"Is he?", Poppy asked. "Yeah, like a lot in this family now, not exactly normal at birth.", Bruce explained as Poppy took a few steps further into the room.
Waylon followed her in, gently closing the door, and Selina chuckled, "Don't be nervous, guys...He won't bite anyway...", and they stepped a bit more confidentially, careful as they made it to the makeshift nest, kneeling down, side by side behind the nest, looking over Bruce and Selina's embrace in their sleek, panther personas, as Selina flicked her tail away from Damien, still suckling at her teat, smiling as they took into Poppy and Waylon's widening, awed looks.
"He… he…", Poppy whispered as she put her hand to her face and tears began to go down her cheeks. "Yep, he's still got his original parents' traits… not much but you can notice it.", Bruce smiled.
Waylon spoke softly, "He's beautiful...He got my broad shoulders...small, but clearly mine...and he got your chin, Poppy...", kissing Poppy on the temple as tears fell too on his cheeks.
Poppy nodded tearfully, "Yeah...Yet Damien got major looks from you, dear brother, and Selina...It made so much sense why he is looking like a panther kitten because he shifted in instinct and fear, due to Rex...And Selina, you don't have to worry anymore...Rex is officially dead...They found his remains...Fire burned him up...along with the last 10 goons we couldn't get in time, but the other 30 goons are in the hospital, damaged and broken but alive.".
Selina gave a relieved sob, "Oh, thank goodness...Hear that, Damien? Rex isn't going to hurt you ever again...He's gone for good...", licking Damien from the head across his body as he mewed in protest, the tongue interrupting him from his meal at the same time as he realized the sincerity and relief in his mama's voice, his kitten ears perking from its folded shape, barely understanding that the scary man is gone, using his paw-like hands to rub over his face, his eyes blinking before they cleared up, showing mismatched colored eyes, the left one having a chocolate brown shade with emerald speckles, and the right one having the Wayne blue shade with amber speckles, showing that he got his mama and mother's eye colors in the left one, and his daddy and papa's eye colors in the right one.
"His eyes…", Waylon whispered. "Poppy, he's still got our eyes.", with an awed smile. "Hey, he's got their eyes too, Wally. He's their child now for the most part, it was his choice, remember?", Poppy said as she took a deep breath, trying to not let the bad feelings come back from her 'miscarriage'.
"How are you feeling?", Bruce asked Selina. "I mean, I know you had no real feelings for Rex…", with a hum. Selina snorted, "Don't worry, I'm not going to cry for him, not even a tear. For all intents, I never had a father until recently, I don't care if he sired me."
Poppy looked at her, "And by recently, do you mean Dad?", and Selina smiled, "Face it, Poppy, Thomas literally came with you guys, along with Martha...Hearing that he was so pissed off at Rex for me, for Damien...And everything he did before, checking up for me and giving me advice...Thomas is forever my father now, just like Martha is Mom now, even if I already have a mother in Maria, I'm sure she would be fine with that, and is definitely giving Rex hell.", with a vindictive grin for a moment.
Bruce laughed, "Can't argue with that...", and smiled at their son looking at all four of them with curiosity and awe for a moment before resuming his meal on his mama's teat, and Selina smiled, curling her tail over him again, "Our little kitten, Damien Wayne...Poppy, Waylon, we had agreed for Damien as his first name like we said back at Christmas but would you two like to give a middle name?".
Poppy gasped, tears once more falling, "Really?", and Bruce replied, "He may be most of us, but he still got part of you guys...", with a warm smile. Waylon smiled widely, "Give us a moment to talk and agree on something.", gently guiding Poppy to a spot out of earshot as they whispered and talked for a few minutes before they came back with smiles, having agreed on a name.
Waylon replied, "As he's born at night, speaking of which, Dad wrote down 1:07 am for Damien's birth as soon as Poppy felt that he was out, we agreed on a name that related to night, and since he's a unique one, being a dark panther cub/kitten baby, we figured that Damien Hadrian Wayne works, doesn't it?".
"Any particular reason for giving him the middle name of a Roman emperor?", Selina raised an eyebrow. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I like the name, very strong, worthy of an heir and certainly being the child of the Batman...", she glanced over to Bruce.
Bruce replied, "I think what Waylon meant was that Hadrian means dark-haired, and since Damien's bound to be dark-haired as human when he feels ready to change, along with the fact that he's dark-furred as a panther cub aka our kitten, which I believe Poppy pointed out in their little talk, or am I wrong?", glancing at his sister.
Poppy smiled, "You aren't wrong, brother. So?", and Bruce smiled warmly, "I love it...Damian Hadrian Wayne.", his paw-hand gently nuzzling into Damien who purred and mewed, burping, letting go of her mama's teat, done with his first meal as he blinked his eyes sleepily, squirming and crawling on his belly, with attempt of his legs and arms helping along the blankets, heading straightforward for Selina's upper chest and paws, nuzzling into her fur, listening to her heartbeat as a lullaby, falling asleep quickly with a yawn, deep infant breathing.
