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Tim sat in his room checking his email instead of going downstairs. He could hear the chaos unfolding in the kitchen even though his room was well into the west wing on the second floor of the manor. As much as he would love to join in and terrorize Bruce, he had nearly 200 missed emails and he couldn’t avoid them forever.
Most of them were spam, different companies sending the same generic email asking him to try out their products or people trying to get him to buy some course on how to be successful. The last one makes him laugh a little every time he sees them. He’s successful by proxy.
He was about to give up and mark them all as read when an email that he, Bruce, and quite a few of the others were copied on. He clicked it cautiously, hoping it wasn’t another crazy fans attempt to hack into their computers– it hadn’t worked the last time but it had been a bitch to take it off everyones computers so they could stop getting the alert from their firewalls– and was surprised by the title.
Join us in Celebrating Pride in the Diamond District.
Tim skimmed through the email, his excitement growing by the second, and he decided he had to get the other’s opinions as soon as possible. Thankfully, it wasn’t hard to find them. He just followed the noise to the library.
He opened the door and paused to assess what he was missing out on. It looked as if Jason, Cass, and Bruce were having their book club– no matter how many times they denied its existence, they all knew what it was– and the others decided to come in and bother them.
Dick was swinging off one of the Chandeliers in the room, Damian was sharpening one of his swords, Duke was sitting back and listening to whatever rant Steph was saying, Harper was loudly reading over Jason's shoulder, and Cullen was yelling up at Dick, asking him to do various tricks.
“Guys,” he said loudly enough to get all their attention. Everyone turned to him, some more grateful for the interruption than others.
Dick did a graceful flip off the chandelier that never failed to remind Tim of days when his parents still made time for him. “What’s up Timber?” he asked, brushing dust off his knees from the spots Alfred just couldn’t quite reach.
Tim walked over to Bruce and sat on the arm of the chair he was in. “I got a really interesting email asking if we would make an appearance somewhere.”
“We always get emails asking for us to make appearances somewhere,” Jason rolled his eyes and scoffed remembering the first appearance he had to make at some important building opening, “What’s so special about this one that you came to all of us and not just Bruce?”
Instead of explaining, Tim decided to just read the email.
Dear Wayne Family,
I hope this email finds you in good health and high spirits. I am writing to extend a heartfelt invitation to all members of the esteemed Wayne family to join us in a momentous celebration of love, diversity, and inclusivity at the upcoming Pride Parade in the Diamond District of Gotham.
That caught more than a few of their attention, as they all started listening more intently.
As you are undoubtedly aware, Pride parades hold great significance in fostering a sense of unity, acceptance, and respect for the LGBTQ+ community. It is an occasion that brings people from all walks of life together, promoting equality and celebrating the remarkable progress we have made in advocating for human rights.
Given the Wayne family's long standing reputation as champions of justice and defenders of the oppressed,
Steph chuckled and whispered to Duke, “they always say that and never know how true it actually is.” Duke smiled, having been thinking the same thing.
we believe your presence at the Pride Parade would be a tremendous source of inspiration and encouragement for the entire Gotham community. Your support would send a powerful message of acceptance and solidarity, helping to promote a city where everyone can live authentically and without fear.
We understand that your family's schedule may be busy, and there may be prior commitments that prevent you from attending.
“What prior commitments?” Jason scoffed loudly. “I don’t think any of us have proper jobs or social lives.” Dick opened his mouth to protest but Jason knew what he was going to say and cut him off.
“Not you Dickwad. We all know fighting crime at night wasn’t enough so you had to go be a cop and start dating a vigilante.”
Dick frowned, slightly offended. Jason knew he just liked to help people and Wally being a vigilante was just how they met, but he found it funny to tease him about it every chance he got. Dick just flipped him off and Tim continued.
However, we sincerely hope that you will be able to make time to grace us with your presence at this joyous event.
Please let us know if any arrangements or accommodations are needed to facilitate your attendance. We are more than happy to provide any assistance required to ensure a smooth and enjoyable experience for the Wayne family.
We eagerly await your response and hope that you will consider joining us in celebrating the vibrant diversity of our city and supporting the LGBTQ+ community.
Warm regards,
Michelle Sanchez
Gotham Liaison - Human Rights Campaign
Everyone was quiet for a second after Tim finished reading the email, all of them having something to say but none of them saying it. It was Damian who broke the silence by speaking up in a voice that was uncharacteristically timid for him. “What’s a Pride Parade?”
All eyes in the room turned to him, not expecting the question. Everyone was suddenly hyper-aware that he spent the first 8 years of his life on a remote island with a bunch of assassins who didn’t even bother to teach him how to read. Of course they wouldn’t tell him about sexualities and cultural celebrations.
