Daigo found her standing in the nursery, one of the girls clasped in her arms to enjoy a meal. The assassin studied his wife for a moment, expression truly awed at the sight of the witch at work ; she was the best mother he had ever known ― to all creatures she chose to care for. Their littlest imps were certainly captivated with her ( something Daigo could wholly sympathize with ).
He moved into the room after a moment and stepped behind her. Daigo wound his arms around Melissa, gently pulling her against his torso. His hands settled atop the swell of her stomach under the bundle in her grasp, stroking at it lovingly. Daigo leaned in to decorate the side of her neck with lingering kisses as he murmured her name softly. Oh, he loved her, more than he could ever express in this lifetime. It was lucky their spirits were so fiercely bound that they would remain together in Hell ( so Melissa insisted ) : it was going to take Daigo the rest of Time itself to tell the exquisite witch trapped in his embrace how much she meant to him.
"Eight," Daigo muttered into her pale skin, cupping her belly. "It's perfect, Melissa. ― and four spiderlings this close together. I must have died and entered the fires already ; no man can be allowed so many gifts from our hellish Princes and still draw breath." The assassin hummed delightedly, reveling in the feel of her after being parted for a short while. He had volunteered ( as with the last two months ) to put their other four children to bed while Melissa tended to the babies. It was easier for him to kneel beside baths and chase run - away devils at the moment.
"You're beautiful, Melissa," Daigo added. "Even Hecate herself couldn't compare." With a final press of his lips to her shoulder, the assassin parted from his wife. His dark gaze swept over the four cribs in the room before it returned to her. That they would all be occupied when their next son decided to make his appearance clearly excited him. "Now, tell me : how can I help you? What do these monsters need?" His use of the word was entirely affectionate, and Daigo smiled with fatherly pride at the infant attached to Melissa's breast.
unscripted asks . always accepting
Soteria had latched onto her breast hungrily, happy for the sustenance provided. It was something that Melissa had come to expect over the last few weeks - the triplets behaved as if one; their preferences were shared, their apparent favoritism for routine and the presence of their parents so very clear. From the first day where she started producing milk again, all three girls accepted it willingly - the witch truly hoped it would assist them in feeling welcomed and cared for in that household.
Although the idea of having one’s offspring in the graveyard was adorable - Melissa herself had the twins exactly that way, with no one but Daigo for assistance and it had been one of the most magical, memorable nights of her life - the way these three had been left behind was hardly ideal. Now, the witch couldn’t exactly tell why the original mother (and father) believed them to be threats to mankind - these were lovely and affectionate babies; with each passing day, they seemed to be growing more and more like their foster caretakers and Melissa chalked it to some blessing from Hecate - she was sure it was the goddess who had sent the two Addamses on the right way to find the babies.
When Daigo entered the room, she spared a loving smile for the assassin and moved into his embrace easily enough. A pleased sigh followed when he moved to caress her stomach, the witch’s body once more preparing itself for the arrival of a new child. As her husband mentioned the number ‘eight’, Melissa’s painted lips curved upwards; such an ideal one. For many, it symbolized eternity - but for the witch, it was such a sweet allusion to her favorite eight-legged critters, the first babies she had nurtured since a child herself.
“I know, my sweet. I can scarcely believe our luck on some evenings, Daigo. Not one, but two sets of identical siblings born at a graveyard, too - our line shall continue to provide incredible witches for decades to come,” Melissa sighed with happiness, murmuring her approval of his featherlight kisses on her skin - in her arms, Soteria gurgled happily; it was almost as if she could taste her mother’s fulfillment.
At Daigo’s gallantry, her honey-colored eyes gazed at the assassin with fondness and a degree of desire - how could a man be so perfect such as he was? Melissa would be eternally grateful for her twin and Gomez to have found each as they did - who knew what would be of her (and the beautiful family she possessed) if not for Morticia’s link to the Addamses first? But motherhood called - and Daigo’s helpful inclination did work wonders to keep their babies well-fed, healthy and with their heads filled with nightmares during their sleep time.
“I’m almost done, my black scorpion. But if you could pick Enodie and Melinoe up so they can be closer to us? I’ve been feeding them in the same order every night, but it appears that they enjoy being able to sense their sisters close-by. If we hold the three of them between ourselves, I’m sure they should have a truly unpleasant sleep,” Melissa said with a nod, knowing it was quite the inexplicable impression - they were just babies, after all.
