Batman finds a baby, Batman keeps the baby, Batman's baby now.
a/n: I love love love @/witherby's LW AU so I deciced I also wanna write a baby bat reader AU
Reader: baby/toddler reader ❤︎ gender neutral
Contains: surprise adoption (Bruce being himself) ❤︎ Alfred, Bruce, Dick, Cass, Jason, Tim and Damian
How did you get here? Well... Bruce Wayne was a man with a tough exterior and the mushiest heart—specially if there are kids involved; which there were, two years ago, in the mission that changed the course of both your lives forever.
You, a tiny little baby, the child of some new villains who weren't careful enough and got caught. Batman beat them up, got the GCPD to take them away, went back in the hideout to help the investigation... everything he usually did, until he heard a loud cry upstairs, high-pitched and whiny. A baby.
Batman then bolted upstairs, kicked in the door to a nursery, your nursery... and you were fine. The nursery looked carelessly thrown together, as if your parents didn't care as much as they should; it was just the bare minimum.
A sniffle snapped him out of room-analysis mode and made his dad instincts take over. He picked you up very carefully, going through a mental list of things that could be wrong with a baby... but you stopped crying when he cradled you against his chest and made little cooing and shushing noises at your sleepy face.
The kids got a new sibling that day, a baby this time, and damn were they not prepared for you to be this clingy.
𓆩^._.^𓆪
✦*̥˚ Alfred ˚*̥✦
He was unimpressed when Bruce brought a baby home, scoffed at him but- come on, it's a poor little baby with no one to care for them... and the bat-mobile was already filled with pretty much everything from what used to be your room so... two years later, you were walking, talking, and holding onto his legs while he tried to work around the house.
Asking questions about anything and everything he was doing; and he answered, because why wouldn't he? In his eyes, you're just trying to get his attention, and what's so bad about it? Even if he sighs when you jump around, even if he has to clean crayon off the walls, he thinks you're endearing.
If you want actual cuddles or hugs from grandpa, you'll have to wait until his break. He loves you, but he needs to get things done, and you need to be patient.
"Dear, would you let go of my leg? I need to-" You shook your head, he sighed.
"Alfie, what is that?" You pointed at the same fluffy thing for the third time that week.
"A duster, dear..."
𓆩^._.^𓆪
✦*̥˚ Bruce ˚*̥✦
The moment your little head plopped on his chest and you fell asleep as quickly as if you had never woken up, his mind drifted to adoption papers. Commissioner Gordon, of course, helped Batman make sure every loose end was tied up before letting him pack your entire room into the bat-mobile.
You had no papers, not even a birth certificate, but you were healthy. And two years later, you were growing up too fast.
Your first word was "bat", your first steps were filmed, and the video is saved on the bat-computer in a folder were deleting files is impossible. He loves you; you are the apple of his eye, his baby bat.
The first time the Justice League met you, and they saw Batman smile and coo and giggle, was a day everyone silently agreed to forget. The kids were freaked out too. Bruce had his affectionate moments for sure, but this was crazy.
And you were just as clingy! If your dad had you in his arms, you expected to be there for a while. If anyone tried to get him to put you down or wanted to hold you too, they were met with a perfectly synchronized noise of dissatisfaction that earned you the nickname Batbaby.
"You wanna help dad with a case, sweetie?"
"I'M BATMAN"
"You are still a baby! I'm Batman."
The case was tiresome. You needed a nap after, but you did it, Batbaby! You found the cookie-thieving dog!
𓆩^._.^𓆪
✦*̥˚ Dick ˚*̥✦
Was a bit apprehensive about a baby in the house at first, but he came around after a few days of you grabbing his finger and not letting go. Two years since then, and you still hold his hand all day.
He loves you so much! He throws you up in the air and catches you to make you laugh, he shows you acrobatics (you're not allowed to do them yet, Dick says your trapeze bones haven't developed), He gives you piggy-back rides, plays hide and seek with you and tells you that you're the best at it (he lets you win), he lets you nap on his chest and he even lets you play with Haley!
You'll always have a space in his apartment in Blüdhaven, even if you almost never leave Bruce's side, you'll always have Dick to nap on and hold your hand if your dad will be gone for a while.
He has given you the most nicknames out of anyone. At this point, you answer more to his tone than the words he calls you, it's easier for your baby brain to recognize the cooing than to learn every single nickname or petname he uses to get your attention.
"Where's my little star? Where's my darling little sibling..?" His voice, to you, sounds like genuine confusion. Though, everyone else in the manor can see that you're giggling under the table, and Dick just wants to see you smile when you win.
