Finally folks I have finished the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy!
Three is family
"Owwwwwwwwww…dagnabit Mari you are going to break my hand!"
"Hee hee….hoo….hooo..excuse me?...hee hee…hoo..hoo"
"I'm just sayin' darlin, be gentle as I will need my hand for the real thing"
"Hee hee….hoo….hoo", Mari glared at Greg with the same effect of a Batman glare.
Greg smiled weakly at his wife, "We are at Lamaze classes honey, it's practice, I would like to be in one piece when our babies get here so I can hold them".
The smile that lit her face after his statement lit the entire room, the pressure on his hand decreased rapidly,
"Sorry babe I'm just really nervous and I don't want anything to happen to them", her voice shook slightly and her eyes dropped to the floor.
Greg grabbed her hand with both of his and waited until she looked up at him, "Mari Saunders, nothing will happen to you or our precious angels, they have us and the League, I will protect you with my life!".
She smiled with happiness at him, "I love you Mr Saunders!"
"And I love you Mrs Saunders, gosh I will never tire of saying that!"
"Okay Mums and Dads, that's it for today great job", the instructor said.
Greg sighed with relief as he helped Mari to her feet slowly as she was quite large with their babies, she would tip over if not without assistance. From the back she still looked quite slender, but from the front she was heavily pregnant. Well, when you carry three babies you definitely will not be nicely rounded. Mari though had taken it in her stride, loving her stomach as it carried their children that they were both impatient to meet.
She had stopped active duty after her second month as she had begun to show and was frequently tired. She had begun to fall asleep at the drop of a hat, one time dozing off in a League meeting whilst Clark was talking, her soft snoring stopping Clark mid sentence and effectively ending the meeting much to everyone's relief. They all loved Superman but he did tend to waffle on at times.
Mari had cravings that Sir Justin, Greg's best friend and Godfather to be of one of their children was more than happy to oblige Lady Mari's request to bring her salmon sashimi, potato bake, salted caramel macaroons and red velvet cake. Lucky for Mari though, Bruce had found out about her cravings and spoke to Alfred who was happy to make them for her whenever she wanted. This delighted Mari so much when Bruce told her she promptly threw herself at him and hugged him tight, well as tight as her well rounded belly would allow. Bruce though in his Batman regalia, hugged her gently and awkwardly patted her on the back, trying to laugh it off as nothing at all. Mari with tears in her eyes released him only to kiss his cheek saying, "Thank you Bruce, this means alot to me and my babies", giving him the happiest smile he had ever seen. Bruce smiled back and said,
"You are very welcome Mari, anytime".
Mari was handling her pregnancy a lot better than Diana was though, she too was pregnant though only 3 months to Mari's 8 months. Poor Clark had not fared as good as Greg during that time because from her second month Diana had been giving him hell, literally. Due to it being the first known Kryptonian and Amazon child, there was no record of what the pregnancy would be like or how long the term would be. So it was a first for everyone, and boy they could not wait for it to be over.
Diana's hormones were all over the place, she had become so emotional that by the end of her second month, she had been taken off active duty. Not due to being a safety risk to the public at large but because during her last mission she had run the gamut of emotions whilst dealing with Giganta. Whilst trying to apprehend her she had been in full Wonder Woman mode, when she had suddenly started laughing hysterically causing her to drop Giganta in the ocean she had been crossing to get her to the authorities.
Superman seeing this drastic change of feeling in her knew it was time to get her out. He communicated with J'onn who had Wally and John take over and he had Diana and himself teleported back to the Watchtower.
Upon their return he suddenly felt a burst of pain as he hit the wall several metres behind him. He looked up to see his very very angry wife advancing towards him with murder in her gorgeous blue eyes.
"Now, honey…" he said raising his hands in front of him to try and placate her.
"Don't you dare honey me, Clark Kent"
Uh oh he was in for it now...
"But sweetheart you just started laughing for no reason and dropped Giganta, you have never, EVER done that before"
Diana stopped midstride thinking back, she suddenly looked at him understanding dawned in her eyes. Then she did something else she had never done before, she promptly burst into tears in front of everyone there.
Clark gathered his wife in his arms, whispering calming words and rubbing her back gently in his effort to ease her. To the public the picture of Superman hugging a hysterical Wonder Woman would be fodder for all to share, but to those watching it was the reality that even thought they were meta-humans and superheroes to all, they were at the end of the day a man and woman who felt normal human emotions.
