.

A/N: Gio Grayson is named after Zatanna's father. Amistad is the name of Raquel's son in the comics. Artemis has a daughter named Isabelle in the comics, so I didn't think Victoria was too much of a stretch.

The Wests

"Wally, what are you doing?" Artemis demands of her husband. It's hours later and he's been avoiding her ever since they got home from the doctor's office. He even made an extra trip through the two cities they protect in order to stay out longer. She knows her husband thinks she's angry about the turn of events that occurred earlier.

The redhead literally jumps at the sound of her voice. Artemis frowns. It wasn't like she was trying to be quiet and sneak up on him. Wally turns to face her. His arms are full of blankets and there's a pillow tucked into the mess as well. He looks strangely guilty.

Artemis continues to stare at her husband as she waits for a response. She folds her arms across her chest. She feels impatient as he sputters a bit. Finally, he blurts out, "I'm going to go sleep on the couch."

She decides they may as well have this conversation now. She casually leans against the wall in the corridor. Her arms are still crossed over her chest. "And why would you think you need to sleep on the couch?" the reporter asks the scientist.

"I thought it might be good to give you a little bit of space right now," Wally admits. "I know I'm not your favorite person at the moment. I understand that, I do. But at the same time, I don't particularly feel like being murdered in my sleep."

The archer creases her face into a frown again. "Honestly, Wally. I'm not going to kill you in your sleep. That's ridiculous, even for you. If I killed you, I'd be left with five kids to raise on my own, which I don't want. Trust me."

Artemis closes the distance between them and takes the blankets from his grasp. She stacks them neatly in the linen cabinet before she motions for Wally to follow her back to their room. "I know you think I'm mad at you, but I'm not. I swear I'm not."

Wally looks confused. "You're not? But…you were at that appointment earlier, right? You do know we're having twins?"

"Yes, Wally. I know we're having twins," she answers.

The speedster sits down on his side of the bed. He looks like he's having a hard time grasping the concept that she's not angry. "Twins is two," he says. "And you were so adamant about only wanting one. So I thought for sure you'd be mad that we're having two."

Artemis lets out a sigh as she moves to stand in front of her husband. She rests her hands on his shoulders and she feels his arms wind around her waist. "It's not your fault we're having twins," the blonde archer informs her husband. "I did a little bit of research online. The ultrasound showed two girls, right? Two babies of the same gender almost always means identical twins. Identical twins are completely random."

"So…basically the universe trolled us," Wally mumbles.

The blonde reporter chuckles. "The universe has been spending too much time with Dick," she adds. Artemis takes a step backwards, releasing herself from Wally's embrace. She moves past him to her side of the bed and stretches out. Wally mimics her and drapes his arm across her torso. She makes a contented sound and closes her eyes to rest.

Wally has other ideas. "We have a lot to talk about, Artemis. This is no time to go to sleep."

She recognizes the tone of his voice. Wally has left the zone of being overwhelmed and has gone straight to panic mode.

Artemis sucks in a deep breath before answering her husband. "What would you like to talk about, Wally?" The heroine makes no attempt to hide her annoyance.

"Let's start with the fact that we no longer have any baby stuff. I seem to remember you selling it all."

"We can get new stuff. That's the beauty of having a baby shower. You know Megan is probably beside herself that she gets to use pink decorations this time." The archer makes a face at the thought of her innocent daughters coated in the feminine color.

The Flash tries again. "Well, where are we going to put them? All the rooms we have are occupied. We'll have to put two of the boys together. That's not going to be fun. Remember why we separated Richie and Cal in the first place? We kept finding them up in the middle of the night playing superhero."

"We don't have to put two of the boys in the same room to make room for the girls. I was thinking we could put them in the attic."

He sputters indignantly. "You want to put my baby girls in that dusty attic? I don't think so, Artemis." Wally tries to look firm and confident, as if he actually gets to decide. Artemis laughs.

"They're our daughters, not just yours," she corrects the hero. "And I've wanted to renovate the attic for awhile now. We can probably find some good ideas on the internet. It's the perfect solution. The boys won't stay up late like they would if they shared a room, and when the girls are older they'll have plenty of privacy."

The redhead is not taking kindly to the way Artemis responds to his concerns so easily. Desperate, Wally plays his trump card. "What about their names?" he wants to know.

