Chapter Text
The white glow from the sun seeped through the large glass windows that covered the wall of the apartment, lighting the space up as the residents went about their days, as a day as sunny as that was weird to find in Gotham; many went down to the beach, others took a walk down the park, kids skipped school to hang out, and adults stared with envy and reminiscence as they saw them. In the tallest and most expensive apartment complex in the North district of Gotham, in the tallest floor, stood a tall woman, with waist length red curls and tan skin, in her arms, a young boy, with skin tan yet lighter than that of the woman who held him, his eyes a bright blue-green. Mother and son floated in front of the window, knowing they were made so nobody could look into the apartments and their apartment was at the tallest floor, so nobody could see them; only some feet away, a little girl was sleeping inside a playpen, her hair black and looking like a bird's nest as she breathed in and out. The woman laughed and giggled as her son cooed and squealed at the energy and light from the sun that his skin absored; the little girl almost looked like a cat, as the pen was placed in front of the window so the sun would hit her. The woman was publicly known as Kory Anders, she was a Tamaranean, a race of aliens that were native to the planet of Tamaran, her real name was Koriand'r and went by the alias of Starfire; her children, Mar'i Grayson and Jacob Grayson, were both only half Tamaranean, as their father, Richard Grayson, was a human, his human DNA showing in their less orange toned skin and their black hair. The apartment they were in didn't belong to either Kory nor Dick, but it belonged to Kory's brother in law, Damian Wayne, who currently sat on one of the armchairs in the apartment, holding a copy of "Wuthering heights" as he took in the warmth of the sun.
"Is the novel good?" Kory hummed, as her son cheered and smiled at his mother, who held her arms out to make her son seem like he was flying.
"It is" Damian answered, his green eyes leaving the sight of his sister in law and nephew, going back to his book "I have to admit, she's better than most English writers I was made to read in my fickle time in Gotham Academy."
Jake cheered and squaled, kicking his legs and swinging his arms around; asking to go higher. Kory did as asked, though shushing her son to remind him of her sister, it was hard getting Mar'i to sleep, so this was a miracle, and threw her son in the air, catching him before doing it again. Thankful for the tall ceiling and her daughter's heavy sleep.
"That good?" Kory asked, turning to look at the man.
"Mhm" Was his response.
"Is that the reason why you've been stuck in the same page for the past five minutes?" She asked, a smile in her face as Damian turned to look at her.
Usually, Damian would've glared at her for such a comment, there would be no actual anger, only annoyance at being caught, but this time, he did not seem angry or bemused or even annoyed, he looked almost defeated, as if he knew he was caught and didn't want to try and escape.
"What's wrong?" Kory asked, floating down to stand up, holding the still cheering Jake in her arms.
Damian sighed, using a bookmark to mark a page before he closed his book, leaving it on a coffee table before he turned to look at Kory. Despite Mar'i always fighting against her sleep schedule, once she was asleep, waking her up was a hard task.
"I know you... already spoke of this" He motioned to her and her children. "During Grayson's pregnancy, but... When did grayson decide to take a pregnancy test?"
"Well" Kory hummed, thinking back to her mate's pregnancy.
Kory, being a tamaranean, did not follow the same cast levels as they did on Earth, in Tamaran, everyone was Intersex, an evolutionary trait to combat the many instances in which they almost became extinct. When she came here, she was confused as to why only some people were intersex and others weren't, and when she heard about Betas, Alphas and Omegas she was even more confused; thankfully, the Teen Titans were patient enough to answer all her questions, even if sometimes they were invasive. Dick was one of the few Omega heroes of the time, so Kory often went to him for any questions she had.
"With Mar'i it was because of a routine check up, Dick went in just to see what was going on with his body after quitting heat suppressants, the blood test told us he was expecting." She remembers that very fondly, Dick freaked out a lot. "With Jake it happened because he started getting shorter and shorter heats, so he realized what was going on relatively quickly."
Damian stared with a fond smile, though he did seem to falter in it.
"Why the sudden curiosity? Oh! Does Suren think he's pregnant?" Kory inquired with joy.
As a way to join both of the Leagues, Ra's had decided to wed Mara with Suren, Mara was the only one willing to become heir to the League, after Nyssa sadly passed away. Talia was never a candidate to become the future Ra's, given how compassionate she was, and after Damian grew up, he was both uninterested and too busy to become Ra's, thus, Mara gladly took the spot. He had become a veterinarian, opening a total of three vet clinics in Gotham, as well as seven animal shelters and a zoo/sanctuary that often hosted schools to teach about animals and conservation. Damian often rotated working and overlooking his clinics, shelters and the sanctuary, wanting to monitor that everything was being handled correctly, most days he worked from home, looking over mating pairings between the endangered animals in his sanctuary and animals from other sanctuaries, looking over the amount of medical supplies their had and needed, the stocks, and other factors.
"No, they don't want to have children just yet." Damian cleared up.
"Then what is the-" Kory halted in her words, staring at Damian as if she knew something, and judging by Damian's slowly shrinking frame, she was right "Are... Are you-"
"I have a feeling" Damian interrupted, his anxiety clear in his voice "I just... My heat lasted two days instead of a week, and and I've been getting dizzy lately and sometimes I feel nauseous when I smell oats but I haven't been throwing up so I think maybe it's just anxiety and-"
"Damian, Damian, it's okay" Kory interrupted his ramble, talking softly as she slowly approached Damian.