Diana stepped back suddenly and looking up at her husband said, "I think honey it would be best to take myself off active duty for the remainder of this pregnancy as we just don't know what will happen next. Also I don't want anything to happen to precious", she smiled up at her husband loving the affectionate nickname they had bestowed upon their child until they could name them properly. Clark had never been so grateful and relieved in all his life that Diana had come to this decision herself as they had argued many times about this since they had received confirmation she was with child. He did not show this though as he knew how hard the decision would have been for her. He knew though she would be joining Mari on monitor duty, they would still be able to assist the league by coordinating members to various locations for missions. This way they both still felt like they were contributing to the league.
Mari had been doing this since her second trimester when her belly seemed to have become the size of a giant watermelon overnight from the triplets. Mari for one would be glad to have Diana there with her to understand what she was feeling. Clark was glad that he would not have to worry about Diana out in the field knowing she would be safely up in the Watchtower.
Though it did not spare him her frequent and now legendary hormonal emotional outbursts. The most memorable being the episode where he had been seriously injured during a mission, but instead of coming back to the Watchtower to be checked he continued to fight, ignoring Diana's orders to return. Once the members of the Injustice Gang were apprehended and clean up began, Diana's orders began anew in a very angry tone. Knowing how worried she was he advised that as soon as clean up was done then he would return. Diana went ballistic, isolating his communicator so only he could hear as she yelled and screamed at him and that she was on her way down to get him herself! Clark knew he had crossed the line and that she meant it, so he said he was on his way. He knew she would most likely kill him the moment he materialised on the Watchtower but he knew his wife just needed to make sure he was okay. He looked at John who said without hesitation, "Go before your wife kills you'.
Hence a few seconds later he was in the hangar just as Diana stomped in to be transported. Her eyes narrowed threateningly and she stalked towards him. Clark stood his ground but inwardly braced himself for one of her powerful punches. Suddenly she turned around and made her way towards one of the storage units picked it up and threw it at him cursing in Themyiscarian. He easily caught it and gently placed it down, knowing that once she started it was best to let her get it out of her system, their homes were a testament to her throwing things in the heat of the moment. Everyone else cleared the hangar quick smart knowing anywhere but there was wise. She was about to throw the fifth piece of equipment at him when Batman walked in.
"Diana! Stop it right now!"
"Excuse me?!", she screeched. Clark groaned.
"Bruce-", he began.
"No Kent enough is enough", Bruce growled, "Diana you are acting like a fishmonger's wife".
Diana spun around, "HOW DARE YOU!?" she spat her anger now fully directed at him. Clark facepalmed knowing things just got worse.
"Diana-", he began.
"Stay out of this Kal", she threw over her shoulder at him as she stalked towards Batman. She stopped when she was toe to toe with him and glaring at him. Under different circumstances Bruce would have been proud as it was as deadly as one of his own, but today it was directed at him. He admitted to himself that he was a little bit afraid of what she might do given her hormonal imbalance due to pregnancy and him only being human, but he would never tell a soul. He could actually see sparks in her eyes from her fury.
"Who...do...you...think...you...are?", Diana angrily punctuated each word into his (thankfully) Kevlar covered chest. Though she did manage to make him take a few steps back to keep his balance.
"Diana-", Clark attempted to calm her down again.
"The person who has been paying for the damages that you have unneccessarily caused!", Bruce stated.
Clark looked heavenward desperately seeking divine intervention, whilst desperately asking Diana's Goddesses to help him end this before someone got seriously hurt, namely him, or cause severe property damage someone had to pay, namely him.
"Damages?!", she screamed, "Damages?" she spun on her heel and stalked away.
Clark and Bruce sighed gratefully, until...
"You want damages? I'll give you damages!" and with one hand hefted her latest object in the air. Clark and Bruce's eyes went wide like saucers and their jaws dropped.
"Diana, put it down now"
"Honey please-"
Diana smiled evilly at Bruce and began to pass the object from one hand to the other like a ball. Bruce paled visibly.
"Diana, put the batwing down", Bruce said, she raised an eyebrow meaningfully, "please" he whispered.
"Sweetheart please put it down, think of our baby", Clark pleaded.
Diana gasped loudly her anger dissipating instantly, her free hand flew to her mouth as she remembered her condition and the danger she had potentially placed their child in. She looked at Batman pleadingly as she slowly placed his precious batwing gently back into place.
"Bruce, I am soooo sorry, please forgive me", she begged imploringly her hand reaching towards him.
Bruce walked towards her, pausing momentarily to adjust something on his gauntlet which had disabled the cameras in the hangar before reaching her, whereupon he did a very un-Batman like gesture, he kissed her forehead gently before he hugged her saying, "It's okay my friend, nothing to forgive, are you okay?"
