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“Drake, if we come back and there is one SINGLE misplaced hair on her precious little head-”
“Oh, mon Cher, please be nice to your brother. After all, he’s doing us a great favor. Thank you, Tim for doing this. I do appreciate it.”
Tim Drake smiled as he looked at his baby brother and his sister-in-law. Damian was scowling as usual, and Tim could tell he felt slightly agitated about leaving their only child with him. He was holding the little girl tight to his chest, unwilling to let go of her just yet. His sister-in-law and Damian’s wife, Marinette, seemed more relaxed with the situation. She was dressed in a beautiful baby pink sundress with a white camisole and black ballet shoes. She was clearly more than ready for their date.
It had been about five months since Marinette had gifted them with one little Amaya Vivienne Wayne. Bruce had been over the moon about having a granddaughter, and they were shocked and stunned to realize that the fearsome Batman was under complete control of a sweet looking little infant with the biggest green eyes anyone had ever seen. He’d been more than happy to take over baby-sitting when need be, but this time Bruce had a Justice League meeting that he had to attend.
Dick was currently busy in Bludhaven, and Jason was off somewhere with Roy. Though, now that Tim thought about it, they only would’ve asked Jason as a last resort. While Marinette trusted Jason with their daughter while in the mansion, Damian did not. Dick would probably have been the more suitable of their options, but he was currently on a mission, so he was out.
Which left caffeine addicted, sleep-deprived Tim as their option for child-care. Not that Tim minded necessarily. He was fond of his niece, and until now, really hadn’t had a chance to spend a lot of time with her. So when Marinette asked him if he could watch Amaya while the pair went out for the day, Tim agreed happily.
“I know, Demon Spawn. I know! If there is a single hair out of place on her head, you’ll kill me. Did you really think I’d let something happen to little Chamomile here? How would we all calm down without her?” Tim said, holding out his arms. “She’s my niece, and Bug’s daughter, how could I not love her to bits?”
Damian glared at his brother before muttering how ridiculous of a nickname it was. Marinette simply smiled before reminding him that everyone had their own nickname for Amaya, even him. She gently took her daughter from her husband and kissed Amaya’s cheeks.
“All right, baby bug! Now you be good for Uncle Timmy, okay? Mommy and Daddy love you!” she said, carefully handing her over to Tim.
“Are you sure she’s going to be alright, Malāki? I mean, she’s still little. Do you think-”
“Damian, Amaya will be just fine! Your brothers all video call us when they can. It’s not like Amaya hasn’t ever met any of them!” Marinette replied, taking Damian’s arm. “Now let’s go. The sooner we go, the sooner Tim can settle her.”
“You just want to leave before the feelings catch up to you,” Damian replied, rolling his eyes.
“Yes, you’d be correct, so let’s go before I feel like a terrible mother for leaving!”
And with that, Tim and Amaya watched Marinette and Damian walk out the door.
Tim looked down at his niece, who was now starting to cry. Her little fists were rubbing against her eyes as she kicked about, sobbing because Mommy and Daddy had left her.
“Hey, hey, Amaya. It’s okay, Chamomile. Mommy and Daddy will be back. You’re gonna play with Uncle Tim today,” he said, making sure his voice stayed soft. “It’s okay.”
He carried her into the next room where Marinette had left her diaper bag, baby carrier, and toys. He plucked up a stuffed cerberus (a toy only Damian could have given the little girl) and waved it in front of her.
“Look! Look, Amaya! It’s Spot! Spot’s your favorite toy, isn’t he?” Tim cooed, hoping to distract Amaya.
Surprisingly, it did work. Tim thanked Tikki for all the times he’d actually GONE to family functions, otherwise this one on one time could have been a disaster. Amaya clearly wasn’t happy her parents were gone, but Tim wasn’t enough of a stranger to be scared of. Instead, she grabbed her stuffy and shoved it in Tim’s face.
“BAH! Abah ba ba BAH! MmmBAH!” she squealed, smacking Tim with the stuffy. “Aah, mah, aahmahmaba!”
