Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was a pleasant sort of day: a kindly breeze kept the sunny day from being overwhelming and fluffy clouds dotted the sky like zoo animals (which Dick and Steph were carefully identifying and noting for posterity).

The endless swirls of blue and white were interrupted by a distant figure drawing ever nearer. Clark recognised the figure first, naturally, and his reaction allowed Bruce to deduce the identity of the newcomer.

"It's so good to see you!" Clark said as he leapt from his seat on the picnic blanket to hug his cousin.

"Well, I could hardly miss out on a chance to see you, little El!" Came Kara's reply as she returned Clark's affection, ignoring his scowl at the nickname, floating up to ruffle Clark's hair. Bruce smirked. Grown man that he was, Clark would forever be Kara's baby cousin, 'Little El'. Clark, sharp-eyed as always, poked his tongue out at Bruce from under Kara's floating harassment.

"Kara!"

Steph and Dick quickly abandoned their cloud-animals and sprinted toward the blonde, both keen to call first dibs on Kara-hugs and piggyback rides, adulthood be damned. Just as Dick stuck a leg out to trip Steph (which she quickly swerved to avoid), both were beaten to the punch by Cass who quietly made herself known to the Kryptonian girl without any fanfare whatsoever, leaving Dick and Steph pouting like the children they were.

"Cass! I haven't seen you in forever! How's Hong Kong been treating you?"

Kara quickly began an animated conversation with Cass, much of it through excited gesturing and signing along with the odd spatterings of English and Mandarin, Bruce noted not-at-all proudly. Dick and Steph, miffed at their competition being for nought, loudly comforted each other on the betrayal.

Bruce, lying in the middle of it all (having claimed Clark's spot to stretch her legs), took a moment for herself to be content. Here she was: surrounded by people she loved, safe in the knowledge that those missing had already reported in with their apologies, and more happy than she could ever believe possible for a woman such as herself.

Far too much of Bruce's life had been spent lamenting her status as 'orphan' but, while her parents would never be forgotten and would forever be missed, Bruce knew she was an orphan no-more:

Bruce had Alfred. Not quite a father to her, perhaps, but a loving parent all the same. The aging mustachioed man sat to her left, gentle eyes taking in his surrogate- no: they were Alfred's as much as they were hers. Alfred sat with her, divvying up the spread he'd made, watching his grandchildren at play.

And though they were not there that day, Bruce had Leslie (working at the free-clinic as always - Tim had popped by to assist and to drag her to the picnic later on) and Lucius (he had politely declined, figuring at least someone should actually run Bruce's company) and Gordon (Barbara would be dragging him in any moment now) as well.

Bruce had never thought she could have a family again, would be able to, after that night at the theatre (and again when she first lost Damian and then again when she lost Jason...) yet here they were: her family:

Dick, supposedly her eldest but mischievous and boyish as ever, roughhousing with his adoptive-sister ("I have you now, my pretty! Did you really think you could avoid me? Hey, no fair using Alfred as a shield-!") now that Steph had absconded with Supergirl for a flying piggyback ride.

Jason, pretending he wasn't a part of the shenanigans as he stole sandwiches and ate them (deliberately scattering crumbs) in his perch in a tree above. Bruce leaned back and caught her moodiest son's eye for a moment, blue eyes gleeful, and for a brief moment Jason returned her grin before remembering himself and mock-glaring appropriately.

Cassandra, no longer so aloof with sign language (which Barbara had quietly suggested and for which Bruce would be ever-grateful) to aid her when her English escaped her, pretending to be caught by Dick's strong-arming (Bruce could see five ways her daughter could escape him: no doubt Cassandra knew more) for her brother's benefit (and to distract him from Jason pelting him with beetroot).

Tim, regularly making snide comments over the radio channel set up on loudspeaker in Alfred's picnic basket even while he worked on paperwork for his "Great-Aunt Leslie". Lucius was eagerly setting Tim to be Wayne Enterprises heir-apparent (this despite Lucius being acting CEO for longer than Bruce had been alive and more his heir than hers).

Damian, not in sight currently but still in hearing range (Bruce still got nervous when she didn't have eyes on her youngest - only Clark's assurances that he at least could see him kept her sane), playing fetch with Titus and Krypto, finally somewhat comfortable with acting his age (Bruce ignored that it was a flash grenade Damian had set the dogs to fetching).

Diana and J'onn were otherwise occupied today but had been promised leftovers (gossip for Diana; cookies for J'onn). Zatanna was performing a show in New York. Selina had been and gone, not content on lingering out in the open for long but very pleased to embarrass Bruce in front of her children (and Clark) by kissing her passionately when Bruce wasn't expecting it, leaving Bruce blushing and stammering as ever.

Steph, not quite a daughter (and thank goodness Steph had politely declined being adopted all those years ago - Bruce wasn't quite sure what she would do if Cass and Damian had been looking piningly at Steph-their-sister rather than Steph-their-colleague) but family all the same, was snickering evilly with Kara and looking pointedly (Bruce noted cautiously) in an increasingly more bewildered Cass' direction.

And, of course, there were the Kents. Martha and Jonathon had sent their son along with freshly baked apple pie (Alfred was still politely hounding an impassive Martha for the recipe: their smiling baking-based warfare was terrifying to behold). Lois was off gallivanting in the Middle East, fighting the true fight by winning hearts to the Syrian cause, but had phoned earlier (leaving Clark slightly less mopey than usual). Kara was successfully seducing Bruce's family away from her (Kara appeared to have moved on from Steph and was now engaging Jason in some form of sandwich eating contest). And Clark?

Clark was eyeing Bruce knowingly. Blasted Kryptonians. Bruce was still suspicious on Clark's claims that Kryptonians had no telepathic capabilities whatsoever. The man was too good a journalist for his own good.

