Wow! I can't believe how long this chapter has been sitting around waiting to be published. I'll have you all know, one of my New Year's Resolutions is to publish at least one chapter of fanfic each week. Now, it might not always be for this fic or fandom, but that's the plan, Stan!
Alfred rose at 5:00 every morning, but this morning was especially important. Despite the recent tragedies the family had endured, it somehow meant a larger gathering for Thanksgiving Dinner.
After showering and dressing, Alfred strode down to the kitchen to commence the preparations for the meal. There was something peaceful about being up at this hour. Most everyone was asleep, even the masked vigilantes he kept charge of, as they tended to roll in at about 4:00 a.m. at the latest.
To the butler's surprise, however, he was not the only one awake at this hour.
He found one of his youngest charges curled up in the breakfast nook with her blanket, gazing out the window, the moonlight gleaming on her jet black curls.
"Why good morning, Miss MK," Alfred smiled kindly.
MK gave Alfred a smile she could have only inherited from her father. "Morning, Alfie."
"And why, might I ask, are we out of bed so early this morning?"
The child shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. Why are you up so early?"
"I am always up this early, my child."
She crinkled her little brow in thought. "You're always up this early and you're always there to tuck me into bed. Do Alfreds never sleep?"
Alfred chuckled. "It certainly seems that way at times."
The Manor was relatively quiet. The only sounds Bruce could hear through the open study door were of Jimmy and MK assisting Alfred with meal preparations in the kitchen. Dick and Martha were still in bed despite it being almost noon. Cissie and Selina had gone for a walk through a rose garden and the guests had yet to arrive.
The doorbell chimed. Bruce heard Alfred chatting amicably with Jim as he made his way from the study to the foirer.
"Jim," he smiled and shook the Commissioner's hand as Alfred disappeared back into the kitchen to ensure his sous-chefs had not destroyed the place. "How are you?"
Jim nodded, puffing his moustache out a bit. "Doing okay."
Bruce nodded, the unspoken words between them loud enough to cut the thick air with a knife. "We're glad you could make it."
"Glad I could get away from the station. Things have been remarkably calm lately. You know, for Gotham."
Bruce grunted in affirmation. The two men meandered into the parlour. "Brandy?" Bruce offered.
"Scotch, if you have it."
Bruce poured two Scotches and joined Jim on the sofa.
"Been awhile since we've seen you, Jim."
"It's always been hard for me to be here, Bruce. All this fancy stuff. The butler and all. I'm a cop. The only other time I step into homes like this is when they've been robbed."
"It's been difficult for us to get away from the Manor, what with the boys…"
Jim nodded his understanding. "How are they doing?" When Bruce hesitated, Jim asked again, "How's Dick?"
"His leg is healing well. We've hired an excellent physical therapist to see him through the process."
"But how is he?"
Bruce let out a huff of air. "He's… coping." Feeling Jim's eyes on him, he caved. "He's taking it really hard. He thinks the whole thing was his fault. I just wish he was nine again. Somehow it's easier to comfort a child, or at least distract them. But he's a man now with children of his own. I can't just pretend everything is okay."
"I didn't really talk to him at the funeral. I was too angry at the world for taking my daughter away to see past my own nose."
"I know that feeling."
"I think we all do."
They were interrupted by a seven year old catapulting through the door.
"Grampa! Grampa!" MK launched herself into Jim's lap.
"Miss Mary Katherine!" Alfred followed quickly after her, his feathers clearly ruffled. "My apologies, Master Bruce, Commissioner."
"No trouble at all, Alfred." Jim grinned and tickled his granddaughter mercilessly.
Jimmy peeked in the room with a smirk before quietly walking over to the sofa to sit between his grandfathers. Selina and Cissie walked in from the opposite door at that exact moment.
"Jim! How good to see you!" Selina strolled over. Jim settled MK down and sat her next to her brother so as to embrace Selina.
"Selina, enchanting as always," he greeted gruffly.
"Have you met Cissie?" Selina pulled Cissie up beside her. "Cissie, this is Commissioner Jim Gordon, Jimmy and MK's grandfather. Jim, this is Cissie King-Jones, Tim's fiancée."
"It's a pleasure," Jim shook her hand.
"Nice to meet you," Cissie smiled back.
The doorbell chimed.
"If you will excuse me," Alfred calmly left to answer the door. He returned shortly after. "Miss Cissie, I believe it is for you."
Cissie furrowed her brow and stepped out of the parlor to find her father, Roy, Connor and Lian all on the otherside.
"Dad!"
Ollie gave her a smile. "Hey, sweetheart. Happy Thanksgiving."
Cissie wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him into a hug. Ollie wrapped his arms awkwardly around her. Cissie tried to ignore the cool feel of the steel prosthetic arm wrapped around her left shoulder. It operated well enough, but they both knew Ollie would never draw the bow and arrow again.
"I didn't know you guys were coming," Cissie moved to hug Roy, Connor and Lian.
"Bruce wanted to surprise you," Connor hugged his sister. "Happy Thanksgiving."
"Bruce invited you?" Cissie choked a little.
"Uh, yeah," Ollie rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I hope it's not an issue."
