Some people have been asking about what Roy told Jason and Dick. If you really want to check out the Roy & Dick & Jason and Selina & Dinah story in the Mother's Day series. It is relevant to this chapter but you don't need to read it. Sufficed to say, Roy's talk and their screw up in the Love Child chapter of this series prompt the conversation below.

As usual, I own nothing. *sigh*

WEDDING DAY

BRIDE'S CHAMBER

WAYNE MANOR

Selina stood looking out the windows not really seeing what lay beyond them. It was her wedding day. She was marrying Bruce. Finally, some would say. What others thought didn't matter. They did what was right for them, when it was right for them, and not a minute before. Certainly nobody made Catwoman and Batman do anything unless they were good and ready to do it.

She had hoped for less chaos in their personal lives, it certainly would have been futile to hope for it in their professional ones, civilian or otherwise. Had it really only been six weeks before that she had come home to find Damian trying to kill her? Most women finding out their fiancée had a ten year old with another woman didn't have to deal with that child trying to kill them or their children. She sighed, she really needed to stop thinking of them that way. It was obvious from the conversation she had walked in on that certainly Jason, and likely the others, didn't feel she was in any way his mother.

Soft knocking on the door interrupted her thoughts.

"Come in." She called as she turned away from the window.

Dick poked his head in the door and his eyes widened when he saw her. "Wow." He came all the way into the room and slowly closed the door behind him. "You look amazing." He twirled his finger in the air. On a laugh, Selina spun for him. The skirt belled out delicately around her. "You always look stunning but this is something else. You're going to blow him away."

Dick paused then moved to sit on the settee. "Can we talk?"

"Sure." Selina sat next to him, carefully arranging her skirt. "Is this the 'Take Good Care of My Batman' speech?"

"No. This is the "Thank you for being my Mother" speech." Dick responded.

Selina's throat was suddenly very dry and she wasn't entirely sure that her heart was beating anymore. Slowly, she lifted her eyes up to meet Dick's.

"I thought my Mom was the most beautiful woman on the planet. I was right, both times." Dick watched the tears well up in Selina's eyes. "I've always thought of myself as an orphan because I lost John and Mary Grayson when I was eight. I never let myself acknowledge that somewhere along the way you and Bruce became my parents. Both of you are okay with that. Bruce probably because feelings aren't something he's good at but you, you do it because you would never ask any of us for anything you don't think we can give."

"Dick." Selina started.

"No. Let me finish." Dick took a deep breath when Selina nodded. "I tell people all the time that you aren't my parents, that you aren't my Mom. I came to you with every break up. You held me when Jay died, when Wally got sucked into the Speed Force. Let me sleep with you through all those nightmares." His voice went quiet. "You got shot for me. You almost died. You should have died. I've read the police reports. If you had hesitated at all you wouldn't have been fast enough. You didn't though. You just put your body between me and those bullets. I've never even said thank you."

"You don't have to say 'thank you'. There wasn't a choice to be made even if it meant I might die. You had to live. You were min-" Selina cut off abruptly and looked away.

"I was yours. Even then, I was yours." Dick supplied for her.

"From the minute I laid eyes on you I wanted you but I knew I couldn't have you. Then the first time you came to me with a nightmare you asked if you could come back to me if it happened again and Bruce wasn't home. Do you remember?" She waited until Dick nodded. "That was it. I was a goner but you were never going to be my child. Rationally; emotionally, well, that's a whole different story."

"You've been there for me from the minute you came through the front door and Bruce told you what he'd done. I don't think Mary Grayson could have asked for anyone better to raise her son for her." Dick leaned forward and pulled Selina into a hug.

"Oh, kitten, I love you so much." Selina whispered into her ear.

"I love you too." He whispered back. "Mom."

He pulled back quickly at the sound of the sob. "Don't cry. Please don't cry. I'm not the only one who wants to talk to you so you can't start crying yet. Besides, won't it ruin your make up or something?" He waved his hands in the air.

Selina gave a watery laugh. "Smooth, kitten, smooth. I thought you were the one who is supposed to be good with women."

"Hey!" Dick looked affronted. "I am amazing with women."

"Sure." They looked toward the door were Jason now stood. "You keep telling yourself that." Jason narrowed his eyes at Selina. "Did you make her cry, Big Bird?"

"No. I very specifically told her not to cry." Dick defended himself.

