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Chapter Text

DAMIAN DIDN'T USUALLY SLEEP EASILY. He was never the kind of child who had the privilege of sleeping completely – all the stages of sleep and everything else the doctors talked about – not with the League training, which had no breaks, or the enemies he inherited; his father's night work or his own paranoia and demons that tormented the quietest moments. His sleep was light enough that even the slightest noise would wake him.

However, for the first time he could remember, Damian slept. Clinging to Ferdinando, Maya's brother's cute cat, Damian not only slept but also dreamed. And it had nothing to do with the sedatives the doctors had injected into him.

So different from the nightmares that made him wake up with his heart racing and a silent scream stuck in his throat but never daring to come out – always silent, always terrifying, never letting itself be noticed. Now, however, Damian dreamed of his mother. The woman he hadn't seen in so many months but, still, frequently, stars not only in his nightmares but also in his dreams.

In his dream – or nightmare, it was hard for him to tell them apart –, Talia was different.

Instead of being the cold assassin who raised Damian with an iron fist, she seemed almost... Caring, as she whispered a lullaby in Arabic that she had once heard while walking through the city. Talia even stroked his hair, a kindness so rare that he could hardly remember if it had ever been directed at him. During his time in the League, Damian didn't know what affection was, discovering that mothers were supposed to be kind when he saw other children on the streets – those he had to be aware of their existence for his training, analyze their behavior, and replicate it, but never, in fact, be one of them. Damian considered a pat on the back upon completing a task as the greatest demonstration of affection, followed by finishing his physical training without a broken bone or rib. However, in his dream, her touch felt so natural that Damian couldn't help leaning into something he hadn't even known he had been longing for his entire life. He knew it was a dream, he had always been too aware to deceive himself about Talia, but Damian would accept whatever he could of her affection.

Damian couldn't do anything but ignore the unreality and enjoy every second of something he would never have — Talia was his progenitor, "mother," he discovered, much more than just the role Talia played in his life. He had learned that Family was much more than blood, even though he still hated half of his supposed siblings – Dick and Cassandra were acceptable.

However, no amount of existing maturity could prevent an eight-year-old boy from longing for his mother's love. Not even the boys who lied to themselves, or those clever enough to know it was a lie but lied anyway, accepting reality as being more painful than living in it.

When he opened his eyes, still groggy from sleep, his mother had left as he knew she would, but the affection was there, to his shock.

Damian sniffed, swallowing the burning in his throat, when he saw the blonde woman beside him, running her chubby fingers through his dark hair, scratching his head, making him almost fall back asleep. Cafuné, he knew. She was murmuring something, so softly that the boy could barely hear it. Damian knew he should recognize that woman, but in his sleepy haze, he could only stare at her and hope she wasn't an assassin about to kill him. He knew he wouldn't have the strength to fight at that moment, not when he was so warm and comfortable, with Ferdinando purring in his arms. So he just watched her with his large and bright green eyes.

Looking into hers, a Maya blue, he remembered the events of the day.

"Hi, dear, how are you feeling?" Lily-Rose whispered, her voice sounding just a little concerned, but it made Damian want to cry in front of her. Damian knew she was a psychologist, so he figured that if he was going to cry in front of someone, Lily-Rose would be the ideal person. A little more awake, but definitely not sniffling with a stuffy nose.

He was in a hospital and in a completely compromising position, and surprisingly, Damian didn't mind that much. Ferdinando took a deep breath and stretched, snuggling closer to Damian.

“Doctor Parker?” He ignored the previous question, just to be sure.

“Lily, darling” if Damian understood what she said, he showed no reaction, just winking and rubbing his fingers on Ferdinando's ear. “Look who's here.”

Her father was holding his suit in his arms, his tie loose, and a cup of coffee in his hands. He seemed more at ease, though tired, than when he had met Damian or when the two had talked about his place in the family. Despite the worry line still present on Bruce's forehead, the tired smile reached his blue eyes – a different blue from Maya's and Doctor Parker's.

Bruce, sometimes, was strange, as if just his existence was enough – Damian would have to accept that, apparently. Being loved and not just ordered around.

So, to his shock and terror – Damian now wished he had been more alert! – Bruce picked him up. With the cat and all.

However, instead of complaining about the undignified moment in front of a doctor like Lily-Rose, he held onto his father's shirt more tightly. To his eternal shame, Damian couldn't help but snuggle up to his father just like Ferdinando had done with him. Damian ignored the laughter of the adults in the room.

"I love you, habibi," Bruce said before giving a long kiss on his forehead, and for the second time that day, Damian believed in his father.

The second time Damian woke up, without dreams tormenting him, he was lying in the hospital bed next to Maya and Matt, with Ferdinando having gotten out of bed and hidden somewhere in the room. He rubbed his eye and surveyed the surroundings, truly waking up this time.

Alfred had already left – clearly, Drake wasn't reliable enough to be left alone overnight, especially if he was with Ivan.

His father, keeping his promise, remained seated in one of the armchairs in the room. His eyes were closed and his head rested on his right hand, small snores came from his mouth, this was the first time Damian had seen him sleep, it was shocking for Damian to discover that Bruce snored! Even the worry lines had disappeared when they seemed almost tattooed on his face. Next to the armchair, on the most comfortable sofa, Dr. Lily-Rose was also sleeping, covered with one of the hospital blankets and looking more relaxed than before – when she arrived at the hospital, she was so irritated and stressed that Damian was almost scared.

Damian blinked, sitting on the bed and analyzing, this time, his day.

What he could attest: he disobeyed a direct order and put his friend at risk, and yet, Bruce went after him. Bruce didn't punish him. Despite it being hard to believe, Damian was starting to think that, in the few months he had been there, maybe his father really did care about him in a way that no one ever had before.

His brothers, however, proved to be, as always, useless, while Maya proved to be reliable, even if she couldn't throw a decent punch. Maybe he would teach her to fight, so he would have an ally who was just his. He wouldn't teach her the way he had been trained, Maya cried too much – and too ugly – for that, but she knew how to keep a secret and that was more important.

First, she had helped rescue the Bat-Cow and, soon after, she had gone after the child traffickers just to help Damian. Maybe all that insistence from his father for him to make friends wasn't so bad, he was starting to see the advantages of having followers. Unfortunately, the school holidays were approaching, and he wouldn't see Maya as often, and what if she made other friends? Damian didn't know if there was a limit to the number of possible friends, but he should be her most recent friend, and therefore, the first to go if she made more. And even if she stayed in the city, Damian and Maya would be grounded for the rest of their lives if Maya's mother kept her word.

So Damian would be, for months, trapped with his siblings.

He had never wanted to cry so hard before.

Until a thought crossed his mind. A thought that could be dangerous... If it went wrong.

But, if it worked – and Damian knew it would – it would be the most brilliant idea the genius had since he set foot in Gotham.

However, for it to work, Damian would need the help of his whiny friend.

“Maya, wake up” he whispered, trying not to wake the adults or Matthew.

“Go back to sleep, Dami, it's early.” Maya pulled the pillow and put it over her head. Damian wouldn't let her and pulled the pillow away.

“Wake up already, I had an idea, but I think I'm going to need some help.” The last part was enough for Maya to open her eyes, blinking the sleep away, clearly curious. Her wavy hair pointing in all directions, as if she hadn't seen a comb in months. Maya yawned, sleepy but awake.

Months of friendship said that for him to be asking for help, it must be a matter of life or death. Probably death.

“Don't tell me you want to go after villains again, leave it for tomorrow, mom will kill me.” Maya just wanted to sleep while Damian was off chasing trouble again, although she would never refuse an adventure proposal, Maya had limits and her sleep was one of them.

“No!” He shouted in his whisper. Even though he thought it was an exaggeration, his father got too angry, he wouldn't question him about this matter anymore, not when Bruce seemed to agree with Dr. Parker about the punishment for the rest of his life. Damian had a long life ahead of him. “I was thinking…”

“That would be a miracle” Maya interrupted, letting out a giggle. Damian ignored.

“... And I decided that you are more worthy than my father's children, and that's why you should be my sister.”

“But I already have a mother and a brother.” Maya replied, as if Damian had said the dumbest thing in the universe. Of course it would be cool to be Batman's daughter, but she loved her mother and her brother.

"Forget it, it was stupid. Go back to sleep.”  Damian hoped his voice wasn't as upset as he felt. He pushed the pillow back onto her face, which she quickly moved away from, now completely awake.

“What if we brought our parents together? I have a mother, you don't. You have a father, I don't. It works perfectly!” She said, with excitement in her voice. “I saw a movie about it, we just have to arrange some dates for them and then they'll realize they're each other's true love and we'll be siblings, but you'll have to accept Matt, I like him.”

“He has a cat.” Damian approved. “But do you think this will work?” He asked, trying to pretend he wasn't excited about the possibility of having Maya as a sister and a doctor in the family. Finally, he would have someone as smart as him and not just a bunch of stupid boys.

“Of course! They wouldn't make a movie with things that don't work.” Maya said as if it were obvious, already losing any trace of sleep. “We just need a good plan.”

The two began to plan, how difficult could it be to make two people clearly destined to be siblings official? Their parents would just have to cooperate, get married, and live forever side by side.

For a crying girl and a trained assassin, it should be easy.

Chapter Text

a few hours earlier, on the same day

WHEN SHE HUNG UP THE PHONE, for a long second, Lily didn't know what to do, think, or feel anything other than pure despair. When Alfred – the butler of her daughter's wealthy friend, no less – called her, telling her that her eight-year-old daughter was in the hospital because she had been kidnapped along with the said wealthy friend, Lily froze. Her daughter, an eight-year-old child, had been kidnapped and she didn't know until she had already been rescued – by a masked stranger in tight clothes who roamed the night beating up criminals, no less! – and was in the hospital "just to check," as Alfred said calmly.

Should Lily be happy that her daughter was safe and sound? Lily should have been furious that her youngest daughter was kidnapped by osmosis, since Maya never left Damian's side – the so-called rich friend, who is one of the many heirs of a trillion-dollar empire of money, companies, and who knows what else from filthy rich people that Lily could barely imagine.

As a psychologist and teacher, Lily tried to take a deep breath first, her heart racing and pounding with each beat, each second, but her mind was a mess.

So she ran.

The Gotham General Hospital was gigantic, Lily parked haphazardly and ran to the emergency reception, barely grabbing her bag as she got out of the car. Despite the years living in Gotham, apart from a few scattered muggings, nothing of this level had ever happened to her or any of her children – she always considered herself lucky, given what she heard from her students and saw at Gotham U in the university's clinic-school.

Lily, in her vast experience dealing with Gotham's elite, knew it could be a grave mistake to allow Maya to study at Gotham Academy – but how could she say no when her little girl seemed so happy to have gotten one of the only scholarships the school offered?

Maya, with all the difficulties she had to face every day, was incredibly intelligent and hardworking; Lily didn't want to be cruel and deny her such an opportunity, now, however, she wished she had been cruel. If she hadn't befriended the quirky boy – Maya liked to collect oddities, with her pet chicken as proof – she wouldn't be anywhere near the kidnappers' radar. Lily would never again leave Maya or Matt at any other friend's house.

Never again.

Almost stumbling in her heels, Lily-Rose Parker argued with the nurse who wouldn't tell her where her daughter was until Alfred, bless him, appeared and confirmed that yes, the woman could enter. For a moment, Lily saw red at needing permission to see her own daughter, who came from her womb and whom she breastfed for a year; Alfred's hand on her shoulder calmed her enough for the nurse to flee, intact.

“A thousand apologies, Dr. Parker, it's just that Miss Maya and Master Damian insisted on staying in the same room, and given everything the two children have been through, I thought it best to leave them together.” Alfred says, with Lily following him through the corridors to where the two children would be.

Even though the butler had already said that the two were fine, Lily couldn't help but ask again: “Are they hurt?”

Alfred denied it, and Lily calmed down a bit.

“Just emotional, as you can imagine, but apart from a few scratches, they are fine.”

Lily shook her head but didn't respond because they had finally arrived at the room. Lily swung the door open and ran to the bed where her daughter was sitting, throwing her bag onto a chair. She began to feel her daughter all over, looking for injuries herself – despite Gotham's doctors being among the best in the world, who could guarantee they hadn't missed something? – she held her cheeks, moving her head in search of injuries among the blonde strands, squeezed her arms and legs, while listening to her daughter's voice complain about the unnecessary fuss. When she was satisfied to see that her daughter was indeed physically well, she grabbed her chubby cheeks again with both hands and hugged her tightly, smelling the sweat and hospital on her. Lily wanted to cry; she was used to smelling and expecting that scent on her son, never on Maya.

"I'm fine, Mom." She heard Maya's voice say, muffled by her embrace. Lily sniffed, trying to hold back her tears.

“Oh no, is she going to cry?” In the other bed, Damian, with red eyes and cheeks marked by dry tears, asked softly to Alfred. Dropping Maya, Lily turned to the boy, who tensed under her gaze.

He became even tenser when Lily ran towards him, doing the same thing to him that she had done with Maya – much to his annoyance and bad mood, which Damian made sure to make clear. Curiously, he didn't complain about the hug or the wet kiss on his forehead.

Alfred swallowed a laugh. Maya, however, did not have the same decorum.

“Are you guys okay?” Still clinging to Damian, Lily asked, with so much relief in her voice that everyone else could notice. “No one hurt you in any way, right?”

The two, fortunately, denied it.

So, seeing that the two children were truly fine, Lily turned to Alfred.

“What the hell happened?”

Alfred had the decency to look embarrassed when the two children jumped in to defend him, speaking at the same time and preventing anyone from understanding any word. But before the butler could defend himself, she continued:

“I leave my daughter in your care, she and her friend are kidnapped, and I'm only notified when she's in the damn hospital?”

“It wasn't his fault!”

“We ran away!” The two childish voices said at the same time.

Alfred and Lily looked at the two of them in shock. Alfred not so shocked.

“Did you run away?” Maya shuddered with the anger Lily directed at them, almost wishing she were hurt to avoid her mother's wrath.

Then followed a very poorly told explanation of the whole situation – how they wanted to get ice cream from a very specific ice cream shop and didn't want to bother Alfred – Lily scoffed, looking at the butler as if he were the source of all evil – and they ran into a group of criminals who recognized Damian and took the two of them to get money from Bruce. And about how, not long after, Batman found the two of them and rescued them, calling the police and, well, here they were.

So, still in a bad mood, Lily looked around and noticed the absence of the other child's father there.

“Where is Damian's father?”

“Master Bruce is sorting things out with the police, as he figured neither of you would want the children having to testify multiple times at every step of the kidnappers' prosecution.” Lily swallowed the venom she wanted to unleash with Alfred's response. Since she met Damian, she had doubts about Bruce Wayne's fatherhood, always admiring from afar that he had adopted so many children when, well, it wasn't common for people of his social class to adopt, but when she met the boy who clearly had some ignored diagnosis and many traumas and delays in emotional development, it was hard not to criticize his fatherhood from a distance.

“Yeah, I guess it makes sense...” Lily released Damian and covered him with the hospital sheet that was thrown at the end of the bed. She returned to her daughter and did the same, running her hands through the girl's completely tangled hair. Lily always threatened to cut it in the "boyish style," but the threat never made her daughter comb it properly – but she figured that, after a kidnapping, it was okay to have a bird's nest on her head.

A few minutes and many questions for the doctors who entered the room later – it turns out that having the heir to Gotham's largest fortune made the entire hospital pay a lot of attention to the two children – Lily finally calmed down and was able to think about the next steps. Obviously, the blame wasn't entirely on Alfred; she knew very well who her daughter was and was getting to know her only friend, but they were still children who couldn't be left unsupervised, especially going out alone in a city like Gotham. It didn't need to be said that Maya – and Damian, if he could talk to his father – would be grounded for the rest of their useful lives, but there would also have to be a clearer conversation with Maya and Matt about the dangers of Gotham. The kids knew the basics and there was no way to avoid the bigger news, but she would have to be more explicit with them. Gotham was a pioneer in medicine, mental health studies, and, obviously, the city's stock market had influence worldwide, but Gotham was also a pioneer in crime, and the danger Maya faced could have been avoided. And since, apparently, Damian had come into her life to stay, the children needed clarification; Lily didn't think the attempts on the heir's life would end there.

So her thoughts turned to Matt. Her son. Who was at school and didn't know what his sister had gone through. Lily took a deep breath, tired, and sent a message to her monitor – a psychology intern who assisted her in her research and, consequently, had her name right after hers – to pick him up from school and take him to the hospital; before sending the message, however, she thought of her anxious son and turned to Alfred, now sitting in one of the armchairs in the room.

“Do they allow pets here?” Alfred didn't know the answer, but, as she presumed, money and name worked miracles, and an hour later, a tearful Matt was lying next to his sister in the hospital bed, both clinging to each other with Ferdinando, his older brother's "emotional support" cat, in between them.

When Bruce Wayne entered the room two hours later, the three children were asleep — Maya convincing the adults to push the beds together so Damian could pet Ferdinando — and Lily thought Alfred was too, but it was hard to tell; he looked like a sitting statue. He looked tired, the black suit with the loose tie around his neck, a few buttons of the white shirt undone, and his hair, always perfectly styled, had a few strands out of place.

