A/N: as you have noticed I have been messing with the time line and canon in this story and it becomes even more apparent in this chapter. However, DC switches these things up all the time, too, so I don't feel too guilty. And GraysonGirl? You'll get the trope you demanded now… ?
Part 2
They came out of the room about half an hour later, ruffled but smiling.
"Miss Rose? Miss Rose?" they heard Albert call from downstairs.
"Allert!" The baby called back, but from an unexpected direction.
"Shit, she's on the stairs!" Robin called out and just then spotted the baby teetering on the edge of a stair half way up.
Slade ran by him at a speed not even Robin had ever seen him move in, and just as the child started to fall, he snatched her up.
Rose, not aware of any sort of danger, shrieked in delight, while the rest of them drew some very deep breaths.
"I'm so sorry! I just looked away for a moment, I had to go get napkins to clean her hands!" Albert said frantically.
"No harm done," Slade grunted. "Find something to block the stairs with."
"At once, sir!" the young man said.
"No, wait a moment, I want everyone in the sitting room first. We have some news," Robin smiled, taking Slade's free arm.
"Dada! Dada up! Again-again! Up!"
"I think she wants you to throw her," Robin chuckled. "Not that high!" he then called out.
Rose loved it, though, and asked for more.
"What's the big news?" Will asked once they all had gathered. "Apart from you obviously having decided to keep the little princess?"
Said princess was still sitting on Slade's arm, currently having her duckie kiss his cheek while babbling away happily.
"Should you or I?" Robin smiled at the man, as he was embracing him.
"I would, but then you'll tell me I ruined it, so you'd better," the man smirked.
The teen sighed and shook his head. "Very well. Slade proposed. I said yes. And yeah, we're keeping Rose," he added with a grin and held up his hand where the ring was glittering.
"Oh my!" Alfred said, and then they all congratulated them. Robin thought he saw the old butler wipe at his eyes, and he thought he saw Will doing the same.
"When will the wedding be? A summer one, perhaps?" Alfred asked.
"There's no time like the present," Slade said, surprising them all.
"I beg your pardon?" Alfred said in a tone that translated it to 'what the fuck?'.
"Neither Robin or I want a media circus. William can legally perform the ceremony, and if we need to, we'll go down to the city hall once the storm has passed to make sure it's all as it should. The only people we truly care about in the world are in this room. I don't see that we need anything else."
Robin hugged the man tighter.
"Of… of course, sir," Alfred agreed, a little choked up.
"Well… Will? Get on with it," Sade said.
"No, I must object!" Alfred then spoke up. "Master Richard, let us prepare a nice dinner and at least make things a bit festive first. There's no harm in waiting until tonight, is there?"
"Well, he could change his mind?" Slade objected, making the teen snort.
"Of course, Al, but don't overdo things. I'm sure we'll need to have a reception of some kind later to appease the world out there," he said and nodded towards the city. "You can overdo things then."
"I'll be sure to do that, sir," the man grinned. "Now you two go upstairs. Master Richard, you'll be in your rooms, Mr. Wilson, you'll be in your old room. We'll bring you your clothes."
"I really don't think this is necess-" the mercenary began.
"Sorry, Slade, we're playing by his rules now," Robin chuckled.
"You are not to come downstairs for any reason," the butler told them sternly. "And no visiting each other! You will be fetched when it's time, but be ready by six."
"Yes, sir," Slade only half mockingly replied.
At that moment the lights went out. Rose got scared and started to cry, but it only took a few moments for the generators to kick in.
"This is it," Alfred said. "We need to save fuel. Albert, get everyone a flashlight, I'm going to set the generators for emergency power only. Security systems, kitchen, heating and water heaters mainly, but I'll save on the heat where there's fire places. Major Wintergreen, if I may be so bold as to rope you into the preparations?"
"Of course," the major agreed.
"We'll help-" Robin started.
"You, young man, already have your orders," he was told. "Now get. We'll take care of Rose."
"About that… why is my daughter wearing a sailor suit?" Slade wanted to know.
"Well, she went through the clothes she had with her rather quickly. We've had to look through old clothes. This belonged to Master Bruce. I guess we have to dig deeper now to find something from his aunts for her to wear tonight."
"Really, Al, it's all too much as it is. Don't worry about it!" Robin insisted.
"We'll do what we can," the old man sniffed. "Now, sir, to your room."
"I feel like I've been naughty," Robin snickered as they left.
"Well, you have," Slade shrugged and grinned at him.