"Oh, yeah." Jason rolled his eyes. "Amazing with women." He opened the door and waved Dick out of the room. "Out. Your turn is over."

Jason was quiet for a minute after Dick left the room and closed the door behind him, studying Selina in her wedding dress.

"I heard your dress got shredded."

"You know Alfred, prepared for anything." Selina smiled slightly. "He had a spare tucked away."

"Yeah. He's good." Jason's eyes widened slightly. "That's Martha Wayne's dress, isn't it? Oh, that is not what the Demon Spawn had planned when he pulled that stunt."

"Jason, I doubt you came to talk about my dress." Selina's smile was gone.

"No, I didn't." Jason let out a breath. "The first time I met you I was sulking about something, I don't remember what, I did a lot of that back then."

"You don't now?" Selina murmured.

Jason barked a laugh. "You came in with an expensive suit, nails and hair done. I thought I had you all figured out. I told you I was just some mangy stray Bruce dragged in off the street. Wasn't going to be all nice and sweet like Dickie. Didn't even bother to get up off the floor to do it. You just sat on the floor next to me in that expensive suit. Do you remember what you told me?"

"Strays have more character than pedigrees. They're stronger and they can hold up better under pressure." Selina smiled slightly. "I told you maybe you weren't such a good stray after all if you couldn't spot another one when you saw one."

"Yeah, maybe I wasn't." Jason smiled back. "You said I didn't have to be Dick, I just had to be the best me I could be. You honestly believed that and always treated me that way even if I didn't see it. You called me stray after that to remind me I was stronger but I forgot what it meant."

"When I left to go look for Sheila I was so angry with myself, with Bruce, with the world in general. Somehow I thought finding her would fix that. I don't think I had really thought through what would happen if I actually found my mother." Jason hesitated. "Like the fact that she could take me away from my Mom."

The implications of his last statement hung in the air between them. Selina finally broke the silence.

"Jason." Her eyes cut away for a moment and came back to meet his. "I heard what you said in the kitchen. I know how you feel about me."

"That's not what I meant!" Jason ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "It's just that it's different with blood kids. How many times has Damian pointed that out? You and Bruce should have had one of your own a long time ago. Not just the ones that Bruce picked up in random places."

"Oh, stray, you are my own." Selina cupped Jason's cheek with her hand. "You always have been. I've loved each of you since the moment I laid eyes on you."

"Oh no, don't do that." Jason began to panic as a tear leaked out of Selina's eye. He wiped the tear away with the pad of his thumb. "I just gave Golden Boy hell for that."

"Language." Selina said on a watery laugh then sobered. "You know we would have fought her for you. If she had tried to take you away we never would have let it happen."

"Would you have?" Jason murmured.

"You're my stray, you were Bruce's Robin, Dick's Jaybird, our boy. How can you doubt that? We would never have let you go without a fight. We would have sent Alfred after her if we had too."

Jason snickered. "Pulling in the big guns, you are serious."

Before Selina could respond there was a knock on the door. It opened and Tim walked in.

"What do you want, Baby Bird?" Jason questioned.

"Ma says it's my turn." Tim responded.

"Oh well, if Ma says so." Jason responded sarcastically.

"Jason Peter Todd. I heard that." Ma Kent's voice was heard from the other room. "I don't want any more of your sass. You get your butt out of that room so your brother can talk to Selina."

"Yes ma'am right away." Jason leaned over to give Selina a kiss on the cheek and hurried out of the room.

Tim closed the door behind his brother, turned back to Selina, and smirked. "Can we have her move in here? Between her and Alfred we'd have him under control in no time. Besides, then we'd have the world's best cookies, brownies, and pies."

"Are you kidding? Do you know how hard I would have to work out?" Selina shook her head. "Besides, it's part of his charm."

"Some days I could do with a little less of his charm." Tim grumbled.

"He's your brother, you love him. That doesn't mean you have to like him all the time." Selina smiled at him. "Now he's not even the worst brother you have."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Tim pushed his floppy bangs out of his face. "We don't really have to keep him, do we?"

"Pretty sure we do. I don't think the vows say 'for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until Damian do us part'." Selina smirked at him.

