Title: I Build My Life Around You
Rating: T
Word Count: 2,800+
Characters: Dick/Artemis, their kids
Summary: It'd be more amusing how excited their kids are to see the Cave if they, you know, could stop asking about it every five minutes.
Prompt: Dick and Artemis bring their kids to the Cave for the first time
For: SuzyQ113
I Build My Life Around You
It'd be more amusing how excited their kids are to see the Cave if they, you know, could stop asking about it every five minutes. It's pretty much been the only thing they could talk about all week, and Artemis has had to keep distracting them by telling them to do homework or help her cook dinner or something.
Dick tells her to quit raining on their parade, but considering he hasn't been able to shut up about it, either, she's not going to listen to him.
And when she tells him this, he laughs over the phone and says, "Well, that's nothing new."
"You better believe it."
She tilts the pan over the burner and pokes the pancake with her spatula.
Fridays are Breakfast for Dinner days, which started because the kids managed to get a cold at the exact same time and ate nothing but waffles when they stayed home from school with Stephanie. Not that they objected, anyway. In fact, afterwards they insisted on eating breakfast foods for every single meal, and it took a full two hours of wheedling to convince them otherwise.
"It's quiet there." Dick sounds mildly amused and Artemis smiles. Ever the detective… "What're the kids up to?"
"Dylan is in the living room with Anna, and Jason is in his room finishing homework."
"He's only finishing now?"
"He went right into the gym as soon as he got home again," she tells him. "He'd still be in there, too, if I hadn't dragged him out."
"Wow. He's really worried about tomorrow."
"No kidding. But don't worry," Artemis says, sliding the last pancake onto the stack of others and switching off the burner. "I know what will help him."
"If you say so." She rolls her eyes, and he laughs because he knows that's what she does. "Don't wait to have dinner with me, alright? Bruce is probably going to keep us at the Watchtower for a while to prep everything. You know how he is."
She sighs. "Yeah, alright."
"Hey," he says in this soft voice she's only heard him use on her or the kids, "You know I'll be back in time to tuck the kids into bed. I always am."
"I know you will be. Love you," she tells him, and she waits until he says, "I love you, too," before hanging up and setting the phone on the counter. She wipes her hands on the kitchen towel and takes a few minutes to set the table, then walks into the living room to get the kids.
Dylan is sitting on the floor with Anna on top of one of the blankets from the closet, and Anna's giggling and trying to go after the frozen teething ring in Dylan's hand. Dylan's trying to get her to walk, and Anna can, but she just chooses to be a punk and crawl instead. The TV is on but neither of them is watching, and Artemis hates it when they do that. But they probably were watching at first before Anna got bored, and Dylan just forgot to turn the TV off once they started playing.
Artemis smiles and sort of just watches her two daughters mess around.
Dylan is really mature, even though she's only nine, and can take care of Anna mostly by herself for a few hours. Not that they'd ever make her, but it's comforting to know she can, especially when Artemis or Dick have a rough day and Dylan tells them to take a nap and won't wake them until it's time to make dinner.
She's an angel.
And that's not to say Jason isn't responsible. He was kind of the same way with Dylan, even though they have a smaller age gap and he couldn't do as much when Dylan was only one. But he liked to be there for her. He's there for Anna, too, but she's still small and Jason's just getting over that phase where he only has so much patience to spend time with her. Now that she can walk, he pays more attention to her.
Dylan looks up and spots Artemis, though, after another minute or so, and gives her a smile. God, she looks so much like her father when she smiles.
"Hey, Birdie," Artemis says, walking over to them. Tim was actually first to call her that and it sort of just stuck. "Dinner's ready. Are you hungry?"
"Yeah!" She stands up, and Anna mimics her, toddles a little bit and reaches for the teething ring. Dylan rolls her eyes (totally got that from her mother), and laughs a little as she says, "Oh, now you're walking."
Artemis chuckles and hoists Anna into her arms.
"Where's Jason?" Dylan asks, and Artemis is totally in love with how close Dylan and Jason are. Dylan's kind of like the best parts of her parents put together, so when Jason is being moody (which, yes, Artemis will admit he got from his mother), Dylan's the only one who can get to him. He's totally protective of her, too, and will only pour his heart and soul to her. Artemis is kind of jealous of that, actually.
"He's in his room. Do you think you can get him to come down for dinner?" Dylan nods. "And see if you can—"
"Don't worry, Mommy. I'll talk to him," Dylan laughs, like her mother's silly for thinking she wouldn't, or didn't already know what's been bugging her brother.
Artemis smiles.