And yet - a mother always knew; a mother witch, doubly so.
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Family Dinners - dpxdc
"Holy shit, you're Bruce Wayne!" Danny gaped, jabbing a finger at the man sitting at the head of the table.
The bustling dining room goes silent as everyone turns to look at him.
"Danny, who did you think was going to be here?" Tim asks, disbelief plain in his voice and Danny feels his face flush red.
"Sorry, I, uh, I guess I just never put it together. Tim Drake-Wayne. Wayne Manor. It, uh, makes sense now." He laughs sheepishly and scrubs at his neck before slumping back down into his chair.
"Well," Tim says with an indulgent sigh, "at least I know you're not just friends with me for my connections."
"Yeah, I'm really sorry, I just never thought about it, I guess."
Danny sinks lower as everyone around him laughs. Come to dinner, he said, the food is the best, he said, ignore the family, he said. Danny really wishes he'd listened to Tim and just ignored them—almost as much as he's regretting accepting the offer in the first place—but... he's having dinner with Batman.
Ancients, that's so weird!
The last time he saw Batman was in the future and, suffice it to say, it was not going well. There hadn't really been time for family dinners there.
Wait. Family dinners?
He peers around the table, openly gawking at everyone as it all clicks into place.
"Everything alright, Danny? Now realising who everyone else is?" Tim asks with a roll of his eyes.
"Uh... something like that..." Danny mumbles as everyone laughs again.
From further down the table, the smallest Wayne scoffs and clicks his tongue.
"I thought you said he was smart, Drake?"
"So, you all do it, too, then?" he asks, ignoring the jibe. Danny's only a little bit jealous as he thinks of how much easier they must have it, how much easier it'd be if his family had been on his side, too. "You all work together?"
"Nah," Dick says from across the table with a brilliant grin. "Tim's the only one that works with Bruce, we all have different jobs. I'm a police officer in Bludhaven."
"Disgusting." Danny blurts out without thinking—because seriously, what kind of self-respecting vigilante would also be a police officer?—before clapping a hand over his mouth. "Sorry."
The whole table laughs again, the loudest being the blonde girl a few spaces down from Dick. Look, Danny wasn't really paying attention to names when they were all paraded in front of him. Dick only gets remembered because his name is a joke.
Come on, Danny, recover!
"That's, uh, not what I meant, though."
"Oh?" Dick asks, cocking his head slightly to the side. Is it Danny's imagination or does his smile tense slightly?
"Yeah, I mean like, you know, in costume. It must make it so much easier to have everyone together like this."
"Costume? What do you mean?"
Yeah, Danny's not imagining it, everyone tenses up at that. It's really only now that he's realising that this probably isn't how he should bring up that he knows about their... night time activities. In fact, he probably shouldn't be bringing it up at all.
"Uuhhh..." Danny looks wildly around the table as he continues making his stupid noise. Think, think, think! There must be a way out of this!
"Danny?" Tim asks, looking concerned.
"Oh, Ancients, this isn't how I wanted it to go at all," he mutters, slipping even further into his chair. He's almost on the floor now and he so, so wishes it could just swallow him up.
His real first meeting with Batman was meant to be cool! He had planned to be Phantom, maybe save them from a tight spot, prove his worth as a mysterious and powerful ally as thanks for the help Batman gave him in the future.
"Danny, what are you talking about?" Tim starts tugging on his sleeve in an attempt to pull him back up from his pit of despair.
Eventually, Danny relents and sits up straighter, hiding his face in his hands and whining all the while.
"I'm sorry, I just didn't expect him to be here and it threw me off so now I look stupid and it's so embarrassing!" he wails, flailing his arms wide. "Why wouldn't you warn me that Batman was your adopted dad, Tim? Couldn't you have let me know?"
"I'm sorry, what? Danny are you alright? There's no way Bruce can be Batman, look at him!"
"Yeah," the blonde girl laughs from the bottom of the table, "look at him! That's a wet noodle of a man! Batman can actually do things, B is incapable of pretty much everything."
"Thank you, Stephanie," Bruce sighs, massaging his forehead.
It's... Those are the first words Danny's heard Batman say since everything went down and it's enough to knock him out of his embarrassment.
