It was late, so late that even Alfred had long since retired, although not until after a final futile attempt to bring his ten-year old master upstairs so that both of them could have a good night's rest. After all, it was his job to make sure that Damian was well taken care of, no matter how much the boy resisted him. Of course, as was his usual response, Damian only denied Alfred's request-turned-begging to pass his time alone working on the Batmobile in the garage of the Batcave and couldn't really be bothered with going to bed like everyone else. The Altamont sisters were staying over at Wayne Manor, as they did ever so often and, although he didn't mind Alex's presence, not that he was exactly partial to it…he preferred being alone, even she was at least a bit more sensible than her sister, Mikayla. When she was over, there was no possible way that he could get himself in good enough a mood to survive putting up with Mikayla's "stupidity".

As some time had passed, Damian ended his work, feeling as though he had done all that he could do for the time being and deciding that he would be better off if he went to his room to get some sleep, as Alfred had suggested some time ago. As he made his way to his room, he spotted a light underneath a closed door belonging to the room that would serve as the nursery for his still unnamed and unborn baby sister. Curiosity got the best of him, especially since he was the only one that was usually up at this time…Damian was the night, at least at Wayne Manor. Anyways, he was curious and thus, he opened the door to see, in a chair by his future sister's crib, Selina Kyle, who looked up towards him startled, "Damian, I wasn't expecting you to still be awake."

"I could say the same for you," came Damian's reply.

Lately, he had been trying to get adjusted to Selina and her continued sudden (and on his part, completely unnecessary) appearance and influence in his life. After the two of them had a one-on-one conversation, Damian had begun to develop a tolerance to her, as he had explained to Dick and Amy and he had begun to see her as more of a mother. The two of them had both begun trying to spend time to build some kind of bond and find the possibility to meet on any kind of common grand, but given how stubborn Damian was, it was difficult for the two of them.

"You know you should be in bed, you know."

"Listen, I am not a little kid."

"Last time I checked, 10 year olds weren't exactly adults, but I won't tell, what exactly do I have to gain from getting my baby bird in trouble."

"We've talked about this. You are not to refer to me in such a demeaning way."

Selina got up from her chair and wrapped Damian in a hug, "But you are my baby bird and nothing you say will ever—Oh!"

Damian looked at her, "What? What's wrong?"

Selina went back to sit down, "N-nothing…she's kicking again. Your sister's been such an active baby. Do you wanna feel?"

Although Damian really wanted to say no, she grabbed his hand and put it against her stomach where he felt the movements of his future sister. He wasn't really one for showing his emotions, but he couldn't help but feel something that could only be described as something that for Damian was close enough to happiness and wonder.

"She doesn't have a name yet and you're father's no help to me at all…he's always busy, you know with running a company and saving Gotham City and all that he does," Selina sighed. "But, I can't say I was unaware that he'd be this busy and –"

Selina was stopped by Damian hugging her suddenly and though she was caught off guard, she immediately got used to it, "But I'll always have my baby bird, won't I?"

Damian didn't say anything, at first, and continued hugging Selina, but finally he spoke, "I want you to name her Ariel."

"Ariel," Selina questioned his unexpected outburst. "Really? I had never even considered—"

"My sister is going to be named Ariel," he stated matter-of-factly.

"I'll think about it," Selina replied, smugly, although she did like the sound of it. "In the mean time, baby bird, would you like to stay with me for a while?"

"And do what?"

Selina thought for a moment, "Well, Alfred made these cookies for me to eat…I don't really want to eat them all by myself and all, plus I really want to play cards with someone. Would you play with me…unless of course, you want me to send you to bed? A growing boy needs his sleep, you know."

Damian shook his head, furiously, "I am not going to bed so, I guess I'll stay with you," he replied, finding it especially strange that he found himself wanting to spend time with Selina anyway, whether or not she planned on keeping true to her promise of blackmail.

"Grab a seat then, I'll deal."