Slightly sleepy, Lily recognized that the tall man was extremely handsome. She understood all the models and actresses who fell for his charm while every week Wayne appeared on magazine covers with one or two different women. Nowadays, it was the gossip pages, but the frequency was lower for each adopted child; Lily, with two, barely managed to find time to hydrate her hair, let alone date – but, on second thought, she had a job. Unfortunately, Lily didn't find out that her parents lied to her and, in fact, were filthy rich. They were indeed poor, but that's okay, she loved them and, in Metropolis, she had a childhood better than the average American population.

Bruce Wayne, silently, went to his son and gave him a kiss on the forehead – Ferdinando, with his small arms, bristling at the strange man – while Lily stood up.

“I presume you are Maya's mother?” He whispered, his deep voice almost sending shivers down Lily's spine.

Almost.

“Yes. We need to talk.” Deliciously handsome or not, Bruce Wayne would listen to your opinion about his daughter's kidnapping.

He confirmed and gestured for them to leave the room.

“I'll keep an eye on the children, Master Bruce and Doctor Parker.” Lily was startled by Alfred's voice, who was apparently awake.

When the door behind them closed, Lily directed her gaze at him, channeling all the anger she was feeling.

“Aren't you not a trillionaire or something?” She argued, still in a low voice, and Bruce opened his eyes, slightly surprised.

“Billionaire, actually” he clarified. “But what-“

“So why the hell don't you have a decent security guard, a decent camera, or, I don't know, anything, to prevent your child from running away without you knowing and getting kidnapped?” Lily pointed her finger at him, indignant.

“Are you blaming me for our children being kidnapped?” Bruce almost sounded shocked.

“Yes! It's not like you or your other children have never been kidnapped before!” And she continued, not letting him respond: “In fact, it's bordering on negligence for you to be a quadrillionaire and not pay for a decent security company for your house and your children with the number of times one of you gets kidnapped annually.”

Bruce got angry.

“And where were you when your daughter was kidnapped?”

Lily didn't even blink as she retorted: “At my job because I left her under your care in your house! That they ran away! And they managed to get to the city center without you noticing! And they were kidnapped!” Lily's eyes filled with tears, but she refused to cry. “They could have died if it weren't for that damn lunatic dressed as a bat running around. Lucky he went out during the day, right?”

“They weren't hurt in any way, they were going to ask for a ransom and I would pay, Doctor Parker.” He tried to calm her down. It didn't work.

“Damian was safe during the rescue, Wayne. Maya, no.” She explained, but Bruce had already thought of that. “What if they didn't want to take both? And if she cried and annoyed them? They could have easily hurt or killed her just because she was with your unprotected son.”

Bruce took a deep breath, recognizing the truth there and that he couldn't clarify the reason that no, his children didn't need bodyguards, but, indeed, the worst could have easily happened with one wrong move – Bruce was used to it because for a long time danger had been ingrained in his routine and in his children's routine, but neither Lily nor Maya were trained or had chosen this life, despite Maya following Damian everywhere, she wasn't trained and even Damian, trained by his crazy mother in the League of Assassins, knew that he could have lost the only friend he had made.

Lily Parker was completely right, and he didn't like it. He felt vulnerable; it was not a good indication of his parenting skills when he agreed with the person who practically called him negligent to his face. Bruce swallowed the impolite response that was on his tongue and took a deep breath; he didn't lose his patience easily, yes, he was tired, the age not allowing him to stay up all night as he did in his youth, but he still had the infinite patience that only a father of five – or six or seven, at some point, he started keeping semi-filled adoption papers in a drawer in his office desk and lost track of who he had adopted and who he hadn't – had.

“You're right, I'm sorry.” He ran his hand through his hair, trying to look even more tired. “Your daughter and Damian could have seriously hurt themselves, in the best-case scenario. We were lucky that they are safe and that Maya is okay, even though shaken” And he said this honestly. Even though he didn't know the little girl very well, Bruce recognized that her mere presence in his youngest son's life had been more positive than anything he had done. And he had no reason to keep her away; Maya clearly knew how to keep secrets, and Bruce had already thoroughly investigated the entire family: Except for some cousin, grandson of a great-uncle who was never in their lives, who was a con artist in Italy, they were cleaner even than Clark Kent.

As he finished speaking, Bruce saw Lily Parker's shoulders drop, all the anger the woman had dissipating with the apology. She looked as tired as he was, a bit pale, and with the bun, which should have been tight, completely loose and with several blonde strands framing her round face – then Bruce realized that Lily Parker was short. Short, with big blue eyes and such beautiful skin that he knew would be soft to the touch, he almost stared for too long.

He had already seen photos of her in his research, but in person, it was always different. The mouth, without lipstick, looked redder, the eyelashes were longer, and she smelled good. Vanilla, soft but present and noticeable.

Bruce blinked twice, clearing his mind, but her scent lingered in his memory even after she returned to the room, leaving him there at the door.

When the sun rose, the doctors finally released the children to go back to their homes. With Alfred returning the previous afternoon – after all, Bruce had other children who needed supervision – only Bruce and Lily stayed there with the three children and Ferdinando; no matter how big a billionaire's hospital room could be, there was no way two adults, three children, and a cat could be comfortable, but they made it work, with the two sleeping in armchairs while the children decided who would sleep cuddled up to Ferdinando (Damian, of course).

The children took so long to fall asleep that, when they were discharged, none of the adults wanted to wake their kids. Thinking about how she would carry two children (and Ferdinando) to the parking lot, Lily felt grateful when Matt yawned and woke up, taking his cat from Damian's arms and going to their mother, who was folding Maya's bedspread.

“Home?” Matt asked, simplifying the question while yawning. Lily caressed her son's wavy hair, which was growing just like his father's, and confirmed, handing him the prescription glasses that were on the bedside table.

While picking up Maya and handing her bag to Matt, she saw Bruce Wayne do the same with Damian, who, just like her own boy, would clearly be the spitting image of his father, and felt her heart warm. The doubts he had were fading – with the warm and loving look he directed at the boy, Bruce Wayne loved his son. Maybe he was reckless, yes, but Bruce was a good father.

Chapter Text

two weeks later  

LILY WAS SURE THAT MAYA WAS LYING TO HER FACE. Something deeply rooted in her mind – the maternal instinct – told her that the flu was purely an excuse to skip school, but since Lily wasn't exactly eager to go to work, she chose to ignore it.

A missed day wouldn't kill anyone.

And although Maya was indeed warmer than usual, the complaints about her sore throat were slightly exaggerated. Unsure if the girl was actually sick or not, Matt was forbidden from going up to the second floor of the house, where Maya's room, the office, and the guest room were located. Lily had decided that she and Matt would have rooms on the ground floor to avoid tiring the boy, risking going up and down the stairs on "bad days". He would want to stay with his sister, but Lily couldn't risk Matt catching Maya's possible virus, since unlike the youngest – who had ironclad health – a virus in Matt could easily become something serious and evolve into something that would require hospitalization.

She called work to inform them that Hannah, her assistant, would be taking her classes in her place – and then called Hannah, saying the same thing – postponed all the meetings she could, turning the most urgent ones into online meetings, since some research projects Lily was supervising were almost at the defense dates for approval. When she was free, she started making breakfast; it was early enough that – since Maya would be staying home – she didn't need to wake Matt yet. Any healthy sleep her son could get, she let him have. Matthew acted like a little ball of anxiety some nights, having witnessed his father going to sleep and never waking up.

With fresh toast, vegan cheese, some fruit, and freshly made juice – and coffee for herself – ready and the table set, Lily went to wake Matt. The ten-year-old boy's room was stuffed with junk up to the ceiling, the walls filled with posters of cartoons, movies, and games, and toys he bought with his allowance and collected; his extremely soft and warm blanket had the official Superman print and was, by far, his all-time favorite item, Matt looked forward to Gotham's winter to use it every night without sweating.

Lily sat on the bed and pulled the blanket a little – Matt slept like a human burrito – placing a hand on his head and stroking the wavy black strands that, even after a whole night, were perfect.

“My love?” She called him softly, so as not to startle him. Lily held back the urge to look at her son forever, Matt was so cute while sleeping, his cheeks were red and he almost looked like a beautiful little doll, so perfect. Matt blinked, yawning.

“Already?” Lily stifled a laugh upon hearing the voice full of sadness at having to wake up. The woman merely made a confirming sound while Matt yawned again, unwinding from the blanket and sitting up. He raised his fist and rubbed his bright blue eyes, which he had inherited from her, looking at his mother and finally stretching.

Knowing that Matt wouldn't go back to sleep, Lily returned to the kitchen and put water in the kettle to boil while pouring herself a generous cup of coffee. It didn't take long for the boy to enter the kitchen already dressed in his school uniform and with his backpack ready – unlike Maya, Matt attended a public school in downtown Gotham, a neighborhood that bothered Lily a bit, after all, it was where many places were frequently attacked by criminals, but normally schools were left out of the targets. Except for that one time when a criminal organization recruited and trained orphaned children to turn them into child assassins and sell them, but it didn't happen when Lily and her children lived there, so, for her sanity, Lily pretends it didn't happen.

Extending a large glass of orange juice to her son, Lily held back a laugh when she saw him yawn again; neither of them were morning people. Matt sat at the table and piled his toast with all the fruits he could find, grated carrot, and tomato, while Lily took another sip of her coffee, eating only a small piece of the toast.

“Good morning.” Matt finally spoke, after more than half of his breakfast had already been consumed.

“Good morning, love. Did you sleep well?”

“Humrum” he confirmed, his mouth full of bread crumbs. “Where's Maya?”

“She didn't wake up feeling well, I'm going to stay home with her today.”

“Really?” Lily couldn't hold back her laughter with Matt also suspecting Maya's illness. But who could blame him when Maya didn't exactly have a star record, the girl's sharp and hyperactive mind never made their days monotonous.

“For real this time.” Lily confirmed. “I'll check with Jimmy's mom if she can take you today, okay?” Matt nodded, shoving the rest of his food into his mouth in one move and making another toast for himself.

Lily got up and finished the tea she was making, pouring it into a mug with the Robin logo and blowing on it for a few seconds, eating her own food while waiting for it to cool for a few minutes before going upstairs and entering Maya's room, who was buried in the thick blanket, her hair like a bird's nest with so many knots that Lily just ignored – she knew it would be a nightmare to comb later.

“Maya?” She called, placing the mug on the bedside table and pulling the blanket up to her chest. Maya blinked a few times before opening her eyes again. “I brought some chamomile tea, it will help with the nausea and your nose.”

Maya sniffled, groaning. Lily helped her sit up, placing her hand on the girl's forehead and seeing that it was indeed warmer than usual. She took the thermometer from the drawer and, quickly lifting Maya's pajama shirt, placed it under her armpit – which earned her a grumpy mumble from the child. Lily finally grabbed the mug and gave Maya the tea.

“It's hot, Mom.” She complained.

“It's supposed to be hot, sweetheart.” Lily tried to caress Maya, but her fingers almost got caught in the blonde strands, so she just rubbed her back. “But I cooled it down a bit for you.”

Maya pouted, but she took more of the tea, never refusing anything her mother gave her in her new favorite mug.

"I want Damian here, Mommy." Lily took a deep breath, ready to deny. While healthy, Maya was the kindest and sweetest girl Lily had ever seen, but her sick daughter was, at the same time, very emotional and whiny; Lily wasn't afraid to say "no," knowing it was important for the development of a functional person, but it broke her heart when she was all sick.

“You might have something that could pass to him, Maya, it's just you and me today.” She denied, with a low and calm voice. Maya, however, sniffled and her blue eyes filled with tears.

“Call him, I'm sick so he's sick too.” Lily blinked.

“That's not how it works, Maya.”

“Yes, we learned about viral diseases at school this week. If a person catches it and sneezes and doesn't wash their hands or isn't vaccinated, they can catch it and pass it to someone else! If the person who catches it is sick like Matt or old like Damian's grandfather, they could die because they are more fragile! And Damian sits next to me, Mom. I think I even sneezed in his face yesterday.” Lily deeply hated Gotham Academy sometimes.

“But we can't be sure.” She tried to argue—

“Then call!” —And failed.

Lily hung up, after ten years of motherhood, she learned to choose her battles. She picked up her phone and called Alfred – actually, it was the landline number for Wayne Manor, but since it was always the butler who answered, Lily associated the number with him.

And, as the universe seemed to hate Lily's peace, Alfred confirmed that Damian had woken up warm but, unlike Maya, refused any mention of being sick. Maya, being the polite and well-behaved girl she was, took Lily's phone and asked Alfred to put Damian on the line and, after ten whole minutes arguing with the boy, she convinced him not to go to class and, moreover, to spend the day there.

“Here, Mom.” Maya handed her the phone.

“Is it really not going to be a problem, Doctor?” Alfred asked. “Damian can be quite… challenging.”

“It won't be any trouble at all, Alfred” Lily just accepted the fate of how her day would be. “Maya, in fact, insists on staying with him, and if they are already sick... Anyway, it's no problem at all, I'll stay home to take care of both of them.”

Alfred agreed, secretly relieved.

“And Mr. Matthew? You who take the children to school, I can take him when you drop off Damian, if you're interested.” Lily wanted to cry, already feeling a weight lifting off her shoulders, she hated having to ask for help from Matt's classmates' mothers, even though they didn't say anything directly, Lily noticed the looks and whispers about the extra care she had for the boy, being a widow and, in the end, because of her body.

It wasn't hard to assume that Lily didn't make many friends at the parents' meeting.

“I would be very grateful, Alfred, it would be a huge relief, thank you so much!” Lily thanked, already going down the stairs to check if Matt had brushed his teeth.

“You're welcome, Doctor Barnes. It's a delight to be with Mr. Matthew, he is always very kind.” The butler was complimentary, making Lily's heart warm. She knew that, despite all the insecurities about her motherhood and raising two personalities without any support, Lily was doing something right. Matt and Maya were such kind and warm children to everyone, so open and cheerful – her two babies were her heart, soul, and pride.

Lily said goodbye to Alfred and went to make more coffee. Taking care of two sick children wasn't easy, taking care of a sick Maya along with the chaotic best friend... Lily would need a lot of caffeine. She made three shots of espresso.

Matt, a full ten years old, was completely dressed, perfumed, with his backpack on his back and, yes, with his teeth very well brushed, waiting for Alfred to arrive at his doorstep, next to his mother who, unlike him, had a curiously large mug of coffee and was wearing her usual pajamas: gray sweatpants, a pink tank top with "graduate mom" and her penguin slippers – not the mafioso, a pink plush penguin. Lily was also holding Matthew's heavy coat, it wasn't cold enough to wear it yet, but Lily, using her motherly instinct, knew it would get chilly and the coat would be useful; and she definitely didn't want Matt to catch a cold, as any simple illness in him could evolve into something serious.

When the black BMW stopped in front of the house, Lily kissed her son and led him to the car, noticing that, besides a Damian stuffed with coats and scarves, Bruce Wayne was accompanying him, with Alfred just rolling down the car window and greeting her.

Matt opened the door and got into the passenger seat, Lily almost called him back, but she could barely say anything before Alfred sped off, leaving her there, with the two Waynes in front of her house.

“Is he... picking you up later?” Lily asked, unsure. Bruce Wayne was wearing a three-piece suit, all in black from head to toe, even sporting a fancy shoe that she was sure must cost as much as her house.

To her surprise, Wayne almost seemed uncomfortable with her question, as if he didn't quite know the answer either, still looking at where Alfred had taken Matt, now only faint tire marks proving they had been there.

“Parents should take care of their children when they are sick.” Damian interrupted whatever Bruce was about to answer. “Maya said.”

Lily smiled, thinking he was a curious little boy. And that he was clearly spending a lot of time with her beloved daughter.

“Maya is right, it's what parents are normally supposed to do.” She chose her words carefully, knowing very well that what should be done was not always what happened. Damian shook his head, as if he could finally believe Maya.

“If it's not too much trouble, of course.” It was Bruce's turn to speak.

It was, in fact, a bother to have a strange man for God-knows-how-long, but Lily wouldn't be the one to say that Damian's father couldn't stay with him. So she declined, inviting them in and offering coffee to Bruce, who accepted – Damian also asked, but it was denied for more than obvious reasons – the child not even hesitating to go up the stairs and heading straight to Maya's room.

“He would never admit it even under the threat of death, but Damian is definitely sick.” Bruce commented, as he sat in the kitchen chair, watching her grab a huge box of medicine and start rummaging through it.

“He is a curious child, how is his behavior when sick?”

Bruce hesitated.

“It's the first time he's gotten sick with me, before he... lived with his mother.”

Lily didn't ask any more, suppressing her curiosity. Damian clearly had some emotional difficulties, not noticing and perceiving various social situations and common knowledge that was expected of children his age, compensating with a lot of academic intelligence – quite similar to her daughter, but in an opposite way. While she tried to socialize too much, Damian did less. But Lily wasn't Damian's psychologist, so she didn't say anything about her perceptions.

“Ah, found it!” She took a ginger extract from the box, placing it in the kettle along with a generous amount of cow's milk. “I always mix a bit of this into the milk, it helps with the throat irritation they might have.”

Bruce agreed, without commenting. Lily thought it was funny that a man with about ten kids seemed so lost, but, she supposed, Bruce Wayne must have a lot of doctors on speed dial to handle anything, being a zillionaire and all.

“Do you want to eat something? We can't live on coffee alone or we'll end up taking what they have.” She offered the toast that was still on the table.

