Chapter Text
For all the things my hands have held, the best by far is you
If I could fly then I would know
What life looks like from up above and down below
I'd keep you safe, I'd keep you dry
Don't be afraid, Cecilia, I'm the satellite
And you're the sky
Ceceillia and the Sattelite by Andrew McMahon
Parents || Discovery
Damian Wayne sighed as he set his phone down and looked at the painting in front of him. He smield to himself, the likeness between the photo he had taken of Daniel and the painting were uncanny. It had taken him weeks now to get his boyfriend to agree to let him paint a picture of him in his ghost form but now that he had gotten the permission, well all the pleading had been worth it.
The painting of Danny floating up into a tree surrounded by flowers and a bright smile on his face would be a vision that Damian would cherish for the rest of his existence.
He and Danny had been dating for just a little over six months now and every day so far had been perfect if Damian was going to say so himself. The two had managed to balance one another perfectly. Danny was all fun and adventure whereas Damian was more organized and practical. He managed to keep Danny from failing all of his classes at Gotham University and in return, Danny helped him live a little.
They had met in Damian’s art class. Danny was a current English student at Gotham University whereas Damian was an art student, so they would have never really crossed paths. Except Danny had apparently needed some extra money that semester and had taken a job as a model for Damian’s art class. It had been a semester of torture where Danny would shamelessly flirt with him as he stripped down to his birthday suit to pose in front of the class. It was as though he could tell that Damian found the idiot attractive and did everything he could to make the poor vigilante blush like a bumbling virgin.
At the end of each class period, though, Danny would approach Damian and talk and laugh with him. They had found themselves building a friendship together. They would get lunch every Thursday between classes. Damian would walk Danny back to his dorm most nights as his art class ran from seven in the evening until nine and as a good and noble vigilante that Damian was, he used that as an excuse to walk Danny to his dorm each night.
And after the final class of their fall semester, Danny had come up to Damian and shyly asked him to go out with him on a real date. Damian had become absolutely smitten at that point. They had gone to get dinner in Bludhaven so that Damian’s meddling siblings wouldn’t catch them. As much as he loved his family, Danny was not something he was quite yet ready to share with his family. He wanted to hold Danny tight to his chest and keep him away from the insanity that was the Wayne family.
It was after their third date that Danny had started behaving strange and nervous with Damian and it was during their weekly lunch date that had been moved to Mondays for their Spring semester that Danny had admitted that he needed to share a secret with Damian.
That night Damian had been dragged to Danny’s tiny two bedroom apartment in the burrows at the beginning of their Spring semester and had learned Danny’s secret status as a halfa. He had been half dead for six years at that point and had decided that if he and Damian were going to go any further in their relationship then he had to be honest about it.
Damian had taken that as his chance to share his own secret with Danny. He had done the thing his family had told him to never do and told the civilian that really wasn’t a civilian if Damian thought about it, that he was Robin, the vigilante. Danny had whined relentlessly that it was just his luck that he, a former vigilante would somehow find himself dating a vigilante now that he was an adult.
Damian had just chuckled and kissed Danny’s whines away, feeling light and at ease knowing that at least his beloved would understand what it meant to be a hero. Danny had been amazing about it, too. He had accepted that Damian would have late nights, that there would be days where he was sore and unable to do much. He would just have Damian come to his apartment and dote on him. He would create ice packs to chill Damian’s sore muscles, he would hold him tight on nights where Damian had failed to save someone and gave Damian the love and attention he needed and desired.
He hadn’t realized just how emotionally constipated his family was until he had met Danny. Until he had learned about cuddle times and had gotten to experience the joys of dancing in the hallways to Andrew McMahon, Danny’s favorite singer when his songs would come on the radio that Danny had playing at all hours of the day. It was with Danny that he had finally learned that crying was okay, that he could cry when he was frustrated, that bottling things up could lead to his downfall. Danny had taught him what it was like to be human, something Damian would have never expected from someone who was barely human himself.
It was with Danny that Damian had learned just what love was. That it wasn’t this fragile, delicate thing that you had to constantly protect. At least not with Danny. Danny’s love was fierce and strong. His love was what kept Damian’s nightmares at bay at night. Danny was the one who Damina found himself going to when he needed comfort, when he needed someone to just listen to his problems without trying to solve all of them for him. Danny was everything that Damian needed in a partner and he couldn’t have been more thankful to find him.
He had been what Danny needed too, from what Danny had told him. In the time that they had known one another he had learned quite a bit about Danny. How he had never gotten the stability he needed growing up. How he had never felt like he could rely on anyone in his family, not even his sister. He loved Jazz but even their relationship had grown distant with her sister constantly making Danny feel inferior or like he didn’t know as much as she did. His parents had been so obsessed with their inventions that they hadn’t even noticed their son had died for four years. According to Danny they hadn’t even noticed when he started transitioning to a man. They had to be told he was trans eventually because Jazz was losing her mind over the fact that the two just didn’t notice.
