The Bat and the Cat Come Back

Chapter 36

Selina woke up with a start and cracked an eye. She hadn't been having a pleasant dream and while she couldn't be described as happy to be awake in the middle of the night, at least she wasn't still having that dream.

She glanced at the clock. Three AM.

Sighing deeply, she swung her already-swollen feet from the bed and headed for the in-suite kitchen. After the dream she'd, she wanted a shot or a beer or something, but she was going to have to settle for water since she was four months pregnant.

Bruce hadn't even stirred when she'd left the bed. He was running himself ragged for Wayne Enterprises. When he decided to focus on something, most, if not all, of his energy was focused there.

It didn't really bother Selina, either.

She hadn't been dealing with any morning sickness or anything, but the smell of his cologne occasionally made her want to vomit. And she couldn't bear to tell him that.

Selina helped herself to a glass of orange juice and rubber her hand across her just showing baby bump while she drank from the glass.

She drank the whole thing down and sagged against the counter. The dreams weren't anything new, but it always bothered her that she woke up before anything was resolved. She needed to remember to check online if weird dreams were some kind of pregnancy symptom or if this was some kind of stress-caused thing.

"I thought I heard someone up," Bruce said as he walked barefoot into the bright kitchen lights.

"You didn't even move when I climbed out of bed, but you heard someone in the kitchen?" she replied as she rinsed her glass and set it into the sink.

Bruce moved to her on the other side of the kitchen and put one hand to her stomach and the other on her waist.

"Another nightmare?" he asked.

"It wasn't a nightmare," she said as she sagged into his shoulder. "Just a weird dream."

"What happened this time?" he asked.

"It was just nonsense. It was snippets of my childhood and my mom telling me how disappointed she was in me…"

Bruce stepped back so he could look at Selina.

"Why was she disappointed?" he asked her.

"I don't know why in the dream. I could list about a dozen things right off the top of my head from the real word that she could be disappointed in me for," Selina said.

"Your mom would be proud of you, Selina. I am."

She sighed.

"Listen, I just needed a drink. I don't want to get into some deep discussion in the middle of the night. You need to sleep anyway. Don't you have the Wayne Enterprises thing at Wayne Manor?" she said.

He ran his hand through his sleep-mussed hair. "I do. But you're more important."

"I'm going to read a book until I feel tired again. You go back to bed."

She kissed him on the cheek and slipped past him out of the kitchen.

…

The next afternoon, Bruce returned from the trip out to what used to be his home. The foster home for orphaned youth had managed to make room for more than 100 kids in need. It was possible that they could expand, as well.

Bruce had a great time out visiting with the children. He smiled proudly, knowing that he had one of his own on the way.

But when he returned to their hotel room to share the day he'd enjoyed, Selina wasn't there.

However, Alfred was.

"You let her go out alone?" Bruce said angrily.

"She's a grown woman. And when I asked if she would like me to join her, she declined," Alfred explained. "I am respecting her wishes."

Alfred had made a full recovery since his run in with the Joker, Harley Quinn and company. But despite his recovery, it didn't mean he wanted to argue with Selina Kyle. He would save the fight for her husband.

"Do you know where she went?" Bruce asked through clenched teeth.

"No, I didn't pry."

Bruce tried to control the anger at the situation. He wasn't mad at Alfred. He was pissed that Selina, in her condition was running around on her own to who knows where.

"You don't need to worry about her, Bruce…" Alfred said.

Bruce sighed. "Ever since she's been pregnant she's been different. And that does bother me," Bruce told him.

He removed his tie and unbuttoned his collar. He took a deep breath and dialed his cell phone. She did not pick up.

"Okay…I don't know if that is where she went for sure, but you might try the cemetery outside the city limits," Alfred told Bruce.

Bruce looked at Alfred in confusion and then picked up his keys as he exited the hotel suite once more.

…

Bruce Wayne drove like a bat out of hell…no pun intended. He had no idea why Selina would be out at a cemetery by herself, but Alfred was right.

Selina had no idea how long she'd been standing there, but she knew it had been a long while.

She'd been alone the entire time, despite the amount of headstones in the place. No one had come in at all. So when she heard a car approaching behind her, she immediately cleaned up the tears and make up that had rolled down her cheeks. She then turned to see who the intruder was.

Selina really wasn't surprised to find Bruce climbing out of the flashy black sports car behind her.

"Selina?" he called. "You really shouldn't go places without me or Alfred…" he trailed off as he read the headstones that Selina was standing near.

"Your parents," he said simply.

She nodded.

"Is this because of your dream?" he asked as he came to stand next to his wife.

"I thought maybe if I stood here long enough I'd find forgiveness," Selina explained. "That I would feel like my mom wouldn't hate what kind of person I've become. For what I let happen to my sister."

"I don't think your mom would hate you. You're a strong, independent woman."

"But my sister…"

"Your sister?"

