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Bruce is half-dozing in front of the fireplace, Damian on his lap and Tim sitting cross-legged next to him on the couch, typing away on his laptop for school. He doesn’t usually take a midday nap like this, but after dealing with Joker, Mr. Freeze and Firefly all in one night yesterday, he barely got any sleep before dragging himself over to WE today. By the time he finished up there, he was ready to crash when coming home.
However, he was met with the carefully monitored “affection schedule” that Tim had crafted last month. With Jason having recently presented as an alpha, the children had devolved into battle lines between his unpresented pups and his little alphas, each claiming that they weren’t receiving their fair share of quality time with him. As the only omega in the pack, his scent and attention is coveted by the children in a way that Clark’s and Alfred’s aren’t, and with seven pups in the house (and his mate to compete with too), the amount of personal time he can spend with each of them is limited.
Ever the problem solver, Tim devised a sign-up schedule to ensure that they each get what they need, though Bruce has his suspicions that this regimented form of nest time won’t last very long. He and Clark and Alfred have already broken up several arguments about it.
It’s never an issue he had anticipated having as a child, when he and Alfred were just a pack of two. In fact, for many years he had disliked his dynamic, worried that it would make him less effective in the field. But each addition to his family has made him more and more glad to be an omega. It’s given him the opportunity to allow himself the openness to give his children the love and affection they crave from him. When his words and actions failed him, his scent could speak on his behalf, and from there, he slowly learned to express himself more clearly. Dick can attest to the gradual change as Bruce let himself be more demonstrative over the years in reaction to what his pups needed.
The schedule today had him meeting with Tim and Damian in a shared block. While the two boys still had their little tiffs with one another, their recent alliance against their older siblings had strengthened their bond, which Bruce certainly took no issue with.
“Shall we go for a walk around the grounds, look for the squirrel hideout? Or do some skating?” Bruce suggested when Damian latched onto his hand when he arrived home. The youngest were home from school, and Clark had Martha upstairs with him. Duke was entertaining himself in the kitchen with Alfred while waiting for his turn with Bruce.
“But you look tired,” Damian said, a frown marring his little face. Bruce tried to resist the urge to poke his round cheek and failed, causing Damian to bat at him in disapproval. His darling pups were growing too fast. He wished they were all simultaneously small enough for him to hold in his arms at once. They would probably still fight for the best spot.
“You can sleep if you want,” Tim said, squeezing Bruce’s arm. His grip was surprisingly strong for such a thin little thing. Bruce worried he wasn’t getting enough nutrition but Alfred assured him that he used to be small at Tim’s age too. At least Jason’s increasing height reassured Bruce that they hadn’t somehow stunted all their babies’ growth. “Damian hasn’t had his nap yet.”
“I don’t need a nap!”
“Yeah you do, you’ve been practicing dodge rolls all day since coming home from kindergarten.”
“A nap doesn’t sound very interesting for you,” Bruce said.
“It’s okay, I have to work on my social studies project anyway. I’ll stay with you two in the sitting room.”
So that was how they ended up here, Bruce and Damian dozing and Tim curled up next to them, his head resting on Bruce’s arm. The weight of Damian in his lap is grounding, and Tim’s soft strawberry scent lulls him into a trance.
Bruce is close to tipping over the edge into actual sleep when Jason slams into the room at 30 miles per hour.
“Jay?” he asks, startling up, his arms closing around Damian protectively. “Is something wrong?”
“No, dad, you can go back to sleep,” Jason says, smiling sweetly at him before whirling on his brother. “You’ve been gaming the system,” he snarls, pointing at Tim, who blinks impassively back.
“Says who?”
“Says me and Cass and anyone else with a brain. You signed up for double duty for the next two weeks!”
“No, I didn’t. Training blocks, help with schoolwork, nest time and free time are all different.”
“What? No, homework and training are in the same category!”
“You didn’t read the fine print. Homework and physical training are the same, but casework training is separate.”
“Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”
Tim just shrugs. Bruce coughs to avoid laughing.
“So you’re telling me I’ve been getting ripped off this whole time? That’s so unfair! You didn’t even put the rules on here.”
Tim puts his laptop on the coffee table and hops off the couch to grab the schedule from Jason’s hand.
“Did too, they’re on the back under the sign-up instructions. It’s not my fault you don’t know how to turn over a sheet of paper.”
“It’S nOt My fAuLt blah blah blah,” Jason mimics, his voice squeaking high in imitation of his brother, and Tim elbows him.
“You guys have nobody to blame but yourselves!”
“No, you made the frigging thing so the game was rigged from the start. I want double solo nest time to make up for it. Please, dad?” Jason turns and frowns sadly at Bruce, his big eyes so wide, his cute little curls of hair still framing his forehead even though he’s been trying to grow into a “cool” new hairstyle after seeing Dick’s personal fashion choices.