“I see, little Chamomile,” Tim said, voice slightly muffled behind the toy. “You are not pleased with this turn of events.”
“Mahba!”
“Well I’m sorry, but Grandpa is busy, and so are Mommy and Daddy.”
“Bahmahbah!”
“I hear your complaints loud and clear, Ms. Wayne. I’ll be sure to inform them when they return. How dare they be busy and not at your beck and call?”
“BAHMAH!”
Tim laughed before pushing the stuffy out of his face and kissing Amaya on the head.
“Alright, little Chamomile! Let’s go play!”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conner Kent thought the world was ending when he arrived at the Wayne Manor. Tim hadn’t replied to ANY of his texts in hours, and Conner knew Tim was rarely without his phone. He’d tried reaching him on the comms too, but he received no answer from there as well. That was the truly frightening thing about the whole situation.
Sometimes Tim genuinely forgot to answer his phone, especially if he was in a sleep-deprived state of mind. But his comm? Not once (that’s been a non-emergency) has Conner recalled him not answering his comm. So he decided to go over and check on his best friend/love interest. He’d managed to convince the others that Tim wouldn’t be as annoyed to see him as the rest of them if it so happened that Tim had put himself in another sleep-deprivation induced coma.
So Garfield, Bart, Raven, and Donna waited for Conner to return with Tim. Gar and Bart had gotten it into their heads that they all hadn’t hung out in a while, and since none of them were on missions, they should go to the mall! Gar claimed it would be a bonding experience, and that it wouldn’t be complete without Tim. They’d all tried to message him, but assumed that he was ignoring them, which is why they had elected Conner as their ‘Tim Wrangler’.
When Conner didn’t get an answer, everyone had become worried and were ready to storm the manor. Thankfully, Conner had once again convinced them to put him on point to get Tim out of the manor and for them to wait outside. If Tim was working, Conner knew that the man would be seriously annoyed by the interruption, and he wanted to be careful. One interruption he might forgive, but five? Not so much…
Conner strolled into the manor, Alfred apparently being out on what Conner assumed was a grocery run. He walked into Tim’s room, which was surprisingly quiet and lacking a Tim in it. He hesitated to leave before hearing the bathroom down the hall flush, making him raise an eyebrow. Wasn’t there a bathroom that connected to Tim’s room?
He had no time to dwell on it because as soon as the former Boy Wonder spotted him, Conner was certain he was going to die.
Tim looked positively livid with him.
“I thought I told everyone I wouldn’t be available for missions today? And that if there were an emergency to get anyone else but me?” the dark haired Batboy said, surprisingly low.
“Tim, why are you talkin’-”
“Lower your voice or I swear to God, I’m getting the kryptonite!” Tim hissed, his voice still low.
Conner looked Tim up and down. He was dressed, his shoes were on, and he had both his phone and wallet with him (and he KNEW he did, thank you x-ray vision). The Kryptonian hybrid shrugged his shoulders and threw Tim over his shoulder.
“I swear you need to get out more. I’ll give you some aspirin for your headache later. Gar, Bart, Raven, and Donna want to go to the mall to hang out since we haven’t seen each other in a while,” he began, keeping his voice low. “You weren’t answering your phone or anything, so they sent me to get you. You’re coming with us.”
“I CAN’T. I’m BUSY!” Tim hissed, thrashing about. “LET ME DOWN!”
“C’mon, Tim. You work too hard! That’s probably why your head hurts so much! Lookin’ at computer screens all day isn’t healthy for you.”
“I wasn’t and put me down! I can be busy without working!”
“Suuuuuuuuure, Timmy.”
As Conner reached the lobby, Tim’s thrashing became increasingly panicked. It hurt Conner a little bit, but only on the inside. Did Tim really not want to see them that badly? Did they do something wrong? Were they no longer friends? What could they have possibly-
“Timbo! You ready to rock?!” Gar asked, bounding through the door. “It’s been too long man!”
