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“Uh-oh,” Wally sang from over his shoulder. “Looks like Dickie’s about to head on home.”
“W…what?” Dick laughed, shoving back when Wally pushed at his arm. “What are you talking about?”
“You only smile like that when you’re going home.” Kory added gently, with her own soft grin. Dick felt his face twitch, and realized he’d been smiling all this time himself. “When you’re thinking about your family.”
Dick felt a blush rush up his cheeks, and tried to chuckle it off. “You guys are playing.” He tried. “I don’t smile like this just because-”
“Hey, man, I’ve got two kiddos at home, I know how it is. Changes your whole world.” Wally waved it off, with his own wistful grin. “Just give Damian a kiss for me.” Wally hummed, kissing Dick’s cheek first. “And Jason too, I guess. If you have to.”
Dick laughed for a third time. “Somehow, I don’t think it’ll be very appreciated.”
“Oh, fine.” Wally fake-pouted. “Then give Dames two for me.”
Dick could only roll his eyes before his speedster friend was gone.
“He has a point.” Kory hummed, just as quiet as before. He turned to look at her, tilted his head to the side. “You only smile like that when you are thinking of Damian. Of Jason.”
And for the first time in a few minutes, Dick felt his face fall into a frown.
“Is…that…”
“I’m happy for you.” Kory said suddenly, cutting him off. Her voice was genuine, though, and her grin warm. “Truly.”
“…And I’m happy for you too, Kor.” Dick returned quietly. “I can see how happy you and Roy make each other.”
She laughed loudly, and ducked her head, but Dick saw the pretty blush darken her cheeks anyway.
“We should go out soon. The four of us.” She said after a moment. “Or, maybe five. Damian is always welcome, even on date night.” They shared one last knowing look. “Now, go on. Don’t keep them waiting for you.”
He snorted a laugh, and leaned forward to peck her cheek. “Say hi to Roy for me.”
She was still grinning as he turned away and half jogged towards the door. “Always do.”
The ride home wasn’t long, just long enough to be boring, and make him twitchy. This time, though, that wasn’t a problem, as his mind was a little preoccupied.
Was it really that obvious? He wondered. Did he really…light up when he thought about his family? About Jason and Damian?
But, in his own defense, could anyone blame him? Jason had been dead, was it really his fault that he wanted to do better this time around? Was it really his fault that…that against all odds, against his original intentions, they fell in love? Head over heels in it?
Because he knew. If they saw the way Jason smiled, they’d do the same. If they saw those light freckles across his nose, the light in those green eyes. If they saw the strength of his arms, and the tenderness in which he handled his son, handled Dick – they’d react the same fucking way.
And Damian.
Dick had never met a kid so sweet. So sassy. He was beautiful, in every sense. His laugh, his personality, his features. Bruce’s eyes and stubbornness with Talia’s everything else.
He was protective of Jason, and it was amazing to watch. A damn three-year-old, prepared to fight literally the worst the world could offer, all to protect his Baba. All to protect his Didi too, and even Dick wasn’t too oblivious to see that. To notice that, somehow, amazingly, he earned this child’s undying and unending love.
He didn’t realize he was speeding until he took the turn a little too fast, and almost rocked off his bike. If Wally or Kory were here, they’d have laughed in his face, their point proven.
Dick laughed himself, as he completed the journey, pulling into the garage behind the apartment complex. He was in deep. He couldn’t deny it. And everyone knew it.
He moved into the building, took the steps two at a time. The grin was still on his face when he opened the front door, was hit with a wave of aroma, heard the sizzle of oil in a pan. There was music, too, coming from somewhere. Oldies. Pre-1990 or bust. Totally Jason’s style, and quickly rubbing off on their toddler.
“Hey.” Was called from the kitchen, and Dick didn’t realize he’d already shucked off his shoes and was moving towards the sound until long after he had. Jason was in front of the stove, pushing meat in a pan, humming lightly to the tune. Dick kept his smile as he came up behind him, held his hips and pressed a kiss to the offered cheek.
“Hey, you.”
“How was the mission?” Jason asked absently. “How’s Kory and them?”
