Jason put all thoughts about timeline changes at the back of his mind as he focused back on the festivities. There wasn't anything he could do about it right now, and it technically wasn't a pressing threat, so he let it go for the time being. Instead, he concerned himself with making sure that Christmas this year went well.
Holidays meant a lot to Jason. They were the few times of the year that most, if not all of the Family were present in the city and unlikely to be bogged down by their non-vigilante responsibilities. They could just gather together, either at the Manor or at Robinson Park, and just relax. Talk, catch up, eat, joke around, and, after their families began to grow with many little ones, watch the children play around. Some of his happiest memories were of these simple occasions, spending time with the people he cared for most.
Alas, the Family wasn't nearly as large right now. Not yet. But perhaps that was for the best. This would be the first Christmas in decades that he would have his brothers and father with Cass and him. Jason intended to make sure that everything went smoothly — or as smoothly as anything could in this house. That including enforcing the longstanding ban on patrolling for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Unfortunately, such a thing was easier said than done.
"Bruce…are you working on a case?"
Bruce's head immediately shot up, and he looked at Jason like a naughty child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Or Matty, the little rascal. Jason would've found it amusing if he wasn't so disappointed. He put on his best 'I'm so disappointed in you' look for good measure.
"I'm on the verge of a breakthrough…?" Bruce weakly defended himself.
"Are you really?" Jason asked flatly, sounding not convinced in the least.
Bruce slumped his shoulders. "No," he admitted, a little sulkily.
"Put it away."
"Jason—"
"Put it away, Bruce."
Bruce sighed and began storing the papers back into its folder.
Jason smiled.
An hour later, Jason found the other serial offender.
"No."
Tim smiled up at him awkwardly and more than a little pleadingly.
Jason was unmoved. "Still no."
"But—"
"No means no, Tim. Close the computer and turn it off."
Tim hesitated.
"Now, Tim."
Bruce, Jason fully expected. And Tim was not surprising in the least. Both were horrible workaholics who needed to be regularly drugged to get something resemble actual rest. As disappointed as he was in them, it honestly wasn't anything new.
Which is perhaps why none of that could compare to the sheer betrayal he felt when he caught Dick Grayson trying to sneak out in his Nightwing suit, one foot out the window.
"Dick!" Dick froze as he heard the shocked and hurt voice of his oldest younger brother. He whirled around to spot Jason gazing at him in disbelief.
"Little wing!" The first Robin said with false, panicky cheer. "It's not what it looks like!" He quickly and blatantly lied.
But Jason wasn't listening. "How could you, Dick? It's Christmas! You love Christmas! You're the one who always insists on all these Christmas traditions for the entire family! I thought I had a comrade in you!" Jason wailed, and maybe he was pouring it on a little thick, but he truly did feel hurt that Dick of all people was breaking the ban on holiday vigilantism.
Dick looked at him guiltily. "I know little wing, I know, but this is important! Blockbuster might have this thing in Gotham—"
"Might?"
"Okay, so maybe I don't know for sure—"
"Is it going anywhere?" Jason demanded, eyes narrowed.
"No…?"
"Can you check it out another night?"
"Maybe…?"
Jason did gave him an unimpressed look. Dick smiled at him shakily.
"Change, Dick."
Dick opened his mouth to argue, only for Jason to throw one of his ugly sweaters at him.
"Change."
"Thank you for handling the hooligans, Master Jason," Alfred praised his charge as he set down a platter of cookies on the table. As per tradition, the family congregated into the home theater on Christmas Eve to watch classic Christmas specials right before the annual dinner, which Alfred would be preparing. Despite knowing he would be rebuffed, Jason asked if he could help anyway, and was soundly refused.
So, he helped Alfred prepare some cookies and eggnog for everyone to snack on during the marathon. There was popcorn as well, courtesy of the popcorn maker in the back, though considering that they had a huge dinner ahead of them Jason was going to have to keep an eye on the intake. No need for anyone to spoil their appetite too much. Even growing vigilantes had a limit on how much they could eat.
"It was my pleasure Alfie," Jason said cheerfully, setting down the pitchers of eggnog next to the cookies, "Christmas is the time for family, and you know how much family means to me."
