Together, We're Whole
Early morning turned into late morning. It was almost eleven now. Chelsea felt a pair of lips graze her earlobe playfully. Her skin flexed with bashful bumps as a smile came over her face, "Get up and get ready… I have a full day for us planned." Bruce purred in her ear. Her eyes slowly opened, but he was nowhere to be found. He had a habit of doing that. She stretched and swung her legs over the side of the bed, trying to get her boundaries. What did he have planned? She slunk to the bathroom and checked herself in the mirror. She felt that swirling feeling in her stomach, reminding her of a problem she had yet to address. She stared herself down in the mirror, coming to a desperate realization, "You have to tell him…" she thought.
She slipped on a lovely, navy dress with sleeves that went above her elbows, buttons down the front, and wore her comfortable converse shoes on her feet. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and checked herself in the mirror, mentally picturing herself with a baby belly. The very idea of it was unsettling. Was she cut out to be a mother? She certainly didn't think so. The more she thought about it, the more she grew overwhelmed. She sat down on the foot of the bed, narrowly close to the edge without noticing the miscalculation, she stared at herself in the mirror in shock.
"Miss?" Alfred snapped her out of her daze.
"Yes?" her head turned to him, "Hello Alfred."
"How're you… feeling?" he asked, tilting his head with concern.
"I'll let you know later today." she told him, standing up and passing him in the doorway.
"You're going to tell him?" he wondered, analyzing her posture.
She gave a simple nod.
"He's downstairs waiting for you. Best not to keep him waiting." he hesitantly gave her an embrace with a good luck feel. Even Alfred was unsure as to how his master would react.
She gracefully bounded down the steps, catching a glimpse of Bruce pacing nervously back and forth. She had never seen him so unnerved, but his same grumpy expression was at least correct, "Will there ever be a day where I feel good enough for the most handsome man in the universe?" she questioned aloud.
She broke his concentration as he looked up to see her coming down the stairs to him. A smile replaced his anxious look from before, but he was still stiff. Almost rigid. Chelsea's heart jumped up into her throat. She felt like she was suffocating. Did he know? "We should get going. I made brunch reservations." He offered out his arm for her to take.
Walking beside him made her feel like a peasant to a pauper. He had such nice posture. Walked with such a confident stride. His eyes were always shiny and alert. His clothes were pressed to perfection and flexed around his carved form. He was simply breath-taking, without lifting a finger. She subconsciously admired his bicep with the tips of her fingers. When she looked up at him, he was already looking at her. The rosiness in her cheeks flared up as he opened the car door for her to get in. Alfred drove them to Gotham City Park. As they got out Chelsea was surprised by this, "Such a public place? Are you sure?"
His blue eyes churned with amusement, "Ashamed to be out in public with me?"
She rolled her eyes, "Hardly," this was nice. She hadn't been able to be sarcastic and natural with Bruce for some time. She enjoyed their sparring, "didn't you make reservations?"
He guided her out to a pond with geese nearby. Beside the water was a blanket stretched out on the ground with food laid out that Alfred had prepared, "I didn't want Alfred's hard work to get cold." he winked.
The redness returned to her face. They sat down together and started eating the food prepared for them. Bruce laid on his side, watching her movements closely. Chelsea examined the water nearby, her eyes following a mother goose with a trail of three babies behind her. Running her fingers through her hair nervously, she looked back at Bruce, "It was really sweet of you to do this. I appreciate it."
"I'm glad you like it." he told her. He reached out when she went to grab a strawberry and took her hand in his.
She watched his smile return and raised an eyebrow, "Stop doing that."
"Doing what?" he asked curiously, afraid he had actually done something wrong.
"Charm overload. I think I found your super power." she jabbed, taking a drink of the sweet tea Alfred made. He always made it perfect. Just the right amount of sugar.
"Oh," he said, sitting up to look at her on a direct level, "so… how's classes?"
"I'm almost done. Two weeks." she nodded, "I hope everyone can attend my graduation."
