Thanks go out to Kat for editing & to Smitty for letting me borrow "That Night" from the Ol' Switcheroo. Hope you're all enjoying the fic everyone on the Bludhaven yahoogroup nicknamed "Baby" LOL. Charlene :-)
Shadows and Surprises Ch. 2:
Barbara Gordon was more nervous than she anticipated. She was actually worried about his reaction to her news. No, not her news, her decisions. Barbara knew Dick so well. She knew he would act honorably. He'd always want to do the right thing. Why did that make her so nervous.
The doorbell rang. He was here. She knew it was him, but she checked the monitors anyway. It was a habit she was in. She would never open a door again unless she knew who was on the other side. Her carelessness in the past had cost her so much, she would never be careless again.
"Hi' ya beautiful," he said with a wide grin when she opened the door. A bouquet of flowers in his hands.
"You didn't have to do that," she said as she took the flowers.
"I know. I wanted to. What's for dinner?"
"Food. Is that all you ever think about boy wonder?" she asked with a fake sigh.
"Not all, but it is pretty high on the list," he said with a smile.
They sat through dinner talking about this and that. Barbara was putting off the dreaded subject as long as she possible could. She wanted to enjoy the evening for as long as time allowed.
Dick was anxious. 'Come on Babs. I'm about to explode. Come on. Tell me.' As anxious as he was, he was trying to contain himself so that it didn't show. Babs was pregnant with his baby.
As he sat on her sofa, he saw a photograph. Reaching for it, he picked it up.
"Hey, this was when we were in Monaco. Dr. and Mrs. Flaudermaus," he said chuckling at his so-called disguise. Roy had been right about the mustache, it did look fake. "This is pretty good," he continued. Then he seemed to go deep in thought. That first night. That night when he and Babs had ran into each other, when he had said she was his wife, when they had met Ra's al Ghul. That was the night. That was when Babs got pregnant. He looked into her emerald eyes. 'Tell me now Babs. Please tell me,' he silently pleaded.
"Yeah, that was some case wasn't it?"
"Yeah. Maybe a little more than just a case."
"I think you're more right than you know," she nervously admitted. "Dick. I ... I have something I want, I need, to tell you."
'YES!' he silently shouted as he just looked at her to continue.
"Well, you know, you know what we did that night in Monaco."
"Made love."
She sighed deeply. "We weren't really thinking. All I wanted was my mint that you ate."
"But I was better than a mint," he said with a wicked smile and a gleam in his eye.
She sighed again. He didn't make anything easy. He never had.
"Well, anyway, Dick, I ... um ... I found out something this morning. I never expected this. I ... um ... " Just spit it out Barbara she admonished herself. "I'm pregnant."
He felt his smile explode from his face. He had tried so hard to contain himself all night and she had finally told him.
"Pregnant! We're having a baby!" he stated happily.
"I know this is the last thing you were expecting. Believe me it was the last thing I was expecting. But I don't want you to worry. I've decided that this is not going to be a problem for you."
"Problem," he stated with some confusion.
"Yes. I don't want you to feel obligated because of this. I've decided that I am going to have this baby, because it may be the only chance I get, but I am not using this child to tie you to me. I don't want you to feel like you've been trapped."
"Trapped?"
"That's why I've decide to raise this baby alone. You have no obligation to it or me. I don't want you to worry about anything. I won't even name you on the birth certificate."
"What? What! Babs, what the hell are you talking about?" he said, hearing his voice get louder than he meant as he rose to his feet.
"I don't want you to feel obligated to me or this baby. I ..."
"You don't. Obligated. I don't feel obligated. Babs I'm happy about this. I'm happy we're having a baby. Babs I lo..."
"Don't say that Dick. I'm giving you your out, now take it."
"I don't want it. I don't want an out! Don't you get it?"
"Dick, I think you'd better go." she said turning her chair away from him.
"Go! I'm not going anywhere!" he shouted. Dick didn't want to shout. But he felt as if he'd been hit hard in the stomach. Babs shouldn't be doing this to him. Why was she doing this? He wasn't going to let her do it. "Babs, you can't just make unilateral decisions like this. I love you. I want to be with you. I want to be a father to our child. Babs this is something I never thought we'd be able to have. Babs, let me in. Don't shut me out."
"Dick, I'm not tying you to this chair. You deserve better than that."
"I deserve you. The woman I love. The woman I have always loved."