She sat down in the armchair near Damian, softly laying her hands on top of Damian's.
"First, tell me, did you take a test?" She asked gently.
"No" Damian sighed "I... I'm scared of the answer"
She frowned.
"The positive or negative answer?" She inquired.
Damian seemed to consider an answer momentarily, before he spoke.
"I guess both" He shrugged with guilt "I mean, if I am pregnant then that means I am screwing Jon over with a baby at 23 when he only barely got a promotion at work and is working overtime to separate himself from Clark and Lois' names. If I'm not pregnant then it'll be fine, because we're not even engaged but..." He looked down at his hands.
Kory sent a reassuring smile.
"You want a child" She hummed.
Damian looked back up at her, guilt now clear in his expression.
"Isn't it selfish of me?" He asked "I have a slight feeling about being pregnant and already come up with so many ideas, and I don't even consider the fact that Jon may not be ready for a child"
"It sounds like you are considering that possibility" Kory pointed out "You yourself said it, you're worried he's too young, his position in his job is still unstable, he may not be ready. You're considering the negatives. But what if he wants this child?"
"And what if he says he wants it to make me feel better?" Damian retorted "I mean, we're talking about the guy who moved to Gotham because I was worried for the health of my father and drives an hour everyday to go to work"
"Damian" Kory sighed "Jon didn't do those things to make you happy, and he didn't do it because he's willing to suffer for your happiness. He stayed here because he thought it was overkill to have four Kryptonians in a city were almost nothing happens. In fact, if I remember correctly, he moved here before anyone was worried about Bruce's health"
Damian tried to argue, but found nothing in himself to fight Kory's words. Sighing, he closed his eyes and surrendered. Kory smiled as she knew she had won.
"Okay, now" She spoke up "First things first, you need to take a test. I doubt it's a good idea for us to go out, considering you know, our identities" Yeah, the headlines about Damian Wayne or Kory Anders buying a pregnancy test were already appearing in his head "So, we'll buy some online and I'll receive them. Okay?"
Damian nodded, as Kory went into her phone. With their living arrangement it may be doubtful to bring a child into their world, but it would be only temporary, their house had been destroyed during a fight, thankfully, Mar'i was at Kara's playing with Ariella at the time, so it was fine. Jake had been put down for his nap, just as Mar'i was woken up from her own; they were staying at Damian's apartment until their house was built again, not wating to stay with Bruce, since he was known for spoiling his grandkids, even going as far as buying Mar'i a horse and a pony when she was a few months old. Jason and Roy's apartment was definitely not a place to consider since they were both getting used to being parents, now that Jason had given birth to a beautiful girl. Cassie and Steph were late in Steph's pregnancy, and the baby was expected to come by any minute now, so they wanted to let them have their privacy. Barb and Zatanna were somewhere in another plane on a magical mission with their son, Duke and Isabella sadly had no room in their apartment, already full with themselves and their son and Tim and Bernard were enjoying a nice vacation in Hawaii with their children, who they had adopted. Their house would be done in about three months or so, so they would be able to go back soon. Damian laid a hand on his stomach, it still felt normal, after all he would probably be about a month in, maybe two, especially if he measured it counting from his last heat. Meaning he was definitely going to be able to pass it as simple weight gain for now.
It was thirty minutes later that Kory went down and accepted the bag from the pharmacy, since the delivery boy was just that, a delivery boy, he didn't know the contents of the bag, thus there was no risk of the media finding out and getting it out before Damian could even know if he was really pregnant or not. In those thirty minutes, Kory called Kara and had her and Ariella come to Gotham to pick Mar'i up and go out to the park, telling Kara that some personal things were going on and that she would tell her later; While Mar'i was half Alien, she still didn't show any powers, which Clark attributed to her hybrid nature, as Jon himself didn't get his powers until he was ten years old. Damian also drank as much fluid as he could, as he had asked Kory to get at least five tests, just to make sure. Kory's whole body wasn't even in the apartment before Damian snatched the bag and ran to the bathroom, locking the door behind him as he did a quick work of his pants and underwear. While Damian deposited his urine in the sticks, Kory stood outside, talking to Damian to ensure he was calm and wasn't stressing himself into a hole.
"Whatever the tests say, you need to know that it'll be fine, if they're negative that means you still have time with Jon to prepare for this" She laid her head on the wall, right next to the photo of a younger Damian holding a puppy Titus, the picture had a date in the corner, the date Titus passed away "And if it's positive, then that means you'll just need to talk to Jon and see where to go from there"
"Kory, not that I don't want help, but I don't really want to talk while I'm emptying my bladder" Damian huffed, sounding scared, for which Kory let the comment slide.
Finally, after the three minutes were up, Damian emerged from the bathroom, his hands shaking as his eyes filled with tears.
"I-It" He tried to speak, but was interrupted by sob.
Kory was quick to hug her brother in law and ex protégé, letting him sob into her chest as she softly took the tests out of his hands, holding them to let her see the results. And all five tests, showed two lines.