Pairing: Dick/Zatanna
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~800
Photo Inspiration: media. tumblr /d465e9f26f66fa7050e37b4afce5 a6d2/ tumblr_ inline_ mharzoei5H1qz4rgp. jpg

... ...

Maria's been on this baking kick ever since Zatanna was sick last month. Dick dropped Maria off at Bruce and Selina's before he went to work, so Zatanna could have the day off and not get Maria sick trying to take care of her, and when they got back, Zatanna was sitting on their couch with the TV turned on to TLC. She's been kind of addicted to Cake Boss lately, because it's hilarious how they're always yelling at each other (it reminds her so, so much of their friends), and there was a marathon, so of course she's going to watch it.

And after Maria basically jumped on her and hugged her and said that she was so glad she felt better because it made her sad that her mother was sick (seriously, she's a sweetheart), they watched a few episodes together while Dick started on dinner, and she practically fell in love.

So she's always asking to bake now.

It's never anything too extravagant, because she's a smart girl and knows that the people on Cake Boss bake for a living, so of course their stuff is going to be a lot nicer (she said so herself). But Alfred gave her this book that has a lot of cute and easy treats for kids, and so they've all been taking turns making those with her.

And by taking turns, she means that everyone basically fights over who gets to bake with her next.

Seriously, Maria is the most adorable person, ever, and even though they're her parents and get to be with her the most, they're always, always a little bit sad when they have to drop her off. It's not that they don't trust their friends and family to watch her, but obviously they'd rather be with her all the time if they could help it. And as cute as it is to hear Maria tell them all about her day with Grandpa Bruce or Uncle Damian or Auntie Artemis, it'll never be a substitute to actually being there with her.

Maybe that makes them seem like selfish parents, but whatever. It's hard not to be when their daughter is one of the only things in this world that's really perfect.

Anyway, Maria's been baking a lot lately, so when she gets home from her brunch with Artemis and smells cake batter the second she's through the front door, she isn't all that surprised.

"Baby?" she asks, because Maria and Dick both respond to it.

"In here, Mommy!" Maria exclaims.

Dick chuckles. "You need to tell her that we're in the kitchen, silly girl," he tells her, and Maria giggles. And Zatanna laughs, too, but it's for a different reason.

There are cupcakes everywhere.

Like, they're covering almost every single surface of the kitchen except for the sink, which is filled with a bunch of mixing bowls and measuring cups and wooden spoons they used to stir the batter together. There must be at least a hundred of them, and she's sure no more than two or three of them actually look alike, since they're in cupcake sleeves of every color and pattern and frosted in every single frosting color and sprinkled in every single shape of sprinkles that they must sell at the grocery store.

"Welcome home, Mommy!" Maria exclaims, jumping off of her chair and running to Zatanna and throwing her arms around her mother's waist, squeezing tightly. Maria's hair is up in a ponytail and her apron (a gift from Alfred) has smudges of frosting and batter all over.

"You're getting her dirty, baby," Dick says.

"I don't mind," she says, lifting Maria into her arms and kissing her cheek sloppily, which always makes her laugh like crazy. "Did you have fun with Daddy this morning?"

Maria bobs her head in a nod. "Yes! We baked!" she announces proudly.

"I can see that," Zatanna laughs. Dick chuckles, slides his hand over the small of her back and presses a kiss to her lips, and Maria giggles and hides her face behind her hands like she always does whenever her Mommy and Daddy are being "all mushy" (as she always says it). "We're going to be eating cupcakes for days."

"I know," he says, obviously amused. "She wants to give them out. I thought maybe we could have like, an impromptu dinner or something? Just to have everybody over, and they can go home with cupcakes."

Zatanna says, "Sounds perfect," because it's been a while since she's been the one to throw a dinner party, and she really likes doing it. She used to all the time, team up with Megan and plan a party for every little thing just so they'd have an excuse to get everyone together. She can definitely have a dinner for like, forty people planned and ready by 8:00.

"Daddy," Maria says, reaching over and tugging at Dick's sleeve.

"What?" Zatanna asks.

Dick grins a little wider. "Maria wants to tell everyone," he explains, and Zatanna laughs because, honestly, she's totally her father's daughter. She should've known there was a clever, ulterior motive to making all of these cupcakes. "Tell her how you wanted to say it."

And they're both smiling really widely when Maria giggles, spreads her arms out and exclaims, "My Mommy has a baby in her tummy!"