Bruce accepted and started eating, but soon made a face, remembering when he entered Damian's room in the morning: “No one told me how disgusting phlegm is.”

Lily's eyes widened.

“Right? You develop an adoration for your children, but wow, kids are disgusting!”

“Try having five boys.” Bruce paused, thinking. “Actually, no, girls are just as gross as boys. Each one has their own bathroom, how can hair end up all over the house?”

Lily laughed.

As the day went by, Lily noticed that, just as Bruce didn't quite know how to take care of a sick child, Damian didn't know how to be cared for. Lily and Maya ended up teaching both of them how to act.

“Yes, Damian, I need to know your temperatura”, “no, Bruce, he can walk normally, he doesn't need you to give him a bath.”

And Maya: ”Uncle Bruce, I'm thirsty," "Mom, I think Damian is cold.”

When Lily finally gave up and, with all the love in the world, made a triple valerian tea for the kids, she closed all the many curtains in the room and turned off the lights – turning on only one of the lamps. In less than half an hour, the two were asleep, and Bruce and Lily could finally have lunch without interruptions, even if it was just a couple of burgers from a fast food place not too far away, since neither of them had the energy for anything else.

And Bruce wouldn't admit even under the threat of death that he didn't know how to cook.

Actually, Bruce knew how to survive. In the years alone, when he traveled the world before starting his training, he cooked for himself, but the food was so particular that it only satisfied his own palate; he would never risk feeding other people – not that Alfred would let him stay in the kitchen long enough for him to even try. So yes, they ordered food.

While the children slept, the two were sprawled on the living room sofas, eating and drinking more coffee.

“I didn't know valerian tea worked so well," Bruce commented, taking advantage of the silence. Lily let out a chuckle.

“It doesn't work, it's the environment.” She took a big bite of her vegan burger and chewed for a few seconds before continuing: “I always give her the tea and close the curtains, turn off the lights, just like I do when she goes to sleep. Even though the tea itself doesn't work so well, they both already expect sleep and don't struggle to stay awake.”

Bruce blinked, biting back a smile.

“So... You lie and manipulate them?”

“That's called motherhood.”

Bruce extended the hand holding the Batman coffee mug, Lily took hers – the Superman one – and clinked it with his, toasting.

Lily would never think that Bruce Wayne was such an easy person to deal with. But she definitely understood why he was the most coveted bachelor when he took off the suit and rolled up his shirt sleeves, revealing the toned arms he had. Lily could barely contain her gaze – she definitely understood all the women who dated him, even with his fame. It was almost absurd for someone so handsome and wealthy to be so calm and kind. And intelligent! Bruce was able to calmly discuss and argue with her about Gotham's politics, philosophy, and, to her surprise, how Batman was right in never killing, arguing that, besides empathy, it is an important political move in Gotham, already so taken by violence; that was why, Bruce stated, as soon as he returned, he stopped producing weapons for the government and focused on areas that truly made a difference in Gotham and the world, like the technological sciences division that was researching clean and cheap energy, which he personally took extreme pride in, since Tim was the one who managed it alone.

Lily definitely understood why all those women gave in to him. Intelligence was extremely sexy. Him being a greek god on earth helped.

Interrupting her thoughts, Matt finally returned from school – Alfred claiming he had things to do and still leaving Bruce and Damian there, without even asking Bruce, which made Lily stifle a giggle – not at all surprised to see an adult man there, rushing to his room, taking a shower and changing clothes, completely exhausted from the classes. When he returned, he threw himself next to Bruce on the couch.

“You're very rich, aren't you?” Lily wanted to die upon hearing her son's question, but Bruce laughed.

“A little, yes.” And he took a sip of his coffee.

“So why aren't you at your house?”

“Matt!” Lily scolded. “That's a very mean thing to say.”

Matt blinked, turning to Bruce again: “Sorry, I didn't mean to be mean.”

“It's okay.” Bruce replied, surprised by how easily Matt apologized. “And, answering your question, Damian wanted to stay here with Maya, and it wouldn't be kind to leave their mother to take care of both of them alone.”

Matt nodded, agreeing.

“Makes sense. Do you play chess?” He changed the subject, quickly accepting his answer. “I'm learning to play with this guy on YouTube, but neither mom or Maya knows.”

“I do play, yes. At my place, we could even hold a tournament, almost all of us play,” Bruce saw Matt's eyes light up, excited. “Do you want to play?”

“Yes!” And he jumped off the couch, running to his room and coming back with his box that turns into the board and the pieces carefully arranged and stored. When he placed everything on the coffee table and sat on the rug, Matt was breathless.

“Breathe slowly, babyboy.” Lily said, watching him from a distance, without making much fuss. Matt shook his head.

“Are you okay?” Bruce couldn't help but worry. He was well aware of the boy's physical condition, having read everything about it when he investigated the family – how his father died and how the little ten-year-old boy inherited the genetic disease.

Lily responds for the boy, staring at him like a hawk while watching him breathe slowly: “Just take a deep breath and sit for a few seconds and everything will be fine.”

When Matt started breathing normally again, Lily went to the fridge, grabbed the water bottle – with the Superman design – and handed it to the boy, who drank.

“You had physical education today, didn't you?” Lily asked, and Matt nodded, his cheeks flushed. “You know you need to take it easy, Matt.”

“But it was volleyball! I had to play”

“And you can play, but you know not for much long.” She argued, using what she called her mother's voice. While Matt had already been cleared for physical exercises, his illness being more aggressive than Tony's, his father, but more treatable, since with physiotherapy and close monitoring, Matt was a normal child and almost completely healthy, with only a few limitations; intense and prolonged exercises being one of them, unfortunately for her, Matt was a ten-year-old boy who loved to do everything.

“I know... But we were winning!” He argued back, starting to set up the board for the game. Bruce swallowed a laugh, hesitating for a few seconds before sitting on the rug in front of Matt.

“Just don't do it again, it can be dangerous.” Matt agreed, but Lily knew he would soon forget and do it again in a few weeks, if he stayed calm at dinner and slept well during the night, he would be fine, a little shortness of breath wasn't a reason to take him to the hospital, no matter what the paranoid little voice in her mind screamed.

“You can start.”

Lily let the two play in the living room and went back to the kitchen, separating vegetables to make a hearty soup – Maya would complain, her daughter was strongly against soup for dinner, but a soup full of vegetables was always the best option. When she finished and served the soup in two bowls to take upstairs, the boys' game had finally ended and Bruce offered to take it up – after all, she had made it. As she went down, he thanked her for being careful not to put any animal protein in it, and that's when Lily began to actually like Damian: the boy was also vegan. She didn't know, but it was a pleasant surprise.

The rest of the night, until Alfred arrived, wasn't much different, however, the loud laughter came the next day.

Bruce and Lily ended up sleeping right there in the living room, waking up with sore backs from the sofa which, despite being very comfortable, was not suitable for the backs of two adults more on the heavier side.

Bruce sneezed.

Lily laughed, but immediately coughed because her throat was sore.

And Alfred regretted leaving the two alone with the children, since now he was the one taking care of the two sick adults.

Chapter Text

LILY WANTED TO CRY. Everything started going wrong the moment she opened her eyes that morning; from Matt throwing a tantrum to Lily-Rose completely forgetting she was part of a master's thesis committee, which made her have to rush to the other side of the university to avoid being one of those professors who are late at such an important moment in the students' lives. Next, her lunch was completely ruined when one of the professors – the one for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Practices, obviously – irritated her every minute of her break by not realizing that Lily didn't want company. The rest of the day sounded like her students had decided, in an evil plot, to be incredibly annoying; what else could explain a graduate student not knowing how to format an academic paper? It was a new level of audacity to ask her about the correct margin for that type of work. Just Google it, for crying out loud.

Or, literally, just download the template available on the GU website that she knew was there because she approved it before the classes started. Lily almost fired Elouise, the Scientific Methodology teacher, right then and there, but she knew better than to make big decisions on days when she was stressed and in a bad mood.

The cherry on top was when, at the end of the day, her car wouldn't start at all. Lily wasn't ashamed to admit that she cried for a good ten minutes over her terrible day; then, frustrated and angry, Lily refused to wait for the subway and walked home – after, of course, informing the neighbor's daughter, who was the babysitter, that she would be late – using the forced exercise as a way to calm down and not bring her charged energy home and near her children.

Lily, however, seemed to forget that she lived in Gotham. So, as expected, Lily was mugged. Her cell phone, her wallet, notebook, notebooks, her expensive water bottle, and all her cards and documents were lost to some thug who pointed a gun at her. Lily-Rose, at this point, was no longer shaken; she just went to the nearest police station to file a report, which was necessary to get new documents and block her cards.

She just wanted to go home and sleep, but she was at the police station, waiting to file the report, after calling her babysitter to inform her that she would be late again. If it were up to Lily-Rose, she would sleep for a month without stopping, but they were, after all, right in the middle of the week – she had to work tomorrow, to her horror.

“Dr. Parker?” After long minutes waiting in the police station's reception, Lily almost couldn't hold back her surprise when she was called. When she looked up, she saw that the voice belonged to a tall and slender young man, with wavy strands that framed his face marked by two deep dimples as he smiled at her; his honey-colored eyes were almost disappearing with the big smile – a smile too big and too cheerful for someone Lily definitely didn't know. Maybe he was a student?

“Hi, how are you?” Lily stood up to greet him, purely out of politeness, as she still had no idea who he was.

“Ah, a thousand apologies, I didn't introduce myself properly.” He extended his hand. “I am Richard Grayson, Bruce's eldest son and Damian's adoptive brother.”

Lily's mind lit up as if she were in a cartoon; knowing who he was, Lily took his hand and greeted him.

“Ah, hi! Your brother is very polite and a sweetheart.” Richard laughed, as if she were making a joke.

“And you are a kind woman.” Richard still had a big smile plastered on his face. “What are you doing here?”

“I was robbed, I'm waiting to file a police report so I can request new documents.” Richard lost his smile, genuinely lamenting for Lily.

After much insistence from Dick — what he preferred to be called, even though it was a weird way to nickname someone — who was actually a police officer and was finishing his shift, Lily filed the report with him and could finally go home. It seemed that her streak of bad luck had ended when, being an angel on earth, Dick offered her a ride. Someone would have to pick up Damian from his house anyway; not that she knew the boy was at his house, but it wouldn't be a complete surprise, since his silent presence was becoming increasingly constant at the Parker house.

After facing Gotham's traffic, Lily dismissed the baby-sitter — and Damian was there, beating Maya at chess — and she didn't spare any thanks to Dick, who was obviously as polite as his younger brother, without all the oddness of the latter. It wasn't bad that the boy was charm personified, always smiling and being kind to Matt and Maya; Dick was easily becoming her favorite Wayne; the competition, however, wasn't tight, since Damian had run away from home with Maya, Alfred had let the two escape, and Bruce was too handsome to be real. And Bruce, being the billionaire-tech version of Angelina Jolie who adopted any child he saw, made his existence completely unfair: crazily handsome, tall, kind, intelligent, apparently not just a good father but one who adopted – Lily had a soft spot for beautiful, tall people with cute children.

“Stay for dinner, we are vegan in this house, but I'm sure I can make something you'll like.” Lily argued with Dick. “And Damian is having dinner too, you will get home late.”

“That's fine, but you don't need to do anything fancy, I like vegan food, since it's all Damian eats at home.” Lily agreed, leaving Dick with Matt, who instantly fell in love with the young adult when he found out Dick was a police officer, and went to the kitchen, thinking about what he would make.

Deciding to do something practical, she took all the vegetables she had from the fridge, along with the fresh mushrooms, cleaned everything, seasoned it, and put it on barbecue skewers – it was something quick and there wouldn't be many mistakes to make.

When she turned on the small portable grill that was in her kitchen, letting it heat up, Lily heard her doorbell ring. The psychologist was puzzled, as she wasn't expecting anyone – and even if she were, after her hellish day, Lily would definitely have canceled everything – so she went to the door, passing by the four kids on the couch and looking through the doorbell camera to see who was there.

Two teenagers were there: a boy, a young adult dressed in very expensive clothes, and a tall, slender Asian girl, younger than him; remembering the other extra kids who were in her house, Lily understood who they were.

Apparently, Lily-Rose would have two more Waynes for dinner.

Tim, the eighteen-year-old teenager who, despite being so young, clearly had some form of high intelligence and who talked just a little too much – enough to be cute – was funny, he kept asking questions and clarifying doubts about vegan food, even though Lily wasn't the most informed or a chef, she knew some things, given the years the three of them had been eating without meat and animal products.

Cassandra, however, was a silent presence, following her around the kitchen like a delicate shadow with very light footsteps. It was almost funny, the girl was curious, but unlike Tim, who asked questions, Cassandra only observed not only what Lily was doing but also her movements; how she chopped the vegetables, the amounts of salt and pepper, how she chopped and crushed the garlic and onion. Lily had decided to make garlic bread and pasta salad, since there were more children to feed.

Lily was only somewhat enjoying having the house full and noisy, if she were honest with herself. It was fun to listen to the boys' arguments, especially when Tim went to the living room and he and Damian started verbally attacking each other – Matt and Maya were never like that, and Lily was an only child, so the sibling dynamic always intrigued her.

Damian, while Lily was cutting the ingredients she would use for the salad, entered the kitchen and sat at the table, arms crossed. Lily held back her laughter, not wanting to offend the temperamental little boy, but Cassandra, on the other hand, didn't exercise the same caution and went up to him, ruffling his soft hair as only an older sister could.

“There are too many people here.” Damian complained. “You should send them away. The house is small.”

"The house is big, we are the ones who are too many." Cassandra signaled. Lily laughed.

“I won't send your brothers away, Damian. I enjoyed their company, and Dick helped me a lot today.” He clarified vocally, while also signing his words to Cassandra.

“I can help too.” Imitating Lily, Damian said and signed, but even though the speech was helpful, his tone was grumpy. His large green eyes, however, made him extremely cute, like a grumpy little kitten.

“And I know you can, but Cassandra is help enough here.” Damian tightened his expression even more. “You can take Hei-hei for a walk in the yard and keep an eye on Ferdinando so he doesn't run away, I'm sure they would like to take a little stroll.”

And, as if she had said magic words – like ice cream was for Matt – Damian lit up and agreed, grabbing the harness-leash for the two animals, where Lily had indicated it would be, and he and Maya went to play with the cat and the chicken. Lily left the kitchen door open so she could watch them while cooking.

"Damian is jealous," Cassandra pointed out. Lily agreed with her.

"Whenever he comes here to my house, it's just him and Maya; Matt usually stays with me." Lily replied.

"He is very lonely." The girl commented, with a seriousness that was not very expected from someone who was fourteen. "Even with many people around, he was alone."

"He has Maya now." Lily signaled, thinking about how the two had grown close so quickly. Lily knew it would be a friendship they would both carry forever. "And he –and you, have me too." For whatever you want and need."

Lily had a soft spot for children.

Cassandra smiled, a warmth filling Lily's heart.

"Bruce is alone too." Cassandra commented, with a smile glued to her lips. "He might need it too." Rolling her eyes, Lily ignored it, going back to preparing the food, pretending she didn't hear the soft laugh Cassandra let out.

When the vegetables on the grill were almost ready, Cassandra started grabbing more skewers. Lily found it curious, as she was sure there was more food than enough, but she didn't stop the girl from continuing, so she observed her silent movements – exactly like her own earlier, even the way she cut the mushrooms and the order in which Lily used the spices.

So, to her shock, the doorbell rang. And Cassandra gave her a smile again.

Lily went to the door – Matt still occupying Dick with the eternal chess game and endless questions about being a police officer – and opened it.

Alfred was in front of her, carrying two giant bags with obvious groceries inside. Next to her were three more people. Children, even though one of them was taller than her – they all were, actually.

“Dr. Parker, good evening. I apologize for the intrusion.” Alfred seemed apologetic. “Master Damian informed us that you would be hosting dinner tonight.”

Lily blinked, shocked.

“Didn't I say he was lying?” The one who appeared to be the oldest grumbled. Lily, always polite, rushed so they wouldn't feel unwelcome.

“He didn't lie,” she clarified. “But it was something not very planned, actually— come in, come in.”

“I'm Steph, Cass's friend!” And she ran inside.

“Duke Thomas, adopted… I think.” He introduced himself, extending his hand. Cute. Lily greeted him and pointed to the room where the others were.

“Jason.” The eldest introduced himself.” Their security.

Lily squinted her eyes, suspicious.

“Aren't you too young to be a bodyguard?” Jason looked at her offended.

“I am perfectly capable”

“Shouldn't you be in high school or something?” Lily interrupted, Jason turning red.

“He's an apprentice.” Alfred clarified. Lily remained suspicious, but accepted.

While the three squeezed into the room, Alfred rushed to the kitchen – completely at home since he had spent those two days taking care of Lily and Bruce when they were sick, so he knew exactly where everything was. Following the man who, although elderly, was quick, she realized that Cassandra was right about making more skewers; unfortunately, though, the small grill wouldn't be enough to cook food for... Lily thought for a few seconds... Eleven people.

“Alfred, what do you think about us taking the things to the backyard? There's more space and a bigger grill out there.” Alfred agreed, separating everything into different bowls and, in an orderly manner, taking them to the table outside. Lily, not wanting to let him do everything alone, quickly started the fire in the big grill, organizing the skewers that were almost ready and the ones Cassandra had just made.

