The Genesis Project

Introduction (Part 3) - Welcome Wagon

7:34 A.M. - Damian

Despite the relaxed schedule of a Saturday morning, Damian was accustomed to waking up early throughout the week and had no problem continuing this trend into the weekend. He swung his feet over the edge of his bed, rubbing his eyes and yawning as he slipped his feet into the slippers on the floor. Opening the door to his bedroom, he looked out into the quiet and still hallway. His space at the end of the hall allowed him to view the entrance to each bedroom from his doorway, and at this time of the day, most of the doors were typically still shut. So he was surprised to see, as he traversed towards the stairs, one of the doors sitting wide open.

His immediate thought was that Dick was likely already up and had left his door open when he left, but this thought was quickly pushed aside. Not only did Dick never leave his bedroom door open, but his room was on the opposite end of the hall from where the exposed expanse was just a few doors down from Damian's room. He slipped his hands into the pockets of his pajama pants and continued his confident strut down the hall, slowing - but not stopping - to peer into the room. His eyes initially fell onto the bed, which was empty except for a single pillow. Even the blanket had been stripped from it, but he was able to see it clearly bundled into a mass on the floor. His gait slowed even further as he tried to casually observe what it was that was curled beneath the blanket; being able to see a face barely poking out from the hood of a sweatshirt confirmed that a newcomer had made their way to the manor sometime last night.

He returned to his normal pace, continuing his route to the dining room to mentally prepare for the hectic beginning of Saturday morning breakfast.

7:57 A.M. - Dick

Dick was enjoying the calm silence of the early morning, sitting alone at the dining room table and nursing a black coffee that was slowly becoming room temperature. He watched Alfred move through the kitchen from a distance; he knew better than to make any attempt to move into the room as he worked, as most of them were banned from even trying to be of any help in a culinary setting. Occasionally, the two would make eye contact and exchange a small smile before returning to their respective objectives.

He saw the small, quiet figure of Damian move into the room out of the corner of his eye, placing himself into a chair directly across from him. Dick slowly raised his cup to his lips, staring at Damian with interest. Very rarely did Damian make the conscious decision to sit directly across from him on these early mornings, and Dick presumed it was because he must have something to say.

"Morning," he greeted casually, looking back down into his coffee to act as though he had no suspicions that Damian had anything to share with him.

Damian did not return the greeting, but instead interlocked his fingers and rested his head on his hands as he said, "It seems father has acquired a new one," as casually as if mentioning a sudden shift in the weather.

The movement of Dick's cup to his lips faltered, and he quickly returned the item to its place on the table. "A new what?" Dick inquired, though he had a feeling he already knew.

"A new child." His tone maintained its casual demeanor. "Seems to be about time. He's been long overdue for another one."

He leaned forward to continue the conversation, but Damian seemed completely uninterested. "How do you know this?"

"I saw them on the way down this morning," he replied as Alfred moved into the room with a glass of orange juice, placing it in front of Damian and exchanging pleasantries with him.

Dick stopped Alfred as he turned to leave, "Wait, is that true?"

Alfred simply smiled in a way Dick had come to recognize: he didn't want to be the one to answer this question, but he wasn't going to lie to them, either. "Which-?"