As the weeks passed Melody found it harder and harder to figure out stories to tell her father as to where she'd been when she went out with Dick.
They'd never had anything more than dates because she wasn't sure she was ready to start having sex on a regular basis. It was very nice but something in her gut told her it wasn't time for that.
One morning, a little over a month after that night with Dick, Melody woke to find herself not feeling well at all. She found that if she moved too much she felt like she was going to vomit. Staying in bed seemed like the right thing to do. She had a bucket set next to her bed in case she really did throw up.
Pulling the phone on her nightstand over to her, she picked up the receiver and called Dick.
"Wayne residence," Melody heard Alfred say as he picked up.
"Alfred? It's Melody Bardon, may I speak with Richard?"
"Why certainly, Miss. One moment."
A minute later Dick answered. "Hello? Melody?"
"Richard! How are you today?"
"I'm fine, thanks. Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, everything's fine. I just wanted to call and cancel our plans for tonight."
"What? Why?"
"Well I seem to have caught a virus or something."
"Oh, well okay then. I'll send over something special-"
"No! Don't!" she cried, cutting him off. "I'll be fine. Just have fun by yourself today. We spend so much time together that I'm afraid I'm taking away all your free time. You should go out and do something you don't get to do while with me."
"You know I don't mind spending time with you, but if you're sure."
"I'm sure. Now I've gotta go. I'll call you tomorrow and let you know how I'm feeling."
"Alright. Well, get well soon."
"Thanks, Richard. Bye."
"Bye."
Melody hung up the phone and sighed. She'd much rather be spending the day with him than stuck at home in bed, but the thought of throwing up in front of him made Melody cringe.
Suddenly a wave of nausea hit her and she leaned off the side of the bed, vomiting into the bucket.
By the next week Melody was beginning to get irritated. At least every other day she found herself stuck in bed with a bout of nausea. It would come and go throughout the day but she never left her bed on the days she felt awful.
She had decided to go see a doctor about her illness. The day of the doctor's visit she felt fine. She was glad for that because walking around nauseated wasn't very fun.
"Well Melody I can't find anything wrong with you appearance-wise," the doctor said as he finished examining her. "You seem very healthy. It's just vomiting you say?"
"Yes, sir," she replied.
"Maybe we ought to take some blood and see if there are any signs of a virus in there." He made Melody lie back on the table as he grabbed the equipment. He had a tube of blood drawn in no time. "For now just go home and get some rest. Try not to eat anything too rich or spicy. Stick to plain foods like bread, oatmeal, and the like. No fruits, though. Anything too sweet could cause you to become nauseated again."
"Alright, thanks, sir." She got up and left the office, feeling even more irritated than normal. If she was so healthy then why did she feel so tired all the time? As if on cue, she yawned.
The next day Melody was relieved to find she felt fine. Today she'd find out what was really wrong with her, she knew something had to be wrong.
She waited by her fax machine all morning, waiting for the results. Just as she was starting another chapter in a book the machine began ringing. Throwing the book onto the desk, Melody sat up, her heart beating hard against her ribs. The paper seemed to come out in slow motion. When it was finally done, she nearly ripped it from the machine and stood to read it.
As her eyes flitted across the page, her triumphant grin faded into a frown. Her hands shook and she suddenly felt very weak. Her knees gave out and she fell to the chair with a thud.
"Pregnant?" she questioned softly as she let her hand fall, the paper slipping from it and landing on the floor beneath the chair. A moment later she jumped up and ran to her bathroom and threw up into the toilet.
After she rinsed her mouth out she grabbed her phone and called the doctor's office.
"Are you sure?" she asked the doctor once she had him on the phone.
"Positive. It's why you've been so nauseous lately. Has anything else been wrong? Something you forgot to mention?"
"No- well, I mean I've been extra tired lately but that's about it."
"Ah, yes, that's another symptom. You're good and pregnant, Miss Bardon."
Without telling the doctor goodbye, Melody hung up the phone, her thoughts completely silent.
It was a full hour later that Melody was able to pull herself together enough to move. She stood and without bothering to apply make-up, she left the house. A long walk sounded like a good idea to her.
By one in the afternoon Melody was seated on a bench in the park, blank eyes staring out over the lake. Her breath came out in puffs of steam thanks to the cold February weather. Somewhere in her mind she heard someone call her name. It sounded so far off she didn't think anything of it. It called again, this time louder.
A tap on her shoulder caused her to jump. She gasped and looked up into the eyes of Dick Grayson. Before she knew what she was doing she leapt up from the bench, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Whoa! What's this?" he asked with a laugh as he hugged her tight. "Miss me that much?"
"Yes," she sobbed into his shoulder.
He suddenly pushed her back to look at her. There were tears on her red cheeks and her nose was bright red from the cold. Taking her hands in his he found they were cold as ice. When he looked at them he saw that she wore no gloves.