Words don't come quite as easily to the blonde woman this time. "I still want the girls to have their own names," she says after a few moments of consideration. "I don't really want an Iris or a Dinah. I think we should keep the tradition of naming kids after people we know for the boys."

Wally knows his wife is going to stand firm on this matter. He sighs quietly and then says, "Can Iris be a middle name?"

Artemis kisses his cheek. "Sure."

Wally feels appeased by this. "There are two of them, right? So let's each name one."

"Deal. But I think we should tell each other the names before they're born in case one of us really hates the name the other came up with. A power to veto, I guess."

"That…sounds reasonable." The Flash grins at her.

Artemis rolls over and closes her eyes again. "Are we done now? I really want you to shut up so I can go to sleep."

"I'm done." The archer is just falling asleep when he pipes up again. "Artemis? I love you."

He says it so sweetly and sincerely that she has to reply. "I love you too, Wally."

0o0o0o0

At first, Artemis isn't sure why everyone insists that she's brave. She's not a wimp, but she's not particularly any more courageous than any other member of the League.

But then as the various members of the League drop their children off with her before leaving for the mission, she understands. It takes someone who is either really brave or really stupid to volunteer to take care of a bunch of children with superpowers.

Of course, Artemis is not by herself. Zatanna and Kaldur have stayed behind with her to help out. It is the three heroes against nine children. To say they are outnumbered is the understatement of the century.

To be fair, three of the children are infants. Olivia Queen has slept soundly in her car seat since Ollie and Dinah left. Gio Grayson hasn't left his mother's arms once and has only made contented baby sounds. Kaldur's son, Amistad, sits quietly in the playpen Artemis has purchased for the soon-to-be baby Wests. As long as he can see Kaldur, the little boy is fine.

It is the older children who are handfuls. Between Artemis and Zatanna, they have managed to contain the chaos to just the playroom. It hasn't been an easy battle though. The poor playroom will never be the same.

At first, everyone behaves themselves. Lian draws, Richie and Cal play with their various action figures, Ella and Marie watch a movie, and CJ builds a tower with his wooden alphabet blocks. Kaldur watches the children from the couch while Zatanna rocks her son and Artemis makes dinner.

While the children busy themselves with macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, and baby carrots, Artemis leans against the counter next to the magician. She fans herself with a piece of scratch paper and looks at her friend. "Tell me something, Zatanna. Why am I always pregnant during the Missouri summer?"

Zatanna laughs and bounces Gio a bit. Then she gazes at her daughter. "Ella, honey, don't play with your food," she scolds gently. The dark haired woman turns back to the archer beside her. "Is Wally excited about the girls?" she asks. "He's wanted a daughter for a long time."

"He has," Artemis agrees with a slight smile. She looks down at her baby bump and feels the faint vibration of one of her daughters kicking. "It'll be nice to have some more estrogen around here, that's for sure."

The children finish dinner and shuffle back into the playroom. Kaldur switches places with Zatanna and helps Artemis clean up the kitchen while the magician keeps an eye on the kids. They join her when the dishes are done.

That is when things start to go south. Ella and Marie grow bored of their movie. The girls toddle over to Kaldur and begin to demand his attention. Kaldur has always fascinated the kids of the other League members. He is always full of stories about growing up in Atlantis. The girls want to hear one.

This wouldn't be a bad thing if it weren't for the fact that Marie accidentally knocks down CJ's tower of blocks. With a glare that would make his namesake proud, the youngest West son hurls a block marked with a "K" at Marie's head. She instantly bursts into tears.

"Conner James West, you say you're sorry right now," Artemis scolds as she hoists herself up from the couch. "Do you want to go to bed while all of your friends get to stay up and have fun?"

The little boy shakes his head. "But Mommy, she knocked my blocks down," CJ wails. "It's not fair."

"It was an accident," Artemis says to her son as she bends down to his level. "You know better, CJ."

The blond boy sulks and he looks exactly like Wally. The archer hides a smile. She gives him a nudge towards Marie, who still wails even as Kaldur attempts to soothe her. Artemis hears a mumbled apology. Marie stops crying, but she sniffles a bit.

Unfortunately, Marie's crying has set off the other babies. Olivia opens her bright blue eyes and sees that neither of her parents is standing near her. Her little face turns red and she starts to cry. Artemis hoists herself up again and reaches into the car seat for the sobbing infant. The archer rocks the girl and rubs circles on her back.

