A/N: I'm actually kinda proud of this one.

Disclaimer: Wouldn't it be great if we really could claim adverse possession of ideas? In that sense, I might have a pretty good claim on Teen Titans since I'm using them more than Cartoon Network is right now. But other than the cold day in hell when that theory might work in court, I will NEVER own them and I won't make money off of 'em.

Based on Kysra's sketch to be found here: http / www . deviantart . com / deviation / 33685488 /

It Only Takes A Moment – Sidestory 9 (From Part VIII)
Red Satin Pjs
by Em

"...oh, and the other satin ones in the dark red..."

Raven looked up as the rumpled trio shuffled into the circle of light before the couch where she was curled up. "What are you three doing up so late?" Raven asked, her tone low yet stern.

"Couldn't sleep," Timmy answered, sleepily rubbing at his eyes with the hand still holding onto his tattered blankie.

Raven withheld a smile as Teether tottered closer to her and ended up tumbling on the floor. "Well, you seemed to be doing a fine job of it before," Raven pointed out, watching as Melvin automatically picked Teether up and set him on his feet before he could begin to cry.

Melvin turned to her with a sleepy kind of honesty in her big eyes, "Yeah, but..." she looked at the others who were all looking at her expectantly for her to explain their situation, "You were there, then," she said.

"Your woom's scawy when you're not there," Timmy announced. Raven allowed herself a small smile.

"Yes, I suppose it is," Raven conceded.

"Waven," Timmy said, shuffling closer to her, "Watcha doing?" he asked, his thumb going into his mouth automatically.

Raven looked down at her lap and the worn brown cover of the book she had picked up to read, "Reading," she answered softly.

Timmy brightened as much as he could while still being half asleep, "Will you tell us a stowy, Waven?" he asked.

"Stowy," Teether seemed to agree, extending his arms out and grasping with his tiny hands at the air, "Up!' he said.

Raven turned to Melvin who picked up Teether and approached the couch, settling down on Raven's left side without any further invitation.

Teether crawled out of Melvin's hold and into Raven's lap where he settled against her side and looked up at her with a sleepy smile on his face.

Raven smiled at him and then looked at Timmy who was about to cry, "Come on, Timmy...up on the couch with you too..."

Timmy's tantrum stopped before it could start and he hurriedly shuffled his feet until he could climb onto the couch on Raven's right side.

"What are you reading, Raven?" Melvin asked, stifling a yawn.

"Peter Pan," Raven answered, glancing at the book only momentarily. It was actually quite a miracle she had decided to pick up this old favorite rather than one of her less child-friendly books. "You've heard of Peter Pan, haven't you?" she asked.

"Uh-huh..." Timmy answered around a yawn.

"I like Peter Pan," Melvin answered, leaning in against Raven's arm so that Raven had to lift her arm to allow the girl to settle in against her side before bringing the arm down around Melvin.

"So do I," Raven confessed. She looked at Teether, but he was already dozing off, rhythmically sucking on his pacifier. "Is it alright if I start at the part where Peter and Wendy first meet rather than at the beginning?" Raven asked, looking back to Melvin and Timmy.

"Sure," Melvin said, blinking up at her, very slowly.

Timmy yawned again, "Beginning's bowing, anyway," he conceded. Raven watched him for a few moments as he teetered and she adjusted her leg so that when he fell he had her thigh to cushion his head against, which he very promptly did.

"Alright then," Raven opened the book and began to read at the appropriate part, "Peter has just tried unsuccessfully to stick his shadow onto his feet with soap in the Darling Nursery," she told the children.

Melvin scoffed as she rubbed at her eyes, "Everyone knows soap doesn't work on shadows," she commented.

Raven smiled, but no one saw her. "And woke Wendy up by crying," she finished her summary. She looked at them and realized they wouldn't be paying too much attention to her reading, but she read anyway. So, in her best reading aloud voice, Raven began to read: "What's your name?" the boy asked. 'Wendy Moira Angela Darling,' she replied with some satisfaction, 'What is your name?'" She looked down to see only Melvin's eyes still making any attempt at remaining open, "Peter Pan." she continued reading, "She was already sure that he must be Peter, but it did seem a comparatively short name. 'Is that all?' 'Yes,' he said rather sharply. He felt for the first time that it was a shortish name. 'I'm so sorry,' said Wendy Moira Angela."

