A/N - jason kent had asked why I chose the name David for Bruce and Olivia's son. Here's my reason. Simply put, he's a normal boy and it's a normal, common name. I don't like it when people pick names that are totally off the wall and are rarely(if at all) heard of(no offence to anyone who does this cause when you're the writer, you can name your characters anything...but this is just my view of things). It reminds me of Anne of Green Gables when she never liked her own name cause it was too plain and boring...so she wanted to be called Cordelia. David is a normal kid, but as he has learned, his life is far from it and to emphasize that point, I wanted to keep his name normal. Do I know any David's? Yes...a few...in fact there is one in my immediate family and he is 1 year old(he turned one last month). But the David that I created is not based on anyone that I know. He's original. The same goes for Olivia. Her name is relatively common and I know two Olivia's and both of them are under 20 years old.
I hope this answers your question...:)
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"You're what?"
Olivia was beginning to sob; the stress of keeping it silent for so long and the anxiety of Bruce possibly being angry was all washing out of her. Not only were her wrists hurting and scratched up from falling hard onto the ground, she felt cramps radiating from her stomach around to her back. She had only felt that sensation once before when she was in labour with David and to feel them now, scared her to death. She sat in shock as Bruce quickly reached over her shoulder and pulled the seat belt down and locked it. Olivia took a deep breath as he turned on the ignition to the tumbler and pushed hard on the accelerator, forcing her body into the back of the seat with the pressure.
"Hold on," he stated, darkly. Perhaps he didn't even realize that he no longer had his mask on. Still, Olivia glanced over and watched his features as he set he clenched his jaw and glared down the street in front of him. She gasped with the quick turns.
"I'm so sorry, Bruce," she choked out between sobs. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
Bruce had never driven the tumbler as quickly as he had then. Her words echoed in his head. She was pregnant with his child and he didn't even know. He couldn't believe it. He quickly glanced over at her stomach and could see a small bulge under her protective hand. He wondered why he never realized it before. Sure, she wasn't a skinny model whom he once spent his time with. If she had been, he was certain that it would be evident, but with her long torso she could easily hide it for a while. What worried him most is why she never told him. How long had she known? 23 weeks is a long time to go without telling your own husband that you're expecting a child. Maybe she was concerned about how he'd react. Of course she'd be concerned. His mind went back to the past few weeks and it dawned on him why she wouldn't say anything. He was upset, but his fear for his unborn child and wife outweighed it all.
"I know that you're upset," she stammered, recognizing the familiar expression on his face. "But could you please slow down. The bumps and sharp turns are making this unbearable."
He looked back over at her and noticed how she was holding onto the metal rail along the side of the tumbler; her knuckles nearly white. He relaxed his hand on the accelerator and glanced over at her, his features softening in hopes of calming her down.
"How are you doing?"
"I'm fine one moment and then the next I'm having horrible cramps. It never seems to ease up on my back though," she said quickly, one hand on her stomach and the other holding onto the side of the tumbler for dear life as Bruce continued to make his sharp turns in and around traffic.
"That sounds like labour."
She let out a breath, looked over at him and shook her head. "I seriously hope not. I'm not due until mid-January. Are we there yet!?"
"Almost," he replied.
Bruce couldn't help but smile, even in the current situation. She was pregnant, even when the doctors told them it would be impossible. He looked over at her when she heard her begin to take deep breaths again.
"We're almost there," he assured her when he saw the sign for Dent Memorial Hospital. "I'm going to have to drop you off and I'll come back as quickly as I can."
Olivia had her eyes closed, but nodded, acknowledging that she did hear him. She felt the tumbler come to an abrupt stop, the harness of the seat firmly holding her in place. She heard the sound of Bruce pulling the cowl back over his head.
"Here we go," he said before opening the rooftop. He quickly jumped out and ran to the other side and picked up Olivia out of the seat. She hung onto him, not wanting to let go.
