Chapter 8: The Tiniest Titans
The Babe is more than swadling Bands;
Throughout all these Human Lands
Tools were made, & born were hands,
Every Farmer Understands.
By the time Beast Boy got back to his and Raven's bedroom, Raven was already asleep. He tossed his towel into their laundry basket and went to stand over the crib that held his infant children. He smiled as he looked down at them. He still couldn't believe the miracle that had been bestowed upon him: he had helped to create them. They had grown inside Raven and become tiny people unto themselves. As he contemplated this, he suddenly felt a pair of hands wrap around behind his shoulders, then lips on his neck, just below his ear.
"You'll wake them if you stand there too long," Raven whispered. Beast Boy turned and took Raven in his arms. She melted into the embrace and smiled.
"I missed you, Raven," Beast Boy whispered back. Raven parted her lips just slightly as she stretched up to kiss the man she loved. He ducked his head a bit to accommodate her and the two shared a sweet kiss before returning to bed. It didn't take Beast Boy long to fall asleep once Raven cuddled into his chest and pulled the covers over them.
Down the hall and around the corner, in Robin and Starfire's room, Robin had taken full advantage of the fact that neither of them had been hurt badly. Robin had his wife tucked in his arms as he listened to his heart beat return to normal. Whatever Starfire lacked in her vocabulary, she more than made up for in her other...well...marital duties. Robin smiled, sliding his hand through his bride's silky red hair and gently stroking her porcelain complexion. Starfire smiled softly and leaned into his embrace.
"I love you, Robin," she murmured. Robin couldn't have been happier if he had tried.
"I love you forever, Starfire of Tamaran," Robin replied. Still, something seemed to be perplexing his alien wife, so the Boy Wonder probed farther.
"What's wrong?" Robin asked, sitting up a bit.
"I have not felt like myself lately. I have been very sleepy and a little sad. The sickness only happens in the morning and I am usually much better by after the noon. Still, I am concerned. Should I seek medical assistance?" Starfire gushed, unloading her fears on him. Robin internally rescinded what he said before. There was only one thing that could have made him happier.
"Starfire...I don't believe it...you're..." he stammered.
"What is it? What is wrong with me?" Starfire asked.
"Star...Raven felt that same sickness when she—"
"--When she discovered she was going to bear children!" Starfire interrupted. "I am with child!"
"Starfire! We're going to be parents!" Robin cried, kissing Starfire passionately. The pair held one another tightly as they fell asleep.
Hours later, Terra, tossing and turning in restlessness, finally stood up and went to the window. Looking out over the lights of Jump City, Terra sank to the softness of the small couch near the window and curled up, hugging her knees. A flashback in her mind placed her in a dimly lit club...there was a man in black before her...he was handing her a drink and she could remember drinking it...then dizziness, disorientation, then pain. Terra drooped over to her side on the couch, shaking and crying.
"No! NO! Oh God, no! Stop it! Stop!" she shouted. Lights in the hallway flicked on and she could vaguely hear footsteps running for her room. Seconds later, several of her teammates were crouched around her.
"Terra, are you okay?" Robin said, brushing a handful of her hair out of her face as he knelt in front of the couch.
"Did you have a nightmare?" asked Torque.
"Worse...I remember it...but I don't remember it happening! I can see it all in my head but I can't remember it ever really happening!" Terra sobbed. Starfire knelt nearby and wrapped her arms around Terra as she cried.
"Some dreams can do that," said Cyborg. "What are you remembering?"
"A club...a man in black...drinking some cherry thing...he..." Terra couldn't bring herself to repeat it. Raven buried her face in her hands and Beast Boy looked at her.
"Honey, what's wrong?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her.
"She's remembering the night I was attacked," Raven murmured, "I used my own memories to help Terra catch up with what had been happening."
"So that's why she wasn't surprised to see me," said Jinx.
"I wondered why she wasn't surprised to hear that you and I were married," Beast Boy said softly.
"This is all my fault," Raven said, moving to the front of the group and taking Terra into a warm embrace.
