Zatanna stood in the middle of their bathroom and looked at herself from every angle in the full body mirror. She sighed; well I guess there's no getting around it…around meshe thought grimlyI'm huge. There is noway,I'm putting on a two piece with this body….
"You're beautiful Zee," Dick said walking into the bathroom with his right hand covering his eyes.
Zatanna almost jumped at the sound of his voice, almost. She threw her hand on her naked hip and rolled her eyes, "You can't even see me Dick, how would you know?" she asked.
Dick felt blindly around the bathroom in search of something unbeknownst to her. "I thought you said you didn't want me to look at you." He countered.
"I don't." she said quickly. Dick stood near the sink top, eyes still covered, and sighed.
"Well I don't have to look at you to know you're beautiful Zee, you've been nothing but beautiful your whole life and the beauty of motherhood just adds on to that." He said with a sure voice.
He found his sunscreen and started walking blindly towards the door. "No rush," he said nonchalantly, "But the party does start soon." He closed the door behind him and she was alone in the bathroom again.
Seven months, she thought, I am seven months pregnant and I am carrying twins. Of course, I am this big it makes sense…but he's wrongshe thought angrily,I'vebeenother things besidesbeautiful my whole life.
When they got to the watchtower (by bioship and not by zeta because Dick insisted that she stopped taking the zeta tubes when they found out she was pregnant because who knew what affect it could have on the babies) Zatanna was still vexed, though seeing her second family always made her feel better no matter what mood she was in.
M'gann flew over to her first, "Zatanna!" the Martian heroine shouted before pulling her into a vice tight yet gentle hug.
Zatanna couldn't help but laugh, "Hey M, what's up?" she asked.
"Me?! What's up with you? How are the boys?" she asked placing her hands on Zatanna's huge stomach.
Zatanna laughed loudly now, "I'm great, we're great," she said drawing an invisible circle with her hand over her stomach. "But no one said that they were boys, we don't know what they are quite yet."
"That's not what I heard," a voice said from behind her, Zatanna spun around (slowly) at the sound of her best friend's voice.
"Artemis!" She screamed so loud that it shocked even herself. Artemis hugged her gently and then was crushed by M'gann before tapping out in defeat.
"You're huge," Artemis gasped, "It looks good on you." She lied smoothly.
They laughed, "I'm not nearly as big as you were a year ago, with Maxum," Zatanna countered. It was true Artemis had put on a record amount of weight during her pregnancy with Maxum, but what could one expect with a speedster for a baby? It hardly mattered now, especially since she was back to her original weight.
"Good one," Artemis allowed dryly, "Let's just hope you aren't nearly as big as me after Maxum." She said.
Zatanna looked at her evenly, "Don't even joke." She said seriously.
"Artemis you were not that big, so you gained a few pounds during your pregnancy that's totally normal. No one expected you to stay the same size or snap back to old size." M'gann said soothingly. "And Zatanna, so what if you gain a few pounds, you know you'll always be beautiful."
As if they were on cue, tears the size of golf balls drenched Zatana's face.
"What's wrong?" Artemis and M'gann asked suddenly.
Zatanna shook her head and they huddled around her almost reflexively. Though they were all officially apart of the Justice League family, when it came to moments like these, when it was just them, it was as if nothing had ever changed. As if it were still just them, the three girls on the team trying to prove something and nothing at the same time.
"Sorry, I just need a moment." She sniffed, she scanned the room to make sure no one was noticing them and then scanned again to make sure Dick wasn't stalking her the way he had been for the last seven months.
"Can we go somewhere more private?" She asked in a hushed voice.
Artemis and M'gann nodded simultaneously, so they started to casually leave the room and just before they did M'gann grabbed the plate of carrots on the table. They sat in the empty conference room now and Zatanna wiped her eyes with the back of her hands.
They looked at her puzzled and she laughed a little, "Sorry, hormones...you know." She said dismissively, as she picked up a baby carrots to gnaw on halfheartedly.
Artemis threw her a look of disbelief, "Oh please, save that story for the prince of Gotham. Spill Zee or else M'gann's gonna have to pick your brain. " She threatened.
Zatanna looked at M'gann who was staring at her worriedly, "Fine," she admitted, "It's...It's everything. It's Dick, it's this pregnancy, it's me," she said in an exasperated tone, "Everything is changing and I just can't wrap my head around it. I feel like I'm losing my mind." She said through a fresh wave of tears.
M'gann took her hand and started rubbing soothing circles on the back of it, "Relax Zatanna, just tell us about it maybe it'll help."
"I know this sounds stupid but I feel like this pregnancy is an all too surreal out of body experience that I am being alienated from. No offense M, I just...I know with pregnancy comes the weight, and the hormones, and the cravings but no one said I was gonna feel like I was losing my life. Dick hasn't touched me in months, he calls me beautiful every minute of the day like I'm his grandmother or some kind of plant or puppy but I used to be the hot one, the sexy one, the cute one. But I guess there's a reason for that, since even on his robo diet for the twins I am gaining pounds by the tens of thousands here and I've never been so disgusted by myself. It's like I can't say no or put down anything, I have a stash of chocolate hidden in the floorboards of my room and I'm being black mailed by the kid who sells them because he knows I need them to survive!" She burst out.
M'gann gasped but she continued anyway. "I know I should be worrying about the twins, making sure I do everything I can to make sure they're born healthy and fit and alive but I'm worried about all this stupid stuff which is just more proof I am not meant to be a mother. God, what do I do?" She broke down into another pool of tears and the girls looked over her head at each other horrified.
"Zee, that's crazy talk, first of all you are going to be a great mom. The best mom," Artemis assured her, "And Dick is just worried. You know he's always over protective and hypersensitive about you, you add kids to the equation and he makes Batman looked unprepared." she explained.
"And with your pregnancy being so uncommon for your race, he's worries, he needs to feel like he is in some kind of control. That's all, that's why he wants to make sure that everything that can go right." M'gann almost cooed into her ear.
Zatanna sighed, "I know, I know. I get why he's worried, I mean no homo mage has ever successfully given birth to twins but I can't keep living like a science experiment. I can't do anything myself anymore, if I didn't insist, I am pretty sure he'd bathe me himself."
Artemis made a face and Zatanna chuckled before sighing again. "I mean, I used to be a superhero. My whole life I've fallen under two categories; hot and strong. And now...I'm some damsel he's waiting for to go into distress."
Artemis ran her fingers through Zatanna's hair, "Well babe, if it makes you feel better, right now with your makeup running like this; you've never been less beautiful to me." She joked.
Zatanna laughed and threw her arms around her best friend, "Thanks," she said genuinely.
"I know what we need!" M'gann said as she flew out of the room and returned in the same minute, with a platter of junk food in her hands.
Zatanna's eyes almost glowed with desire.
"No one has to know." She said.
Zatanna grabbed a cookie off the platter, and looked at her best friends. "Just one." She promised herself.
Artemis rolled her eyes, "Will you just eat before Dick finds us fattening you up."
Zatanna's eyes started to water again, "You guys are the best friends, I've ever had." She started to cry.
"You are sooo pregnant." Artemis said with pity in her voice.
Zatanna nodded while stuffing another cookie into her mouth. "I know," she sobbed.
M'gann came up from behind them and hugged them, "Isn't this beau-" she started
Artemis' and Zatanna's eyes flashed up to her face and M'gann froze.
"Ugly." She squeaked.
Artemis laughed.
"Ugly has never felt and tasted better." Zatanna said reaching for another cookie.