Tears were coming from her eyes. "Dick, I can't handle this now, I want you to leave. Please. Now."
"No."
"Dick, please. Leave."
"You're not shutting me out. I'm not going to let you."
"Let me. Get out now," she fired back, her temper beginning to flare. "I want you to leave. Now go!" she shouted. She was determined that she wasn't going to let him throw his life away. And that was what she felt he would be doing if he stayed with her.
"I'm not going anywhere!" he shouted back. "I'm staying right here until you come to your senses."
Jim Gordon burst through the door. "What's going on here? I heard you two shouting when I got off the elevator," Jim asked hotly as he entered the apartment.
"Dad. Dad please tell Dick to leave," Barbara said as she tried to wheel herself toward her bedroom. Dick grabbed her chair, stopping her.
"I'm not going. We're not through."
"Oh yes you are," Jim Gordon said gruffly
Dick looked at Barbara. His eyes pleading with her to change her mind. To relent. She was stubbornly not cooperating. Dick raised his head toward Jim Gordon. There eyes locked. The two men glared at each other. Dick got up and started moving to the door.
Jim moved between Dick and Barbara in a protective stance. Dick started to open the door. Then he turned back around. "Babs."
"Please just go."
"You need to stop hiding behind that chair Babs. For someone who can't walk, you certainly can run away," Dick slammed the door as he left.
A dark shadowy figure moved off the balcony.
***********************************************************************
Dick was still angry when he reached the street and headed toward his car. Angry and hurt. As he reached the car, he was grabbed from behind and thrown against the building wall. He turned ready to attack, when a black gloved hand pushed him back into the wall. He looked into the angry countenance of Batman.
"What. Do. You. Think. You. Were. Doing," he stated each word. It wasn't a question, it was an accusation.
Dick was already angry. He didn't need this now. "I'm going home," he said defiantly.
The batmobile appeared beside Dick's car. The doors automatically opened.
"Get. In. The. Car," Batman growled.
Dick was beginning to know how the bad guys felt when Bruce did this to them. Dick didn't like it. And he wasn't about to put up with it. "Look this is none of your business. What's going on with me and Babs is none of your damn business. So just take your big bad bat routine and use it on someone who cares."
Batman stepped backwards.
"Get in the car. NOW!" Batman said.
Dick closed his eyes and sighed. 'I might as well before someone sees this,' he thought. "I'm only going with you to keep from causing a scene and to keep people from seeing this."
The ride to the cave was long and silent. Dick had started to speak a number of times but the words never came out as he was met with the Batman's cold stare. Dick felt like he was a little kid again and was about to get grounded. He remembered those nights. Those long drives home. He hated them then. He hated it even more now. He felt his anger rising.
***********************************************************************
"Master Tim, would you care for some hot cocoa?" Alfred asked.
"Yea, that'd be great. I haven't heard from Bruce yet. He was going to check by Barbara's and then radio me where to meet him."
"Perhaps something detained him, young sir."
"Yeah, but I'd like to be in the middle of it." Tim said with a wide grin.
The batmobile roared back into the cave and came to a screeching halt.
"My word," Alfred said. He knew by the way that the car entered and parked that something was wrong.
"What's he doing back?" Tim asked.
Batman and Dick both emerged from the car.
"Dick!" Tim stated happily as he started heading toward the two. He stopped suddenly when he saw Bruce quickly remove the cowl, throwing it on the ground.
"I want to know just what the hell you think you were doing Dick?"
"I told you, it's none of your business!" Dick yelled back.
"Master Timothy, I believe we should go upstairs." Alfred said taking hold of Tim and turning him toward the stairs.
"But ... but..."
"I believe now would be a good time for that cocoa, Master Timothy."
"What possessed you to talk to Barbara like you did?" Bruce roared.
"What are you talking about?"
"That comment about her not being able to walk. I heard that. I didn't hear everything, but I certainly heard enough. I thought you cared for her. What is wrong with you?"
"That's right, you didn't hear everything. News flash Bruce, you don't know everything. I am so tired of being treated like I'm the bad guy. By you, by the commissioner. I'm not the bad guy here. This is between Babs and me. It's not your business, it's not Gordon's business. It's our baby and we have to deal with it. You and Gordon are so concerned about protecting Babs. Well, let me tell you something, Babs doesn't need your protection. She's the one who's closing me out."