“Uh...Conner? Why are you carrying Tim like a sack of potatoes?” Raven asked, raising a slender brow. “And why does he look like you forced him down here?”
“Because he probably had to! You know Timmy works too much!” Bart butt in. “C’mon man, hang out with us!”
Donna said nothing, just smiling and enjoying the chaos around her as Tim continued his efforts to free himself.
Little did they know, Tim was actually panicking.
Amaya was asleep upstairs. They didn’t know about Amaya. They didn’t know about Marinette and Damian yet, or they didn’t fully believe it yet. He couldn’t leave Amaya alone! What would happen when she wakes up and sees he’s not there! She’d be terrified! It would scar her for life and possibly irreversibly alter her brain development! Amaya wouldn’t be able to trust him again, and neither would Marinette for that matter!
Not to mention both Marinette and Damian would kill him for leaving their precious baby alone in the house to hang out with his friends, coerced or not. Suddenly it hit him.
“ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT, FINE! I’ll go, just let me grab my Chamomile!” he shouted....
And winced as he hit the floor.
Rubbing his right elbow, Tim’s blue eyes glared at the faces of his shocked companions. Before they could say or do anything else, Tim darted off with speed that even impressed Bart. The friends looked at each other, all trying to figure out the same thing...since when did Tim drink tea?!
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When Tim re-entered his room, he was relieved to see Amaya still asleep on the floor where he’d left her. She’d worn herself out playing, and after a bottle and a diaper change, the little girl was out cold. While she was resting, Tim had started to look over some things for Wayne Enterprises, still sitting on the floor next to the infant. It was about an hour later that Tim had realized he needed to use the bathroom.
Tim didn't want to put her on the bed while he went to the bathroom, afraid that she would somehow manage to roll off the bed, so he had left her sleeping on her back on the floor. He also didn’t use the bathroom closest to his room because he hadn’t wanted to wake her, so he used one a little further down. He hadn’t expected to be almost kidnapped when he came out and was only slightly mentally gloating about how his nickname for his niece wasn’t so stupid after all.
He carefully checked all the straps and clips before fastening Amaya and himself into the baby carrier. She’d only opened her little green eyes momentarily to look at her uncle Tim, giving him a scowl she most DEFINITELY inherited from her father. He made a mental note that apparently little Chamomile did NOT like being woken up unless SHE had been the one to make that decision.
Tim grabbed the diaper bag and quickly texted Marinette. If he was being forced to go out to a shopping mall, he might as well see if she needed him to grab anything. She replied that Amaya needed new onesies and a new coat. Apparently the little girl had been growing like a weed, and Marinette was worried about her not having a coat suitable for the October air in Gotham.
Tim put on his coat, grabbed a blanket to cover Amaya in case she got cold, and walked back towards the lobby. By this point, Amaya had stirred from her sleep, if not a tad disgruntled. She wanted to know where her uncle Tim was taking her. Her green eyes looked around as she turned her head from side to side, trying to gaze around her.
“Aww, are you awake now? Did you have a good nap, my little Chamomile? Uncle Timmy’s sorry. He has very annoying friends who you’re going to meet now. He’s sorry in advance.”
“Bwaaaah maaah ba?” Amaya babbled, looking at him in confusion.
Tim felt his irritation bleed away as he looked at his sweet little niece. She smiled back up at him and continued to babble, flailing about and squealing in delight with every smile she received in return. He had missed the shocked looks on his friends’ faces, but there was one thing he most certainly did NOT miss.
“...that’s not tea.”
Tim looked up to see Conner staring at him and Amaya in shock.
“...Tim, I thought you were getting chamomile…” Donna said slowly, raising her eyebrow.
“This is Chamomile,” Tim responded with a shrug.
“No, Tim. That’s a baby,” Conner corrected.
“Dude, where did you get a baby?! Whose is it?!” Gar asked, drawing Amaya’s attention.
She tried to turn to see who was speaking and shrieked in displeasure when she couldn’t.
