Part 12

There'll be blue birds over
The white cliffs of Dover,
Tomorrow, just you wait and see.
There'll be love and laughter
And peace ever after
Tomorrow, when the world is free.
-- Nat Burton and Walter Kent, 1941

After changing out of his flight suit, Dick took Barbara to the nearby Olive Garden for dinner. Barbara noticed he looked at her a little strangely when she joined him in ordering iced tea with her dinner instead of wine, but her mentioning how hot it was outside seemed to satisfy him. When their tea arrived, she caught him smiling at her.

"What's that smirk for, Grayson?"

"Just remembering the last time I saw you order tea," he replied.

Suddenly, she remembered and started giggling. He laughed along with her. Their first morning on Mustang Island, they had ordered breakfast at the hotel, and Barbara had ordered tea. She was astonished when the waitress brought her a tall glass of iced tea. When she asked the waitress about it, the young girl blushed and confessed that she was new at her job -- she kept forgetting to ask customers if they wanted hot or iced tea, since she'd previously never known anyone who drank hot tea.

"Yeah, that was pretty funny. I guess we both learned something."

Barbara considered telling Dick her news during dinner but eventually decided she wanted someplace more private. After leaving the restaurant, he drove them back to the hotel, and the two of them went for a stroll along the marina. When they stopped to look across the water, Barbara thought the time was right.

"I'm not sure if my surprise will please you as much as yours has pleased me, but I certainly hope so."

Sitting on a bench beside her, Dick turned to her expectantly, his eyebrows creeping up his forehead.

"I'll just tell it to you straight -- I'm going to have a baby." She wished she could have managed to take a picture of Dick's face, but perhaps she could find some old footage of him being cold-cocked -- the expressions were almost identical.

"You're pregnant?!"

"Yep."

"How ... uh ... I mean, I didn't think you could! I mean, I thought you were on the pill," he stuttered.

"I was. I stopped taking them while you were gone 'cause I didn't need them, and then when you came back so suddenly, ..." She shrugged nervously.

"Wow. You and I are going to have a baby." His face lost its shocked expression as his eyes lit up, and a smile started to appear on his face. The smile became a mega-watt grin as he lifted her out of her chair and began to "dance" with her around the boardwalk. "We're going to have a baby!" he excitedly told a security guard who had walked over to see what the ruckus was about. The guard smiled at them indulgently and waved.

Dick sat back down on the bench, this time with Barbara in his lap. She leaned her head against his cheek and listened as his breathing gradually returned to normal. She was listening so hard, that she almost missed his next question.

"I guess I should've asked this first, but how do you feel about this, sweetheart?"

She sat up enough to look at him, and the tender look on his face nearly brought tears to her eyes. She glanced away. "I'll be honest, Dick -- I'm thrilled, but I'm also scared." When she looked back at him, she saw his eyebrows lift in a silent question. "I mean, the whole idea of our actually having a baby is just incredible, but then there's that thing," she said, pointing to her wheelchair. "How can I be any kind of ... of mother while I'm stuck in that contraption?" she exclaimed in disgust. "How am I supposed to look after a child like this? It'll never work, mmrff ..."

Dick's finger across her lips put a stop to her rant. He smiled at her -- but not mockingly. It was the smile that always made her feel loved and cherished.

He said softly, "I know this won't be easy for you, and you don't know how much I wish I could lighten your load. But I know you, sweetheart. You are so strong, Babs -- sometimes, I don't think you realize just how strong you are. You can do this. We can do this."

"You think so?"

"Yes, I do. I just wish ..." Dick's voice faded out for a second. He continued a little unevenly, "I just wish I could be there with you through this. Damnit!" He took a deep breath, let it out, and went on, "It just doesn't seem right that I get you pregnant, and then I have to leave you to bear all this alone!" He hugged her fiercely.

"'Bear' this alone?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood. "I thought you'd given up the puns, Robbie."

"I'm not sure I'd call it a pun." Dick managed a laugh. "But, I guess, some things just never go away."

