Chapter Three

For quite a while they all sat together in the living room, chatting happily. Tony and Pepper were very polite, Tony of course was just as Alfred imagined him, he made Madeline squeal with laughter when he imitated Alfred's accent for a while, which in turn made Alfred chuckle himself.

"And how old are you?" Alfred had asked Madeline.

"I am eight and three quarters, my birthday is going to be on September twenty sixth, and I would be more than delighted if you came." She smiled again brightly at Alfred, he chuckled and nodded.

"I would be more than happy to attend,"

Madeline giggled, "I like you, you're posh."

Tony came over to sit by his niece and Alfred, "What?! And I am not posh?!"

At this she giggled even harder, "No! Uncle Tony, you are totally ordinary!"

Adriana kept hovering in the corner, on the fringe of their little picture. She was watching Alfred like a hawk. He tried to meet her eyes a few times but then he couldn't seem to take his eyes off Madeline for longer than a few seconds, as if afraid she may vanished.

She was so delicate. She was most definitely small for her age, like a fairy almost. Her hair was long and light brown, just like Bruce's. She also had his eyes. They were inquisitive and a little guarded. Unlike her mother who had round blue eyes that seemed to be a very window into her soul.

Madeline chatted animatedly, and let Alfred in almost immediately. He was totally and utterly in awe of this little girl.

Eventually, Adriana caught his eye and strode out of the room, reluctantly Alfred rose to follow. Maddy looked up at him, "Are you coming back, Alfred?"

"Yes, I'll be back in a moment." Alfred smiled down at her and knew that he was telling the truth, because no matter what happened, he would always come back to her, this little girl. He left the family room with Tony making ridiculous dinosaur noises to gales of Maddy's laughter.

Alfred found the hallway empty and walked back to the foyer.

Adriana stood in front of the big windows, arms crossed looking down at the ocean. Alfred walked over and came to a stop beside her, "Adriana what happened?" Adriana looked at Alfred and gave a sardonic, teasing smile, "You know that I mean,"

Adriana shook her head and looked back out at the water. "I don't know, Alfred." She shrugged her shoulders. "By the time I found out I was in California, and I mean it was a miracle I made it there with out losing her. And then I thought, well just one ultrasound..." Adriana's eyes became misted over, "And I saw her and that was it. I was in love, like I had never, ever been before." She looked at Alfred and smiled and he couldn't help but smile back at her, "I must have picked up the phone a million times to call Bruce, but I just couldn't. Then I thought, how can I tell him over the phone? That's no way to find out you are a father." Her eyes drifted back to the sea, but in reality they were miles away, "Then she was born and she was perfect and amazing and adorable. So I thought, okay, now… now I'll just go, just go back to Gotham, but how could I travel with a brand new baby? Then she was a toddler, and then she was a child and then years were flying by." Adriana shook her head, "I didn't know how to keep up with it.

She asked about her father of course, and it was so simple to just say, that he is a good man, who is working very hard to make this world a better place, and he was busy right now but that he would be with her as soon as he could." She sighed, her voice was thick with emotion, "I kept hoping he would call, or show up but he never did… and then I thought, well at her next birthday I will take her and we can just deal with it together. But then… I just didn't, her fifth birthday turned into her sixth and then her seventh."

Adriana shrugged again, "I … I know it's horrible, and I am the worst most selfish person. But I couldn't stand the thought of going back, couldn't stand the thought of seeing him again. I wanted…. no, I want Madeline to know her father, I want that so bad, but the thought of being around him, existing in the same circle again and having to try and pretend… pretend like I am ok, or like it never happened? It's unbearable." Adriana looked at Alfred with such pain in her face. She chuckled slightly through her tears, "And besides, how could I bear to share that perfect little girls love?"