Chapter 25

Diana stood in the sprawling back yard of the Manor leaning with a forearm on her bow as she watched Tim take aim at the target that stood approximately seventy meters away between two towering trees. His blue eyes were narrowed, serious concentration etched into his young face that had unfortunately seen more of the horrors of life than any teenager ever should…or adult for that matter.

She couldn't help but smile to herself, great pride swelling inside of her at the handsome young man that Tim was becoming. She knew that she had no real reason to feel such motherly pride, but she couldn't help it.

She hadn't given birth to him or raised him, hadn't been there for his very first little league game or bandaged his skinned up knees. In fact, it wasn't until almost a year and a half ago that she had even met him or began to have a very real part in his life.

And yet, she couldn't help but feel the special bond that they shared, the easy open nature of their relationship that was more friends than mother and son. She loved the idea of being allowed to play even the smallest part in his life, being there for him the way that his own mother would've been had she lived.

She was more than honored that he had chosen to call her mom, melting her heart every single time he uttered the endearing moniker. She loved him as much as she loved Nicholas, neither of them viewed as more important to her than the other.

"Good form," she readily encouraged him. "Keep your elbow level."

Diana watched as the arrow sliced through the air, piercing the target less than an inch from the intended red circle in the center. Tim immediately frowned with the results, quickly snatching another arrow from the quiver on his back with a huff of annoyance.

She smiled despite his obvious irritation, his expression so reminiscent of her husband's. Although not Bruce's son by birth, his frustrated expression and intense drive for perfection mirrored his surrogate father's to a tee.

"That was good, Tim," Diana told him as he began to nock his next arrow.

"Thanks, but we both know it wasn't," he scowled, more than angry with himself.

"Tim, I've only been training you archery for a week now," she reminded him. "I think you've made excellent progress so far. Before you know it, you're going to be better than Green Arrow."

Lowering his bow and arrow, Tim turned to give her a look that told her he appreciated the compliment, but thought she had completely lost her mind. "Really, Mom?" he replied, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "Green Arrow?"

"Alright, his sidekick then," she chuckled affectionately. "Just keep practicing, Tim. You're come such a long way already."

"I'll just be happy if I can be as awesome as you someday," he told her as he returned to his shooting stance.

Diana swallowed back the sudden unexpected sensation of her heart filling her throat with his compliment. "I'm still not as good as some of my Amazonian sisters," she informed him. "You should see Phillipus with a bow and arrow. She's incredible."

"Will I ever be allowed to go to Themyscira to see my grandmother or be able to meet all of my aunts?" he curiously asked as he stared down the target, not even pausing to look at her for an answer.

Diana sighed, wishing she could offer him a different answer than the truthful one she was about to give him. "Not yet, but I hope someday," she admitted. "I'm working on my mother to bend the rules so you, Nicholas, Bruce and Dick too if he wants to can visit Themyscira…even Alfred. I would love to bring my family to the place where I grew up. There are so many amazing things there that I'd love to show you.

"There is this beautiful waterfall where the water is so blue and clear you can see to the bottom. The sand there is like nothing you've ever experienced before. It's almost like powdered sugar and never sticks to your skin. There's also this enormous cavern where I used to go exploring all the time that I know you'd love."

Tim turned to smile softly at her, noticing the almost dreamy expression that filled her face as she spoke about the place she had grown up. "Someday, Mom," he gently reassured her, his own face filled with adoration for the woman before him. "We'll all go on a family vacation and you can show me all the places you got into trouble as a kid."

Before Diana could respond, Tim turned his attention back to the target, letting the arrow fly and hitting it just shy of dead center. "Why does everyone think that I was such a handful when I was a child?" she asked in mock annoyance.

Tim chuckled as he drew another practice arrow from his quiver. "Because we all know how stubborn and determined you are," he said with a grin as he turned back to his target. "Bruce always says you go into a fight with your fists and your heart instead of your head."

"Oh, really?" Diana frowned with a narrowed blue gaze. "And what else does Bruce say about me?"

Tim immediately realized his mistake, frantically thinking of a way to change the subject, but decided he'd already stuck his foot in his mouth. "Actually, in his defense, Bruce was always saying that long before you two finally hooked up. He'd always come back from missions he'd been on with you grumbling under his breath about that 'damn stubborn Amazon Princess' causing him problems."

Diana attempted to stifle a giggle at Tim's attempt to imitate Bruce. He really wasn't that far off in his delivery of the Dark Knight. "To tell you the truth, he's said the same thing to my face more times than I can count."

"Actually, it was how Alfred, Dick, and I knew that he had fallen so hard for you," Tim revealed, suddenly feeling free to spill his guts about Bruce since he wasn't there at the moment. "You were all he ever talked about when he'd return from League missions or the Watchtower. If he wasn't complaining about you, he was talking about something you'd done that had somehow managed to impress him or get under his skin."