"No," Cissie started blubbering, tears streaming down her face. "No problem at all. Ex-excuse me"
Cissie rushed back into the parlour. She made her way over to where Bruce had just stood. "You," she sobbed, "are the sweetest, most thoughtful man I think I've ever met."
Dick chose this moment to enter the parlour, hearing Cissie's words and seeing her hug Bruce tightly, sobbing into his chest. Convinced he had just walked into the twilight zone, he turned on his crutches, announcing "I'm going back to bed."
Everything was going well. Bruce and Ollie were actually being civil to one another and Roy had managed to make Dick laugh. A lot. That was quite a feat these days.
It all came to a screeching halt when the final guest arrived. All eyes froze on Jack Drake when Alfred ushered him into the parlour.
"Who invited him?" Bruce growled into Selena's ear.
"I did," she smiled. Ignoring the Bat-glare Bruce had aimed at her, she continued, "We have his only son in our care and he has no one else. If you're going to glare at someone glare at Roy for eating all the crab puffs."
Cissie was the first to actually greet Jack. "Mr. Drake," she smiled, "I'd like you to meet my family. This is my dad, Oliver Queen, my brothers, Roy Harper and Connor Hawke, and my niece, Lian. Guys, this is Tim's dad, Jack Drake."
Jack grinned. "Queen, it's been ages." He tried to hide his shock at the touch of cold metal when he shook Ollie's hand.
"Drake," Ollie plastered on a smile. "I should have known Tim was yours."
"And how did you manage to raise such a lovely young lady?" Jack smiled at Cissie.
Cissie bit her lip, hoping Ollie would overlook Jack's lack of information about her upbringing. Thankfully, he did.
"It happens," Ollie chuckled gruffly.
Martha had yet to make her appearance downstairs. With everyone gathered downstairs for the holiday festivities, she decided to take this opportunity to see Tim. She had not visited him in the six weeks since the battle. Six weeks since he had been rendered comatose. There was no predicting how she would react to seeing her best friend in this state.
She wasn't sure how long she had been staring at the door. It could have been five minutes or an hour. Finally, she opened the door. She inhaled sharply at the sight of his pale body hooked up to the tubes and machines.
She swallowed a lump in her throat, finding her voice. "You need to get a tan." She snorted. "Who am I kidding? You're always pasty."
She sat in the chair by his bed. "You're missing one hell of a meal. Alfred's Thanksgiving Feast." She scowled when he did not respond. "Tim… You know I'm not good at this. Normally I'd have you in a headlock by now. Would you please crawl out of whatever hole you're hiding in? You picked a hell of a time to go all comatose on us. Dick's injured, Cissie's all pregnant and grieving, Babs is d-" She choked back the tears that threatened to fall for the woman she had loved like a sister.
"You do not get to leave us. Not yet." She stood up. "Do you hear me Tim? You have to wake up!"
Dark blue eyes opened, unfocused, darting around the room.
"Tim?" Martha's own blue eyes grew wide. "Omigod." She pressed the call button by Tim's bed.
Within moments, Tim was fully awake. He gasped deeply, fighting the respirator. This led to hyperventilation and panic. Martha tried to restrain him as he started to rip wires out of his arm, trying to get up.
She hit the call button again and yelled into the intercom, "Dad, I need you!"
"Dad, I need you!" echoed through the Manor as everyone started migrating toward the dining room.
"Miss Martha?" Alfred wondered out loud.
"She's in Tim's room," Bruce furrowed his brow.
"What's wrong?" Cissie rushed out the door, followed by Jack and Bruce.
They raced up the stairs, the rest of the party following after.
Jack reached the room first. "What is it?" he burst through the door to find Martha struggling with his son. He swiftly moved to Tim's side.
"Tim. Tim! It's Dad. It's okay, just calm down."
"Tim?" Cissie bolted through the door. "Omigod."
When Tim's eyes fell on Cissie he stopped struggling. He was still fighting the respirator, so his breath was erratic.
Cissie moved to his side. "Help me," she commanded Martha and started to removed the medical tape holding the respirator in place.
"We should wait for the doctor," Jack insisted.
"I took a few nursing classes during one of Mom's longer remissions. I know how to do this," Cissie explained.
Martha quickly started removing medical tape as well and helped Tim to sit up.
"Okay, sweetie, I need you to take a deep breath in and then we'll take it out, okay?"
Tim nodded. He hadn't taken his eyes off her face since she entered the room.
"Okay, one, two, three," Cissie started. Tim inhaled deeply. "And one, two, three!" Cissie continued then pulled the respirator out.
Tim coughed at length. Alfred, ever prepared, rushed over with a cup of ice chips. Tim crunched on them and swallowed them greedily. Finally, he turned back to Cissie, barely rasping out an "Ahhhh"
"Shhhh, don't speak yet," she gently placed her fingers over his mouth. Tears were streaming down her face.
Tim shakily lifted his hands to her face. He gently ran his fingers across her forehead, nose, cheeks, lips… anything he could touch he touched. He didn't need to speak for Cissie to know he was asking, Are you okay?
"I'm fine," she answered. "We're fine now. Everything's okay."
Tim relaxed some. One hand wandered down to her belly.
Cissie smiled even brighter and nodded. "We're having a baby."
He kissed her deeply, paying no mind to the large audience that had gathered in his doorway.
Yay! Finally some good news for the Bat Clan! Please R&R!