Selina smiled, wrapping her kitten in her paws, licking him gently once before she rested her head on a pillow nearby, glancing tiredly at Waylon and Poppy, "Thank you, guys...I'd never thank you especially enough for giving Damien the choice to choose me and Bruce, Poppy...Damien Hadrian Wayne is home now...".
"It was a hard decision...", Poppy admitted. "I mean, deep down, I do want all my children back, but... it was their choices and I'm glad that Damien at least wanted to come home, if in slightly different circumstances.".
Bruce smiled at her gently, "And you can still see him every day, and the twins and Jane will be happy to have someone else to play with. The others out there, we may not know what their lives are like, but they do have homes at least. Someday, perhaps, all of us could cross paths with the others, but right now, we are all safe and sound.".
Poppy gave a smile, "Yeah...yeah...I definitely felt the sensations of those painful pangs and such, we will leave you all to rest up, and I'm exhausted too...It has been a crazy day and a long night...Good night, Bruce and Selina. And sweet dreams, Damien.".
Selina smiled tiredly, "Night, guys...", and the couple left the nest, with Bruce kissing and nuzzling Selina's cheek, "Good night, Selina, my amazing Catwoman...I love you...".
"Good night, Bruce, my handsome Batman...I love you...", Selina kissed and nuzzled him back, purring, astounded that Bruce had saved her two times now, with the gunshot down in the caverns during the almost-kidnapping of the twins' egg, and then just several hours ago, with Rex, during his crazed moment of threatening her and Damien, showing that he absolutely loves her, erasing her few doubts that was deep down inside her, especially with Rex being a mark on her past, and now as he's forever gone, forever unable to harm the whole family through her.
She then remembered Rex and Calvin calling her quite a few things, and she decided to twist it back on them, smirking mentally at the imagination of Rex rolling in his grave of ashes, and whispered with still a bit awareness despite wanting to fall asleep, "Bruce Thomas Wayne, father of Damian, will you marry me?", hoping that he isn't upset at her changing tradition.
"Wh-what?", Bruce stammered as he was indeed caught off guard as she chuckled and shook her head, "Will you marry me? I know it's not exactly common for the woman to ask that question, but I never was one too much for traditions...".
Bruce, seeing the absolute sincerity and love in Selina's eyes despite the slight sleepy daze, felt his heart skip a beat, smiling lovingly and warmly as he nodded, "Yes...I will marry you, Selina Kyle, mother of Damien...", kissing her deeply on the lips.
Selina felt somehow more complete than ever, with Damien sleeping in her paws to her heartbeat as his lullaby, and having Bruce so close to her in embrace, as they kissed for a minute before pulling back for air, and Bruce smiled, glancing down at their son, and licked Damien gently on the head, whispering, "We love you, Damien...You are going to be the cutest ringbearer ever...".
Selina gave a soft giggle, "No doubt about it...", before yawning, and resting her head again on the pillow, "We did it, Bruce...He's going to grow up with the most amazing family ever...".
Bruce chuckled, resting his head over her neck, his paws tucked against her side, "That's for sure...", closing his eyes as he trailed off with a content, happy smile, falling asleep to the sound of their son and his fiancée's breathing as she fell asleep quickly like Damien, with the faint sound of the crackling fireplace on work.
And so, after leaving completely of her past, Selina is happy to live in the present, excited for the future, with the cops having figured that the fire in the millhouse was an accidental garage fire that got accelerated with some kind of territorial gunfight, with the surviving yet injured goons protesting that they had Wayne and his pregnant girlfriend as hostage, but with the family at home, they replied that Bruce and Selina had to leave early because Selina was going into labor, and that the money retrieval was for a playhouse on the grounds, along with some of it going into Damien's care of diapers and such.
The territorial gunfight had attracted the She-Hulk's attention along with Batman, and the smoke and the heat must have made the goons hallucinate about a Croc monster or a second She-Hulk, from what the cops figured.
A bit of help from Fate had assisted along secretly, and so, the news of the fire was soon old news, and life at the manor moved on, with Damien learning quickly to shift to human when staff came around on their few days of weekday work, revealing to have still Selina's black hair in fine tufts, a mix of tannish-caramel skin shade from both Selina and Bruce, having Bruce's nose, smile, and Selina's cheekbones. The staff didn't see clearly of Waylon and Poppy's involvement as Damien's eyes had changed to baby blue to fool the staff into thinking that it takes time for them to change color since he's a newborn baby.
Weeks and months passed, with Waylon and Poppy getting married on Waylon's birthday in August, in a beautiful wedding near the woods, with all the family, Fate, Leslie, and Poppy's friends attending, with the twins as flower girl and ringbearer. And then on Selina's birthday in September, she and Bruce got married in a stunning wedding on the rooftop of the manor, with the priest unknowing of the meaning behind that, with Damien as a bubbly, happy ringbearer.