"I'm sure they'll try." he replied, knowing exactly who everyone was to her, "Chelsea, there's something I…" he looked up at her to notice her attention elsewhere.
Chelsea watched a young girl in pigtails wandering aimlessly with a worried look on her face. She kept looking around frantically, and one thing was for sure: she was lost. Standing up Chelsea put her hand on Bruce's head, "I'm sorry. I'll be right back." she approached the girl gingerly, and bent down to be at her level, "Hey sweetie, is everything okay?"
"Huh? Uh…" The little girl looked around again, "I can't find my mommy…"
"I'm sure she can't be too far away." Chelsea assured her offering out her hand, "Would you like me to help you look for her?"
The girl accepted Chelsea's help and started to walk with her for a bit. It didn't take long for Chelsea to hear the concerned voice of a mother call out, "Abby? Abigail where did you go?" she had two ice cream cones in her hand. Walking the little girl to her mother, Chelsea watched the two of them reunite. A small smile appeared on her face, as she reached up and touched her stomach, but then let her hand fall to her side as she felt tears well up in her eyes, "Thank you so much." said the mother, giving Chelsea an appreciative look.
"Don't mention it. I'm just glad she's okay." Chelsea waved to them and started back toward Bruce. When she sat down she felt herself growing tense.
"You just made two people very happy." he told her.
She covered her mouth casually in her hand to stifle a quiver in her lip, "What were you saying before?"
He shook his head, "I was just going to say we should finish eating so we can go to the next thing I have planned."
"You didn't mess around huh?" she joked.
"I owed you a day like today." he told her.
After some time they moved on to the next point of interest. It was a large building, lit for mood with many couples whirling around together in dance, "We make a habit of dancing on dates." she commented, watching the other couples.
"It's a little old fashioned I know…" he started to say.
"No," she shook her head, "A little old fashioned is just what I need." she offered her hand out to him and pulled him out onto the dancefloor. They swayed to the music with her head against his chest.
"You're so amazing," he sighed into her ear softly, resting his head against hers, "I don't tell you enough… how much you mean to me."
Bruce was acting very romantic today. It was starting to make her wonder if he knew something. Maybe it was his way of reassuring her he wasn't going to freak out because of the baby.
"Bruce Wayne!" a man approached them with what appeared to be his wife on his arm, "It's been an age!"
Bruce hesitantly pulled away from Chelsea to greet the man, "John, it has been a while. How are the kids?"
"Great, thank you for asking. Who's this?" the man now known as John asked. He was referring to Chelsea.
"Oh she's my-" Bruce started to say.
"Colleague," Chelsea said, "my name is Chelsea. I work for Mr. Wayne." she shook the man's hand. It had become so routine now for her to not refer to herself as Bruce's girlfriend in public. Chelsea felt herself getting nauseous in that moment, "If you'll please excuse me for a minute." she said, hurrying to the bathroom. She almost didn't make it into a stall before brunch came up. Once she was able to compose herself she talked herself down and took a deep breath. Rinsing her mouth out she went back out onto the floor. Bruce stood alone against one of the tables, waiting for her. He took note of her pale complexion.
"Are you alright?" he stood up straight with concern.
"I'm fine." she waved it off like it was no big deal.
"You shouldn't have told him that. I was going to introduce you as my girlfriend." he said, crossing his arms.
She gave him a surprised look, "But Bruce we've always done it that way. I was just-" she tilted her head.
"Come with me," he took her hand in his and led her outside. After another car ride they ended up on the top of one of the tallest buildings in Gotham. By now the sun was starting to set. They had the perfect view, not obscured by any other sights. Chelsea sat down on the brick that outlined the rim of the roof. She took a deep breath and looked from the setting sun to Bruce, who was staring off into the distance with the same expression he had on his face this morning.
She sighed, "Bruce, sit down…" his eyebrow perked up as he took a seat beside her, "there's something I've been needing to tell you."