“Well, you know what Pride Month is, right?” Duke asked. Damian thought for a second and then nodded.
“
Pride is a big parade that celebrates how far we have come with gay rights since the stonewall riots
,” Cass signed.
“I knew that,” Damian scowled once he noticed everyone in the room giving him a look that still couldn’t decipher, “I just wanted to see if you knew.”
Bruce sighed, clearly having had this conversation more than once with him. “Damian, it’s okay not to know something. We’re not going to punish you for asking questions about things you don’t know.”
Damian scowled even further, but nodded nonetheless.
It was Cullen who spoke up next with a sheepish smile. “Harper and I have never been to pride parades before,” he admitted. “Our dad–”
“Sperm donor,” Harper corrected offhandedly.
“–was homophobic,” Cullen finished, smiling at Harper's comment.
Bruce’s face flashed with anger, remembering what was shaved into Cullens hair when he first found the two, but quickly quelled it and instead gave them a soft smile.
Dick picked up on what Cullen was probably thinking– that they would get made fun of for never having been to a pride parade. “I’ve never been to one either,” he said honestly. “In the circus, we never had time and we weren’t allowed to really have any opinions that could affect business. No politics in the circus tent and all that. After that, I assumed Bruce had the same opinions until he basically begged me to ask Wally out.”
Some of the kids chuckled at the idea of Bruce begging Wally and Dick to get together. “If you guys had been in a room with them as they both failed to notice the other was just as madly in love with them, you would have begged too,” Bruce said matter-of-factly. They all laughed even harder as Dicks face turned a deep shade of red.
“I’ve never been to pride either,” Jason decided to add, finally putting his book down and fully paying attention to the conversation. “Willis was homophobic then I got kicked out and there's no way to know about or get to pride parades when you live on the street. After I came up here, I just assumed Bruce was homophobic as well until I came back and found out Dick had come out and Bruce was the one who encouraged it.”
Bruce looked mildly offended that so far half of his adopted kids assumed he was homophobic when they first came here. Tim either didn’t notice or ignored the look and decided to contribute. “My parents also had the idea that I couldn’t have any ideas that could affect the business. They had always told me all good business owners had that ideal and so I assumed Bruce did as well.”
“
I didn’t know what pride parades were til I was 14 and came here
,” Cassandra signed. “
I just never wanted to go to one. Too many people. I thought my dad would be amongst them.
”
Bruce gave her a sad smile and looked at Duke and Steph, encouraging them to join in the conversation. They glanced at each other and Steph decided she’d contribute first. “I never went either,” she shrugged, trying to look unbothered by it. “My dad had too many powerful enemies to want to be seen publicly anywhere, and I’m pretty sure he was homophobic as well.”
Jason smiled evilly despite the somber mood. “We should start a homophobic parents club.” When Bruce gave him an intense side eye, he just grinned harder. “It’s not worse than the dead robins club,” he reminded. Bruce just put his head in his hands, not wanting to have the therapy conversation again.
“My parents took me because they wanted to wait til I was a bit older,” Duke admitted. “But…well, we all know how that turned out.”
The somber mood in the room furthered and Bruce’s heart ached. It always did when he remembered the ways he failed his kids. Not saving their parents, not saving
them
, not alway making the manor seem like it was a safe place regardless of who they loved or what they did, so long as they came home every once in a while.
He wished they could have happier childhoods. That they didn’t have to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders so young. Sometimes he almost regrets letting any of them be vigilantes alongside him, but when he really thinks about it he can’t bring himself to. Because even through all the bad things they’ve been through, it’s brought them closer together to each other and given them bonds– bat family and otherwise– that will last a lifetime.
He might regret the circumstances that brought them together as a family, but even through all the hard moments and rough patches they’ve gone through, he can never bring himself to regret the outcomes.
Steph brought them all out of their thoughts after a moment of silence, wanting to lighten up the mood. “I’m hungry,” she whined, throwing herself over Bruce's chair and pushing Tim off. Tim scoffed as he got up but Steph ignored him.
“What would you like me to do about that, Steph?” Bruce asked, digging into his pocket for his wallet because he already knew the answer.
Dick smiled and walked over, wanting to play along. “You know, there's this nice restaurant that opened down the street from here,” he suggested.
“In case you’ve forgotten, we’re all broke,” Jason sneared, the light twinkle of mischief in his eye telling Bruce that he was playing along as well.