She heard the doors of the ER swish open and Batman's voice as he quickly called a nurse over before laying her on a gurney near the door.
"What's wrong?"
Olivia opened her eyes, meeting Batman's for a moment. He placed a hand on her forehead for a brief second.
"Preterm labour," Batman said darkly, and like that, he disappeared from her view. She closed her eyes as another cramp began.
"Okay, get her up to the OB floor. Page Dr. Snider," the nurse said to someone beside her. Olivia could feel the gurney start to move but didn't want to open her eyes at the bright lights that they passed under. "How far along are you, dear?"
Olivia took a deep breath.
"Almost 23 weeks."
"Okay, get neonatal on standby for a possible early delivery as well," the nurse said to someone across the gurney. Olivia felt a warm hand touch hers. "What's your name, sweetie?"
"Oli..Olivia Wayne."
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Batcave
11:24pm
Alfred was worried. He stood waiting in the cave for Bruce to return home. He watched as the Tumbler raced into the cave. It had barely stopped when Batman jumped out from the drivers seat and jogged up the stone pathway towards him, already taking the armour off of himself as he walked.
"The hospital called about twenty minutes ago," Alfred said quickly, passing Bruce a pair of pants and a casual t-shirt as he walked past.
"Did they say how she was?"
Alfred shook his head, following swiftly behind Bruce, picking up the armour as he went. "No, sir. Only that you were needed there right away."
"Damn it, Alfred," Bruce exclaimed. "For all I know, my child could be dying and I only found out that my wife was pregnant less than a half hour before." He looked over at Alfred as the man picked up the last pieces of Kevlar that Bruce had dropped on the floor. Bruce paused for a moment and watched Alfred, noticing that the man didn't seem at all surprised with the news of Olivia's pregnancy. "Did you know?"
Alfred stood up and nodded. "Mrs. Wayne requested that I wouldn't mention it to you and that she was planning on telling you. In fact, the day she discovered she was pregnant was the same day that she walked in on you and Dr. Isley. She was on her way to tell you."
Bruce paused, his face long and downcast.
"She went into preterm labour, Alfred," he said, pulling on his pants. "If I even knew that she was pregnant I wouldn't have left her alone on that street. If anything happens to the baby..."
"Sir, this is not your fault," Alfred interrupted. "I don't even want to hear you talk about it being your fault or feeling guilty in anyway. Both Olivia and the baby are in the best care that they could be in right now and I suggest that you hurry up so you can join your wife."
Bruce nodded, knowing that once again, the old man was right.
"Look after David for me?"
"Of course sir."
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11:53pm
Bruce walked anxiously through the halls of the OB floor, hoping to find Olivia somewhere. The front desk told him to go right up as she was tucked away in an area of the OB wing of the hospital where she'd be safe from reporters, gawkers and the general public. He passed extremely pregnant women walking the halls, pulling IV units behind them as they shuffled along. He glanced down as a small bassinet was pushed down the hallway with a newborn tightly wrapped, but still hadn't found Olivia. He felt oddly out of place. Suddenly, a nurse came up to him.
"Mr. Wayne!" she exclaimed. "The front desk told me that you were on your way up. I must have missed you when I went to discharge one of the patients. Follow me, and I'll bring you to your wife."
The nurse led him further down the hall and through another set of double doors that she accessed with her hospital security card. On the other side of the doors, he passed a nurses station to his left where two ladies sat and a man stood, looking at files. Bruce followed the nurse around a corner. Finally, she stopped at a room where the door was partially open.
Bruce smiled to the nurse, thanking her as he slowly walked into the room. The first thing he noticed was the sound. The best way that he could describe it was that it sounded like a horse galloping through water and every so often it would be louder. In the dimmed room, Bruce saw Olivia reclined in a bed, her head turned away from him as she looked at a monitor screen. Numerous wires were attached to her and a IV line was taped to her wrist. A doctor sat beside her on a chair, operating a computer and an ultrasound machine. The doctor looked back at Olivia, moving the probe slowly over her stomach. He glanced up, seeing Bruce walk in the door and he paused. The doctor looked down at Olivia who then turned towards Bruce as he approached her. She smiled.