𓆩^._.^𓆪
✦*̥˚ Cass ˚*̥✦
Baby staring contests become a thing in the manor. She stares, you stare back. Best way to calm you down when cuddles don't work is to have her hold you and stare into your soul... it works, somehow.
She's a quiet person, and you become a very chatty two year old. You yap about everything and nothing, and she listens. She enjoys it; it's her baby sibling time, and she just wants to hang out with you.
You help each other with difficult words; it's nice to have someone who understands not understanding everything yet.
She reminds you of Bruce, so you're also often found trailing behind her like a duckling. She likes to pick you up and press her forehead to yours. It's her way of saying she loves you, and the optical illusion that makes her look like a cyclops makes you laugh too.
But the rare times when you're also feeling quiet, she's the best to watch movies with.
"Cassie, movie?" You rub your eye with one tiny hand and hold the TV remote in the other, arm stretched out to her as an offer.
"Hm." She nods and smiles softly at you, taking the remote and holding your hand to go to the living room.
You fall asleep in her arms watching your favorite movie. "...Baby sibling."
𓆩^._.^𓆪
✦*̥˚ Jason ˚*̥✦
He didn't know about you until a month after you were adopted. Immediately recoiled when Bruce tried to introduce you to him. Probably the one who took the longest to warm up to you. Not because he didn't like you or babies in general, but because he was scared of hurting you.
He's the one who looks the most like Bruce (other than Cass), and it really confused you. You'd be in dad's arms, and suddenly, dad was on the couch? So you looked at who was holding you, and it was dad! Then you looked at the man on the couch, and... it was also dad? How? You need to investigate this other dad...
With time, he started playing with you, tried to keep the contact minimal so he couldn't accidentally hurt you, but it was hard when you were a little cuddle monster. So he just- laid on his back and let you hug him, keeping you steady with a single hand on your back. Still, he didn't want to actually hold you, so he didn't. But you were relentless.
By the time you were two years old, you could recognize who Jay was. Jay was the one with the wild, black and white hair and scuffed shoes. Dad was the one with the perfectly smooth clothes. At that point, Jason felt more secure about holding you, and you were having the best time with your brother now that he's not scared of hurting you as much as before.
He loves you too much for his anxiety to completely fade though, so he still mainly just cuddles you while sitting down or puts you in a baby carrier strapped to his chest. But your favorite thing is when you're strapped to him and he zips up his jacket over you because he always uses his theater kid skills to make you laugh.
"Ugh! Move it, Dick! Can't you see I'm with child? A real kicker, this one..." Jason sits down in the spot Dick moved from when he saw how much Jason's jacket was laughing at the act.
"Go bring me some ice cream, would you?" Dick wanted to object, but your little cheer could have made anyone crumble.
𓆩^._.^𓆪
✦*̥˚ Tim ˚*̥✦
Did NOT know what to do with you. Made a binder on your feeding and sleeping schedules, wrote down food you like and food you threw off your plate with a pout, investigated your birth family, everything... However, he was too nervous to hold you for longer than a minute. It wasn't a fear like Jason; Tim just genuinely didn't like babies. He likes you, you're cool, you're his little sibling... but you're still a baby, and he gets uncomfortable with babies.
But now that you're two, he's happy hugging you as much as you like. Mostly when he's working, you just sleep on his lap, and he tucks you in bed when he's done.
However, Tim comes with a big plus for you; Bernard.
Bernard adores you, and Tim loves seeing you get carried around like a doll, win-win!
"Timtim!" He hums, prompting you to continue, "is Bernie coming today?"
𓆩^._.^𓆪
✦*̥˚ Damian ˚*̥✦
Probably the worst reaction of the bunch, being the youngest, he's not used to Bruce's impulsive adoptions. Also, he's the blood son, got it, child?
It took him the longest to warm up to you, but gradually, he decided he liked you. It was a mix of working on his childhood trauma and Bruce swearing you would be forever forbidden from being Robin. (And the look of awe you gave him when he picked you up for the first time, but he'll never admit that.)
Damian is a bit surprised you can't even hold a sword now that you're two; he knew it wasn't really a thing outside of the league to train babies on fighting, but he had assumed a toddler would be able to at least balance their weight when holding a kata—
"Damian! Stop giving weapons to your little sibling!" Damian just scoffed at Bruce's screech but took it away anyway.
"We'll start with something smaller next time." You nodded happily at him.
Being the baby in the family comes with restrictions... but it also means you can get away with things other people would get scolded for!