Some time later, Raven looked down and found that even Melvin's eyes had closed and hadn't re-opened, but she kept reading just the same her only concession to their sleeping forms to lower her voice to an even softer tone. And the last thing she remembered before she too drifted off to sleep, was the part where the children are carried off by pirates.

It was quite a picture they made, Robin thought when he found them some time later. He couldn't help but stare. It was like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting and nevermind that Raven looked even younger in peaceful sleep than she did while awake or that her hair, where it fell in soft wisps against her pale cheeks was the purple of a ripe plum.

Robin silently crept closer and wished he could take a picture. The eldest girl of the three was laying in the cradle of Raven's left arm, her head resting against Raven's shoulder. The older boy was stretched out across the sofa with his head resting on her lap and the baby was soundly cuddled against her chest. And Raven in her dark red satin pajamas was in the center like a beacon of motherly protectiveness, her own cheek resting against the top of the girl's blond head and her eyes closed in peaceful slumber while the book she had obviously been reading from lay forgotten at her side.

Something inside Robin twisted almost painfully as he realized how much like a family they really looked. He had known the kids (the Munchkin Maulers as Raven had taken to calling them) had grown attached to her and he had of course known of their presence during that last fight with the Brotherhood of Evil and it wasn't really a surprise to find they were sticking to Raven's side. After all, it was only the night after the battle. They were all exhausted and Raven had agreed to take them back to their sanctuary in the morning rather than that very night and that in itself should have told Robin all he needed to know of Raven's own attachment to them. But it wasn't until he saw them all curled up and sleeping together that he realized how far into Raven's defenses she had let these children get.

The realization both touched and saddened him. Here was a Raven that he knew she would never allow herself to be. He knew she would make a fantastic mother, he knew that without even thinking about it, and yet, he also knew she'd never let herself be one.

Before he could think any more on the subject however, Raven's eyelids fluttered and in that graceful, casual way she had, Raven was awake and staring right at him.

"Got your hands full, I see," Robin commented, smiling.

"They couldn't sleep in my room by themselves," Raven whispered over their heads.

Robin chuckled, "I believe it," he agreed. She frowned at him and it only made him smile wider, "So, who's who here?" he asked, approaching her.

She nodded toward the sleeping boy on her lap, "That's Timmy," she said and for a split second, she made a face, "Apparently, he drools..." she deadpanned. Robin snickered. She lifted her left hand to rest on the girl's blond head of hair, "This is Melvin," she said, "And this..." she gently jiggled the baby who cooed and snuggled closer, "Is Teether."

"They did pretty good for kids," Robin praised, sitting on the edge of the coffee table in front of her.

Raven nodded, "You should have seen them against Mallah the time I met them."

Robin smiled and seemed to be looking for something in the picture before him, but before she could question him, he stood. "How about some tea?" he asked.

She nodded and as he walked to the kitchen, she began the process of gently disentangling herself from the children. When she succeeded with only a slight amount of squirming from Timmy which eased as soon as she tucked his blanket around him, she made sure that Teether was safely blocked from sofa edges by pillows and walked to join Robin in the kitchen. "What are you doing up?" she asked softly sitting on the counter and watching him set a kettle to boil.

"Just wired, I guess," he answered as he went for her tea things. "I thought I'd sneak some of your tea to help me sleep."

She was going to start to point to the chamomile tea but he reached for it before she could. "So I guess you got everyone settled in someplace for the night?" she asked. Everyone, of course, being all the honorary Titans who had to spend the night at their Tower because they couldn't make their way home after such an exhausting battle.

He nodded, "Yeah," he thought for a few moments, "The Titans East all went home while Argent and Jinx are bunking with Star, Pantha wanted to stay in the training room, Herald went...um...home, I guess. Kole and Gnarkk are sleeping in the trees outside, Hot Spot's with me, Wildebeast is outside, Red Star and Jerricho are crashing with Cyborg and Kid Flash is in Beast Boy's room." He thought about it for a few moments, leaning on the counter in front of her, "And anyone else I forgot to mention went home," he said, shaking his head.