Alfred, meanwhile, began to take out not just groceries from the bag, but complete and ready-made dishes, arranged in glass containers with lids that were Lily's dream come true – who, for a long second, died of envy.

"I made a few simple things to complete the dinner," Alfred said upon seeing Lily's shocked look at the seven dishes of food and two with some dessert she couldn't identify. "All vegan, of course."

Lily blinked, still shocked. The tightness in her chest came crashing down, sinking her heart and blossoming with the care he had not only for the Wayne children but for her and her children's preferences – Lily couldn't even remember if anyone had ever shown such consideration in such a... Natural.

With the bad day completely forgotten, Lily enjoyed the dinner, with the moon high in the sky and the stars shining on the table as the voices mingled.

The following week, they all returned for another dinner, this time Lily had invited them.

Chapter Text

FOR MOTHER'S DAY, Lily cleared her entire schedule and waited to be pampered. Matt and Maya always made the most complete breakfast possible and brought it to her in bed in three trips. It was incredibly cute to see them trying to walk quietly as if their voices weren't loud – especially with Matt scolding Maya not to drop anything.

Not that the kids were the best cooks, but Lily always felt like the luckiest woman in the world when her children tried to make her Mother's Day morning perfect; they became the most polite and fragrant children in the world, without needing orders or rushing to get ready, or do homework or whatever, it was the day they tried to give her a "break" from being a mom – she didn't get a "break," however, but she loved being able to hug and squeeze her children without hearing complaints. It was her day, after all.

After having coffee and taking the kids to school, where she would have to rush later from one to the other because both had "surprise" Mother's Day events and Lily refused to miss them, the blonde decided to treat herself and went to the overpriced coffee shop she rarely visited. The coffee and cupcake hurt her wallet, but Lily deserved it. Checking her messages, she responded and thanked each student and colleague who congratulated her, loving the flattery – she, obviously, would never treat her students and mentees differently, but if her favorites had her personal number, that was another story.

A message, however, caught her attention.

"Good morning and happy Mother's Day, Lily." Lily pretended that her heart didn't race when she saw Bruce Wayne's contact light up on her phone. Since they truly met, at the hospital, instead of contacting her thru Alfred, Bruce had been talking to her himself about the routine – and the punishment – of Damian and Maya. The two children lived together, even serving their punishments together, so it was only logical for her to be in constant contact with Damian's guardian.

And it was, to her surprise, very easy to talk to Bruce. Apparently, no matter how many trillions you have in your account, a single father goes thru hardships in any social class. They shared tips and stories about fatherhood, yes, mainly because they both had atypical children at home, with Maya being dyslexic and having ADHD, and Damian with an incomplete autism investigation. Damian, in all his seriousness, refused to go back to the clinic because he didn't like the professional handling of the technicians – and here it's noted that Lily fell head over heels for the one-meter-tall boy with chubby cheeks speaking with such authority. Bruce even asked if Lily could finish the investigation, but she didn't work with children, unfortunately, so they were both looking for a clinic that would make Damian more comfortable, they haven't found one yet, tho.

He wanted someone with a doctorate. Maya was becoming less and less patient each time the four of them – because obviously Lily and Maya were going along with Damian and Bruce – entered a clinic and Damian started citing all the ethical errors as if he had the professional Code of Ethics memorized, which Lily didn't doubt. Not that Damian was wrong, but saying it out loud was a bit embarrassing.

So, yes, she and Bruce Wayne had been talking quite a bit thru messages lately.

"Thank you, see you later?" Lily responded, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Do we have something scheduled?" the response soon arrived.

"The 'secret' Mother's Day event at the children's school, aren't you going?"

"I am not a mother."

Lily laughed.

"I had the impression that Damian's mother wasn't a very strong presence in his life, and you can invite fathers or other people to the event, generally it's for whoever fills that role, not just women." Lily explained.

"Ah. Tália isn't coming, I think."

"He didn't invite you?" She insisted on the topic, remembering seeing that Damian participated in the optional task of making a handmade souvenir for the event. Maya did too, even asking Lily for help to finish the souvenir.

Bruce quickly replied, "He just said there was going to be this party at school and that he thot it was unnecessary."

Lily took a deep breath, grateful she wasn't his psychologist so she could say whatever she wanted.

"He wants you to go, idiot."

"Okay." That was the response, Lily could imagine the frown on his forehead that he always had when he realized he didn't understand something. At first, she thot it was anger or something similar, but it was just him not liking not knowing things. Who would have thot that Bruce Wayne, Gotham's favorite billionaire playboy, would be so controlling?

Although for someone who has a good ten children, he had to have some control over things.

When it was time for Matt's little party, she left and went to his school, crying and smudging all her makeup as she watched her baby recite an entire poem – taken from the internet and practiced all week – and hand her a red paper rose that contained a photo of the three of them together. Lily cried again. When she was done, Lily left Matt at home with the nanny while she rushed to Gotham Academy, almost as eager to see Maya as to see Bruce again, the tall, age-appropriate man who was always impeccably dressed always being a delight to Lily's eyes, who had already come to terms with the fact that she would indeed be staring at Bruce just like all the other mothers at the school.

She was a widow, not dead – like her husband.

The events at Gotham Academy were much more structured and elaborate than those at Matt's school, but no less sentimental. It was very funny to see how the richest people in Gotham – and the entire region, since she was sure she had seen Lex Luthor accompany his nephew in something – took an hour to watch their children sing a song about motherhood and love and tell their children "yes, that necklace you made is beautiful."

Was it a necklace made of white gold? Yes.

Was it a song where the students formed their own orchestra and sang like a well-tuned church choir? Yes.

And was it also an event where the rich clearly took advantage to network? Yes, also.

But, for the children, none of this mattered in the end.

Lily was always amazed at how just the presence of parents could transform the most spoiled, fussy, and reactive child she knew into a ball radiating happiness. It saddened her, too. Despite now taking it with humor and making jokes about her widowhood, Lily often lamented her children having one less parent than others more than the loss of her partner. She ended up having to go thru and deal with three griefs: her own, of losing the one she thot she would share her life and the upbringing of her children with, Matt's, for losing his father at an age when he would barely have memories, and Maya's, who would never have in her life the father who loved her unconditionally even before Maya had come into the world.

Lily was happy with how her life was now, but she still mourned Tony's death while many children didn't have a father because the adult didn't care. Tony loved Matt and Maya and wanted them even tho they both came as a surprise; it wasn't the lack of love that would hurt her children, what hurt them was the presence that was taken from them.

Bruce arrived minutes before Maya and Damian's class took the stage in the auditorium, the parents' seats were all reserved with their names on the chairs – and, as if it had been planned, her seat was next to Bruce's. Lily smelled his delicious and expensive perfume even before she saw him.

“Am I late?” Bruce whispered right after sitting down, leaning in and almost touching her ear to make himself heard; even without touching, however, she could feel the warm air of his breath on her neck.

“No, you arrived just in time.” She replied, settling comfortably in her chair and feeling their arms touch due to the proximity.

When the lights went out and the presentation began, it wasn't just Lily who had wet eyes – and cheeks.

The Wayne mansion was, at the same time, exactly as Lily expected it to be and completely different. The grounds were so large that it took minutes to reach the entrance leading to the mansion – which, as expected, was gigantic, clearly old in a chic way with well-maintained wood and vintage architecture, the mansion was the true embodiment of the meaning of old money.

Alfred sounded proud as he recounted all the effort he put into the restoration and maintenance of the wood and all the other rich-people-things that Lily didn't even know what they were, but she listened attentively to the tour, with Matt so enchanted and Maya acting as if she knew every corner – although Maya had been there before, but had only said it was a "big house" –, Damian, also accompanying them, liked to join Alfred and add details from his family's history, always looking at Lily and Bruce to see if they were paying attention.

Having raised Maya, Lily had a doctorate in pretending to listen to something that went in one ear and out the other. Bruce, apparently, had developed the same skill since the empty look he had matched hers.

Trying not to fall asleep while standing, Lily turned to Bruce – and didn't have to blink twice to remember how to pronounce the words when she came face to face with the blue eyes already staring at her.

“It was very nice to see your house, but I think it's time for us to go...”

“No!” Maya squealed, making Matt, who was next to her, jump in fright.

“My ear, Maya.” Matt complained, moving away from his sister and closer to Bruce. Maya rolled her eyes.

“Today is Mother's Day, Mom!” Maya argued. “Damian doesn't have a mother, wouldn't it be sad for him to be away from the only mother he knows?”

Lily choked, wanting to sink into the floor in shame. Bruce, beside her, remained silent.

“Maya!”

“It's true, Dr. Parker,” Damian interrupted her, looking at her with big, cute green eyes. “You're the only mother I know who doesn't use physical punishment with her children.”

“Damian.” Bruce called, with a firm voice.

“It's true.” Damian defended his point: “I don't know why you're surprised, considering you go around picking up traumatized children as if we were your private collection, old man.”

Damian then turned to Lily.

“If we consider that he himself is a traumatized child, what is your professional opinion on his adoption compulsion?”

Lily, once again, wanted to sink into shame when all eyes turned to her, awaiting the answer.

To be fair, Lily had a professional opinion. But Bruce – and neither was Damian – her patient, and it was Mother's Day, so Lily was off.

“Well, it's interesting that you think Bruce has an adoption compulsion and you don't.” Maya burst into laughter while Damian's eyes widened. She watched as the boy went thru all the stages of grief in less than a minute upon realizing that yes, he adopted any animal he saw, not excluding pigeons, vultures, or cows.

“It's not a compulsion.” Damian defended.

“So if you're not compelled to take them, why do you adopt them?” Damian blinked, really thinking about the reasons and wondering if, perhaps, it applied to his brothers as well. His brothers, after all, could be compared to animals.

While Alfred continued the tour of the house – with Matt being the only one interested –, Bruce approached Lily, leaning in close to be able to speak without the others hearing.

“Maybe you should really be Damian's psychologist,” he whispered. “That was practically magical.”

Lily laughed: “It helps that he respects my doctorate.”

“And that you are a decent mother.”

“Well,” Lily began, with humor in her voice. “From what he said, it's not like the competition is very strong, right?”

Bruce blinked and Lily almost regretted it, afraid he would be offended – she was, after all, talking about the mother of his children –, but Bruce Wayne laughed.

A rich, deep laugh that made Lily finally admit that holy shit this man was the dream of her life incarnate in flesh and blood and an obscenely fragrant perfume and a ridiculously kissable mouth and… Lily hadn't felt this way in a long time, like a teenager in love with someone seemingly unattainable but who was right there; the last time was when she had a ridiculous crush on Dr. Harleen Quinzel – obviously before she went crazy and murderous and maybe just a little bit after too, Lily had a thing for women of questionable morals.

But Lily, hearing his laughter, felt like she was floating, as if her heart was beating in her chest again; but this time, unlike when Lily was young and widowed and the fear of getting involved haunted any possible relationship, she didn't feel afraid.

Lily felt brave – especially because the way Bruce looked at her was not just how he looked at his son's friend's mother. Bruce looked at her as if only she existed; as if only she were worthy of his gaze.

She might be deceiving herself and seeing things, yes, she knew that, but at nite, when Lily was getting into the car to go home and Maya and Matt were sleeping in the back seat, Bruce took her hand before she closed the car door – he leaned in, face to face, and whispered, his warm breath touching her cheeks:

“Do you want to have dinner with me, Lily?”

Lily, feeling Bruce's perfume dominate her mind and make her dizzy, replied: “Yes.”

Maya, pretending to sleep, almost couldn't hold back her scream of happiness.

Damian, observing with binoculars thru the window, did not have the same restraint.

Matt, meanwhile, was snoring.

Chapter Text

SAYING THAT LILY WAS NERVOUS WAS UNDERSTATING THE DRUM SOLO HER HEARTBEAT HAD BECOME. She had changed clothes fourteen times, Maya losing patience on the third, stealing her phone and going to call Damian, while Matt took minutes analyzing each look and giving his opinion on every detail – and Matt had strong and strangely modern opinions for such a young boy –, Lily simply didn't know what to wear, nor did she know if any of the clothes she owned would be appropriate for any place Bruce Wayne frequented.

Lily, currently, rarely questioned her beauty. In her adolescence and early adulthood, Lily was a well of insecurity, her fat body always being a reason to avoid the mirror and hate herself. It improved a bit when her late husband taught her that she could be truly loved, only for the insecurity to come back with full force after she had Matt and couldn't lose the pregnancy weight. After Maya, grief, and a lot of therapy, Lily was kinder to herself and even found herself beautiful and was happy with her body – which was healthy, had given life to two perfect creatures, and, yes, was a fat body; however, Bruce was the epitome of physical perfection, the Lily of before could barely talk to him without stuttering, let alone get him interested in her. Lily-Rose thot she was beautiful, yes, but she wasn't someone she imagined beside Bruce Wayne, not the version the media knew, at least.

The version she knew, however, was different.

Bruce was kind, he loved his children – even the weirdest ones and the bodyguard she was sure Bruce would help at any second –, he was strangely attentive and remembered absolutely everything she said; Bruce was intelligent and could argue about any subject she brought up, he had a dry sense of humor and, when he was relaxed, he was the person with the most dad jokes she had ever met. And he gave her shivers like Lily had never felt before, he made her heart beat like no one had ever done before.

And the cherry on top: he smelled really damn good.

So yes, Lily would go on this date, but she had no idea what to wear or what acrobatics she would perform to not eat too much – she hated the judgmental looks because God forbid a woman with meat around her bones eat something real and not be desperate to lose weight.

“You should go with the red one.” Matt interrupted her internal outburst while straightening her hair with the iron, dressed in the robe because, again, she had taken off the previous dress. — The one you wore at that dinner with Jennifer's aunt that you said you weren't dating. She was a friend.

“You kissed.” Matt retorted, sitting on the bed and swinging his feet. “On the mouth. Like in the movies.”

“She was a very close friend.” Lily tried, before Matt could retort, she continued: “Isn't red a bit too… Showy?”

“You look beautiful in it.” Matt replied, as if it were the simplest thing in the world, and, in the end, it was. Lily felt beautiful in the red dress that had a slit showing a bit of her thigh; Lily felt beautiful when she wore something that highlighted the volume and beauty of her bust.

Lily put on the red dress. And, just because she was feeling bold, she put on the red lipstick too.

By the end of the nite, she might not know it, but red would become Bruce's favorite color.

When Bruce got out of the black BMW he had chosen especially for that nite – a comfortable and discreet car – he almost tripped over himself. Batman almost tripped over himself when he came face to face with the most beautiful woman he had ever seen – and Bruce knew stunning women, but Lily… Lily was born to wear red. On her body, on her feet... On her lips.

Bruce waited leaning against the car as she descended the steps that led directly to him. Lily walked slowly, savoring the seconds as she felt the admiring gaze of a handsome man focused solely on her – all the previous insecurity vanishing like magic upon seeing him there.

When he finally approached, Lily could smell the masculine scent that was making her so obsessed, and it was her turn to observe him. Bruce was impeccable, as always, but the long-sleeved black wool shirt, tight on his muscles, made it almost impossible to take her eyes off his arms.

Who would have thot that the quadrillionaire playboy spent so much time at the gym?

“You are the most stunning woman I have ever seen.” Bruce whispered, so close that she felt the minty breath on her face. Lily blushed, her red cheeks hidden by makeup.

“Thank you.” She replied, whispering back. Lily had never felt so beautiful before. "You look handsome, are you going on a date?"

Lily moved closer, placing her palm on his chest, having to look up a lot, the height difference being noticeable with them so close.

“I was going to,” Bruce bit back a laugh. “But I fear she might get jealous now that I can only look at you.””Better not drive then, I'd hate to stain that dress in an accident.” Bruce smiled, his gaze fixed on Lily's red lips. He put his hand in his pocket, took out the key, and handed it to her.

“All yours.”

Lily had never driven anything so obviously expensive before. The damn car would warn when too much time had passed and ask if the driver wanted coffee – she would hate rich people if Bruce wasn't so handsome. She followed the GPS, the journey in a peaceful silence while Bruce just watched her and she tried not to lose focus on the road too much.

It was a fancy restaurant, yes, but not as much as Lily had expected, and something in her felt relieved. Until, of course, she realized that Bruce had closed the restaurant just for them. Rich.

In the dining room, there was only one impeccable table set for two, adorned with a small vase of fresh flowers – lilies, Lily noticed – and glasses so shiny they almost looked like jewels. Lily liked to believe she was a humble woman, but she was impressed. Being escorted by the receptionist thru the restaurant, Bruce pulled out the chair, like the perfect gentleman from the fairy tales Maya read.

“Thank you,” Lily said as she sat down, watching Bruce sit across from her, a small smile etched on his face. Soon the receptionist left and, thru the door she presumed led to the kitchen, a waiter walked up to them and handed them the menu, stepping back and giving them privacy to choose what to have for dinner.

“I really liked this restaurant when I was little.” Bruce began, in a low voice. “My dad used to bring us here because, even tho it's a bit out of the way, it was always a very peaceful place with good food.”

Lily smiled, appreciating the memory. She knew very well how difficult it was to lose parents, she couldn't imagine going thru it so young and so violently.