Amistad, who is usually a calm baby, begins to howl as well. Aquaman gets up from his spot and plucks his child from the playpen. He murmurs to the boy in Atlantean and gradually the child stops his tears.

"I know why he's crying," Zatanna says when her son pipes up as well. "He's hungry."

Artemis nods at the magician and looks at the kids. "Who wants a cookie?"

Richie is the first one into the kitchen. The other kids follow closely, as do Artemis and Kaldur. The archer pulls down the cookie jar and doles chocolate chip cookies out to each child. Kaldur pours glasses of milk.

The youngsters chatter amongst themselves as they eat their snacks. Artemis notices that Cal sneaks one of CJ's cookies and she replaces it before the youngest West boy notices. The last thing the archer wants is to have to break up a fight between her sons.

She thinks about the way CJ acted when his blocks were knocked over and realizes that the youngest child has been acting up more and more as of late. She makes a note to address this. He's much too young to be so moody.

When the cookies are gone, the archer herds the youths into the playroom once more. She puts on a new movie and everyone settles in to watch. An hour and a half later when it ends, the three adults can see the sleepiness on the little faces.

There is a round of protesting when bedtime is announced, but it is halfhearted at best. The kiddos put on their pajamas and brush their teeth. There are hugs and kisses exchanged as the little ones are tucked into bed and lights are turned off.

The three babies lay asleep in the playpen. The house is quiet without the cacophony of little voices as they play and laugh. Artemis needs a distraction. She settles in at the kitchen table with the baby name book. The reporter has had her name for the new baby picked out for weeks, but she's trying to guess what Wally may have decided on. Zatanna joins her in the guessing game. It soon evolves from serious guesses to trying to come up with the most ridiculous name combinations they can think of.

It works for awhile. When Artemis suggests "Tangerine", everyone laughs so hard that it's hard to breathe for a moment. And then the silence kicks in and the three adults wish they had heard from someone to see how the Justice League's mission is going. The Atlantean lets out a quiet sigh and gets up to make tea.

"Batman did say they were to maintain radio silence," Kaldur says as he waits for the tea to be ready.

"If something had really gone wrong, I know we would have heard something by now," Zatanna adds as she puts her hand on top of Artemis's. "I'm sure they're all fine and we'll see them soon."

She knows her friends are trying to help. She knows that and appreciates it. But her husband is currently on a spacecraft guarding a bunch of intergalactic criminals as they are transported to another prison. Artemis feels it's perfectly within reason for her to be scared and worried.

The hour grows closer to midnight. Zatanna thumbs through the name book but no one is really interested anymore. The archer wanders into the playroom and tidies up the scattered couch pillows and puts the toys back in the toy box. It's a small distraction that doesn't take nearly long enough to complete for the archer's tastes. She sinks onto the couch and remembers all the times she has watched Wally play with their children from this very spot. The idea that it may never happen again is too much for Artemis.

Zatanna comes in and puts her arms around the archer's shoulders. "He's fine," the dark haired woman murmurs. "Everyone is fine. It's normal to be worried. He's your husband and the father of your children. I'd be concerned if you weren't worried."

Artemis wipes her face with the back of her hand. "It's just hormones," she says. "You know I don't cry." The magician nods and Artemis continues. "I'm going to check on the kids."

"That's a good idea," Zatanna replies. "I'll go with you." She smiles. "Five bucks says Ella and Marie are playing instead of sleeping."

The reporter gives a shaky smile of her own in return. She climbs the stairs to the second floor and pushes open the door to Richie's room. Lian lays asleep with nearly all of her blankets kicked off. Artemis drapes the covers over the girl once more before kissing her niece's forehead.

Zatanna is indeed right. Marie and Ella are in the process of pulling down all of the books from Cal's bookshelf. "Girls, what are you doing?" the magician scolds. "Pick these up right now." She turns to Artemis. "We have to separate the girls or they'll never get to sleep."

Artemis nods. As the magician supervises the girls, she goes into CJ's room and lifts the boy from his bed. He opens his eyes and looks confused. "It's okay, CJ," she murmurs. "You're going to go sleep in my room with your brothers." The archer pads down the hallway to her room and lays CJ down beside Richie. "Goodnight, guys. Mommy loves you all so much."

