Chapter 2: Birthday Party

Alex pulled at the collar of his shirt. He hated wearing a tie, they were always too tight when he, although he didn't admit to it, had to get his mother's help to tie it properly. He hated this party too, even if it was to celebrate his and his twin sister's sweet sixteen. They weren't fun in the least bit, not as he had to wear a tie, as already mentioned, or had to small talk with all these important, rich snobby people they had to invite because it was polite. In total he may have known about five people in the room, but as that included his mother, father, sister, and Uncle Bruce, it didn't really count. Shrinking into a dimly lit far corner of the crowded room he wished that no one he was supposed to remember but didn't tried to talk to him.

Quite opposite to Alex, Halle was in her element.

"Little Miss Grayson, I can't believe how grown up you look. Sixteen too, almost a full-grown lady."

"Thank you, Mrs. Everstein," replied Halle sweetly, doting her polite response on the elderly, albeit very rich, lady. Halle indeed did look very grown up, especially compared to her slouching, grumbling brother. Her medium length red-hair fell in curly wisps down her back and she wore a t-length black dress with pink polka dots, giving her both a grown up and yet childish appearance simultaneously. She was the center of attention to the guests who actually came to celebrate the birthday and not to try and talk business with 'Mr. Grayson' or 'Mr. Wayne' or catch up on high-society gossip.

"Where is your brother, dear?" asked Mrs. Everstein's decade-younger confidant, Miss Emily Burrows.

"Oh, you know," said Halle, waving a hand to no where in particular, "Probably hiding somewhere…"

The three chuckled. Yes, they knew what Alexander was like from their repeated visits to the Grayson home. He was hardly a people-person as Halle was. It was a pity to, seeing as he was probably expected to follow in his father's footsteps into the business world as the heir to Wayne Enterprises.

"Having fun?" whispered Kori to her self-ostracized son, a note of teasing in her tone.

Leaning against the wall, glaring at his sister across the room, he mumbled incoherently in reply. But inside, Alex was thankful of his mother's sudden appearance. Although she could be quite cheerful and talkative when just the family was together, she too had problems in large social situations. She was always hesitant to speak, as if afraid to say the wrong thing.

"Don't worry, we'll have the real party tomorrow," Kori tried to comfort, reminding her son of the tradition of having just a small family party after the large public one.

Alex shrugged in reply.

Kori attempted once again to bring her younger child into conversation. "So, what's it like being sixteen…?"
Alex was taken back a moment. It was a seemingly innocent question. One he had heard many years before from a variety of different people both today and on birthdays past. But the way his mother asked it, with her inquiring eyes, which were not unusual for her, made his thoughts clog. Did she know about that strange tingling feeling he had felt when he had woken up this morning? The urge that he felt in his gut that he could…well he wasn't quite sure what. He did know, however, that his mother, looking slightly baffled by his long silence, could not surely know whatever he was quite sure was probably not actually happening.

"The same as fifteen…" Alex finally answered in fake nonchalance.

Kori observed her son, now again mute, for a moment longer, concerned. The uneasiness she had felt the night before returned to the pit of her stomach. Something was…well, not necessarily wrong, but, not the same.

She shakes her head to clear her head of the worries she is sure are misplaced. Being a retired superhero leaves you too suspicious at times, with your senses heightened to a place that normal life does not need them to be. She just didn't like that her babies were growing up so fast, she reasoned…It was a good excuse.

Halle collapsed on an empty chair with a sigh. Her feet hurt like hell from the black sandal high heels she was wearing, but well, it was the price of beauty. However, she was also glad to be out of the spot light and the repetitious questions about school and how grown up she has become.

"Hey, lil girl…"

"Dad…" she whined, hating the nickname that he had permanently stuck to her for all of her natural born life.

"So," said Dick, taking a chair next to his daughter. "Looks like you're been having fun."

Halle shrugged. "It's not bad…at least not as bad as Alex thinks it is," she said, catching a sight of her brother looking quiet depressed across the room as a old man who had seemed to mistaken him for a waiter was bossing him around.

Dick chuckled. "Yeah, well. That's your brother…"

"I don't care how much he looks like you, Dad, but I firmly believe that he is adopted."

"Sorry, lil girl," he replied, patting her on the head and earning him a glare. "But you guys shared the womb for nine months…"

"Eww, T. M. I."

"It's not like you don't know how it works."

"Yeah, but I really don't need my parent's play-by-play."

Dick laughed again. "I guess not…Oh, it's time for the cake…" Indeed it was as a large and expensively decorated cake was being wheeled out of the kitchen on a dining cart.

"Common, lil girl."

"Dad," said Halle, crossed her arms and refusing to stand, "After sixteen years, I think it is time for a new nickname or, here's a crazy idea, call me by my real name."

"What fun's that? Anyway, sixteen or not, you'll always be my little girl."

Halle rolled her ideas and said in a teasing tone, "Lame."

"There calling for you," said Dick, extending hid hand to his daughter to help her up as a round of the happy birthday song was started among the guests. Halle took his hand.

"Good grip," Dick said, shaking his hand to regain the feeling in his fingers after Halle had released it. Before Halle had a chance to rebut or think about her father's statement she, along with Alex from the opposite side of the room, was pushed to the table that now held the cake. Neither brother nor sister looked highly pleased to be within three feet of each other's company.

"Make a wish," chorused the guests not long later. Alex and Halle shared the briefest of glances. What to wish for…

"Gar, have finished with the living room yet?" called Raven where she was finally able to throw away the last cardboard box as she finished unpacking her bedroom.

"Almost," came back a muffled yell.

Not reassured in the least bit, knowing all to well the wide definition her husband had for 'almost' she walked tentatively out of their bedroom. "Garfield, all you've set up is the TV."

"And the game station," added Gar, pumping his fist into the air with triumph.

"Garfield Logan," she said in a threatening tone, hoping the use his full name would scare him into submission.

"Well," said Ger, ignoring her and stretching his arms above his head. "I think it's time for a break…" Within an instant he had the game station on and a controller in his hand.

Raven was stuck somewhere between disbelief and accepting the inevitable.

"Hey, I'm done my room—cool, Mega Monkeys 801!"

Raven watched in horror and disbelief as her teenage son joined his father crossed legged on the wooden floor. Raven shook her head in resignation and began to unpack the living room where her husband had left off, which was not very far along.

Although Raven's and Gar's son looked prominently like his mother, he did not share her temperament. He sported her gray complexion and purple eyes. His hair was black and unruly like his father's was eternally messy, even into his thirties. Rather than sharing his mother variation of feelings from indifferent to anger as she had in her youth, his moods were even more wide swung from an adolescent depressed state to the horrible sense of humor he gained from his father.

After Gar was finished goading of his barely won victory over his son he stood to his feet. "Well, I guess it is time to get back to work."

He turned around to find the living room completely set up and his wife sitting, arms crossed, on the couch.

"Rae, I said I was going to do it…" he whined. Raven almost felt the need to remind him he was in his thirties and that that tone had never won any favors with her to start with.

"So Kaden," said Raven, switching her attention to her son, because even though he had become temporally blinded by video games and at least finished unpacking his room first. "How do you like Gotham so far?"

He shrugged, still a little broody from his recent gaming loss. "It's okay."


Aki- Okay, this may be not as interesting or long as the last chapter, but I promise, it is all coming in due time. Anyway, generally I try to update once a week, so these two chapters in one weekend is a special treat for you guys.

I'm not going to beg for reviews, but feedback is love, people. This story is for you guys and I want to make it the best I can.