"Indeed," Alfred drawled, though there wasn't a sarcastic undertone to it so much as a sad one. Jason pointedly ignored it.
After the customary family picture in front of the tree, to be downloaded and digitized for a holiday postcard to be sent to various family friends and associates, everyone filed into the theater to start the marathon, with Alfred pointedly closing the door shut to remind them that there was no leaving. After some debate, they decided to start with the Charlie Brown Christmas specials and go on from there.
Surprisingly, it was several hours until Damian finally made a ruckus.
Unfortunately, it was while they were watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
"I still do not understand this country's obsession with this 'Santa Claus'," Damian muttered as he glared at the screen, "Any other figure that promotes such flagrant animal abuse would get censured, yet when he does it people celebrate him."
"Because it's tradition, Damian," Jason explained exasperatedly, "And because most of those people know he actually isn't real."
"Little wing!" Dick gasped in horror.
"Dick, you already knew I told him! Why are you getting your panties in a bunch?"
"Because he deserves to have a genuine Christmas experience!" Dick wailed back. "How could you be so cruel to him like Bruce?"
Bruce groaned. "For the last time Dick — I'm sorry I ruined Santa for you. What I don't get is why you're still holding it against me."
"Because you ruined my childhood!"
"He did not ruin your childhood, Dick," Jason protested, "He let you run around in scaly panties and punch out criminals on your weekend nights. All things considered he was probably being too permissive than he should've been."
"That's not helping, Jason."
"Can we please get back to the movie!" Tim said loudly, breaking the argument. Cass punctuated his statement with the audible snap of a gingerbread cookie.
Everyone grumbled but complied.
The rest of the marathon passed on with no more major disruptions, though there was some discussion about a Nativity scene shown in one of the movies. When it seemed poised to blow up in another classic Tim/Damian argument, Jason checked the time and loudly proclaimed that the dinner was almost ready so they should probably head the dining room right now, thank you very much. Bruce and Dick, also sensing the brewing storm, supported his statement while Cass rushed the two outside with everyone else.
Thankfully, it actually was almost time for the dinner. By the time they all filed into the dining room, Alfred was almost done with the truly decadent spread that would probably serve as lunch and dinner for the next couple of days. Christmas leftovers were their own kind of tradition, even when the Family ballooned to a truly massive size.
They all quickly seated themselves, with Bruce at the head of the table and Dick and Jason to the right and left of him, respectively. Tim sat on Dick's side while Damian and Cass sat on Jason's. Alfred, alas, refused to join them, ever so dutiful even during the merriest time of the year. He simply stood to the side as Bruce stood up and made a small speech. No grace was said, none of them were particularly religious (it was hard to be when you were a superhero), but thanks was given before they all tucked in.
The meal was lively and fruitful with conversation. Jason was content to watch and listen as everyone enjoyed themselves. It reminded him of years past, of his second family and their own vibrant Yuletide celebrations. Except…except…
Jason got up, shocking everyone into silence. He said an apology, gave an excuse about needing some air, and then exited the dining room in a hurry. The moment he was out and out of sight, he leaned against the wall, putting a fist to his mouth while clutching his heart, trying to keep the tears at bay.
Why does it hurt so much? It shouldn't hurt at all—
"Jason?"
Bruce.
Of course it was Bruce. It was either him or Dick, and Dick would insist Bruce do it for propriety's sake.
"What's wrong?" His father asked him hesitantly.
Jason shook his head. "I'm just so happy…and sad too."
Bruce didn't say anything, though his face visibly softened.
"You're here. You're all here, and while I'm happy about that, I am, I just can't help but wish…" Jason inhaled another shuddering breath.
Carrie should be here. Helena as well. Terry, Matty, Penelope — there were so many people that should be here, that weren't here, and Jason knew he should be thankful and he is. But it's not enough. It's never ever going to be enough and that realization hurt more than anything else.
"Oh, Jason…" Bruce pulled his son into a hug, rubbing his back as Jason tried to get control of his tears.
After several minutes of silent sobbing, Jason finally calmed down, taking deep breaths as his heartbeat slowed. "I'm sorry," he said, though for what he didn't say.
