It was another one of those nights, filled with pain, misery, and more than a few tears. Barbara hated phantom pain and tonight was a bitch, the pain in her legs nearly unbearable. Anyone else would have reached for those tiny round wonders that only a doctor can prescribe for you but, almost no one else had a husband and three little girls to worry about. Now if you would have told Barbara Gordon that one day she would have had three children while happily living in the suburbs, she would've called you a liar. Nevertheless, here she was happy and content minus the issue with her legs of course.
"Hey babe. Wake up Kaldur", she said as she poked her finger into his shoulder.
"Is it your legs again?", he drowsy groaned.
"Yes."
"Okay love."
"Sorry for having to wake you up."
"No worries. I would do anything for you Barbara."
"You're just saying that because I gave you three little girls."
"Well technically I suppose.", he groaned again just before Barbara launched her pillow at him.
"So I'm just a baby making factory huh?"
"Just the most beautiful and important one in the world.", he said before dodging another blow from Barbara's pillow.
"You're a big jerk."
If it wasn't for the large cheese eating grin that she was now wearing Kaldur might have been worried that he had really hurt her feelings. Instead he gave her a warm kiss then crawled to the opposite end of the bed.
"The right or the left?"
"The left one please."
Kaldur took Barbara's left leg and caressed her foot as he started his massage. It was one of the few things that he could do to help his wife with the phantom pain that kept her up most nights.
"So how long were you up this time?"
"Just a few hours."
"You do know that you're a horrible liar when it comes to me... right?"
"What should I have said then?", she stated with a hint of sarcasm.
"Maybe that you were watching the new addition to our family all night.", he said tilting his head toward the crib on the other side of the room.
"I don't want to be one of those kind of parents."
"What type is that?"
"You know... the whole my kid is going to play Superman in the school play this year... kind. I don't want them to grow up with me breathing down their necks."
"Well I believe in new age equality so, one of my little girls playing Superman would be great!"
"Only you would be okay if your kids grew up wearing Superman shirts.", she said laughing.
"I love you with all my heart and I love my three little water goddesses even more... which is something that I never thought could be possible after I fell in love with you but it was... and I wouldn't want to miss all this... for anything else in the world."
"Yeah, yeah... I bet you're just trying to butter me up to get out of washing machine duty this month.", she stated with sarcastic mirth.
"I would never...", he began before bursting out in fit of laughter.
"Kaldur'ahm!"
"I give you my word as a gentleman that I will have all the dirty diapers washed and all the pretty little dresses ironed then folded."
Kaldur felt better now that he was able to get her to smile. He often felt powerless when she was hurting and cried more than his fair share of tears about the matter. So one day he asked Barbara's physical therapist what he could do about the situation. Now whenever she had an issue with the phantom pain in her legs he would give her a warm rub down to help. Sometimes you just aren't capable of making the situation any better so the best thing to do is to show your support and be there for the person you care about.
His hands slowly kneaded at the muscles in her calf as he slowly guided his hands upwards. The use of the term phantom pain did manage to piss him off every time one of her doctors used the term because for something called phantom pain it sure brought about a lot of real tears. Even in the worst of times when she couldn't hold back the tears and the flood gates opened he would just hold her rocking her back and forth waiting for the storm to pass. She hated those nights making her children worried and scared that their mommy was crying and he did too. That's just what you do for the ones you love and he loved her more than life itself.
"You're the best Kal."
"That's up for debate."
"Don't be so hard on yourself. I don't know another guy who could keep up with the demands of three women and a baby."
"First things first don't make it seem like our other two daughters are in junior high already. As a dad I want them to stay cute and tiny forever. Secondly three women and a baby sounds like a bad sitcom.", he said with a smile.
Kaldur didn't fully understand it but, Barbara's smile was always eerily infectious. He loved to make her laugh and smile because it would only take a few moments before he was laughing right beside her. It was one of her best qualities as far as he was concerned and he loved it. For someone who grew up in the depths and darkness of the world's oceans she was a bright light and he would be forever drawn to her because of it.