Seriously, their kids are awesome.
... ...
Dick does get home in time to tuck them in (after they finish dinner, actually), and because tomorrow's a special day and everything, Artemis lets the kids stay up a half hour later than usual so that they can spend more time with Dick. They play Uno around the coffee table in the den with Artemis reading a book with Anna on the couch to make her fall asleep, and when Artemis is finished, she looks up at the clock and announces that it's time for them to get to bed, too.
Artemis sets Anna in her crib and cleans a little as the kids wash up, then walks into Jason's room and kisses his forehead. He's probably too old for her to be doing it, and most nights he calls her on it, but tonight he just laughs a little and says, "Goodnight, Mom," and doesn't look embarrassed at all.
Then she and Dick swap rooms, and he says goodnight to Jason as she tucks Dylan in. "I wish I was Jay, tomorrow," Dylan admits.
"Why? We're taking all of you with us."
"Yeah, but Jay gets to stay there," Dylan says, and Artemis knows that she's talking about joining the Team. She hasn't said it much, and has never said it to Jason, but of course Jason knows how his little sister feels. She wants to kick butt, too.
"It'll be your time soon enough," Artemis reassures her, even though she kind of hates that idea herself. God, it's only three more years until Dylan's a teen, too.
When did her kids start growing up so quickly?
When she tells Dick this, he laughs at her like the ass he is and she whacks him with the kitchen towel.
He's finishing up his dinner (with the dishes he will now be washing himself) and she wipes her hands dry from washing what she and the kids used for dinner. Usually the kids are supposed to wash their own stuff after they're finished, but that's right when Dick got home, so she let it slide.
"Jason just turned thirteen a month ago, Dylan's nine, and Anna's one," he reminds, like she doesn't know how old her own kids are, and she rolls her eyes.
"I know that. It's just… We were fifteen when we were on that Team. Well, I was, at least," she amends. Dick raises his eyebrows.
She's usually not this protective of her kids. Well, of course she is—they both are—but they're pretty lenient, too, and give them enough space to let them explore and grow up and discover themselves while still being under their care. Her kids are still dependent, but that's because they are still young, and they're independent in a lot of ways, too. Sometimes she just forgets how young they are, because she's never treated them like children. They've always been her little adults.
That's why even she's surprised at her own reaction. Just last week, she was telling Megan how ready she thinks Jason is to start taking on missions.
"I was Jason's age, remember?" Dick says, getting out of his chair. She wants to tell him to put his plate in the sink and run hot water over it before the syrup hardens, but then he's standing in front of her with hands at her waist and that smile on his face that she hates because she loves it so much. "He'll be fine."
... ...
Artemis stands beside the hallway in her Huntress costume while Dick is rambling off a speech that Bruce makes him say as Team leader, and her eyes are on Jason the whole time. Well, she's watching Lian and Damian, too, because they're her niece and godson, but she's mostly watching Jason.
She knows his eyes are wide behind his mask, and he's got his arms crossed over his chest like he does when he's got all this emotion he can't quite express.
When Dick is finishing by telling them they can explore the Cave, Jason catches her eye and flashes a smile. She really wants to walk over there and talk to him, and he'll probably stay there so she can, but she doesn't want to keep him from looking around. So she just returns the smile and laughs as Lian somehow ends up between him and Damian, tugging them by their arms down the hallway leading to the gym.
"Your baby's all grown up."
"Shut up." She shoves Jade, and her sister laughs. "Where's Roy?"
"Beats me," Jade says with a shrug. "He disappeared with West as soon as he dropped off the twins."
"Didn't want to stay for the orientation speech, huh?" Jade gives her sister a look. "Figures."
"Can you blame them?" Dick has a smirk as he walks over to them. "It's not exactly the most exciting speech to have to listen to. But you know how Bats is."
"I'm surprised there isn't a guided tour," Jade muses.
"There would be," Artemis says, "but considering he'd only have members of the original Team give it, it'd be a little… complicated." Jade arches an eyebrow. Dick laughs and shakes his head. "Imagine showing your Lian exactly where she got conceived."
Jade looks like Artemis smacked her, which is saying something considering this is Jade and it takes a lot to surprise her. Then she's laughing loudly, clutching her stomach with one hand and Artemis's shoulder with the other for support, and Artemis bites her lower lip when Dick catches her eyes and gives her this look.
"So that's why you guys spent all of your time here," Jade gets out, and Artemis gives her another shove. "Where was Jason conceived?"
Artemis says, "That's not funny, Jade," at the same time Dick answers, "Back room of the gym."
"Dick!"