And thus began the tradition of Selina and Damian's bonding sessions in the nursery that lasted up until the point in time when Selina actually went into labor, during a time when Damian and his father were on patrol, leaving Dick to take care of Selina while they were out. Damian spent the time that she was at the hospital (when he wasn't patrolling, of course) looking forward to the time that she would come back and they could continue their late night games of cards in the nursery. A part of him was kind of excited at the idea of his sister, who he still referred to as Ariel whenever she was mentioned, but a part of him, a part of him that he tried very hard to keep hidden, was excited at Selina's arrival and the continuance of the two of them spending time together. He even missed her calling him her "baby bird," not that endless torture or the threat of impending death would make him every admit that.

He had fallen asleep in the nursery as he did so often as Selina held him and told him stories, like a mother would do to their own son and though he was ten and as he felt, "too old for 'stupid' things like that", he couldn't help but miss them. There was a knock on the door in the nursery and he looked up to see his older "sister," Amy looking at him, "This is the third time this week, Damian. Your room is like…two doors away."

"I'm aware of the distance from here to my room, Amy," came Damian's quick reply.

"Still waiting for Selina to come home," Amy asked, ignoring him.

"No, not at all, I just like the quiet of this room, not that it's any of your concern."

"Oh…well, then I guess you won't care that she'll be home in an hour or two," she replied, before closing the door and leaving the room.

Damian tried not to be as happy as he was at this news, he couldn't let Amy know that she was right about him and the fact that he was excited. It was in his training to hide his emotions, but he just couldn't at this point in time. Selina would be home and he would have a little sister and all would be right in the world between the two of them (in a secret sense, of course) and she and his father would get married and he would have the mother that he'd never had. At least, that's how he'd imagined it would happen, honestly, he had no idea how it would really happen.

He knew when Selina and his father had arrived because he could hear their voices and the voices of everyone around him, but he dared not move, lest he reveal his excitement to everyone that was currently downstairs: Selina, his father, Alfred, Amy, Alex, Dick, Mikayla and Tim. He elected that it was better to stay upstairs and wait, which is what he did. Finally, after what felt like hours, he saw the doorknob to the nursery turn and in walked Selina with a baby, in her arms, wrapped in an adorable pink blanket.

She smiled at Damian, "I figured you'd be up here. Didn't wanna get caught in the crowd?"

Damian shook his head, "I didn't think it was necessary to deal with all of the racket just to see my baby sister."

"Your baby sister…I see, well, I'm sure she wants to see you too."

"What's her name?"

"What did you want her name to be?"

"Ariel?"

"So you wished it, so it shall be. Meet your new baby sister, Ariel Helena Wayne," she stated, pushing aside the blanket so that Damian could get a better view of her dark brown hair and brilliant blue eyes. She looked a lot like Selina and Damian couldn't help but feel as though she was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen. "Do you want to hold her?"

Damian nodded as Selina put the baby in his hands and he held her as she cooed quietly.

"She likes you, baby bird."

"She's…she's amazing," he said, at a loss for words.

"I knew you two would get along. She's your sister, baby bird. You're gonna have to protect her, you know that, right?"

"Of course I know that, I love her."

"And she loves you. You're gonna be such a good big brother, baby bird, I just know it."

"Selina, I have to tell you something."

"Damian, I missed playing cards with you," she stated as she put Ariel in her crib.

"Really?"

"Yes, you are still my favorite baby bird," Selina answered with a smile. "So, how are we going to make this work, since the nursery is kind of off-limit, at the moment."

"We could play cards in my room, if you want."

"So you still want to play cards with me, is that right?"

"Yes, I do."

"And why's that?"

"I just do."

"Is it because you missed me too, by any chance?"

"Of course not."

"Really," Selina smiled. "Then is it because you love me…or, could it be both?"

Damian shook his head, even though she was completely right, "It's not either one of those things."

"Fine, then I don't want to play cards with you, if you don't love me."

"Fine…," he said, then mumbled something.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."

"I did miss you. And I do love you."

Selina hugged him and kissed him on the forehead once again, "That's what I thought you said, but don't worry, it will just be our secret. And for the record, I love you too, baby bird."