“B
ring me back something,” Bruce said, tossing Cass his wallet and lightly pushing Steph off his chair. “Damian, leave the katana here.” The thirteen year old scowled but complied, putting the Katana with the rest of his swords on one of the many racks they had lying around.
They all started talking about what they were going to get and filed out of the door. Once Bruce heard a couple of his cars pulling off, he went out to the living room and grabbed his computer, finding the email that Tim read earlier and replying.
Hello Ms. Sanchez,
Thank you for extending such a warm and gracious invitation to the Wayne family. We greatly appreciate your kind words and the opportunity to participate in the Pride Parade on Main Street in Gotham. It is with great pleasure that we accept your invitation and confirm our attendance at this significant event.
I noticed you said you were willing to do arrangements and accommodations to facilitate our attendance and I have some ideas. The first of which is security and crowd control. Recognizing the importance of safety and comfort for all attendees, I would like to cover the expenses for enhanced security measures and crowd control personnel. Our aim is to ensure a secure environment that allows everyone to celebrate freely and without any concerns.
The second one I would like to discuss over the phone as soon as you’re available. Upon discussing it with my children, we discovered this will be their first pride parade and I have some ideas on how to make it special and memorable for them.
Once again, we express our gratitude for the invitation, and we eagerly look forward to joining you in a few days. This is an occasion that holds tremendous significance, and we are honored to stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community and support their journey toward equality.
With warm regards,
Bruce Wayne
It didn’t take him longer than an hour to get a call from Michelle, eager to discuss his queries. Once he told her his ideas, she immediately started telling him how they would implement them. They had a solid plan and were off the phone just in time for the kids to get home and be none the wiser.
As they all trickled off, some of them going to their apartments and safehouses and others going to their rooms, Bruce smiled to himself knowing that in a few days, they were going to have the time of their lives.
—----------------------------------------
“Bruce, why did you call my job and tell them I couldn’t be there today?” Dick asked, throwing his keys on the counter as he came into the sitting room. He paused in his tracks when he saw all his siblings sitting there as well. He was confused because he was sure he remembered Tim saying he had a meeting, Jason usually disappeared for a couple of weeks after any family gathering, and Cass was supposed to visit Hong Kong for a few weeks.
Cullen looked over at him, amused by the confusion, and patted the spot next to him on the couch. “Bruce either called us here or tricked us into being here and we don’t know why. Join the club,” he explained as Dick sat next to him.
“Why do you think he wants us here?” Steph wondered, laying on her stomach and kicking her legs as if this was a gossip session.
Tim rolled his eyes fondly but joined in. “Maybe he found out who dyed his button ups pink and called us all here to expose them.”
“I already know who did that,” Bruce said coming into the room, “but there’s no point in exposing them because it was all of you.”
Jason gasped offendedly. “I can’t believe you would accuse us of such things without any evidence.”
Bruce leveled him with a deadpan stare. “You all got some of it on your clothes and I frequently help Alfred collect and sort the laundry to be washed.”
All the kids turned to glare at Tim. “I thought you were going to burn the clothes,” Steph accused.
Tim held his hands up in surrender. “I was! I just…fell asleep and forgot.”
They all started mumbling their anger and Bruce even heard a few of them already planning their revenge. He cleared his throat effectively silencing them. “As much as I know you all would love to get your revenge, I need you to go to your rooms and get changed.”
He was met with a bunch of confused and some defiant stares. “Why?” Harper challenged, raising her eyebrow. “And into what?”
“Into the Pride outfits Alfred had the tailor make for you a couple days ago and because we have a pride parade to be at in the diamond district in 30 minutes.”
All of them started excitedly chattering amongst themselves. Even Jason and Damian contributed to the eager mood. “Are you serious?” Cullen asked, basically bouncing out of his seat. “Do we really get to go?”
Bruce nodded and opened his mouth to say something, but all the kids had run off before he could get the first word out. It took five minutes for all of the kids to be back and complimenting each other's outfits. They all had denim jackets with different designs on them.
Harper and Duke both had the pride flag; Dick, Steph, and Damian had the Bi flag; Jason and Cass had the pansexual flag; Cullen had the gay flag; and Tim had the aroace flag. They also had black shirts that said “EQUALITY”, shorts, and rainbow converse.
Bruce looked at all of them happy that they enjoyed the outfits and grabbed three random car keys, tossing two of them at Jason and Dick. “Everyone choose who you’re riding with. We’ve got to be there in,” he checked his watch, “fifteen minutes.”
Everyone quickly ran out the door, getting in the car that was closest to them and moving on when it was full. Bruce sent Jason and Dick the directions to where they had to meet up and without breaking any traffic laws, they all managed to get there with two minutes to spare.