"Really?" Diana thoughtfully replied with a slight tilt of her head as she considered his words. "He never talked about the other League members?"

"No, not really," he shook his head, his forehead creasing as he thought back on it. "He cursed Clark's name under his breath here and there…oh and especially Flash, but the majority of his complaining was about you which for Bruce was a huge red flag. It meant that you had definitely captured his attention.

"You're the only one who has ever been able to get under his cowl like that. You both infuriated and fascinated him to no end. You definitely kept him on his toes…actually, you still do. You're the only one who truly can."

"Glad to know I was having some effect on him back then," she rolled her eyes. "It wasn't like he was making it easy for me to know what he was thinking or feeling in the beginning apart from the occasional grunts and snarls."

"That's Bruce for you," Tim chuckled, nocking another arrow. "Have you ever been able to split your own arrow? That would be so cool if you could do it."

"You mean like this?" Diana asked, pulling an arrow from her own quiver, nocking it and letting it fly in one swift fluid motion with a speed that could have rivaled Flash's.

Tim's jaw fell open in complete shock as Diana's arrow sliced through his arrow, splitting it in two. "That was totally awesome!" he exclaimed. "I want to learn to do that!"

"Don't worry; you will," she reassured him. "I'll teach you everything I know. Before I'm done with you, you'll be able to take on Green Arrow."

Tim quickly made his way to the target, pulling the arrows free to start all over again. "So, what are you and Bruce going to do about Darren Strong?" he asked as he returned to Diana. "Bruce said Darren wants to study your DNA or something completely crazy like that."

Diana sighed sadly with the reminder, wishing there was something she could do to help Darren and his sister Allison. "Bruce doesn't want Darren to do any testing on me," she informed him. "He's afraid Darren might have ulterior motives or might do something to hurt me or the baby."

"He does have a valid point, Mom," Tim replied, his expression growing serious with the possible threat against her. "I am surprised you're going along with it, though. You two usually end up arguing over stuff like this. Bruce gets mad, goes all silent treatment for a couple of days, and then eventually comes around to your way of thinking."

"Well, I actually agree with him this time," she admitted. "I don't want anything to endanger the baby either. That's why I didn't argue too much over it. Besides, I'm slowly learning in marriage it's best to pick your battles and this wasn't one that was worth fighting over.

"Bruce has enough stress right now with everything that's going on without having to worry about me on top of it. Hopefully, there's something else we can do to help Darren and his twin sister."

"Like what?" he asked, setting up to take another practice shot.

"I'm not sure yet," she sighed heavily. "Bruce is still reviewing all the information you two were able to gather the other night. He hasn't really wanted to say much about it yet. He wants to review it all before finally announcing his theory about what Darren's really up to."

"Well, I'm afraid I'm with Bruce on this one," Tim firmly stated. "I don't like it either. It's way too dangerous. There's no telling what lengths this Darren dude might go to get what he wants from you."

Diana bit back a grin as she watched Tim release another arrow, hitting his target. His protectiveness of her was sweet. She knew in her heart that there wasn't anything that she wouldn't do for this boy who was like her own son.

"Well, I promise I'll be careful."

"You know it's only because Bruce loves you so much," he continued. "He gets all freaked out sometimes that he's going to lose you like he did his parents. He can't help it. Losing his parents as a kid really messed with his head."

Diana smiled fondly at Tim, his insight at his age never ceasing to amaze her. "I know, but he forgets sometime that losing him would be no less painful for me."

"He never thinks of himself," he pointed out. "He's too busy making sure that everyone he cares about is safe or that no one in Gotham will ever have to go through what he did."

"He's pretty amazing," she absentmindedly replied as she thought about her husband. "So, enough about Bruce and me. Let's talk about this Stephanie you're seeing. I would love to meet her."

Diana watched as Tim's perfect stance momentarily faltered, his elbow dropping slightly only to quickly right himself. "She's just a girl I met," he nonchalantly told her as he relaxed his fingers on the string, allowing the arrow to release.

"She must be a pretty nice girl," Diana probed a little further, carefully inching closer behind him. "You've got out a few times now."

"Yah, she's cool," Tim shrugged a shoulder as he pulled the string back on another arrow.

"Keep your elbow up," she gently admonished him as she assessed his form again. "You should invite her to come to dinner some night so we can all meet her."

Her offer seemed to have their desired effect as the arrow sailed well past the target, landing in the thick trunk of a nearby tree. Tim sheepishly ducked his head, averting his eyes in embarrassment as he quickly drew another arrow from his quiver.

"Maybe," he mumbled in embarrassment.

"What?" Diana teasingly prodded him. "Don't you want Stephanie to meet your parents?"

