My bad that I neglected this. Thanks to "Guest" for prodding me.

Someone asked about Steph and Cass. I don't know their characters very well, but I'm thinking about bringing them in (especially Steph). Just not yet. Please don't hate me.

It had been two whole days since he had talked to Barbara and Dick was beginning to get a little antsy. He wanted to know how to proceed. He had already set April up with an obstetrician at Wayne Memorial, telling her it was the gift of an anonymous donor, but that ruse wouldn't hold forever. Pretty soon word needed to get out about these babies. But were they going to be Dick Grayson's? Or Dick Grayson's and Barbara Gordon's?

It was with great nervousness and great relief, then, that Dick picked up Barbara's telephone call, just before lunch.

"I've thought about it," Barbara said.

"And?" Dick's breath caught in his throat.

"I want the babies. I'm still furious about the circumstances, but I'll never forgive myself if I let this opportunity slip by. I did want to be a mother, and now that I have a chance, I'd be a fool to give it up."

"Oh, Barbara. I'm so glad. You know, there's no one in this world I'd rather raise my children with."

"Don't get too sappy, Short Pants. There's going to be a lot of practical things to figure out. Such as who gets custody when and things like that." Barbara suspected that Dick would want primary custody. And, to be honest, she would be only too glad to give it to him.

Dick sighed. Barbara was sucking all the joy out of parenthood already. "If you say so."

"Have you told Bruce yet?"

Dick laughed uneasily. "No. I was waiting for your answer."

"Then let's tell him tonight. I'll stop by the manor around 7?"

"Why do we have to tell Bruce first?" Dick whined.

Because he's paranoid. Because he'll freak. Because he's Batman. "Because I said so," Barbara stated.

"Fine." Dick sighed. "I'll see you at 7."

This was going to be fun.

After dinner, Bruce had been expecting dessert. What he got instead was Dick asking him, Alfred, Jason, Tim, and Damian to come into the sitting room. He was even more surprised to find Barbara already in there. When had she arrived?

Once everyone was seated, Dick went over to stand behind Barbara's wheelchair. "Okay, so Babs and I have something to tell everyone, and we only want to have to do it once."

Five pairs of eyes stared back at Dick. He gulped and decided that short and sweet and to-the-point was the way to go. "Remember the surrogate with the unidentified fetus?"

A chorus of silent nods.

"Okay, good. Well, I've identified the fetus – well, actually fetuses because she's carrying twins – and the babies belong to Babs and me. We're going to be parents. Together."

Everyone but Bruce looked completely shocked. "I was afraid of this," Bruce murmured.

"WHAT!" shouted Barbara, Jason, Tim, and Damian. "You knew?" they accused.

"No. It's just not entirely unexpected after Strange made mention of his grandchildren the other night."

"They're not his grandchildren," Barbara spat in disgust.

"No," Dick soothed. "But Hugo thinks he's Batman. And he purposely created Oracle and Nightwing's babies. Therefore, they are his grandchildren in his mind."

"I'm not letting that creep anywhere near our kids." Barbara glared at Dick, as though he was contemplating taking their children to visit Strange.

"Neither am I," Dick defended himself. "I was just explaining things."

"How long until the birth?" Bruce was all business.

"Umm, April – that's the surrogate – is almost at five months."

"Hmm. And it's twins."

"Yes, a boy and a girl." Dick looked at Barbara. "I forgot to tell you that earlier today."

"It's okay. I read it in the file."

"Twins often come early. I'll say we have until mid-June before the kids arrive," Bruce interposed.

"Yeah, we'll want to be ready in advance," Dick agreed.

"So what are you going to do?" Bruce demanded.

"Prepare to become parents?" Dick suggested.

"No, I meant what are you going to tell the media?"

"Really, Bruce? We just found out Babs' eggs weren't blown up by the Scarecrow, Strange stole my sperm, we're having babies, and you're worried about the media?"

"Well, they're going to find out, and probably sooner rather than later. You, we, need a plan."

"Just tell 'em Goldie can't keep it in his pants," Jason joked. "Ow!" Tim had punched him on the shoulder.

"I can to keep it in my pants," Dick insisted. "I always could, but I've mellowed with age."

"That won't work anyway," Bruce said sternly.

"We can just say we decided to have kids as friends," Dick offered.

"Not good enough," Bruce insisted. "We need an airtight explanation. How many people know Barbara's eggs were destroyed? That will require an explanation."

"I certainly didn't go around broadcasting it!" Barbara gasped.

"Besides, Grosvenor had hospital privileges at Wayne Memorial," Dick explained. "He could easily have taken Barbara's eggs at some point. Grosvenor worked with Gotham society; we can just say Babs and I wanted to have babies together, but Grosvenor was terrible at communication, and we didn't realize we had any until the scandal. People will believe that since Grosvenor was so shady."