When they met back up at the entrance to the VIP parking, they were confused. “Where are all the people?” Duke wondered, looking around at the barriers but seeing nobody behind them. “Where are the floats?”
“Oh they won’t be here for another hour,” Bruce smirked, walking off in a seemingly random direction. All of them followed, giving various noises of protest.
“Father, why did we have to arrive so early if nobody is here yet?” Damian demanded.
Harper joined in with a frown and complaint of her own. “It doesn’t make sense for us to be here
this
early. I could see if you wanted to get us into our seats and avoid the crowd, but the
floats
aren’t even set up yet.”
Bruce didn’t give them an answer and all of them started complaining more. He walked them to a back area and all the kids stopped complaining when they randomly stopped. None of them had been paying attention to where they were going before, all too caught up in trying to get Bruce to give them answers.
“Why are we with the floats?” Dick questioned, looking around in awe at all of the dancers, drag queens, and other performers setting up floats that looked similarly themed– as if they were telling a story.
Some lady started walking towards them and they all shifted into defensive stances, not knowing what she wanted. “Hello Waynes. May I say, it is an honor to meet you,” she held out her hand to Bruce for him to shake, probably noticing how on edge the others were and not wanting to set them off.
“Guys, this is Michelle. She’s the one who emailed us asking if we would be here,” Bruce introduced. All of them relaxed a little, shaking her hand one by one.
Jason glanced skeptically at Bruce and Michelle, his gaze keeping an analytical glint. “That doesn’t explain why we’re back here.”
Michelle smiled delightedly. “Well, I had a talk with your father after he told me you all would be in attendance and he informed us that this is all of your first time being at a pride parade.”
Jason's glare deepened, trying to figure out where she was going with this. “Yeah, and?”
“And,” she continued, ignoring his skepticism, “he requested something to make this memorable for you. So if you would all follow me,” she started walking off in another direction, further into the road littered with floats, “and keep in mind that this was all your fathers idea. He designed and implemented everything you’re about to see here.”
They all glanced at Bruce, a few of them asking what she was talking about in hopes that he would clue them in. He stayed silent and kept his eyes ahead, not letting any of them catch his gaze no matter how hard they tried.
Once their surprise started coming into view, they gasped in disbelief. “Is that our own float?” Duke asked, his jaw dropped in awe. Michelle nodded, her giant grin never faltering.
At once, they all started thanking Bruce and voicing their excitement. “I’ve got all of your flags and something to represent your personalities, and there is enough room for all of you to stand wherever you want.” He unlocked the door to the stairs that they could take up to the main platform of the float and they all ran up.
Damian dragged Duke and Cullen to an area that was littered with decorative fake parrots that were the colors of the Bi flag. Harper and Steph sat at the front, wanting to get the best view of the people and floats in front of them. Dick dragged Jason to the top, next to a sign that said ‘Wayne Family’ and had a different color flag in each of the letters.
Bruce sat with Cass and Tim on the side, both of them wanting to be able to interact with as many people as possible and hand out the various goodies that were littered around for them to hand out.
It didn’t take long for people to arrive and get excited as the floats started coming down the road. Bruce smiled as all of them looked to be having the time of their lives, waving and shouting and cheering and handing out goodies.
One of the dancers from the other floats ended up stowing away on theirs by accident and they taught Damian, Duke, Cullen, and Cass the dance. Bruce got a couple of pictures of them all laughing and dancing around.
It was the first time in a long time that all of them looked like they had let go of everything that had been going on in their lives and allowed themselves to have fun and live in the moment.
At the end of the day, when the parade was over and everything was cleaned up, they went home for the night and immediately passed out. Bruce shook his head fondly, getting a picture of them piled on each other for the photo album, and started picking up all the various things they had brought back and thrown in random directions in their haste to lay down.
Before he had gone to sleep, Duke had looked at him and gave him a delirious smile. “Thanks Bruce,” he said earnestly.
“What for?” Bruce mumbled, not wanting to wake the others. They had all thanked him profusely throughout the day for doing all of this for them so he was sure it wasn’t that.
Duke gestured around him to his sleeping pile of siblings. “For giving us a home when we couldn’t or didn’t have one anymore. We all appreciate you more than we like to say. Thank you for loving us and letting us love you.”
Bruce was thankful Duke fell asleep right after saying that because he was sure couldn’t answer that without crying. He knew that he didn’t do it for the thanks. He would never ask any of them to tell him what the things he does means for them.
He’s just glad they all found a family here. At the end of the day, that’s all he ever wanted.