in the midst of baby fever, do not panic
jason was a complex guy, there was no question or doubt about that. he was too much or too little most of the time. too quiet and too loud. you often had a hard time figuring out what was going on in his head or getting a proper peek through the walls he surrounded himself with.
but. when it came to you, and when it came to other things he liked by extension, he was an open book.
such as now, for instance, as he tried to pretend he was very uninterested in the baby clothes you were shifting through.
"what about this one?" you asked, holding up a yellow dress with a decorative bee.
jason pulled his thoughts and fingers from a small leather jacket with red detailing. "uh, it's cute."
"you've said that about everything i've shown you."
"because they've all been cute."
you chuckled at his response, "yes, jay, but i can't buy them all."
"i don't know, it's your friend's baby shower–" he trailed off at the look you gave him. "okay. maybe you should get that one with the bee and the first sleep suit?"
"maybe," you hummed in response, handing off the options he selected for him to hold. "i just want to look a bit longer."
jason groaned at the sound of that–he knew your "bit"s and "longer"s. he held what you handed him without complaint anyways, glancing around the store.
his gaze lingered on a little boy the aisle over, playing peekaboo with a baby sitting in the cart as his parents shopped. his heart gave a clench at the baby's giggles, and he found himself glancing over at you before he even realized.
only to discover you were already looking at him, with a puzzled yet amused look.
"what?" you asked, your eyes trailing to the children and back.
"nothing." jason answered too quickly.
jesus. get it together, todd.
jason had an odd fixation with your stomach right now. you noticed immediately; the hands resting on it rather than your hips, the random grazes, him cuddled into your lap with his cheek pressed against it. it was obvious and almost sudden.
you had one hand in jason's hair, the other wrapped around a particularly uninteresting work file. his head was in your lap as he traced small shapes under your shirt, staring blankly into the wall across from him. or, more of, staring at the pink bag screaming "congratulations" in bold letters resting against that wall.
“y/n,” he called out finally. “do you want kids?”
you paused, looking from your file to the head now refusing to meet your eyes. “i mean, i don’t know? we talked about this, didn’t we?”
“we did.”
“..and?”
“and i don’t know either.”
you smiled a bit. “jason, i thought you said you don’t want any?”
“i didn’t.” he replied, definitely. “but now, i..i don’t know. i guess it doesn’t sound so bad.” jason trailed off, his voice turning into a small mumble. a whisper of the truth he felt embarrassed to admit. “a little us…like, you know. a family.”
oh. your chest warmed at his words, your heart fluttering just a bit more than it usually did around him.
“you want a family?”
“if it’s with you.”
jasons words echoed off the walls, bouncing around in your mind as you processed their weight more than their meaning.
“and that’s not just the baby fever talking?”
“i don’t have–“ jason paused. “no. no, it’s not.”
“it’s not?”
jason rolled his head over, keeping it on your lap but now looking up to face you, “no. i’ve been second guessing my answer ever since that first conversation about kids. i don’t mind the thought as much as i should.”
you let out a small “huh”, comprehending his words slowly and surely.
so jason todd did want a kid–or kids?–with not just anyone, but you. it was something that he’d spent a lot of time thinking about and not a rushed decision based on too much exposure to too many cute baby-related things.
“only if you want obviously.” he added a bit hastily. “which, do you…want a family?”
you smiled at the expectant eyes. “with you? yeah.”
jason’s head perked at that. “yeah?”
“yeah. maybe a mini football team.”
jason blinked at you for a moment before he let through a small chuckle.
“or, maybe. just one.”
