Disclaimer: The usual. Anyone you recognize is NOT mine. They belong to the peeps at DC Comics--I wish I had the talent to write for them! But I don't, ha!

A/N: Thanks for your wonderful support of the last chapter--for a minute there I was wondering how everyone would react to the fallen "St. Dick" as Nos has coined (heh, St. Dick…I'm archiving that one…it may just pop up in a chapter, if you'll allow?). I promise, I have a purpose to all this! It's just that I find it hard to write long chappies with the style of this story, so…there ya go.

Coincidentally, Calle wanted a background, so…since I actually am able to get it to FIT, without further ado…the backstory!

Chapter 6: Bittersweet Vignettes

It was well after nine when Barbara walked through the door--she was early. Roy had expected to wait at least another two hours. He had to admit she was dedicated. She always had been. Dedicated, caring, and stubborn to a fault. Funny how Natalie was turning out the exact same way, albeit through a different path. It was those qualities that attracted Dick to her in the first place, aside from her stellar looks, which Natalie also inherited.

Bracing himself for the lecture that was sure to ensue due to his presence in her house--he didn't have a key, after all--he plastered on the Harper grin that he was all too famous for.

The lights flicked on.

"Roy, what are you doing in my house?"

"Isn't it technically an apartment?"

She smiled, dumping her bag by the couch. "Good to see you, too. I'm afraid you missed Natalie. She called me at work to tell me that she'll be staying at Kyle's tonight."

"That's great! You and Sam will get some time alone, if he ever gets here."

"That would be nice, except Sam's in Chicago on business."

Roy noticed the wistful look in her eye and sighed. It had been far too long between chats. He should have known Sam would be out of town. "Well, in that case, you get a pure and unadulterated dose of me." He winked at her.

Barbara laughed. "I hardly think you could call yourself pure or unadulterated, Roy." She mused. "Still, I'm not one to refuse good company."

"I can dream." Roy sighed. "Besides, I'm not here to see Natalie. I'm here to see you."

"Well, there's one I haven't heard in awhile. Do you want something to drink?"

He contemplated how nice a good shot of vodka would be right about now, but this was the very worst time to go getting smashed, no matter how much he wanted to. "If you've got coffee, I'd be obliged."

"Coffee? You're refusing alcohol? What's going on?" Barbara's eyebrow went up and her green eyes seemed to bore into him. Damn, she was good.

"I went to see Dick today. We need to talk."

Comprehension dawned and she frowned. "In that case, I think I'll get some coffee, too. Black. Just let me change out of this." She motioned to the navy pantsuit she wore. It suited her well enough--just the right combination of command and feminine appeal. Hell, if she weren't already married and connected to his best friend through a child, he would have taken chance with her. Funny how things worked out. He was now content and honored to be Natalie's godfather and Barbara's close personal friend.

He had never understood why Dick hadn't snatched her up the second he had the chance. If anything, Babs' news that she was carrying his child should have swayed him more. For some bizarre reason, the news had had the opposite effect, and Roy intended to find out why.

Barbara emerged from the kitchen--which was coincidentally accessible from the bedroom--in a very tasteful pajama set and robe, with two mugs of black coffee in her hand. "You wanted to speak to me about Dick?" She handed one mug to him and he nodded.

"Thanks. Yeah, I went to speak to him about Natalie today. He's a pigheaded son of a bitch, you know." He took a long sip of his coffee and studied her face. He didn't want to upset her by bringing up old wounds.

"He can be, Roy, but he's not always. I can't…blame him for the way he acts. After all, he hasn't exactly been around to see Natalie grow up." She sank onto the couch and drank some of her own coffee.

"He should have been. For you, at the very least." Roy was clutching his mug rather tightly, but he couldn't help it. For God's sake, Dick had loved this woman!

"Perhaps, but it's not as if it was all his fault. It takes two to tango, as a friend once said." She sighed.

"Who?"

"You."

Roy sighed. He had wound up with Lian in much the same way Barbara had gotten stuck alone with Natalie. Of course, his evening with Cheshire was just as much his fault as hers, and he would never have allowed that woman to raise his little girl. "Babs…what happened? I mean, the night you told him?"

Babs traced the rim of her mug with a finger, smiling sadly into her reflection in the black liquid. "I was only twenty-two, Roy. I was scared witless. I wasn't married and I was pregnant, hang who the father was. I couldn't support myself and a child, not on my own, and I wasn't too keen on seeing my father's reaction. He was the Commissioner, after all. His daughter was supposed to know better. Looking back, premarital sex isn't worth the emotional scars…"

Roy leaned forward and took her hand, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "You didn't give her up, Babs. You kept her. That's what matters."

"I told him the week after I found out…don't ask me why I waited so long, I was scared." She sighed. "I sat him down privately, when we were at his apartment, after our date."

"Yeah, you'd gone to dinner. Dick said you were sick, and you left early."

Babs nodded. "We sat down on the couch, and I was so nervous, I nearly got sick all over again. He wanted to know why I'd been distant since the last time we…were together. The hormones were going crazy at that point, you know how it is, and I started to cry. He took it the wrong way, and asked if I wanted to end it. Of course I didn't want to end it! That's all I could say. He kept asking me what I wanted then, and I got very quiet as I told him I was pregnant." She sighed heavily.

Roy could see tears glistening in her eyes, and he moved next to her on the couch, giving her a firm, friendly hug. "Sam will have to deal with this, you need a hug right now."

Barbara chuckled and wiped her eyes. "The second those words left my mouth, he…changed. He didn't say anything, he just…left. Walked out, and left me there on the couch."

"That was it?" Roy asked, incredulous. Dick had returned from that date in a sour mood, but he'd never imagined Grayson would just walk out on Babs like that.

"That was it. I tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't hear any of it. He somehow got it into his head that I'd been unfaithful…but I wasn't, I never, I mean, he was the only one, then! He was the only one, until Sam came along."

"I know he was, I know." He remembered Dick's rantings and defensive speeches. They were all bullshit, but Roy figured he was just dealing with the shock. He thought he would snap out of it. He didn't, not until after Natalie was born, and even then, it had taken the physical intervention of Roy, Kyle, Garth, and Wally to convince him to get over it.

"I got over him, Roy…it wasn't easy, but I got over him. And now I have Natalie, and I love her more than anything. And Sam…Sam is so…wonderful with her! You'd hardly know he wasn't her real father…"

Roy squeezed her tightly. "Young is doing a great job. Natalie always has good things to say about him, and about the both of you. She knows you both love her."

"I wish she could understand that Dick does, too. And he does, Roy, he really does." She sat forward and rubbed her temples. "He and I have our differences, but those differences don't need to be transferred to Natalie."

"No, they don't. No, they don't…"

A/N: Okay, that should clear up at least some of the confusion concerning Dick's little attitude problem. I will try hard to have this updated by the first or second of the month, but no promises…Next chapter: For the Love of the Father