She hits him, hard. "Ow. Yeesh, I was just answering the question."
It's probably a good thing that the computer is announcing the arrival of Spoiler and Red Robin at that time, because if Jade and Dick are going to have this conversation, she can at least occupy herself with her brother- and sister-in-law and the kids.
Stephanie has Anna on her hip and Tim's holding Dylan's hand, and Artemis smiles when she sees that Dylan's in the Batgirl costume Alfred made for her last week.
"Mommy!" Dylan giggles, running over to Artemis and throwing her arms around her mother's waist. "I can't believe I'm here!"
"You better believe it, Birdie," Tim says to her. "Do you want me to show you around?"
She nods excitedly and starts to race Tim across the room, squealing when they get closer to Dick and he chases them down the hallway. "God, they're such kids," Stephanie says, and Artemis laughs because, yeah, they totally are. "You should've seen Dylan and Tim. I swear I didn't understand a thing they said today."
"Dylan tells me he likes to make up stories." Stephanie laughs like this doesn't surprise her at all. "He's going to be an amazing father someday."
"You would say that…" When Artemis tries to take Anna from her, Stephanie pulls away. "Well, I guess that's a good thing."
"Of course it is. You haven't told him yet, have you?"
She can practically see Stephanie's smile behind her mask. "If I did, he'd be telling everyone he bumps into."
"You can't hide it from him forever," Artemis says, and Stephanie completely ignores her when she asks, "So, did Wally clear the kitchen already? I'm starving."
... ...
Jason and Dylan haven't stopped talking about the Cave since they took the zeta tube back home, and this time around, Artemis absolutely loves it.
It's pretty late when they get back, but it is a weekend and they don't have anything planned for tomorrow, so when Dick tells the kids that they can stay up and watch a movie once everyone's showered and changed into their pajamas, Artemis lets that slide, too. It has been a pretty big day for them.
Anna's knocked out, but Jason wants to carry her, so Artemis swaddles her up and has him sit on the couch. Dylan is next to him and saying they should watch The Incredibles, so Artemis fetches a large blanket from the hallway closet while Dick sets up the movie. He sits next to Dylan with Artemis on Jason's other side, pulling the blanket over the five of them, and after hitting play, Dick lays his arm along the back of the couch and combs his fingers through her hair the whole time.
When Dash and Violet are out in the jungle and defending each other, Jason elbows Dylan while careful to not jostle Anna, and Dylan giggles. Artemis bites her lower lip, and Dick catches her eyes and gives this smile. Seriously, their kids are perfect.
By the end of the movie, Jason and Dylan are seconds from passing out, and Dick hoists Dylan into his arms while Artemis nudges Jason awake.
Dick tucks Dylan into bed since she's out like a light, and after Jason sets Anna down in her crib, Artemis walks with him to his room.
He mumbles, "Love you, Mom," and gives this sleepy smile. Dick and Dylan say I love you all the time and Artemis says it often enough. Jason only says it every so often, though, which Artemis thinks is because he's a teen now, so she doesn't even care that she sounds a little choked when she says, "Love you, too, Jaybird."
She kisses the top of his head, and he chuckles at the old nickname and closes the door behind him with a goodnight.
Dick's on the phone when she walks into the room, and she climbs onto the bed and straddles his waist as he's listening. She can tell that it's Tim on the other end of the line and already knows what they're talking about.
"Congratulations, man," Dick says, smiling at Artemis, and she chuckles softly and presses a kiss to neck. "You'll both be great, trust me."
"I hope so," Tim says over the phone. "Look, I'll probably call you tomorrow, okay?"
Artemis is kissing him by now, though, so Dick just hums and hangs up, tosses the phone onto the nightstand and groans as he pushes his tongue past her lips.
"Steph's pregnant," Dick tells her, rolling so that she's beneath him this time, and Artemis smiles. He presses a kiss to the skin below her ear, which always makes her shiver and press against him, and he slowly pushes her shorts down her legs. "But of course, you already knew that, didn't you?"
She just laughs. "They're going to be great parents."
He smirks against her skin as he kisses his way down her body, and his lips are against the inside of her thigh when he says, "Let's have a fourth."
Her eyes fall closed. "Oh, god… Can we, ah, talk about this first?"
"What's there to talk about? We make awesome kids," he says. And, well, yes that's true, but…
"Dick… We need to think about this…"
He pushes her legs apart. "Well, you can think about it all you want, but I'm all for it. Aren't you?" he asks, breath warm against her center, and then rolls his tongue over her nerves until she's moaning, "Yes," and pressing her hips against him.