It wasn’t until Danny had packed up to move to Gotham for college that they had even learned about him being Phantom. And their relationship had just gotten even worse from there. He got Christmas cards and birthday cards, and a call every so often but that was the extent of their relationship. Jazz called to check up on him every so often but from what it sounded like they weren’t the best phone calls between the two of them.
But it was okay, Damian was here for him. He provided Danny with the stability and comfort that he needed. He was here to be the rock when Danny needed to crumble and not be strong. He provided Danny with the things he had grown up without, just like Danny did for him.
Their relationship wasn’t perfect, no far from it! They were still just two twenty year olds in their third year of college trying to navigate the world. Danny worked a lot at his job at the Gotham University library where he was a writing tutor plus his second job at the coffee shop. Unlike Damian he didn’t have family to pay for college and had managed to secure enough scholarships to cover what his government aid wouldn’t. But he still had to pay for his apartment, something he had desperately wanted after being unable to shift to his Phantom form at his dorm room for so long. It didn’t help that Danny vehemently refused to allow Damian to pay for anything for him, citing that he had no desire to be a sugar baby.
Between classes, Danny’s two jobs, and Damian’s job as Robin, the two were unable to spend nearly as much time together as Damian wanted and it had caused issues in the past. But that was fine, they were always able to move past that.
They loved one another and love would get them through just about anything.
Damian wiped his hands on his rag as he looked around. He was currently in Danny’s apartment, waiting for the other to get back from his job at the coffee shop so that they could leave for dinner. It had happened about a month ago when Danny gave Damian a key to his apartment, citing that he wanted to give Damian a place to escape from his family when he needed. Which was appreciated.
Damian loved his family and he thoroughly enjoyed living at the manor where he had nothing to worry about but the older he got he needed more space. And Danny’s apartment provided him with that space, and if there were a few drawers that were emptied so that Damian could store his things there? Well no one needed to know about it aside from him and Danny.
The doorbell rang, sounding throughout the room, causing Damian to frown as he set his paint rag down and started out of the bedroom Danny used as his study room/office and made his way to the door, grabbing one of his birdarangs just to be on the safe side. Danny hadn’t said anything to him about expecting guests.
He hadn’t said anything about anyone coming over, no packages, nothing of the sort. Damian looked through the peephole and his frown deepened when he found his mother standing on the otherside with what looked like a baby carrier in her hands.
He swung the door open and frowned. “Mother, what are you doing here?”
She grinned and stepped into the house, pushing past Damian as she did so.
“Oh Habibi! It has been so long since I’ve seen your precious face,” she crooned, setting the carrier down to throw her arms out and hug Damian. The former assassin simply took a step back and gave his mother a look.
“What are you doing here?” He asked, crossing his arms over his chest, giving her a clear view of his weapon.
She sighed and picked up the carrier once more. “I learned you were in a relationship with another man! I have brought you a gift to celebrate!” She said, thrusting the carrier into Damian’s hands. “I know that men cannot have children with other men, so I made you a child! One that is a clone of both you and Mr. Fenton.”
“Mother! You cannot just make us a child,” he hissed just as Danny walked through the door and looked between the two. Talia turned to look at Danny and grinned.
“And you are the young man that my son is so smitten with!” she exclaimed. Damian sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. His mother had been doing everything she could to get back into Damian’s good graces the last few years and her displays of affection were steadily growing more and more over the top but this took the cake. To make him and Danny a baby to care for?
They had only been dating for six months! Had only known one another for a year! They weren’t ready for a child, not yet anyway!
“Babe? What’s going on? Why do you have a baby?” Danny asked slowly, looking between Talia, Damian, and the baby carrier.
“My mother thought that as our six month anniversary we were ready to raise a child together. She assumed that as we were both men, we would be unable to procreate and too matters into her own hands.”
Danny stared at him for a moment, and Damian could tell that his mind was doing mental gymnastics. “But I’m-”
“Yes, I know Daniel. But mother did not and she decided to be meddling,” he said, glaring at his mother.
“What are you talking about?” Talia asked, looking between the two. “You are both men, how else would you be able to get a child with that in the way?”
“Do not worry about that mother, just know that it was not necessary,” Damian hissed before Danny let out a curse.
“This is the second time a fruit loop made a clone of me!” he whined, coming over to take the baby carrier from Damian. He carried the baby out of the room, leaving both Damian and his mother to stare behind him in confusion. Daniel had never told him he had been cloned before? How did he forget to mention such an important piece of information?
…
Danny and Damian soon found themselves staring at a sleeping little girl. She looked to be roughly three months old by Damian’s calculations, he held his intertwined hands at his mouth as he looked over the little girl.
“She has your nose,” Danny said softly, pushing the visor back on the carrier so that they could better look at her.
“She has your mouth,” Damian murmured, unable to look away from the precious little girl in front of him. She had only been in Danny’s apartment for an hour and already Damian was in love with her.
