The Wayne's and their perplexing guest assembled in Tom's
study. Alfred brought coffee for the adults and hot chocolate for young Bruce.
He insisted on staying up to hear what happened.
Not a word had been spoken during their drive from the theater back to Wayne
Manor. The Wayne's did not know what to think of their friend Bundy now.
"Al," Tom began, "what is going on?"
Bruce shifted in his seat and looked at everyone staring at him. He inhaled
deeply and closed his eyes. A few seconds ticked by before he answered his
father. "First," he said, "my name is not Al Bundy." He paused, letting them
absorb this statement, then added, "And I'm not from Chicago either."
"Praytell, who are you then?", Martha demanded.
Here goes the first bomb of the evening, Bruce thought. "My name is Bruce
Alan Wayne.", he told them.
The adults looked at eachother, then back at their once trusted friend.
Martha's eyes reflected menace. "Is that supposed to be some kind of joke?"
"No.", he answered, surprised by his own calmness. "I'm your son."
Young Bruce's eyes widened as he looked at this strange man. "What?!"
"It's true.", he said. "I was born September 2, 1954--"
"1954!", Tom interrupted. "How old are you? I'm thirty-five and you're
at least my age! Are you trying to tell me you're nine years old?!"
Bruce said, "I know this seems impossible. But I was born in 1954." From his
back pocket, he pulled out his wallet. Taking his driver's license out, he
showed it to them. "I'm from the year 1993.", he stated.
They looked at his license. "The year 1993!", Tom repeated. "How stupid do
you think we are? There's no such thing as time travel."
"Look at my license!", he insisted. "It expires in 1998!"
"It's fake.", Martha declared angrily.
"It's not fake.", Bruce said, exaspoerated. "Dad, look at your watch."
"Don't call me Dad.", Tom warned.
"Just look at your watch.", he repeated.
Tom took off his watch and said, "Don't even try saying that they're
identical. My watch has an ingraving that says--"
"--Thomas Michael Wayne, 1963.", Bruce concluded reading from the watch he'd
been wearing.
Tom's eyes bugged, looking at Bruce's watch. It was identical to his own,
though the mystery man's looked somewhat older.
"Now, let me explain.", Bruce ordered. "Be thankful I faked my sprained ankle
on the sidewalk. Had I not pulled that stunt, well... you'd be dead."
Martha and Tom gaped at his statement. The younger Bruce simply stared at
him, remembering their prior conversations.
"As originally planned, you would have taken your walk.", he went on, pacing.
"You'd have walked down to the alley at Pearl and Phillips Streets." He looked
to Tom. "That's where you were planning on going, wasn't it." It was not a
question.
Tom nodded slowly.
Bruce continued, "At that corner, two young men, Jack Napier and Bob
Casperelli, would have made their presence known as they would have been
following you from Broad Avenue." He paused again, letting this sink in. "Bob
would've made a grab for the pearl's you're wearing, Mom." He pointed to her
necklace. Engrossed in his story, she did not reprimand him for calling her Mom.
Looking to Tom, he said, "Naturally, you tried to stop him, which led to a
struggle."
All eyes were on Bruce as he finished slowly, "Jack panicked because the
heist didn't go smoothly and pulled his gun out. He shot and killed you both."
He put his head down and folded his arms.
Tom and Martha said nothing, initially. Then his child counterpart said,
"That's what you'd been trying to tell me."
The adult nodded gravely.
Young Bruce said to his parents, "He tried to warn me on Wednesday. He
said--"
Tom raised his hand and told his son to be quiet. "If this is in fact
true--"
"What do you mean 'If'?!", Bruce roared. "I've lived thirty years of my life
without you! I witnessed this horrible event and had to live with the fact that
I could have done nothing for you!"
Martha responded cynically with, "You are again suggesting you're our
son?"
"I'm not suggesting anything.", Bruce insisted. "I'm stating
that I'm your son."
Tom said, "So you're once again saying you're from 1993?"