Meanwhile, Batman found Batgirl, and scouted her out, discovering within time that it's Barbara Gordon, and seeing that she needed to be safer than she is, he made sure to supply Batgirl with a way better suit, the Bat-comm only linked to Batman and She-Hulk and Oracle, grateful for the disguise voice adjustors, and mentored her when he has time between being with Selina and Damien and Wayne Entreprises, as even if Poppy is trusting Barbara for being Commissioner Gordon's daughter, the entire family has been wary, especially when it was a couple of years in bad, crazy, and stressful situations, and so, peace went reasonably well for the family in the next eight years, with now occasional appearances of Killer Croc, Alpha She-Hulk, and Delta She-Hulk, and Batman, and Catwoman, and now Batwoman, who was formerly Batgirl, having matured.
"We're home!", a chorus of four kids called out as they entered the Wayne manor, with Jane being 9, the twins being 8 and Damien being 7, looking like healthy, good-looking, and energetic kids.
Caroline laughed as she carried a tray of cookies, "Welcome home! What's the hurry?", and Jane smiled, "There's a carnival just arriving, Ma! Can we go?!", as she grabbed a snickerdoodle.
"Pardon?", Caroline asked in surprise, and Alfred came in, having picked up the kids from school, "They're not kidding, Caroline. Looks like it's setting up for the month. They have asked me already, and I said that all of us have to agree before we say yes.", with a chuckle.
"Didn't think they were into that sort of thing.", Caroline admitted as Alfred chuckled. "Well, you know children, many things can easily excite them so quickly. Wild animals, performances; similar to the zoo, just more...fun.", he smiled.
"What? Is the zoo suddenly boring?", Caroline asked with a look at the children. "Well, most of the animals are just sitting around in their pens for people to watch...", Jane pointed out.
Daphne nodded, "Yeah, they just walk around, sleep, and sit around in their favorite spots between having babies and having simulation of 'wild' playtime, Gramma.", eating one chocolate chip cookie.
Sean replied, "And besides, the carnival got rides and food!", nibbling on a sugar cookie, and Damian added, "I know we can't go on school nights, but they're only staying a month before moving on to the next city. Please, Gramma, can we go every weekend to make the most of it?", pouting as he ate a peanut butter cookie.
Caroline raised an eyebrow, "It's not just up to me, children. But as a start, how about going off to do your homework?", and Sean replied, "You mean, if we do homework before supper instead of leaving it off for the weekends, we might go, Gramma?".
"Hmm.", Caroline only nodded, and the quartet looked at each other, and then they grabbed one more cookie each, before shooting up the stairs in a stampede, with Caroline calling out, "Not in the library with those cookies!".
Jane called out, "We know, Ma! We're heading to our rooms! Thanks, Pops, for picking us up!", before shouts of surprise called out, "Twins!", with Sean and Daphne as one, "Sorry, Mom, Dad! Gotta go finish homework!", with Damien replying, "Ditto! Sorry, Pommy, Waddy! Tell Mama and Papa when they get back from work! Oh, hi, Grandma, Grandpa! Bye!".
"Practically just in and out these days it seems...", Alfred admitted as Caroline chuckled, "They're young, can't keep them held up forever, besides, they'll slow down in a couple of years, they're still really young.".
A warm laugh was heard as Thomas replied, "No argument there.", as he, Martha headed down the stairs next to Poppy and Waylon. Thomas still looks good for his age, slightly more gray hairs here and there, while Martha had to ask for Fate's help to make her dye look natural, having some gray hairs, less than Thomas, but still looking good for her age.
Martha asked, "What was the hurry there?", and Poppy nodded, "Yeah. They aren't exactly excited for homework at times. What's going on?".
"Kinda bribed them to do their homework.", Alfred explained. "Essentially, they want to go to the circus; so obviously, what better way to make them do their homework than dangling a prize for them?".
Waylon nodded, "Oh, that carnival setting up in the west park outside the city. I guess they got infected by the gossip in school about kids wanting to go.", with a chuckle.
Thomas replied, "Well, we'd have to see how our kids do. After all, we only got a few weekends before the carnival moves on. Let me guess, they want to make the most of it?", with a smile.
Caroline chuckled, "Got it on the nose there, Thomas. But of course, we need an all in or out family vote. We will see what Bruce and Selina thinks when they are home from work in a couple of hours.", with a hum.
"Odds are they'll say yes too.", Thomas said. "They're not the type to be killjoys for the children… usually.", he chuckled. "Damien seems like he feels to be the least lucky child with how often Bruce tends to be stern compared to the others.", Martha admitted.
"Hey, he still spoils him as much as I do for the twins!", Poppy defended. Waylon nodded, "Yeah. It's just that we can't blame him for being overprotective since Damien was threatened practically on the day of his birthday.". Alfred hummed, "When are they going to tell him that?", and Poppy shrugged, "I don't know...".