"How did you do it? How did you keep going after that? You went through so much..." Terra faltered into sobs again as her friends sat nearby. Raven felt tears of her own prickling at the back of her eyes as she replied, "I had a whole tower of good friends who saved me from myself when I needed them most." With this, the Titans, new and old, oldest to youngest, went back to their rooms to get blankets and pillows. This called for an impromptu sleepover. As she watched this coming together, Terra sniffled away tears and asked what they were doing.
"If you really do have Raven's memories, you remember that she ran away from the Titans when she thought she might be pregnant," Robin began.
"I wound up coming back to the Tower and collapsing into bed. No one else was home," Raven continued, spreading a blanket out and then cuddling her sleeping daughter while Beast Boy snuggled down with their son.
"When we all got back from searching for her, she had dropped her cloak in the hall and we found her in her room, out like a light," said Cyborg, draping a blanket over himself and then smiling as a Jinx crawled beneath the blanket and up onto his chest before settling in.
"Not wanting to leave her, all of us fell asleep on Raven's bed and we were still there in the morning when she woke up," said Starfire, scooting down into Robin's arms as he pulled a blanket over them.
"So, we're going to do the same for you. Rest easy, Terra. We're here, and we're going to help you through this just like we did for Raven," Beast Boy said, lightly kissing Raven's lips. Terra looked at her friends, all of them curled up on the floor close enough to one another to keep extra warm, but far enough apart where Cyborg wasn't kicking Robin in the back of head if he shifted his weight. In a moment of spontaneous relief, Terra took a quilt and a soft pillow from her own bed and curled up in the middle of the group, smiling as they shifted to accommodate her and then with this, the whole team drifted back off to sleep. This time, they would sleep soundly until the morning.
The following autumn, Starfire and Robin were blessed with a healthy baby boy, whom they named Jason Todd. The same year, the entire team plus most of the city of Gotham turned out for the wedding of Bruce Wayne to his beloved Diana in an elaborate, highly-anticipated ceremony attended by hundreds.
Three more years weathered in their time and Beast Boy and Raven couldn't believe how quickly their children grew. Olivia and Toby had dragged not just their parents but all of the Titans through colic, teething, first steps, first words, first birthdays, terrible twos and everything in between to get to where they were now: happy, healthy, energetic four year olds. By this time, the other members of the team were used to being called "Uncle" or "Auntie" with the exception of Torque. Even though she was now considered a seasoned member of the Titans, she still felt like a bit of a loner. She chalked it up to having lived alone for so long that she couldn't easily settle in. Not to be misunderstood, Torque made it clear that she enjoyed being a Titan and loved Toby and Olivia, but she was just the kind of person that wasn't used to having a great deal of family around.
This didn't seem to deter the kids. They had had free run of the Tower practically since the day they started walking, and now, as four year olds, greater awareness and mobility gave them the power to keep all eight adult Titans on their toes.
One day in particular, Torque was French braiding her long brown hair in the mirror in the bathroom when she heard the tiny grunts of little Olivia climbing up to sit on the counter.
"Auntie Torque, whatcha doin'?" Olivia asked, staring up at Torque's hands as they wove her hair into the braid.
"Braiding my hair," Torque replied without looking at her. Pausing for a moment, Olivia asked why. Torque simply said she liked it that way. A little dejected at Auntie Torque's lack of enthusiasm, Olivia contemplated her little feet for a few quiet moments as Torque finished the braid. Torque looked at the little girl before her and cocked her head to one side.
"Your hair's getting long enough to braid, isn't it?" Torque said, thinking out loud. Olivia simply looked at her. Torque cracked a grin.
"Turn around here, kiddo. Let Auntie see what she can do," Torque said, turning Olivia around to face the mirror. For the next half hour, Torque and Olivia giggled, laughed out loud and squealed as Torque tried various hairstyles on the little one's fine hair. Finally settling on one, the two finished and then went off to show their new up-do's to their friends.
Meanwhile, in the living room, Cyborg, Robin and Beast Boy were engaged in one of their favorite past times: playing Gamestation. Robin and three-year-old Jason were cheering, and Toby jumped up and down nearby, crying, "Go daddy! Get him! Pass him!"
"I can't concentrate with all that racket!" yelled Cyborg.
"That's the difference between you and me, Cyborg!" Beast Boy cried triumphantly. "I have kids—I'm automatically, completely immune to kid noise!"