"Hold on," he put his hand over hers, "there's something I've got to say first." she bit her lower lip, anticipating his next words, "I've lived a very solitary life. I thought I was content with that… then you came along. You forced your way into my life and there hasn't been a moment since where you've left my mind." he ran his fingers through his hair.
Her eyes started to water, "Bruce, please… please let me speak."
"Just wait," he said, getting slightly agitated. He felt like she was ignoring what he was saying and expressing his feelings wasn't exactly easy for him, "Now that you're here with me… I can't picture my life again without you. You walk into a room and I'm at a loss for words. I don't believe in fate… but I started to have hope again, and that's all because of you."
She quickly wiped her tears away, "Bruce I- you have to listen to me-"
He ignored her interruptions, "Chelsea, will you marry me?" he finally forced it out of his mouth.
At the same time she blurted out, "I'm pregnant."
"What?" they both asked in unison, leaning in with confused expressions.
"Will you marry me?" he asked again, more frustrated.
"I'm pregnant!" she barked.
They both gave each other surprised expressions.
"Hellllllllo Gotham!" a roar of laughter came over all of the television screens being displayed in store windows. Instantly Chelsea and Bruce jumped to their feet at the sound of that laughter, "Lookie who decided to try to crash my party?" the camera panned over to Tim Drake masked as Robin, strapped to a chair with a gag on his mouth.
Chelsea gasped, "Tim… why did he go by himself?"
Bruce's eyebrows furrowed with irritation, "I don't know."
"Come on Bats! Let's play a game of Rat and Mouse!" Joker told his audience, "The boy blunder is just DYING for you to come." the screen went blank.
"In the background I saw a sign when it panned to Tim," Chelsea told him, "it was subtle, but we were meant to see it. He's on the south side of Gotham where those buildings were supposed to be brought down. We need to move."
"You go home and wait for me." Bruce instructed, starting for the door.
"No!" she protested, "I'm going ahead. Tim's in trouble." Before he could tell her differently she took to the sky and started heading south.
When she got there, beating Bruce by a long shot, she landed on the rooftop of the building she figured Joker had to be in. Inside Joker was pacing back and forth gleefully. When he heard something hit the roof he started laughing, "This must be how the kiddies feel on Christmas Eve when ole Sandy Claws comes to town! Come on out Batman!" He expected Batman to fall through the ceiling, but was unpleasantly surprised when Chelsea dropped down instead, "What?!" he snarled, "Not you again! Where's Bat Guano!?"
"Guess he doesn't have time to listen to your exhausted humor. I'll be taking the boy." Chelsea told him, her eyes glowing with rage. She was very protective of Tim. She loved him like a little brother. Tim cried behind the gag, trying to warn Chelsea that Harley was sneaking up behind her to bash her in the head with her hammer. Chelsea grabbed onto the handle of the hammer and forced the jester suited girl back, "Stay out of it, Quinn. I don't wanna hurt you."
Joker fired a shot from his magnum silencing the room. After a moment of silence he erupted with laughter, "Oops! This was supposed to be the toy gun! Silly me!" he shook his head, and pointed it toward Tim, "Time to kill one bird with two bullets!" spit sprang from his mouth with his next pattern of snickering.
"Drop the gun Joker!" Chelsea insisted, raising her hand, while it was glowing a radiant white light.
A stray batarang came flying out of the darkness and knocked the gun from the clown's grasp. Chelsea used her telekinetic abilities to catch the gun before it hit the ground and drew it to her grasp. She emptied out the bullets and used the heat from her light to soften the gun and make it hardly recognizable to the human eye. Batman swung in, delivering a swift kick to Joker's back. Chelsea quickly started to untie Tim and pull the gag from his mouth.
"I still have one more trick Bats…" Joker mused, pushing a button on a hidden controller. Explosives started to go off. The building was going to collapse.
"Get Robin out of here! Now!" Batman demanded.
