The crowd was bustling around them as she tried to keep up, her hand slipping from his grip. But she should have known better, he would never let her get away from him.
Bruce picked Ariana up and continued on his way, knowing that if the two of them didn't make it soon, then he would get an earful when they finally did turn up. It'd been years and, still, she worried whenever they weren't promptly on time.
"Daddy, stop," her small voice spoke up, Bruce looking down into her tear filled eyes and sighed. It seemed that, like her mother, Ariana knew when he was in a hurry and found ways of deterring him from what he was trying to do. "What's wrong?"
She didn't have to speak for him to figure it out. She hated loud noises, something neither of them could understand. Ever since she was a baby, she would scream and cry if something was too loud or there was a big crowd. So, with a sigh, he began to hum softly in her ear, much like he did when she was a baby to get her to sleep. She seemed to always like the soothing nature of his voice and it worked because he managed to get her through the crowd and to the restaurant without much more of a fuss.
"I thought we-"
Bruce silenced his wife with a gesture to Ariana, knowing that she'd understand as soon as Ariana felt comfortable enough to talk. Another thing they didn't understand about their daughter was how chatty she could be, telling everyone every aspect of her day no matter what. "She didn't like the crowd."
Without another word, Selina reached for her and sat her down in her lap. "I know I told you to give Daddy a hard time but I didn't mean for you to be late," she teased, coaxing a smile out of the small girl to try and make her feel better. It was too beautiful of a day for her to be frightened.
They were situated at a small restaurant on the Arno river, looking out into the water. Bruce had insisted they visit the place once a year and, for all that he had sacrificed, Selina couldn't deny him of this one thing. She never asked why nor did she want to, she just let him have his lunch at the cafe.
What she didn't know was that Bruce was always looking, constantly stealing a glance over her shoulder to see if he was there and each year, he was disappointed. He had thought that maybe this time, just this once he'd be there. But so far, to his dismay, it seemed to just be a repeat of all the previous years.
And then he saw him, just a glimpse and Bruce knew that he couldn't be mistaken. Alfred was being led to a table three over from them, his paper in hand as he took his seat. He'd aged since their last encounter but he was still the man who had all but raised him.
"Just like he said." He hadn't taken notice to the conversation that Selina and Ariana were having, not until Selina responded directly to him. "Who?"
But her question was answered as she turned to see Alfred sitting behind them, her look only brief as Ariana demanded her attention once more.
It was surreal to him to be looking at the father figure in his life like he had never been missing. Watching him for a moment, Bruce gave his former butler a nod, knowing that words needed not to be spoken for them to understand the other was happy. But there was a part of him that yearned to have the advice of his old friend once more.
It took becoming a father for him to realize just how much he relied on the words Alfred provided for him. When he thought of who to turn to, Alfred was the only name that popped to his mind.
So, unlike Alfred's dreams from his previous stint in Italy, Bruce stood and moved towards his table, knowing that Selina and Ariana would follow suit.
"Alfred. It's been a while."
"A while it has been, Master Wayne."
So, this is just the beginning. If enough people like it, I can continue it :)
-Rae.