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Small Life Ch. 1

Alright little rats this is an idea/ rough draft of a fanfic I am thinking of writing so tell me should I write it, or should I focus on the WIP that is almost 100,000 words and not even half way through the plot

What had Damian done.

Oh Alfred, what had Damian done.

Damian should be at home getting ready for school. Damian should turn around, turn back through the door and drive back to where Alfred can hold him and make him a cup of tea.

Damian took a deep breath and stepped in shutting the door with his foot. The living room was bigger than Damian expected, honestly the whole house was more than he could have ever hoped for.

He set down the car seat and diaper bag.

About nine months ago Damian had taken up the tradition of spiting Bruce, a pastime of all his siblings. And that had led Damian to a party and then into a bed with Oliva Patel. She was quite pretty and most importantly not a gossip or overly interested in Damian’s family.

It was lovely and Damian returning to the manor in the morning really did its job in ticking Bruce off. It took Damian three months to talk to Oliva again, and the pregnancy test she had given him had been more terrifying to him than fighting with the Riddler had been the night before.

At first Oliva had wanted to keep the baby and Damian was too terrified to know what he wanted to do, two sixteen year olds were not prepared to be parents. He had thought options of adopting the baby out were the most realistic and would be best for the baby.

Slowly Damian had warmed up to the idea and by the sixth month mark they were planning how to tell their families, Oliva had done a wonderful job of hiding her pregnancy, and they had been talking about what future their baby would have.

They were both smart and dedicated, their child would grow up with great role models. They would move in together, they didn’t need to get married but they would both be involved and loving parents. And Damian would always have access to any money they would want or need. Their baby could play any sport or take any classes they wanted.

Then Oliva’s best friend found out. She only saw the disaster it would wreck on Oliva’s perfect grades, 4.0 GPA, and all of their plans of going to an ivy league together.

Damian could see that Oliva could easily be ivy league material, and that some day she would likely be someone that could be an equal to Alfred. But, Oliva wanted her baby and she wanted her baby to have the best possible life.

Damian could see how at some point she would choose the baby over her education and career. She wasn’t someone who wanted a nanny or babysitter raising her child.

Damian could see the resentment that would form in the future and the current fear that had encompassed Oliva. She didn’t want to regret their baby even for a moment. So Damian had offered to take the baby.

It had been a rash decision but they both quickly agreed. Damian and Oliva made a plan for the final months of prenatal care, which Damian had been providing for her pregnancy ever since he knew. Then they had agreed on visiting terms. Oliva would be able to visit whenever she wanted as soon as she was out of college. Damian decided not to tell his family and Oliva didn’t tell hers.

They had talked about sending pictures and other things so Oliva would still be able to know how the baby was, but in the end they agreed that until she was living on her own it would be too risky. Oliva wouldn’t be able to explain to family or friends why she had pictures of a random baby in her room.

Oliva wanted their baby well taken care of so she made some conditions. Before the baby was born a place to live had to be secured and he needed to have basics for taking care of a baby. He also needed a plan for where the child would go to school.

Damian spent several Saturdays with Oliva in baby aisles and took a couple parenting classes every week to prepare himself.

Damian had found a house in Montana. It had three bedrooms and two baths and was within a half mile of both a high school and an elementary. The house was nice; it was in a small quiet town, the type of place that no one would ever recognize or look for Damian Wayne.

Everything had been taken care of. But that wasn’t enough to prepare Damian.

A week ago while in math Damian had gotten a text from Oliva, she was in the school bathroom, and her water had broken.

Damian left class and drove her to one of Jason's safe houses, the one across from the hospital where Oliva’s OB GYN worked. Jason never used it and he would clean after so Jason would never know.

Damian stayed there with her rubbing her shoulders and back, drawing her a bath, and cooking meals for her. Nearly 17 hours later she was having contractions close enough together to head to the hospital.

5 hours later their baby girl was placed into Oliva’s arms. They had agreed not to breastfeed even for the first day because Damian would need to bottle feed so Oliva held onto their daughter until a nurse came in to teach Damian how to feed her.

Oliva wanted Damian to name her, but Damian wanted Oliva to name her. Eventually they decided on the name, Martha Oliva Patel-Wayne and Mary for short.

