Thank you all so much for the previous reviews and such. Now on to the long awaited moments with the kids and the baby. A few weeks late, but what can you do with school back in swing. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Diana West is mine. Other characters belong to the DC Universe…
Getting Acquainted
She is so tiny.
That was Wally's thought every time he held Diana. She was so precious and surprisingly calm for baby a few weeks old. More so compared to her older siblings when they were that age. Her little hand often found comfort in grasping the finger of them was holding her. That currently happened to be her daddy. Wally wanted to give Artemis a break while she got a much needed nap. Plus he had a tough day at work and needed a relaxing stress reliever bundle in his arms.
Wally released his finger from her grip and gently ran his finger down her soft rosy cheeks. She looked most like her mother. The shape of her eyes, the darker skin color, her lips. She turned her head, dark gray eyes meeting bright green. He smiled down at her.
"Well hello my little angel," he softly replied. Her dark eyes slightly widened slightly in interest at his voice. His grin broadened. "Yes, you know I'm daddy don't you. And that daddy loves you so much already." He cooed. She kept her gaze on him, her mouth opening like an o. He continued, "You are seeing going to grow up big and strong like your older brother and sister." She made a little noise and slowly turned her head toward his chest. Wally snuggled her close, giving her a kiss on the forehead.
"It's the baby sleeping?" Jai quietly asked as he walked closer.
Wally shook his head and shifted Diana the other direction, facing her brother. "No, not right now. Want to say hi?"
Jai came close, a smile on his face. "Hi, baby Diana."
Jai put his hand near hers. It took a moment before she began to softly swat at his hand, trying to hold it. "She's trying to grab my finger!" He said excitedly. Diana turned her head toward her brother's direction. She finally succeeded with a weak grip of his finger. "Her fingers are kind of cold. Can I warm them?" Wally nodded.
Jai took it upon himself to cover her tiny hands in his and spread warmth. He looked down at her with carrying eyes. Wally couldn't help but be met his son. Only four years old and he was already looking out for his baby sister. There was no doubt that he would be a protective big brother as she got old older.
After a moment of satisfactory warming of her cold fingers, Jai let go. Diana blinked heavily and swatted her arms around as began to fuss with the indication that she was getting tired.
"Jai, can you hand me her pacifier on the table?" Wally pointed and the boy immediately obeyed, gently putting the pacifier in her mouth. It took a moment for her cries to soften and suckle as her eyes became heavy.
"Can I go play now?" Jai inquired with seriousness. Wally almost lightly laughed that his son asked for permission to play after it was his decision to help with his baby sister in the first place.
"It's okay Jai, you didn't have to ask. Go on and thank you for helping."
The boy nodded and bounded off to his room. As Wally watched his son go, he caught sight of Irey standing quietly in the hall, staring towards him. No telling how long his elder daughter had been standing there. She normally wasn't that quite for very long. Wally motioned for her to come over. Irey leaned off the wall and hesitantly walked over while holding her Kitty Flash close. Her usual bouncing steps receded to careful ones. Her little green eyes took a long glance at the baby before looking at her father.
Wally couldn't understand why Irey seemed so unsure with Diana. When first meeting her at the hospital, she was ecstatic about having a baby sister, babbling on about all the fun things they would get to do together. Of course she had been doing plenty of that beforehand when the idea sunk in that she would be soon having a little sister. Jai on the other hand watched from a distance in the beginning until he got a close view of his baby sister, instantly warming up to having her around.
"Irey, what's wrong?" Wally asked. Diana took that moment to cry. The father put the pacifier back in her mouth and began to rock her back and forth again. Once the baby was situated, he turned back to his other daughter.
Irey played with her stuffed animal's tail, her usually smiling face a simple grim line. She was quite for a long moment until she asked him in a quiet voice, "Am I not your favorite little girl anymore?"
Wally stopped softly bouncing Diana, his arms suddenly feeling heavy as his heart sank. That was what she thought? His eyes when tender as he tilted his head to the side. "Irey… Of course I love you. Why would you ever think something like that?"
She looked at the ground, turning her head slightly to glance at the baby again from the corner of her eyes. "You're always holding the baby and playing with her." She looked straight at the ground as she mumbled, "And neither does mommy."
Wally felt absolutely terrible that he would cause his little girl to ever feel that way. He replied in a stern, but gentle voice, "Irey, just because it may seem like I spend a lot of time with the baby, doesn't mean I love you, or Jai, any less. Diana is very little and needs lots of care. It will take time and teaching until she gets big enough like you to do some of the things you can do by yourself. Both you and Jai were little once like this and me and mommy took good care of you as you got older and bigger. Don't you still need help learning things like tying your shoes?"
Irey nodded in understanding. "But I almost have it perfect." She confirmed. That made Wally give a small smile.
"That's right, you do. Did you see how Jai helped by giving Diana her pacifier and giving her attention?" She nodded again. "I would also like for you to help take care of your baby sister too or when me or mommy might ask you to do something small like getting her a toy or her blanket. She will need you to help teach her the things you know how to do when she gets older too. By then, she will be able to play all sorts of fun things with you. Think you can do that?"
"Yes," Irey nodded as she moved closer to peer over at her baby sister who was now asleep. Wally could tell that she was feeling better about the deal by the change in her expression and willingness to move closer to Diana. Without saying anything, Irey turned around to pick up a little stuffed bear left on the coffee table to give to her sister.
"Here you go baby Diana," She whispered, gently laying the bear on top of her blanket. "When you get older, you will love playing lots of things with me and I will take good care of you too."
Wally smiled and whispered thanks as he positioned the little stuffed bear on Diana's side. He wrapped his free arm that wasn't holding the baby around his red-haired daughter to give a hug and a kiss on the forehead. "I will always love you Irey, don't forget that." He turned to look at Diana, softly adding, "And you too,"
"Love you too daddy," Irey gave the brightest smile then she turned and walked off, the familiar bounce in her step returned. She immediately announced her presence to her brother who is playing in their room. "Guess what Jai, I'm going to be the best big sister because that is my job and I'm going to take good care of baby Diana."
Jai responded back loudly proclaiming, "No, I will be the better big brother."
As the two argued back and forth on who would be better, Wally took his baby girl's little hand and kissed it gently before tucking it underneath her blanket. Wally tightened the blanket around her tiny figure to enclose her warmth.
"Diana, you are very lucky and will have plenty of protection looking out for you. That's not only from your siblings and parents, but also from your whole family and friends who are like family that you still have yet to meet. It will take a while because there are so many of them and they will love you."
Though her content dream state, Wally could have sworn that for a few seconds he saw a corner of her mouth raise as if to smile.
Please review! I would very much appreciate it and will take later ideas into consideration to use.
P.S. I plan to slowly bring in other YJ characters as I continue this. I'm trying not to bring in too many OC's, but there may be a few kids that are. Some have been asking for pairings like for Dick Grayson. I love Zatanna and don't mind them as a couple in the show, but have always been a huge fan of Dick/Babs. You all as readers, I would ask for your votes on the matter. I like PM's too. Thanks! :)