The archer and magician rejoin Kaldur in the kitchen. They sit in silence for awhile. The hour creeps even closer to midnight but no one thinks of attempting to sleep. "Getting left behind sucks."

Zatanna and Kaldur bob their heads in agreement. Then, suddenly, there's a knock at the back door. Artemis goes to look and finds a battered and bruised pair of Queens standing before her. She pulls the door open immediately.

"The prisoners rioted," Ollie spits as he steps inside. "It was a total mess. We don't know if there were any casualties on our side yet. We didn't wait for clearance."

Dinah pushes past her husband and makes a beeline for the playpen where her daughter sleeps. She presses her daughter close and strokes the girl's soft golden hair. Ollie joins them and Artemis can't help but feel a twinge of jealousy that their family has been reunited and hers has not.

Gradually, the other League members return. Roy comes in after the Queens arrive. He goes upstairs to check on his daughter and sits silently when he returns.

Dick and Raquel come in together. Zatanna all but throws herself into her husband's arms. Raquel pulls Kaldur in for a smooch as well. They have a little more information to share, but there is still no word about Wally.

The Kents arrive with the news that the prisoners have been locked up again and delivered to the prison as promised. They haven't seen Wally either, and as far as they know, no one has heard from him. Artemis is pretty sure her blood runs cold. She sinks down into a kitchen chair.

She feels a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes lock on the figure of her former mentor. "If anything has happened to Wally, you can count on Dinah and me for whatever you need."

"Ollie!" Dinah exclaims. "He's not dead yet. You're making Artemis worry." Black Canary elbows her husband in the ribs.

"It's okay," the younger woman says. "I appreciate that, Ollie. I do. But even if Wally's not coming back, I've taken too much from you over the years. I couldn't accept anything else."

The clock strikes one a.m. and then two a.m. No one goes home. It would be so easy for her friends to collect their sleeping children and go home to their own beds. Instead, they pile together on couches and chairs and rally around the reporter in a show of solidarity. Under any other circumstances, Artemis would be touched. For the moment, all she can think about is wanting to see Wally's familiar mop of red hair and wanting to hear the sound of his laugh.

Finally, the front door creaks. Everyone topples into the front room to see what's going on.

Wally is there.

He ignores everyone. He sets his eyes on Artemis and travels to her and her alone. The Flash pulls his wife in for a deep kiss. They don't pull apart even after Ollie clears his throat and Dick starts wolf whistling.

When they do end the kiss, Artemis buries her face in his shoulder. Wally's arms stay looped around her waist. "Thanks for staying, everyone," he says. "You're welcome to stay here tonight because it's so late. Everyone who stays will be treated to breakfast in the morning, courtesy of the Queens. In the meantime, don't bother us."

Ollie protests Wally's claim and in the chaos of the argument that ensues, Wally leads his wife upstairs. Lightning bounds joyfully up the staircase beside her masters. "You are in so much trouble," Artemis informs him. "When these kids of yours come out, you are sitting out the next ten missions."

"I have a good explanation," Wally begins.

"Save it."

"Artemis…"

"Keep talking and it will be the next twenty-five missions."

By now, they have reached the landing. The speedster pulls her in close again. "You drive a hard bargain," he murmurs. He kisses the top of her head. "I'm sorry that I scared you." Wally releases her waist and takes her hand. He tugs her down towards their room.

"The boys are in there."

"Good," Wally says. "It's been a very long night and I just want to be with my family." He twists the knob and enters the room.

Artemis helps Wally clean away the dried blood and attempts to run her hands along his body to see if anything has been broken. He catches her by the wrists. "I promise that I didn't break anything," the redhead says.

At long last, the pair of heroes pile in their bed. The boys are taking up most of the space, but Wally shifts them over a bit so they all fit together. Artemis buries her face in his chest and closes her eyes. Wally's hold on his wife tightens. He strokes her hair. "Victoria," she mumbles.

"For the baby?" Wally asks. The archer nods against him. He smiles even though she can't see him. "That's pretty. I decided on Abigail."

"Abigail," Artemis repeats. "Perfect."

"Go to sleep, Artemis."

Everything is perfect, Wally thinks as he closes his eyes. Just perfect.