“How are we going to raise a baby?” Danny asked with a sigh, running his fingers through his hair.
“We will coparent, of course,” Damian said with a scoff.
“No offense baby, but you still haven’t even told your family about me. What are they going to do when you come home with a whole ass baby?”
“What if,” Damian started, his heart speeding up just a bit as he prepared to ask the question he had been wanting to ask Danny for the last two months. “What if I just moved in with you and we raised her together here? You have that second bedroom, we can clear it out and turn it into a nursery. I can pay half of the utilities and rent, then you will be able to quit your job at the coffee shop. Our class schedules are already opposite from one anothers with your classes in the morning and mine in the evening,” Damian said.
“Yeah but you do that so you can sleep in after patrol,” Danny pointed out.
Damian shrugged his shoulders. “I have gone years with running on minimal hours of sleep. I will survive while we complete the last year and a half of our studies. We start classes in a few weeks, we have some time to get started on a routine with her and we will go from there.”
“And if there is any overlap in our schedules?”
“Other students bring their children with them to class all the time, we can do the same,” Damian said simply. “We can do this, Danny. If anyone can do this, it’s us.”
Danny nodded and looked at the baby. “I know you said your mother was part of an assassin cult, but I didn’t realize that meant she knew how to make clones. Also, how did she get my DNA?”
“She’s an assassin, I do not know,” Damian said and shrugged his shoulders. “And yes, mother has a tendency to make clones of me, usually they are sent with the mission to kill me. This is the first time she has create a clone of me that is simply meant to be my child.”
“Oh cool! I had a clone made of me by my godfather to kill me!” Danny said with a grin.
Damian let out a soft chuckle as he leaned over and rested his head on Danny’s shoulder. “I love you, you goofball.”
Danny laughed and kissed the top of Damian’s head. “I love you too,” he said softly. “You’re going to have to tell your family that you’re moving out of the house you know.”
“I know and they are going to have far too many questions that I am not interested in answering,” he huffed out.
His boyfriend simply snickered again and kissed the top of Damian’s head once more before resting his cheek upon it.
“She looks like a Damiana,” he joked. Damian crinkled his nose.
“Absolutely not. Our daughter needs a more sophisticated name. My grandmother’s name was Martha.”
“That’s na old lady’s name, we’re not naming our baby Martha,” Danny said, taking Damian’s hand and winding their fingers together. “What about Hannah?”
“No, doesn’t suit her. What about Dahlia? It is a flower and –”
“Reminds me of the black dahlia and a little too close to your mother’s name. Which, I don’t know if I should be mad at her for cloning me without my consent, or thank her because now I have an adorable baby that I have no clue how to raise. Oh my ancients, Dami, we’re going to have to buy parenting books! Both of us were raised with terrible parents! Talia is an assassin who raised her own baby to be one, Bruce is an emotional consitpated vigilante who allowed all of his children to become vigilantes before the age of fourteen! My parents weren’t that bad but they were neglectful as shit and I ended up being raised by my sister instead! Neither of us know how to be a parent.”
“We can get parenting books, not to worry,” Damian laughed. “What about Cecilia? After that song you like?”
Danny let out a hum. “I like it, Cecilia Grace, maybe?” He asked. “Cecilia Grace Fenton Wayne. What a fuckin’ mouthful.”
Damian chuckled. “I like it, Cecilia Grace,” he whispered before Danny shrugged him off of his shoulder and leaned forward. Damian watched as Danny unclasped the buckles and pulled the sleeping girl out of the seat and cradled her close to his chest. A soft purr escaped from Danny, making Damian smile at the little display of his ghost side.
“Hi Cecilia, I’m your daddy,” Danny whispered, running a hand over the head full of black curls. “And this is your-”
“Your papa,” Damian decided, not wanting his child to grow up with the same rules he did. She would never call either of them father, she needed to call them something more comforting, more familial and less stiff and proper.
Danny glanced over at him, a soft red painted his cheeks. “She’s perfect, Dami,” he whispered, running his hand over her hair once more. “We have so much to figure out.”
“And we will, we will figure all of this out together,” Damian said, wrapping his arm around his boyfriend’s waist and resting his chin on Danny’s shoulder so that he could look down at the little girl, at his daughter. He couldn’t believe this was happening, but here they were with a small baby between them and the very beginning stages of building their own little family.
Now he just needed to figure out hwo he was going to announce to his family that he was abruptly moving out of the manor to move in with his boyfriend and daughter without arising suspicion from his family. This wasn’t how he was planning on doing this.
He thought he would get to tell his family he was in a relationship, bring Danny over for dinner and let them get to meet him that way. Maybe they would date for a few more months before Damian finally got the guts to ask Danny if he could move in, and then the two would look for a new apartment when Danny’s lease was up.
Of course, things did not always happen the way someone expected them to. They rarely did go according to plan in Damian’s life, at least. But at least this instance, it ended with a perfect little gift.