With this, he crossed the finish line six lengths ahead of Cyborg. Beast Boy dropped the controller and commenced a victory dance that Toby mimicked right along with him. With this done, Beast Boy swept his son into his arms and held him.
"You did it!" Toby squealed.
"As usual, victory is mine!" Beast Boy laughed, giving his little son a high-five.
As happy as this day had been for the Titans, the next month would be another matter all together.
Flu season hit Jump City unusually hard this year. Vaccinations were short, but the Titans had weathered the season many times before and been fine. This year, nearly all of the Titans fell prey to it. As a matter of fact, the only ones not ill were Robin, Starfire, Cyborg and Jinx. The others, including all three of the kids, were too sick to even consider moving. The four that were well took turns nursing their friends as the days dragged on. Beast Boy and Raven had nearly started a fight more than once whilst one had chills and the other was far too hot: one needed the covers of the bed and the other couldn't stand it. But for both of them, concern raged for their children. Often, the little ones would cry and call out for Raven, even though she was too sick to get up. One of the others came and would attend to the four of them.
The adults seemed to recover quickly. Within a week, Terra, Beast Boy, and Torque were back on their feet and feeling better. Raven needed another day and a half. Little Jason was the next to recover, his parents crediting his half-Tamaranian immune system. It looked as though, even though it had taken longer than usual, everyone was going to make a full recovery.
A day later, Raven awoke with a start. Something was wrong. She draped her cloak over her shoulders and made for the door, waking Beast Boy in her haste.
"What's wrong?" Beast Boy asked sleepily.
"I don't know. It's the kids. Something's wrong with the kids. I need to go check on them," Raven said as she made her way to the room beside theirs. Beast Boy was right behind her, having stuffed his feet into his shoes and followed her. Raven knelt beside Olivia and ran a hand over the little girl's forehead. Olivia awoke and looked at her mother.
"Mommy?" she murmured.
"Her fever broke!" Raven gasped. "She's finally getting better!"
"Thank heavens!" Beast Boy whispered, coming to join them. "Can we go back to bed now?" Raven scooted out from under his arms and over to Toby's bed. She repeated her method and swept a hand over her son's head and face. In stark opposite of his sister, Toby was cold.
"No..." Raven murmured. Beast Boy moved to her side and checked for a pulse. Raven's already pale skin blanched farther as she and Beast Boy performed CPR in a desperate attempt to save their child. Fifteen minutes passed...and so did Toby. Raven and Beast Boy knelt there on the floor of the bedroom clutching the body of their son. Still awake, Olivia joined them on the floor, crying with them when her brother wouldn't wake up when she called to him.
The next morning dawned stormy and dark; fitting weather considering the circumstances. The team couldn't help mourning with them. All of the other members of the team felt like family to the children. For days following Toby's death, Raven wouldn't get up, and Beast Boy wouldn't eat. Little Olivia was suddenly quiet and listless, playing with her toys in her room or trying to cuddle with her mother or father. With Toby gone, Olivia began to develop a closer attachment to Jason. Though he was a year younger than she was, the two made good playmates, and together they did their best to stay out of the adult Titans' way. In their own quiet ways, the Titans mourned. The first team fatality in Titans history had been a child.
In the coming weeks, Beast Boy and Raven both seem to slip deeper into despair. All motivation, all enthusiasm, even the light in their eyes seemed to have been replaced by desolation and depression. A month after Toby's untimely death, the two were still not on the mend. The other Titans had been managing without them, leaving them at the Tower to watch Olivia and Jason while they went on missions. Most of this time, Raven spent in silent mediation, or curled up on the bed crying. Beast Boy found his refuge in the television or Gamestation, though none held any happiness for him anymore. Everything seemed tied to a memory, tied to something that reminded him of his son. Unfortunately, in this interval of sorrow, both seemed to completely overlook their little girl. They attended to her basic needs, making sure she was clean, fed, and was getting enough sleep, but other than that, all affection seemed drained from their actions.
One particularly difficult evening found Beast Boy and Raven shouting at the top of their lungs. Though they were in their bedroom behind a closed door, their voices reverberated through the hall, and down into the ears of their little Olivia, who stood before the door, clutching her dolly that Robin and Starfire had given her for Christmas. Olivia heard her name several times.