"Don't be. If it had been me in your position, I know I wouldn't be much different," Bruce's lips quirked into a smile, "I'd probably be worse."
Jason let out a short chuckle at that. "Let me clean up first and I'll rejoin everyone in a couple of minutes."
The rest of the meal resumed after that, and aside from some looks nobody commented on Jason's little episode. After everyone was full enough to eat some dessert, Alfred brought out the final piece: the cake that Jason had painstakingly made with Tim and Cass. After some quick debate, it was quickly decide they would make a chocolate fruit nutcake with vanilla butter cream. Tim and Cass were a bit intimidated by the tall order for a first bake, but Jason cheerfully guided them through each of the steps, allowing the actual cakes to come out more-or-less decent.
The actual decoration was based on a winter wonderland, taking advantage of the marshmallow fondant's natural white color. Jason had desired to do figurines, but Tim and Cass immediately shot him down, opting for simpler decoration and promising that the next time they baked something they would allow Jason to teach them how to make the three-dimensional decorations. Instead, they did stenciling instead, using edible markers to create snowflakes and snowmen onto the black canvas provided by the fondant.
The end result was the cake Alfred placed in the center of the table. A white cake with light-blue colored, intricately made sugar stencils drawn into them. Dick looked absolutely in love as Alfred started cutting out pieces and handing them off in small plates.
"Thank you," the first Robin said tearfully as he took that first bite of chocolatey fruity sweet goodness.
Jason simply shook his head, smirking, as Tim and Cass awkwardly smiled. Bruce and Damian rolled their eyes. Alfred, after finishing handing out the cake, couldn't help but take a piece for himself. He hummed thoughtfully, nodding slowly as he chewed his own first bite.
"Delicious, Master Jason, Master Tim, Miss Cassandra. You did well with this piece. Tell me, what are you planning on making next year?"
"Entremet," Jason said blandly before anyone else could answer. "With ten different layers."
Alfred stared at him.
Jason kept the look up for a few more seconds before finally cracking, a wide, mischievous grin stretching across his face as he started laughing. Alfred let out a breath of relief.
"You scared me for a moment there, Master Jason," he confessed, though his tone was amused.
"I don't get it," Dick stated, mouth still stained with bits of cake, "What's entremet?"
"Something that everyone in this house besides myself and Alfred are years away from making," Jason responded bluntly.
"And something you will never be eating, Master Dick," Alfred added, voice brokering no argument.
"Why?"
Jason and Alfred both gave him flat, unimpressed looks, before returning to their own pieces of cake.
Dick blinked. "Wait, aren't you guys going to answer? Guys? Guys!"
"Now, there's only one thing left to do: stay up and wait for Santa!"
"Oh my God, Dickie! Are you serious!?" Jason ran a hand down his face, groaning.
"Shut up, little wing!" Dick yelled back, sounding slightly hysterical. "Don't ruin this for me like he did!" He shoved a finger towards Bruce's direction.
Bruce, for his part, put his head in his hands. "Goddammit, Dick…" he moaned.
"…I don't get it," Damian finally admitted after watching the three oldest members of his family start bickering.
"According to Christmas tradition, Santa travels around the world at night when everyone's asleep and delivers presents," Tim explained tiredly, as Cass swished her head back and forth between Bruce, Dick, and Jason, "So naturally, the children who don't know he's not real stay up so they can watch him come down the chimney and meet him for real. Usually, they fall asleep and their parents fake Santa's arrival by eating some of the cookies they left behind for him. If they don't, then they hire some kind of actor wearing a Santa suit to appear. Or just do it themselves. Whichever works."
Damian stared at him. "That sounds stupid," he spoke honestly.
"See!" Dick screeched, now jabbing his finger at Damian. "You've ruined him!"
Jason groaned again. Now this, he didn't miss.
Thankfully, despite Dick's repeated insistences, everyone went to sleep instead, in their own beds. Not even the trademark Grayson Puppy-Dog Pout was enough to get any of them to budge, and Alfred even went as far as to drug Dick's eggnog for good measure. With that taken care of, sleep came easily for the rest, and the next thing anyone knew, it was Christmas morning.