"True…" the teen admitted and tied to look ashamed. He failed. When they reached the hallway where they were supposed to go separate ways, Robin pulled the man in for a kiss and then looked up at him, seriously.
"Slade…?"
"Yes?"
"I… I know you proposed and everything and that should be a clue but… you haven't even told me that you love me…?"
The man got this look in his eye like the teen was a tiny bit dimwitted and then chuckled. He leaned down to kiss him again. "I will," he promised. "Now be a good boy and go wait for your future husband, will you?"
Robin snorted, feeling a bit foolish. "You'd better not run," he warned.
"That goes for you too," the man replied. "I'll see you in a few hours then."
Robin nodded with a grin and disappeared into his own room. Not much later Alfred had managed to reroute the power so it got dark again. Robin had gotten a lantern that ran on batteries, however, so it wasn't too bad. Still, he expected to have a few boring hours ahead so he settled down with a book.
It didn't take Alfred long to flutter in and pick out a tux for him, a light grey one. Then the man removed the fire guard from the normally unused open fire just as Will came in lugging a big basket of fire wood.
"The weather report is not good, we're opting for minimal heating," the butler explained. "Not too much, because of miss Rose, of course, but we'll close off all rooms that are not needed."
"Don't tell Slade, he'll insist on going out to chop more wood. I bet he's bored," Robin grinned.
"I made sure he has his book, but locking the door might still be a good idea," Will admitted, grinning back.
"You should take a shower so you're ready to dress in time," Alfred told him.
"Al, I have almost four hours," Robin objected, but a look from the old man got him on his feet. "Alright, alright… I will."
As he had all the time in the world, Robin decided on a bath as well as some self grooming, including a little bit of manscaping and a pedicure. He did a full body scrub and then just relaxed in the bath until it started to feel a bit chilly. He finished with a quick shower, he had never been able to just bathe and feel clean, he needed to rinse off properly. He then got dressed in a clean robe, making sure he was presentable in case more people decided to rush in.
He was left alone, however, and eventually dozed off, when there was suddenly a knock on the door. "Alfred says fifteen minutes, so start dressing!" Will called through the door. Robin heard him deliver the same message at Slade's door before hurrying away again. The teen jumped out of bed and hurried to dress and fix his hair. He was just about done when there was a new knock and the door opened.
"Ready, Master Richard?" Alfred asked, looking completely immaculate, although there was nothing unusual about that.
"Yeah." The teen swallowed. "I'm… suddenly a bit nervous."
"Good. It's part of it," the man smiled warmly and fixed his bowtie. "Now, if you would follow me, we'll get you married."
"As you demand," Robin chuckled.
Slade and Albert, with Rose in his arms, were waiting in the hallway.
"Oh, my god, you're so pretty!" Robin gushed.
"Well, thank you," Slade said, pretending to preen.
"I was talking to Rose," the teen chuckled. "Where did you find that dress?!". The dress was all white with puff sleeves and so much lace that there was barely room for fabric. Even Rose seemed impressed as she was looking down on it and stroking it with her free hand. The other one was clutching her duckie, who, Robin laughed out loud to discover, had also been equipped with a bow tie for the special occasion.
Robin now turned his attention to Slade and swooned a little. He had seen the man in a black tux before, and he always looked good, but tonight he managed to look even better, somehow.
"You're very handsome," the teen beamed, almost shyly.
"You're quite stunning yourself," the man purred and took a step closer, probably to draw him into a kiss.
"None of that, it's time to go," Alfred said, clapping his hands.
The house was still in darkness, but Alfred and Albert each had an oil lantern to shine their way. They walked downstairs and then, to the teen's surprise, they headed to the small ball room. When the butlers swung the double doors open, Robin gasped. It was full of candles! The old crystal chandeliers had been wired for electricity long ago, but kept their candle nozzles and had now been equipped with candles whose light reflected in the many prisms. The mirrors on the walls of the room, there to help spread any light there was in the old days, were doing their job once again, making the candles seem more plentiful than they were. They were led up an aisle with candelabras on each side to where Wintergreen was waiting for them. Robin didn't think the man had arrived in a suit, but one had been found for him, which suited him perfectly.
"Dearly beloved…" William started, and Robin didn't think there were truer words spoken on any wedding ever.
After they kissed, at the end, Slade leaned down a bit further.
"I love you," he whispered in Robin's ear.
"I love you too," the teen whispered back, a bit choked up.