Bruce can feel himself wavering. Jason might be an alpha now, but he’s still Bruce’s little boy. His sweet, protective pup who loved to snuggle in Bruce’s arms long after the alarm clock went off.
“Jason, why don’t we talk about this tonight, when we practice on the ropes-”
“He’s trying to scam you,” Tim says, backing up toward the couch, arms spread as if to shield Bruce from Jason’s approach. “No one gets solo nest time anymore except on birthdays and bad days.”
Ah. This does sound familiar. Bruce had skimmed the scheduling rules, but left their enforcement up to the children to sort out themselves. Anyone caught cheating usually met with swiftly meted justice in the form of a tussle, so he hadn’t yet memorized the new rules.
“Every day is gonna be a bad day if you don’t give in,” Jason warns, rapping his knuckles against the crown of Tim’s head. Tim stands his ground bravely, even as Jason begins grinding his hand into Tim’s hair, mussing it all up.
“Then every day will be my solo nest time, stupid.”
“Well, whatever, I’m just gonna crash your turn then.”
“What happened to ‘only pups in the nest’?” Tim jeers. “I remember someone saying dumb old alphas should stick to stinking up the rest of the house instead.”
“You know that’s a fake rule we made to keep Pa out!”
“Sorry, it’s a what now?” Clark calls from upstairs. Bruce can imagine the amusement on his face; surely he’s been listening in the whole time.
“Nothing!” the boys chorus back in unison. Bruce hides his smile in Damian’s hair. Unfortunately, the sound seems to have woken him, and he squirms in Bruce’s lap, making a face when his brothers continue arguing.
“Boys, can you settle this later?” Bruce asks, helping Damian shift so he can bury his face in Bruce’s neck. “Damian is still napping.”
“No, he’s not,” Jason says. He points at Damian, whose eyes have slit open into a death glare.
“Baba, make him go away,” Damian demands, wrapping his arms tight around Bruce’s waist. He and Jason glower at one another, and Bruce layers the room with a soothing wave of his scent, calling for his boys to all calm down. It actually seems to help a little bit, until Duke and Cassandra come marching into the room, cookies in hand.
“What now,” Tim grumbles, clearly peeved that more and more siblings are appearing by the second.
“Our turn,” Cass says, pointing at the clock on the mantle. “It’s 5 o’clock.”
“‘Our’ turn? You made an alliance with one of them? We agreed that alphas were the enemy!” Tim says, betrayed, and Duke shrugs back.
“Cass always gets her whole time so I figured I should stick with her.” Cassandra nods approvingly, wrapping an arm around Duke’s shoulders.
“Unbelievable,” Tim mutters.
“Is everyone in this house teaming up without me?”
“Come here,” Bruce says, waving Cass and Duke over as Tim and Jason resume their quarrel. He can’t remove Damian from his lap, but he scoots down the couch so Cass can sit on one side and Duke on the other.
“Me and Alfred made you chocolate chip oatmeal,” Duke says, handing Bruce a cookie.
“Thank you, sweetheart,” Bruce replies, leaning in to scent him before leaving a kiss on his forehead. Duke whines, but lets Bruce fuss over him before turning his attention to Cass. She smiles at him, her soft alpha scent spiking when Bruce reaches over to groom her. She lets him brush her dark hair with his fingers, wiggling happily when he presses his wrist to her neck. Damian pouts a bit over the attention they’re getting, but he calms down when Bruce gives him Duke’s cookie.
“But that was for you, dad,” Duke complains.
Bruce chuckles, pulling him into a one-armed hug. “I’ll grab another one after dinner. You know your brother loves his sweets.”
“Yeah.” Duke prods at Damian’s cheek as he eats his cookie and gets kicked at by Damian’s little leg.
“What would you two like to do?”
“Murder mysteries,” they announce in unison, which means another Miss Marple marathon.
“Alright, to the television room, then.”
“Wait!” Tim interrupts, putting a hand on Bruce’s knee before he can stand. “Dami and I weren’t done yet!”
“Why don’t you come and join us? There’s plenty of room on the couch for all of us.”
But Tim pouts. “I guess, but it isn’t fair that Jay sucked up all our time.”
“Oh, like you don’t break the rules too,” Jason says. “Like when you bring Steph over!”
“She isn’t even pack,” Duke agrees, and Tim folds his arms defensively.
“Steph is basically pack. Her mom’s a beta and her dad is a beta and a loser, so Dad is the only omega she has.”
“Yeah, but Dad’s busy enough with just us!”
“I like Steph,” Cass volunteers, drawing a betrayed look from Duke.
“Cass!”
She just shrugs back, causing Damian to wrinkle his nose in disgust.
“No outsiders! Your time is ours.”