One by one, everyone ambled downstairs for breakfast. Dick tried to make a break for the presents first, but Alfred's patented glare stopped him cold. Presents went after breakfast, not before, another rule for the family. Jason had also reinforced that rule in the morning, mostly because usually it wasn't just his family that was staying there for the holidays.
After the food was finally done, Dick zipped over to the tree, with everyone else following at more sedate paces. Even so, everyone could feel the electrifying quality of excitement in the air. Christmas was still Christmas, after all, and there were very few people in the world that didn't enjoy getting gifts for the holiday season. Even Jason, during those first few depressing years of being Batman, had managed to perk up some cheer during Christmas.
There was some debate over who would get to open their presents first, before deciding on Dick if only just to shut him up. They loved their older brother, they did, but when he got into it, he got into it. It was better just to give in then to fight it for everything except the most ridiculous bits. Like pretending that Santa was real even though everyone in the house, including Dick, knew that he wasn't.
Dick ripped through every bit of wrapping paper on each gift with glee, causing Alfred to sigh at certain points. A more financially-tight family might do to conserve such a frivolous commodity for next year, but not Waynes. Waynes were richer than God, and that meant minor things like tearing through gift wrap were perfectly within their grasp.
While Dick reacted to most of his gifts with glee, particularly the tacky shirts Tim had gotten him, he eyed Jason's gift suspiciously. When he opened it, he couldn't help but let out a good-natured sigh.
"Really, Jay?"
Jason patted him on the back. "For your own good, Dickie. For your own good."
After Dick was done, it was quickly decided that Damian would be next, followed by Cass. As it was their first Christmas, it was only fitting they'd get first dibs on opening their presents. For the novelty and all that.
Damian's gifts were mainly comprised of art supplies and toys. Jon's gift to him, a Beebo doll, got a raised eyebrow but judging by how he set the stuffed toy next to him while continuing opening his presents, he wasn't offended. When he noticed the growing trend of Pokemon games, finished with Bruce's gift of the console, he narrowed his eyes at them all suspiciously but said nothing. A coordinated gift was still a gift, after all.
Cass' gifts were more varied, a mix of clothing and makeup with the occasional outlier. Stephanie in particular had gotten a miniature make up tool set and a handbag that she could use to carry her stuff everywhere. Touched, Cass had pressed the bag to her chest and then set it down next to her, to fix up in her room later. Of course, even Stephanie's gift couldn't compare to the ice skating and ballet lessons that Jason and Bruce had gotten for her, respectively. Bruce had even promised to take her to the studio to register her himself, personally.
Tim followed Cass, and his gifts were of a more technological bent. Along with Jason's state-of-the-art digital camera, Bruce had gotten him a new, top-of-the-line WayneTech computer. Considering that Tim's current laptop was designed by LexCorp, this was both a thoughtful and rather pragmatic gift. Everyone else had settled for new video games that the boy hadn't managed to get his hands on, though Stephanie had sent him his sole outlying gift — a brand new, if relatively cheap, skateboard. Apparently, Tim's old one had fallen apart right before his dad died, and in his grief he hadn't bothered to replace it. He had off-handedly mentioned it to Stephanie however, who seemed to have remembered it and gotten one for him in turn.
Jason couldn't help but hide a smile when he saw the blush fluster against Tim's face as he explained all of this to them. Ah, young love.
Alfred was next. Much like Tim's, his followed a theme — in this case, cooking. New porcelain and kitchen utensils were given, along with the large, handwritten cookbook that Jason and Damian had made for him. That had gotten them some dirty looks, seeing as everyone knew that there was no way anyone in the family could top such a personal gift. That was made all the more obvious when a tearful Alfred had broken protocol for once and pulled both boys into bone-breaking hugs. The old man promised he would cherish it for the rest of his life, and even promised to choose recipe from it to make for them tonight if it pleased everyone. This being Alfred, no one had the heart to tell him no.
Bruce, as per propriety, was last, and by far the most varied. Jason's series of true crime detective novels were lost amongst some of the more personal gifts, not that he minded. Of particular note was Damian shyly handing his father a painting he had made of his grandparents, his father's parents, for him. Bruce looked near tears at the sight of it as he embraced his youngest son, thanking him profusely for the gift. He could see Damian melting into the affectionate gesture, and was glad to see it. Perhaps in this timeline, Damian wouldn't be so insecure with his place in the family.