"Shall we?"

Bruce grunted in affirmation, letting Clark give her a hand up. Jason was quick to steal Bruce's spot as soon as she had vacated it - it was the seat closest to the picnic basket (and so Alfred-made goodies and Timothy-teasing) after all - with Kara flying down soon after to wrestle him for it.

Clark let Bruce take the lead, Bruce's family respectfully feigning ignorance as they kept their distance, and Bruce let her feet guide her as her mind thought on other things.

She had walked this path many times over the years. Her tread had left its mark: the path was worn, as engraved in the ground as in her muscle memory. She stopped before the smiling angel ("No, Dick, I'm not positive my parents' headstone is a bloodthirsty alien out to chronologically displace us all" "...I still think we should get Titus to watch it when we're not home.") even before her eyes noted it.

"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad."

Clark drew Bruce closer in his arms and she allowed herself to take comfort in his warmth, the reassuring give of his touch.

"I miss you. I always will. Alfred does too.

"Cassandra's here with us. She'll be staying for another month or so before she returns to Hong Kong. Her Chinese has improved a lot. The kids have been hounding her for the latest slang. Half of what she's been teaching them has been rubbish. They don't seem to have caught on yet.

"Dick's gotten a promotion. I'm not sure how given how he spends so much time goofing off here-" Clark muffled a laugh; Bruce ignored him and stubbornly continued on, "but I'm glad the Bludhaven CPD knows a good cop when they have one. And, no, Dad, Dick has not proposed to Barbara yet. And yes, Mom, we have all been giving him sh- (sorry, Dad) grief for it. He's responded by blaring Taylor Swift from his room whenever he's home. She's a pop singer the kids pretend they don't like.

"Tim's... better than he's been. His new therapist seems to be good for him. Leslie's been spending more time with him too, which has helped. I don't think Tim will ever quite get over losing Conner like that," Bruce moved to awkwardly pat Clark's hand reassuringly and Clark gave an amused half-smile in thanks, "I don't think any of us will.

"Jason's been around more since Cass has been back. I think she's a good influence on him. She keeps him and Timothy from being at each other's throats at least." Clark raised an eyebrow. "...she's been keeping Jason and I from each other's throats as well. We're doing our best but we're both too stubborn for our own good.

"Damian's pis- (sorry, Dad) angered away another therapist. Diana says that Hippolyta herself might have to be his next one. She's their queen. Diana's mother. Annoying Amazonians seems to be good for Damian. He lets us see him playing with Titus now. He used to run off whenever one of us caught him acting his age. I think Damian's got a crush on Steph. She told me she'd find a gentle way to let him down... I'm pretty sure she's putting that off until she gets bored of seeing Damian and Cass pretend they're not fighting each other for her attentions."

Bruce stood quietly. She never did like to talk for too long. She carefully didn't nudge Clark. He took the hint and gave her time for respite.

"Bruce is doing well too. She's actually been sleeping longer for four hours a night these days!" Clark nonchalantly dodged an elbow. "I think having Superman around has really helped her see the errors of her ways." Clark dodging the elbow meant Bruce's pinch hit home. It hurt Bruce more than it hurt Clark but Clark's mock-wounded expression was worth it.

"What Clark means to say," pointed glare, "is that... I'm happy, Mom and Dad. I'm really, really happy. I still put on the suit. I'm still not... I'm still not the barrel of sunshine that Dick and Steph and Clark are but, I'm putting the suit on for the right reasons now. To protect. To help. Not to..." breathe, Bruce, "I have a family now. I've had one for years and never really knew it, I think.

"It's not the kind of family that really gets approved of-" (Lois and Selina complicated matters even beyond Bruce's collecting of orphans but she wouldn't change them for the world) "but I don't really give a f- fudge. Sorry, Dad.

"I hope you're not disappointed in me for not ever getting married. Or for running around in a cape. And for pretending to be a man when I'm wearing that cape. I've stopped pretending to be floozy as Ms Wayne? Clark kept pouting about the way his co-workers were writing about me. It was getting tiring, playing dumb all the time. Lucius was pleased about my dropping that act as well. He says hi. Leslie gives her love too."

Crap, Bruce thought. She'd never quite managed to get through one of these meetings without her eyes stinging. She hated when that happened.

"Your daughter's being stubborn again. Too proud to cry apparently. Don't worry - I make sure to cry on her behalf." Clark paused to blink away some of his own tears. Bruce smirked. Clark rolled his eyes. "Thank you for giving the world your daughter. We love her," a shy smile, "I love her. I'm quite sure she loves us too."

Alfred - he must have snuck up on them while she'd been distracted by everyone else trying to sneak up on them - wordlessly passed Clark a tissue (knowing better than to offer Bruce the same). The others (even Jason, though it hurt him not to say something sarcastic) were kind enough to not comment when Bruce took one for herself. Bruce took the moment to steady herself.

"I love my family very much. I love you, Mom and Dad. Happy Anniversary."

Bruce brought her fingers to her mouth and placed a kiss above her parents' names. Bruce's family stood silently a moment before gathering around her: Dick snaking an arm tight around her waist, Jason pretending outrage even as Dick hung his other arm loosely around his younger brother, Clark extending his own arm to fall over Dick's shoulders; Tim and Leslie gathered Alfred in between them, the aging man murmuring a quiet thanks; Cass held a for-once-not-struggling Damian in her arms, Steph wrapped around the both of them while Kara's head rested on her fellow blonde's head as she supported them all.

And so, as one, Bruce's family stood together: safe, loved and content. And somewhere out there, Bruce felt Martha and Thomas Wayne were proud of their daughter who had finally let herself move on.