“Well, right now it’s mine,” Duke says, tugging at Bruce’s hand. “And Cass’, even though she’s a Steph supporter.”
“I wanna make it clear that I am not a Steph supporter, if anyone wants to make an alliance,” Jason announces.
“And I want to say that Stephanie is always welcome here,” Bruce clarifies before they can really start fighting about it. “Now, I’m going to the television room, if any of you plan to join. I would love to see you all there.” He stands, letting Damian slide off his lap.
It seems for a moment like they’ve all decided to tag along with him, so Bruce starts to mentally congratulate himself for defusing the situation, when the doors swing open again.
One last combatant has come to enter the fray.
“What’s up, everybody?” Dick asks brightly as he waltzes into the room. Everyone besides Bruce begins growling at him, which he soundly ignores.
“Now Dick too? It isn’t even his day!”
“Who invited you here?”
“Hi, B,” Dick says, skipping over to rub his cheek against Bruce’s. He doesn’t seem to notice Damian and Duke trying to push him away.
“Welcome back, chum,” Bruce says, pulling Dick into a hug. His eldest is so big now, almost eighteen and ready to build his own pack soon. The time he spends with the Titans has helped him grow into an admirable leader, but sometimes it makes Bruce’s heart hurt to know he’s grown up so much.
“Missed me?”
“Hm,” Bruce says, though his scent speaks volumes. Dick beams back, and leans up on his tip-toes to give Bruce a peck on the forehead.
“You don’t even live here!” Jason screeches at the sight. “Get out of our house!”
“It’s still my house too!” Dick says, dancing out of the way as Jason tries to grab him. “Whoa there, Little Wing, gotta be faster than that to catch me!”
“Come back here!”
“Richard,” Damian growls in his little six year old voice. “Leave this place!”
Dick pouts as he continues evading Jason’s attacks. “Aw, c’mon, Dami, I just wanted to come see my baby brothers and sisters again-”
“No, you’ve come to steal baba away!”
“Go home,” Cass agrees. Bruce can tell that the alpha scents in the room all warring with one another are starting to make the younger kids antsy.
“Yowch, when did you all get so mean? You know, I think I should get triple super special bonding time with B because you’re all bullying me-”
Bruce sighs as everyone begins trying to capture Dick, his sunny laughter filling the hall as he leads them on a merry goose-chase out of the room. At this rate they’ll be tussling until Alfred calls them for dinner.
He exits the room as well, and sees Clark descending the stairs with Martha in his arms.
“Came down to see what all the ruckus was about.”
“The usual. I can’t tell if the schedule is making things better or worse.”
“I think they’re going to argue regardless, especially as more and more of them present. You’re a very hot commodity,” Clark says, leaning in to kiss Bruce on the cheek.
“Daddy,” Martha trills, and Bruce smiles at her as he takes her off Clark’s hands.
“Hi, honey. Did you have fun with papa today?”
“Yeah! But I want storytime now, please,” she says, hands clasped together politely just like Clark would do. Her soft pink cheeks and wild black curls are very reminiscent of Clark in his baby pictures, though she has Bruce’s gray eyes and his mother’s nose. He hopes, selfishly, that she doesn’t grow too big too quickly, so that he can hold her for a long while yet. Damian is still on the smaller side, but Talia’s stature is much more petite than Clark’s, so Bruce doesn’t know what to expect. Though, he supposes he should be more concerned about when her powers start to come in.
“Sure thing. Let’s go to the library.” He and Clark begin walking down the hall together, as the sounds of their children shrieking and fighting bounce off the walls.
“Should I rescue you?” Clark asks, his smile turning wry when Bruce gives him a look of despair.
“Unless you can clone me, I’m not sure anything will help.”
“I’ll think of something. Put your faith in Superman; I haven’t let you down yet, have I?”
“Never.”
“I’ve gotta give Lois a quick call, but I’ll follow up afterwards.”
“Sounds good.”
Clark gives Bruce a quick kiss before striding off, leaving Bruce and Martha on their own.
“Alright, angel, what do you want to read today?”
“Snow White!”
“A princess just like you, hm?”
“No, daddy,” Martha giggles. “You can be Snow White. I wanna be the Evil Queen.”
“Oh. Well, sure, why not.”
Bruce has only just settled into the big armchair that his father always favored, Martha in his lap and book in hand, when the tornado of pups storms the library.
“Dad! They’re so annoying!”
“Tell Jay that he can’t just bite people all the time!”
“Tell Duke he should be biting more people!”
“Dick ruined the schedule!”
“Slow down,” he commands, as they all push and prod each other in an attempt to reach him first. “And keep your hands to yourself. I don’t want any of you crashing into your sister.”
