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It was a Sunday morning, the day Tim's world was pieced back together.
Sundays had always been Tim's favorite, even when Kon was still around; they were slow and allowed him to bask in the more domestic aspects of his life. Especially now.
While he made Sophia's nine o'clock bottle, listening to her happily babble from her spot in the living room, he thought about the rest of his day. He had plans to meet Dick and Wally for lunch around eleven, then most likely get dragged to the Manor to spend the rest of the afternoon letting everyone cuddle and play with Sophia. Bruce was the worst of them all—he'd tell everyone to put her down, claim they were going to 'spoil' her by holding her so much, then snatch her right up into his own arms. He smiled at the thought.
As he screwed the cap on, gently swirling the formula in, he heard someone knocking at his door.
"One second!" he called, putting the bottle in his handy-dandy bottle warmer, before quickly washing his hands off. He speed-walks to the front door, checking on Sophia on the way over.
Tim thinks it's weird how early his oldest brother is, but he supposed it was likely. Dick and Wally adored his baby. They'd spend hours spouting nonsense to her, trying to get her to laugh at them. He bet they wanted to start a family, someday.
He laughs as he opens the door, teasing: "You know, you guys are gonna have to stop being so obvious about wanting to see Sophia and not me. Honestly, it's-"
Tim cuts himself off when he notices who's standing at his door. It's not Dick and Wally. His breathing turns shallow and forced and he should sit down, he knows, but he can't stop himself from bringing a shaky hand up to cup Conner Kent's face. He needs to make sure this is real.
"Hi, Rob," he grins that Superboy grin, and that's it. Tim all but launches himself at the man in front of him, hot tears soaking into the fabric of his shirt, but he doesn't care. It doesn't matter. Kon is back. Strong arms wrap around him, one hand holding the back of Tim's head.
"Kon," he sobs. "You were-"
He can't get another word out, lungs overwhelmed by the need to release nine months of pent-up emotions. His sobs, ugly and wretched, overtake him.
"I know, birdie," Kon exhales, stroking Tim's hair. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to. Didn't want to leave you."
"I know you didn't," he whispers back, wiping his face with his hands, and looks Kon in the eyes. Those gorgeous, Kryptonian-blue eyes. He hadn't seen them on someone other than Sophia in so long. Oh god, Sophia. He feels the tears coming back. "I..."
"What is it?" Kon's eyebrows furrow in concern.
"I need to tell you something," he breathes out.
"Whatever it is, take a deep breath, alright?" Kon rubs a hand up and down his arm. "Your heart's racin' like crazy."
"Kon," Tim looks at him, serious. "I- hm, I understand if you want to leave after this."
"You're scarin' me, Tim," Kon lets out a nervous laugh. "Just tell me."
"After you- after you died," he sniffs. "I was... messed up. For a bit. For a while."
Kon nods, eyes warm and understanding. Tim looks down.
"I just... wanted you back. A piece of you. A piece of us. And I did something I shouldn't have."
Tim raises his eyes back up to Kon's, but before he can respond, Tim continues.
"But I don't regret what it gave me. I could never," he swallows thickly. "And I know that it's a lot. That you might not want this. But this is my life, now, and I wouldn't change it for the world. So."
"I'm still not really-" Kon starts, eyes squinting in thought. "Could you show me, Rob?"
Tim nods wordlessly and leads him into the apartment. It's a place Kon had been countless times, but it's different, now. Changed. Tim wonders how much he notices. One thing he's sure Kon does see is the baby sitting in Tim's living room. He hears Kon's breath hitch.
Sophia is laying on her tummy on his Persian rug, grabbing at a crinkle book in front of her. She's in the most adorable outfit—a red gingham set Tim had fawned over her wearing today, since the chill of autumn was beginning to reach the air. She even had matching red shoes she was going to wear when they went out for lunch. For a moment, wildly, he forgot about the man trailing behind him and reached for his baby. She let out a happy shriek, wiggling her legs as he picked her up.
"Hi, baby," he laughed, pressing a kiss into her cheek. As soon as he looked away from her, though, he remembered what he was doing. His eyes met Kon's, which were wide with shock and something else.
"Is that... did you..." he balks, leaning closer to Tim.
"This is Sophia," Tim smiles, looking from her to Kon. "She's our daughter."
Tim knew how Kon felt about being a clone. Knew the heartache it caused, the identity crisis it fueled, the insecurities it amplified. He knew Kon would've hated being cloned, after he died. That's why Sophia wasn't a clone. She was a perfect mix of the both of them—half Tim, half Kon. Their kid. She had Kon's jet-black curls, his bright blue eyes, his powers. But she also had Tim's full lips, his complexion, his eye shape. Depending who she was sat next to, she looked like either of them.
So, when Kon didn't speak, he feared the worst. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, will it away. He doesn't think he could handle living life without Kon, now that he's back, but he would if it meant the best for Sophia. He would go on, raising their child as a single parent, knowing the love of his life was still out there but didn't want anything to do with him. Not that he thought Kon would be cruel enough to just up and leave, but...
Tim didn't know what he thought. He just hoped.
"Can I hold her?" comes Kon's voice, awestruck in a way he's never heard before. Tim doesn't trust his words to remain steady in this moment, so he just nods. Kon reaches his hands out, gingerly plucking Sophia from his arms, and cradles her. He lets out a wet laugh, eyes brimming with tears. "Hi, Sophia."