"I just hope our child doesn't inherit your sense of humor!"

He kissed the tip of her nose. "A true genius is never appreciated in his own household." He looked into her eyes and asked in a serious tone, "Now, what did Dr. Leslie have to say about all this? Does she think you'll have any problems?"

Barbara smiled. "Leslie said everything looked fine. She wants me to see an obstetrician friend of hers just to be on the safe side, but she said I should have a fairly normal pregnancy." Her smile turned into a rueful frown as she continued, "She really doesn't want me living by myself for much longer, though."

Dick's head jerked up at this. "What's the problem?" he asked in a worried tone. "Is she expecting trouble?"

"She's just concerned that as I get ... heavier, it will take more and more effort for me to get around." Barbara smiled. "She asked me to imagine a very pregnant me transferring from the bed to the chair. I told her she'd made her point."

"So what do you want to do?"

"I'm thinking of asking Dinah if she could move in with me for a while," she said tentatively. Barbara considered the woman known as Black Canary to be one of her best friends -- certainly her best female friend, but this request definitely seemed above and beyond the call of friendship.

"I think that's a great idea!" Dick said emphatically. "I'm sure you'd be much more comfortable with her than with Alfred or your dad. I think you should also talk to Harold," he continued. "Maybe he could design something like the dune buggy for your chair."

She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "I don't like powered chairs!"

"Just for the duration, Babs," he replied soothingly and kissed her nose again. "If it could keep you from having to rely so much on someone else to get around, wouldn't that be worth it?"

She grumbled to herself, but she realized he was right. She would certainly feel less guilty about asking Dinah to stay with her if she could still maintain most of her independence.

"So, Babs -- maybe we should go back to the room now. I know it's been a long day for you." Holding her in his arms, he stood up, walked over to her wheelchair, and put her down.

She looked up at him and gave him a quelling glare. "I know what you're getting at, Former Boy Wonder. I'm not tired, and I'm not an invalid." She did, however, allow him to lead her back to the hotel. She figured they could compromise -- they would go to bed but hold off on the actual 'resting' part for a while. She ducked her head to hide her anticipatory smile.

"Speaking of overprotective fathers, ... have you told Bruce yet?" Dick asked her with a grin.

"Nope. Just you and Leslie know so far."

"Oooh! Can we tell Bruce and Alfred tonight?" he asked as they entered the hotel lobby.

"Dick ..." she groaned, not trusting the wicked-looking smile on his face.