ཐི ₍^. _ .^₎ ཋྀ
⋆｡˚୨ Alfred ୧˚｡⋆
★ Everyone knows not to make a mess in Alfred's kitchen. However, if you want to bake cookies, Alfred will help, no matter the amount of flour you end up spilling.
★ Your messes get excused way easier; Jason leaves socks around? Alfred scolds him. Tim's room is a mess again? Alfred makes him clean it up. You leave your whole toy collection all over the house? Alfred sighs, pats your head, and helps you pick them all up.
★ Alfred has one break a day, in which he doesn't let anyone bother him. But, if you need help, he'll gladly put his tea down for a bit.
★ There is a period of time, before every meal, in which Alfred won't let anyone snack on anything because it will "ruin their appetite." If anyone asks, you get snacks, not because Alfred can't say no to your puppy eyes, but because you're growing.
★ Grocery shopping is a challenge for Alfred whenever he goes with the other batkids because he has to keep an eye on them constantly to make sure they don't sneak any unhealthy snacks in. Because of this, you are pretty much the only one allowed to go with him, he trusts you to behave better. (And you are way less stealthy than your vigilante siblings...)
☆ What he will NOT allow is you not eating your greens. Basically, he'll keep you healthy and he won't take excuses.
ཐི ₍^. _ .^₎ ཋྀ
⋆｡˚୨ Bruce ୧˚｡⋆
★ Having six broken ribs will not stop him from going on patrol. Batbaby flashing him some good old puppy eyes and asking him to please stay and rest? He is in bed, tucked in, snoring.
★ Watchtower visiting permit. Most other batkids aren't allowed to be there if not supervised, but you? You've been going there since you were in diapers, and you can go anytime you ask.
★ Tim has to be in WE meetings sometimes, but every other batkid is fully banned from the room; except you. Bruce has given briefings with a baby strapped to his chest or a little kid sitting in his fancy CEO chair, purely because he wanted to. In his office, he even lets you "read" the important documents.
★ He's working on letting his walls down around everyone, but for some reason, he never put any walls up around you. Maybe it's because you were a baby when he met you and he felt no need to hide who he is; maybe it's because you can see through him like glass—it doesn't matter—the only thing he knows is that he wants to be a person with you.
★ He probably doesn't realize this, but he talks to you all the time. He's usually pretty quiet when he's not playing the Brucie act, but even when you were a baby, he found it easy to talk to you about nothing and everything. It started as a way to help you with speech, but he never stopped talking!
☆ Dad can be persuaded on many things, but there's one huge no; being Robin (or a vigilante in general), he doesn't want that harsh fate for you; the pressure of the sense of responsibility and guilt will not fall on your shoulders if he can help it.
ཐི ₍^. _ .^₎ ཋྀ
⋆｡˚୨ Dick ୧˚｡⋆
★ Dick is extremely competitive AND extremely competent, but somehow, you always win when going against him in any game.
★ Not exactly something he excludes others from, but hanging out with his friends is one of his favorite activities to bring you along to. The only downside is that his friends are not afraid to show their favoritism.
★ He was a kid with a lot of energy and a big sweet tooth in a house where food was pretty much fully controlled by Alfred, who wants to keep it as healthy as possible—safe to say Dick knows how to sneak candy in and where to keep it; more importantly, he knows kids love sugar; he'll share with you as long as you don't tell grandpa.
★ The overwhelming need to feel useful is something he can never quite get rid of. He only lets it go when he's taking care of you. His phone is on silent mode, and his paranoia can't touch him when you're in his arms.
★ Emotions and feelings are not something easy to him, but he wants them to be easy for you. So, when you cry, he makes sure you know it's okay to cry. This led to you asking him if adults cry; he realized he doesn't let himself cry even while telling you it's okay to do so. Now he does; he cries freely, and he knows you won't feel ashamed for crying too.
☆ What you can't even try is complicated acrobatics without years of practice. The day you figure out "trapeze bones" aren't real is a day he fears.
ཐི ₍^. _ .^₎ ཋྀ
⋆｡˚୨ Cass ୧˚｡⋆
★ Cass, from her training, is hyper-aware of herself and her surroundings. She doesn't normally paint her nails, and when she does, she paints them herself because she knows how to paint them so that the polish doesn't bother her senses. You, however, can do her nails if you ask really really nicely. (She'll fix them later if you mess up.)
★ Similarly to a momma tiger, she'll allow you to spook her sometimes, even though she knew you were there the whole time.
★ When she's overwhelmed or overstimulated, she disappears into the shadows and locks herself in a familiar space without people to bother her (her room, if she can). She used to dread other people coming into her space while she's resting, but recently, she started asking you to go with her.