"Olivia, thank God you're all right," Bruce said as he leaned over and lightly kiss her lips. Olivia reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling his hair between her fingers once again. She let him go and turned to the doctor beside her.
"Bruce, this is Dr. Sean Snider," she said, as the doctor stood up and offered Bruce his hand. Bruce reached out and shook it.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Wayne," Dr. Snider said, before he sat back down.
"Call me, Bruce and thank you for taking care of her," Bruce said, smiling down at Olivia as he pulled a chair from beside the wall up to the side of the bed.
"I'm just doing my job. I was told that Batman brought your wife in earlier this evening," Sean said, smiling. "And it's a good thing he did too. She was registering contractions, although they were fairly mild, about every ten minutes or so. We were able to lessen them using an IV of magnesium sulfate and they have pretty much disappeared in the past half hour. There has been no bleeding, no membrane rupture and less than one centimeter of dilation. I was just doing an ultrasound to check on your baby to see how its handled the contractions."
The doctor quickly gave a tour of what he was seeing. As Bruce watched the screen, trying to figure out what he was seeing, he felt Olivia's hand suddenly take his. Dr. Snider paused the screen on a side profile of the baby. Bruce couldn't believe what he was seeing. He was in awe at what he was seeing. He was actually watching his child moving.
"That's amazing," Bruce said. "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"
Dr. Snider moved the probe and watched the screen.
"The last I saw, the legs were crossed, but the last side profile they weren't," he said. He smiled and shook his head before pointing up at the screen. "The cord is now between its legs. One hand is above the head and the other is touching the cord. It seems that your baby is being modest."
Olivia chuckled.
"Everything looks good," Dr. Snider said. "There is no evidence of trauma that I can see, but I'd like to keep you overnight to keep an eye on those contractions to ensure that they don't start up again. I'm not sure if you remember but we quickly gave you a shot of steroids when you came in to help with lung maturity in the fetus.
"When can I go home?"
"Tomorrow, if everything goes well tonight," he replied. "But I'll want you to take it easy. I'm not talking bed rest, but modify your routine. No heavy lifting, no added stress, no overdoing it and lots of rest. I don't want to see you again here until mid-December, at the earliest."
Dr. Snider switched off the ultrasound machine and pushed it against the wall as Olivia pulled the top of her hospital gown down over her exposed stomach and the straps of the contraction and heartbeat monitor.
"I suggest you get some rest," he said, standing up. "Keep the contraction monitor on and I'll check on you in the morning."
Olivia smiled and Bruce thanked him as he left the room.
Bruce watched Olivia as she tucked the IV tube under her arm. He reached forward and brushed his calloused hand over her cheek. She looked up, meeting his eyes.
"You're feeling better?"
"Much," she replied. She waited a few seconds before speaking again. "I'm so sorry, Bruce. I never meant for you to find out this way."
A smile came to his face.
"Don't worry about it anymore," Bruce said, reaching out to take her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. "All that matters to me right now is that you rest. You have some pretty precious cargo inside you that as much as I'd like to meet him or her, I'd rather wait for as long as possible."
Olivia smiled, letting out a shaky sigh as the tears came to her eyes.
"You're happy?"
Bruce grinned. "I am."
Her smile disappeared as she looked down at her left hand, seeing the emptiness on it.
"How stupid was I to pull the car over just so I could get a chance to yell at you for following me? What if you hadn't shown up? What if I was still out there on that pavement right now?"
Bruce quickly took her hand and forced her to look at him as he smiled.
"You're fine," he said, smiling widely. "You're fine and the baby is fine. Don't worry anymore."
