Bruce sucked in his breath and tighten his gut as he gently picked up his teething child. Out of all his children, they only came to him when they were eight, or ten at the oldest so he never got the connection he has with Helena, as with them. That didn't mean that he loved them any less, it just meant he didn't have to change their diapers, or feed them personally. At first Bruce was scared, everybody else had held Helena but him. He always had some sort of excuse; he was busy, he was tired, he was dirty, he had blood on him, he put on cologne, he smelled anything he could think of he said. He was much better at changing her, than holding her. If it wasn't for Alfred scolding him, he probably would have never picked up his daughter, for fear he may drop her, or her crush her, or break her. Being so tiny, in comparison to his bulky arms.
So the first time he held her, he almost broke down crying. She'll never get to know her grand parents, and his parents will never get to know their grand child. His father loved children, he was sure he would love all of his kids, even Domain and Jason. In fact he was sure Damian would be his favorite. His mother loved kids too, but he was sure she would be better help to his girls; thank god for Barbara or he'll be stuck having to explain 'yes you're bleeding but you're not going to die trust me it's an uh..Female..Thing..'
So the first time he held Helena, he didn't put her down. If he could carry her, he would. He carried her to her crib, he carried her to his room, he carried her to the kitchen, and he often sat her down on his lap when he was doing paper work or eating at the table. He soon found out why Alfred said that Helena needed to be sat on a chair, for soon his papers had drool all over them and he had to change his tie; but that didn't really stop him. He showed her around the house, every inch of it except for the graveyard, and the Bat Cave; there would come a time for when he would show her those, but as a baby he would not. If he could help it, his daughter would never have to know what death was until he was old and grey and died of natural causes, and not of some murder. His daughter will never have to know the pain of murder, he swore to it.
So right now he was sitting on the big red chair in the middle of the living room. It was his fathers chair, and it was Bruce's favorite chair for when he was little. It was also Dick's favorite chair for when he would cry, Bruce would scoop him up and gently rock him while sitting on the chair. The chair was huge, even Bruce as tall and bulky as he is still sometimes felt small in the chair. In front of the chair were three large paintings above a fire place. The one on the left was a painting of Tim's parents, while the one on the right was Dick's parents and the one in the middle was Bruce's parents. In Bruce's arms was Helena nested in a pink blanket. Her hands gripping onto the blanket, and her eyes wide, trying to soak the area. Bruce chuckled and lightly tapped her forehead, causing her eyes to shift onto Bruce.
"Hey there angel." Bruce said softly, not to startle her. "You're very important to me, to us, to everybody you know..One day you'll grow up, and you'll know why you're so important." Bruce smiled, her eyes was a mirrored image of his own, but to him they seemed to be brighter; full of life and not of justice and pain. Helena giggled and pulled the blanket up to her face, she started nibbling onto the material, whining.
"Hey now that's not for eating little one.." Bruce tried to gently pry the blanket from Helena's mouth, but she would not give. Bruce sighed, "You're starting to teeth aren't you?" Bruce wrinkled his nose, he didn't really know what to do.
"I'm not very good at this..I mean look at the boys I have. Dick hates me, and I don't blame him. Jason hates me too, I can't blame him also, and Tim…I Practically ignored Tim so it's not a surprise if he hates me, and Damian would much more rather go to Dick than to me." Bruce sighed, looking down at Helena munching away at the blanket.
"I..I probably don't know what I'm doing half the time, hell I'll probably make you hate me when you become a teenager, but I'll try. I'll try my hardest to be the best father I can be, you deserve it. Your mother is gone, but I'm here, and if I'm not there you have a plethora of sisters, and brothers, even aunts and uncles who will take you under their wing..And I'm just sorry that sometimes I can be so stupid, and not how a father should be. A father shouldn't have to be forced into holding his own daughter…"
During his speech Helena had dropped the blanket from her mouth, and started crying. Her mouth hurt, Bruce rocked her and tried to shh her.
"Hey now, don't cry now..I'm here.."
Bruce didn't know what to do. He never dealt with her teething, in fact he never dealt with anyone teething and Alfred was away at a business trip in England, and Diana didn't know anything about babies because she never seen one before. When Diana first saw Helena she was amused and awed that she was so tiny. Bruce took a while to explain to Diana the process of having child, before finally turning red in the face and just dropped a book ofHealth and Sex on her lap and brooded off.
Lost and confused, Bruce lightly brushed his thumb against her chin. Helena gripped onto his thumb, and brought it to her mouth. First she sucked a bit on it; Bruce found it strange but was happy that she stopped crying at least until he yelped and pulled his thumb from her mouth. Blinking he looked at two fang marks on his thumb with blood dripping lightly from it. Then he looked back down to Helena to see her grinning.
Well her mother is CatWoman…
Having a sense of pride in his chest, he put his thumb back into Helena's mouth and felt her soft teeth nibble. She had made him bleed, which was a hard fret to do, seeing as he his is the Batman. Yes when she was older she would be feisty, and Bruce was sure he'll be in for hell.
"At least you don't have claws."