"Then we better enjoy them while we can."
"Or we could always make some more.", Kaldur said grinning.
"I'll tell you what... if you learn how to breast feed then we can get started on baby number four.", she said while prodding his chest with her fingers.
The comment left Kaldur laughing as he continuous massaged her legs. Barbara didn't hate the idea of working on a fourth kid but, considering that they just had a newborn most of the fun would be in making a new baby not actually having it. For some stupid reason the thought of making love with Kaldur had always made her strangely elated as well as excessively horny yet a fourth child would have to go on the back burner at the moment... just for the moment at least.
Finally, able to relax a little bit with the help of Kaldur's massage Barbara rested her back against the headboard of their bed. The sad reality was that like any great boxer or football player you have to know when to get out of the game because if you don't you'll never be able to enjoy what you were working for. So after the events that lead to her losing most of the function of her legs she took stock of what was really important in her life. Kaldur followed suite after all parenting is not a solitary sport. The funny thing about the whole damn situation was the fact that most people just wouldn't understand her point of view nor try to. So finding someone agreeing with her logic was out of the question all together. Now the sad part about that very same situation was the public didn't give a damn about the person underneath the mask. What use to be a small group of people that just grew tired of the criminals and rotten cops making backroom deals to crave up their cities and towns became a horrible conglomerate of false idols and megalomaniacs who deemed themselves gods in every aspect of the word. After a while you become numb to the fact that you just saved Gotham from officially becoming a nuclear wasteland yet again all the while the headline in tomorrow's paper reads Batgirl Dating the Boy Wonder: Fact or Fiction. Bottom line was that Barbara was a mother and that was more than enough for her so she hung up her tights.
"What are you thinking about?", Kaldur asked.
"Just reflecting."
"I hope you're focusing on more positive memories rather than the negative."
"It's more of a mixture than anything else."
Kaldur bent his head down and pressed his lips firmly against Barbara's thigh letting his actions speak for themselves as his lips moved against her skin making her hair prickle at the sensation enticing a moan from her before he continued his massage. Barbara loved his loving and caring nature. Nothing was beneath him when it came to his family. Sometimes it seemed as if no one should have had the capacity to love as much as he did. The man was a spectacular father to his children and more than an amazing husband.
"Kaldur'ahm?"
"Yes love?"
"Come up here and cuddle with me?"
"Do your legs still hurt?"
"You made it bearable."
"Okay love.", he said as he crawled next to her in their bed.
Kaldur held her close to his chest letting himself become lost in the sea of her scarlet hair and the smell of her lavender shampoo. Kaldur remembered when his biggest dream was stepping into the Hall of Justice now his biggest dream was watching his little girls growing up. He always saw himself as an outcast among the surface so the concept of leaving Atlantis totally behind was something he just never considered. Yet he would have lived in the Sahara Desert if it meant he could grow old with his family.
"I love you.", Kaldur said kissing her forehead.
"I love you too.", Barbara replied squeezing his hand in hers.
Just as the two loving parents were dozing off their newborn Korra began to cry and fuss in her crib.
"I got her."
"Thanks Kal."
Kaldur kissed Barbara's cheek before he slowly pulled himself out of bed. Picking up his fussy newborn Kaldur went through the normal checklist that every parent had learned from his first two daughters until he came to the conclusion that she had to be hungry.
"Hey love I believe our little water goddesses is hungry."
"Okay Kal. Hey Korra", Barbara said as she greeted her newborn.
After Kaldur made sure Barbara had Korra secure he stepped into their bathroom and brought a couple of towels back to her incase Korra felt like making a mess.
"While you nurse Korra I'm going to get Pan and Hapi up and ready for school."
"Thanks."
"No worries." He yawned tiredly before he grabbed a random shirt from last night's laundry.
Barbara couldn't help but laugh because the shirt that Kaldur slipped into was clearly one of hers but, he was to tried to notice the graphic design on the front that clearly stated that Girls Rule. Still she loved the fact that she had such a great husband. Looking down at her nursing daughter she couldn't think of anything better than family.
