Author's Note: If I ever decide to do a full-fledged sequel, it'll take place 3 years from now around the "A Death in the Family" arc. And with such a dark story to look forward to, I thought I'd post a few fluffy snippets. They're in no particular order, and I'll add more as little stories come to mind.

The first sound to be remotely like a word like a word to come out of Damian's mouth was 'ba', and it was generally much agreed upon that 'ba' stood for 'bat' instead of 'bottle' because Talia had never allowed that to touch her precious baby's mouth. His second word was 'dada' which Bruce took personal pride in. She was willing to let that one go, but when he pointed at Jason and clearly said 'yasa', her patience broke.

"Mama. Just once, baby. Say 'mama'."

From the high chair, the eleven-month-old blinked, and she groaned putting her forehead on her arms on the table. She had been at this several times already, and the current trial was running well into a half hour. Propping her cheek against the heel of her palm, she gave him a tired look.

"I am not above bribing you with snacks," she informed him.

Damian instantly held out a chubby hand and flexed his fingers. He might not have understood 'bribing' but he was very familiar with the other word. Talia sighed and gave him a carrot stick to chew on. Footsteps from behind alerted her that someone was coming, and a moment later, Jason trotted into the kitchen heading for the fridge.

"Hey, what are we doing?" He came to stand by her with a glass of juice.

"We," she gave the baby a little glare, "are trying to get my ungrateful child to acknowledged the importance of my existence."

"Oh." He took a sip of the juice, screwed the cap back on, and fixed his brother with a very serious look. "Damian." He waited until the baby turned to him and locked on his gaze. Then he pointed to her. "This is mommy. But she can only be your mommy if you call her that. I mean, how else is she gonna know, right?"

The child clearly looked distressed. His little hands slapped down on the high chair table in front of him. The baby's bottom lip quivered, and he looked like he was about to work himself into a good cry. Talia was ready to jump to his aid, but Jason just shook his head, unimpressed.

"No, Damian, that doesn't work. Wanna know what does?" He turned to her with a big smile. "Hi, Mom."
Talia's eyes widened for a moment, and all she managed was. "Hello, Jason."

"See?" He turned back to a now confused-looking Damian. "You try."

The baby brought a fist to his mouth and chewed for a bit, all the while looking at Talia with some measure of caution. Finally his nearly-toothless mouth opened and what started as babble soon very became a very clear, "Mamamama."

Talia stared in disbelief, and Jason grinned. "Mission accomplished."

Finally coming out of her shock, she leaned over and kissed the boy's cheek. "Thank you, darling."

"You're welcome," Jason shrugged.

Damian picked that point to let out a loud wail. He'd done all the work, after all, and he was going to make sure he got some attention for it too.