Title: Cleaning Up The Mess
Disclaimer: Don't own. Do covet
Characters: Raven, Raven/Robin
Summary: Contrary to popular opinion, Raven knows plenty about happy childhoods.
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"Oh, you see that skin?
It's the same she's been standing in
Since the day she saw him walking away
Now she's left
Cleaning up the mess he made."
-John Mayer, "Daughters"
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A daughter.
It's what their child is going to be.
Dick is overjoyed at the news and immediately begins to come up with as many variations of Mary, Arella, and Haly as he possibly can.
Others are not as pleased. Dick's family is suspicious of her demon origin and her alien heritage. They worry that she will not be a stable force in the child's life - that she will inflict harm, intentionally or otherwise.
Their friends - especially Starfire - worry too. They know of her loyalty, but it is her coldness that concerns them. They believe a child should be coddled and they do not understand how she can be a good mother when she's so withdrawn.
Sometimes, when her hormones have gotten the best of her, and she has to fight for the control she desperately needs, Raven thinks that perhaps they are right. Perhaps their child truly would be better off without her. Perhaps she should spare the baby a lot of pain by simply leaving it in it's father's very capable hands. When she's nearly convinced herself, Raven thinks of her own childhood on Azarath. She remembers the lack of a father and the longing for a mother Raven was never allowed to truly bond with.
Mostly, she remembers the other children on Azarath. She remembers the way they played, the way they ran carelessly through the streets, the way they clasped tightly to their mothers when they were happy, frightened, or unsure.
Raven remembers knowing, even in her isolation, that those children had the lives - and mothers - that children were supposed to have.
When Raven remembers that, she knows she will be a good mother. She will give the life she coveted on Azarath, not the life she had, to her child.
A daughter.
It's what their child is going to be.
It's also what Raven used to be.