"What's the matter with you? You don't even have a coat on!" He immediately pulled his off and threw it around her shoulders. The sleeves fell past her fingertips. "Here, take this too," he said and handed her his cup of coffee. "Hold onto that and warm your hands up a bit.
Melody stood there, her head down, the steaming cup grasped in her hands, looking to all the world like an abandoned child. Dick threw his arm around her shoulders and turned her away from the bench.
"Why don't we go for a walk and you can tell me what's bothering you."
"Nothing's wrong," she lied as she continued to stare into the drink.
"I don't buy that. You have no coat, no gloves, and you were crying. Something has to be wrong."
"I just missed you is all. This virus is making things difficult. I hardly see you anymore."
"What are you talking about? We just saw each other two days ago."
"I know but normally I get to spend every day with you. I hate only having one or two days out of the week to see you."
He laughed. "Well we can't always have every day together. I think we'd get tired of each other if that was the case."
"I know," she said quietly.
"Come on, cheer up! We're together now." He stopped and turned her to face him. "How about I take you to get something hot to eat?"
Melody looked up at him and slowly let all her worries fade. She would tell him eventually. Today she could spend time with him as if nothing had changed. "Okay," she replied with a smile.
"That's what I like to see," he said and kissed her on the forehead. "Come on, I know this great place nearby."
~*~
When Dick got home he threw his coat in his room and lay down on the bed with a contented sigh. He and Melody had gone for a late lunch and then he took her to a bookstore where they could sit on a couch and cuddle as she read aloud to him. Normally he didn't care for the bookstore but he figured it would cheer Melody up and he liked the cuddling.
The day was great after not seeing her for two days. He was getting restless while she was sick. Bruce had begun to get angry with him when he rushed to go out at night. One night he told him to stay home and work off some of his pent up energy by practicing his fighting. True it pissed him off that he had to stay home but it had helped a little. The day with Melody hadn't even been ruined when she confessed she didn't want to have sex again for a while, telling him she wasn't quite ready for that.
Nothing could bother him now. He would be good for a few more days.
"Master Dick?" Alfred said as he knocked on the door.
"Come in," Dick called.
"You have a visitor, sir," Alfred said as he opened the door. "They're waiting for you in the parlor."
"Oh, alright." He jumped up and followed Alfred into the small sitting room. "Mr. Bardon," Dick said as he held out his hand to Melody's father. "What can I do for you?"
Mr. Bardon waited a moment while Alfred left the room before he spoke. Once they had their privacy his face turned red and he advanced on Dick. "You can stay away from my daughter for one thing!" he hissed.
Dick took a step back, letting his hand fall back to his side. "Now wait a minute, sir, I don't believe I understand you. You want me to stop seeing Melody?"
"Yes! This very instant! I forbade her to see you and yet she went behind my back! I will not tolerate her dating the likes of you."
"What's going on here?" Bruce Wayne said from the doorway, a look of worried confusion on his face.
"Your boy here has been seeing my daughter behind my back! I will not have it! I will not have her associating herself with some- some circus freak spawn!" he cried, his face now turning purple.
"Excuse me, Mr. Bardon, but I believe you are out of line," Bruce answered, his voice firm. "You have no right to come into my home and insult people." He turned to Dick then. "Now, Dick, did you know Melody wasn't supposed to be seeing you?"
"No! She never told me a thing. If I'd known I would have stayed away from her. I'm not looking to cause trouble." He managed to get his explanation out without his voice catching. His hands were balled into tight fists at his sides and he could feel his entire body trembling with anger.
"See Bardon, Dick had no idea. I think you've gotten your point across. I'd like you to leave, please."
Mr. Bardon looked at both Dick and Bruce, his face now only red. "I'll leave, but I want you to know," he said, directing this at Dick, "that if I catch Melody with you again she'll be disowned so fast she won't know what happened. If you have any shred of decency in you you'll stay away from her!" He turned and stalked from the room. Alfred was waiting for him outside, ready to walk him to the front door.
When everything had gone quiet, Bruce turned to Dick. Dick was still shaking with fury, his teeth clenched and his hands still in fists.
"You really didn't know?" Bruce asked gently.
Dick began to calm down. "I really didn't know." He took a deep breath. "I figured something was up because she never wanted me to pick her up and she never allowed me to send anything to the house, I just figured she didn't want to be embarrassed and wanted to seem like one of those modern women." He shrugged.
"Well what are you going to do?"
"The only thing I can do. I have to break up with her." Looking at Bruce he gave a quick half smile. "I'd rather not see her thrown from her house. It's a harsh world out there and I don't want to see her left alone like that. I can't really offer her much of anything right now."
Bruce placed a hand on Dick's shoulder. "If that's how you see it." With that he turned and left the room. Dick slumped into a chair and put his head in his hands. This was going to be hard.