Tim snorted out a laugh. "I guess you're right." He sobered quickly. "You know Janet and Jack didn't have a whole lot of time for me growing up. I mostly got to spend time with them when it was convenient or when it worked out. Even the night at the circus I wouldn't have been there if the Flying Graysons hadn't been so famous that most of Gotham's elite had gone to see them and it was an event they would be expected to take me too."

"When I was following all of you around that was something that I envied. You were a family. You spent all that time together. Fighting crime sure but it was still time together. Catwoman and Robin would goof around when it was quiet, Nightwing would join in when he was there. Batman wouldn't but sometimes I would catch him watching you. You were his, all of you. He was proud and amused by your antics. I wanted to be part of that. My parents didn't even notice I was missing."

"Oh, Tim." Selina's heart broke for that young boy.

"The shock when I finally figured out who you all really were though. You actually weren't a family. I mean, not a traditional one. You and Bruce weren't married. Dick and Jason weren't your birth children. There was nothing holding you together except that you all wanted to be. You let me be a part of that. You and Bruce were more my parents than my parents were even before they died. After, you were everything I had. I don't know what I would do without you. Even if sometimes I wish you being my Mom meant you would always take my side instead of those other two but no, you insist on being fair." Tim rolled his eyes.

"Oh puss, what would you do without us? What would we do without you?" The tears were back in Selina's eyes. "You brought Bruce back from the edge. You brought me home. You made us a family again. We couldn't have done that without you. We were raw and hurting and so far apart. You just dragged us back together whether we wanted to or not."

"It had to be done." Tim's voice was quiet. "Someone had to do."

Selina reached out and pulled Tim into an embrace. "Not someone, you, just you."

Before anything further could be said the sound of escalating voices could be heard from the outer room. Selina and Tim pulled apart and frowned at one another. They walked to the door together and Tim pulled it open.

In the outer room Selina's bridesmaids stood forming a solid wall behind Ma Kent. All of them were protesting something loudly.

"Enough." Ma hardly raised her voice and all talking ceased. "Now, I understand that you think you have a right to feel a certain way. That does not, however, excuse any of the behaviour I have heard about or witnessed since I have set foot in this house."

"I am of the House of al Ghul." The rich cultured tone of Damian Wayne could be heard even if the boy himself couldn't be seen beyond the wall of bridesmaids. "I do not have to listen or explain myself to peasant stock such as you."

"Why you little brat." Dinah moved forward but Ma motioned her to remain still.

Ma Kent had raised more than one Kryptonian. A ten year old Damian Wayne wasn't going to faze her. "You are also of the House of Wayne. This is your Father's wedding day. You will show some respect. To him, to his Bride, to the memory of your Grandparents. Do you understand me, Damian?"

Selina had no idea what Ma put into the look with what she told him but there was a pause before Damian answered.

"I merely wish to speak to…..Kyle." There was another pause before he continued. "I will not attempt to harm her or disrupt the wedding in anyway. You have my word as both an al Ghul and a Wayne. Is that acceptable?"

"I'll talk to him." Everyone turned at the sound of Selina's voice, startled to see Tim and Selina in the doorway.

"Are you sure?" Tim squeezed her hand.

"Yeah, I got this." Selina squeezed his hand back and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't worry; I'll try not to take his side too often."

Selina had arranged herself in the center of the settee, spreading out her skirts as far they would go, leaving Damian no way to join her there. This left to him with no option but to stand in front of her or sit in a chair on the far side of the room. The chair was simply too far away to allow for any reasonable kind of conversation leaving Damian no choice but to stand in front of her.

Selina resembled a Queen holding court right down, she thought, to the glittering diamond crown on her head. She doubted the boy raised in the League of Shadows would miss the symbolism.

"You wanted to talk." Selina inclined her head slightly.

"I was left here with Father because it became necessary for my safety but also so that I could dispatch you. Mother told me that Father did not truly love you, that once you were gone permanently he would realize that and turn back to her." Damian paused as if uncertain. "Obviously I was unable to accomplish my mission."

"Obviously." Selina said drily. "Perhaps if you had been given better intel on my abilities you would have stood a chance. I think there is a possibility that the person who sent you on this mission would prefer to not admit at what caliber my skills are but I have fought side by side with your father for a great number of years. Fought with the Justice League, helped to form the Birds of Prey. One can't be expected to be incompetent."