It's really good to hear his voice again. Especially now, when it's strong and healthy and full of personality—even if that personality is little more than a tired father right now—far better than how it had been, at the end.
Danny sits up, back straight, and grins. He's got this. He remembers it perfectly. Some people count sheep to fall asleep, Danny repeats his mantra to be certain that he'll never forget it.
"Gamma alpha upsilon tau iota mu epsilon, 42, 63, 28, 1 colon 65 dash 9."
Once again, the whole table falls into silence.
"Holy shit..." breathes the other D name (Duke? Danny's pretty sure he's Signal) from opposite Stephanie. "Isn't that...?"
"The time travelling code." The littlest Wayne says stiffly. "We have met in the future?"
"That's not just the time travelling code, Dami." Dick says, looking between Danny and Bruce. "That's the family time travelling code."
Danny's grin freezes in place.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"1 colon 65 dash 9." Dick explains, still flicking between him and Bruce. "It means you've been adopted into the family and we should all treat you as such, no questions asked."
"Tell you what, I'm about to ask a question." Danny says, dumbstruck. "You just told me it was a code to identify time travellers, not anything about being adopted! What the hell, B?"
Bruce looks about as shellshocked as Danny feels.
"We must have been close," he says finally, after opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water a few times.
"No! Not that close!" Danny reels back, taking a deep breath ready to refute it all, but... "Well, I mean, you found me when I first got stuck, and you helped me get better despite being... And then we fought together against the, uh, bad guy, before he, um, he... before you couldn't."
An uncomfortable beat passes while they all pick up on what Danny tried so hard not to say.
"So, you're not from the future, then, you travelled there and came back?" Tim asks, breaking the tension and leaning forward with a glint in his eye.
"Yeah, it was a whole end of the world thing, but don't worry about it," Danny says with a hand wave, "It's all kosher now, won't ever happen."
"What did happen?"
"Seriously, don't worry about it, we cool."
"How long in the future was it?"
"About ten years? You were pretty spry for an old man, B," Danny laughs, wishing they'd get off the topic of what happened and get back to the adoption bit.
Everyone shares degrees of a cautious smile as they relax out of the shock, and Dick—whose grin is the biggest—says, "No wonder you got the family code, you're already riffing on him like one of us. How long were you there for?"
"A week, before I managed to get back to my present and stop him then."
"A week? Jeez, B, that has to set some kind of record, seriously."
"Oh!" Danny says, sitting bolt upright and blinking in surprise before pointing at Dick and bouncing in his seat. "You're Nightwing!"
"What?"
"That's exactly what Nightwing said when Batman told me the code! Makes so much more sense now."
Dick laughs and claps his hands, delighted.
"You were not formally adopted?" The grumpy small one—Dami?—asks, his face pinched.
"I didn't even know I was informally adopted."
"And your parents? Are they alive or dead?"
"Damian, stop—"
"They were dead in the future, but they're alive now." Danny says, looking down. He fiddles with the tablecloth, twisting the fabric around his fingers as he fights down the pang of sadness that he always feels when he thinks of them now. He forces a bright smile on his face and hopes it doesn’t look too strained. "I just, uh, can't talk to them much, anymore."
"Damian," Dick warns, "1 colon 65 dash 9. Treat them as family, no questions asked."
"This is Damian treating him as family, the little turd has no manners." Tim scoffs, rolling his eyes, but he gently bumps shoulders with Danny to knock him out of his funk. Danny can't help but send him a watery smile.
"I have the most exemplary manners, Drake, unlike some people." Damian spits, crossing his arms with a pout. "I was merely ascertaining his status to see how he could possibly fit into the family."
"I know this is all a bit sudden, Danny," Bruce smiles, ignoring Damian and reaching out to lay a warm hand on his arm, "for all of us. But if I felt strongly enough to give you that code after spending a week with you in the future, then you are more than welcome in this family, if you so choose it. I think I can speak for all of us when I say we'd like to get to know you a bit more."
"I know a threat when I hear it, Bruce." Danny snorts. "But, yeah, I get it. I'm sorry this is all so weird, it really wasn't how I wanted to find you again, but... I'm glad I did."
"So are we, Danny." Dick says, with a warm smile. "And formally or not, 1 colon 65 dash 9 means you're family. Welcome to the fun house! No take backs or refunds, sorry. You're stuck with us."
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