Note: I do not own the Batman, Batman comics, or any of the characters within them.

Chapter 8

"Dad, are you okay? You seem kinda sad." Dick asked me when I returned home. He had recently started calling me "Dad". It was wonderful. I was a dad! But what I was thinking about then wasn't as wonderful.

"It's nothing, Dick. Don't worry about it. I'm fine. I just need a little time alone." I said, the despair I felt making me realize I was lying.

I headed up to my room to let the tears I was holding in out. After about an hour or two in there, I decided I needed to make sure Dick was in bed.

"Dick? Are you still awake?" I said, knocking quietly on his door.

"Nobody ever said it was bedtime. When I'm not told I have to go to sleep, I don't. Kids don't like sleep. But are you doing okay? What's even bothering you. Maybe talking about it would help you-"

"You're too young to understand. And really, I already told you, I'm fine. I don't need to talk about it or anything. I don't want you worrying about me, okay, honey? If you do, you'd be worrying about nothing. I'm over it now. So just don't worry about it, okay?" I reassured him, as heartbroken as I was starting to realize I still felt, despite the time I spent trying to get over it.

"Okay, but just know if you're ever not fine, I'm here." A smile appeared on his face as he said it.

"I'm here for you, too. But there's more to a parent's job than just being there for you. Another part is setting boundaries. Just like how I'm telling you right now to go to bed." His smile disappeared at the thought of bedtime.

I gave him a quick hug goodnight before I went back to my room to try to sleep as well. But throughout the entire night, I was either awake and wanting to cry, or asleep and having nightmares about Talia. But it felt like at least one nightmare was already true.

Talia was gone.

Please R & R!