Archive of Our Own ^beta

When you had as many children in your house as Bruce did, you were bound to mess their names up occasionally. And that wasn’t even mentioning the pets that his youngest kept accumulating. Bruce could tell them apart, obviously. His mistakes were sometimes a tad silly, like when he called Duke, who had dark coiled hair and was 5’5 on a good day, by Jason’s name. Jason, who was only a tad shorter than Bruce and was built like a bull. He messed up when his kids didn’t look anything alike, so you know that he messed up way more with his similar-looking children.

Tim and Cassandra really made Bruce stumble. They both had a similar hair cut and were of a smaller build than their other siblings. Combined with dark hair and feather light footsteps they were easily confused. The only real distinguishing factors were their clothes, but in the Wayne Manor that didn’t matter. All of Bruce’s kids constantly stole and borrowed one another’s clothes, and since Tim was only a little taller than Cassandra they often shared closets. If Bruce had more than a second to examine them, he could easily tell them apart. Tim was much paler and had awful posture, and Cassandra was much more graceful than Tim could ever be. But at a glance, they looked virtually the exact
same.
Early in the morning after patrol, Bruce spotted a dark head of hair gazing out a window. He made his way over, already getting his Dad Voice ready. He told Tim four times to rest, and said if he didn’t there would be consequences. He watched Tim go to his room hours ago. “Timothy Jackson Dr-“ the head turned and he was met with Cassandra. She quirked a brow and looked around for her brother. Bruce sighed. “Sorry sweetheart, I told Tim to sleep and I thought you were him for a second.”

Cassandra simply smiled and turned back to the window. Of course it was Cassandra, she regularly sat near this window and pondered to herself. Tim was likely fast asleep in his room. Bruce dragged a hand down his face, he was really getting old. As he began to walk back and start a pot of coffee, he noticed that the sweatshirt Cassandra was wearing was one of Tim’s old Gotham Prep ones, further solidifying in his mind that it was an honest mistake to confuse the two.

The second time was not as honest.

After a brutal night fighting crime, Bruce made the painstaking journey to the main kitchen for breakfast. Every bone in his body ached, especially the ribs he had cracked. He had a headache that made it hard to think.

All he wanted was to rest and greet his kids. A few were sitting around the large table, eating and chatting. The Wayne children (both legal, honorary, and adjacent) made an effort to come to the Manor for breakfast more often to spend time with one another, and Bruce was so delighted at the consistency at which they attended. Even Jason started coming a few times a week.

Before sitting down, he did his ritual of wishing a good morning to all his babies. Duke was closest, so he leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead. “Morning, buddy.” Next was Damian, who squirmed at Bruce’s affection, but preened at his soft words. The only other guest was Cassandra, whose head was down and dangerously close to falling in her bowl of cereal.

“Morning, Cassie.” He said with a kiss to her head. A pair of startling blue eyes met Bruce’s. This was not Cassandra. Those eyes only could belong to Tim. He was seriously becoming such an old man with how he mixed up his kids' names.

He leaned down and kissed his head again, smoothing his hair back. “M’sorry Tim, morning.” Tim scrutinized him for a moment, but eventually went back to his sugary cereal.

In Bruce’s defense, Cassandra was usually more likely to wake up and attend breakfast than Tim ever was. Tim usually rose stupidly late or absurdly early, so seeing Cassandra at the table was something he expected. He sighed to himself and sipped the coffee Alfred brought, he wouldn’t make the mistake again.

A week or so later, he went on an off-world mission with the Justice League. He finished the painstaking mission after three weeks and again fully intended to go home and sleep after making sure all his babies were okay. He came just after tea-time and was delighted when Alfred said all of his kids came to say hi. Immediately after this information was revealed, he was tackled into a bone-crushing hug by his oldest.

He squeezed Dick, just enjoying the familiar scent of his son. Bruce buried a hand in Dick’s hair, “You alright, chum?” Dick pulled back and nodded.

“Sorry, B, I just got used to seeing you all the time so I really noticed when you left.” There was nervousness in his tone, and Bruce was reminded of a much younger Dick who cried whenever Bruce left the house got any reason.

Bruce tapped Dick on the cheek and released him. “I missed you too.”

Dick’s grin could light up a million planets.

He seemed to remember something. “The rest of the baby birds are totally knocked out in your bed. I was going to join them if you hadn’t come when you did.” Bruce smiled at the thought of his kids missing him enough to seek out his room and the safety of his huge bed. Bruce allowed Dick to pull him through the corridors to Bruce’s quarters. Dick opened the door with a flourish.

The sight he was met with was very startling. There were three sleeping children on his bed, but that wasn’t the odd part. Dark skin peeking from under a mound of Bruce’s blankets suggested Duke, and right next to the boy was a miracle of nature. Damian was being practically smothered by Tim, who was mostly covered except for his hair and the arms wrapped around his brother. Damian was drooling into Tim’s hair, and Bruce gawked at the two.

Damian and Tim were starting to get along more, but they were nowhere near the level of cuddling in the open. They still argued when they had to sit next to one another at dinner. Bruce stared at Dick, to confirm he was seeing this too, but Dick looked unfazed. Bruce’s oldest simply climbed in the large bed next to Duke and slung an arm around him and Tim and promptly shut his eyes. Bruce sighed and climbed into the bed, resigning himself to a cold feet and pointy elbows. After getting comfortable, he drifted off.

His nap was interrupted by voices arguing at the door. He cracked open an eye to see Jason arguing with Tim. Bruce sat up and reexamined the form he assumed was Tim clinging to Damian. Obviously it was Cassandra, now that he had all the facts. She was affectionate and Damian trusted her enough to get close. He sighed to himself, logically he never should have confused them.

Luckily, this time he hadn’t made a fool of himself by messing up their names to their faces. That’s why Dick was not excited by Tim and Damian bonding, because it wasn’t Tim at all. While he was ruminating, both Jason and Tim made room in the large bed to join in on the nap. Under the guise of his family being asleep, Jason snuggled close to Bruce. Tim worked himself into the space between Cassandra and Dick. With the knowledge that his kids were all safe and comfortable, he drifted off again.