Bruce was silent as Dick went through his tirade. Baby. Had he said baby?
"She said that SHE had decide to raise this baby alone. That I had no obligation to the baby or to her. She decided. Gave me 'an out' of my 'problem' so I wouldn't be 'trapped'. She can't do this to me. She can't. I have just as many rights here as she has. This is my baby too. It's my baby too." he said. His voice had went from shouting at his father to sounding very much like a little boy when he ended. Hot tears had started to flow.
Bruce walked over to his son and gently pulled the younger man to him. In a rare display of affection, Bruce hugged Dick to him. "It'll be all right Dick. Everything's going to be all right. I'll see to it."
"Bruce, I just want to be with her, to love her, and our baby."
"Go upstairs to Alfred and Tim. I've got work to do. I'll be back later."
***********************************************************************
He watched her in her apartment. When she was alone, he entered silently through the window.
"Barbara."
"She turned around. She wasn't startled by his presence. She had long ago gotten use to it.
"I'm sorry, the Oracle is closed tonight. I don't feel like working."
He removed his cowl.
"I'm not here about work. I've seen Dick."
"Don't start. I don't want to get into this with you. I'm not going to get into this with you. I've been telling my dad the same thing for the last two hours. I don't need to start with you."
"Barbara, you're not being fair. It's his child too."
"I told you..."
"Hear me out."
That was such a strange request from this man, this usually silent and brooding man.
"Okay." she relented.
"You know I'm not very good at talking about things."
"That's an understatement." she chuckled.
"You are a lot like me Barbara. You're driven and you have a bad tendency to shut out people who care about you. I have that same bad tendency. But you're not quite as bad as I am. Yet. You can still let people in. You just need to do that more. Barbara, I don't want you to end up like me. Dick has been the one bright spot in my life. He wants to be that to you. He can be more than that to you. He doesn't care about what you can or can't do. He cares about you. He wants to be a part of your life, of the baby's life. Not because he's obligated to, but because he wants to. He loves you. And I know you love him too. Let him in Barbara. Don't shut off everyone in your life you cares about you. Don't end up like me."
She felt the tears come again. This had been a day of tears. Happy, sad, angry and remorseful tears.
"Batman's going to be a grandfather," she said as she looked up at him as a smile started to form.
"I know," he said a half-smile on his face.
"Maybe this baby will help us both," she said.
"I hope," he said as he gently stroked her hair.
***********************************************************************
Dick was sitting in the kitchen with Tim and Alfred. Alfred had made a batch of chocolate chip pancakes. He knew that Dick was having a bad night and they had always perked him up in the past. Unfortunately, while Tim was busily working his way through his second helping, Dick was merely forking his food.
"Master Dick, is there anything I can do for you?" Alfred asked. Generally Dick told him his problems, let him help. This time, however, Dick had been uncharacteristically silent since he came up from the cave.
"She's pregnant," he said quietly.
Tim spewed the contents of his mouth across the table, then started making choking noises. Dick and Alfred simply turned and watched. Finally he got out, "Pregn... who?"
"Barbara."
"Congratulations Master Dick," Alfred said tentatively, not sure of what to say. Obviously something was wrong.
"She doesn't want me involved."
"Not involved?" Alfred queried. "I'm sure you're mistaken Master Dick."
The phone rang in the manor. Alfred moved off to answer it.
"Dick, I'm sure Babs is going to want you involved," Tim started.
"That's not what she said."
"Give her time. Hey, maybe you do need to give Gotham some space. When her dad finds out, there'll be an APB out for you."
Dick half-heartedly laughed. "He knows. Paid me a little visit in Bludhaven this morning."
"Master Dick, telephone."
"Who knows I'm here?" he asked as he walked over to take the phone from Alfred. "Hello."
"Dick," she said hesitantly.
He was silent as he walked out of the kitchen with the phone.
"Dick."
"Yeah."
"I ... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ... I don't know what I meant."
"I'm sorry too. For everything. For what I said."
"Can we talk at breakfast tomorrow?"
"Sure. I'd like that," he responded.
"Dick. I ... I love you. Good night," she said quickly and hung up the phone.
A smile formed on his face. She had said that she loved him. Barbara loved him. He could get through her defenses. Walking back into the kitchen he saw Tim and Alfred. Their faces couldn't mask their curiosity. Dick grinned as he sat down and started wolfing down his pancakes.
Alfred and Tim smiled at each other.
