Chapter Twelve: Of Cousins and Babies
"And… this is my apartment!" Ellie announced, leading her cousin in. "Feel free to look around and stuff."
"Wow!" the seventeen-year-old gasped. "It's huge! And it's so beautiful!" She turned to Ellie. "This is so awesome. I can't believe I get to spend two weeks here!"
"Oh, you think this is good now…" The older cousin shook her head. "You just wait."
"What?" Hannah asked, eyebrows furrowing. The doorbell sounded quietly.
"Gee, I wonder who that could be," Ellie wondered aloud, obviously faking unawareness. She scurried to the foyer (as only Ellie could do) and stood on tiptoe to gaze into the peephole. "Looks like your first surprise is here!" she announced, opening the door and letting Bruce in.
"Hi." Bruce gave her a big hug and turned to Hannah. "And this must be the famous cousin." He smiled and walked forward to shake the teenager's hand. "It's nice to meet you."
Hannah, who had silently stared at Bruce in amazement until then, found the courage to stutter. "You're… you're not wearing a suit," she stated lamely, her eyes wide.
He chuckled quietly. "No… I don't usually wear suits outside the office."
"That's right," Ellie jumped in, nodding. "Sometimes he walks around in the nude." The two adults shared a laugh, but Hannah's eyes only grew wider. "Okay… I can see my humor's lost on you."
"I was told there would be food," Bruce stated, quickly trying to change the subject. "I've been saving up all day for it."
"Good. I hope you're really hungry, because I have lots of great…" Ellie threw the refrigerator door open and pulled out a half-filled Chinese food carton, "… leftovers." She was met with two pairs of displeased eyes; in fact, Bruce and Hannah shared a sideways glance. "Okay, so maybe I started marinating some steaks and made a sweet potato pie."
-x-x-
"I'm surprised you can make potato pie like this," Bruce stated with a fair amount of amazement as he wiped his mouth. "I thought you were from New England originally."
The brunette's wine glass stopped halfway to her mouth. "Are you discriminating against my cooking abilities based on the fact that I'm from New England?" she asked, setting her glass down angrily.
"No, that's not what I meant…"
Her hazel eyes narrowed angrily. "Because that's racist."
"No, it's not. Racist means you discriminate against someone based on their race."
Ellie rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "Well… what's it called when you discriminate based on area of origin?"
"Does it matter?" he asked. "I mean that it's really good."
"Oh." She bit her lip and shrugged sheepishly, turning pink (or pinker). "Thanks." She winked at Hannah, then turned to smile at Bruce. "Want to tell her now?"
"Tell me what?" Hannah squeaked, glancing between the two, unable to keep her gaze on either one for more than a few seconds. "Oh my God! You're pregnant, aren't you?" Her eyes grew wide. "And it's his baby!"
Two forks clattered to their respective plates. Ellie hid her face in her hands and Bruce coughed, while simultaneously attempting to stifle a laugh. The teenager felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as she watched Bruce and Ellie from down the table.
"Are you okay?" Ellie asked her employer feebly from behind her hands.
"I'll be okay," he stated, finally managing to get his piece of steak down.
"I'm not pregnant, Hannah," the elder cousin explained, turning accusingly to Hannah. "With anyone's baby."
"Oh." Hannah began turning a deep beet-like purple-ish red. "I… I'm sorry. I don't know why I jumped to that conclusion."
"It's okay." Bruce smiled at her, and she knew her apology was accepted. By him, at least. "Most of the newspapers think the same thing anyway. And most people believe what they read in newspapers."
"Just ask her, okay?" Ellie urged, still refusing to look at her cousin.
Bruce took a deep breath. "Hannah, I was wondering if you would like to accompany Ellie and me to a charity ball at the end of the week."
"Like… like with ball gowns, and everything?"
"Yes."
Hannah sucked in sharply and frowned. "Wow… I feel really stupid now."