“They seemed like kind people.” She replied. Bruce's smile changed to a sadder, longing one.

“They were.” He confirmed, then opened the menu, continuing: “My father, however, always complained about the vegan options on the menu.”

When Lily looked at the options for herself, her stomach churned with something strange, her body warming up, and an urge to start kicking her feet like a lovestruck little girl took over. There weren't many completely vegan restaurants in Gotham – not one of that quality – and yet, all the options there were vegan.

Lily had never felt so seen before. And on the first date.

After placing their orders and having the menus collected, the conversation flowed easily – Bruce, in fact, was someone easy to talk to and incredibly intelligent and opinionated. And who laughed at any joke she made, even the ones that were so obviously not funny at all.

“What I'm saying is that if a serious psychiatrist analyzed the Joker, it would be obvious that he's not crazy!” Lily argued, slightly intoxicated by the wine. Bruce, having dragged his chair to the other position at the table, no longer sitting in front of her, but now beside her and so close that their legs were touching, laughed.

“But he has already been evaluated!” Bruce retorted, gesturing passionately. “Multiple times!”

“They are all based on disorders diagnosed in the first evaluation!” Lily argued back. “Evaluation done by Harley, who is a crazy woman who fell in love with him and freed him from prison.”

“I thot you weren't allowed to call people crazy.”

“I'm off work.”

Bruce laughed.

“So, what you're saying is that the Joker doesn't have any disorder or disturbance?” Bruce questioned after taking a sip of his own wine.

“No, he definitely has something, but what if it's something that doesn't allow him to go to Arkham?” Bruce suddenly became serious, really thinking about the implications of that.

“The death penalty…”

“Exactly. A decent neuropsychological evaluation done by a capable, courageous professional with nothing to lose could prove that he has the psychological capacity to understand his crimes and pay for them, and goodbye, goodbye, Joker.” Bruce was completely shocked.

“And you wouldn't be...”

“No,” Lily interrupted, her turn to laugh. “Unlike some trillionaires out there, I don't have the money to pay for private security.”

“I'm not a trillionaire.” Bruce defended himself, rolling his eyes.

“I think I'll believe that, a trillionaire wouldn't need to pay a Young Apprentice security guard.” And, unless Bruce was going to explain that Jason was actually his dead-who-was-actually-alive son, he would have to keep quiet.

Lily raised the wine glass to her red lips and Bruce couldn't help but say: “I like to give young people a chance.”

Lily laughed, choking on the wine.

After a while of conversations and more laughter fueled by wine, a comfortable silence settled between them, she barely noticing how much Bruce had leaned in her direction – so close that, once again, Lily was drunk not from the empty bottle of wine, but from his scent. Drunk with the way he looked at her.

Bruce was there and stayed there for minutes, just looking at her. Lily blushed after a few seconds under the intense blue eyes.

“What?” She asked, whispering. Bruce never looked away.

“You are truly the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.” Bruce took her right hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it gently. “And I really enjoy talking to you.”

“I like talking to you too,” she replied. Hesitantly, she admitted her little obsession: "And you smell really good."

Bruce, with his other hand, lightly lifted and dragged the chair closer, occupying Lily's entire view.

“Thank you for agreeing to go out with me.” He whispered.

“You're very good at first dates.”

“And,” Bruce whispered, bringing his face closer to hers. “I hope this is my last first date.”

When Bruce stopped the car in front of Lily's house, she almost lamented the end of the date out loud, not wanting the nite to end. He got out of the car and walked around it, opening the door for her and helping her out, their hands touching and, even with the car door closed, Bruce didn't let go, enjoying having her skin against his – even if just their hands.

“It was a very good nite,” Lily stated, smiling at Bruce in front of her, his broad shoulders hiding the house behind, trapping her against the car. Her heart raced as he leaned in.

“Damian Wayne, you're grounded.” Bruce grunted, loudly as he quickly took a few steps back and Lily jumped in surprise.

What?

Lily heard a loud huff coming from the trunk of the car, which opened and the boy came out, wearing a scowl on his face.

“Damian!” She became worried. “You were in there all this time? Are you okay?” Lily turned to the boy and grabbed him by the shoulders, looking for injuries. Bruce rolled his eyes, knowing very well that Damian was perfectly healthy.

“I am perfectly capable of staying in an enclosed space for a long time.” Damian replied, but he did not physically move away from Lily's touch. “I was trained.”

Lily blinked: “Trained?”

“In case he gets kidnaped again.” Bruce clarified, only partially lying. The man turned his gaze to the boy. “And you shouldn't try to spy on your father.”

“Try?” Damian was offended.

“I knew the second I left the house.” Lily held back a laugh, completely enamored with Bruce's paternal skills. Damian crossed his arms, huffing again. "You're grounded, and if any of the others helped you with this, they're grounded too."

It was only then that Lily considered a very obvious possibility.

“Maya!” Lily turned toward the house and shouted, calling her and not at all worried about the neighbors hearing. Maya soon came out the door with a kicked puppy look, Matt appearing behind her rubbing his sleepy eyes. “Grounded too.”

“Mooooooom,” Maya groaned. Matt laughed.

“Matthew, are you involved in this?” The mother questioned, arms crossed, almost imitating Daemon.

“No!” The boy replied, indignant.

“Yes!” Maya said at the same time, but it was clear that she just didn't want to be grounded alone.

“All three of you inside now,” she ordered. “And when I come in, you two, Damian and Maya, better be fast asleep or the punishment will be not seeing each other for two months.”

Damian widened his eyes, outrage emanating from them; Maya, knowing that, unlike Bruce, her mother carried out the punishments she gave untill the end, signaled for Damian to follow, the two of them entering and going straight to Maya's room, where they shared the bed and silently planned their next steps. Matt also entered.

Lily turned to Bruce, who was biting back a laugh at the whole situation.

“Can you handle them?” He asked.

“Yes, I can, they lie down and fall asleep quickly, they think I don't know they try to gossip under the covers,” Lily laughed. “They're not quiet.”

Bruce nodded, unconcerned.

With the situation resolved, Bruce then quickly approached her and wrapped his arms around her waist, finally allowing himself to feel the softness of the red dress that had been driving him completely crazy all nite. Bruce couldn't – and didn't even try to – take his eyes off her lips with the red lipstick he wanted to smudge.

“Can I kiss you?” He asked, so close to her that their mouths almost touched, but still, he wouldn't kiss her without her explicit permission, without hearing that she desired him in the same way that Bruce desired her.

And Lily would be crazy if she didn't say yes.

And Bruce Wayne kissed her – not like the polished and gentle man he was, but with force and intensity, allowing himself to take everything he had always wanted with his tongue in her mouth and his hands all over her body, crushing her dress; not that Lily did any different, her own hands clinging to his deliciously broad shoulder and leaving red scratches on his neck. Bruce pulled her body, pressing their bodies together, his heat warming her like a furnace and increasing her desire in a way she didn't even know was possible; he made her feel like a hormonal teenager with just a kiss and an obsession with the red she was wearing.

Bruce bit her lower lip – now red not from lipstick, but from the force of the kiss – and kissed her again, but calmly and more deeply, like a farewell. Lily gave in, letting herself go and not even caring if both of them had stained skin. Two pecks followed, soft and just because, God, her mouth looked so kissable, and he finally let her go inside her house, watching her until he was sure she was inside and safe.

And that no matter how wrinkled the dress was, her ass looked delicious in it.

At the end of the nite, in his house and in his bed, Bruce realized that red was, definitely, his favorite color

Chapter Text

six months later

LILY WAS ENTERING ABSOLUTE PANIC. She had already thot of everything, all possible options, and was on the verge of bursting into tears, fearing the worst.

Where the hell had Heihei, Maya's chicken, gotten into?

Lily had searched every corner of the mansion three times – at this point, probably only Alfred had covered the place so much –, her feet and ankles were aching, the psychologist had even left the high-heeled sandals she was wearing in some room she had no idea which corridor it was on, being lost forever because she wasn't going back for them.

It had been months since Lily had five days off in a row and months since she had truly rested. Being the coordinator of the psychology course and the school clinic at Gotham University, in addition to the three classes she taught – Clinical Rehabilitation, Neuropsychology Applied to Rehabilitation, and Rehabilitation in Psychotic Disorders –, and the research projects she coordinated and supervised, it was a fact that Lily didn't have much time for anything other than her children. The salary was very good, tho.

So, when she had these days off, she just wanted to stay in bed with her kids, legs up. However, this time, Lily was dating. Even tho it sounded slightly childish, from their first date, Bruce introduced himself as Lily's boyfriend and the woman wasn't exactly denying it, feeling butterflies in her stomach every time, just like a teenager in her first reciprocated crush. Lily had already slept at the mansion before, having dinner with Bruce and all his children from time to time – it was rare that he managed to gather them all –, but this holiday was the first time they really lived together. Bruce was still handsome and fragrant in the mornings, and Lily discovered that she loved waking up to his kisses on her neck; and, if she were honest, it was nice to have coffee waiting for her in the mornings and orgasms at nite. The days together made Lily feel closer to Bruce and see that, perhaps, there was more room in his family for three people; Matt and Maya fitting in as if they had always belonged there and Bruce never making a distinction. Every time she saw her boyfriend talking seriously with Maya or playing chess with Matt, Lily fell even more in love than she thot possible.

Lily had been afraid of how it would be, if they would fight and stop wanting to be by each other's side, but it was interesting to be in a relationship where both appreciated each other's company, Bruce was opinionated and always had something to talk about – he was never apathetic, even in silence and boredom.

Even tho it was difficult to be bored in such a unique house filled with such unique people and animals – who, having to spend days there, was where two more creatures had joined Wayne Manor: Ferdinando and Heihei.

Ferdinando, the feline lord that he was, had fallen in love with Alfred, the cat, and never left his side, rubbing against him so much that for a moment Lily thot about taking him to the vet to find out if the cat was really male – months later they all discovered that Ferdinando was actually female and pregnant with six kittens by Alfred, the cat –, but she decided she would think about it later.

Heihei, however, was another story. The chicken managed to escape from the coop every day, and even Damian, who had the patience of a monk with animals, was getting annoyed that no one could figure out how the chicken escaped and ended up in some room of the house. Even Maya was starting to feel embarrassed every time they found chicken poop in the most random places in Wayne Manor, places that should definitely never be defiled in such a vile manner – Alfred's words, the human.

Lily feared the day when lunch would be a cooked chicken.

So, to prevent a chicken from being murdered in cold blood, there she was, at the peak of her last day off, looking for Heihei. And not finding the damn infernal chicken, just some loose feathers around the house that could barely give clues to its location – Lily even thot about looking in the chicken coop itself, but she wasn't that lucky.

For a kind, handsome, rich, and tall boyfriend? All the luck in the world.

To find the damn chicken so the relationship doesn't end because the said animal destroyed the entire century-old mansion? That was too Much to ask.

Finally, but only when she was giving up and calling Bruce, Lily heard Heihei's distinct clucking, running toward the sound. Lily knew her legs would be sore for the rest of the day when she finally found that hellish chicken. Used to running around the Gotham Academy campus, she was definitely not prepared to search Wayne Manor – which, it's worth mentioning, was bigger than she thought, since even with the tour Alfred gave her and the kids, the only places she knew the way to were the kitchen, the garden, and Bruce's room.

That's why she had no idea where she was going until she entered her boyfriend's office and recognized where she was. It was a large space and, like the rest of the mansion, it screamed old money with shelves filled with books and antique collections, a desk made of some expensive and old wood, a chair that was made of leather so old but so well-maintained that it smelled as if it were new. Lily panicked when she realized that Heihei had entered there, already thinking about how many months of salary she would have to save to pay for anything inside.

However, when she entered, there was a slight difference from the other times she had been there.

Where before there was a large, expensive, and beautiful pendulum clock, now there was a secret passage, a corridor that stretched for who knows how far, since it was poorly lit and Lily couldn't see the end. For a long and embarrassing second, Lily didn't wonder if it wasn't time to work on loss and death with Maya, if perhaps just losing the infernal chicken wasn't, in fact, something that could teach her daughter about death and anything that could justify her not entering a dark corridor that she didn't know where it would lead – Lily didn't watch horror movies, but she knew what not to do in those situations.

It was then that the chicken – which she hadn't seen and didn't even know if it had actually entered what could now be the revelation that her hot boyfriend was a serial killer with a death cellar – began to cluck desperately as if it were being murdered in cold blood. And Lily had no choice but to enter the death cellar, already thinking that the will she made last year would not include giving all her romance and psychology books to Jason, the adorable security guard of Bruce's children who had been coming to Lily's house every Saturday for a kind of secret book club, where they drank coffee and exchanged arguments about the weirdest books they could find. Unfortunately, Lily had no family, so the children would be under state custody until her uncle and scammer cousin were removed as an option for adoptive family – maybe Bruce would adopt them, he probably had the papers ready anyway.

Lily took a deep breath, admitting to herself that maybe she was overreacting, Alfred would never condone a torture basement, it would be too difficult to clean blood off the walls – and Alfred would die before letting anything in the mansion be stained. Proving her point, the hallway was dark, yes, but not dusty or dirty; even with her heart racing, she kept walking and following Heihei's screams.

When she reached a large metal door, her heart leaped into her throat; Lily would be dead if Bruce was a serial killer, and if he was cheating on her, he would be the dead one – and all because of a damn chicken.

Lily opened the door and everything lit up.

Good news: it wasn't a torture basement.

Bad news: Bruce could still be a serial killer given the amount of firearms and bladed weapons he had in that... Cave? Mancave? Some redpill shit that he had managed to hide very well?

The room was huge and didn't even seem to be everything, since there were corridors that clearly led to other places, like a mansion beneath Wayne Manor. On one of the walls of the room she entered, it was filled with swords, daggers, and anything with blades whose names she had no idea, of various sizes and so clearly sharpened that she didn't even get close. On the other side, there was a computer area with so many screens that it almost made her dizzy, as they were all turned on.

Then there was a giant mannequin with what could only be the most realistic Batman costume Lily had ever seen – and she had seen many Batman costumes in her life in Gotham.

Heihei's scream snapped her out of her trance.

“Get off me, Heihei, or I swear Alfred will roast you for dinner.” She heard her boyfriend's voice from across the room.

Boyfriend who, it's worth mentioning, said he had to go to an urgent meeting at Wayne Industries and shouldn't be there, but there he was, wrestling with a chicken on a mat, trying to get it off his shoulders.

“You're not going to have Heihei killed for catching you in a lie, Bruce.”

Lily had never seen Bruce Wayne so scared, his mouth agape in shock.

“What are you doing here?” Bruce squeaked, in a higher tone, Heihei calming down as he held her, as if she had completed her mission. Lily got angry, placing her hands on her waist.

“What are you doing here?” She asked back. “Did the Industries move? Why do you have so many swords? You know that there are children who could get hurt with this and why is there an iron door there, actually why is there a secret room under your house?”

Bruce was completely still, just looking at Lily.

“Beside being a liar, are you mute now? So, are you a serial killer, a CIA secret agent, a raving lunatic?” The woman pressed, getting close to him. Lily got even angrier. “Or are you cheating on me?”

Bruce blinked, shocked: “I'm not cheating on you!” Bruce sounded so offended that Lily believed him. “I have about twelve kids, I don't even have time for that.”

“So what? Are you Batman?”

Bruce widened his eyes and, swallowing hard, replied, make the decision: “Yes. I am Batman.”

It was Lily's turn to drop her jaw, Bruce's tone of voice making her realize, right away, that it wasn't a joke or a prank.

“That's not funny, Bruce.” Lily's voice was weak, taking a few steps back.

Bruce put Heihei on the ground and approached her.

“It wasn't a joke. I am Batman, Lily.” He whispered. Lily felt colder and colder as she recalled each moment of those months of dating and analyzed them with the new information.

Then her heart turned to stone when she realized something.

“Damian…”

“In training to be Robin. And Dick is Nightwing, Tim is Red Robin, Cass—"

“Stop.” Lily didn't want to finish listening, she didn't want the confirmation that all the sweet children Bruce had adopted were vigilantes.

“They are my children, but they also—"

“They could die, Bruce!” Lily moved away again, unable to stay close to him. “They are children! You should protect them and not put them in even more danger! What the hell are you doing?”

“Lily…” Bruce sounded tired, but she refused to understand him this time.

“When Maya was kidnaped…” Lily recalled, her voice breaking. “Does she know?”

When Bruce confirmed that Maya knew, the tears began to fall uncontrollably from Lily.

“Damian was trying to prove that he could be Robin…” Bruce's voice was low, hesitant. “He was investigating a human trafficking network.”

“What?”

“They were kidnaped when they ran away to try to investigate further.” Bruce concluded. “I'm sorry, Lily, truly.”

“You lied to me.” Lily didn't sound sad or angry; Lily was surprised. As if, all this time, she had never thot that this could be a possibility. “You put my daughter in danger. And you lied to my face about it, Bruce.”

“Let me—" Lily raised her hand, interrupting him.

“If I hadn't come in here, would you have told me?” Bruce's heart stopped, tight and aching when he noticed Lily's eyes, eyes so beautiful that they should never reflect so much pain. “Or would you have continued to lie to my face while sleeping next to me every nite? Leaving my daughter in constant danger without even respecting me enough to tell me?”

Bruce approached again, placing each hand on one of her arms slowly, afraid she would reject him.