"Daddy?" Olivia whispered. When Beast Boy didn't hear her, she bit her lip a moment and tried again. "Mommy?" Despite this effort, the two inside continued to shout, raising their voices even farther. Raven was screaming. Beast Boy was growling. This was not good. Not good at all.
"They're fighting about me," Olivia mumbled to her dolly. "Let's go, Darla."
Olivia went back to her bedroom. Flicking on the light, she scanned the room, locating what she felt to be her most important possessions: Darla, her dolly, her blanket, and her mother's spare cloak. Raven had hemmed this cloak so that Olivia could wear it for play. It even had an active communicator so that she could pretend she was a full-fledged Titan, just like Mommy. With this, Olivia padded carefully down the stairs and for the first time in her life, left Titans Tower alone. Mommy and Daddy mustn't love her anymore without her brother. Certain that she had discerned the source of her parents' dispute; she walked fearlessly into the night.
Back at Titan's Tower, little Jason began to search for his friend, his green eyes wide with wonder. Much of the Tower was still foreign to him, but he looked everywhere he could think of. He knew that Auntie Raven and Uncle BB were shouting, but he wondered what had become of Olivia. Finally deciding that a more probing investigation was in order, he very carefully began to descend the stairs, looking for his companion. Fearful of the darkened state of the Tower, Jason began to cry. His tears blurring his vision, the littlest Titan tumbled and fell down the last three steps. Though this was no great distance, he was still more than a bit afraid, and started to cry. He sat there on the landing, sad and afraid, very much wanting to be held, but there was no one. He was alone.
Little Jason was still sitting on the stairs sobbing when the other Titans returned from their mission. Starfire rushed to her son and scooped him into her arms.
"It is all right now, my little bungorf. Mother is here to comfort you," Starfire murmured.
"Where are Raven and Beast Boy?" asked Terra.
"Listen," Robin said, leaning an ear toward the stairs. Torque gasped.
"I've never heard them take that tone with each other before," Jinx muttered.
"Neither have I," said Robin. "Let's go and get to the bottom of this."
The Titans listened as Jason cried that he couldn't find Olivia. Thinking that this might have something to do with the screaming match upstairs, the Titans proceeded up the stairs to the bedroom level, quietly searching the living areas for signs of Olivia. When they found nothing, Robin's eyes narrowed.
"I've had enough. This ends now," Robin said, marching back to Raven and Beast Boy's bedroom and pounded on the door. Instantly, the shouting inside stopped and Robin went inside. The other Titans remained out in the hall and listened as Robin dressed down his teammates. He informed them of where they found Jason, and then told them the last thing they wanted to hear that night: Olivia was not in Titans Tower.
Suddenly panicked, Beast Boy joined the others to search Olivia's room. They noted that her doll, blanket and cloak were missing and a bit of hope flickered in Beast Boy's eyes.
"Honey, you're brilliant! That was an active communicator! We can use it to locate her!" Beast Boy cried. The team proceeded up to the living area to check the computer. When they had a lock on her, Beast Boy and Raven tried desperately to talk Olivia into coming back to the Tower or at the very least, stopping and staying where she was. Olivia ignored them. Robin ordered Beast Boy and Raven to remain in the Tower and sent Torque and Cyborg to go and retrieve Olivia, who had wandered nearly to the end of the mile long driveway leading away from Titans Tower.
"She's our daughter!" Beast Boy cried.
"You can't order us to stay here!" Raven shouted.
"You could have fooled me! You've done nothing but ignore her ever since--" Terra stopped mid-sentence. Possessing Raven's memories of their birth, she felt nearly as close to the twins as their own mother.
"Take it easy, Terra. Olivia's okay," Jinx soothed, giving Terra's shoulders a squeeze.
When Torque and Cyborg located Olivia, she stopped and turned. She wouldn't come near them, but only looked. Torque looked at Cyborg and told him to play along. Cyborg shrugged and nodded.
"Olivia!" Torque cried, catching up to Olivia and kneeling beside her. "You really gotta learn to wait for your teammates before you go out on a mission! You might need our help!" Torque hoped that making Olivia feel powerful might make it easier to get her to come back. Olivia insisted that her parents didn't love her and Torque bit her lip. How awful to be so young and to think that she isn't loved!
