#artxyras fics
Marinette had been in the Bahamas enjoying her vacation when she received the phone call. It was Bruce. Upon hearing her son’s, in everything but blood, voice, she had sat up on her lounge chair and swing her legs to the side.
Bruce couldn’t speak coherently. That’s how much he had worried her. It’s not often that she would get a call from a panicking Bruce, especially on her vacation.
“Brucie, honey, calm down and speak clearly.” Her voice was sweet enough to calm her son down. “Is Alfred nearby you?” She asks, knowing that her son’s surrogate father would be close. Then again, Alfred was scheduled for his vacation soon.
“No, he’s tending the reason why I’m calling you. I may or may not have taken in a ward.” Bruce tells her, sounding off.
The words slowly register in her mind.
“I have a grandchild.” She squeals, so glad that she was sitting down instead of standing up. It’s already embarrassing that her squeal reached the others at the beach. Had she been standing, she would be dancing along with the squeal had she been standing up. “Oh Bruce, tell me about them? How are they adjusting?”
“That’s the problem, mom! I have no clue what to do. Can you come home? I rather explain all this to you in person rather than on the phone.” She can sense the longing and desperation in his voice. It warms her heart that he still needs her.
“Of course, I’ll be on the next flight out of here. Is there anything else that you want to talk about?”
Bruce murmurs a yes. And they go into a discussion more about business rather than the newest Wayne addition.
As Marinette books a plane ticket for the last flight of the night, she couldn’t help but think about her son’s ward. Never have Bruce expressed any thought about having children due to him being Batman. Though, she herself has thought about taking in another child. However, Marinette’s ability to have her body age slowly has been a blessing and a curse and keeps her from going through with it. It’s a blessing because she has a chance to look younger and experience more but it’s a curse as it means that she’ll live longer and see the people she cares about dying before her.
Nearly six hours after booking her flight, she is on a three-hour flight to New Jersey. Her vacation ended the second her butt touched the seat of the plane. It was a lovely time off from everything in Gotham, her ever-growing business dubbed Miracles Designs & Crafts, and her duties as the guardian of the Miraculous, but family always comes first.
“Alfred! It’s so good to see you again.” Marinette wraps her arms around the man. He returns the hug.
“I as well, Miss Marinette.” He responds once the embrace ends, taking her bags and loading them into the car. Marinette pouts; she could have done it herself, but she doesn’t say a word.
The drive was sweet as the two begins to catch up. Alfred enjoyed hearing about her adventures outside of the United States. Though, he fears what Bruce will say about her travel to Tibet.
“So, tell me Alfred, what are your thoughts on our son’s ward?” She inquires, looking out the window. The sky never changes in Gotham, but it certainly is a vast difference from the sunshine and clear skies that she was experiencing in the Bahamas.
“He’s determined.” Alfred states with a glance at her in the rear window. Marinette nods and continues to look out the window.
Meeting her grandchild could have gone many ways, but him winging on the chandelier was not something she was expecting. He seemed to be mourning, like him swinging on the chandelier was holding him together.
Bruce sends the boy a quick word then escorts her to the living room. The second the door closes, Bruce breaks down what happened. The boy’s name is Richard Grayson, but he likes to go by Dick. Of course, Marinette gasps upon hearing that, as she has never been around a person who calls themselves Dick. And that he was a part of the circus with his family until their demise. Dick has no family outside of the circus. There was also a chance that he’ll be the target for a mob boss.
After hearing the basics of Dick’s situation, all she wanted to do was hug the boy and give him lots of love. The same as she has done for Bruce.
“When can I officially meet my grandson?” She questions with a smile on his face. Bruce rubs the back of his neck and sends her a sheepish smile. Wrapping his arms around his surrogate mother, he guides her towards the double doors.
“Hi, I’m Marinette, but you can call me Mamie, if you want.”
Dick looks up at her, swaying in place, “Mamie?”
Marinette chuckles. “It’s one of the French versions of saying grandma.”
“Cool, but you don’t look like you’re old enough to be a grandma.” Behind them, Bruce fails at holding in a chuckle. Marinette purses her lip and keeps her eyes on Dick, even though she wanted to send her son a glare.
“Yeah, I do, but don’t be fooled. I practically raised Bruce since he was eight. Now, what do you like to do for fun?” She nudges him to talk about himself, hoping that it will help from sending him down a mourning spiral.
Bruce disappears after that, hunting down the person that sabotaged the tightrope and giving Dick his closure.