“Lily-Rose, I promise you, neither Maya nor Matt are in danger.” He tried to convey reassurance, but he saw that Lily didn't believe him.

“Just like she wasn't in danger when she was kidnaped because she followed your eight-year-old son after people who traffic people?” Lily scoffed, pulling away again and, for a second, hating his touch on her skin. “How can I believe you?”

Bruce didn't let her move away any further, taking hold of her face and bringing her so close that he could feel her accelerated breathing.

“Lily-Rose, I love you.” He whispered, “I respect you and I beg for forgiveness on my knees if that will make you forgive me—but I need you to know that I would die a thousand times before letting anything happen to you or your children. Believe that, at least, please.”

Lily couldn't believe it, so she packed her things, her children's things, and went home.

To her house.

Chapter Text

THE FOLLOWING DAYS THAT PASSED FELT LIKE YEARS. Every second Lily felt aware that Bruce Wayne was Batman and that her daughter had been on the brink of death – she knew before, of course, but now all that fear and despair came back with full force, all Lily could see was lies and the image of her dead daughter. Lily could barely sleep at nite, having gotten used to talking to him for hours about their days, which now made Lily wonder what else he had hidden or lied about to cover up the secret.

And, definitely, it didn't help that Maya kept talking about how unfair it was that she could only see Damian at school, since Lily refused to let the boy come or Maya go to the mansion, so even if she managed to forget about him for a second, her youngest was there constantly reminding her of the Wayne family. A year ago, Lily barely knew of their existence, now it seemed like they were ingrained in her life and her daily routine.

Lily wasn't stupid, she understood why Bruce hadn't told her – after sleepless nites thinking about it, she understood –, but that feeling in her throat persisted without letup, the feeling of betrayal when someone you trusted with everything had lied to your face. And Lily didn't suspect a thing, absolutely nothing, even with Batman going out almost every nite. If Lily didn't notice something as important as that, what else hadn't she noticed? What else had she missed by being blindly in love?

A thirty-nine-year-old woman should know better than to let herself be deceived like that.

So the weeks passed with Lily licking her wounds and trying to think about how to talk to him – if she even wanted to talk to him – and what she would say.

She didn't think about it for long, tho, because Matt liked volleyball and hadn't listened to her when she asked him to take it easy, so the boy was unwell. On Monday, during physical education, he was breathing heavily, noisily, as if his lungs couldn't draw enough air; Lily, paranoid, took the next day off and kept a close eye on her eldest son. On Tuesday, Matt was tired in a way that wasn't normal even for a child who got tired easily; he slept all day and only ate the soup Lily made; when he fell asleep in the middle of a chess game, Lily became truly worried.

When she called her doctor, he made room in his schedule to see her the next morning. The next morning, however, when they were returning home after dropping Maya off at school, Matt felt chest pains – and Lily panicked. Hardly caring about the thousands of speeding tickets she would get, she arrived at Gotham General Hospital in record time, taking the boy who hadn't even turned eleven into her arms and running to the reception where, unfortunately, Lily was much more well-known by the staff than any mother would like.

Having called Dr. Thomas on the way, he and his team were already waiting with a stretcher – he took Matt from Lily's arms and placed him on the stretcher, the team immediately began to examine him.

“Mom” His eyes were full of tears, calling for his mother and reaching out to her, who went to his side and held his small hand, needing skin-to-skin contact. Lily tried to comfort him while they set up all the necessary equipment for the tests, which, honestly, Lily could barely remember what she had been told, Dr. Thomas's voice not being processed by her.

When they took him for a chest X-ray, a nurse came to Lily to collect the necessary information, and only then was she able to focus on something other than Matt, realizing that too many hours had passed and that Maya was already waiting for her to pick her up from school.

Lily loved her late husband. With all that she had, Lily loved him. But, in those moments, when not having him here meant having to leave her son alone in the hospital to pick up her daughter, Lily hated him. She hated him for not going to the doctor and discovering his own illness, she hated that he had died from a genetic disease he didn't even know he had and that the same curse had passed on to their son. And he wasn't even here to be the recipient of her frustrations and listen to her fears. She hated that, by not having considered his death, he hadn't prioritized them.

Lily loved Cambridge. Lily had a promising career there, with her postgraduate studies and doctorate; but when Tony died, with Maya less than a month old, everything changed. Not just because she was completely alone, but because her entire life would revolve around doing everything to ensure her son didn't die, and Gotham, the city where she had earned her psychology degree, was the one with the best doctors and specialists in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the inheritance Tony left Matthew. So she moved, abandoned her entire life there, and built a new one, in a new house, free from bad memories, raised her children, and was happy, with scares here and there in adapting to Matt's specific routine, but she built a good life for her children. For her.

Lily loved her two children with all her being – she didn't even think the word love was enough –, but she wouldn't survive the death of one of them. She was absolutely certain that she wouldn't be able to rebuild herself a second time. A husband she managed to lose – not a son.

 “Lily…” The voice interrupted her nap, startling her. She almost jumped out of the chair, her heart stopping and then pounding with full force in her chest. Matt had finished his exams a few hours ago, he was sleeping soundly after Lily managed to get him to stop crying, thinking he was going to die. After more long minutes watching her son sleep, she finally allowed herself to breathe a little; although she was sure that as long as she was there and didn't know the results of the exams, she could never truly relax.

Bruce, in front of her, looked at her with concern; after weeks without seeing him, Lily couldn't help but notice that he was still as handsome as ever, and when he approached her and pulled her into his arms, any feelings that were holding her back dissolved and Lily melted into his embrace, hugging him back.

All the loneliness she had felt throughout the day suddenly vanished, her skin absorbing the stoic calm that Bruce always seemed to exude, his warmth and his affection. Lily knew that Bruce cared about her, he allowed her into his life and his family; any problem, she would have to trust that they could handle it together.

Not just because she was tired of being alone and not letting anyone into her life – a protected bubble of three people where, if no one entered, there would be no pain –, of, having loved once, not thinking it fair to love again. But life wasn't that simple, it wasn't something linear like in the movies, after "happily ever after" things could go wrong, fairy tales didn't exist, and the more love one had for someone, the more room there was for pain. The other option for this, however, was nothingness, it was the loneliness and emotional isolation that kept her heart safe, but also kept it apathetic; to feel love, she needed to allow herself to feel. Lily didn't know if everything would work out, but there, with his arms around her, she at least wanted to try.

Try to talk, try to understand and comprehend the real him, because the feeling that ran thru all these weeks was that Lily loved someone who didn't exist, someone who had a secret life every time he put on the mask. Someone who Lily, again, didn't know could die at any moment.

“We need to talk.” Lily broke the silence, her voice muffled since her face was buried in his chest – which, she now knew, was too big and muscular for a father who worked in an office all day –, and sniffled, holding back the tears that begged to fall.

“I know, love, I know.” He replied, against her hair, leaving a tender kiss on her head.

“Maya?”

“At the mansion with Alfred and Damian. She is safe.” Bruce eased his concerns, fearing that she wouldn't like having asked Alfred to take her to his house instead of Lily's, but she didn't complain or disagree, making him even more worried about her. Matt had doctors and her taking care of him, but who was taking care of Lily?

She moved away after a few more minutes, but Bruce didn't let her get too far, grabbing her hand and taking her with him to the couch.

“The more complex tests should be coming out soon.” He whispered, looking at every inch of Matt. “When I hacked the hospital, there were only a few ready, I couldn't get much done.”

Lily blinked.

“What?” She stared at him, “You hacked the hospital?”

Bruce agreed.

“How?”

“I am Batman.” Bruce said, as if that sentence answered everything. Which, in a way, answered everything, but Lily, like any good psychologist, needed more details. “Oh, I forgot to tell you, but I think Maya told Matt that I'm Batman, but he didn't believe it.”

Lily took a deep breath.

“Okay,” she rubbed her face, trying to shake off the tiredness. Looking at her son, who was sleeping in the hospital bed and knowing that they would have a few more hours before someone came there, Lilt knew she needed a distraction, so why not? “Let's start from the beginning. How did you decide to dress up as an animal and go out at nite trying to kill yourself?”

“Lily,” Bruce complained. “It's a uniform, not an animal costume.”

“Bruce.”

“Ok.” Bruce leaned back against the sofa, getting more comfortable because it would be a long story. “You know when I was eight years old and my parents died?”

Lily leaned back as well, finally starting to understand how crazy her boyfriend was.

Hours later, they were interrupted when the doctor finally arrived with the test results and Lily woke Matt, who always preferred to be aware of everything.

“As we suspected, Matt had what we call atrial fibrillation.” The doctor explained. “It's a comorbidity of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, it's a form of arrhythmia, hence the shortness of breath, chest pain, and the other symptoms you told us about.”

Lily saw Matt's eyes fill with tears and hugged her son tighter. Bruce, on the other side of the boy, placed his hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly, offering silent support.

“Fortunately, it didn't lead to a stroke, but it was something that worried us a lot, since it's the second time Matt has come here in a scare, right?” Dr. Thomas smiled at Matt before turning to Lily. “So, Lily, I think we should really consider having the surgery to place the ventricular support we discussed. It's not the perfect option, but with the advances in research in recent years, my professional opinion is that it's the safest option for him.”

Doctor Thomas didn't say it, but "we don't know if the next time only the medication will work" was more than explicit.

When the three were alone, Bruce insisted on seeking a second opinion, but he gave up when he learned that Dr. Thomas was the seventh doctor they had been following up with. The surgery to place the ventricular support was an open-chest procedure and terrified Lily just thinking about having her baby so exposed in that way, so vulnerable – but she trusted Thomas, even tho she wanted to grab Matt and Maya and run away from the world.

“Hey,” Bruce caught Matt's attention, pulling a small package from his suit, which he opened and placed on the boy's bed, taking out several chess pieces and setting up a board. “You'll still be here getting some medicine thru an IV for a while, and I'm off work today, wanna play?”

Matt, for the first time in days, cheered up.

They spent hours playing while Lily just watched them, observing them interact with each other. Bruce was good with children; he was good with her kids. She rarely let boyfriends get close to her children – never, in fact – but Bruce simply walked into her life and won his place in every aspect of it.

Bruce stayed there, with the two of them, all nite. Her heart warmed with what she now knew to be the symbolism of it. He had chosen her.

Lily loved Bruce. And she would choose him too.

“So… Jason isn't a security guard?”

“No.”

“He is your son… Who died.”

“Yes.”

“Who stole and dismantled your Batman-car? And then you took it home?”

“The Batmobile, yes.”

“And then he died and they took his body, dipped it in a magical well… And he's alive… And he's the Red Hood… Who goes around killing criminals?”

“Nobody's perfect.”

“And Damian is your son and the daughter of a leader of a league of terrorist assassins, who is also an assassin?

“Yes.”

“Who hid his existence for eight years?”

“Yes.”

“And Tim stalked and blackmailed you to become Robin?”

"Yes. He had good intentions.”

“And then his parents died and he lied to you so you wouldn't adopt him?”

“Yes.”

“And you adopted anyway.”

“Yes.”

“And Cass is the daughter of two assassins who didn't teach her to speak, only to fight?”

“Yes.”

“Are they alive?”

“No.”

“Good. And Stephany?”

“Tim's ex-girlfriend that I never managed to get rid of.”

“She's nice.”

“Now she is. When her father was free, it was difficult.”

“Father who is also a criminal.”

“Yes.”

“And Dick?”

Bruce hesitated, but replied: “Dick being Robin was partly my fault, I take responsibility for that.”

“Maya won't be Robin.”

“You tell her that, then.”

Chapter Text

LILY'S DRESS, this time, was white and made of silk, beautifully accentuating her generous curves and embracing her body as if it had been tailored for her. Something that, since it was a gift from Bruce, had probably been custom-made, her boyfriend didn't know how to save. And Bruce definitely knew her body well enough for that.

However, the gift was nothing more than a consolation for dragging her to one of the events where Bruce Wayne's presence was required – apparently, it wasn't a decent charity party without the presence of the country's most important philanthropist. If it helped in a Batman mission, it would be a bonus.

Lily was still trying to get used to the whole Batman thing, having become accustomed to every inch of the Batcave, and after hours and hours, Bruce had finally told most of the story – and Lily had been trying to adapt to it ever since, even tho she still pretended that Maya knew nothing, to keep her sanity intact. It wasn't easy, tho. Lily-Rose was barely sleeping, afraid that every nite he went out on patrol would be the nite Bruce wouldn't come back.

During the day, Lily tried not to go crazy, dedicating all her free time to pampering her son. She had taken three months off to care for Matt after the open-heart surgery from which the boy was still slowly recovering, taking advantage of the amount of leave she hadn't taken to return only when Matt went back to school – which, given the speed at which the boy was recovering, would be soon. If it were her, Lily thot she would be bedridden for at least six months.

At nite, when her children were asleep and there was nothing else to do, she was left to think about Bruce, masked and armored, running thru Gotham facing who knows what. At least there was no news from Blackgate or Arkham, knowing who the vigilantes of Gotham were, Lily wasn't even close to being prepared to see up close how they would face the worst of the worst. Lily didn't even like to think about how she would react to the Joker being free again, not with the man she loved being the focus of obsession for a lunatic who thrived on chaos.

It was safe to say that, on the nites when her boyfriend went out at nite, Lily only slept when it was almost dawn and Bruce sent a message saying he was on her balcony, where she would quietly take him to her room and, with Bruce smelling of soap, antiseptic, and himself, Lily could snuggle against his soft skin and sleep for a few hours. But only when she was sure he was completely safe.

That, of course, until she found out that even when he didn't go out at nite, at least two of her children were out there, since then no nite has been fully slept. Fortunately, Bruce still denied Damian the mantle of Robin – especially after Lily threatened to end everything again if he allowed it, mainly after he learned the boy's true story, the years of abuse and mistreatment. Because no matter if Talia loved the boy or not, a mother didn't turn her children into murderers, didn't torture them for the sake of a corrupt education that had affected the child's entire worldview. Not even a father, actually. So she made sure that Bruce was listening to all her opinions, even tho the others were old enough to make their own decisions, most of them should have been protected in another way, and not in that twisted manner. Bruce did the best he could, yes, but he should have done more for the children.

And that's why they were in therapy – because she loved him, but trusting was a choice that, despite being made, was difficult. Even tho the whole truth couldn't be told, it was helping the communication between them, Bruce was still dealing with the aftermath of his own trauma and the subsequent ones, Lily also had her own baggage weighing on her shoulders. The two were trying, getting to know each other truly and doing their best to stay at peace.

Because even tho she was against and hated what the secret represented, she had chosen to stay.

Not that it made things easier. So yes, couples therapy. To Bruce's surprise – and annoyance – they were communicating better, they were learning what it really meant to be a couple, Bruce learning that there was no way to separate his civilian life from Batman and Lily that she couldn't separate Bruce from Maya and Matt and her life as a mother, as she had always done with other suitors.

It wasn't easy, but they wanted to. And that was more than enough for now.

The dress and the date nites just the two of them definitely helped, Bruce knowing very well the effects he had on Lily-Rose. Like tonight, when he exuded expensive perfume and elegance – it was a crime how the tailored suits hid the most delicious arms Lily had ever seen, but it was worth it to see Bruce's public persona.

Bruce Wayne, in front of the cameras and other trillionaires, was a completely different person. Charm to give and sell that enchanted all the women within a two-kilometer radius, infamous remarks that made the people around him embarrassed but in a way that made them blush and giggle instead of feeling ashamed, smiles so big that his teeth shone, and business comments just intelligent enough for people to know he wasn't a complete idiot, but with enough of a "I pay employes for that" tone; and, of course, the persona of an emotional father who liked to tell ridiculous stories about his various adopted children. He entertained Lily so much that, knowing very well that that audience was not her patients or the target audience of her research, she decided that she also wanted to be an actress.

“Oh, I think more people, yes, should wear makeup. I hate ugliness. And people who are just flesh and bone.” Bruce widened his eyes at Lily's statement, not because of the content, but because of the Irish accent she forced. Clearly fake. “Call me hungry, but I like my lovers with meat.” Bruce choked on his champagne when Lily patted his belly twice.

“Well, my lovely butler makes a lot of treats,” Bruce clarified, smiling broadly. “And I am a father, after all. We don't have as much time to take care of ourselves having so many children, right, ladies?” He was addressing the women around them, wives of wealthy bureaucrats and supposedly important people. Lily could swear there were some big shots from organized crime there too, but she didn't focus on that so much.

The women laughed, uncomfortably. Many of them had the expression "what was Bruce Wayne doing with a fat woman" on their faces. Lily was just embarrassing them back. She smiled, taking her boyfriend's glass and taking a sip, leaving a clear red lipstick mark when she handed it back to him.

“Oh, it's our song!” Bruce exclaimed when some random background music started playing, one that definitely wasn't their song. But still, she accepted his hand and they both headed to the middle of the hall, dancing slowly as their bodies touched the limit of what was appropriate for a public place.

Bruce's smile turned into a sharp, more genuine one: “Was the accent necessary?”

“I spent years in England, I think it's perfectly acceptable.” Bruce held back a laugh.

“You looked like a bad American actress playing a character from another country.” He replied, ignoring her offended look. “An Irish character, it's worth mentioning.”

“That's something very offensive to us, English people.”

“No more than to the Irish.”

Lily laughed.