"…..No. One cannot." Damian stared at her. "I formed another plan. Researched extensively. There were things I could do to cause dissent in the household, to push you to your breaking point. All of the sources agreed that you would be vulnerable in the weeks leading up to the wedding. That you would crack if things went awry." Damian's voice rose dramatically and his chest heaved. "Why are you not a Bridezilla?"

There was the little boy in the assassin, Selina thought to herself. She forced her lips not to twitch as she watched him.

"Bridezilla? Where did you learn that term? It certainly wasn't Nanda Parbat." Her eyes widened slightly. "Damian, have you been trolling the wedding forums?"

"Of course not." Damian regained control of himself and waved away the thought with his hand. "I went directly to reputable websites. They all talked about the dreaded Bridezilla and what could set her off. Nothing I did bothered you."

"Oh, it bothered me." Selina was going to have to check the search history of the internet to see which 'reputable' websites he had looked at. "But I've been tortured by the Joker; you were way out of your league. It wasn't anything I couldn't handle especially not with your Father, our family, and friends by my side."

"How did you find another dress?" He demanded. "The sites quite clearly said it would take months or longer to get another one."

"It's your Grandmother's." Selina gestured at the crown. "As is this." Damian's eyes followed her hand's path back down to her side. Selina looked back and forth between her hand and Damian. "What?"

"When I killed you I was supposed to take the ring for my mother." Damian swallowed and continued to stare at the ring. "She said it was meant for her, not you. I was to send it to her. She would have it for when Father came for her."

"I see." Selina was going to beat Talia into the ground the next time she saw her. What kind of Mother did this to her child? She sighed internally. Given the information she had recently uncovered about Talia and Ra's she knew exactly kind of mother would do this to her child.

"Father spoke to me yesterday….about Grandfather." Damian paused again. Selina caught a glimpse of pain before it was pushed back. "He is alive. Mother told me the Pits could not save him and yet he is alive. She also did not see fit to inform me of his resurrection."

The silence dragged out between them. Selina watched Damian carefully. Damian finally broke the silence and spoke again.

"Father also informed me that it was you and the former Cheshire who gained this information."

"Jade" Selina emphasized the name. "and I both felt something was….off about the situation. Since we still have contacts that the others wouldn't have access to we did some digging. It wasn't easy but we found the truth." Sportsmaster had been a bloody mess when they left him. "I wish we could have found it sooner for you, Damian."

"What do you expect in return for this?" Damian eyed her suspiciously.

"Nothing." Selina's heart ached for him. Oh yes, she was going to make Talia pay for hurting her boy. Her boy? Was she falling for this assassin child who wanted to kill her? Had she finally lost her mind?

"…..Are you listening to me, Kyle?" Damian demanded.

"Sorry. Got lost in thought." Selina waved for him to continue. "Go on."

"Everyone wants something. No one does anything for nothing." Damian narrowed his eyes. "Even if the goal is simply to watch the other person suffer."

"Oh Damian." Selina's voice softened. "Jade and I are well accomplished in the art of the deal. Jade would have been trained as a member of the League of Shadows, even more so than me, in making people suffer. Both of us are capable of it but we are mothers, Damian, and however much you might protest it you are a child. We would never do that to you, certainly never about something like this. You deserved to know the truth about your Grandfather being alive."

"Cheshire has that brat who may be more annoyingly cheerful than Grayson. You have no children. Only one of you is a mother." Damian stated.

Oh yes, worse than the other three put together Selina thought. "Children don't have to be born to you to be yours. I have three beautiful boys that I have raised with your Father. You should know that. You've done nothing but antagonize them since you got here. You even attempted to kill the youngest."

Damian had the grace to look down at the floor. "She left me here on purpose."

"So it would seem." Selina's voice was soft, not much more than a whisper.

Damian looked up at Selina suddenly. "You are a formidable, worthy opponent. You bested me in combat and in other trials. I believe that I could learn from you. It no longer suits me to kill you."

"Gee, thanks." Selina responded sarcastically.

Damian looked uncertain and took a deep breath. "The night we met you told me that there was a place for me in this family. I just had to be willing to accept it. Is there still?"

"Yes, of course."

Damian nodded, turned on his heel, and strode out of the room. He left the door to the room wide open. Bridesmaids poured into room demanding answers proceeded by Ma who silenced them all with a look.

"Selina, honey, are you okay?" Ma asked with concern.

"I think maybe Bruce is right. Maybe we should have stopped with just one."