Bruce nodded. "Hardly an airtight explanation, but I think it will work since medical records are private. But that only explains the how and not the why. Why did you two decide to have kids together when you're unmarried? How will this work if one of you finds a spouse? Given your unique situation, you can't claim this was an accidental pregnancy. Surrogates don't get pregnant by accident."

Dick glowered. Damn Bruce and his media savvy. Why can't he just focus on the babies? Why do we immediately have to go into crisis mode?

Barbara was contemplative. "You raise a good point, Bruce. This will seem especially odd with Samuel in the picture. Of course, we could say we thought about it years ago and then Grosvenor went ahead without our permission."

"That might work," Bruce mused.

"Or we could just get married," Dick suggested innocently.

Barbara craned her neck to face Dick, looking at him like he had grown a second head. "WHAT!?"

"Come on, Babs, you heard me. I know you aren't deaf," Dick joked.

"That what had nothing to do with hearing. It was shock over your idiotic suggestion."

Dick got defensive. "Oh, really? And what was so idiotic about it?"

"Everything," Barbara shot back. "You can't possibly be serious. How on earth could we get married?"

"Geez, you act like you don't like me at all. Haven't we been friends for years? Didn't we date? Didn't I ask you to marry me before? And didn't you say yes? I should have thought a marriage proposal from me would be met with a little less attitude."

"I should have thought you would be sensible enough to not even suggest such a ridiculous idea!"

"So now I'm idiotic, ridiculous, and insensible?" Dick growled.

"Yes, you clearly are if you think we should get married." Barbara shot back.

"Okay, all-knowing Oracle, explain to me why this is the most horrible suggestion ever!"

Barbara drew in her breath. "Because you're the son of Bruce Wayne and I'm a cop's daughter."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Dick cried. "That never mattered before."

"Well, maybe that's not the main reason," Barbara amended.

"Then what is!"

"I … I just don't know if I can be with you."

"But I love you! I have for years. I want to marry you more than anything, Barbara. And I thought you loved me!"

Barbara looked at the floor. She felt terrible admitting it, but it was true. "I do love you, but I just don't know if I can do it. You remind me too much of the past. Before the wheelchair. And it hurts."

Silence filled the room. Finally, Dick said, "But the wheelchair doesn't matter to me. I love you."

Barbara sighed. "I know, but it matters to me. I'm not sure if I can do it. When I'm with you, I feel like I'm living in the past, not the future."

"So that's why you can be with Samuel?"

"Yes," Barbara admitted, almost sadly. "He didn't know me back then."

Dick got down on his knees in front of Barbara and looked into her eyes. "Barbara, I love you so much. I desperately want to marry you. The wheelchair doesn't matter to me, but I understand if it does to you. However, I hope you can get over that and accept my love." Dick stood up. "I'll wait. Take as much time as you need to think about it."

Barbara sniffed, trying to hold back tears. Dick was so good to her, and a part of her felt she didn't deserve it. Finally, she nodded. "I'll think about it."

An awkward silence filled the room as everyone tried to avoid eye contact with each other. Eventually, Barbara cleared her throat. "I should get going. It was nice seeing you all."

A chorus of subdued "good-byes" followed Barbara as she wheeled out the door.

"You don't need that bitch!" Damian flopped down on the couch beside Dick.

Dick sighed. "Damian, what have I told you about using that word?"

"Not to use it."

"Well?"

Damian threw his hands in the air. "She deserved it! How could I not?"

"I'm with Damian on that one." Jason plopped down into a nearby armchair. "I mean, how many times do you have to ask her to marry you before she understands that you're serious about it?"

"Maybe she doesn't love me," Dick moaned.

"Dick, I don't think that's true," Tim comforted, sitting down on the couch on Dick's other side. "I think Barbara meant it when she said she loved you."

"Then why won't she marry me?" Dick whined.

Tim shrugged. "I don't know. I'm hardly the expert on ladies, here."

"Arggh," was Dick's only response, as his head flopped back against the couch.

Bruce, meanwhile, was escorting Barbara to the door. The two went in silence, but when Barbara reached the foyer, she stopped and turned to look at Bruce.

"What do you think of this?"

"That sadly, I am indeed old enough to be a grandfather."

Barbara rolled her eyes. Men sometimes. "I meant about us getting married."

Bruce sighed, choosing his words carefully. "Barbara, this is a personal decision. You have to make it for yourself. I can't make it for you."

"But -."

"And Dick is my son. I would do anything to make him happy."

"I see." Barbara mentally scolded herself for ever thinking, even for a second, that Bruce could have been a source of unbiased advice.

Bruce opened the huge front door, and Barbara wheeled out. "I'll be in touch," she called back as she entered her van.

I might have made everyone a tad too accepting, but I figured the Bat Family has learned to roll with the punches by now. Plus, Bruce probably had it figured out before the big announcement anyway. Oh, and I'm not good at writing angst.

I hope I got Barbara and her reasons right. I thought I remembered from the Nightwing Vol. I run that Babs sometimes said she hesitated to date Dick because it always made her think of the past.

So should they get married? I'm really undecided about that.