#girldad

Your daughter had gone from itty bitty newborn to rambunctious five year old in what felt like the blink of an eye. She was currently racing around Wayne manor in her own tiny Nightwing suit. One that Dick had insisted she be gifted, if she was going to learn acrobatics from him. Jason sighed, not looking up from the book in his hands as he heard the tiny feet racing back and forth across the hardwood floor.

"Hey kid," he called, "Slow your roll, I don't need you running smack into a wall and knocking out all your teeth."

Dick grinned as he entered the room. "They're all baby teeth anyway, she doesn't need 'em." He shot back, following the energetic kid through the halls at a leisurely pace.

Jason scowled, snapping his book shut and marching after them. "Dick, if she loses even one tooth because of you, I'm breaking your damn nose."

Your daughter skidded to a halt, cupping a hand to her mouth to shout into the kitchen. "Maaaamaaa! Daddy said damn in front of me again!"

Your voice came sharply from the kitchen, where you were working on your daughter's birthday cake. Not that she knew that. "Jason!"

"Hey, you just tattled on me!"

She stuck her tongue out at him, then turned to Dick. "Can I practice my flips now?"

Dick grinned, ruffling her hair. "You betcha," he said, bending down to scoop her up. He held her torso firmly as he raised and swooped her through the air, making whooshing noises with each dip. She laughed wildly, flailing her arms as her hair dangled upside down.

"Daddy look! I'm Nightwing!"

He snorted, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "If you were really Nightwing, you'd try some stupid reckless trick mid-fight and land on your ass."

Her eyes widened, opening her mouth to holler again. "MAMAAA! DADDY SAID ASS!"

Jason winced as you peeked your head out of the kitchen, raising a single threatening eyebrow. "C'mon kid, you're supposed to be on my side!"

Dick chuckled, setting her down. "Can you blame her? She's like a tiny version of her mom."

Then there was a sharp clatter from the kitchen, and Jason's head snapped in the direction of the noise like a hunting dog. Dick immediately scooped her back up, tucking her against his hip and following his younger brother.

You stood in the center of the kitchen, staring down at an upturned mixing bowl of ingredients with a long, defeated sigh. Jason was by your side in seconds.

"What happened? You okay?"

You nodded, sighing. "I'm fine. I just got too distracted, and knocked the bowl over." You grumbled, trying to fight back tears. You hated crying in front of your daughter, especially over something so trivial. "It's… I'm just going to have to start all over."

"Hey," he said softly, immediately noticing the masked distress in your eyes. "Don't cry over a little bit of cake mix. I'll clean it up. It's not a big deal."

You sniffled, wiping your eyes. "I know, I just…" You glanced at where your daughter was peering around Jason curiously, then dropped your voice for just him to hear. "I feel like a bad mom. I can't- I can't juggle all the things, and be good in the kitchen, and-"

"Baby." Jason interrupted, shaking his head firmly. "You're not a bad mom. You've got a lot on your plate. Hell, you've got to be tired all the time, I really don't know how you don't show it. You're allowed to mess up, or forget something, or cry over a bowl of cake mix. None of that means you're a bad mom." He slid his hands up and down the sides of your arms, bending his head to meet your eyes. "You're doing amazing, sweetheart. I promise."

You sniffled, then broke into tears. Your daughter turned to Dick, brows furrowed. "Why is mama crying? Did Daddy say something mean?"

Dick shook his head, chuckling softly. "No, he didn't say anything mean. Mama's just tired, y'know? She's got a lot going on, and sometimes she feels a lot of feelings. You know what that's like, right? When you just feel so many feelings at once you gotta let it out? That's why she's crying."

The five year old nodded sagely, her eyes gazing over her parents. Dick pointed at them, squinting one eye dramatically. "But you see the way your daddy's making your mama feel better?" He whispered conspiratorially. "That's true love."

She blinked at him, eyes wide. "Like a prince and princess?"

He just grinned, the hopeless romantic in him eager to show this little girl the ropes. "C'mon. I'll show ya." Then he carried her off to the study, where he tugged a scrapbook off the bookshelf.