"Yes, you should," Ellie snapped. Collecting the plates, she marched into the kitchen and dumped them in the sink. She stood there for a moment, clutching the edge. Bruce and Hannah exchanged a glance. "I need to go check on my flowers." She marched past the table and made her way towards the back of the apartment, to the spiral staircase that led to the roof.
"I… I didn't mean to hurt her feelings," Hannah stated, her brown eyes beginning to fill with tears. "I was sort of kidding."
"I know. Let me go talk to her."
-x-x-
"Ellie?" He found the brunette stretched across a bench under the canopy. "She didn't mean it like that."
"I know…" She pulled up her legs so he could sit next to her. "But it still makes me think…"
"About what?"
"About the fact that I'll be twenty-five in a few months and I'm nowhere close to being married."
"Ellie, it's the middle of spring and you're birthday's in December."
"It seems much closer than it really is," she countered, blushing slightly. "When I was a teenager I was always worried that I wouldn't get married, or even date, or anything…"
"You have Greg."
"Yeah…" She bit her lip, bringing herself up to a sitting position; it seemed like she wanted to say more, but couldn't bring herself to. A distant frown slowly spread over her face.
"What?" Bruce asked, cocking his eyebrows.
"Nothing." She pulled on a bright smile, shaking her head. "Nothing at all. I'm just having a mini panic attack. Biological clock stuff, and all." The brunette shrugged. "Talking about it helps, though. Thanks." As she reached down to touch her toes, she threw a genuine smile in his direction.
"Anything else you want to talk about?"
"Bruce…" Ellie raised her eyebrows at him incredulously. "This is me you're talking to. Of course I want to talk about other things. I want to talk about everything!" She laughed quietly at herself. "But we should go back in before Hannah starts to freak out and finds my TiVo."
"I'd be worried about her finding more than your TiVo…" Bruce ventured.
"Yeah. Too bad I forgot to hide that porn I have on my bedside table." She ran a hand through her hair, getting to her feet and starting for the door to the apartment.
"I've been meaning to talk to you about that," he stated severely, catching up with her. It was a large rooftop, and they had been on the side opposite the door.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I think I left my Playboy on your desk yesterday."
They stopped at the door, and she stared up at him. "I like you better this way… when people aren't around. And you just act like yourself."
"I act like myself all the time, Ellie."
"No, you don't. Most of the time, you act like Bruce Wayne, president of Wayne Enterprises."
"I am Bruce Wayne, president of Wayne Enterprises."
"No, you're not. Not really. You're just Bruce to me. Bruce Wayne, but without all the pretension."
"So using my last name gives me an air of pretension?" he asked, holding the door open for her.
"Oh, yeah." Descending the spiral staircase gracefully, she nodded. "I mean, it's the same for me. Ellie Harold? Makes me sound like a rich British person who goes to polo matches every Saturday." She paused. "Although I don't think I'd mind that life much."
The minute they appeared in the living room, Hannah latched on to her. "Ellie, I'm really, really, really sorry I said that! I know you'd never have sex with Bruce…"
Well, that's highly debatable, she thought, and immediately regretted it.
"… but sometimes I just say what I'm thinking without really thinking about it!" Hannah sighed exasperatedly. "I mean… that's not what I mean! What I mean is…"
"I know what you mean." Ellie squeezed her cousin tightly. "I forgive you."
"Good! 'Cause I was afraid you wouldn't let me go to the ball, or something."
"Glad so see you really mean it, Hannah," Ellie grumbled darkly.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ha ha! Rooftop scene! Every Christian Bale story is incomplete without one. I mean, Newsies… it sort of sets a precedent. It's kind of funny, because Ellie's supposed to look a lot like Sarah (apart from the eyes), who is played by the actress Elle something-or-other… hm. Coincidence? Yeah.
My dad's kind of freaking me out, because he's playing Jimi Hendrix in my room on my guitar... weird.
Anyway, sorry about the wait. I've recently become a James Roday obsessee... that may explain some of the delay.