Damian stayed with the two of them until they were released before driving Oliva home. Before he left he made sure she had everything she needed and left her with a good amount of money to take care of herself, he was hesitant to leave and Oliva didn’t want to say goodbye. Damian was forced to leave by the pressure of Oliva’s parents being twenty minutes away and was reassured that Oliva’s best friend would be around to take care of her and help her clean the stitches and with any other maintenance.

Damian arranged everything and made sure he had everything he would need to get to the house he bought. The drive from New Jersey to Montana would be 33 hours but Damian would stop at least every hour for 15 minutes to take care of and check on Mary. He would stop and stay somewhere every night. He wanted her to be taken care of and he wanted a clear mind. He didn’t want to get into a crash because of fatigue.

It ended up taking him 5 days to get to the house.

Here Damian was, in the middle of Montana. 5 days or 33 hours away from family. What had Damian done?

It was late when Damian finally arrived and he was exhausted but there were a few things he needed to do.

Damian locked the door before setting Mary in a safe corner of the entrance while he checked the house over. When he was sure it was clear he locked all the windows and doors before drawing the curtains and flicking on the living room light. He moved Mary and the diaper bag into the living room.

He checked on her and made sure she was asleep before going out the front door, locking it behind him, to the car to grab the collapsible crib and other necessities like a crib mattress and a sleeping bag for himself. He would buy her an actual crib and other furniture soon but he would make due for a little bit.

He set everything down on the porch to unlock the door and move everything inside, once inside he locked the door. He set up the crib and halfway through setting up his own place to sleep Mary woke up. After settling her down in her crib he finished his own bed and turned on his quiet alarms that would wake him up every couple hours to feed Mary.

Damian spent the first night in the new house tossing and turning. It wasn’t easy to fall asleep when he kept having to get up to feed a baby and the unfamiliar sounds of the house settling and life far from Gotham was unsettling and not helpful when he was trying to fall asleep.

And if Damian was completely honest he spent most of the night terrified he would fall asleep and wake up to the league of assassins or the bats in his house. But, there was no way that would happen.

He had made sure to buy the house with his funds that weren’t connected to anything and to get the house put in Martha Patel’s name. He was happy to let the house be legally hers.

It had taken some interesting legal loopholes but there was no way that he would be found.

When the sun was finally rising Damian got up and considered what to do. He needed to get a number of things. First he would need groceries, then cleaning supplies, and then actual furniture for Mary.

He would wait a little before getting other furniture. Mary’s room and other necessities were a priority and Damian had lived with much less. He still had plumbing and running water, a huge plus.

He could technically go without groceries for a couple of days. He had enough baby formula, and he would survive a couple days without food but he knew that he wouldn’t be at his best so he decided against waiting. Mary deserved her parent to be at their best.

And technically he could afford to furnish the whole house at once, but he wouldn’t have the time to put together the furniture and he didn’t want to use too much money too quickly.

And the house had the necessities for him. The kitchen had all the appliances he would need and both bathrooms would be fine. And for sleeping, he had a nice sleeping bag, much better than cave or cell floors.

The cleaning supplies were actually at the top of his list, the house was nice and the previous owners had cleaned before selling it to Damian. Still the house had stood empty for a month and tiny amounts of dust had accumulated, and with a newborn Damian did not want to risk her getting sick.

He knew he was probably overdoing it and had been more cautious then he needed to while driving up. And would continue to keep her far away from most things until she was a little older, but it would help him feel better. Plus Damian never liked working in a dirty area.

Damian had no clue where anything was, so as most people do he got out his new phone and looked up nearby stores. It was a new phone because he had replaced his old one on his way up.

When he drove through Pennsylvania he had thrown his phone in a random garbage, he had wanted to restart it and give it to someone else but simple restarting wouldn’t make it impossible for the bats to track it, nothing short of throwing it in a volcano would stop them from being able to track it, so it had to go and he didn’t want them thinking someone had stolen it. Unfortunately that meant the garbage.

And in Ohio he had gotten a rental car. His family would find the car he left in Ohio but they wouldn’t find any clues of what transportation Damian had, he had used a fake ID to rent the car and a card connected to an account his family didn’t know about. Damian would need to buy a car soon. But that was something to worry about later. Getting a job would also need to join his list of priorities.

Damian really was glad that finding living accommodations was not also on his list of To Do’s. Thank Alfred, Oliva had insisted that Damian give her proof of living accommodations before she agreed to let Damian take the baby.