"Hey, I am going to be Uncle Tim, right?"
"You know it, Uncle Tim."
To be continued ...
Shadows and Surprises Ch. 2:
Barbara Gordon was more nervous than she anticipated. She was actually worried about his reaction to her news. No, not her news, her decisions. Barbara knew Dick so well. She knew he would act honorably. He'd always want to do the right thing. Why did that make her so nervous.
The doorbell rang. He was here. She knew it was him, but she checked the monitors anyway. It was a habit she was in. She would never open a door again unless she knew who was on the other side. Her carelessness in the past had cost her so much, she would never be careless again.
"Hi' ya beautiful," he said with a wide grin when she opened the door. A bouquet of flowers in his hands.
"You didn't have to do that," she said as she took the flowers.
"I know. I wanted to. What's for dinner?"
"Food. Is that all you ever think about boy wonder?" she asked with a fake sigh.
"Not all, but it is pretty high on the list," he said with a smile.
They sat through dinner talking about this and that. Barbara was putting off the dreaded subject as long as she possible could. She wanted to enjoy the evening for as long as time allowed.
Dick was anxious. 'Come on Babs. I'm about to explode. Come on. Tell me.' As anxious as he was, he was trying to contain himself so that it didn't show. Babs was pregnant with his baby.
As he sat on her sofa, he saw a photograph. Reaching for it, he picked it up.
"Hey, this was when we were in Monaco. Dr. and Mrs. Flaudermaus," he said chuckling at his so-called disguise. Roy had been right about the mustache, it did look fake. "This is pretty good," he continued. Then he seemed to go deep in thought. That first night. That night when he and Babs had ran into each other, when he had said she was his wife, when they had met Ra's al Ghul. That was the night. That was when Babs got pregnant. He looked into her emerald eyes. 'Tell me now Babs. Please tell me,' he silently pleaded.
"Yeah, that was some case wasn't it?"
"Yeah. Maybe a little more than just a case."
"I think you're more right than you know," she nervously admitted. "Dick. I ... I have something I want, I need, to tell you."
'YES!' he silently shouted as he just looked at her to continue.
"Well, you know, you know what we did that night in Monaco."
"Made love."
She sighed deeply. "We weren't really thinking. All I wanted was my mint that you ate."
"But I was better than a mint," he said with a wicked smile and a gleam in his eye.
She sighed again. He didn't make anything easy. He never had.
"Well, anyway, Dick, I ... um ... I found out something this morning. I never expected this. I ... um ... " Just spit it out Barbara she admonished herself. "I'm pregnant."
He felt his smile explode from his face. He had tried so hard to contain himself all night and she had finally told him.
"Pregnant! We're having a baby!" he stated happily.
"I know this is the last thing you were expecting. Believe me it was the last thing I was expecting. But I don't want you to worry. I've decided that this is not going to be a problem for you."
"Problem," he stated with some confusion.
"Yes. I don't want you to feel obligated because of this. I've decided that I am going to have this baby, because it may be the only chance I get, but I am not using this child to tie you to me. I don't want you to feel like you've been trapped."
"Trapped?"
"That's why I've decide to raise this baby alone. You have no obligation to it or me. I don't want you to worry about anything. I won't even name you on the birth certificate."
"What? What! Babs, what the hell are you talking about?" he said, hearing his voice get louder than he meant as he rose to his feet.
"I don't want you to feel obligated to me or this baby. I ..."
"You don't. Obligated. I don't feel obligated. Babs I'm happy about this. I'm happy we're having a baby. Babs I lo..."
"Don't say that Dick. I'm giving you your out, now take it."
"I don't want it. I don't want an out! Don't you get it?"
"Dick, I think you'd better go." she said turning her chair away from him.
"Go! I'm not going anywhere!" he shouted. Dick didn't want to shout. But he felt as if he'd been hit hard in the stomach. Babs shouldn't be doing this to him. Why was she doing this? He wasn't going to let her do it. "Babs, you can't just make unilateral decisions like this. I love you. I want to be with you. I want to be a father to our child. Babs this is something I never thought we'd be able to have. Babs, let me in. Don't shut me out."
"Dick, I'm not tying you to this chair. You deserve better than that."
"I deserve you. The woman I love. The woman I have always loved."
Tears were coming from her eyes. "Dick, I can't handle this now, I want you to leave. Please. Now."
"No."
