Chapter Text
Sam has a chat with Bruce:
“Not gonna lie, Bruce,” Sam said, over the rim of her teacup, “it was hard. I love Dami but we were just kids. There were nights…there were nights when we all broke down and cried with the baby. Times we had to put him down and walk away or we each would’ve done…something or other.”
Bruce nodded in understanding; he was glad that Damian had a loving family but they had been just teens. Old enough to experience unplanned parenthood, in the normal way, but still in school and with the King’s other duties.
“I think, the only way we managed is because I’m Wayne wealthy,” she admitted, after taking a sip and setting down the cup, “so that took a lotta pressure off. Mom and Dad weren’t…happy exactly, that we suddenly had a baby. They demanded a DNA test before they believed us. But then they set up a…fund for his needs. It got easier, with my parents, when we got Chat. They believed us more then, ‘cause he was way too old to be…well, ours. No matter if I was sleeping with Danny or Tucker—which I wasn’t—Chat was just too old.”
Again, Bruce nodded.
“Then they got to see a Wishing Away, Sammy and Dean; they believe us completely now. “
“And the King’s family?”
“Believed us from the start,” Sam said with a soft smile, “they welcomed Damian from the word go. They weren’t happy with his original family, but he is a Fenton and Fentons take care of their own. We already had Danielle before anyone else and she was more of a surprise, especially her genetic makeup. So a Wished Away baby? They weren’t mad at us. They stepped in and helped when we were breaking, couldn’t’ve done it without them.”
She sighed, “We took Dami everywhere with us. That was probably a mistake—he had some issues come preschool—but he was just so…”
“The King said he might’ve been a little premature.” Bruce rumbled.
“We think so. So does his pediatrician. He’s caught up, now, but yeah. Part of the reason we took him everywhere.”
“Part of the reason?”
“We didn’t wanna just dump him on our parents,” Sam replied, “we—the three of us—decided early on we weren’t going be those teen parents. And I think the only reason we managed that is because there were three of us. Tucker became a hands-on uncle, a third parent. He didn’t have to, you know? He could’ve just backed away from us. But he didn’t.”
“You had no claim or responsibility for Damian either,” Bruce pointed out.
“No,” she agreed, “but I was already…I knew I loved Danny, even back then, had a hunch he was the one for me. Besides, we already had Danielle between us. I knew Danny would’ve done well on his own with Damian but I wasn’t going to abandon him…them.”
“How did you do it? What did you tell everyone?”
“The truth, Bruce. Oh. Everyone was pissed for him. Everyone pitched in where they could to help us. There were still rumors, of course. There’s always been rumors about us. But those were rare enough.”