“Great. We won, obviously. Wally says hello.” Jason snorted and rolled his eyes at that, leaning back into the embrace Dick was silently offering. Dick smiled and buried his face against Jason’s shoulder, sighing deeply.
And it wasn’t sad, or anything like that, but Jason still glanced back at him. “You okay?”
“Great.” Dick repeated warmly, but before anything else could be said, there was a small crash from the other room. Dick looked boredly towards it. “Where’s Dames?”
“In his room, setting up a table for dinner. I think.” Jason chuckled. “By the way, we’re camping tonight.”
“Camping?” Dick laughed. “Haven’t done that in a while.”
“Me neither.” Jason groaned fondly. “You can thank your new protégé for it – apparently he and the Titans, or whatever that team of his is called, is actually doing that this weekend, and he told Dames about it when they video-chatted earlier.”
“Nice.” Dick hummed, pecking another kiss to Jason’s cheek before releasing him. “Thank you for making an effort with Tim.”
“I’m not doing shit. When he calls, I give baby the phone. When baby asks to call him, I give baby the phone.” Jason deflected. He wasn’t tricking anyone, though, as Dick knew that was a big step, still. “Dinner will be ready in ten or so.”
“Call if you need any help.” Dick said as he backed away, turning towards the entryway and heading down the hall. The music was getting louder the closer to Damian’s room Dick got, an 80s rock song Dick recognized clearly.
The door was open, and the glow from the light was a creamish-pink, splashing out into the hallway. When he peeked through the doorway, the first thing he noticed was that Damian, much like Jason, was crudely humming along with the song – ‘Time After Time’ by Cyndi Lauper.
The second thing he noticed, was that Jason wasn’t kidding. If he didn’t know Damian’s room by heart already, he would have hardly recognized the place. Sheets canvassed everything, from the bed to the toy chest to the light hooked into the ceiling. Strings and rope held up the curtains that weren’t close enough to be flopped across objects around the room, and from them, Dick could see drawings and cutouts, of stars and animals and signs that read (in Jason’s script): ‘Watch out for flying bear-eagle babies!’
Every houseplant they owned littered the floor, and Dick saw a flash of his old-mostly blue Nightwing uniform, half buried under a navy blue towel. From the brightly colored fish plushies sitting on top of it, Dick guessed that was supposed to be some sort of river.
Dick tuned back into Damian’s humming, and looked back towards the main jumble of blankets. He could see Damian’s silhouette inside, hear the clatter of plastic plates and cups being rearranged.
“Dames?”
The shadow perked, and then disappeared as ruffling took over the sound of humming. Suddenly, two of the hanging sheets were flung open and Damian’s head popped out, glancing curiously around. His eyes landed on Dick, and he grinned.
“Didi!”
He scrambled to his feet, and for a brief moment, behind him, Dick could see sleeping bags and pillows laid out too. Damian huffed as he raced forward, colliding none-too-gently against Dick’s knees. Dick leaned down to hold him, and Damian looked upwards happily.
“Hi, Didi.” He whispered excitedly.
“Hi, baby.” Dick returned warmly, kissing Damian’s forehead, trying to ignore the instant fluttering and warmth and soothing in his chest. “What are you doing?”
“Playin’.” Damian drawled. “Dinn’r ready?”
“Not just yet. Baba’s gonna bring it to us.” Dick promised, glancing up. “What’s all this?”
“A tet!” Damian shouted, immediately unlatching from Dick’s leg, but grabbing his hand to drag him forward. “Timmy said we nee’ it for campin’.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Mhm.” Damian hummed. “We got a tet, and twees, and a water…”
Damian began to ramble, as he sat down in the pile of blankets, and pulled Dick down with him. As soon as Dick was settled at the mouth of the tent, Damian crawled into his lap. He began pointing at things – the tent, the sleeping bags, the stars – and talking about them cheerfully. How he made them, how he and Jason put them up. And between every few sentences, he’d look gleefully up at Dick. Smiling and giggling, an aroma of excitement rolling off him in waves.
And Dick…is awe-struck. Beautiful. Damian is so beautiful. His son is so beautiful.
And Dick doesn’t know what it is, exactly, that is so breath-taking. His eyes or his smile or his skin or his chubby little fingers? A mixture of them? All of them?
None of them?