Raven almost smiled, "Kid Flash with Beast Boy?" Raven asked, shaking her head, "I should say I feel sorry for him," she said sympathetically, "But I can't help but be glad he's the one with Beast Boy."

"Why would you be glad?" Robin asked handing her her cup with tea.

"Wally's a neat freak," she said stirring in the sugar. "He'll have Beast Boy's room clean and organized by morning."

"Wally?" Robin prodded, raising a brow.

Raven looked at him in surprise at his question, "You know, Kid Flash," she said. "You did know that was his name, right?"

Robin nodded, "Yeah..." he waited a few moments, "But why do you?"

She shrugged and sipped at her tea, "He also happens to be a blabbermouth."

Robin sipped his tea and thought of how to ask her how she knew so much about Kid Flash when he hadn't even though they had met for more than a brief few moments, but before he could, she stiffened and looked behind her where Melvin was squirming and rubbing at her eyes. Raven stood and walked back to the couch.

Melvin looked up at her, "Did you finish the story?" she asked her voice thick with sleep.

"Almost," Raven told her softly, leaning down to pick up Teether. "But it's time to go to bed now," she said. Melvin nodded and moved in what Raven could only assume was meant to be an attempt to sit up from the couch, but even when she finally did sit up, she only managed to rest her chin on her chest and continue sleeping. Raven shook her head and put a hand on Melvin's shoulder, shaking her gently. "Melvin, come on, you have to help me a little," she told her.

Melvin's eyes fluttered open and she sighed. "Too sleepy...I can sleep here."

"No you don't," Raven took hold of her shoulder and shook her a little again, "Come on, climb on up here," she told her. Finally, after a bit of work, Raven had Teether on one arm and Melvin on the other. The girl was so thin and light, it didn't feel like hardly any work, but she looked down at Timmy who was still sleeping unconcernedly and she knew she didn't have enough arms to carry him too.

She had just about decided to come back for him when Robin stood next to her and scooped Timmy into his arms easily. Raven glanced at him in surprise and he shrugged as Timmy's arms automatically adjusted around his neck in the trusting way only kids could ever really do, without once opening his eyes.

"I figured you could use some help," Robin spoke on a whisper.

Raven smiled at him but before she could speak, Melvin opened her eyes and looked right at Robin.

"You're Robin," she said.

Robin smiled, "And you're Melvin," he countered.

She smiled and blushed and Raven thought that she had just been witness to the beginning of Melvin's first little girl crush. Despite the obvious crush, however, Melvin still frowned and asked, "What are you doing with Timmy?"

Raven was quite proud of her just then.

"I thought I'd walk you to your room," Robin explained.

"Oh," Melvin said, closing her eyes, "Okay."

As Raven turned away and started walking to the elevator that would lead to the Tower's residential area and her room, Melvin snuggled closer to her shoulder and sighed, "He's dreamy," close to Raven's ear.

Raven didn't quite know what to say about that so she let Melvin drift back to sleep rather than make any sort of comment. Surely, Melvin was too young to think any guy was 'dreamy' wasn't she? She wasn't quite sure, but she certainly wasn't about to look back at Robin to find out what he thought of it, even though she could hear his chuckles as he followed her to her room.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N: The whole, "he's dreamy" comment of Melvin's was inspired by MsLessa's own little darlings. She made an off-hand comment to me the other day about one of her kids saying such a thing and it just struck me and I couldn't help but have Melvin use it here. Now you know why it might seem familiar to you, Lessa!

Extra Disclaimer: What Raven reads to them is Peter Pan by J.M. Barie.

Personal Plea:

(1) Everyone, can we please share the love with Kysra? She's such a fabulous friend having done all those wonderful sketches to cheer me up, and not nearly enough people have commented to let her know how wonderful they think they are. (And I know you guys love 'em!) So, come on...if you have a dA account, then take a moment and drop her a line there, if you don't have a dA account, then tell her through here or through one of her own posts how appreciated and what a great artist she is.

(2) I plugged Absentia's story, Between Moments (which you can find under story id: 2986069) last time. I hope you guys are showing her the love through her ff.n profile?

And, finally, the Moment Poll ( http / emsscraps . livejournal . com / 17975 . html ) Remember to vote for your favorite! I'd love to hear from you guys why it's your favorite, too.