"This isn't working," Zatanna said in a small voice.
"Zatanna," Dinah said hesitantly, "your concerns are valid, but if you really believe that they have a right to know who their father is, you've got to give him a chance to get to know them too. That means they've got to learn about each other through experiences, make memories, that's how connections are made."
Those words etched themselves into the side of her brain as she absentmindedly picked up groceries and placed them into her cart. Their emergency session lasted hours, between Dick's seething and her fuming. It was the worst spent weekend she could remember and now, the twins were with Dick at the park while she ran errands. As she picked up a box of cereal, her mind flashed back to the session again.
"You need to let him be a father to them." Dinah said seriously. "And that means he might make choices you might not agree with but, as a parent, that is his choice to make."
"I don't want to be the bad guy," Zatanna replied in a hushed voice, "I'm just trying to protect them."
"And you think I want to hurt them?" Dick asked incredulously. "Why would I-"
"Not intentionally," she groaned, "I know you wouldn't hurt them intentionally, but you're bound to Dick. One way or another, if it's not John poking his eye out with a throwing star today, it'll be Wyette looking to you as a role model as to who she should fall in love with tomorrow, or John looking to you as a man to grow into. Do you get that?"
"And that would be so bad?" Dick asked angrily.
Zatanna looked at him incredulously. "Yeah Dick, that would be pretty damn horrendous don't you think? Especially given this situation which only proves that the life of heroes is not one I want for them. These are my kids, I want better for them."
"And therein lies the problem Dinah," Dick groaned, "You've got two things backwards, for starters you aren't a hero, you haven't been for years and after the stunt you pulled with our kids -that's right our kids, because they are mine too which you seem to casually keep forgetting - calling yourself a hero would be a twisted joke."
"Enough." Dinah warned him seriously and Dick raised his hands in mock surrender.
Zatanna glared at him mutely.
"You're their mom," Dinah breathed as she turned to face Zatanna, "You've been a single parent for four plus years. I can understand that, you're used to unilateral decision making, but you aren't a single parent anymore. You're a separated parent, which means you need to consult him in your decision making and vice versa. Even if you wanted to, uprooting the twins and taking them away from their…. extended family now would be wrong. Think of Giovanni and Nabu, that wasn't fair to you, to Giovanni... would you do that to Dick?"
Dinah shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "I can't even believe I'd have to ask you that. I can't even believe that you two would stoop as low as to threatening one another." she said incredulously. "Have you two really changed that much? I just can't see that being the case."
Neither of them answered and Dinah narrowed her ice blue eyes.
"You two were mad about each other! Obsessed even! Remember that?" she said looking at them both firmly. "To see that either of you could even muster up the strength to say you'd hurt the other that way; when you've both experienced familial loss…. If I didn't hear it myself I would've never thought it possible." She said frankly. "Honestly, I've never been more disappointed in either of you. Don't you two have anything to say for yourselves?"
Zatanna hung her head while Dick pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep steadying breath.
"I just want to be part of their lives Dinah, I agreed to wait to tell them, I agreed to visit them instead of living next door or something more 'extreme', I signed all the papers including their birth certificates, and all I want is my chance to be a father. Obviously, Zatanna feels threatened by this and I couldn't tell you why but honestly, I don't care. I don't care about what we had, I don't care about any of that crap because that is in the past and things have changed. Whatever we had, that's dead, over, and done. If she was dragged to hell in front of me, I would only care because she is the mother of my estranged kids, we don't need to be friends, we don't even have to like each other, we just need to be parents and I think I have conceded enough to ask that of her."
Dinah flinched and bit her lip like she'd been the one hurt my sentiment before sighing and relaxing her body. "That's true but the lack of trust and respect you two have for each other is going to destroy whatever shot this has. If you two go about threatening one another or hating one another, those kids won't want to deal with either of you let alone the both of you. Are you two willing to risk that? They've never had a father figure in their lives before and if all you do is cause tension, they won't want one. The same goes for you Zatanna, eventually they could resent you for keeping them from him…...they didn't ask for this situation but it's theirs now if you two can't work together."
Zatanna spun around to face her, "Right now they'll be happy but at what later cost, Dinah? I can't lose them to this life, I won't." she whispered. "Once they find out Dick is their father it won't be long until they find out that he's Nightwing, if they don't know that already. They're already too involved and the further we go down this path the clearer it becomes. They'll want to imitate him, be like him, be heroes and I'd rather be the bad guy in this situation a thousand times over than let them waltz into that life."
"So, I should give up my life, to fit into your version of their idea lives?" Dick asked angrily.
"No!" She said shaking her head. "Yes! I don't know Dick! But I can't lose them to you!"
"I won't lose them to you either," Dick said in a measured tone. "Not again."
"No one is going to lose them to anyone." DInah said firmly, looking Zatanna square in the face. "You both speak as though the twins have no say in the matter. With their interest in mind, we agreed that you two would be amicable with one another and that you would both play parts in their lives. Change will come, for the both of you and for them, you're both going to have to be open to that."
"That means the twins will get to know their father because they have the right to, that he will play that role in their lives as he deems fit and it also means that you (she said now looking at Dick) will do everything in your power to respect her rules and wishes for them because she is still their mother. Together it means you two will be a team, for them. Got it?"
Zatanna pulled up at the register and smiled meekly at the flustered teenage cashier. He blushed and asked her if she needed a bag...his voice broke.
"Sure." she said absentmindedly still thinking about the meeting.
…
Dinah put a gentle hand on her shoulder once they were alone. "You okay?" she asked.
Zatanna just turned to look at her mutely.
Dinah squeezed her shoulder gently, "Trust me, this is going to work out in the long run. This is just a moment leading to better ones for them, you just have to let go a little."
Zatanna shook her and smiled in spite of herself, "How many times did I beg dad to let go just a little….now I'm turning into him."
Dinah smiled, "Giovanni would be so proud right now, even then he would boast about you at the top of his lungs in that heavy Italian accent of his. You were….are the center of his world."
Zatanna placed her hand over Dinah's and squeezed it softly, not wanting her voice to betray her.
"This is what's best for them right now. You know that, don't you?"
"I know," Zatanna replied in a hushed voice, "but they deserve so much more than seperated parents and a half baked custody plan."
"For now…..this is more." Dinah replied.
Zatanna sighed, "Yeah. It is."