Chapter 32

AN Enjoy. :)

2 years later

"Happy holidays" I call to the bullpen, waving to my team as I get on the elevator, ready to start my vacation and get to the Manor.

"Hey, hold the elevator!" Tony yells, grabbing his bag and his coat off his chair as he too rushes to get out of the office.

I put my arm in front of the door, waiting for him to get in before I move my arm, grinning at him like a lunatic.

"What's that look for?" he asks warily.

"Nothing, i'm just excited to get down to Gotham for Ellery's first christmas" I tell him, toning down my madman grin.

"Dude, she is so fucking cute, don't forget to send pictures" he says, grinning over at me as we reach the ground floor, both of us booking it across the parking lot to our cars, waving bye as we both take off.

My bag is already packed and waiting in my car, so all I have to do is drive to Gotham.

A few hours later i'm pulling into the driveway, a smile on my face as I text Damian, letting him know that i'm here.

"Hey asshole" he greets as I walk in the door, a soft smile on his face as his daughter lets out a squeal of joy, bouncing herself up and down in his arms when she catches sight of me.

"Hand over the goods" I say, dropping my bag on the ground and reaching out for the bouncing baby, smiling when she giggles and pull her into my chest.

"Hello Ellery" I coo, leaning over to hug Damian with one arm, a bright smile on all three of our faces.

"You know, you are going to have to start watching your language around her" I tell him as he leans down and picks my bag up.

"Yeah, I know" he says, the smile on his face never dwindling.

Damian called me less than a month after we had finished our case in Gotham, telling me that he had gotten a girl that he was dating pregnant, that they had decided to have the baby, and that they were going to co-parent, both of them raising him or her.

I used a lot of my vacation time during those next 9 months, constantly visiting and talking Damian off the precarious ledge he had found himself on, terrified that he would be a terrible dad, that he would fuck his kid up like his mom had done to him.

He was a constantly shifting mix of excited and terrified, never sticking to one very long before shifting to the next, and then back again.

The two of them were scared, and excited, and even though it wasn't anything that either of them had planned, they were both so fucking happy.

Clary was so sweet, and her and Damian would have made amazing parents, they hadn't planned on getting married and tying themselves to one another for life, but they had planned on staying friends and raising their kid together.

Clary died during childbirth though, and it tore Damian apart, but he was more determined than ever to give his baby a good life.

It's been a little less than a year since Clary died, and I still see this sad sort of look in his eyes sometimes when he looks at Ellery, but then she does something cute, or annoying, or nerve-wracking. She smiles, or cries, or rolls over, and this overwhelmingly happy look takes over everything else on my baby brothers face.

I told him to find something to fight for, something to stay good for, and although she wasn't planned, Ellery is just that.

"Hey Timmy" I hear someone say from the doorway, and I grin when I see Bab's roll in, a grin on her face as she catches sight of Ellery in my arms.

"Uncle Tim!" I hear a young voice call out and I grin as Noah runs up to me, stopping a few feet short of me when he sees Ellery.

"Hey buddy, you excited for Santa to come?" I ask, kneeling down so that I can pull him into my other side, hugging my nephew.

"Yes! Me and Mommy already made cookies for him and our presents are under the tree" he says, pulling away from me and holding two of his fingers out towards Ellery's grasping hands, smiling wider when she grabs onto them.

"Awesome, why don't you take these presents and put them under the tree" I tell him, reaching over with my free arm and sliding a huge bag of presents towards him, laughing softly when he gently disentangles his fingers from Ellery's, picking up the bag of presents and grunting slightly when he goes to drag it down the hall towards the tree.

"Tim!" I hear another voice call out and I grin when Lian runs into the room, stopping just short of me and then darting into my side to give me a quick hug, Roy walking into the room behind her, a smile on his face as he takes in everyone standing in the room.

"Hey kid" I greet, hugging her back.

"Roy" I greet, hugging him as well, and protesting when he stealthily pulls Ellery from my arms and into his chest, grinning at the once again giggling baby.

"Oh come on, I haven't seen her in like 2 weeks" I groan, holding my hands out, pouting and demanding more time with my niece.

"Fine" he grumbles, handing her back to me.

I watch as Lian disappears around the corner, most likely going to help Noah put the presents under the tree.

"I need some food" I mutter, leading the way to the kitchen, grinning when I see Macy, the cleft palate kitten, who's no longer a kitten, laying on the counter.

"Hey Macy" I greet, running my hand over her fur and smiling when she purrs, lowering Ellery towards the cat when she starts bouncing and reaching for her, and Macy simply lays there with a tolerant flick of her tail as Ellery 'pets' her.

"Hello Tim" I hear a deep voice say, making me look up from the cat and pull Ellery away from her.

"Jim" I greet, grinning when he holds his hands out, laughing when Ellery starts bouncing in my arms, more than willing to flat-leave me for him.

I reluctantly hand her over, smiling when she cuddles into his chest, a satisfied look on her face as he starts swaying back and forth with her.

Everyone eventually sits down at the table, choosing to either sit back and watch the room, or to participate in one conversation or another.

I almost spit out the mouthful of cereal I have in my mouth when I hear Ellery speak up. Jim has been talking to her quietly for a few minutes now, the two of them off in their own little world, but they garner the attention of the whole table when Jim holds her around her middle, letting her stand on his knees and bounce up and down at will, there is a grin on her face as she gleefully exclaims a word I know she learned from her dad.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" she starts chanting, and although she's been saying a few words for a while now, this is a new development.

She turns her head slightly to look at me when I burst out laughing, joining me a moment later with the rest of the table.

"Oh my god Damian, you really do need to start watching your mouth around her" I tell him, laughing so hard my stomach hurts.

It hits me then, with all of us sitting around the table laughing.

It isn't just me and Damian anymore.

We have a family, we did what Bruce did, we built ourselves a family, people that we love and trust.

I smile when, after everyone stops laughing at the colorful language of Damian's baby girl, I see Lian teasing Noah about a crush he has, Roy attack hugging Damian, Ellery starting to fall asleep on Jim's chest, and Bab's leaning her head on her dad's shoulder, smiling at the handful of her hair that Ellery is holding.

I lean back into my chair as Wally and Artemis walk into the kitchen, a sleepy Mary on Wally's shoulder, and I happily accept the sleepy toddler when Wally passes her to me, leaning down to hug me from behind after she settles down, Artemis following suit with a smile and a soft kiss dropped on the top of Mary's head.

It's christmas eve, and even though my chest twinges, and I can't help but look around for the missing part of my family, the happiness that i'm feeling at this moment mixes with the sadness, leaving a melancholy sort of feeling in its wake.

Our house is no longer empty and cold, it's filled with family, laughter, and love.

We aren't alone anymore.

AN This is the end! I absolutely loved writing this fic. Every single fic that i've written before, that's multiple chapters, I always, always, lose steam, or direction. That's probably because I don't actually plot out where my stories are going, I just get an idea for a scene, whether it's the end, the middle, or the beginning, and I write around that one scene. This is different though, this entire fic flowed, every time I thought I would run out of ideas on where I wanted this to go, another one would pop into my head. The only hard thing was ending this, but I loved the ending. Thank you to everyone who favorited, followed, and reviewed, I couldn't have done it without you!