"I thought you would've liked the name," Tim offers, and he feels small in a way he hasn't for a long time. He watches Kon watch Sophia. "She's almost nine months. We've been pretty adventurous with food lately, but her favorite is always sweet potatoes. I blame the Kansas in her. She loves laying in the sunshine. I think her laugh is the best sound in the world. She always gets this smile when I'm with her, it shows off her four little teeth."
Tim huffs out a laugh as he talks. It's like he can't stop the words from coming out, but he guesses he's always been this way around Kon.
"She's so precious, Kon, and I love her more than anything," he finishes, and the other boy finally looks at him. There's a smile on his face and something loving, something tender in his eyes.
"I do, too," he exhales, and Tim wraps his arms around them, one hand playing with the curls at the nape of Sophia's neck while the other clutches onto Kon's waist. He buries his cheek into Kon's chest enough so that he can still look at his daughter—their daughter—in Kon's arms.
"Oh, Conner," he sighs.
"Tim," Kon mirrors, leaning down to kiss his cheek oh so softly. On the way back up, he kisses Sophia's, too.
"I love you."
"Yeah, you know I love you more," Kon smiles, and Tim can't stop the tears from returning. Kon gently scratches his back. "Hey, hey."
"You were- you were gone so long," he gets out. "I was- it was- god, Kon, it was like trying to live with a hole in your heart."
"Oh, Tim," Kon squeezes him close. "I'm sorry. But I'm never leaving you—or our baby—ever again. You hear me? Nothing could drag me away from this, away from you."
Tim smiles and reaches up to press a kiss to the corner of Kon's mouth. He brings the hand that was in Sophia's hair to cup his lover's face. "I know, baby."
"Let's sit down," he suggests, and Tim kisses him again.
They settle into the corner of the couch, the spot where Tim and Kon used to snuggle up during movie nights, once, and it's so easy. It's like fitting the last piece of a puzzle in and the entire picture coming together. There's been an ache present in Tim, since Conner died, but now it's been soothed. Like the one wrinkle on a shirt has been ironed out. Tim rests his head on Kon's chest, listening to the beat of his heart, reassuring himself that Kon is here, and Sophia nestles into the other side of his chest like he's always been there. And, in some ways, he has been. Tim talked about him, about how much her other daddy would love her. About how much he had loved Tim, and how sweet their time was together. He had shown her pictures, knowing she didn't yet understand, but needing her to know that there was someone else out there who would've absolutely cherished her.
And now Kon was back.
If he couldn't physically feel the evidence of his return, Tim would think it was too good to be true. He couldn't help the smile that took over his face.
He was snapped out of his stupor, though, by the electronic beeps from Sophia's bottle warmer in the kitchen. Reluctantly, he pushed himself up from his place in Kon's arms, though not without a kiss to his lips, nose, cheek, and lips again.
"Be right back," he mumbles. Once he grabs the bottle out of the warm water and tests the temperature against his wrist, he makes his way back to the living room. The sight he's met with makes his heart skip a beat: Kon, relaxed on the couch, swooping Sophia up and down, pressing kisses to her little face whenever she's near his.
"Super-Soph!" he beams at her, and she giggles happily. Tim leans on the archway between the dining room and living room, smiling as he watches the pair. When Kon turns his head to look at him, Tim's breath is nearly taken away by the mere sight of him. Conner Kent, the love of his life, was sitting in his living room playing with their baby while Tim got her bottles ready. Was this his life, now?
"Her laughs are the best thing in the world," Kon says, and his smile could power the sun.
"Yeah," Tim's eyes nearly close with the force of his own smile as he walks back over to their spot on the couch.
He gives his baby girl about half a dozen kisses on the cheek before turning his head to do the same to Kon.
"Oh you're just mush now, huh," Kon laughs.
"You don't know the half of it," he smirks back. They spend a nice moment just looking at each other, soaking in the sight after so long apart.
Tim only speaks again when he notices Sophia making grabby hands for her bottle.
"Do you want to hold her while she eats?" he looks up at Kon. "She's been holding the bottle on her own for a while now, but I still like to have her in my arms while she does, sometimes."
"I'd love to, Tim," he says, and the pure wonder in his eyes has something tender tugging at his heartstrings. He shifts Sophia so her head rests in the crook of his elbow, slightly propped. "Just like this?"
Tim nods, and moves the nipple of the bottle near her mouth. She quickly snatches it up into her chubby little hands, sucking readily.
"There you go, baby," he says, the softest Kon has ever heard him sound, and strokes her cheek gently.
"Wow," Kon can't help the sound of surprise that leaves his mouth. His heart is about to pound out of his chest.
Tim cocks his head in that way he does when he's asking you a question.
"It's just, you're a whole dad," he breathes out in explanation, and Tim just smiles.
"You are too, now," his Robin's-egg eyes trace over Kon's face as though searching for any semblance of discontent. He won't find any.
"I know. It's crazy, birdie," he leans in, meeting Tim halfway for a soft, loving kiss. They laugh into it.
Tim happily cuddles back into Kon's side, head tilted down to look at Sophia. Her big blue eyes were staring right at Kon. Tim just lays there, content, feeling Kon's chest move with the force of his breaths and watching their baby drink her bottle.
"I never want to get up," Kon laughs breathlessly, as if he can't believe the words coming out of his mouth. "This feels so right."
"We've got the rest of our lives, Kon," Tim smiles at him, fondly pressing a kiss to his cheek.