how to get my husband’s son on my side
🍒 three times you try to get damian wayne, your husband’s son to warm up to you. || fluff, platonic fic, reader is bruce’s wife, damian wayne is well loved in this household, 1,7k words. || ⋆˚࿔ dont mind the name i had so much fun typing it.
Damian was a hard kid to deal with and the more you learned about him, the more you realized that he was not the harsh shield he created for himself. His grudge wasn’t against you, but against the whole world, it seemed. He was only a kid, who never had the chance to live that life.
You wanted to give him those moments because you believed no one was late to be a child no matter what age they were. But first, he had to trust you. It was not about loving you or anything, you wanted him to trust you and warm up to you. Not as a mother but as a friend.
So you decided to try reaching him in a way that wouldn’t bother him. You had thought of a few things to start with…
1. TAKING HIM TO NATIONAL PARK TO SEE ANIMALS
Even before you married Bruce Wayne, you knew his son was an avid animal lover. He loved animals, cared for them and was interested in knowing them more than any child you encountered. He had so many pets and he cared for them, not letting others do his chores when it came to his animal friends. He was serious about them.
It was afternoon, when you were taking Damian from his school, that you wanted to start a conversation about his interests— and of course, you chose animals specifically, for you knew it would alter his senses and make him focus on you.
“Damian,” You started. The boy didn’t look up from the window and just hummed. You just smiled at him and continued to talk. “I heard that you and your father donated to Gotham National Parks… That’s amazing to hear.”
Damian stopped playing with his fingers and turned to look at you. It was working… “Yes. It was hard to persuade Father, though.”
You remembered the fight they had the day before Bruce decided to, or rather had to decide because of you and Damian. Damian had been sending money without his father's knowledge and Bruce was angry about it— you couldn’t blame him either, he only wanted his son’s trust. And when he confronted Damian about it, they had a fight.
And in the morning, they eventually donated the money together.
“If your father says no, you can always ask me, dear. We can always make him agree together.”
You saw a small smile appear on his face as he looked out the window ahead of him. “Actually,” He started speaking and all of you knew something was on the way. “I asked him to take me to the National Park but he said he was busy.”
Bruce was busy, that was no lie. Both him and Alfred were having a small crisis in their lives. That was why you were the one taking Damian from school.
“I can take you there!” You proposed with great enthusiasm. The boy looked at you with a confused expression. “Would you like that?”
You turned to look at the little boy. His fingers were tapping on his leg as he was thinking. Your heart was beating so fast. If he didn’t agree with something like this, it would be hard to find common places with him, you figured.
But he didn’t seem like he would disagree and eventually nodded.
The next thing you did was taking a turn and drive right to the park. You saw the small smile on Damian’s face grow as you kept driving. He didn’t talk after you agreed to take him, but he looked like he had questions. When you stopped for the next red light, you asked him, “What’s up?”
“What about father?” He asked without letting a second pass.
“What about him?” Damian watched you twirl the wedding ring on your finger. “Damian, don’t worry about him. He is not mad at you, he just… wants your trust and wants to trust you, that’s all. I’m gonna text him and tell him we are going to the park, alright? He can’t say no.”
Damian nodded and leaned onto the seat with a relaxed expression on his face. Yep… This could be your first accomplishment after all.
2. COOKING TOGETHER
Cooking in the Manor was always a comfort for you: The kitchen was bigger, had all the ingredients needed and also everything was fancy. You loved joking around and saying you married the right person because of his kitchen— but Bruce warned you not to make this joke in public lest you get cancelled. He was careful about the public so much when it came to you and considering social media, it was valid. He was probably trying to protect you and his children.
You loved joking about his money, though.
Humming and singing to yourself, you were chopping the onions. Your eyes stung and were teary from the vegetable you were butchering. The onions were a significant part of the new soup recipe you were trying, if they weren’t that important, you’d skip that part. But now you were striking yourself with the same thing over and over again.