Rose then threw Duckie at them and then got upset when it fell on the floor.
Dinner was served in the small dining room and it couldn't have been more extravagant if it had been planned months in advance. An exquisite light soup was followed by an amazing roast.
"How did this even have time to defrost?!" Robin asked. "Wait, none of the guards are missing, are they?"
"Very funny, Master Richard," Alfred said, but looked happy that the teen was impressed. For once Alfred and Albert were eating with them, Robin would never have accepted anything else, but they took turns getting the dishes and clearing up plates. It was when it was time for dessert the men really surprised them all, though.
"How in the world…?!" Robin said as an actual wedding cake was placed on the table. It was a wedding cake in miniature, just for the six of them, but it was in tiers and decorated so finely with white sugar roses and leaves that the teen just stared.
"Ok, that's… wait, was I set up? Was this whole thing planned?" Robin demanded to know.
"In that case I was set up as well," Slade claimed.
"I took a baking class…" Albert admitted. "I could never bake as uncle Alfred can, but I could at least help with the decorations. It was always my favorite part."
"It looks amazing!" the teen exclaimed. "Wow… I don't know what to say…"
"COOKIE!" Rose suggested and made grabby hands for the cake.
"Yes, well… there's that…" Robin chuckled. "Shall we cut it, then?" he asked Slade, and they did so together.
When a small piece was placed on Rose's plate she couldn't wait for the spoon, so she just went at it with her hands.
"Good thing she has a towel on to protect her dress," Robin sighed, and she did. They didn't have a bib and they knew by now that it was sorely needed.
"Nothing to protect my suit, though," Slade muttered, as the child had just grabbed his arm with her hand.
"Dada cookie!" she let him know.
"Yes, it was very good," Slade agreed. "We need to have a conversation about table manners."
"Dada?"
"Well, not today," Slade agreed. "Today you can eat cake with your hands if you want to."
They spent a lazy evening in the 'snug' in front of the fire. Rose nodded off and Albert took her up to her new bedroom, tucking her in. He kept the baby monitor with him and insisted on keeping it overnight, so the newlyweds wouldn't be disturbed.
"It's not like we'll be sleeping anyway," Slade leered at Robin, who chuckled.
"Good thing it's Sunday tomorrow," he agreed.
"You two sleep in for as long as you want. There will be brunch ready for you when you want it," Alfred said generously.
"Better aim for dinner," the mercenary suggested and Robin snorted. "Time to take my bride to bed, I think," the man said when he heard the dismissive tone.
"I'm not your bride, I'm your- what are you doing?!" Robin objected as he was hoisted up in the man's arms.
"Carrying you over the threshold," Slade grinned.
The teen started laughing. "I married an insane person. Great," he grinned. "Night!" he told the others as he was carried out of the room.
Once Slade managed to get their bedroom door open without dropping him or slamming any part of him against the wall, the teen was gently placed on their bed. They kissed and undressed each other in eager silence, but when they only had underwear on Slade suddenly pulled back.
Robin had only experienced that kind of withdrawal once before and jumped to conclusions.
"Oh no! You… can't? What's wrong?"
"Does it look like I 'can't'?" Slade snorted and gestured to his boxer briefs that were very tented.
"Oh. No. Good." Robin sighed in relief.
"There is something else, though…"
"W-what?"
"Well, we had a long time to prepare. Even when spending a lot of time shaving, there's only so much you can do. I … got bored."
It took a few seconds for things to click, but then the teen's eyes darted to the man's crotch. "Did… did you… shave… down there?"
"It was only supposed to be a normal trim," Slade defended himself.
"I understand, I groomed a bit myself, but… you think you… went too far?"
"I know I did."
"As long as you didn't cut it off?" the teen joked.
"I just wanted you to be prepared that things… aren't as you left them."
Robin laughed, and then, quick as a snake, reached forward and pulled the man's underwear down. He was prepared to make fun of the man, but the laugh got stuck in his throat.
"I know it's bad. Just try not to look," the man muttered.
"Holy fucking shit, you're HUGE!" Robin gaped.
"You already knew that."
"Ha, ha, very funny… it's just that… holy… you look much bigger than normal. A bit too bare, yeah, but… holy…" the teen reached out and touched Slade's member almost reverently. It had gotten a little softer as in preparation of the ridicule, but now it got some attention it really liked. It very much liked the rest of the evening as well.
Robin woke up with a smile on his face. It wasn't too late, only nine in the morning. Very late for him and Slade, though.