Bruce saw her looking down at their hands, running her thumb along his wedding band; a habit that she would often do when he held her hand. He sat back and reached into his pant pocket with his right hand.
"I just about forgot," he said, pulling out two diamond rings. "I managed to get these back for you. Mind you, the guy wasn't too pleased about it."
Olivia chuckled as she wiped the tears from her cheeks as Bruce took her hand and gently slipped them back on.
"I love you," he said softly, kissing her hand.
Olivia sat up from her reclined position, ignoring the beeping of the contraction monitor that was strapped around herself and reached forward to take Bruce's head between her hands. She gently felt his hair.
"I love you," she said, as the tears came back to her eyes. Before he had a chance to say anything she pulled his head forward and kissed his mouth. Bruce felt awkward and conscious of the numerous wires and IV's coming from Olivia but kissed her nonetheless. Suddenly he pulled back, hearing the beeping sound coming from the monitor behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and smiled.
"Relax, Bruce," she said, chuckling slightly. "It's just telling me to lie back down cause the contraction and heartbeat monitors have slipped off my stomach." She lifted her shirt slightly and pulled up the large elastic around her stomach and the beeping stopped. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. While Olivia sat, it was obvious that she was pregnant.
"I can't believe I never noticed," he said, softly.
"You have been quite busy lately," she told him, as she slowly laid down to keep the large strap in place. "And if it's any consolation, I've only really become noticeable in the past week and half."
He reached out and gently touched her stomach.
"The media is going to find out," he warned.
She shrugged. "Who cares! I called my parents shortly after I was admitted. I thought they'd like to know that I was in preterm labour with their grandchild before the word got out that I was even pregnant."
Bruce grinned and pushed himself up off the bed and walked over to the window. He pushed the curtains apart slightly, looking out into the night.
"You don't have to stay here and be my babysitter," she said.
He looked back at her. "I'm not going anywhere tonight. You get some sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."
"Are you sure?"
Bruce walked back over to her and leaned over, placing a kiss on his forehead.
"I'm use to being up in the night," he replied, reaching behind the bed to turn off the light. Except for the dim light coming from under the hallway door and the lights of Gotham outside her window, the room was dark. Olivia could barely see Bruce, but knew that he was there in the shadows. "Good night, Olivia."
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Sunday, September 22nd
Wayne Manor
4:35pm
"Good lord, Bruce! I'm fine!"
He shook his head, walking out of the study and into the hall. After a morning of exercise, Bruce had changed down in the cave into his dress pants and shirt, prepared to go to the charity fashion show, alone. He did up the buttons as he walked. Olivia seemed to be a stark contrast to what he was wearing with her jogging pants and long sleeve shirt, accentuating her small pregnant stomach that seemed to become more noticeable each day. She walked right beside him, keeping up with his fast pace.
"I don't think that's a good idea, 'Liv."
"I've been stuck in this house since I came home from the hospital!" she exclaimed, walking next to him. "I've taken it easy; Alfred can attest to that." Olivia looked over at Alfred as he walked down the stairs. He stopped when he met the couple at the bottom.
"Attest to what, madam?"
Olivia smiled before turning back to Bruce. "I've been taking it easy all week and there have been no signs of preterm labour. I'm fine."
Bruce looked over at Alfred who nodded. He was about to speak when Olivia continued.
"Alfred can drop David off at the Craig's while we go to the fashion show and we can pick him up later on tonight on our way home," she suggested.
Bruce glanced back at Alfred.
"She seems to have this all planned."
Alfred smiled at Olivia. "Indeed she has."
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DeGio Estate Winery
6:19pm
They couldn't have asked for a better day. The cool late September sunset and light easterly winds were perfect for the event. The charity fashion show was held on the grounds of the most prestigious winery just south of the city. In fact, it was one of the largest vineyards on the east coast and also happened to be owned by the two-time elected mayor of Gotham City, Mayor Anthony Garcia. It had been in his family for three generations and prided itself with using authentic Italian wine making techniques. Its location proved to be beneficial as well. The sandy ground by the ocean was perfect for the acres of vineyard on the property. Rows upon rows of these vineyards welcomed the guests as they travelled up the long driveway towards the large building which hosted the charity fashion show.