The gift-giving finished, Jason had gotten up to leave, only to stop when he realized that everyone was staring at him. "What?" he asked, genuinely confused.
"Jason," Dick said, half-amused and half-saddened, "Your gifts."
Oh.
Right. "Sorry about that," Jason apologized sheepishly, slowly lowering back into his previous cross-legged position, "I just…" he shrugged.
There was no malicious reason for forgetting. Jason had always gotten Christmas gifts over the years, even during his early Red Hood days. Granted, during those days he had never properly appreciated those gifts, until, well. Then he did, and everyone knew better than to talk about the reason for his change in attitude. It was left in the past, never to be brought up again.
No, the actual reason he forgot is because he never actually opened his gifts on Christmas morning, opting for later in the day. One of the consequences of having the entire Family, kids and all, celebrate with Cass, him and his own children is that there were far, far too many gifts to be opened in one sitting, focusing on one person at a time. Especially since, as doting parents intent on making memories, pictures were taken to commemorate the occasion. Instead, everyone below the age of eighteen got to open five gifts of their choosing that morning, with the rest to be open on their own at their leisure.
The adults instead collected their own gifts from the tree prior to the gift opening and had it sent to their respective rooms. Gratitude for those gifts could be expressed later, in privacy if need be. Jason had opted for that usually, being a particularly private person. The sole exceptions, of course, had been his children, who he took great joy in embarrassing at every opportunity. A man like him had to get his kicks where he could, after all.
It was different now. He had forgotten that.
"Right," he finally said, smiling. "Who's first?"
There was some furious whispering over that question, but eventually Tim won out the argument, triumphantly handing Jason a small box, the kind of containers that resembled wrapping paper but actually had no wrapping paper on it. Jason lifted the lid, and blinked.
"A monthly subscription to your favorite book store," Tim said proudly, "You can choose whatever books you want from their website, for a total of five books a month, and they'll ship it to you free of charge."
"Huh," Jason muttered, observing the piece of paper denoting Tim's words. Then he shot a small smile at Tim. "Thank you."
Tim ducked his head, nodding, and allowed the next gift to be handed over. Dick, with a sly smirk that screamed danger, slid over his present. Jason eyed it suspiciously before neatly removing the bow and making a single tear through paper so it would be easily ripped off. He wasn't an animal, after all.
At least until he saw what Dick had gotten him.
"Really, Dickie?" Jason lifted the new Gotham Knight action figure with the kind of exasperated look he usually adopted for his kids.
"Tradition, little wing!"
"Tradition, my a—"
"Master Jason," Alfred cut him off before he could finish that statement. He then punctuated it by handing Jason his gift.
Shooting one last glare at Dick, Jason slowly opened it to reveal a cookbook, except one based on more eastern cuisine. He quickly adopted a more pleased look; while Jason was skilled in western cuisine, eastern cuisine tripped him up considerably. He would relish the chance to practice it more often.
"Thanks, Alfie."
"It was my pleasure, Master Jason. A good shake up of the menu is due in any case, and better you than me."
Cass was next, and she nervously handed him three gifts — one from her, one from Stephanie, and one from Barbara. Jason opened hers first, smiling when he saw it was a blank, handcrafted journal. Apparently, this was a coordinated gift, as Stephanie had gotten him a similarly hand-crafted bookmark, while Barbara had opted for a new fountain pen set.
"I love it," he told her, and her face reddened at the admission. Ah, she had been nervous, hadn't she? There was no need. He would've loved anything she'd gotten him.
Next was Damian. He crossed his arms and looked away as he handed a rectangular-shaped package with what looked like to be a spiral plastic spine sticking out on the side. Jason carefully unwrapped it and blinked. It was a sketchbook. A used sketchbook. One that he remembered buying for Damian when they first got to Gotham.