“Shhhh, Chamomile, it’s okay. She’s my brother’s baby,” Tim said, rubbing Amaya’s back.
“....not Dick and Kori right? Because I’ll be hella pissed if they had a baby and told no one-” Gar began, walking to the side so he could see the baby better. “...no way, dude. Don’t tell me it’s true?! IT CAN’T!”
Raven and Bart looked at each other in confusion before moving to where Gar was standing to get a better look as well. What they saw was a black haired little girl with brilliant green eyes, a face only chubby due to baby fat, and a scowl that was oh so familiar. Consider the shade of her eyes, the pigment of her skin, and the shape of her mouth and there was only one Wayne boy that could possibly be the father of the child before them.
“So it is true? Damian really did marry that girl,” Raven said with a small smile. “Good for him. She’s got her daddy’s scowl.”
“Which is even more terrifying considering I know for a fact he’s never directed it at her, and I don’t think he’s ever used it around her,” Tim said. “He said he didn’t want to scare her. Damian and Marinette went on a date. Bruce, Dick, and Jason are busy, and Alfred is running errands, so I agreed to watch Chamomile here.”
“Her name isn’t actually Chamomile, is it?” Bart asked in confusion. “That’s a real strange name if so.”
“Her name’s Amaya, Amaya Wayne. Now hurry up, I need to pick up diapers and a few other things for Marinette,” Tim sighed. “You insist on dragging me out? Then you’re going to have to be fine with Chamomile and errands.”
At first, Bart and Gar thought that would be okay...and then it wasn’t. They thought that they would be able to run around the mall and just relax and take it easy. However, having a five month old baby with them proved to be anything but relaxing. Who knew babies were so needy?
Tim apparently.
Conner was also a surprisingly big help.
Conner had helped Tim prep an emergency bottle for Amaya about an hour or so into the trip after the child began sobbing in hunger, and he even fed the little girl while Tim was looking at onesies with Raven-Rachel-and Donna. The girls were pointing out different patterns and helping Tim figure out the differences in the sizing. Rachel seemed to be enjoying herself, smiling and speaking softly at the baby in Conner's arms.
“Dude, how do you even know how to feed a baby?” Gar asked Conner.
“I watched Grandma Kent and Lois with Jon. They even let me feed him a few times with their supervision,” Conner said. “Here, hold her bottle while I burp her. Rae, think you could hand me the burp bib?”
He shoved the bottle into Gar’s hands while adjusting the baby. Rachel levitated a thin white cloth over to Conner, and he took it with a quick thank you. He gently tapped the baby on the back with one finger before jerking his head in Rachel’s direction.
“How about those onesies, Tim? The ones Rae’s holdin’. I think they’re right cute with all those little ladybugs.”
Rachel nodded in agreement holding out the package to Tim. There were three onesies in the pack. One was red with black polka dots while the other was completely white with a ladybug on the tummy. The last one in the pack was white as well, but it had ladybug print all over it instead of just one on the tummy.
Tim looked at Rachel before saying, “Grab two more packs. Marinette’s gonna love this.”
Rachel grabbed the packs and Conner returned Amaya to Tim as they ventured over to the coats in the baby section, Donna dragging Bart and Gar along. Rachel and Conner began comparing coats as Tim refastening Amaya into the baby carrier.
“This is sooooo booooooooooooooooooring!” Bart complained. “I thought we were supposed to be having fun!”
“I thought I was supposed to be staying at home taking care of my niece,” Tim said, rolling his eyes. “And yet here I am. Get over it.”
By the time their shopping trip was over, Tim had managed to get everything, including a few last minute additional notes Marinette had made while they were out. Amaya had fallen fast asleep, making Rachel’s heart melt a little. Rachel, Conner, and Donna were almost disappointed when they’d made it back to the manor.
At least, they were until Tim invited them inside.