Damian suddenly laughed. Loudly, happily, damn near angelically. He clapped his hands together over and over, repeating whatever he said that made himself laugh – something about fish poop. Dick laughed too, quieter, as he wrapped his arms tighter around Damian’s shoulders.
It wasn’t those pinchable cheeks, Dick realized. Or the dark eyebrows or long eyelashes. It wasn’t the gaggle of teeth the toddler had growing, or the curiosity he completed every task with.
It was the innocence.
But not Damian’s innocence.
It was the innocence that this child’s mere existence brought out in him, and in Jason. How everything in the world disappeared, when this boy was there. When this boy was even just thought of.
No monsters, no baddies. No evil to be fought by masked vigilantes every night. No angst, no feuding families, no nightmares of death and clowns and loss.
Just.
Just Damian. Just making sure he was able to smile. Just making sure he felt safe. Just making sure he got his goodnight kisses, and had two dads there to jump on when the sun came up.
And Dick was so wrapped up in his mind. In his thoughts and love and overwhelming joy, that he didn’t notice when Damian twisted around and looked up at him. Didn’t hear Damian ask him a question. Only jolted back to reality when he felt those smooth little fingers brush across his cheeks.
“Didi?” He whispered, turning completely, settling onto his knees in the circle of Dick’s own, taking Dick’s face in his tiny hands, holding his cheeks. “Didi, why cryin’?”
And he was, Dick realized. He was crying. There were tears running down his face. Across and under Damian’s fingers.
Dick huffed a laughed and closed his eyes. Reached out and wrapped his arms around Damian’s torso, and pressed their foreheads together. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel Damian’s intense stare.
“No reason.” He hummed with a chuckle. He sniffed then, as Damian shoved his fingers along the tear trails, and laughed louder. “You know I love you little buddy. More than anything, right? In the whole wide world.”
Damian seemed to hesitate for a moment, then giggled, and pinched at Dick’s cheeks. “O’ course, Didi.”
“…Good.” Dick whispered, kissing at Damian’s own face. “Very good.”
Damian laughed again, purposefully smearing Dick’s tears across his skin now. Dick grinned himself, leaning against his hands. “You’re weird, Didi.”
Before Dick could respond with the obvious, “I know,” there was the sound of a throat clearing at the doorway, and Dick looked up to find Jason leaning against the doorframe, a tray of food and drinks in his hands.
And Dick felt his tears gain a bit of new life, then. Because the only thing more perfect than having Damian nearby, was having Damian and Jason.
Jason alive. Jason healthy. Happy and safe and growing. There to thrive, there to change the world. There for Dick to come home to, to hold and love and cherish.
Joy flooded his heart. His chest was so full it was about to burst. It felt like he was about to die. It was terrifying, and incredible.
So maybe Wally was right. Maybe he did grin like an idiot every time he thought of his family, of his boys. But it was for good reason. It was for the best reason.
Because he’d just never been so. Fucking. Happy.
“…Babe?” Jason breathed, concern shading his eyes. “You sure you’re okay?”
Dick pulled Damian tighter to his chest, reveled in the feeling of Damian shifting his hands to hug Dick’s neck, and leaned his face against his son’s. Jason blinked as he moved forward, turning and settling next to Dick before placing the tray before them. Damian immediately untangled himself from Dick’s arms, pushing his way past them and into the tent to grab the plates and cups.
“Because, I know I’m out of the game, but I know how those missions go sometimes.” Jason whispered. “So, you know, if you’re not, that’s okay, and we can-”
“Honestly?” Dick asked back, as Damian reappeared, shoving his way between them, and plopping down between their knees. “I’m great, Jay.”
Jason looked skeptical, and Dick laughed, as Damian began distributing the plates and cups, balancing them gently on his fathers’ laps, falling back into his chatter from before. Dick leaned to the side a little, towards Jason, and smiled deeper when he felt their fingers brush together behind Damian’s back. He laughed at Jason’s faint rising blush before leaning his head on the taller man’s shoulder, and closing his eyes once more.
There was a moment, and then Jason’s arm came up around his shoulders, and Damian leaned back into his chest, and the universe couldn’t be more perfect if it tried.
“Really, really great.”