Fill My Lungs | J. Todd ✔

[30] Adorably Dysfunctional Family

Valerie was astonished by a lot of things ever since they had reached Gotham.

Firstly, the cityscape was extremely different from what she had seen usually in her own city. The architecture was strikingly dark with the gothic towers and brooding gargoyles perched on top of the old buildings. She could see that Gotham lived up to its name due to both its gloomy environment and the unmistakable chilly weather.

And then she was even more surprised when Jay brought her to Wayne Manor. She hadn't expected that his family house would be so grand but given the hints he had given at his adoptive father's habit of taking in a lot of children, such a huge place seemed fitting.

The lush greenery around the Manor contrasted with the dull cityscape they had just come from and she looked around in wonder at the very well-kept gardens. 

"There are fewer bushes here than I last remember seeing," Jason remarked, counting the carefully sculpted hedges, "looks like Damian lost his temper and took it all out on the shrubbery again."

"Damian's the youngest of your brothers, right?"

"Yes and he also happens to be the only one of us who is biologically related to Bruce," he added, "that's a fact the little menace likes to rub in our faces very often."

She smiled, feeling that was quite a default youngest sibling reaction. She was an only child herself so her knowledge of younger siblings was only limited to the stories Sarah had told her about her siblings and now also to things Jason shared with her sometimes about his family.

So she was quite curious about how so many of them managed to live together under the same roof. And with the mental image Jay had projected so far, she had a feeling that the weekend was going to be unexpected and chaotic for her as she was new to the whole prospect of large families.

But she was eager to meet them and spend time with them all.

They had reached the front door of the manor so Jason rang the bell and shortly after, Alfred opened up, a warm smile taking over his face to see his favorite of the Batboys standing outside.

"Good evening, Master Jason, Miss Valerie," he greeted them warmly, stepping aside so they could come in.

"This is Alfred, the only reason all of us are alive right now," Jason introduced her to Alfred and she politely shook his hand, "he's a miracle and a blessing to us."

"You flatter me, Master Jason," Alfred remarked with a soft smile, closing the door behind them.

As they stepped in, they saw the rest of the siblings waiting to greet them. However, then came time for the third shock for Valerie as she paused, her cheeks shading red to see the eldest Wayne boy that she had heard so much about from both Jason and his friends.

The man was a literal personification of the term drop-dead gorgeous. 

Undeniably even more dashing than she could ever have imagined him to be based on everything she had heard from Roy and Kori.

With his striking blue eyes, charming smile, and wavy dark brown hair, there was no way a person seeing him for the first time would not get starstruck for a while.

"Looks like she got bedazzled," the young boy with glasses, standing at a distance with two girls of the same height but different hair colors, spoke up.

"It's called the Dick Grayson effect," the blonde girl chuckled, causing the eldest brother to spin around and see what the trio was up to.

"This is Richard," Jason's voice brought Valerie back to the present, her cheeks getting even redder in embarrassment, "and those three nuisances you see behind him are Tim, Steph and Cass."