Once Dick is asleep, Marinette finds herself in the cave, watching her son’s nonstop researching process.
“You know spending time with Dick would really make him feel welcome.” Marinette pulls up a seat and sits beside him.
“I can’t. Zucco is out there, and if I can’t find him before he leaves Gotham…” Bruce trails off, turning his attention back to the screen.
Marinette shakes her head, “At least try and get to know Dick before you do something stupid. There’s only so much that I can do, but I wasn’t the one that took him in, Bruce.” Marinette turns to Alfred and gestures her head towards Bruce.
“I saw that, mom.” Marinette scoffs then gets out of her seat. “I promise that I’ll hang out with Dick before all this is over.”
“And somehow, that doesn’t make me feel that much better. He’s your problem now, Alfie.” Marinette takes her to leave, grabbing a cup of tea from Alfred before leaving the Batcave.
“Joy.” Alfred sighs, but there was an underlying hint of love there.
Life with Dick in the household was an interesting transition, especially for Marinette. Usually, when she’s here, it’s silent, as Bruce is either working as Batman or being for Wayne Enterprise. The only sounds were her and Alfred talking during their afternoon tea sessions. With Dick, the manor is full of laughter and ambitious feet, running around; practically, Mimicking the sounds of the past.
With Marinette in the house, Dick didn’t feel so alone. Even though he didn’t have it in him to call Bruce dad yet, he’d definitely called Marinette Mamie on more than one occasion. When it first happened, she cried. Poor Dick, he thought she was upset or something. That day, she took them out for ice cream and to the gymnasium.
Marinette did not hide her disdain when Dick became Robin. There were a lot of baked goods in the kitchen from her stress baking. It got so bad that Alfred had to ban her from the kitchen.
Of course, once she did become comfortable with the idea of Dick out crime-fighting, she places strict rules in place so that Dick wasn’t out late at night on a school day or dealing with highly classed villains. Marinette had her fair share of fighting crime as a child, and she did not want to place that down on Dick.
On top of that, she refused to have Dick going out at night in underwear in the name of pants. That was a big no-no in this household.
Bonus:
“Mamie Mars, has there ever been a time you benched Bruce?” Dick asks one day while Marinette was helping him with his homework.
Marinette thinks for a moment. “Yes, it was within his first year of being Batman, actually. He challenged me and you know how I am when challenge, Dickie. Gotham was without their hero, excuse me, vigilante for about a month. Ladybird sure had a fun time in his stead.” She chuckles at the memory, causing Dick’s eyes to widen. He quickly finishes the rest of his homework.
———–
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She hated it here: it’s always dark and depressing when it comes to living in Gotham.
When she first moved to Gotham just months after defeating Hawkmoth, it was beautiful, a breath of fresh air. And now, nearly four years later, it’s lonely, in need of some happiness.
It’s late at night, getting closer to midnight, even though it’s a couple of hours away. And she’s been in and out of meetings all day.
Reaching the doors to leave the building, she stops dead in her tracks.
It’s raining. The murky skies clouded by grayness.
Sighing, Marinette looks back to the clock above the receptionist’s desk. It wasn’t something fancy, but it’s different from what she’s used to. Cellphones had yet to become an accessible object for people.
“I guess I could get dinner.” Her voice is soft, acting like she’s a burden to her own self. Nonetheless, she bids the receptionist a goodbye and walks out the door.
She should have grabbed an umbrella before she left her apartment this morning, but believing in her own luck, she didn’t.
The walk to the restaurant wasn’t as bad as she thought. She didn’t get rudely splash, which was a first. The rain had also let up a little bit, but she was sure it was on the verge of becoming a thunderstorm, a calm before the storm predicament.
Marinette walked out of the restaurant somewhere around 10:30 pm. The thunderstorm had yet to start. She looks to the sky and thought to herself: it’s a decent night to go on a stroll.
It was until it wasn’t.
The rain and thunder came first. Then a jarring bang.
The first shot took her by surprise; the second was alarming. It was the cries for help that breaks her heart.
Her hero instincts kick in, and she runs towards the sound of a crying person, severely hoping that the victim or victims were at least alive.
She comes to a staggering stop.
Crying over the bodies of two adults is a kid, no older than twelve, at best, but he’s small. He’s shaking the bodies asking them to wake up.
Marinette slowly makes her way over to him, allowing herself to get a look at the people.
