything.”

Timmy leaned against Stephanie. He was almost asleep.

“The bat and the robin slowly reformed their love and eventually got married. In that time the bluebird became a close friend to the both of them. The bat still loved the bluebird and the bluebird still love the bat, however now the robin and the bluebird were slowly falling in love as well. This made things strange especially when The robin and the bat entrusted the bluebird with their egg.”

“Barbie.”

“Right. Their egg named Barbie. This ended with the three of them starting a relationship with all three of them.” This part was hard for Stephanie not to laugh at. It went something more like her and Cass had a threesome with a pregnant Harper. It was a very strange and awkward situation but the kids did not need to know that detail.

“The egg hatched and out popped a tiny bat. And then then had another egg. The bluebird protect it as well. That egg was named Timmy and he was a small little robin.”

A sleeping robin at that. Stephanie careful laid Timmy down on his bed. “Good night, my little robin.”

She was surprised to see Cathy in the doorway. Stephanie gave her a smile as she passed by.

“I hear a lot of that story. It’s a sweet story.”

“Thanks. I came up with it when Barb decided to ask me about some of my scars.” Stephanie said.

“And I’m sorry for eavesdropping, I was going to look for the kitchen but I got lost.”

“The kitchen? Oh. When’s the last time you ate?”

Cathy looked at the ground. “This morning.”

Stephanie frowned. Cathy was just a child and she was going through so much.

“Come on, I’ll show you where it is. Luckily for you, I’m one of the few people who live here that can cook.” Stephanie patted Cathy’s arm.

Chapter Text

October 11th 2030

Stephanie was awoken by someone climbing into her bed. She opened her eyes and smiled at Cass, her lovely wife.

“Long night?”

“It’s four in the morning. Harper is still in the cave. Also I got shot a little.”

Stephanie glanced at Cass’s torso. She could see the bandages that might around her; either the bullet went through or Cass got shot in the front and back.

“Scars are sexy.” Stephanie smiled.

Cass kissed her forehead. “Go back to sleep, we both need our rest.”

“First, we have a guest. Her name is Cathy and she’s my daughter.” Stephanie said, sitting up.

“Your daughter? The baby from when you were a teen? Stephanie… are you doing okay?”

“No, I am. But she’s pregnant and alone. She’s older than I was when I had her but she’s still just a kid. Her adoptive parents and dead and I found her on the streets. I didn’t even know who she was until I meet her as Dr. Wayne in the clinic.” Stephanie frowned. Everything was still so confusing and difficult.

“We will make her feel at home and safe. Waynes are known for taking in kids who need a home.” Cass said.

“You’re right. But we can’t tell the kids who she is. She asked me not to tell anyone but I can’t just keep that from you and Harper.”

“Okay. Now, sleep.”

Stephanie was woken up again by a tiny body climbing on top of her. Timmy smiled at her. Barb was standing by the bedside.

“Hello little monsters that share my dna.”

“Gramps wants you. He said it’s important.” Barb said.

Stephanie frowned. “You should tell your grandpa that he’s a little bitch.”

“Mommy! That’s a potty word.” Timmy dramatically gasped.

Stephanie ruffled his hair and picked him up as she got out of bed. She followed Barb to Bruce’s office.

“Morning, old man.”

“Stephanie, I believe I have some apologizing to do, related to your... guest.” Bruce said.

“Barb. Timmy. Go now, me and your grandpa must talk about adults things.” Stephanie set Timmy down and he and Barb ran out of the office. She wasn’t ready for them to know that she had another daughter. Sure, their bedtime story told them that she did but they weren’t old enough to actually think too much about it. And besides, she never thought Cathy would show up in Gotham ever.

“I promised you she would never want for anything and I failed the promise. I kept tabs on her until I was lost for a year. And then Damian was mur- Damian died. I am sorry for putting her on the back burner.” Bruce frowned but not his usual frown; Stephanie had learned over the years that he had a different frown for when he actually felt bad. This was a bad one.

“You just apologized to me. Huh. I’m surprised you didn’t burst into flames. I honestly want to be pissed at you. You could have gotten her out of foster care or something. Anything. However, a lot of bad shit has happened since then. Last time you checked, she had a perfect and happy life.” Stephanie shrugged. She really couldn’t blame him. He tried his best and now he was sorry for something he couldn’t control.

Bruce nodded. “She’s in the dining room. Tallant has already became very interested in her and kept asking questions about her baby. And how it got there.”

Stephanie smiled. “Good girl, I’m going to go save her from the child that turns the legendary Talia al Ghul and Batman into putty.”

Bruce scoffed as she left the room but he did not deny it.

Stephanie found that Bruce was right and Tallant was busy talking to Cathy to even eat his oatmeal. Talia sat next to them smiling.

“Good morning. What time is it?”

“It’s seven.” Talia answered. Seven? Oh. Right. The kids had school in an hour and a half.

“I’m so glad I don’t work the day shift today. Cathy, did you sleep alright?” Stephanie asked.

“Yeah. The bed was so comfortable.” Cathy answered.

“Steph! Cathy said she plays piano! Just like you!” Tallant smiled.

Stephanie gave him a smile. “That’s cool.”

“Yeah! And she thinks it is valid to eat ice cream for breakfast.”

Talia and Stephanie both laughed at that.

Cathy smiled. “He asked if I had ever ate ice cream for breakfast and I said yes.”

“Tallant, you know you’re not suppose to pull guests into your personal battles. It’s not fair.” Stephanie said.

Tallant rolled his eyes. “I’ve seen you, Cass, and Harper given Barb and Timmy ice cream for breakfast. Why can’t I have it for breakfast?”

“Because you are my son, not Stephanie’s. Besides a healthy breakfast will help you grow up big and strong like me.” Talia ruffled his hair.

“Oummi!” He whined.

Cathy giggled. It was then Stephanie noticed she was still wearing the clothes from last night.

“Cathy, may I speak to you for just a moment alone?” Stephanie asked.

“Okay.” Cathy looked at her, brown eyes filled with confusion and just a tiny bit of worry.

Stephanie didn’t say a word until they were in the hall. “When’s the last time you changed your clothes?”

“I don’t know the day I left.” Cathy frowned.

“Alright. I should be able to find some clothes for you to wear but after you take a nice shower or bath and use all the fancy soaps you want and change clothes I want to take you shopping and you can get whatever you want.” Stephanie said. She didn’t want to overstep but Cathy was a kid.

“That sounds good. Thank you for everything. I think- I think I might want to stick around. This is the first place in years that has felt like a home I could be happy in. Talia was telling me about all of her kids and grandchildren and I know that my parents would have made wonderful grandparents but their gone and I want my baby to have a family in case something were to happen to me.” Cathy started to cry halfway through.

Stephanie hugged her. For the first time ever she hugged her first baby.