"Dick, please. Leave."
"You're not shutting me out. I'm not going to let you."
"Let me. Get out now," she fired back, her temper beginning to flare. "I want you to leave. Now go!" she shouted. She was determined that she wasn't going to let him throw his life away. And that was what she felt he would be doing if he stayed with her.
"I'm not going anywhere!" he shouted back. "I'm staying right here until you come to your senses."
Jim Gordon burst through the door. "What's going on here? I heard you two shouting when I got off the elevator," Jim asked hotly as he entered the apartment.
"Dad. Dad please tell Dick to leave," Barbara said as she tried to wheel herself toward her bedroom. Dick grabbed her chair, stopping her.
"I'm not going. We're not through."
"Oh yes you are," Jim Gordon said gruffly
Dick looked at Barbara. His eyes pleading with her to change her mind. To relent. She was stubbornly not cooperating. Dick raised his head toward Jim Gordon. There eyes locked. The two men glared at each other. Dick got up and started moving to the door.
Jim moved between Dick and Barbara in a protective stance. Dick started to open the door. Then he turned back around. "Babs."
"Please just go."
"You need to stop hiding behind that chair Babs. For someone who can't walk, you certainly can run away," Dick slammed the door as he left.
A dark shadowy figure moved off the balcony.
***********************************************************************
Dick was still angry when he reached the street and headed toward his car. Angry and hurt. As he reached the car, he was grabbed from behind and thrown against the building wall. He turned ready to attack, when a black gloved hand pushed him back into the wall. He looked into the angry countenance of Batman.
"What. Do. You. Think. You. Were. Doing," he stated each word. It wasn't a question, it was an accusation.
Dick was already angry. He didn't need this now. "I'm going home," he said defiantly.
The batmobile appeared beside Dick's car. The doors automatically opened.
"Get. In. The. Car," Batman growled.
Dick was beginning to know how the bad guys felt when Bruce did this to them. Dick didn't like it. And he wasn't about to put up with it. "Look this is none of your business. What's going on with me and Babs is none of your damn business. So just take your big bad bat routine and use it on someone who cares."
Batman stepped backwards.
"Get in the car. NOW!" Batman said.
Dick closed his eyes and sighed. 'I might as well before someone sees this,' he thought. "I'm only going with you to keep from causing a scene and to keep people from seeing this."
The ride to the cave was long and silent. Dick had started to speak a number of times but the words never came out as he was met with the Batman's cold stare. Dick felt like he was a little kid again and was about to get grounded. He remembered those nights. Those long drives home. He hated them then. He hated it even more now. He felt his anger rising.
***********************************************************************
"Master Tim, would you care for some hot cocoa?" Alfred asked.
"Yea, that'd be great. I haven't heard from Bruce yet. He was going to check by Barbara's and then radio me where to meet him."
"Perhaps something detained him, young sir."
"Yeah, but I'd like to be in the middle of it." Tim said with a wide grin.
The batmobile roared back into the cave and came to a screeching halt.
"My word," Alfred said. He knew by the way that the car entered and parked that something was wrong.
"What's he doing back?" Tim asked.
Batman and Dick both emerged from the car.
"Dick!" Tim stated happily as he started heading toward the two. He stopped suddenly when he saw Bruce quickly remove the cowl, throwing it on the ground.
"I want to know just what the hell you think you were doing Dick?"
"I told you, it's none of your business!" Dick yelled back.
"Master Timothy, I believe we should go upstairs." Alfred said taking hold of Tim and turning him toward the stairs.
"But ... but..."
"I believe now would be a good time for that cocoa, Master Timothy."
"What possessed you to talk to Barbara like you did?" Bruce roared.
"What are you talking about?"
"That comment about her not being able to walk. I heard that. I didn't hear everything, but I certainly heard enough. I thought you cared for her. What is wrong with you?"
"That's right, you didn't hear everything. News flash Bruce, you don't know everything. I am so tired of being treated like I'm the bad guy. By you, by the commissioner. I'm not the bad guy here. This is between Babs and me. It's not your business, it's not Gordon's business. It's our baby and we have to deal with it. You and Gordon are so concerned about protecting Babs. Well, let me tell you something, Babs doesn't need your protection. She's the one who's closing me out."
Bruce was silent as Dick went through his tirade. Baby. Had he said baby?