"Mmmm…." he said, and stretched. "You awake?" he mumbled.
"Yes," rumbled the big spoon and kissed his shoulder. "You're mine," he added and kissed it again, almost a nibble this time.
"That I am. And all you had to do was blackmail me with a baby," Robin teased him.
"If I had only known that from the beginning…" Slade lamented.
"Well, you can always look around for other offspring you might have fathered, just in case I would want a divorce in the future," the teen grinned.
"Good tip. Will do," Slade promised with a chuckle. "The weather still sounds awful," he added.
"I think I need to try to reach out to the employees and tell them they get a couple of snow days…" Robin said. "People driving or trying to commute into the city in this? Even if the storm is over by tomorrow, the snow will still be there."
"That's probably a good idea. Except for one thing."
"What's that?"
"You'd have to leave the bed," Slade pointed out. "And I won't let you."
"Aw. Dammit. Well, it will have to wait then," the teen snickered. "Well?" he added. "Do I have to be bored in bed or do you plan to entertain me?"
Slade planned to entertain.
"Good morning, sleepyheads," Will greeted them when they eventually made their way down about an hour later.
"Bib-bin! Dada!" Rose shrieked and came running over.
"Good morning, princess, have you missed us?" Robin asked.
"She has. I'm going to leave her with you and flee. I've had my fill of peek-a-boo for a while," the man grinned and left the room.
"I see we woke up in the sixties," Slade commented when he saw the child's awful mustard colored romp suit.
"We'll go shopping for her when we can," Robin told him. "For now, be glad she's not wearing the curtains!"
"Might be an improvement," the man snorted.
"Up! Dada Up!" the child insisted and Robin held his breath for a moment before Slade lifted her up. The man noticed and smirked.
"What, you thought I wouldn't?"
"Well, I… I don't expect you to turn around so quickly, it wouldn't be fair," Robin said carefully.
"Robin, I was in chock at first, and then I refused to let myself get attached because I wasn't sure of the outcome," Slade admitted. "And honestly, deep down I still think she might be doing better with a normal family… but we don't do normal in this family, do we Rose?" he asked.
"Ucky!" the girl said and pressed the thing into Slade's face.
"Point proven…" Slade muttered.
Robin laughed, feeling relieved. Slade might never become a gushing parent, but at least he would be a parent now. The idea of he himself being a parent was scary enough, he didn't want to do it alone.
"We're going to have breakfast, have you had yours? Do you want a snack?" Robin asked Rose. "Some banana?"
"No nana… up! Up!"
"No, we need breakfast first," Slade said firmly. The girls lip suddenly protruded and started to wobble. "No, don't try that with me, Robin does it enough," the man said.
"I do not!" the teen claimed, but only got a knowing look in reply.
Rose, however, was not to be calmed, and started to cry.
"Dada, dada, up! Up, dada!"
Robin didn't believe his eyes when the man sighed and caved. Soon the girl was shouting with happiness instead, as she was carefully being thrown and caught.
"One more time, then I have to eat," Slade told her firmly.
"Again! Again!" Rose encouraged him, but now Robin came to the rescue.
"I think Duckie is hungry, don't you?" he said.
That got the girl's attention and she nodded seriously. Duckie was indeed hungry and wouldn't mind some crackers and slices of fruit.
"I need to go make some calls," Robin said after breakfast. "Will you watch Rose?"
"I will try to keep us both alive," Slade said honestly.
"That's my husband," the teen grinned.
"Or I could hand her over to Albert and help you?" Slade suggested with a smirk.
"I know what kind of 'help' that would be. Stay here. Be good."
"You sure have great demands of me," the man complained while Robin left the room chuckling.
It turned out that most of the city had power but other than that the situation wasn't great. Robin spoke with Lucius who agreed that keeping the office building closed for a few days would probably be for the best. A few of them could keep most things running from home as they could log into the system from there. The work would mainly consist of letting customers know why it was quiet on their front and cancelling meetings, however. Apparently, most of the city had shut down in similar ways. Robin told the man of the events of the weekend and Lucius was, naturally, stunned.
"You managed to get married and have a kid in a single weekend? The gossip rags will love you forever!"
"I know, I know, it won't be fun when this comes out, but… yeah."
"What I meant to say was of course congratulations!" the man on the other side exclaimed.
"Thank you," Robin snickered.
He then called his secretary and she confirmed that she could access his appointments and cancel them. They had people who were supposed to fly in tomorrow, but the airports were of course closed so no reason for them to even try.