Bruce pulled the Jaguar up to the front of the building where a half dozen valets were walking back and forth to the cars. Not surprisingly, a large crowd of reporters and photographers lined the drive by the front door. Their arrival sparked a flurry of flashing lights. Bruce stopped the car and looked over at Olivia beside him. He watched as she pulled the visor mirror down to check her appearance one last time. She knew that their cameras would be focused on her and the last thing she wanted to hear for the next week was how horrible she looked.
She felt Bruce take her hand and saw him smile one last time before he opened the door. A wave of voices flooded the inside of the luxury car as Bruce stepped out. He walked around the car, passing the keys to the valet as he went. Olivia pushed open her door as Bruce met her on her side and helped her up from the low-profile car. The lights from the cameras seemed to blind her and barely gave her a moment to blink. She knew that coming out in public with the media now knowing of her pregnancy that they would be worse than usual, but she didn't expect this.
Bruce walked past them all with Olivia at his side. They walked into the large estate and passed
"Bruce, Olivia," Mayor Garcia said, holding his hand out. "Glad you two could make it. I heard that you're expecting. That's wonderful. Congratulations."
"We wouldn't miss this," Bruce said, shaking the man's hand. "My wife has been looking forward to getting out to your event for a few months now."
Anthony turned to Olivia and smiled.
"Well, enjoy yourselves," he said, patting Bruce on the back before he left to talk with more guests. Olivia leaned over towards Bruce.
"He's really pinning for a third run in office, isn't he?"
Bruce smiled, glancing back at the Mayor as he laughed at a joke that one of his trust-fund guests had made.
"I'm afraid that Ben Fiorella doesn't have much of a chance this year," Bruce said, as a waiter carrying a tray of wine glasses stopped in front of them. Bruce held up his hand, refusing the offer before the waiter continued to make his rounds. Bruce watched as people glanced over at them, mainly at Olivia. He looked at her, happy to see that she wasn't aware of the idle chitchat happening around her.
"Let's find out seats," Bruce suggested, taking Olivia by the hand.
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She could hear them screaming. It was almost too much. Dr. Isley closed her eyes, and fought back her sadness with anger. How could anyone do this to something so helpless? She eyed the vineyard with sympathy as she looked out the window from the large estate. The blond and brunette's around her seemed to ignore her presence until one tapped her on the shoulder.
"It's Ivy, right?"
Pamela turned around hearing the name that she had first introduced herself as when she arrived. She smiled at the young blond.
"We're starting in ten."
Pamela nodded, as the woman walked away. She turned back towards the window.
"Your time of reckoning, my dears, has begun," she whispered.
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Bruce grinned as Olivia squirmed in her chair. He couldn't blame her. The seats were uncomfortable and he could just imagine how Olivia felt with the poor back support. Graciously, he put his hand across the back of the seat. Olivia looked over at him and smiled, leaning back against his arm which made her feel much better. As the lights dimmed, Olivia and Bruce turned their attention to the fashion show that was starting. Thousands of dollars were going up for every outfit that one of the models wore, all going towards charity. Bruce was bored and in Olivia's mind, the clothes all looked hideous. There was no possible way that she would wear any of the clothes she saw, whether she was pregnant or not. Bruce had already decided prior to the show starting that he would make a contribution without purchasing any of the clothing they saw.
Olivia leaned over towards Bruce.
"You'd think that the designers would have a little more insight in what people want to wear these days," Olivia said, chuckling into his ear. She looked up at him, seeing that his eyes were glued to the catwalk.
"Uh oh," was his only response.
She followed his gaze and found them set on a beautiful auburn haired woman with a smile that Olivia would never forget.
"Oh my god."