"She said that SHE had decide to raise this baby alone. That I had no obligation to the baby or to her. She decided. Gave me 'an out' of my 'problem' so I wouldn't be 'trapped'. She can't do this to me. She can't. I have just as many rights here as she has. This is my baby too. It's my baby too." he said. His voice had went from shouting at his father to sounding very much like a little boy when he ended. Hot tears had started to flow.
Bruce walked over to his son and gently pulled the younger man to him. In a rare display of affection, Bruce hugged Dick to him. "It'll be all right Dick. Everything's going to be all right. I'll see to it."
"Bruce, I just want to be with her, to love her, and our baby."
"Go upstairs to Alfred and Tim. I've got work to do. I'll be back later."
***********************************************************************
He watched her in her apartment. When she was alone, he entered silently through the window.
"Barbara."
"She turned around. She wasn't startled by his presence. She had long ago gotten use to it.
"I'm sorry, the Oracle is closed tonight. I don't feel like working."
He removed his cowl.
"I'm not here about work. I've seen Dick."
"Don't start. I don't want to get into this with you. I'm not going to get into this with you. I've been telling my dad the same thing for the last two hours. I don't need to start with you."
"Barbara, you're not being fair. It's his child too."
"I told you..."
"Hear me out."
That was such a strange request from this man, this usually silent and brooding man.
"Okay." she relented.
"You know I'm not very good at talking about things."
"That's an understatement." she chuckled.
"You are a lot like me Barbara. You're driven and you have a bad tendency to shut out people who care about you. I have that same bad tendency. But you're not quite as bad as I am. Yet. You can still let people in. You just need to do that more. Barbara, I don't want you to end up like me. Dick has been the one bright spot in my life. He wants to be that to you. He can be more than that to you. He doesn't care about what you can or can't do. He cares about you. He wants to be a part of your life, of the baby's life. Not because he's obligated to, but because he wants to. He loves you. And I know you love him too. Let him in Barbara. Don't shut off everyone in your life you cares about you. Don't end up like me."
She felt the tears come again. This had been a day of tears. Happy, sad, angry and remorseful tears.
"Batman's going to be a grandfather," she said as she looked up at him as a smile started to form.
"I know," he said a half-smile on his face.
"Maybe this baby will help us both," she said.
"I hope," he said as he gently stroked her hair.
***********************************************************************
Dick was sitting in the kitchen with Tim and Alfred. Alfred had made a batch of chocolate chip pancakes. He knew that Dick was having a bad night and they had always perked him up in the past. Unfortunately, while Tim was busily working his way through his second helping, Dick was merely forking his food.
"Master Dick, is there anything I can do for you?" Alfred asked. Generally Dick told him his problems, let him help. This time, however, Dick had been uncharacteristically silent since he came up from the cave.
"She's pregnant," he said quietly.
Tim spewed the contents of his mouth across the table, then started making choking noises. Dick and Alfred simply turned and watched. Finally he got out, "Pregn... who?"
"Barbara."
"Congratulations Master Dick," Alfred said tentatively, not sure of what to say. Obviously something was wrong.
"She doesn't want me involved."
"Not involved?" Alfred queried. "I'm sure you're mistaken Master Dick."
The phone rang in the manor. Alfred moved off to answer it.
"Dick, I'm sure Babs is going to want you involved," Tim started.
"That's not what she said."
"Give her time. Hey, maybe you do need to give Gotham some space. When her dad finds out, there'll be an APB out for you."
Dick half-heartedly laughed. "He knows. Paid me a little visit in Bludhaven this morning."
"Master Dick, telephone."
"Who knows I'm here?" he asked as he walked over to take the phone from Alfred. "Hello."
"Dick," she said hesitantly.
He was silent as he walked out of the kitchen with the phone.
"Dick."
"Yeah."
"I ... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ... I don't know what I meant."
"I'm sorry too. For everything. For what I said."
"Can we talk at breakfast tomorrow?"
"Sure. I'd like that," he responded.
"Dick. I ... I love you. Good night," she said quickly and hung up the phone.
A smile formed on his face. She had said that she loved him. Barbara loved him. He could get through her defenses. Walking back into the kitchen he saw Tim and Alfred. Their faces couldn't mask their curiosity. Dick grinned as he sat down and started wolfing down his pancakes.
Alfred and Tim smiled at each other.
"Hey, I am going to be Uncle Tim, right?"
"You know it, Uncle Tim."
To be continued ...