"No, it's not that," Tim frowned with a shake of his head. "It's just…I don't know. It sounds more serious if you bring a girl over to meet your parents. I don't know if I'm ready for that yet."

Diana waited for Tim to pull the string back into position, anticipating the exact moment that he would release it. She took the feathered end of her arrow, reaching up to tickle the back of his ear at the exact moment Tim let go of his arrow.

She couldn't contain the giggle that rose up in her throat as the arrow shot somewhere off to the right, completely off target and getting lost among the trees. "That's one arrow that will never be found," she laughed.

"Mom!" Tim cried in indignation, turning an annoyed gaze on her. "That was so not fair!"

"You have to learn to be able to concentrate and perform under pressure," Diana reminded him.

"It was still mean," Tim maintained, his narrowed gaze softening with growing amusement. "You know I will get revenge."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes with a laugh. "You better go find that arrow. We don't want the landscape crew to get it stuck in the lawnmower."

Tim sighed as he turned to go retrieve the arrow, pausing to glance back at her. "I think you should have to go look for it," he grumbled. "It was your fault I missed the target."

"Hey, I told you that you were going to have to learn how to make the shot with distractions," she called after him as she began to gather up their equipment.

"Yah, but I didn't expect it to start today," he yelled back over his shoulder as he broke out into a dead run in the general direction he'd last seen the arrow fly.

XXX

Bruce sat alone at his work station in the darkness of the Batcave, an affectionate smile playing on his lips as he watched his young son sleeping in his room. He loved watching Nicholas no matter what he was doing, his little expressions and the way he tried to speak warming his heart.

He was relieved that Nicholas had gone down for his afternoon nap without putting up much of a fuss when Bruce had laid him down. He had too much going on right now to have to search the Manor for him again.

Typing a few keys, he finally shifted his attention to his wife and other son in the back yard. His eyes were instantly glued to the security camera feed that he had pulled up on one of his screens. He couldn't tear his gaze away from the sight of Diana and Tim as they worked on his archery skills.

Tim had unexpectedly brought up his sudden interest in wanting to add some more skills to his arsenal as Robin over dinner one night. Diana had eagerly volunteered to teach him archery which Tim had just as excitedly agreed to.

He could easily see the bond that Tim and Diana shared as he watched them interact together on the screen before him. He was glad that Tim had come to view Diana as his mother over time. He had never been worried about any of them accepting Diana into their family, knowing that they would come to love her as much as he did.

People naturally gravitated towards her, drawn in by the warmth and radiance that she exuded and that smile that dazzled anyone caught up by its brilliance. She was truly amazing in every way, never ceasing to charm him clear to his toes.

Bruce couldn't subdue the rumble of laughter that rose up in his throat as Diana deviously tickled the edge of Tim's ear with the feathered end of her arrow causing Tim's arrow to dramatically veer off of its intended course.

She was the true epitome of playfulness and mischief at times; no doubt blessed by the goddess Ate and he secretly love it though he pretended not to.

The whole incident a year ago when he had caught Diana racing Tim down the Manor banisters still amused him to no end. The sheepish expression that had graced her face when she'd been caught had been beyond adorable and then she'd challenged him to a race, calling him a rooster for refusing.

He had stoically corrected her, telling her it was "chicken" not "rooster" as he had walked away. It had taken every ounce of resolve he's possessed to keep from pulling her into his arms and kissing her senseless, her playfulness completely turning him on.

He watched with amusement as Tim finally took off to find the stray arrow, his son disappearing into the trees as his gaze fell on his beautiful wife. His hungry eyes followed the length of her slender neck, her fingers absentmindedly reaching up to tuck a stray raven lock behind her ear that had fallen free from her messy ponytail.

He continued to admire the sight of her in a fitted red tank top and black shorts, loving the way that it hugged her very feminine curves. He watched as she turned, a small yet noticeable bump evident where their daughter grew.

It suddenly caused his breath to catch in wonder as he marveled at the thought of what he and Diana had made together again, a giddy sense of excitement suddenly flooding his system in sweet anticipation of his daughter's arrival in a few more months.

His eyes drifted down the length of her long toned legs that seemed to go on forever, recounting how they felt when they were wrapped so firmly around his waist. He could feel his desire intensifying by the moment, longing to feel her in his arms again. Unable to help himself a moment longer, he quickly tapped his comm link hidden in his ear.

"You know you're positively killing me in that outfit you're wearing," he huskily rasped into her ear piece.

He watched the screen with a smirk on his lips as she turned to where the security camera was mounted, pointed directly at her. Her lips slowly quirked with the sound of his voice that was silk, suddenly realizing that he had been watching her.

"I never pegged you as a peeping tom."

The seductive tone of her voice did nothing to ease his mounting need and neither did her smile. "Only you, Princess."

"You better keep it that way or you'll find yourself in a body cast that not even the great Batman can escape from."