It seemed the only person he'd convinced was his younger-self. Sighing, Bruce
pulled a picture from his wallet. "Recognize it?", he asked.
"Of course.", they said in unison.
"It was our summer vacation this year.", Bruce stated. "We went to see the
Grand Canyon. We stayed at the Dry Gulch Motel. I overflowed the toilet
there!"
Young Bruce flushed, embarrassed.
"Now, note the condition of the photograph.", Bruce said, determined to prove
himself. "Since this picture is only three months old, it shouldn't be yellowed
with age, should it? This photograph is thirty years old. I believe the
exact same photo is in Bruce's room, isn't it?"
The young boy nodded in agreement. He asked quietly, "Does it say anything on
the back?"
Bruce handed it to him. He read it and confirmed his curiosity. "It says the
same thing as mine.", he told his parents. "Only it is older." He handed
the picture back to its owner.
Martha remarked, "Isn't that just an example of trick photography?"
"Trick photography... come on! Explain the writing then!", Bruce cried.
"I don't have to explain anything!", she snapped at him.
"Any other proof?", Tom asked.
"Bruce," he said to the boy, "pull up your left sleeve." He did the same. "We
have identical birthmarks on our biceps."
Both parents looked at their arms; the birthmarks were identical. However,
they still did not believe. "Yours is a tatoo.", Tom stated.
"Now why would I get a tatoo to match the birthmark of your son?", he cried,
frustrated at their narrow-mindedness.
"You tell us."
Anyone else would have given up on them. Bruce was still determined to make
them believe. "Okay," he said, "Wednesday when I saved Tom from getting hit by
the car, he didn't wake up and give me the code for the gate. In 1993, I've
lived here at Wayne Manor for 39 years! I think I would know the code."
They sighed.
Bruce rolled his eyes. What would convince them? He said, "The safe that
contains all the family valuables is in a removable panel on the main staircase.
The combination for that safe is 11-49-31."
This made them shift uncomfortably.
Seeing their attitude change, he added, "The heart-shaped ruby pendant that
you wear to fundraisers and parties is not the genuine article. The real one,
which is fifty years old, is also in that safe."
Martha's jaw dropped. He couldn't possibly know this!
"Need I say more?", he asked.
Tom looked at the man claiming to be his son, and the nine year old who was
his son. He and Martha had agreed over dinner Monday night that the man known as
Al Bundy did resemble Bruce...
"Is there any way at all you can prove your story about our being murdered?",
Tom asked.
Bruce thought about this. There really was no way to prove it to them. It
wasn't as if he carried the police report in his wallet too. "I have no concrete
proof on me. It's just my own knowledge. But, I know I'm your son, and thus, I
know everything about you."
Tom and Martha said nothing. Bruce made two final statements about his own
life. "Bruce, when you were four, you were playing out back and fell into a big
cave. It scared you half to death, and you cried and carried on until Dad came
out and found you."
The boy nodded, agreeing with the man's summary. His parents were dumbfounded
by his knowledge.
"Okay, here's my final argument. I know that no one knows this except for the
three of you, Alfred, and Dr. Rottenberg, our family doctor. He helped give
birth to me." He paused to meet Martha's eyes. "The reason why I'm an only child
is because I gave you such a hard time at birth. You were in labor for over
twenty-four hours. Even when Dr. Rottenberg gave you anesthetic, I still would
not be born."
They watched him in amazement. This was something that no one could
possibly know. It was the "skeleton in their closet."
"I put so much strain on your system," he concluded, "Dr. Rottenberg said
there was no way you could have any more children."
Thomas and Martha were stunned. He knew too much for his story
about time travel to be fake. "Well, Bruce," she said, looking at the adult
version of her son, "we've no choice but to believe you. There is just no other
way you could no all of that."
Tom smiled and said, "Thank you for saving our lives. I cannot imagine the
pain you must have suffered all those years."
Young Bruce grinned up at his adult-self and joked, "I'm gonna be one
handsome guy when I grow up!"
Everyone laughed.
Tom remarked, "I can't believe--"