"Hey!" he replied, trying to look innocent, "Can't a guy just want to share some great news with his dad?" At her disbelieving glare, he grinned. They were alone in the elevator, but even so, he leaned down and said softly, "You gotta admit -- it's not every day we can tell the Bat we know something he doesn't!"

~~~~~~~~~~

"Hi, Alfred! Is Bruce around, or has he already gone out?" Barbara asked. She and Dick were cuddled together on the bed holding the laptop between them so that they could both be seen.

"Hello, Miss Barbara. And Master Dick -- how wonderful to see you, sir!" Alfred exclaimed in delight. "Yes, Master Bruce is still here; he's been waiting on some test results, I believe. Just a moment."

He disappeared from the screen, but they could hear him calling to Bruce in the background. A few moments later, they saw Bruce's taciturn face appear on the monitor. A small, but real smile of pleasure brightened his face.

"Hello, Barbara. Dick! It's good to see you, chum! How are you doing?"

"Hi, Bruce!" Dick replied. "Since Babs was down here, I figured I'd take advantage of her special equipment and give you guys a call." Dick told Bruce about the joys of trying to train young men and women who already thought they knew everything, and Bruce managed not to smirk too much. Dick had done some fast thinking on the best way to break the news, so he made sure to keep the conversation steered in the direction he wanted. Finally, the moment came.

"Hey, I can tell you're laughing up there! I was a model student!"

That was too much for Bruce; he actually started laughing out loud. "Sure, you were, Dick. You just keep telling yourself that."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen, there was one other reason I called." Dick forced himself to assume a serious expression. "I just learned of a new threat that you need to be aware of, since it's headed in your direction. From what I've seen, I think it's going to require some new skills on your part, and even Alfred may need to brush up on some things, I don't know." It was hard, but Dick thought he managed to keep his excitement out of his voice and his face. From the intent look on Bruce's face, it appeared as if he succeeded.

"What is it, Dick? What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid Babs has told me that the world will soon be facing the arrival of ... our child. How are you at changing diapers?"

As he and Barbara laughed delightedly at the stunned expression on Bruce's face, Dick was glad he'd had the idea of recording the whole conversation. The picture of a completely boggled Batman was one that would stay with him for a long time, but a physical reminder would be fun, too.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dick closed the laptop and reached over Barbara to put it on the nightstand on her side of the bed. Of course, the maneuver left him lying on top of her, which was also part of his plan. As they smiled at each other, he gently brushed back a lock of hair from her face.

"In all of the excitement, I think I forgot to mention just how much I love you, Mrs. Grayson." He kissed her, slowly and thoroughly and then pressing kisses along her cheekbones and down to her neck. He could feel her hands reaching under his t-shirt to caress the long muscles of his back, and he groaned, trying to get even closer to her.

"I love you too, Mr. Grayson," she replied throatily. "But I think we're entirely too overdressed for this occasion."

He let her pull his t-shirt over his head while he concentrated on unbuttoning the sleeveless cotton top she had been wearing. Moments later, they were lying skin against skin, and Dick began exploring her body with his kisses. He was slightly disappointed (although he had known it intellectually) to find that there were no changes in Barbara's body to reflect the life growing inside of her.

"You can't tell anything yet," she said.

He smiled at her apparent mind-reading abilities. This woman knew him better than anyone else ever had. He made his way slowly back up her body until he was looking into her eyes once more.

"So how did you know? I mean, what made you suspect you were pregnant?"

"It wasn't like those women who are violently ill every morning for a month, but can't figure out why! It was just I didn't feel quite right. And then I started noticing the slight nausea in the morning and that I just seemed to be tired more than usual. That's when I realized I was ... 'late,' as they say." An embarrassed smile stole over her face. "Once the idea occurred to me, I must have argued with myself for a week before I finally bought a pregnancy test."

He smiled at her teasingly, "I have to admit, I do think it's kinda funny that this all happened because the 'all-knowing Oracle' forgot to take her pills." He broke off as she jabbed him in the side. "Hey! That's the father of your child you're poking!" In retaliation he started tickling her. Of course, since neither of them had any clothes on, the tickling soon became another form of touching, and the laughter became moans of pleasure of another sort.

Much later, Dick lay on his back while Barbara rested her head on his shoulder and lay against his side. In the quiet darkness, he finally felt able to ask the question he had had since she first told him. "Sweetheart? Are you glad or sorry that you forgot to take your pills?"

"I have to confess I'm kinda glad to have had my hand forced. Having your baby has certainly crossed my mind over the years, but now I have a hunch I would have chickened out of any sort of discussion with you."

He felt her long fingers caress his face as she continued, "I know you would never have brought it up unless I did first. You've always seemed to know just when to push me about my ... handicaps and when to back away. But I think having children would be one area that you would have had to push me towards, and I know you never would for fear of hurting me."

She drew his head around for a tender kiss. "The idea that I have a part of you growing inside me, that I can be a mother to your child, is so wonderful, I'm amazed that I don't spend all my time either laughing or crying. Thank you for such an incredible gift -- one that's even better for having arrived so unexpectedly."

He knew she felt the tears running down his cheeks as he rolled over to hold her tightly in his arms. "I'm the one who's been given the gift, Barbara," he said huskily. "Over the years we've know each other, I would often think it was impossible for me to love you more than I did, but the love kept growing. When you married me, I knew I was the luckiest guy in the world, and I was so afraid that one day you would wake up and come to your senses. Now, I know what it truly is -- I've been blessed. And our child will be a tangible and physical symbol of that blessing. Thank you, sweetheart!"

** End Part 12 **