Damian didn’t really want to take Mary with him into a store where people might try getting up in her face to coo at her or touch her but he couldn’t leave her alone. Damian didn’t have a stroller or a chest carrier yet so Damian would need to keep her in her car seat while in the store. It would be fine, Damian definitely was strong enough and he could set the seat into his cart so it wouldn’t be a bother but he would have to add a stroller and a chest carrier to his list of baby things he would need.

Damian decided to bite the bullet and choose a store, as he took care of Mary and got everything prepared to go to the store. He kept his phone open nearby and memorized the route to the store.

He paused before he opened the door. The curtains for the windows around the door were thin enough that he could see three people making their way up the sidewalk to the house. He could open the door and greet them, or he could try going through the garage but they would hear, or he could pretend he was sleeping and not answer the door but the lights he just turned off would make that unbelievable.

And If he was avoiding the neighbors then he couldn’t leave as soon as they were gone and there wasn’t anything he could do until he went to the store. He needed cleaning supplies. He had dirty clothes but the previous owners had told him the current washing and drying machine were broken, easily fixable Damian would just need to pick up some parts to fix them. But he had some body wash that could work as a laundry detergent. He could hand wash them, but he didn’t have any good places to hang the clothes.

The decision was taken from him when they knocked on the door. He sighed and walked to the door, unlocking it and opening the door as he set Mary safely to the side, out of sight. “Hello, can I help you?” It was a cold and biting tone and Damian knew that, but he had things he needed to do and meeting the neighbors was not one of them.

There were two men and a woman. The woman looked to be middle aged and had a smile draped over her face. She was wearing a colorful knee length dress and had a large pan covered in tin foil. The older of the men looked to be around the same age and was wearing jeans and a colorful T-Shirt that matched the woman's dress.

The younger of the two men was wearing much more muted, casual clothes. He was probably somewhere in his late twenties, he looked nothing like the older man or woman.

Despite the cold greeting the woman perked up when he answered the door. “Hello, dear, I am Sandra and this is my husband Pete and my son Noah. We live next door and just wanted to introduce ourselves.” Sandra paused and slightly tilted the pan. “Oh, and we brought food, but it seems like you are on your way out. So we’ll try and get out of your hair.”

Damian mustered up the energy to smile. “Yeah I was just getting ready to go to the store. And you didn’t need to bring anything.”

Immediately Pete waved him off. “Not to worry son, food is the culture around here. To be fair food might just be the culture everywhere, but anyway there is no way you are escaping without food. What’s your name son? What are you headed to the store for?”

Damian glanced at Mary when she made a quiet gurgling noise. “I’m Damian, food is beloved everywhere. I am going to the store for a variety of things. Groceries, cleaning supplies, some things to fix the washer and dryer.”

When Damian glanced towards Mary he could see everyone else's eyes follow his. He hadn’t been trying to draw attention to her but he didn’t want to ignore her. And she was awake and shifting around a bit.

Pete leaned forward. His eyes widened. “So son, why are you taking the baby with you instead of leaving the baby with your parents?” It was clear he had spotted the car seat.

Damian could feel the genuine curiosity and he could tell that they were just being neighborly but Damian felt himself freeze at that question. He may not have personally lived it yet but he knew there was a stigma around both single fathers and teen parents and he considered what to say. “I am the father.”

Pete paused, it was clear that he thought Damian was too young to be a father. “And the mother? Why aren’t you leaving the baby with her?”

Damian leaned into the door putting more of a barrier between the inside and outside of the house. “She’s not involved.” It was true, still it felt wrong. Oliva hadn’t just abandoned Mary, she had made sure she would have a secure future.

They all nodded and seemed to find that a good enough answer. Sandra adjusted her hands on the pan. “Is the baby a boy or a girl, and how old is baby?”

Pete's questions had been the kind of questions that were firm but asked by a well meaning relative. While Sandra’s questions were much more cushioned, and seemed like she wanted to make sure you were doing the best you could, like she was going to give pointers along with heavy amounts of encouragement.

Damian shifted, glancing at Mary. “She’s a girl. And..” Damian looked back up at Sandra, he knew that traveling across the country with a newborn wasn’t the easiest or safest and he considered what follow up questions there would be. He also knew there would be a bit of judgment, and there was his rental car from Ohio in the driveway. “She’s just over a week old.”

