Chapter 10
Megan knotted her tie carefully in front of her mirror. She had gone back to her habit of five in the morning. So she had plenty of time before she had to go to school. She wondered if Bruce was up as she slipped into her school jacket.
Megan stepped out into the dark hallway and tried to locate the kitchen. It was a little hard in the dark, but she found it. Starting tomorrow she was going to start carrying a flashlight or candles.
Flipping on the kitchen lights Megan went looking in the cabinets. Finding the oatmeal she had bought the day before she went about fixing her breakfast. The wonderful apple-cinnamon smell woke her up a little bit more.
Apparently it woke someone else up too. Megan looked up as her father came into the kitchen, looking very tired.
"Megan, what are you doing up?" Bruce asked as Megan took some milk out of the refrigerator.
"I always wake up at 5. I'm eating breakfast," Megan said. To Megan what she said wasn't rude. It was the truth.
"Why?" Bruce asked.
"Don't know. I've always done that. Mom says I should sleep in every now and then, but I just can't," Megan said ruefully. She placed the bowl and a glass of milk on the table.
"It wouldn't hurt you if you did," Bruce commented.
"Good grief, you're worse than Mom and Abby," Megan said, starting to eat her oatmeal.
"Megan, you do remember that I'm going to see your principal today, right?" Bruce asked, after a few minutes of watching Megan eat.
Megan swallowed a spoonful of oatmeal. "Yes, Dad. I remember. How could I possibly forget that?" Megan said, putting the bowl in the sink to wash and rinse. Alfred had told her he could do her dirty dishes for her, but Megan was used to cleaning up after herself.
"Megan, you aren't making this easy for me. I never thought to ask, but are you angry with me for not being there when you were younger?" Bruce asked.
Megan never really thought about that question when she thought of Bruce Wayne and how things could have been between the two of them. "I don't know. I've never really thought of that question before," Megan said, putting her bowl up in the cabinet.
"It's just a simple question. I'm glad you're here, but if you're mad at me I can take you back to your mother's if you want," Bruce suggested.
"Dad, I'm glad to be here. You don't have to do that. I'm not mad at you. I was a little at first when I heard that you had come back to Gotham, but I'm not now," Megan said, surprising Bruce by sitting on his lap and resting her head against his shoulder.
"I'm glad to hear that," Bruce said, stroking his daughter's dark hair gently.
"I think I better eat something else. If I have to deal with freeloaders today I need all the strength I can get," Megan said, taking an apple out of a bowl and refilling her glass with milk.
If she had seen Bruce's face she would have seen an amused look in his eyes. All Megan thought was that today was going to be long.