"But, Olivia, there's another mission and we need your help!" Torque said dramatically. "Jason fell down the stairs looking for you and he needs you!" Hearing her friend's name, Olivia panicked.
"Jason?" she said. Cyborg nodded. "He was crying and everything, Olivia," Cyborg added. Olivia conceded and allowed Torque to carry her back to the Tower.
Once Torque and Cyborg returned to the Tower and Olivia discovered that Jason was not hurt as badly as Auntie Torque had said she calmed down a bit. When Raven and Beast Boy tried to get her to come to them, she became angry, screeching that they didn't love her anymore. Olivia reached for her Auntie Terra, refusing to sleep in her own bed. Terra timidly offered to allow Olivia to sleep with her just this once, and Robin agreed before Olivia's humiliated parents could argue. With this, Robin sent everyone to bed.
Raven and Beast Boy slowly retreated to their bedroom, still not quite sure how to feel. Once their bedroom door slid shut, the pair looked at one another and began to yell at each other again. This time though, it was short lived. Raven began to cry, and seconds later, Beast Boy joined her, collapsing to their bed in a heap of tears. Beast Boy wrapped his arms around Raven and pulled her close, planting kisses on her crown, forehead and cheeks.
"I'm so sorry, Raven. Baby, I'm so sorry..." Beast Boy murmured, letting Raven's tears soak the front of his uniform.
"What have we done?" Raven whimpered. "We've alienated our only child!"
"I guess we're not the only ones we have to apologize to," Beast Boy said softly.
"We owe the entire team an apology. Especially Jason and Olivia. Oh, God...our little Olivia..." Raven murmured. Beast Boy stroked Raven's hair out of her face and she looked up at him.
"I love you, Raven," Beast Boy whispered. Raven swallowed the last of her tears and replied, "I love you too, Beast Boy." Slowly, the two met in a soft kiss. New energy surging between them, Raven pressed her lips against her husband's again, this time with a little more emphasis. Beast Boy caught on, and soon, the sensation grew and consumed them. By the time Raven and Beast Boy fell asleep that night, hints of a smile played with their features. Perhaps this night was exactly what they needed to get themselves back on track. Tomorrow would be a new day.
The next morning, Beast Boy and Raven walked on pins and needles. They wondered what their teammates would say after the previous night's ordeal. Certainly, they were all disappointed in both of them. Raven went to get Olivia out of bed, but her bed was empty. Then it dawned on her: Olivia had slept with Terra. Raven swallowed her tears and followed Beast Boy upstairs, where they found most of the team already eating breakfast. When they were noticed, the pair stopped and all motion in the room with them. Raven was grateful when Beast Boy spoke up.
"We owe you all a huge apology. We had no business behaving the way we have and we certainly had no right to do what we did last night," Beast Boy said. "We were out of line, and we're sorry."
"Can you ever forgive us? Raven asked softly. Robin's straight face changed to a grin seconds before Starfire could bowl them over with a hug.
"Oh, of course we forgive you, friends! What else are friends for?" Starfire cried. Beast Boy and Raven blushed in this attention as the rest of their teammates gathered around and patted them on the back and shared more hugs. When this was done, there was only one Titan still at the breakfast table. She had just finished her bowl of cereal was climbing up on her step-stool to place her dishes on the counter. When this was done, she made for the door without acknowledging her parents. Beast Boy cringed a bit as he bit back tears. Raven called out to her daughter, "Olivia wait!"
The pint-sized Titan stopped and turned in place. Raven knelt and looked her child in the eyes.
"Oh, baby, we love you so much! We're sorry! Can you ever forgive us?" Raven wept. Olivia stood for a moment and seemed to mull this over in her little brain. Seconds later, Olivia ran across the room and threw herself into her mother's arms. Raven clasped her daughter tightly and stood, so that Beast Boy could hold them both. Raven and Beast Boy both shed tears as their teammates stood by, watching as the reunited family walked the rest of the way into the kitchen so that Beast Boy and Raven could eat. Olivia resumed her seat at the table so that she could sit in her father's lap and listen to the banter as the team returned to the table as well to finish breakfast. For Raven and Beast Boy, the food was beginning to have taste again, a sure sign that their hearts were finally beginning to mend.