She nodded on his chest before promptly bursting into tears. Bruce gave her a gentle squeeze before disengaging himself saying uncomfortably, "This is a job for Superman".
Clark smirked but gratefully took his now sobbing wife into his arms speaking words of comfort whilst gently rubbing her back. The men exchanged a meaningful look, knowing that her tirade was over and both thankful nothing was broken. After that episode Diana's outbursts reduced in frequency but not intensity.
Mari and Greg made their way to the location where they would be beamed up to the Watchtower, out of sight of the public. They had decided to attend Lamaze classes close to home just in case Greg needed to leave on an urgent mission then Mari could slowly, very slowly make her way home. This had happened a quite a few times already, and there was always a Justice League member who would show up before Greg left to assist Mari home. Though Mari had adamantly demanded they never send B'wanna Beast again as he spent most of the time ogling the pregnant women and any woman they passed on their way home.
Greg had nearly killed him the last time as Mari had made her way home on her own because B'wanna Beast had ended up flirting with the instructor and completely forgot about Mari. She had made her way home on her own taking twice as long as she had to stop frequently to catch her breath, with no one to lean on for assistance she had to sit on a fence, bench or even lean on a tree to ensure she would be ok to keep going. Bruce had been on monitor duty and seen the tracking signals of their communicators become separated. He had instantly called Mari to check on her and found her very out of breath, he had told her to stop where she was and rest he would get help immediately.
He had checked the mission status where Greg was and could see it was ok to bring him home, quickly coordinating the others to free him up, he then told Greg what had happened.
Greg was furious, angrier than Bruce was but more worried about how his wife was doing and was instantly transported to his wife's coordinates. Bruce meanwhile beamed B'wanna Beast straight to the Watchtower and was waiting for him the moment he appeared with a deadly Batman glare. B'wanna Beast showed up mid sentence and looked around confusingly, until he looked at Bruce and suddenly gulped visibly saying, "I am so dead eh, Bats?"
"You better hope Vixen is ok and that Vigilante calms down before he sees you again, because you will wish you had never even looked at another woman whilst looking out for her", Bruce growled venomously, "due to not fulfilling the duties of that mission you will be covering Vigilante's monitor duty shifts for the next month, if you live that long"
"But Bats it was babysitting!", he whined.
"Thank you for volunteering to cover three months for him, B'wanna Beast. The mission was to ensure the safety of a team member no matter the nature of the assignment, you failed because you were too busy socialising, unacceptable. Be grateful it is not suspension"
"Awww no fair"
"Well I can always leave your punishment up to Vigilante, he always likes to target practice every chance he gets, though he does not need it"
B'wanna Beast gulped visibly again, "Ok Batman I accept the month"
"Three months"
"Oh man, but-"
"Batman to Vigilante"
"Ok, ok three months no problem", he said and then promptly disappeared.
"Vigilante here"
"How is Vixen?"
"Mostly beat but she is ok, she is resting now"
Bruce isolated their line, "Good to hear Greg, you stay with her and look after her, we can take care of things from here"
Greg's sigh of relief was very grateful, "Much appreciated, partner"
"Anytime", Bruce replied
"Bruce about B'wanna Beast"
"Taken care of Greg, he will be covering three months of your monitor duty shifts"
"Hoooooooeee Batman, that is way better than if I got to beat him to a pulp"
"I thought so too", Bruce smirked, "I have to get back to the Monitor Womb Greg, give my regards to Mari and you both take care"
"No problem there partner, my little lady and our babies will be more secure than Fort Knox, and Bruce?"
"Greg?"
"Thank you, my friend"
"You're welcome...my friend"
Two weeks later
Mari and Greg had just returned home after an intimate dinner party at Wayne Manor that Bruce had organised. They had joined, Bruce and Zatanna, Clark and Diana, John and Shayera and their son Rex, Wally and his fiance Linda, J'onn and his wife Mai and their adopted little girl Michu. Ollie and Dinah were on their honeymoon and Vic and Helena were on a school trip with her students. Bruce had invited them all for dinner to announce that Zee and himself were having a baby. Diana, Shay and Mari squealed with excitement as the men all smiled. Wally mumbled, "Justice League baby boom strikes again!", and earned himself an elbow in the ribs from Linda. He smiled weakly at her saying, "Sorry honey", and rubbing his painful side.
They had all enjoyed the spread that Alfred had prepared, Mari and Diana had second helpings of dessert which was a very delightful passionfruit souffle that melted in their mouths. Both moaning and sighing blissfully with every bite, much to Greg and Clark's chagrin as it sounded like they were in ecstasy. But they were wise enough to not say a thing, nor did anyone else .
