It was requested that I write a chapter written in the 'future' so to speak. So here it is. 10 years later:
Bruce closed his eyes as he lay on the sofa in the smallest living room in Wayne manor. He could hear Clark bustling about in the kitchen. He wished Clark would be quiet. He was just so tired today, he'd been up for over 30 hours, he needed rest.
He yawned loudly, hoping Clark would get the message and be quiet. He heard the other man's booming laugh echo through the halls, a second later and Clark entered the room.
He pushed his glasses up his nose as he walked to the sofa, looking down at the man splayed on the sofa, he crouched next to Bruce and pulled the man's hand to his face, kissing the wedding ring on his finger.
"You know you can just tell me to be quiet." He whispered. Bruce smiled and nodded, "But then I wouldn't get a kiss." He mumbled back sleepily.
Clark chuckled and pulled Bruce's face to his for a kiss, "For a genius you are silly. Why don't you go to bed?"
Bruce shrugged, "I don't like being in bed without you. And I'm only napping, I've got to go back out in an hour."
Clark sighed as he ran his hand over Bruce's face, "Take the day off, you need sleep. It's been two years since your last proper day off, and that was our wedding, so it doesn't even count."
"Two years?" Bruce asked, shaking his head with his eyes still closed, "That doesn't sound right, didn't I have last Thursday off or something?"
Clark rolled his eyes and mumbled 'no'. He sat in a gap on the sofa, "Come on Bruce. Just tonight? Dick and Kon are coming over, they say they've got news. They'll want you here too."
Bruce furrowed his brow, "Fine if it'll get me some peace." He huffed gently and attempted to push Clark away.
Clark planted a final kiss on Bruce's lips before getting up, "I'll wake you when they're here."
...
Dick watched as Kon painted. They were re-decorating the spare room of their new two bedroomed apartment, painting it baby blue. He smiled and leant against the doorframe. "You should get ready, we've only got a quarter of an hour before we have to go."
Kon turned his head, smiling a boyish grin. He still looked 17 even though he was almost 30 now, it had become a little awkward between them as Dick had grown up and passed Kon's age, but despite a few road-bumps everything had worked out ok.
"You have paint on your nose." Dick said, a large smile on his face.
Kon blushed and wiped his face, he walked to Dick's side and gave him a kiss, "Are you ready to tell them?"
Dick shrugged, "Well it doesn't matter now does it? It's too late to go back on it."
"I'm not hearing a yes…?" Kon asked as he pulled off his paint-covered shirt.
Dick sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "I'm ecstatic, don't get me wrong. But you know I always get worried when we talk to Bruce about things like this."
Kon rolled his eyes, "I'm sure he'll be happy for us. They were happy when we told them we were getting married… although I think Kal was a little pissed we did it first…"
Dick let out a nervous chuckle and walked into their small living room to grab one of Kon's smart shirts, he tossed it gently to the other man, and watched as he put it on. "I'm really excited." Kon blurted out.
"I know." Dick smiled, walking back to Kon and giving him a loving kiss.
...
Clark sighed and looked over at the Doberman; the dog lay on the cushion by the stove, "Oi Ace?" the Kryptonian whispered, "You hungry?"
The dog lifted its head and let out a huffed bark. Clark raised a finger to his lips, "Shush pup, we don't want daddy to find out." He raised himself to his feet and pulled open the fridge, taking a small slice of ham and holding it above the dog's head.
"Do a trick." He whispered, the dog huffed and lay on the floor, "And another." Ace rolled onto his back and huffed again, whining gently.
"Don't give him ham!" Bruce's voice called from the other room. When had he woken up…?
"But he already did the tricks!" Clark called back.
"Give him a dog treat then, you're going to make him ill!"
Clark stuck his tongue out and put the ham back in the fridge, "Sorry boy." He said, giving the dog a pat on the head, "Daddy says no special treats." He reached up and pulled a bag of dog treats from the cupboard.
At seeing the bag the dog started barking happily, Clark chuckled and threw one onto the floor.
He was about to throw another, but before he could he heard the doorbell ring, and Ace was off like a shot to see who it was.
The young dog sat by the door and howled until Bruce approached and said "Calm." The vigilante pulled the door open to reveal his son and his son's husband.