“Oh no,” She covers her mouth. “Martha?” The kid looks up at her, tears running down his face.
She hears the sirens. Someone had to hear the gunshots and called the police. She would have done it herself, but there were no payphones nearby, and she didn’t want to leave the boy alone.
It’s not even 11 pm yet.
“You’re Martha’s boy, aren’t you?” She asks him in a whisper. He nods, still unable to speak. “Bruce, right?” He nods again, causing Marinette to wrap her arms around him and pull him in closer. She had known Martha from a couple of business meetings and lunch outings. To her, Martha reminded her of an old friend.
She doesn’t know how long they stayed like that, but what she does know is that it ends when an officer shakes her shoulder.
“Ma’am, we need to take you both in for questioning.” The police officer states as he pulls his arm away from her. His tone screams accusatory.
Her eyes linger on the officer as she bites her lower lip.
“Yes, of course, but I can stay with Bruce until his next-in-line guardian comes to pick him up?” Bruce didn’t want to let go of her hand, and she didn’t have the heart to leave him.
The officer narrows his eyes before calling over a co-worker. With her free hand, Marinette rubs her forearm.
“You’re not going to leave me, are you?” Bruce asks softly; she barely heard his question.
“No, I won’t.” She smiles down at him. Bruce nods, shaking, thinking about something that she hopes is good.
It wasn’t long until Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce’s family butler comes to claim him. He thanks Marinette for staying with his young master, but Marinette could tell that he acts more like a concerned family member rather than a butler looking out for his next paycheck.
“It was my pleasure, Monsieur Pennyworth. Would it be alright for me to see him after tonight’s disaster?” Bruce looks between the two, hopeful. Alfred looks down at his charge and thinks for a moment.
He agrees and gives her his number.
Not long after receiving the number, Marinette is called in for questioning. She leaves the two with a sad smile on her face.
Bruce turns to Alfred, “She’s an angel, Alfred.”
“That she is, young master, that she is.” Alfred walks the boy to the car.
It wasn’t long before Marinette found herself taking on a maternal role for the young Wayne.
When it first happened, she felt like she was betraying Martha, but after a lengthy discussion, she realizes that Bruce never wants her to replace his mother but to be there for him like a mother should.
And since then, she found herself staying at Wayne Manor more often than not. In fact, Alfred made a room and an office for her to stay and work in once he realizes that she’ll be a concurring factor in their lives. It was a wonderful gift from the two.
A couple of months after Bruce’s parents’ death, there was a severe thunderstorm coming. Bruce went into hiding the second the rain and lightning had started, prompting Alfred to call Marinette, who was at her apartment.
Her banging against the door match that of the thunder. Nonetheless, Alfred was at the door within seconds. She immediately hands Alfred her wet coat and goes to search for the young master.
Alfred couldn’t help but smile warmly at the young woman on a mission.
Bruce may have years of finding the best hiding spots within the manor, but he doesn’t have god-like entities that travel through walls. Marinette was able to find Bruce within minutes of starting her search.
He was crying himself to the point of dehydration. Her arms wrap around him, pulling him into the comfort of her arms.
“It should have been me.” He whimpers repeatedly.
“Oh, Brucie.” She whispers, rubbing her hand gently up and down his back. “You didn’t know, and you couldn’t have known.”
Bruce shakes his head against her chest. Unknowingly, reminding her of her former partner. He was the same way after the reveal of their main villain, his father; all she could do is be there for him.
“Bruce… Bruce look at me.” He looks up at her. “I love you like you are my own, but your parents, especially Martha, wouldn’t have want you to be suffering in their place. A parent will do anything for their child ,and your parents did just that for you.” She tightens her grip around him, slowly guiding the two of them out of the hiding spot.
Marinette manages to get them into her bedroom. She made sure Bruce was comfortable and asleep before taking the couch.
The thunder booms outside the window for the rest of the night.
Late into the night, Alfred opens the door, revealing Bruce sleeping on top of Marinette. They’re both on the couch. Her bed was deprived of its blankets. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight.
“Thank you, Alfred.” Marinette whispers.
“No, thank you.” He whispers back.
She drifts back to sleep with a smile on her face and a firm hand on Bruce, who snores in response.
Marinette doesn’t regret finding the child that night. It gave her a reason to stay in Gotham longer. If anything, it gave her something that she was missing. A person to care and love, be it platonically or romantically.
Bruce Wayne is her son, and she is his mother in all but blood.
—–
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