He settled onto a recliner, propping your daughter up on its big cushy arm and flipping open the book to the first page. You and Jason, no older than fifteen or sixteen, sitting side by side on a rooftop. The moon lit your faces, your fingers tangled together. "See this? That's your mom and dad."

Her eyes widened, her small fingers tracing over your faces. "They look so young…" she murmured softly.

His eyes crinkled at the edges as he looked back. "They were." He pointed at the next picture on the page. It was you two arguing in the batcave. Your brows were furrowed, and his arms were crossed. "They used to argue all the time."

"They look so mad… What are they fightin' over?"

Dick shrugged. "Who knows? It was always something little." The next picture seemed to have been taken only a few minutes after the last one. Still in the batcave, still scowling, but sitting back to back. And if you squinted, you could even make out the way your pinkies were laced together. Your daughter's head tipped to the side, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"But they were fighting, why are they sitting so close together?"

Dick let out a soft huff. "Because they're in love. You don't always get along with the person you love, but you love them anyway, even when you're mad at them." Then he smirked, pointing at the picture. "Except, back then, they didn't know they loved each other yet."

She let out a small giggle, before glancing between the picture and Dick. "But they're married now, so they must have figured it out."

He grinned, flipping the page. "Funny you should mention that."

She gasped sharply, as if the picture were scandalous, then drawled out a long "oooh". The picture captured one of your favorite memories. The first time Jason had kissed you. Thank god Tim always had a camera ready, as well as several file backups, because Jason hated this picture. He was cupping your face gently, pressing a sweet little kiss to your lips. He didn't hate that he looked soft in it, though he wasn't necessarily a fan of that aspect. He hated that other people got to see the way he looked at you. The way he held you, like you were something so infinitely rare, he would never dare to lose. And now his own daughter was seeing that.

"That… is kissing." She murmured seriously. "That's what people do when they're in love, right?"

Dick sighed softly. "Yes… Sometimes people do that even when they're not in love. But…" He pointed firmly at the picture. "With your parents? That's definitely why they do it."

She gazed over the picture a moment longer, then looked up at him. "How can you tell? How do you know that's a love kiss and not just a normal kiss?"

"Well… It's kind of hard to tell in the picture. But in the moment… I was the one that took this picture, and I remember how sweet your dad was being to your mom that day. She'd failed a test at school, and even though he usually started an argument with her every day, that day was different. He bought her ice cream, and gave her his hoodie…" He pointed at the red jacket you were wearing. "And gave her a big hug. And after all that, he finally told her how he felt about her. And they kissed. So the next time you see them kiss, take notes. That's what a true love kiss looks like."

"I'm gonna watch real good," she declared seriously, holding her hand to her chest like she was swearing under oath. "So that I'll know what love is supposed to look like."

He nodded, grinning. "Now you're getting it."

The next picture was just Jason, reading in the manor library. She cocked her head at the picture, noting how quiet and serious he looked. "...He looks nice like that. Not grumpy."

"He does, doesn't he…? Your dad loves to read books. But you probably knew that already. Does he read you bedtime stories?"

She perked up at that. "Mhm! He always does different voices for the characters."

Dick stifled a snort at that. He'd definitely be using that to tease him later. "That's cute. Does he do girl voices?"

Her nose wrinkled a little. "Yeah, but they sound funny. Like he's choking a little bit." Then her eyes lit up with realization. "Ooh! You should ask him! He'll do it for you!"

Dick burst out laughing at her vivid description, quickly setting the book aside and bouncing the kid up onto his shoulders. "Alright, c'mon kid, we're gonna go pester your dad."

She let out a squeal of delight as they raced through the halls back to the kitchen. You and Jason had already finished cleaning up, and he was now humming softly as he rocked you back and forth, his arms around your waist from behind. Dick paused in the doorway, smirking. "Hey, you two are way too love-dovey right now. Lemme fix that."

Your daughter gasped dramatically, pointing at Jason sharply. "DADDY! Do girl voices for Uncle Dick!"

His response was immediate. "Fuck no."