“Sorry to all the Irish people I offended, then. Should I try another accent?” Lily considered.

“It surprises me that someone who lived in England and married an Englishman doesn't know how to fake the accent.” Bruce squeezed her waist as they twirled around the ballroom. “It's actually concerning.”

Lily rolled her eyes.

“Not all of us were made to be spies, Bruce.”

“I'm not a spy.”

“That's what a spy would say.” Lily retorted, letting out sharp giggles with the light pinch he gave her on the waist.

“You're being quite cheeky for someone who barely had a glass of champagne.” He joked.

“I should have had a few more glasses to handle so many people asking me how I caught you and if I'm a supervillain in disguise.” Bruce buried his face in her neck to hold back a loud laugh.

“You have to admit, my dear. The history of your area is not the best.”

“Lies!”

“Crane, Harley, Hugo Strange… Tetch.” Lily remained silent for a few seconds.

“Well, try you to get in and work at the academy, it's a jungle. It surprises me that there aren't more people out there who are coocoo” Lily frowned, not wanting to admit that yes, the mental health field had a bad reputation.

“Coocoo is a clinical term?”

“Yes, I just made it up.” Bruce rolled his eyes, his chest filling with an almost unknown warmth, which he hadn't felt and didn't even know he had forgotten what it was like.

They danced for a few more songs before returning to networking; Bruce with the charm of a classic playboy and Lily with an accent that had no continuity.

Bruce was happy.

Bruce had lit the fireplace in his room when they finally arrived from the party, both had been silent since the moment they got into the limousine, too tired and overwhelmed with so many interactions – they just wanted to get home, take off their masks, and rest. And it was cold, hence the fireplace, because Alfred refused to put heaters in some rooms of the house. The flames danced, Bruce having taken off his suit and completely unbuttoned his shirt and pants, his eyes almost lost after so many minutes watching Lily slowly remove her makeup.

He watched her as if cataloging each movement, each gesture. The bath, the makeup remover and the exfoliant, the delicate removal of the dress, the relief in her expression when she threw her shoes away; everything was carefully observed and memorized.

Lily wore a navy blue silk robe that reached her ankles, but showed just enough of her generous neckline. Her hair was loose, wet, and combed.

Lily seemed to be at home.

And it scared him how he got used to her presence, how he got used to having someone who just... He waited for him and pushed him to be better in a way that wasn't just about Batman. How his scent had become much more than a home.

Bruce approached, placing his hands on her waist, one on each side. He was tall above her. He observed, this time, her face in the dressing table mirror. For a moment, Bruce closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“I am broken, Lily. I don't know if I have the right to drag you into the chaos that is my life. I don't know if it's fair to ask you this.” Bruce whispered. “I don't know how or if I will ever overcome the grief that was imposed on me. The violence that I also imposed.”

“Love,” Lily turned, looking up and locking her eyes with his. “Moving on isn't forgetting. Grief doesn't have to be just pain. Grief is memory, grief is honoring. Mourning can be moving forward and still remembering.”

She continued: “You don't live in the past, you honor and avenge it.”

Her voice hung in the air. Bruce opened his eyes. And then he finally gave in – his heart, his future, his trust.

Bruce pulled her close, brought their bodies together, and kissed her.

It wasn't a rushed kiss. It was slow. Firm. Bruce moving his hands and trying to feel every part of her, squeezing every curve, every inch of Lily's body; as if saying, without words, everything his voice couldn't carry:

Forgive me for the past. Forgive me for the future. Forgive me for who I am and for who I will not stop being.

Love me, even so.

And Lily kissed him as if to answer:

I'm not leaving. I choose to stay.

The fireplace crackled behind them, casting golden reflections on both of them, illuminating them. Bruce pressed his lips to Lily's forehead, then to her hair, and hugged her as if she were his anchor in the middle of a stormy sea.

There, in the mansion surrounded by shadows and carrying so much darkness, there was finally light. Because there was love. Wounded, yes. But still standing. Still trying.

And that was enough.

Chapter Text

LILY HATED ARKHAM WITH ALL HER MIGHT, as a serious and humane professional, Arkham represented everything she stood against. The criminalization of mental disorders, the existence of a place where you could just push someone inside and the "problem" was solved; the obvious abuse of power and the horrible structure that, obviously, didn't have enough investment – how could there be investment when there was an alarming frequency in the need for reform?

The very existence of the Asylum – prison – Arkham was a clear sign that Gotham had failed as a society. First, half of the people there should be in a regular prison. Nothing that stupid psychiatrists argued – especially those who were deceived – could convince Lily-Rose that the Joker did not have the cognitive capacity to understand his own actions. He was crazy as a loon, yes, but very competent and should be judged as the completely capable and functional person he was, along with dozens of other criminals who were there.

And Lily was there to show exactly that to her students.

And give them a scare in case any of them were planning to become a supervillain. With an alarming number of Gotham supervillains coming from mental health courses, she wasn't going to take any chances.

The visit to Arkham Asylum was an important and mandatory part of the Psychology, Medicine, and Nursing courses, but it was also open to interested students from Gotham Academy; there was a lengthy and restrictive process for the approval of each student for the visit, although the entire process was due to the rigor of the university itself – and of Lily, as the coordinator of the entire Psychology course, with the support of the other coordinators –, involving individual investigations of criminal and family backgrounds, as well as behavioral assessments within the faculty itself. Even with all the strictness, Lily managed to form a large group every year, which said a lot since they always had to postpone the visit three times a year due to unforeseen events.

And unforeseen events, in the context of Arkham, were escapes.

That's why, too, the students signed up for life insurance.

Being in a calm month for Gotham – and that meant only that no important place was invaded, caught fire, and that no one was mysteriously and strangely murdered –, Lily almost canceled the visit herself, since, as a mother of two, she knew very well what came after the calm.

No sooner said than done, when Lily and her forty students from various courses were getting to know the facilities better, the alarm started ringing at the same time that all the lights turned red. The loudspeaker squealed before the raspy voice of Quincy Sharp, director of Arkham, made itself heard:

“Attention. Arkham has been invaded. Everyone lock yourselves in the rooms and stay where you are. The police have already been notified.” A deep, tired breath was heard. “If you see the Joker, run.”

The meaning of the last sentence hit Lily like a freight train. The Joker escaped. And she was responsible for forty students, Kate – her new assistant – and Billy, her monitor for the Clinical Rehabilitation course, which Lily had been teaching at the university for almost five years. It was a lot of people, maybe next time, Lily would reduce the number of students.

The lights went out and the room they were in darkened, as if the sun that had been shining warmly no longer existed. Some students screamed.

“Okay, everyone.” She began, with the calmest voice she could force herself to have. “Take a deep breath, stay silent. Here, help me make a barricade with the tables and cabinets.”

The students quickly fell silent, helping to carry the furniture and strategically position it in front of the two access doors. There were no windows in the room.

As Lily helped some tearful students, she felt a tug on her arm, pulling her away.

“Hey, Aunt Lily.” Stephanie whispered, Lily rolled her eyes. Bruce had been complaining for days about the visit Lily was organizing, saying it was an unnecessary danger and any arguments about Arkham not being safe, he only stopped complaining when Lily agreed to have at least one of them along – hence Stephanie Brown, the ex-girlfriend who, somehow, ended up becoming an addition to the family who also used the vigilante alter-ego called Spoiler. “You must be pissed that B. was right, huh?”

Lily rolled her eyes.

“It was a coincidence.” But yes, Lily was pissed that her completely paranoid boyfriend was right and would throw it in her face for the rest of their lives.

Stephanie laughed softly.

“Look, I'm wearing my normal clothes, but since it's all dark, I'll figure something out and we'll get out of here. I already told B. and he should be arriving soon.”

Lily didn't even want to know what "I'll take care of it" meant in their language. She just hoped that everything would be okay.

Lily-Rose would be so fired.

The mayor's daughter was among the students on the visit. Lily would definitely be fired.

At least Bruce was rich.

And he wasn't even the corrupt mayor from the previous administration – Mayor Sharp had his entire campaign focused on the fact that he didn't want to be his father, Quincy Sharp, who was dirtier than the sewer. Theresa, the mayor's daughter, was actually one of the calmest students there, so Lily focused her energy on the students who were having more concerning reactions.

When it comes to Gothamites, of course, the reactions are never normal; aside from some vomiting and paralysis, everyone seemed to be taking the fact that there was a supervillain escape quite well. Well, Lily thought, it wasn't like it was something new. There was, literally, an entire municipal fund focused solely on the reconstruction of Arkham – a fund, it's worth mentioning, whose largest donor was Bruce.

Stephanie didn't leave her side for a second, almost like a shadow blowing glitter in her ear, following her as Lily checked each student personally and as quietly as she could – not wanting any loud noise to draw too much attention – which, of course, became useless the moment Pamela Isley, whom Dick had affectionately nicknamed Poison Ivy, because the woman was an ecoterrorist obsessed with plants. Especially those that cloud the senses.

Lily refused to call her that, the woman was more a consequence of capitalism than anything else; and Pamela was a true genius in the scientific community in biology research, Lily had exchanged conversations at some conferences and even tried to recruit her for some classes on the effects of certain herbs and plants on long-term cognition... Then Pamela became violent and the rest is history.

Pamela, in front of her, looked nothing like the scientist she once was. She was dressed in the white clothes that Arkham forced patients to wear, her red hair tangled as if it hadn't been combed in months, her mouth, which would normally be covered in blood-red lipstick, was white and peeling. Hera – Pamela – broke down the door, students screaming in fright as Stephanie stood in front of Lily.

“Well, well…” Poison Ivy began, almost like a movie villain. “Many frightened little ones, are you afraid of me?”

Lily placed her right hand on Stephanie's tense shoulders and pushed her back.

“They are psychology students from Gotham University, they are here to learn what not to do when they graduate.” Lily replied, using her teacher's voice. “Could you share your experience with the class?”

Poison Ivy blinked, the confusion breaking her pose.

“What?”

Lily didn't hesitate: “You were hospitalized here for a few months, I'm sure you could share your experience with them, it's important for their training that they know the consequences well and that people may be hospitalized, but they deserve to be treated as humans.”

Ivy blinked again.

“You did teach, right?” Lily pressed and Hera nodded, agreeing. “So you know the importance of sharing experiences for the next generation of professionals. I'm sure the students have questions for you too, my students are smart, they won't let fear stop them from asking the most invasive questions possible.”

Everyone behind him was frozen, Stephanie too. Ivy blinked again.

Then she sat on the floor, with her legs crossed, and began to recount every cruel detail of Arkham.

And Stephanie looked at Lily as if she were an alien.

“Your wife is crazy!” That was the first thing Stephanie said to Bruce when the three of them were finally alone, in the Batmobile heading back to the Batcave.

“We're not married-.”

“-I know.” The couple says at the same time.

Lily was offended: “You know?”

Bruce bit back a smile, not taking his eyes off the road as he drove. Lily, in the driver's seat, crossed her arms.

“My dear,” Bruce began, with a gentle voice he only used with her. “You had a meeting with one of the most cruel and intelligent people I've ever had to fight. And you ended the meeting by telling the students that there will be a test next week.”

“You should call me Bat-Lily!” Lily laughed alone at the face Bruce made. “And if I went to my classes or changed my academic calendar every time a supervillain did some supershit, no one would graduate in this city.” She defended herself.

They heard Stephanie's laughter from the back seat: “You're wicked for a psychologist.”

“I'm also a teacher. And course coordinator.” Lily smiled, turning to look at Stephanie. “And clinic coordinator.”

“You're like the Barbie professions but plus-size.”

Lily's smile widened.

“That's why you're my favorite.”

“Really?” Steph sounded hopeful, leaning forward on the bench.

“No.” Lily denied and Stephanie's expression fell. “Cass is my favorite.”

“Mine too.” Lily laughed at Bruce's statement.

When they arrived at the Batcave, everyone else had already arrived and was exhausted. Even Dick and Jason didn't have the energy to go back to their homes, and Bruce insisted that Lily, Matt, and Maya spend the week there while they hunted down the remaining fugitives, so dinner was crowded – much to Alfred's delight – and soon all the children were in bed snoring before eight at nite.

In Bruce's room, the two were also exhausted from the day and, even with the full team, they hadn't managed to catch all the fugitives. The Joker himself had completely disappeared off the map, and there was nothing more they could do that they hadn't already done. They had to wait for some of Barbara's alerts to notify them if there was any movement.

“You look delicious in your armor, have I told you that?” Lily watched him as he reapplied the bandages to his wounds. The two were in the bathroom and Lily, despite supposedly washing her face, couldn't take her eyes off Bruce's muscles, which were obscenely on display. It became a routine for him, every nite that Lily slept at his house – and, consequently, Maya and Matt – Bruce preferred to take off his uniform and check his day's injuries in the room, where he could secretly listen to Lily's breathing. Knowing that she was just one room away calmed him in ways that nothing else could. However, when she was awake, her routine was to test his patience.

Sitting, he looked up – at Lily – and narrowed his eyes, suspicious.

“Only when you did something you shouldn't have.”

Lily turned completely toward him.

“That's offensive...” Lily winked and bit back a smile. “... But true.”

Bruce took a deep breath.

“When did you have time to do something? You spent the day locked up in Arkham, for God's sake.” Bruce grumbled, frustrated. “Just stab me and get it over with.”

Lily approached and nestled between his legs, wrapping her arms around his neck and gently kissing Bruce's lips, who maintained his grumpy expression but returned the kiss.

“You smell good.”

“Lily…”

“They called me to be the director of Arkham and I accepted.”

“What?”

“And, of course, you're going to sponsor the renovation, because I'm going to change everything.”

Chapter Text

LILY HAD LEARNED TO SLEEP EVEN WHEN BRUCE WAS NOT BY HER SIDE, but the woman refused to stay in the dark when Bruce was urgently called to a situation that others couldn't handle on their own. It was rare. In a year and a half of dating, it had never happened before – so Lily's fear and agony were completely justified.

She hardly ever entered the Batcave, first because, on the nites when Bruce patrolled, Lily chose to stay at her house – however, Bruce had insisted they stay there the last few nights. Lily-Rose chose not to get involved beyond what was necessary in this side of her partner's life, much for her own mental health and to ensure that her own offspring did not get involved either. Lily had to have her priorities very well defined so as not to be carried away by curiosity.

However, they had an unspoken agreement that, when Bruce asked her and the children to stay at the Mansion, she would listen – both for their safety and for Bruce's peace of mind, who had become enormously paranoid as the relationship progressed, with many fights and discussions about privacy. Bruce still put trackers on all three of them, but at least he had asked Lily for permission first.

Matt also had a watch that would alert him directly if there was any asymmetry in their heartbeats and breathing – Lily liked that a lot.

Despite not being actively involved in what happened at nite, she was sure it had something to do with the Joker. There was so much history there between the villain and Bruce's family that Lily was afraid to start understanding; what she knew, however, was horrible. To think that her son was dead, beaten, and blown up, for years, only to discover that he was alive, but terribly traumatized and with his childhood innocence and years of his life stolen. Few things were as cruel to a father as seeing his son hurt by the world and by something he felt he could have prevented. And Lily didn't even want to think about how everything had been for Jason.

While waiting in the Batcave, sitting in Bruce's armchair, she gave up trying to understand the giant screens scattered around that moved quickly – Oracle, probably – and just waited, falling into the mistake of thinking about the thousand probabilities that could go wrong; even Alfred had given up after five cups of chamomile tea… Which she had barely touched. Jason and Dick, who were on patrol when they ran into something-that-Lily-doesn't-understand from the Joker, got involved until they were so overwhelmed that the call for help came and even Bruce was scared. Scared for Bruce, of course, who since Lily and he had grown closer, felt increasingly comfortable being himself instead of the version he created for the public.

Alongside her paranoid boyfriend, she finally got to truly know his children – also paranoid and strangely cute when they followed her from work to home almost every nite. Almost, because some nights, Bruce would pick her up.

The first to arrive was Jason, who Lily recently discovered liked romantic books as much as she did, the two having their own book club where they talked and drank tea – still terribly traumatized, terribly human, and, with perseverance, recovering the life he felt he had lost.

That's why, when Jason wobbled into the Batcave on his motorcycle, bleeding from head to toe, she ignored how Bruce lets him do whatever he wants, waited for him to get on the perfectly equipped infirmary bed that puts hospitals to shame, and started her lecture.

“That was the most irresponsible thing I've ever seen.” She used the most motherly tone she had. Jason rolled his eyes at her, who was cleaning the blood from her right arm that was dripping. Apparently, the rest of the blood on his body wasn't his. Lily wouldn't question it.

“This is the first time you've seen me in action, then.” He mocks. Lily, to get revenge, soaked a piece of cotton in alcohol and rubbed it on the cut; Jason, twice as tall and ten times more muscular, winced in pain. “Evil.”

“You have to be more careful.” Lily continued. “Don't wait until the last impossible moment to ask for help. Especially…” She emphasized. “When it comes to someone who almost killed you.”

Jason's entire body tensed; his death being something known but not spoken so explicitly.

“He do killed me.” He attested, his tone apathetic.

“But you're alive, aren't you?” Lily retorted, finishing applying the bandage. Jason raised his gaze, as if seeing her for the first time; as if he finally realized that, yes, he had not died that day.

“I am.” He affirmed again.

“Now you have to earn your keep to stay alive, right?”

