Family Ties Chapter 37 Two, One

Dick wasn't using his bike tonight. He had borrowed the Rolls with Bruce's blessing and a brief grumble about having more people off the street, in addition to Red Robin. But it was Babs' birthday, and he'd spent his free afternoon preparing for it.

He pulled up outside the Gordons' modest townhouse, relieved to see the Commissioner's sedan parked outside. It wasn't unusual for him to work long hours of overtime, but he'd tried, and obviously succeeded, in getting the night off (another headache for Bruce, though).

Dick knocked on the door, feeling like it was their first official date all over again. The Commissioner opened the door, and Dick smiled, ducking his head. "Good evening, sir," he said.

"Please, how long have you known me? It's Jim when I'm off-duty." He moved aside to let the younger man in. "Unless you bring news from your family's little night-time operation?"

"B Inc? Nah, it's all fine," Dick replied. "Tim's been griping about how impossible it is to do paperwork with broken fingers, but I think the only real news is the operation tomorrow night, and you already know about that. Is Barbara…?"

"Still getting ready," Jim confirmed. "She should be down any minute."

"Thanks," Dick replied. "So…how's work going?"

"The usual," Jim grunted. "Theft, murder, craziness in Arkham…"

"Not rumblings of another breakout?" Dick asked urgently. The city would have to come first if so; it always did.

"No, just calming everything down. Rebuild's complete; the contractors know to work fast; so now we're just moving everyone back to normal cells."

"Well, if that's all…" Relieved, Dick quashed the momentary panic that had arisen.

"Dick!"

He looked over at the stair, and felt his face light up. Babs was descending, dressed in the outfit he'd bought that afternoon and left on the doorstep for her. The dress was the same vibrant green as her eyes, reaching mid-calf. It was sleeveless, with a deep v-shaped neckline. A gauzy, pale green wrap clung to her shoulders. Silver shoes, clutch bag and bracelet completed the ensemble.

"My love, you're gorgeous!" Dick exclaimed, before remembering her father was right there, and blushing.

"That's why you like me, isn't it?" Babs laughed.

Dick's world narrowed to him and the girl he gave his heart to. "That, and your brain," he confirmed, gliding over to her. "And your courage. And your kindness. And your bravery." He gathered her hands in his, kissing them.

"And you're starting to repeat yourself," Babs replied, freeing her hands and tweaking his bowtie.

"If you two lovebirds are finished," Jim interrupted.

They both flushed. "You look very dapper, Dad," Babs said.

"Well, I try," Jim grumbled. "Were we going somewhere?"

"Oh, yeah," Dick said. "If we're ready?"

Leaving the house, he opened the passenger doors for Babs and Jim before sliding into the driver's seat.

"It's one of the older clubs," he explained, sliding the car into the traffic. "I got tickets because, well, the name 'Wayne' really does open doors. But there's a great dinner table, dance floor, string quartet. Bit old fashioned, thought you'd like it."

"Sounds delightful," Babs said.

When they arrived, Dick handed the keys off to a valet before helping Babs out of the back. Jim offered her his elbow, which she took, and Dick wrapped an arm around her waist from the other side. He gave the tickets to the man on the door, and they entered, taking seats at a small circular table they were directed to.

After the starter and main course, Dick pulled a small jewellery box from his pocket. "Babs?" he started. "The others have presents for you; probably find 'em as soon as you get home. Jason's doing something to your bike-" 'Probably legal,' a slight eye roll added "-and Tim promised a microcomputer as soon as the kinks are worked out. But, well, I got you this." He opened the box, presenting her with an eight-armed swirl. The pendant was silver covered with black enamel, circular, with radiant jewelled arms extending outward in alternating color: red, blue, yellow, and green. With a twist, Dick separated the pendant into two halves, each retaining half the curled arms. In one hand, he held the part with blue and green – in the other yellow and red. "You can wear each star separately, or put them together. What would you prefer for now?" Dick murmured, knowing the subtleties would be lost on most. Red for Robin, yellow for Batgirl, blue for Nightwing, green for Oracle. The pendants were for family, meant to be worn as a sign of commitment.

Babs touched the blue and green, taking hold of it. Dick pulled a silver chain from the box, feeding it through the pendant's loop. He reached up, and Babs leant forward so he could fasten it around her neck.

"And this for you," she said, helping him add the red and yellow to his own chain, nestling among his parents' wedding rings and the pendant representing an old Wayne family emblem - the moon in eclipse.

Later, when Babs stepped out to the ladies' room after dessert, Jim turned to Dick. "I thought for a moment there you were going to propose."

Dick tried not to grimace. "It's not like I don't intend to," he explained. "But I don't want to start planning marriage until we know we can make it work. It's only fair. I mean, look at all the chaos my family has been through of late. It wouldn't be right to just throw Babs into that."

"Waiting for the chaos to die down?" Jim asked, amused.

"Nope, we've given up on that. Waiting to work out how to cope," Dick replied. "But, when we do have it sorted, do we have your blessing?"

Jim smiled. "You two are devoted to each other. Your family already consider her a part of it. You've got a good work ethic, and enough financial resources to not need to worry about money. I'd be delighted to call you my son-in-law."

When Babs returned a moment later, Dick pulled her onto the dance floor, grinning broadly.