"Dick, Kon." Clark said in greeting as he walked to the door, Bruce stepping to one side to let the two younger men in.
Dick said a brief hello to Bruce and Clark, giving them a hug before yelling "Ace!" and giving the excited dog a wrestled-hug.
"Hey little brother." Clark said as he pulled Kon into a tight embrace, "How's life been?"
Kon shrugged, unable to stop himself from smiling, "It's been incredibly good. We're settling in very well and everything."
Kon smiled at his husband as he rolled on the floor with the dog, "Dick, come on…?"
Bruce had already left the little party, presumably to make a pot of tea or something. Clark showed Dick and Kon to the living room, he flicked on the tv and turned the volume down.
"How's Bruce been?" Dick asked gently, he knew how much the man worked and how often he exhausted himself over difficult cases.
Clark shrugged and nodded, "I've managed to convince him to take tonight off."
"Wow, congrats." Dick chuckled, he watched as Ace sniffed at Kon's shoes and trousers, "More than I was ever able to do."
Clark smiled, "I guess I just have better ways of persuading him."
Dick let out a nervous chuckle as Bruce walked into the room, holding a tray of tea and biscuits.
"You said you had news?" Bruce said as he poured the tea and handed it round. He took a seat on the sofa opposite Kon and Dick, next to Clark. Ace left Kon's side and placed his head on Bruce's lap.
Kon nodded, smiling over at Dick, "Do you wanna tell them or shall I?"
Dick smiled back, "I'll go." He sighed gently, a massive smile grew on his face, seeming to almost split it in half. "Bruce, Clark." He started, pausing slightly to purposely increase the tension in the room.
"We're having a baby."
Dick and Kon smiled at their respective fathers and waited for their reaction. Bruce's eyes suddenly grew wide, and Clark raised a hand to his mouth.
"That's fantastic!" Clark said after a second, swiftly getting to his feet and rushing over to pull Kon into a hug.
Bruce smiled at his son, "This is amazing news. I'm so happy for you."
Dick was about to respond, but Clark pulled him too from the sofa and into a tight hug. "Holy crap." Clark said, sounding shocked, "I'm going to be a grandfather."
"How..?" Bruce asked cautiously, looking up as the three other men hugged. Clark flopped back on the sofa, Kon and Dick sharing a quick kiss before doing the same.
Dick forced himself to take a sip of tea, to calm himself. "One of the guys at CADMUS, one of Superboy's friends, has taken mine and Kon's DNA, and created a baby for us."
"So it will be genetically yours?" Clark asked, still beaming a smile.
The pair nodded, smiling back, "It's a boy." They said in unison. The revelation sparked a happy squeak from Clark.
Kon took the opportunity to explain "he'll grow up to be completely unique, a random combination of mine and Dick's genes, it'll be just like a normal child."
"Although," Dick interjected, "Because he's going to be a quarter kryptonian he may develop superpowers."
Clark grinned widely, Bruce smiled at his son, the expectant father, "When will you be getting him?"
Dick smiled gently, "In a week. We're decorating his room today and we're going to Metropolis to buy furniture tomorrow."
"This is brilliant." Bruce smiled, "Do you have a name picked out?"
Dick let out a nervous chuckle, "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that."
"Oh?" Bruce questioned, he hoped they weren't going to ask to name it after him. Bruce wasn't a very popular children's name at the moment.
"I… Wanted to ask if it would be ok to name him Jason."
"Oh Dick…" Bruce sighed, "That would be… lovely. Jason's a fine name."
Bruce pulled himself from the chair and walked over to Dick, Dick raised himself to meet him, and found himself being pulled into a hug. "I'm sure he'd be honoured" he heard Bruce whisper.
He hugged Bruce tightly, feeling heat rise in his face as he tried not to cry. He knew how hard Jason's death had been on the man, how long it had taken him to get over it.
"Thank you." Bruce sighed, "It's such a lovely gesture."
...
Bruce hushed the small party of people who sat in Dick and Kon's living room, surrounded by presents and decorations.
"They're coming." He said gently as he closing the door behind him, "Kon knows something's up."
