#kind of obsessed with my own room decor if i'm being honest

[deadpoets]

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[mrknifes]

so i had a batcat headcanon ask in regards to selina's pregnancy & how bruce's autism would affect this before & after helena's born? since he's never had the opportunity to raise a kid from birth. damian was his first born. but due to his upbringing via talia & the league it was missed. and over all how it might influence his relationship with selina & baby helena as well.

I mean personally I headcanon Bruce as afab / trans, so my own headcanons differ in that aspect, in regards to Damian & Helena.

But for the sake of this ask, I'll answer under the assumption of Bruce being a cis man.

As per usual: my experiences aren't everyone else's. And other people may not agree/relate to this. Take this as you will.

Also, I have yet to read Helena's story in its entirety, so this is not so specific towards her, but more of a general view of how Bruce would react.

To be honest, I don't have much experience with parenting myself, so it's difficult for me to write anything specific that would pertain to that area. I have been there for someone after birth, and I have babysat before, but it still doesn't entirely translate into parentage.

Perhaps in the future I can research more into this subject (and baby Helena), and write a far more in-depth post than this. But for now, I'll just write down what I can see happening/feel.

Bruce would be a nervous wreck. He's taken care of other people's babies before, but he's never HAD a baby. So yes, he's freaking out a lot. This results in him sitting down and obsessively thinking over a million different scenarios in his head, and trying to come up with all kinds of plans for bringing the baby home.

It results in very frantic conversations with Bruce wondering what clothes he should get, when he should get them, how to decorate the baby's room, whether he should take time off work (both civilian & vigilante), how long he should take time off, etc. I've mentioned this before but autism involves a lot of rigid schedules & routine, as well as a ton of planning. We're very meticulous about every little thing. Everything. This results in both Alfred & Selina having to reign him in a little bit and assure him it's all gonna be okay, and they're gonna work through it. He loses a lot of sleep over it.

Bruce most likely would take time off to help raise little Helena. He's been seen in canon, willing to quit work for the sake of his family. So I'm sure he would be fine with (temporarily) stepping away from his work, in order to care for his daughter. It takes a Lot of effort to raise a kid, especially when they're a baby, entirely reliant on you. So Bruce is very, very attentive & makes sure to spend as much time as possible with her. It gets to the point where Bruce becomes an annoying mother hen that Selena has to shoo & pry him off of Helena ("hey you're not the only parent here give her BACK")

I'm sure it's most difficult when Selena has to recover from the birth. That's when it's most taxing, I think. Bruce probably loses the most sleep then, and skips his own self-care for a few days. It gets better when Selena is back to full health, so they can work as a team.

Sometimes, I think, there are days where Bruce gets too invested in taking care of Helena, to the point where he crashes. He's gotten better at taking care of himself over the years, but every now and then he still needs a reminder that he can have a break. Another part of being autistic is that essential tasks for every day living are much harder than for someone allistic. Simple things like brushing your teeth or tying your shoelaces can be draining. So every task we do results in a sort of "trade-off." (Ex. If I shower, I can't make breakfast. If I make my bed, I can't do laundry.)

So when Bruce takes care of Helena, there are moments where he spends too much energy on her, and, as I said, ends up crashing. After paying attention to her all day, he probably crawls into bed in the same clothes from yesterday without showering or brushing his teeth. And he doesn't get out of bed for another 16 hours because he's so tired he still lays in bed after he's awake.

Selena & Alfred ofc bonk him on the head afterwards to tell him he's a dummy.

Helena loves getting held by Bruce though because he's constantly stimming, which in turn leads to her getting rocked (gently), a lot. It's her favorite thing. It's also Bruce's favorite thing. There are so many photos of him falling asleep somewhere with Helena attached. Everyone in the batfam thinks it's the cutest thing.

I would write more but my last braincell is giving out 😭

I hope this was decent enough! I can definitely write a follow up post in the future!