“But baba-”
“Everybody sit,” he says sternly, pointing to the floor until they obey, lining up like ducks in a row. “No more arguing until after dinner. Martha and I are having story time, if you want to stay. Otherwise, go play outside or take your sparring down to the cave. Not you two,” he tells Duke and Damian, who look like they want to protest, but know better. Although none of them looks especially pleased, they all remain seated.
Dick, sitting on his knees, raises a hand. “Can we read Goodnight Moon?”
“No. Martha requested Snow White. Would you like to stay with me, or sit with them?” he asks her.
“I want Jayjay.”
“Sure,” Bruce says, handing her off to Jason, who mutters under his breath, “Ha. Good taste.”
Under Bruce’s evil eye, all of his cute hellions remain placid and peaceful for the duration of Snow White. They even help him do the voices for the seven dwarves, much to Martha’s delight.
But the second he closes the book, he can see each of his pups practically vibrating with the restless need to yell about their siblings.
“You know,” he says after clearing his throat, “it would be wonderful if we could return to the way things used to be. You used to be so good about sharing the nest. What happened to my nice, sweet pups?”
“We got bigger,” Cass explains, the others nodding with fervor, and Bruce regards them morosely, wondering where all the time went. Soon they’ll be out of his nest forever, having spent the remainder of their time with him fighting with each other.
“Maybe you should stop.”
“I don’t think that’s physically possible,” Duke says gently, and Bruce sighs.
“I suppose not. Alright, we’re reading Cinderella next.”
Martha lets out a cheer, while the others look a little surprised but make no move to leave the room. Bruce forces them to listen to Cinderella, then the Princess and the Pea, then Beauty and the Beast. They’re in the middle of Sleeping Beauty when Clark enters the room, his knuckles knocking against the wooden door to announce his arrival.
“Hey there. Sorry to interrupt, but Alfred says that dinner is ready.”
The majority of the children leap to their feet, either extremely hungry or finally tired of Bruce’s fairytale hour. Unfortunately, this also signals the beginning of their fighting again.
“I have the after dinner block,” Dick announces, leading Cass to vigorously shake her head.
“No. Duke and I didn’t go.”
“Well, maybe you two should’ve stayed with B instead of chasing me around the house!”
“Aw, c’mon, that’s not fair!”
“What about my time?” Clark asks from the doorway, and they all whirl on him in annoyance.
“You already have enough time together as it is!”
“You sleep next to dad every night!”
“You two hold hands and kiss and cuddle every day! Isn’t that enough for you? Don’t be greedy!”
“Not my time with Bruce,” Clark laughs. He enters the library, stopping to lean against a bookshelf. “My time with you. You all squabble so much about monopolizing your dad that you forget about your poor old pops. I miss doing things with my children. I feel like I hardly see most of you these days.”
He smiles at them, waiting patiently as their expressions grow sheepish and guilty. It’s impossible not to want to make it up to him; Bruce has fallen victim to it countless times.
Tim finally steps forward. “I did wanna finish our puzzle…”
“And we never got to build our fort,” Jason remembers. Martha, looped over Jason’s shoulders, declares, “Fort,” in agreement.
“Well, if we build the fort in my office, we can work on both at once. How ‘bout it? After dinner, we can gather up pillows and blankets, anything you haven’t put in your dad’s nest.”
“Awesome.”
“I want to join too, Father,” Damian says, coming to tug at Clark’s sleeve.
“Of course, buddy,” Clark says, lifting him onto his hip. “Now, c’mon, we’d better get before we test Alfred’s patience.”
He exits the library with Damian, and their pups quickly follow, desperate not to be scolded by Alfred for being late. And just like that, the pack is at peace again. It’s that classic Clark Kent magic.
Bruce brings up the rear of the group, tugging on Cass and Duke’s collars when they make to hurry after their siblings.
“Looks like we’ve got the time for murder mysteries after all,” Bruce tells them. They beam at him, Cassandra lacing her fingers with his and Duke grabbing Bruce’s wrist to drag them forward.
Clark gives him a wink when Bruce is pulled into the dining room and promptly abandoned as the children run to their seats.
“Superman never fails,” Bruce murmurs as he passes by, his hand sweeping out to squeeze Clark’s.
“And you’re oh-so-grateful for his help, aren’t you, Mr. Wayne?”
“Always. I’ll show you how much, later.”
“Stop flirting and sit down,” Dick heckles, leading Bruce to pinch his cheek on the way to his seat.
His rambunctious pups sit politely long enough to thank Alfred for dinner, and then start loudly chit-chatting among themselves, making plans, telling jokes, and starting old fights. Already, new alliances seem to be forming, if Damian and Jason’s handshake means anything. Bruce smiles to himself as he prepares Martha’s plate, causing her to pat his hand.
“Are you happy, daddy?” she asks, echoing his smile when he kisses her forehead.
“Very much, angel.”
Who wouldn’t be happy, with such a lovely pack?