Sandra’s eyes widened and her body curled up as she tried glancing in at Mary. Damian shifted his weight and pulled the door slightly more shut, “Dear, you're bringing a week old baby to the store?” After the door was pulled a little closed her eyes flitted to the rental car.

Damian sighed. He knew what she was thinking and yes he was aware that Mary’s immune system was still developing, but there were precautions he could take and Damian had plenty of medical skills and he wouldn’t hesitate to get her help so it would be fine, probably. And what else could Damian do? He couldn’t leave her home alone and there was no one to watch her while he was gone.

“If you wanted I could watch her while you go to the store.” Damian almost slammed the door in Sandra’s face. There was no way he would be leaving Mary with someone he didn’t even know.

“No.” He spat, then remembered they were his neighbors and plastered a fake smile on. “Sorry, but I really have got to get going.” They smiled and apologized for keeping him before handing off the pan of food and leaving.

Damian poured the contents of the pan in the outdoor garbage can that was currently sitting in the garage, the last owner had left it in there until he got to the house, and set the pan in the sink for him to wash.

After he was done with that he washed his hands and he checked on Mary before walking outside, locking the door behind him, and getting situated in the car.

It was a short painless trip to the store, once there he checked Mary and got her situated before heading inside. He used the signs to quickly locate the food, along with kitchen supplies like pans and utensils, and the cleaning supplies he needed before ending up in the baby aisle.

He picked out a crib, a stroller, some more clothes, a changing table and changing pad, more diapers, wipes, and a baby bath. He had been wiping Mary down with baby wipes and keeping her in clean clothes but he felt bad that he hadn’t been able to properly clean her. After he cleaned one of the bathrooms he would need to give her a bath.

After getting baby stuff he headed towards the hardware aisle and got the things he would need to fix the dryer and washing machine. As he was on his way to the register his eyes caught on the door jam reinforcements and the door knobs and locks. He grabbed a door jam reinforcement for the front, back, and garage doors along with better locks and then a couple of other locks to replace the bathroom door knobs and to add locks to his bedroom and Mary’s room.

He got back to the house and took care of Mary, moving her portable crib into the upstairs landing where his room and the nursery would be so she would be close by while he cleaned and assembled. He made sure she was comfortable before he got to work cleaning the nursery, after he was done he got to work carrying her furniture upstairs and assembling it, only taking breaks to take care of Mary.

By the time he had the furniture assembled and had moved her things into the nursery it was getting late and Damian moved Mary downstairs into her car seat while he brought her portable crib back downstairs. Her actual crib was assembled so having it downstairs made more sense.

He made dinner quickly and ate before moving his stuff into the nursery for the night, because it was the only place he had cleaned. He would probably stay in there anyway until Mary was a little older and sleeping through most of the night.

After that he came back downstairs and did the dishes. He dried them and set the pan on the end of the counter to remind himself he would need to return it to the neighbors.

A sharp pain rushed his heart. He had neighbors. He had his own neighbors.

Damian leaned on the counter and slid to sit on the floor.

Damian was a teen dad living on his own.

He was all on his own.

The floor of the kitchen was hardwood cold to the touch but didn’t bite through your clothes like the tile in the kitchen of Wayne manor.

The kitchen only had one sink, one fridge, and one oven. While the manor had a prep sink and a double basin sink, Two fridges, and an oven and a fireplace if needed.

The cabinets were shorter and all of them were easy to get into without help. In the manor half of the cabinets required a ladder.

The manor was built to show off. To be extreme, it was not built with living in it in mind.

This kitchen. This house. Even this town was built for comfort and for family. They were built for company and community. It was all meant to be cozy, safe, and certain.

Damian was alone.

Unsafe and exposed.

Damian could go home.

The manor had friends and family.

This house had a baby who needed his care.

Damian could be with his family. Show Mary to Alfred and ask Dick how to take care of a baby. Mary would have aunts and uncles and a grandfather and a great grandfather. She could have a cousin.

Damian set his head back against the counter and rubbed his hands over his arms.

Alfred was extraordinarily accepting, Maybe he could go back.

His siblings would be furious, but they would love the baby. Mar’i wasn’t too much older, She was almost two.

Damian sat up, things were going to be rough. He knew this when he went into it and he had a baby in the next room.

Damian got up and took Mary up to her bed. Before settling in for a restless night.

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