You heard some footsteps enter the kitchen as you were cutting the last piece of onion. Turning back to check who it is, you smiled when you saw Damian on the doorstep of the kitchen. “Hi, Damian,” You greeted him and he muttered a silent hi back at you. When you realized he was leaving the kitchen, you spoke again, “Is something wrong?” was the first thing that came to the tip of your tongue.
“No,” he spinned back to face you while he was talking. “I was going to try a new recipe I found, but I don’t want to interrupt you.”
“Oh, that’s okay! The kitchen is big for the two of us,” You put down the knife when you were done with the onions. “Actually, this kitchen would probably take all of us, if you ask me.”
He, once again, nodded. As he was walking towards the island, he asked, “Are you… crying?”
“Nah, just chopping some onions.” You poured the onions into the stewpan. “While my soup is cooking, maybe I can help you with your recipe.” You were careful with your words, you didn’t want to overstep or something. Turning back to level zero would hurt you more than anything. “What is it you’re planning to cook?”
“Bake, actually. It’s a cookie recipe.” He put the cookbook he was carrying with him to the island’s surface, open for you to read. “A lemon cookie. My mother and I used to bake cookies all the time.” He stopped speaking then. You shot him an encouraging look to continue. “Well, I want to bake some. I think your help may be useful.”
You laughed at his words. “Thank you.” You checked the ingredients, “So, what do you want me to do, Chef?”
He started looking into cabinets to find suitable tools. “Bring the ingredients, please.”
The celebrations of victory were loud inside you as you did what he asked. You were so happy to help him like this, you were also so happy that he asked you for your assistance.
3. PAINTING
Damian was a remarkable artist. He was born talented. His brush strokes were strong and confident. He knew what he was doing. You were always so happy to see what he created after all the time he spent in his room. He was a creative artist with great taste, and you loved complimenting his style.
It took a while for him to show you what he painted, drew or scribbled. He never showed you his unfinished works before but you were so happy to see his work.
The day when he showed you his work in progress for the first time, it was actually an accident. It was laundry day and you were going into every room to ask if they had any laundry. Knocking on his door knowing he was inside, you waited for his voice to allow you in. When a rushed voice reached out to you, you guessed he was trying to cover what he was painting— because that mostly happened. Not just with you, it happened to the whole family from time to time.
“Damian, can I—“
“Yes,” He shouted a little bit too loud. “You can.”
You opened the door, the basket leaned into your hip. He was sitting in his chair next to his desk. There was a canvas that was sitting on the easel, but it was covered haphazardly. You smiled at him before you finally spoke, “Laundry day,” you said shortly. He knew the ritual very well, maybe better than you had.
“I— I can help you.” He rushed to the basket full of used clothes. Taking the basket, he started walking to the door. His every move was fast but steady. It was like there was something he didn’t want you to see.
Soon enough, you understood what it was, for the cloth over the canvas decided to fall to the ground, revealing his recent masterpiece to all eyes including yours.
You did not know what to say over the beauty of the painting he had been working on. It already looked perfect with his usage of colors and his style, sharp brush strokes defining the features of… “Me? Is that me?”
You could see he was embarrassed since he was looking down. His hands were tied behind him as if they were itching to cover the canvas once again. When he finally looked at you, you gave him the warmest smile you could ever give. He slowly nodded. “Yes. It was supposed to be a gift.”
“A gift? For me?” You slowly walked to him, your arm wrapped around his shoulder. He let you. “Damian, this is amazing. Thank you so much, I— I can’t even explain how happy I am to see this.”
“It is not the best.”
“No, it is the best. It was you who made it.” You ruffled his hair as he tried hiding his smile with a frown. “Thank you, Damian.”
You felt like your heart stopped when you felt his arms wrap around you. His head hit your chest as he hugged you. He whispered your name, “Thank you.”
You didn’t know what he was thanking you for but you didn’t care to ask. He didn’t need to explain himself. You wrapped your arms around him and hugged him back.
You were truly happy to be like this with your husband's son.