Bruce chuckled with her threat, loving their flirty banter. It was something that he had allowed himself to indulge in from the beginning. It had intrigued him, drawing him in along with her many other amazing assets.

"I wouldn't dream of it," he replied.

"So I take it you kind of like what you see?" she coyly asked, pausing to bend over, giving him a full view of her backside as she picked a couple of arrows up off the ground.

A low groan filled her ear telling her that he did indeed like what he saw. "More than you can even begin to imagine, Princess," he managed to say.

"Aren't you supposed to be working on the information that you and Tim got from Darren's company the other night?" she asked.

"I was, but I was checking the security feeds to make sure that your son was still napping like he's supposed to be instead of crawling along the roof of the Manor or inside the Batmobile," he told her.

Diana giggled as she began to put the equipment away. "My son?" she asked in mock surprise. "Don't you mean 'our son'?"

"When he misbehaves, he's your son," he informed her. "When he behaves, he's my son."

"You're incorrigible," she shook her head in amazement. "Is Nicholas still napping?"

"Still sound asleep in his crib where I left him," he informed her. "J'onn should have the modifications to Nick's tracer done sometime tomorrow. Then, we'll get to see how he reacts to not being able to escape."

"I wonder how he's going to handle that," she said. "I'll just be glad to know that he's contained and won't get hurt."

"I know," he gently told her, knowing how much Nicholas's new powers had worried her. "We'll figure something out if this doesn't work."

"I think I'm going to go for a swim," she told him. "Care to join me?"

"I'd love to, Princess; unfortunately I still have a ton of files I have to examine."

"Are you sure about that?" she sweetly asked as she slowly began to strip off her tank top revealing the blue bikini she wore underneath as well as an expanse of gorgeous skin.

It wasn't the sexy red bikini that he'd bought for her when they'd gone away for their anniversary, but it was no less enticing especially with her slow strip tease meant just for him. He could feel himself growing harder by the moment.

A sudden low growl of frustration in her ear put a smirk on her face as she removed her shorts before making her way to the swimming pool. Bruce made sure the camera followed her every move, not wanting to miss a single moment of her.

"You are such an evil tease," he hissed, his voice low and strained and thick with desire.

He zoomed in, his wife in her bikini that perfectly matched her cobalt eyes now filling the screen. His focus fell once more on the small bump that was their baby, imagining her belly expanding over the next few months as their daughter grew.

Diana had always felt so unattractive when she had been pregnant with Nicholas, but he thought she was positively radiant, so beautiful to him when she carried his child within her.

"So you're going to make me swim all alone?" she said as she dipped a toe in the water to test it.

"I have to take a rain check, Princess," he reluctantly responded with a sigh of regret. "I have to figure out what's going on with Darren."

"You haven't discovered what's wrong with him and his sister yet?" she asked as she stepped into the water.

"I have a pretty good guess, but…"

"You'd rather not say until you know for sure," she finished for him with a knowing smile on her lips as she stopped at the edge of the pool, the water lapping at her knees now.

"Care to join me in the hot tub tonight before I have to go out on patrol?" he huskily asked.

"Only if you promise to make it worth my while," she teased.

"You've got yourself a date," he grinned.

"You are planning on joining us for dinner, right?"

"I don't know," he grudgingly admitted. "I was thinking of just working through dinner, but I guess I can take a break to eat with you."

"That's a much better answer," she flashed that disarming smile at the camera that buckled his knees.

"I live to make my Princess happy," he replied as he began tapping away at the keys on his keyboard.

"I like that answer even more," she tenderly said, her fingers absentmindedly running along the top of the water as she talked to her husband. The thought of him watching her like this was quickly stirring her desire for him.

"I'm glad that…"

"CANNONBALL!"

Diana shrieked in surprise as Tim suddenly leapt into the pool, flying over her head as he pulled his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs just before he hit the water. A huge wave washed over the Amazon, completely soaking her.

"Timothy Drake Wayne!" Diana cried as she began to pull wet strands of hair from her face, the sound of Bruce's deep laughter rolling through her ear.

Tim broke the surface of the water, a huge grin plastered on his face as rivulets of water trickled down his body. "I told you I'd get revenge."

"You are in so much trouble," Diana glared at him, but the look held little anger.

"Lesson number one…never underestimate your opponent, Princess," Bruce chuckled in her ear.

"Don't you have some work to do?" she scowled as she shot a dirty look at the security camera before cutting the communication link with him.

Bruce sank back in his chair as he watched Diana dive under the water, grabbing Tim by the ankle and pulling him under. Shaking his head in amusement, he reluctantly cut the feed, the screen growing black again. He had more work to do if he wanted to join them for dinner in a couple of hours, knowing in his gut that Darren Strong was not going to take no for an answer.