After dinner everyone made their way into Bruce's library where the men stood happily conversing, whilst the women sat and watched Rex and Michu play together and chatted about Zee's pregnancy, Diana's mood swings and Mari's impending birth. At one stage when the women were all laughing Mari had breathed in sharply clutching her side, Greg was at her side in an instant.
"Darlin, is it time?", he said whilst rubbing her back gently.
All the adults in the room held their breath collectively waiting for her answer.
After a few deep breaths, Mari turned to him and smiled, "No honey, I don't think so, maybe the second souffle was not the wisest choice after all"
All the adults exhaled loudly.
"But I think it's time we said goodnight babe, I have been up long enough"
"Your wish is my command, my love", Greg smiled as he helped Mari rise slowly from her seat.
"Whipped!", Clark mumbled under his breath, though all still heard him.
Greg smiled at him, "And proud of it, partner"
John said, "I second that", as he gazed lovingly at his Shayera who beamed back at him.
"Kal, we are leaving too, my back is killing me", Diana said.
"But honey Wally and I were just going to have a quick race around -"
"I'm sorry what did you say?"
"Yes dear, I'll go get our things"
"Whipped!", Greg smirked at him. Clark flushed red as he left the room. Both men missed their wives looking at each other and smiling knowingly at the fact that they both knew who wore the pants in their houses.
They had said their goodbyes to all and returned home. Mari had made her way straight to their bed and sinking gratefully with a deep sigh of relief as her head hit her pillow. She was instantly asleep, Greg took her shoes off and gently covered her with their doona, looking down at her with a smile full of love for his beautiful Mari, grateful to be so deserved of a woman like her. A short time later he had made his way to bed to and fell asleep with his arms around his wife and their babies.
A few hours later Mari woke up from a sharp pain in her womb, she lay there breathing slowly through it and looking at the time saw that it was 2:30. She decided to see if this was just a false alarm so she didn't wake Greg, knowing he would panic. Two hours later, she knew her babies were coming now, as her contractions were happening every 20 minutes and more intense than the previous one. She closed her eyes and called out to J'onn who immediately advised transport was on the way to pick them up, they needed to monitor her as she was in labour. She confirmed they would be ready for pickup promptly.
She reached out and gently shook her husband, "Greg, honey"
He moaned groggily, "Darlin?"
"It's time"
"Time for what?" he asked not comprehending her.
"To meet our babies"
Greg suddenly shot upright, "Oh my God", he quickly got out of bed and promptly went into major panic mode. Running from one end of their room to the other in his cowboy hat sleeping shorts mumbling "Oh my God" over and over to himself.
Mari rolled her eyes and slowly sat up and watched her husband bring a suitcase out and start throwing his clothes into it. She had actually packed what they would need a month ago with Diana and Shay's help as she knew this would be the likely scenario. Diana had then taken it to Greg's quarters on the Watchtower for easy access. She heard a knock on their back door.
"Uh babe?"
He was busy throwing several of her evening gowns into the suitcase. She smiled and bit her lip to stop from bursting into laughter. She heard the knocking again.
"Honey?"
He was now throwing several pairs of her shoes in, not noticing that the suitcase was now overflowing and would no be able to close. She chuckled and was about to call him again when a sharp pain in her back made her lean heavily on the headboard to ride it out and gasp for breath.
"Greg!"
Greg stopped and turned to his wife and seeing her in pain immediately dropped her make up case he was holding and rush over to her.
"Mari, sweetheart, are you alright? where does it hurt? what can I do?"
"Get the back door our pick up is here", she bit out as she bent over slightly and commenced her breathing as they had practiced in class.
"Ok, darlin" he said as he rushed out of their room. She heard him trip the last few steps and prayed that he had not injured himself or worse knocked himself out because she would kill him if he had. But was relieved to hear him talking to whoever had come to pick them up.
Seconds later, "Hello Mari, ready to go?", she looked up in surprise to see Batman of all the members standing there in his full regalia smiling at her.
"Batwing is faster than the Javelins and I just finished patrol", he explained.
"Let's go", Greg said.
"But Greg you need-", she began looking at his state of undress.
"Don't you worry your pretty little head, darlin, I have everything under control", he assured her as he held her hand and began to help her out of the room. Batman followed behind them, smirking and trying his best not to bend over in laughter at Greg's cluelessness. Mari turned to look at him over her shoulder and rolling her eyes shook her head in resignation, knowing that he would not be any help.
"Greg, honey-" she tried again.