******************
Epilogue Pt 1- Garfield Properly Meets Amaya
Garfield had been severely disappointed with how the trip to the mall had turned out. Instead of just hanging out with his friends and having fun, they ended up running errands for Tim's sister-in-law! So what if the baby needed new things, couldn't her mom get them? And then Tim inviting them into the mansion!
Sure it was more time he got to spend with Tim, but he also had to spend it with Amaya.
The little monster who screamed, cried, and pooped during their outing.
The little creature who was now staring at him as she laid on her blanket, lifting her little head up by herself, arms flailing and legs kicking. She was smiling broadly at him, cooing and gurgling in an attempt to get him to pay attention to her. She squealed loudly when she noticed she was getting no where, and that was when Garfield decided to try and scare the kid.
So he transformed into a leopard right in front of her.
Amaya's bright green eyes lit up and her little limbs began to shake rapidly. Her little hands opened and closed excitedly, reaching out towards him. She continued to shriek in delight as he began to change into several different animals- a cow, a chicken, a dog, a horse to name a few.
Gar was so caught up in playing with the little girl that he missed Tim's smug grin, and Bart's shocked face. Tim knew he'd warm up to her. After all, everyone did.
Epilogue Pt 2-Bart and Amaya
It wasn't until Amaya was shoveling mushy baby cereal into her mouth that Bart realized that perhaps the pair and something in common. He shoveled down his own food with as much fervor as that little girl. So much so that everyone was startled by how both ate.
Both were also extremely cranky if they were not fed immediately. While Bart could make his own food, the child couldn't. So Amaya had to resort to shrieking at the top of her lungs in order to be fed. She slammed her little fists down on the high chair as well, crying shrilly.
Bart handed her a small bowl with baby cereal and breast milk while he had about six hamburgers to start. Both ate happily, glad to have food in their bellies.
Epilogue Pt 3-Donna, Rachel and Amaya
Donna wasn't used to babies, but there was no doubting who's baby that was. Any child of Damian Wayne's was bound to be a fighter. Amaya's sheer determination proved it. Donna looked down at the chubby green eyed child and swore that she would teach her to fight. This child would be worthy of the Amazons, whether Damian Wayne wanted her to be or not.
Rachel was also not used to babies. Babies were too...good for someone like her. Amaya was too sweet, too innocent, and Rachel-Raven was not. Raven's soul had been stained by her father from the moment she was conceived. Some children were even afraid of her upon seeing her. Amaya was not. Amaya still smiled at both Donna and Rachel, enjoying the attention being showered upon her.
Amaya radiated goodness, and that goodness seemed to reach everyone she touched. Rachel felt calm and relaxed with Amaya near by...so she treasured every moment, she was able to continue spending with Amaya...and with everyone else.
Epilogue Pt 3- Conner, Tim, Amaya
Tim didn't answer any of her other texts, but that didn't surprise Marinette. She figured he must have been busy and just missed their messages and calls.
It was now almost seven at night, and both parents had had enough of date night. They wanted to hold their little girl, so they came back earlier than they expected to. She knew Damian was antsy, and she figured Tim could probably use a break. She had expected them to be in Tim's room.
What they hadn't expected to see was Tim, Amaya, and some of Tim's old Titan teammates strewn across the living room. Amaya was asleep on her back with Tim on one side and Conner on the other. She was sleeping peacefully, happy to be with her uncle and Conner.
Both boys continued to sleep soundly, not hearing Marinette or Damian come in. Damian had taken stock of his baby as soon as he got home and was happy to see Amaya unharmed and content.
She was wearing one of the lady bug themed onesies, the red and the black one, that reminded Marinette of her Ladybug suit. When she inspected the other onesies in the pack on the end table, she was slightly amused and slightly irritated with the clear teasing motif. Tim must have picked them out for Amaya.
At a loss for what to do, and recognizing her daughter was still tired, Marinette decided to pull Damian out of the living room. She held her finger to her lips, shaking her head. Surely they could find something to do to preoccupy their time until their daughter needed them again. However, before she left, Marinette made sure to snap a photo.
She couldn't wait to send it to Dick.