★ Not something to "get away with," but something completely unique to you two is your way of communicating. She's selectively mute; you were a baby when you met, and you learned to speak while in her company. You ended up making up a mix of noises, gestures, and words to communicate with each other, and you still use your secret language even after you could speak perfectly.
★ I'm not sure why, but I think Cass doesn't like sharing her food. She'll smack people's hands if they try to steal a bite off her plate. However, you are not only allowed to, but even encouraged to eat some of her food.
☆ She won't let the dangers and evils of this world touch a hair on your precious head. It may seem like she just doesn't let you do a lot of things, and you may get frustrated because you don't understand why... but you'll understand it someday, babybat.
ཐི ₍^. _ .^₎ ཋྀ
⋆｡˚୨ Jason ୧˚｡⋆
★ There are some books in Jason's collection that he keeps in a waterproof safe, and nobody can touch them without getting a couple of bruises. You are allowed to (under his supervision). Tell no one. Be careful with them.
★ You can go in and out of his room as you please; the only other person allowed to do that is Alfred.
★ Normally, when he's hurt, he'll brush off any concerns from other family members or friends. But you can fuss over any bruises he has, put Elmo bandages on him, etc., and he won't protest at all.
★ He spends a lot of time in the library; he prefers to be alone and in silence but, if you wanna read with him, he'll allow it.
★ He normally doesn't like too much physical affection; it feels like poking a tender bruise, but you, being the cuddle fiend that you are, climbed up his emotional walls and trespassed your way into his heart until he allowed you to attach yourself to him like a baby koala. Is that Jason reading on the couch cuddling the sleeping baby on his chest? You saw nothing, Dick.
☆ He's pretty chill with most things, "if you're gonna drink, I'd rather you do it with me" kind of chill. But he will NOT let you fall into addiction if it's the last thing he does.
ཐི ₍^. _ .^₎ ཋྀ
⋆｡˚୨ Tim ୧˚｡⋆
★ Not really a Tim thing, but you are allowed to call Bernard "Bernie". No one else—not even Tim—is allowed to. Tim is amazed (and mildly offended) by this.
★ Tim will listen to you the first time you tell him to go to bed; the others need to tell him more than three times on a good day.
★ His camera collection is off limits; almost nobody can touch them... Except you, he'll teach you how to take really cool pictures on many different cameras. Maybe he even gifted you one. Who knows...
★ One of the things Tim hates the most in this world is his family crashing his dates. However, and only because you don't tease him for being sappy, he'll bring you along to get ice cream at the park with him and Bernard.
★ He developed the terrible habit of putting other people or work before his own health to the point of being reluctant to relax and have fun sometimes. This led to playtime with you being a breath of fresh air for him—it's a bit of both worlds; he gets to feel helpful AND he gets to let himself relax and have fun!
☆ He makes damn sure you're healthy. No, you can't have a sip of his energy drink. No, you can't stay up too late on a school day. No, you can't be on the tablet for too long, babybat. Is he a little bit of a hypocrite? Yes. Do you make sure to tell him that and force him to care for himself too? Also yes.
ཐི ₍^. _ .^₎ ཋྀ
⋆｡˚୨ Damian ୧˚｡⋆
★ Special Damian cuddle permission. You can cuddle him anytime; anyone else has a determined hug duration and cooldown period before they are allowed to hug him again. Is Damian letting the baby lay down on him and petting their hair? You saw nothing, Dick. No, he's not "just like Jason", shut up, Dick.
★ His weapon collection is precious to him, and a good chunk of his swords are not for most people to even glace at. You, however, are a different story, and since Damian considers you his most precious sibling... Just don't tell anyone you get to see Al Ghul family heirlooms with myths and legends attached to them.
★ You are pretty much the only person Damian will actually praise. Another batkid paints the Mona Lisa? That's "Mediocre." You scribble a stick man on a napkin? That's "Brilliant."
★ He doesn't just teach you fighting; he teaches you everything you want to know. Want to paint, batbaby? Sure, he'll help; you can use the brushes he's broken people's fingers over. Want to learn another language? Ser bilingüe tiene muchos beneficios, presta atención.
☆ He will not, under any circumstances, allow you to be a Robin. At first, it was about him not wanting to be "replaced", but now it's about wanting you to live a normal life, away from all the traumatic experiences he's gone through.
★ He's gained a reputation for being impatient (it's not impatience, please ask me about my psychological HCs), but he'll try his absolute best for you. You wanted to paint for a whole week, but now you want to give up and do something else? He takes a deep breath and sets the painting stuff aside; it's better to try everything once than only ever doing one thing you'll end up hating.