Jason rolled his eyes again: “Okay, bat-mom.”

“Oh no, I wanted to call her that first!” Lily jumped in surprise upon hearing Dick's voice behind them. Dick had arrived too, fully dressed in his suit and much less injured than Jason, but he still went to the refrigerator, grabbed the ice pack, and placed it on his shoulder, leaning against the stretcher next to it.

“Bat-mom?” She questioned, going over to Dick and signaling for him to show his shoulder.

“We were thinking of a codename for you.” He replied. “Batwoman has already been used and Batgirl doesn't fit…”

“Are you calling me old?”

“…Agent L, to match Agent A, didn't catch on. So I came up with the idea of Bat-mom.” Dick looked at her expectantly. “Because you are a mom.”

Lily blinked.

“I am also a psychologist. Coordinator of the psychology graduation at one of the best universities in the country. Director of Arkham. Some even consider me a scientist since I also conduct academic research.”

“Yeah, but Bat-scientist doesn't sound good.”

“Why does everything have to have Bat?” Dick made a noise, offended while Jason laughed.

“Why not?”

Lily shrugged, not really caring about the codename and returning to the topic that was hammering in her mind.

“The point here is that you all are irresponsible.” She scolded again. “Just because you can do rich people's parkour on the rooftops of Gotham doesn't mean you'll come out unscathed every time.”

“Rich people's parkour?” It was Jason's turn to be offended.

“I accepted the risks a long time ago.” Dick states, ignoring Jason and looking directly into Lily's eyes.

“It doesn't mean you have to tempt fate.” They both rolled their eyes at the same time, stubborn as a door. Lily turned back to Jason “Especially you, who chooses to go out alone and mess around with criminals.”

“Even Bruce doesn't talk like that—"

“Well, shut your mouth and listen.” Lily interrupted. “If your father lets you mess around out there, at least use all the instruments that make it easier and ensure a bit of safety, especially the communicators. And ask for help, for God's sake.”

“Oh oh, Bat-mom is fighting with her favorite son.” Dick jokes, Jason and Lily responding at the same time:

“I'm not her son.”

“Jason is not my favorite.”

“What do you mean I'm not your favorite?”

Scaring the three to death, Cassandra appears, wearing her most comfortable pink pajamas and hair tied in crooked braids that Maya had done. Jason swear.

“Hello” She signs. Lily flashes a toothy smile.

“She's my favorite.” Cassie mimics Lily's smile.

Bruce smelled of a freshly taken bath and aftershave when he lay down next to Lily at eight in the morning. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, pressing their bodies together and burying his nose in her wet blonde hair.

“I called saying I was sick. They didn't quite believe it, but patience, what are they going to do? Fire the new director of Arkham?” Lily scoffed, her breath hitting directly on Bruce's bare chest, who, upon remembering his girlfriend's new job, tensed up.

“Try to stay off the Joker's radar, please.” He whispered.

Lily scoffed: “As if he were going to Arkham, respect me. We are a completely reformulated institution for neuropsychological help, rehabilitation and psychiatric treatment.”

Bruce raised his torso just enough to meet blue eyes with blue eyes.

“What?”

“To be admitted for hospitalization, you will need to undergo a series of psychological avaliations…” She began to explain. “And, for supposedly unstable patients, it needs to be proven that they were unaware of the consequences of their actions.”

“You once said that…”

“… The Joker might even have something, but having a disorder is very different from not being aware of the consequences of certain behaviors. If he knows exactly what will cause the greatest possible chaos, then he is fully aware that this chaos is a crime and punishable by law.” Lily smiled at Bruce. Big, showing all his teeth.

“So…”

Lily cooed, confirming Bruce's thoughts.

“If he doesn't escape again, he'll probably face a real trial, and I think they'll try their best to expedite the death penalty.”

Bruce blinked again.

“I love you.” Lily laughed.

“And all I had to do was reshape decades of prejudices about psychiatric institutions and find a way to legally put an end to your greatest enemy.” She said, humor dripping from her voice. “Peachy.”

An emotion ran thru Bruce – something warm and so welcoming that he couldn't exactly name it. It was much more than love. She, in his arms, whispered conversations at nite, giggles in the ear, and so much intimacy that Bruce never imagined having with someone; someone with whom he would share life, with whom he would share responsibilities, and didn't need to hide or diminish any part of himself. For the first time in a long time, Bruce didn't feel alone.

And he knew it was unfair, he had Alfred and his children – and he loved them with all his heart, but Lily was different because she was his partner, not a child and not a father, his equal. And the decision that Bruce didn't even know was lurking in his mind materialized. It materialized. Not a question, but a sacred testament engraved in stone.

“Marry me.”

Chapter Text

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MONTHS, the nite was beautiful. The mild weather made the nite perfect – just cold enough for Bruce to put his jacket over Lily's shoulders as they left home for their weekly date that happened every Friday nite. This was the couple's agreement set in stone: even if it were the end of the world, every Friday nite they would go on a date; just the two of them, no kids, no responsibilities. It was their moment and they both looked forward to it all week.

It was Bruce's personal mission never to repeat a restaurant, and as time went on, he became increasingly creative before finally giving in and starting to take Lily to other cities. The restaurant of the moment was one of the most sought-after in the city, which, at the beginning of the week, had completely revamped its menu, so, in his mind, it could be considered a completely new place – Lily just went along, she didn't care so much if they went to a new place or not, just wanting to dress up, put on makeup, and be pampered by her husband.

The restaurant didn't change the decor, remaining warm and cozy, but still exuding the air of a place where, for dinner, one paid a small fortune and ate so little that afterward all one desired was a batwing-sized hamburger from Batburguer. But, to Lily's misfortune, the food was always, in fact, delicious. Since she had access to everything the Wayne surname could offer, Lily realized that, in fact, the most expensive things were the best – Lily would never be able to go back to using drugstore makeup.

And Lily didn't even consider herself poor.

Being Bruce Wayne's wife had shown her another side of life, not just because of the monetary power but because of the partnership she had with the man. Being in delicate and commanding positions in various jobs, Lily was exhausted when she got home, when she still had to take on another profession with infinite responsibilities; with Bruce, she could allow herself to relax, not think about every minute detail and the consequences of each moment. With Bruce, Lily could sit next to the passenger in the car and just talk about her day, not thinking about the route, what was for dinner, or the next day's routine. He, without even trying that hard, had become her safe harbor, her life partner.

Lily never imagined herself married again, not after a decade as a widow and thinking she would be alone for the rest of her life. She had even gotten used to solitude, appreciated it for a long time, however, she found in Bruce much more than she had ever expected – not childhood dreams, filled with fantasies and expectations, but something real and tangible, which was ironic, given that the family's nighttime work sometimes made everyone's lives very fictional. Lily was, after all, a very close friend of Superman and Wonder Woman.

It wasn't easy, quite the opposite; it was difficult not to let fear take over when Bruce or one of the kids showed up injured, it was hard knowing that, despite everything, every nite she could lose one of them. This constant fear could undermine any feeling, especially when Lily disagreed daily about vigilantism, but they remained strong.

When they sat down at the reserved table, Bruce turned off his work phone – and all the communicators and communication devices he had on him – while Lily opened the menu, seeing that it was all in French, so she reached out and handed it to Bruce, who explained in detail what each dish contained before they both ordered. A bottle of red wine was soon placed in front of them, along with two crystal glasses, followed by a bottle of mineral water. Lily wasn't drinking, but Bruce would allow himself a few glasses. Lily wasn't drinking, but Bruce would allow himself a few glasses.

“… And then I said that, first, I would never sell a report because of my own work ethic and that, second, I didn't need the money, thank you very much.” Bruce laughed, always finding it hilarious when Lily rubbed it in someone's face that she didn't need a bribe; and it was alarming how many people tried, especially after the woman took over at Arkham.

“It's not the first time Jones has tried to bribe someone, he tried to do it to me so I would sign a partnership contract between his construction company and Wayne Enterprises.” Bruce sipped his wine, listening, completely satisfied, to Lily's loud laughter.

“I can't believe he tried to bribe both of us, it's too much of a coincidence.” His wife comments, still laughing.

“Surprisingly, the richer you are, the more people try to bribe you.” Bruce leans across the table, getting close enough to Lily to catch the scent of her perfume, which he had received as a Father's Day gift and which Lily had been completely obsessed with since she met him. “You'll find that out eventually, Mrs. Wayne.”

Lily's cheeks burned. Almost a year married and she still hadn't gotten used to being called Mrs. Wayne by anyone, it always left her with that warm feeling in her heart that made her stomach flutter in a pleasant way.

“Being filthy rich has to have some disadvantages, Mr. Wayne.” She mimicked Bruce's movement, bringing their faces even closer and giving him a lingering peck with the taste of wine from his lips. “Is Damian still grounded? He asked to accompany me in the application of some tests, as an observer, at Arkham, but I think that would be fun for him.”

Bruce let out a low laugh, more air than sound.

“Yes, for two months.” He confirmed. “If it's to take him to a place he'll hate, doesn't Matt have that birthday to go to? From… Jimmy?”

“It's going to be at an amusement park, I don't know if I'll go.” Lily took a long sip of her water. “This city doesn't have a very good history with parks. Or fun in general.” Bruce laughed again, more audibly.

“That was mean. True, but mean.” Bruce replied. “You can offer to have it at the mansion, in the gardens, we can set up bouncy castles and some toys, bring the bat-cow for the kids to play with, and I'm sure we can ask Alfred to oversee the food. Here at home, it's easier to control what comes in and out. Safe.”

“You're paranoid.” Lily stated, and Bruce took offense, huffing. It wasn't paranoia when all his plans and contingencies had actually saved the world – and the universe – multiple times, whether in Gotham with his children or with the Justice League.

“You were the one who just said you won't take your son to the amusement park!” He retorted, gesturing.

“We live in Gotham, people die in amusement parks…”

“… And I'm the paranoid one?” Lily laughed, Bruce joining her.

“So…” Lily resumed, the humor explicit in her voice. “… What I'm hearing is that we have to move.”

“Yes.” He agreed, knowing that, in reality, they would both die in that city. “Don't you even want a glass, love?”

“No, no. I'm driving, remember?” Before he could argue that he could very well drive back if she wanted to drink wine – it wasn't as if the couple overdid it with wine –, the food soon arrived and they turned to it, the subject immediately changing.

Lily blamed herself. She was Batman's wife.

It was a mystery how she managed to put herself in the position of being kidnaped, and her kidnappers didn't even seem particularly intelligent or under the orders of some important supervillain.

To not stray from the biggest of clichés, Lily had only gone to touch up her lipstick – red, obviously – in the restaurant bathroom. Bruce stayed, finishing his meal, and the woman didn't even notice if she was being followed or not, she just felt an arm around her, covering her mouth and nose, preventing her from screaming, and less than five seconds later, Lily passed out. When she woke up, she was tied to a chair, with her hands tied behind her back and her legs tied at the ankles; completing the scene, there was a cloth in her mouth.

She could have been more nervous if she didn't know who her husband was. Who her stepchildren were.

Lily stayed there, quiet and observing the abandoned warehouse she was in – because of course it was an abandoned warehouse; since her eyes were free, she could see her kidnappers very well. There were three of them, the first as tall as her husband but as thin as a broomstick, the poor thing, the second was short and stocky, never letting go of his cell phone – clearly talking to the mastermind – and the third was sitting a few meters in front of her, probably assigned to watch her, as if Lily, a woman who shamefully didn't have a muscle in her body, would react.

So Lily waited. And waited. And she remembered that Bruce had drunk almost the entire bottle of wine. And she waited, her heart starting to beat faster with each passing minute and no sign of her husband.

She was curious, she had never seen Bruce as Batman in his natural habitat, only dressed in the uniform when he returned from patrol – hopefully, it would also be the only time, since being kidnaped was boring. She had nothing to do but wait, while minutes unfolded like hours.

When a whole hour had passed – and to Lily it felt like an eternity –, she began to get pissed off with her husband's delay. Lily knew that at this point in the relationship and her paranoia, Bruce would have already put a tracker on her, so he knew her location.

So where the hell was he?

“This is the most boring kidnapping in the world.” Lily grumbled, frustration dripping from her tongue.

“Shut up.” The man watching her jumped in to speak, aggressively. Lily rolled her eyes. The other two approached, Lily taking a deep, slow breath, immediately regretting it when the smell of old and mold hit her nose.

“Don't you clean your workplace?” Her expression was one of disgust as her kidnappers stared at her. “It's disgusting.”

The short, stocky man quickly walked up to her and grabbed her hair, pulling her head back forcefully. Lily's head burned, and she couldn't hold back a groan of pain.

“You have a lot to say for someone who could have their throat cut at any moment,” he whispers, close to her face “I would love to bathe in your spurting blood.”

The fear that was beginning to grow in Lily died.

“That's pretty graphic,” he grumbles. He pulls harder, tearing out some tufts of hair.

He takes a knife from his waist and places it against Lily's cheek, his other hand going to her neck and squeezing so hard that it cut off her breath. A sharp pain signaling the cut, a thin line of blood starting to trickle as her lungs burned from the abrupt loss of air.

“I won't say it agai—"

“Get your fucking hands off her.” A voice in the shadows says.

The three men froze. In front of her, the knife comes out of his cheek as the man tightens his grip on the handle and turns, looking for the source of the voice. Relief hit Lily immediately – she knew who the voice in the darkness belonged to.

A batarang, coming from who knows where, strikes the hand holding the knife stained with her blood; the lights suddenly go out, in contrast to the scream of the owner of the mutilated hand. Lily sees nothing anymore, but she could unquestionably hear the screams and groans of pain.

Lily's heart was racing as she continued to be unable to identify the shadows moving quickly; she knew that Batman could handle three kidnappers with his eyes closed, but still something in her heart worried acutely about the possibility that this would be the time he would get hurt. That this would be the nite when Bruce wouldn't return to her arms at nite.

The sounds, however, did not last more than two minutes before completely ceasing, and a moment later, the lights came on.

Lily squinted her eyes with the pain of the light hitting them after they had adapted to the dark, blinked several times until she could see properly, and that's when she saw Bruce, completely dressed as Batman, running toward her. The black uniform was clearly ill-fitting and not the one he normally wore – it must have been one of the spares he had scattered in the family cars –, as he approached, Bruce removed the mask and threw it on the ground, falling to his knees in front of Lily.

The large, gloved hands untied her ankles and encircled her body, removing the knots that bound her wrists, which Lily hadn't even noticed were starting to ache. Untied, she throws herself into her husband's arms, who catches her and lifts her up, pressing her against him.

The uniform was firm, but not enough to hurt when she hugged him. The smell of leather and clean fabric reached her nose, and it bothered Lily that she couldn't smell her husband's perfume, but she accepted the warm embrace that had become her home.

Already standing, when Bruce stepped back, he placed his hands on her face, tilting it to get a better look at the still bleeding cut. Lily saw, clear as the most crystalline of waters, the fear hit Bruce like a train.

“Lily…” He whispered, tense and full of fear. Lily jumped to comfort him.

“I'm okay, love” he whispered back, “you arrived just in time. I'm okay.”

Standing on tiptoe, she buried herself in his neck, feeling his warmth as Bruce squeezed her again. Lily could hear his heart beating fast and strong, her back being caressed and entering thru the back neckline of the dress – Bruce longing for skin-to-skin contact, longing for the warmth that only her heat could provide. He took off his gloves and joined the mask on the floor, touching her again, and only when skin met skin did Bruce breathe a sigh of relief.

At the abandoned counter, Lily whispered promises of "I'm okay" and "you arrived in time" to Bruce, who trembled in her arms, his mind having grown accustomed to the habit of imagining the possibilities that terrified him the most first – that chilling fear that haunted his childhood nites and even in adulthood still kept him awake. But for Bruce, it was never just a nightmare; nightmares were something unreal, something fantastical, losing the people he loved was a fact, something that, from time to time, reminded him that people died and that it hurt like nothing ever would and that there would never be a return. His fear was not a ghost hidden in the shadows, his fear was of flesh and bone, of blood and salt. It was inevitability.

But not tonight.

Already back in civilian clothes, Bruce's hands were still shaking. They were never the most talkative, always appreciating moments of silence and calm, but this silence was not comfort, it was his mind not processing one of his fears having come true. Lily, then, made him park the car so they could walk a bit, release the accumulated energy that beating up three adult men hadn't done, apparently.

Lily knew that Bruce would never fully recover from the emotional and psychological consequences that originated on the day his parents were killed in that alley, Lily knew that Bruce would never be a normal man and that she would have to give in to many things that are not healthy; but Lily also knew that she had the capacity and the choice to love him and to, at least, ensure that amidst the nightmares and terrors, Bruce remembered the good things he had built for himself.

Especially now that Lily was pregnant.

He stood by her side and wrapped his hand around hers, which, instead of holding her palm, held Lilly's wrist, feeling the rhythmic pulse of her heart; she was alive. Breathing. The nite breeze was just cold enough so that the mugginess wasn't bothersome, the streets were noisy – surprisingly, the neighborhood they were in was the university district where Gotham University was located, she knew those streets. Lily released her wrist from Bruce's hands and grabbed his elbow, quickened her pace, pulling him toward a stand that sold the best hot dogs in the entire city.

“Let’s go, come with me.” As if, one day, Bruce had ever had any other option.