"But Dick doesn't?" Wally asked, his seat on the sofa with Artemis, opposite them were Roy and M'gann, all of them drinking coffee, and chewing on biscuits that Clark had made that morning.
Bruce shook his head, "He's too preoccupied with the baby."
A few seconds later the door swung open again, Dick and Kon entering through it. There was a tiny squirming bundle in Dick's arms, squeaking and cooing gently.
Dick lifted his eyes from the baby, sensing something wasn't right, and saw that the room had been decorated with metallic blue and white balloons, with 'it's a boy' banners draped on the walls.
"You guys!" he smiled as he looked at his friends, "What have you done?"
Clark shrugged, "Well you didn't give us very much time to prepare anything. We would have arranged a big party, but this'll have to do."
Wally frowned playfully "Oi, I think we're good enough on our own."
Dick nodded forcefully, walking to the center of the room and looking between his friends, "Guys." He said, moving his gaze to the black haired baby in his arms, "This is Jason Grayson."
Wally got to his feet to look at the baby, "Nice job giving him a rhyming name, I'm sure he won't get bullied for that."
He looked over at Kon, "You let him pick the name?"
"Jason was my friend too. I thought he deserved this." Kon said, nodding.
M'gann smiled as she too got to her feet, "Isn't it going to be weird though? Your kid will grow past you."
Kon nodded and gave a huffed chuckle, "I know, but I dealt with it when it happened with Dick, I'm sure things will go smoother with the kid."
"Let's hope; you didn't deal with it too well." Roy noted, watching as the other people huddled around the child.
Kon shrugged, "Well we're older now, hopefully I won't freak out quite as badly this time."
Dick smiled as he took his seat, with the baby, on the sofa, "Your face when I noticed my first wrinkle was hilarious."
"You're only 24, I don't understand how you can have any wrinkles." Kon said, sounding a little defensive as he took the seat next to him and took a cup of tea from the tray on the coffee table.
"I smile too much." Dick replied, flashing a grin towards Kon. The clone smiled back and took a swig of tea.
Clark suddenly grinned, giving Bruce a tap on the arm as an idea sparked in his head, "We could start a trust fund for him? Put some money in a savings account for when he's 18."
Kon nodded, turning his head to Dick, "That sounds like a nice idea."
Dick reluctantly nodded in return, he didn't like the idea of taking things from Bruce, he'd given him so much already….
Wally smiled at Artemis, "Show them what we got!"
Artemis nodded and pulled a blue poker dotted bag from behind her. She handed Kon the bag, he pulled out a baby's shirt with the words 'My daddies love me' written on it.
Dick let out a chuckled 'aww'. Kon delved deeper into the large bag; more baby clothes and a mobile made up of mini superheroes.
"I got you these." M'gann giggled, passing Dick a box of baby toys and puzzles, "I know he's not old enough for some of them yet, but you can store them till he is right?"
Dick nodded, taking one of the plush toys, a bunny, and held it up to the 7lb boy, waving it gently in front of his face.
They opened the rest of the presents; more toys and clothes, a baby bottle heater, a blanket covered in super-symbols.
The others split of into groups to reminisce old times.
Bruce broke away from them, and walked over to Dick and the baby.
"He's got your eyes." Bruce observed, smiling down at his son, and grandson.
Dick nodded again, smiling widely, hardly able to talk through the massive flood of emotion filling him.
"…Can I hold him?" Bruce finally asked, he'd wanted to since first seeing him, but thought it best to let Dick and Kon settle first.
Dick nodded and raised himself, carefully handing the blanket-wrapped baby over to Bruce.
Bruce looked down at the tiny child; black hair with flecks of brown, like Dick, his jaw the same strong structure as Kon and Clark, and the most beautiful bright blue eyes.
"Hi." Bruce said gently, smiling as he held his hand to the baby. The small thing reached out and grabbed Bruce's finger, giving it a strong squeeze.
"Hi, Jason."
Clark smiled, looking between his husband and the baby, "…You look as if you're about to cry."
"That's because I am." Bruce said, his smile not breaking, "He's perfect."
I hope you like it and I hope it was as good as expected ;)
The lovely author 'Doubt But Never Regret' has started a run on story for this! It's called 'Keeping up'. It's fantastic so far, so please please please go and check it out!
Please review!