Chapter Text
“Oof!”
Maya fell to her back, blinking away her dizziness as she lay sprawled on the ground. Her eyes flickered to her father’s approaching figure, easily recognizing the twitch of concern written across his stoic face. It was obvious that he was scanning her for injuries.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m okay, Dad, you just got me good.”
Damian hummed, helping his daughter to her feet as he spoke.
“You have a habit of leaving your right side open whenever you move backwards to evade punches coming to your left.”
The eldest nodded, wiping the sweat away from her forehead as she huffed.
“Jeez Dad, did you do this stuff when you were a kid?”
“Hm, no. Your Aunt Mara and I were forced to duel one another and other adults with our lives on the line. I was left to survive in the wild all on my own as a toddler.”
“Dad, that’s child abuse.”
“I’m not denying that, I was just stating facts. Why don’t you go take a shower? Your uncle will be picking up your brother from rehearsal, as well as your sister from practice.”
“Nah, I’m gonna practice some moves. I was thinking about trying to incorporate some of my gymnast expertise into my training! I was also gonna show Freddie some basic moves.”
“That’s a wonderful idea. In fact, I had to practice some moves of my own when I was a child, it certainly helped when traversing the rooftops.”
Maya nodded, a smile on her face as she held her hands together.
“Maybe I can even be as good as the vigilante Nightwing! Oh, how cool would that be?”
The young girl quickly ran off to find her little brother, completely entranced in her own world. Damian just watched from a while before turning his attention to the two 9 month olds sitting on the sidelines. They were in their own little world, only looking up when their father came over to pick them up. They were growing just fine, both now able to crawl around on their own. Nora was already showing interest in walking, but Nasir seemed satisfied with where he was.
“You two just won’t let me enjoy you as you are, will you?”
“Bah!”
Nora held a determined face, Nasir too distracted by a nearby bird. Shaking his head in amusement, Damian went to put the two down for a nap. After both were successfully asleep in their separate cribs, Damian turned on the baby monitors and left for the fenced areas out back. His first stop was his longest friend.
“Hello Batcow, how are you today?”
“Moo.”
“Oh, it does appear as if you need more feed. I’ll get that for you, no problem.”
The cow moo’d once more as Damian refilled her feed, the cow happily munching away. He couldn’t help but smile as he gently petted her head. All his other pets had sadly passed by now, all from natural causes. Alfred the cat was the latest death, passing a few weeks into the new school year. His children were all just as devastated as he was. He had other animals, yes, but the pain was still great. Maybe that was why he tended to Batcow as often as he did.
“I’ll see you later, Batcow, I’ve got to feed the other livestock.”
He and his children had a few other cows and goats, all for milk or as pets. They also had their chickens and ducks, the children all helping him with caring for them. The kids also showed interest in horseback riding. Perhaps it was about time he got them their own horses? He had his own, a horse he rescued back when it was a foal. The kids had some practice with his horse, but maybe they would soon be ready for their own.
He’ll consider it for the triplets' 12th birthday.
“Dami!”
Rolling his eyes, the man turned to see Jon land behind him, both Miguel and Leila in his arms. He gently set both children down before engulfing his friend in a hug. Damian raised an eyebrow as his hands stayed stiff to his sides.
“You’re being much more affectionate than usual.”
Jon laughed before pulling away, nodding with a smile.
“It’s Jay! He said yes! We’re officially engaged!”
Damian blinked a few times before allowing a smile to spread across his face. Opening his arms, he allowed his friend to throw himself back into his arms for a hug.
“Congratulations, my dear friend!”
“Oh, thank you! We’ll have the wedding after the spell is lifted, I promise. Can’t have you miss my wedding, you’re family! Oh, I wanted to ask, but will you be my Best Man?”
Miguel was still there, watching the interaction between his father and uncle. Leila had already gone to find the rest of their siblings, but he had decided to stay. He saw how his dad stiffened ever-so-slightly at Uncle Jon’s words. It was easy to miss when they were small children, but now he and his siblings, aside from the babies, could easily see how much this whole spell really affected his father. He still remembered the notes he stumbled upon a few weeks back, notes that his father had written while patrolling Gotham.
Father has a streak of gray hair; says it makes him look like Todd.
Grayson’s children are attending Gotham Academy for the year.
Todd has a son, a few months older than the twins.
Drake just got married.
Cain began fostering.
Gordon is trying out prosthetics.
Thomas was promoted.
Pennyworth is still in perfect health.
Brown met her now-adult daughter.
A new Wayne Foundation was established.
Brown is dating.
Those were just the notes he found from a few weeks back, no one knew how many of these notes he made throughout the years. It was obvious how much being in this wedding meant to his father, and it only made Miguel want to undo this spell much faster.
“Uh, Pa? How much longer until the spell can be undone?”
Damian blinked as he turned his attention to his son. It took Miguel everything to not look shocked at the wetness in his father’s eyes. The man cleared his throat as he nodded, doing his best to hold in some of his emotion as he spoke.
“Your Uncle Billy and cousin Ray are off-planet in search of the last two materials needed. I’ll contact your Aunt Bora after they return so that she can get to work. Now run along, your sister learned some new moves that she’d like to show all of you.”
“Really? Okay!”
Damian watched before his attention was diverted to his best friend, who placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t worry, everything will turn out just fine. You’ll be okay, trust me.”
“You know I do.”