"No, not without you!" Chelsea barked back. She picked up Tim and reached to grab Harley, "Grab him and lets go!" she was referring to Joker. Batman already had the clown in tow. As he started to run through the falling debris, he used his grappling hook to connect to a secure part of the building. Chelsea was flying up through the falling pieces. She heard something snap. Bruce's hookline had been snapped. Diving back down she grabbed onto the line and pulled him up. Once she had cleared over a couple of buildings, the weight of everyone brought her down, and she hit the ground hard. She was breathing heavily, her head was spinning. She laid on the cold ground, trying not to pass out.
Bruce called Commissioner Gordon letting him know he had a gift cleverly wrapped in titanium rope waiting to be taken back to Arkham. Chelsea flew off before the cops showed up. She didn't want to ride in the Batmobile back home and lead people to suspicions regarding her affiliation with Batman. She still beat Bruce and Tim home and found herself in the Bat Cave, waiting for them to arrive. She was tired. Her aches had returned. Alfred brought her a glass of water.
When Bruce and Tim got out of the Batmobile, Bruce removed his cowl, "Alfred… Tim… I would like a minute alone with Chelsea."
"Come along Master Timothy. I have dinner waiting." Alfred guided the boy upstairs. Tim shot Chelsea a look of confusion before they disappeared.
Chelsea swallowed and started to stand up. Bruce looked her over, "Don't get up." He came toward her, smoothing some hair back from her face. He paused for a time, "You're… pregnant?" He was still trying to digest it. He had the hardest time concentrating on The Joker knowing this information, "I mean are you sure?"
She nodded slowly, "Yes," she tried to find the words, "when Leslie was here last night we got to talking and she brought it up as a possibility. I took a pregnancy test and it was positive." she looked up at him apologetically, "Bruce, I-" she couldn't figure out what to say.
Bruce squatted down in front of her. He was still processing it. Running his fingers through his sweat soaked hair he was still in shock.
She started to cry, "I'm so sorry." she truly meant it, "I'm so sorry."
He shook his head and stood up to hold her, "You have nothing to be sorry about." he shook his head, "I'm-" he smiled as he teared up, "I'm honestly so happy. So happy that I don't know how to digest it. I've never felt this before."
"Happy?" she wondered, "Bruce… What about Batman? The Justice League? What about all of this?" she gestured to their surroundings, "I refuse to let you give up on Batman."
"So that's why you were so upset this morning." Even the world's greatest detective had a difficult time deciphering women.
"I know you had the hardest time losing your parents. Denying your own child the same right just isn't in your nature." she explained.
"You're right. It's not." he stared her deeply in the eyes, "But Batman is." He looked around at the legacy that was their surroundings, "I'm not immortal Chelsea. Eventually, no matter what, I will have to give up the cape and cowl… but that's no time soon." he took her hands in his, "But, if that means spending a little less time on the streets and a little bit more time with my family, then so be it. Let Dick, Tim, and Barbara carry a little bit more of the load." A laugh came from his nose, "I'm gonna be there with you through the whole thing. From the day they're born, to their first steps, their first day of school, and riding a bike." he reflected on it, "Their first date… college. I want to be a part of all of that. I want that so much with you."
He was so accepting. Not only that, but she had never seen Bruce more overjoyed. She smiled.
"Now, if you'll finally stop interrupting me…" he knelt down and asked, "Will you marry me?"
She started to laugh. He was so stubborn in his ways, "Yes." she nodded, embracing him tightly. He lifted her up off of the ground and squeezed her tight. It felt like she was truly realizing it for the first time, "We're going to have a baby."
He smiled, "We are."
Author's Notes: I just love these two. When I think back on when I started this fic I had no idea who she would end up with in the end… I love her with Wally too! It was so hard for me to decide! Bruce deserves this kind of happiness though, after all of the things that poor guy has been through. Anyway, I'll see you guys at the next chapter. Thank you for reading and hit me up with a review :)