"Mari, love just concentrate on breathing and our babies", he replied, that statement made her forget Greg's predicament and calmly start her breathing techniques. Batman continued to smirk whilst following from behind. They made their way onto the Batwing and Greg got Mari settled buckling her in gently and checking and rechecking that she was safe and comfortable. He then settled into his own chair and grabbed her hand, his eyes never once leaving her face. Batman smoothly manoeuvered the Batwing into the air and directed it towards the upper atmosphere towards the Watchtower.
Mari looked at Greg and tried one more time, "Baby, there is something you should know".
"No baby, don't you worry your purty little head about anything other than your breathing"
Mari rolled her eyes and decided to leave well enough alone and that Greg would find out in time. For the remainder of the trip they concentrated on the breathing techniques they had practiced. Once they landed in the hangar and Batman opened the Batwing for them to exit Mari and Greg were slowly making their way down the access ramp when the crispness of the air of the hangar hit them all, especially Greg who asked, " Are you folks thinking that the air in here is colder than the Montana air in winter time?" he turned to Bruce who had started sniggering behind them. Mari rolled her eyes.
"Batman, you don't know how lucky you are to have that suit of yours", Greg told him.
"You don't know the half of it", Batman replied.
"Huh?", Greg looked at him puzzled, as Bruce tried desperately to control his laughter.
"Wait for it...", Bruce said as Mari shook her head patiently waiting for the ball to drop for her husband.
Greg then shivered violently and looked down at his almost nude body, his head snapped up as realisation hit and his jaw dropped and he started to gape like a fish. Bruce unable to hold back any longer broke out in loud guffaws of laughter that made Mari smile slowly and start chuckling also. Seconds later she was laughing as hard as Bruce who was now bent over clutching his sides as he roared with laughter. Greg glared at them both and said, "Thank you both for letting me know!". To which they again burst out laughing anew, until Mari's sharp intake of breath from another contraction stopped them.
"Let's get you to the infirmary Mari so we can all meet your babies", Batman gently told her.
Mari beamed at him and placing her hand on his arm said, "Thank you for everything Bruce".
"Anytime Mari, for you Greg and your babies, anytime", he said patting her hand bringing tears to Mari's eyes.
They slowly made their way to the infirmary where J'onn was waiting. They had to stop four times as a contraction hit Mari and both Greg and Batman with a hand held tightly by Mari helped her breathe through them. After the first one had passed Batman turned to them both and growled, "Noone must ever know of this, understood?", both nodded quickly as an angry Batman was not to be argued with.
Once there J'onn quickly scanned Mari and smiling at her said, "Not long now Mari and you will both be welcoming your babies". Both parents smiled at him with eyes wide in joyful anticipation. Batman not wanting to disrupt their moment turned around to walk out but was stopped in his tracks by Greg, "Bruce?".
He turned back to face them both.
"Would you do us the honour of being godfather to one of our children?", they both smiled at him hopefully.
His sharp breath of surprise turned into a rare smile from the Batman who stated, "The honour is all mine, thank you", and left to wait outside.
Mari turned to Greg and said, "Remember babe if you pass out at anytime during this I will shoot you with one of your own guns, comprende?"
Greg smiled at her and taking her hand replied, " I wouldn't miss this little lady for all the gold in the world!. I'll be with you every step of the way"
She smiled radiantly at him then turned to J'onn and said, "Let's do this!"
So it was with much joy and many happy tears shed that two hours later Mari and Greg welcomed two boys and a girl in that order into the world. Their first born they named Justin Gregory Saunders in honour of Shining Knight who would be his Godfather. Their second son they named Bruce Richard Saunders in honour of Batman and Mari's father, they decided to ask Diana and Shayera to be his godmothers. Their beautiful little girl who Greg would not let go of once she was in his arms they named Adanna Mari Saunders. Mari had surprised Greg by telling him that she had chosen Adanna as it meant 'fathers daughter' in African, he beamed with pride. They made Bruce her Godfather as both knew noone on Earth or beyond would dare to mess with her being Batman's godchild and if anything was to happen to them they trusted no other to take care of their little girl.
Once Mari and her babies were cleaned up and they were all nestled on her bed with Greg she nodded to J'onn to let the eager Justice League members waiting outside their room in to see the new additions to the family. As Wally blurred into the room followed by a beaming Justin, Clark helping a shuffling excited Diana, Bruce and Zatanna, John and Shayera and Dinah dragging a reluctant Ollie, Mari turned slightly to Greg and said, "Thank you honey for everything, I love you"
Greg kissed her lightly on the lips and said, "I love you too darlin' and the thanks go to you sweetheart for giving me more than I had ever hoped for. Love and my very own family."