"The greatest detective in the world didn't know I had a sister?" she pointed to the third headstone.

Bruce read it quickly. It didn't say Kyle.

"My little sister, Magdalena – Maggie – was adopted when my parents died. I was sent to the same orphanage, but I couldn't take it and I was too old. No one wanted a teenager. But Maggie got adopted really fast. She was smart and bright and adorable. But she fell into a bad crowd when she hit her own teen years. She got talked into taking drugs, just once, and she OD'ed. And now she's dead. She was fourteen."

"I'd been keeping an eye on her, but I'd fallen into and…I couldn't even do something simple like make sure my sister was alive," she started to cry hard.

"Hey, hey," he pulled her to him tightly. "You…none of that, none of it, was or is your fault. None, you hear me? You were just a kid yourself and…"

He stopped because he'd realized that is exactly what people had been telling him since his parents were killed. And he knew it never made him feel better.

"Okay, don't ignore that, but I know it doesn't help. People say that bullshit to placate you to shut you up. But I don't want you to shut up. You and I both know that what happened is the past. You and I…we wouldn't be here, with one another right now. But if I've learned anything from the Batman, he's helped me put things into perspective. My parents died, but they helped me become the man I am even though they didn't get to see it. And your mom, she helped make you the woman you are. You don't take any bullshit. You are self-sufficient and so incredibly loving. I wish I could thank her for you."

Selina was full-on crying now. So hard that she was sputtering to breathe. She was really, truly freaking out. She had let the dream get the best of her and it made her realize all of her fears.

"Please calm down; take a few deep breaths. I can't say that things will be okay always, but they are right now. And I'm willing to risk everything to have this family with you. It's all I want. We'll leave for Italy in the morning."

Bruce knew that all the stress that had accumulated finally had broken his wife's resolve. He felt terrible. He pulled her tightly to him and mumbled his apologies into her hair.

While he was still holding her in the cemetery, it began to rain lightly.

"Let's go back to the hotel, Selina," he said as he steered her towards his car.

"Alfred and I can come back for it later or I'll send someone to get it. It doesn't matter. Do you need anything out of it?" he asked as he opened the passenger door for her.

"No."

She didn't argue with him. She didn't tell him to stay in Gotham. Selina wanted to; she felt selfish and petty for not telling him to follow his heart and company, but she still said nothing. And she almost lost it again when Bruce apologized again.

He climbed in on the driver's side and started the car.

"Selina, I love you. I'm sorry I kept you here in Gotham. I was too…"

"Don't apologize anymore, Bruce. I can't take it and I definitely don't deserve it," she said after finding her voice. "We'll stay here. Like we talked. I'm fine," she said. The guilt that had been pressing down on her was dissipating as she spoke the words.

"You're not fine, Selina," Bruce told her. "And I love you too much to force Gotham on you any longer. We'll go and get things set so we can leave tomorrow. I can do what I need to do using video chats and other technology. Nothing's impossible. And nothing is more important than you and this baby."

Selina stayed silent for the rest of the drive home. Bruce chatted endlessly on about the visit to the Boys and Girls home at Wayne Manor. It didn't seem like he'd even noticed that she hadn't said anything.

It wasn't until they had pulled into the hotel's parking ramp that she'd said anything again.

"We can't leave tomorrow," she told him.

"And why not?"

"My doctor is here. And I have an appointment tomorrow," she answered him. "We should just stay until the baby's born," she said despite the fact that it felt like a stab wound to her heart as she said it.

"Selina, I'm not going to…"

She had opened the door and climbed out of the car. She slammed it closed behind her and headed for the elevator.

"Selina, honey," he yelled as he ran to keep up with her. "I want to do what's best for you and the baby. If you want to go back to Italy, we'll go. No ifs, ands or buts."

"Bruce," she said as she looked up into his eyes before she fainted straight into his arms.

"Selina?" he called down to the unconscious woman in his arms. "Selina?"

…

"Is she going to be okay?" Bruce asked the doctor as he left Selina's exam room.

"Mr. Wayne, perhaps you should come with me," he said.

Bruce nodded solemnly and followed the man to a private room.

"Your wife, Mr. Wayne, suffered from a fairly big panic attack. Her blood pressure spiked, then dropped and caused her to pass out. She cannot have any more major stresses or she could lose the baby and, quite frankly, she could die as well," the doctor told him.

"Is she okay now?"

"She's awake. Her vitals are returning to normal and the baby is just fine."

"That settles it, then. We are leaving to head back to Italy tomorrow."

"Oh, no. No travel. Not until the baby is born. With Mrs. Wayne's history and the uncertainty involved…no. No travel," the doctor told him. "You'll have to stay in Gotham."

Bruce must have looked dumbfounded. No one ever told him what to do.

"She's to have as little to no stress as possible, Mr. Wayne."

Bruce nodded. "Can I see her now?"

…

Author's note: What did you think?! Let me know! Thank you!