Forgotten Birthdays

By

AJ

Part 4

It was several weeks before Tim could get back to the empty house that used to belong to his father and was now his. He spoke to Bruce about his dilemma with his stepmother earlier. His words actually did give him some comfort and some hope that everything would work out for the best. His thoughts weren't very far off from that day.

"My stepmother is going to be in a very fragile state," Tim stated. "She doesn't even remember the accident. She still thinks my father is alive."

"I don't know what to tell you Tim," Bruce at first stated. "I think you need to do what's best. If that means going to Bludhaven and being with your stepmother until she recovers, then that may be for the best, but eventually, she will have to be told."

"I don't know if I can," Tim said, his emotions on edge.

"You'll do what's right," Bruce stated. "You can't not tell her. She's going to find out, maybe even figure it out when your father's not there or why he hasn't come to see her."

"I know . . . I'm afraid what it might do to her," Tim confessed.

"If it will help, I'll go with you," Bruce offered.

Having Bruce there had been a comfort, and his stepmother was slowly recovering. The look on her face when he did tell Dana broke Tim's heart a second time. Dana just sat there, staring into space, not wanting to believe that it was true.

"You're lying," Dana stated.

"I . . . I'm not . . . Dana," Tim stated. Tears started to stream down his face. He never fully got used to calling her Mom. As far as Tim was concerned, Janet Drake had been his mother. "I'm sorry. I buried him almost two months ago."

"No . . . I won't accept it," Dana continued to deny what Tim was telling her.

"Please," Tim tried to show her the obituary, but instead she tore it from his hands and ripped it in two."

"Mrs. Drake," Bruce tried to coax the woman to calm her. "Tim is not lying. Your husband . . . was murdered."

"NO!" Dana screamed out her anguish.

"I'm sorry, you're going to have to leave now," a nurse came in. "We'll give her a sedative to calm her, but this has been too upsetting for her."

"I . . . I don't understand," Tim stated. "I thought . . ."

"I'm sorry Tim," Bruce stated. "I don't think your stepmother is ever going to accept that your father is gone."

"But . . . What about the adoption? What if she contests it? What if she really believes that my dad isn't dead?"

"We'll deal with it when it comes," Bruce stated. "I think it's best that we leave her alone for a while. Maybe we'll come back in a couple of few days when she's stronger and try again."

Those few days came and went without success. Dana Drake just wasn't willing to accept that Jake Drake was gone. She knew about Stephanie, that happened last year, but trying to get her to believe that Jake Drake was dead was impossible.

"She's got to believe me when he doesn't come to see her," Tim stated. "Eventually it should sink in . . . Will it?"

Tim didn't know the answer. His stepmother could conceivably delude herself into thinking that his father would eventually come for her, and that would leave him in limbo, not knowing what would happen. Bruce may technically be his adopted father, but did he even have that right to adopt him with his stepmother still being alive? And yet his father's will specified that Bruce Wayne adopt him. Even had the papers drawn up before . . .

'It was as if he knew . . . But that was impossible. I never realized just how much my father appreciated . . . even admired . . .I'm missing something.'

Tim's thoughts came back to the present when he reached the house. The door was wide open. He could have sworn he locked the door the last time he visited the house. Had someone broken in? Tim entered cautiously. The house had been ransacked at he feared. He could tell right off the bat that several items had been stolen. He would have to do a full inventory to know what. He didn't really want to call the police over this.

'Maybe I can get Alfred and Bruce to help. Bruce has been here before, along with Dick. They might be able to help me find what items have been stolen.'

Then sudden panic set in when Tim entered his father's old office and found it ransacked. He raced to the closet and quickly searched for the wooden box. He breathed a sigh of relief when he still found it resting on the floor behind other boxes where he left it. He picked it up and examined its contents, his eyes falling once again on the birth certificate. It was still intact.

'I better take this somewhere else where I can deal with it when the time comes.'

Tim walked down to the basement and into one of the storage rooms. He pressed a brick near the base of the wall and a door slid open. It revealed a man-made tunnel lined with shelves. The tunnel disappeared into darkness.

'Haven't used this tunnel in quite a while. Since I have the house, I might rethink my living arrangements.'

Tim discovered the tunnel when he was eight, looking to hide from a babysitter who didn't really have his best interest at heart. Turned out the babysitter wanted to kidnap him. He later learned that the tunnel had been used during the underground railroad to hide escaped slaves. Even though they were far north of the Mason Dixon line, bounty hunters would search for slaves and if anyone was caught hiding escaped slaves despite the state being a free state, they were punished as well. Exploring the tunnel, Tim found the network of tunnels, one of which he learned later led to the bat cave.

'I don't want anyone else finding out about this, even the police. I want to go through this box myself. I want to learn why my father would keep a birth certificate for a baby with my name who died.'

After making certain the tunnel was secure once more, Tim went back to the main house and called the police.

"Yeah, I came back home to clear some more of my father's things and I found the front door open,' Tim stated in the phone. "No, there wasn't anyone in the house. No, I don't know if there was anything stolen unless I go through everything. I haven't been in the house since before my father was killed. You'll send someone over? Thanks."

Tim hung up the phone then thought better of it.

"Hey, Alfred, is Bruce there?"

"No, Master Timothy. He's at Wayne Foundation."

"Could you give him a message?"

"Certainly Master Timothy."

"Let him know I'm going to be late. I have to talk to the police."

"The police?"

"Yeah, it's a long story. Someone broke into my house. I'll tell you later. I have to go. Someone just pulled up."

Tim hung up the phone and headed out front. He was going to have to explain the two sets of footprints in the dust on the floor. Luckily, his footprints were smaller than the others. One question came to mind. Who broke in and what were they looking for?

Continues with Part 5