The siren wail woke me, as it had constantly for the last two nights. My head instinctively shot up. Tommy.
"I'll take care of him. Go back to sleep." He caressed my shoulder for a moment, then slipped out of bed. I relaxed, laying back down. Beside me, the warm spot where Bruce had been grew cold. Sighing, curling up, I opened my eyes. The pale, early-morning light of February had filled the room. I twisted my head just enough to read the glaring numbers on the bedside clock. Seven. I groaned, my day didn't usually begin for several more hours, eleven at the earliest. With that thought, I snuggled deeper, determined to ignore the winter weather. In the hall, I heard Bruce pacing with the baby.
How did we get here? How did we get from Gotham Zoo's Cat House and "A bath wouldn't hurt you," to me with a ring around my finger , a three-year-old-, and a colicky newborn? I mean that Batman walking up and down the hall with our son. Batman, for the love of justice. Batman! Who would have guessed that we would ever reach this point. Not me, though I had hoped at times.
I remember, right after Helena was born, lying awake at night wondering how high a price she would have to pay for my mistake, my lapse of reason. Trying to figure out how I could make my little girl understand that her father could never know she existed. It's why I quit being Catwoman for so long. I knew that if anyone discovered that Helena was my daughter, they'd put two and two together, and they would get four. And I knew that would hurt Bruce, because he hated it when any of those whackos tried to get to him by hurting someone he cares about (whether it's true or not). Especially children. And yet, here we are, three years later.
It's times like these that I wonder how Bruce moved past fear that not even Clark, one of the most open and trusting people I know, has conquered.
I sighed, there was no use for it. I just could not go back to sleep. Sliding out of bed, I grabbed my robe and padded over to the door. Sometimes I can't help but wonder if he regrets this. If he would have rather stayed in the dark about Helena. Not that he would have, he's too smart. I know it sounds dumb, but sometimes I can't help wondering if I have betrayed him. If I've attached him to one too many strings.
When I reach the door, there is my answer. Maybe it's the way Bruce is holding Thomas, or the way he talks to him. I don't know. But no matter how much I doubt myself at times, whenever I see Bruce with our children, I know my choice was right. And I can't help smiling.
"I'm sorry, did I wake you?"
I shake my head.
"No, I couldn't sleep." Such a normal sounding conversation. He smiles. Does he know how much easier my life became the night he told me that Bruce Wayne and Batman were one and the same?
"He's almost asleep. Let me put him back to bed and then I 'll come tuck you in." There's a low growl in his voice. Who would have ever thought there was a playful side to Batman? Nobody but me of course, because nobody but me saw how much he enjoyed our old games of cat and mouse. Five minutes later he's closing the curtains. I watch him, appreciating the way the early morning light silhouettes his broad shoulders. I sit back up, I need to hear him say it.
"Bruce, do you regret any of this?" He crawls back under the covers and takes my hand.
"Never," he replies, kissing me. We lay down and I move close to him. Finally, I am able to sleep.
A little something I wrote during my American Lit class back in '06. When I wrote this I'd just started getting into comis books. So this little story was inspried by the events of Batman: Hush (Jim Lee and Jeph Loeb rock my socks) and the events of the Catwoman one year later arc. At the time I wrote the reader still didn't know who Helena's father was. Naturally, being a Burce/Selina fan I wanted Bruce to be the father. Anyways, the moment Selina is thinking about is from the second volume of Hush.
Yes, I know that it's very unlikely that these two will start a family together, but I can dream can't I?
Please review and let me know what you think...