Hesitantly, he flipped it open and glanced at the first page. It was a sketch of Jason, Cass, and Damian during their time at the Chamber of All. Lifting an eyebrow, he turned to the next page to see it was them in Hungary. Quickly realizing what this was, he flipped through the remain pages at rapid speed. They were all inked sketches of the family at their many outings. Jason, Cass, and Tim were the most frequent subjects, as was Stephanie, but he could also see Dick, Bruce, Alfred, and Barbara in there as well. Even Jon and Lian appeared in a few pictures, causing Jason to quirk up a smile.
"I didn't know what to get you, so I thought…" Damian trailed off, gesturing up at the sketchbook while blushing heavily.
"It's perfect," Jason finally said, genuinely and sincerely. "I couldn't think of a better gift."
Damian perked up at that, and despite himself, a bright smile crossed his face, making him more like the child he was supposed to be. Jason closed the sketchbook and set it down over with the rest of his gifts, before turning to the last person in the room: Bruce.
Bruce, for his part, look decidedly awkward, clearing his throat as he handed over his gift. In this case, an envelope, by far the smallest gift anyone in the room had received today. Jason slit through the seal using the tip of his nail, carefully taking out the document inside it. His eyes widened when he saw what it was: a deed, with his name on it.
More specifically, the deed to the property that, in one timeline, would become Catherine's.
Bruce had bought him back his diner.
Suddenly, Jason couldn't breathe.
"I hope I wasn't being too…presumptuous," Bruce spoke carefully, watching Jason's face. Jason, showing off unnatural emotional control, simply folded the deed back into in the envelope, set it down carefully with the rest of his gifts, and then launched himself at his father. Bruce stiffened at the contact, before relaxing. He smiled down at Jason, and wrapped his arms around him.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you…" Jason kept chanting, tears in his eyes.
"Merry Christmas to you too, Jason."
Of course, everyone else wanted to know what Bruce got Jason, though Jason had to choose his words carefully so he wouldn't slip the truth to Damian. Dick and Tim had figured it out immediately, and the former had shot a proud grin at his father. Alfred, once he had figured it out, patted Bruce on the arm and promised to give him an extra tin of cookies for today. Only Cass really had to be told, and she beamed when she found out.
The rest of the day was spent in leisure, exploring their new gifts. While most had been stored away in their respective rooms, with Jason taking particular to store the deed in a personal safe kept in his room, some had been broken out for immediate use. Particularly, the video games gifted to Tim and Damian. While Dick, Tim, Cass, and occasionally Jason took turns trying out the various multiplayer games that had been gifted to Tim, Damian had begun his Pokemon education, selecting to start with Pokemon Diamond after some deliberation. To absolutely no one's surprise, he immediately fell in love with the cutesy little fake animals and debated over his starter for over half an hour before finally deciding on Piplup.
As the day bled on, finished with another grand dinner of leftovers from the previous night and new dishes from the cookbook Jason and Damian had made for Alfred, everyone was just about spent and ready to turn in. One by one they all filed upstairs, saying goodnight and going to sleep. The sole exception was Tim, who was called into Bruce's study for a quick meeting. A suspicious Tim entered, and the moment the door closed, Bruce placed a couple of documents on his desk. Tim looked down at them, and froze.
Adoption papers.
"Bruce…"
"You don't have to sign them now. Or ever, for that matter. But…" Bruce sighed. "I love you Tim. Like a son. You pulled me out of a pit I was in after Jason died and I can never fully express how grateful I am for that, how much you mean to me. But this is probably the closest I could ever get."
Tim said nothing at first, staring at the papers for several long moments. Then… "Thank you, Bruce. But…I'm not ready. Not yet."
Bruce reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "That's fine. I just wanted you to know they were there."
"Just give me time," Tim blurted out suddenly. "Just—Just give me time to think about it."
"Alright."
Tim turned to leave, but not before looking back one last time. "And Bruce…I love you too."
Bruce smiled. Tim smiled back.
Ah, Bruce, you're finally getting better at this father thing! Cheers, everyone, cheers!
Which is great and all, because the worst has yet to come!
Yeah…you readers are gonna hate me soon. Just wait and see.
It'll be a while before the next chapter, though. I've gone through my entire queue. If you want more of my writing while waiting for this story, I suggest To Hell and Back. If you're familiar with the Arrowverse, you'll love it!
Next chapter: The rest of the winter season.