Once he finished, he went in search of Slade and found him in the snug, as it was one of the rooms that was heated by a fire, and there he found Slade reading to Rose.
"And the doggy goes…?"
"WOFF!"
"And the there was a cat, and the cat goes…?"
"MAAAOOO!"
"Good girl."
"Um…" Robin said. "There is a part with animal noises in the Winston Churchill book?"
"No, but she doesn't know that. She can't read. I've checked."
Robin snickered.
Slade looked out the window.
"I feel a bit cooped up. I think I'll go out and chop some more wood."
"I wouldn't mind joining you, but…" Robin trailed off, looking at Rose.
"See if Alfred or Albert can watch her. She's our responsibility but we do have help. We can't stop doing what we need to do to feel good or we'll start resenting the situation," Slade said seriously. "That's not fair to her either."
"I guess you're right. I'll go ask," the teen said.
The butlers were just finishing cleaning up the kitchen and had no problems watching the child.
"We do need more firewood," Alfred pointed out. "It was chilly this morning."
Robin agreed, it had been, but Slade had warmed him up plenty. He didn't tell Alfred that, though.
Doing some manual labor felt great, and being in the shed was almost like being outside, except for the wind and snow. The firewood was partly from their own grounds, trees that had died, been felled by the wind or cleared out for one reason or the other during the year had been sawed into logs and put in the shed to dry. They now needed to be split and it was hard work. At least for Robin. Slade seemed to be able to split logs by simply looking at them sternly. They mostly worked in comfortable silence, commenting on particularly well-placed strikes with the ax or when pieces of wood flew through the air with the apparent intent to kill or injure anything in their path. Robin used the time to try to digest what had happened during the last couple of days. He then realized something.
"Slade?" he asked, lowering the ax to signal a break.
"Yes?"
"Will you be very upset if I don't take your name?"
The man stopped chopping as well. "I didn't expect you to, considering the company name. You've already changed your last name so it would still be in the hands of a 'Wayne', after all. That was a sacrifice on your part. I don't expect you to change the company name to 'Wilson Enterprises" either, he added with a chuckle.
"Thanks… although… for the record, I'd rather be Richard Wilson by choice than Richard Wayne by force. I still haven't gotten used to not being Grayson anymore… I think I resent it, but… it was strategically the right thing to do."
"It was," Slade nodded.
"I could be a Wilson-Wayne?" Robin suggested. "That way I get a little bit of choice and a little bit of forced tradition."
"I think that's the most perfect description of what life is that I've ever heard," the man said with a chuckle. "And yes, if you'd want that, I would be honored," he added warmly.
Robin blushed, grinned and nodded.
"That should last us for a couple of days," Slade eventually said.
"I could really go for some hot chocolate right now," Robin said as they trudged back through the snow.
"You're such a child," Slade teased him.
"Oh, admit it, you want some too!"
"Well… it's Alfred's…" Slade muttered in defense. "OOf!" he added as he got hit in the back of the head with a snow ball.
In the next couple of seconds Robin experienced that nightmare where you try to run, but can't get anywhere, in real life. The snow was deep and the monster was moving in quickly.
When they eventually came inside, they were both soaked and Robin, at least, was shivering, though his cheeks were rosy and he was laughing.
"You are such children," Alfred tutted at them. "There is a change of clothes and warm chocolate waiting for you in the sitting room."
Snickering they entered into the warm little room and were soon dressed in thick softs clothes and knitted woolen socks to heat up their toes. Robin wasn't ashamed of snuggling up to Slade on the sofa with the mug of hot chocolate in his hands. The man put an arm around him and pulled him in even closer.
"Al's the best," the teen sighed happily.
"His great nephew is shaping up well too," Slade said. "Did you notice that Alfred wasn't using any titles when we got in, by the way?"
"No? Oh, yeah, well… sometimes, he just enters that dad-role, he did that with Bruce too when he had been extra stupid. There was no "Master Bruce" or "Master Wayne" then, it was more "idiot boy, getting yourself into trouble again…" the teen chuckled.
Slade hummed in agreement just as Albert came in to fetch their wet clothes and shoes.
"Miss Rose is asking for you, sirs, if you don't mind?" he said.
"Of course not, bring her here," Robin answered. "What is next on the agenda for her? Snack? Nap?"
"She's just had a small sandwich, I think she might be getting tired soon, sir," the under-butler replied.
"Perfect, I might need a nap myself," Robin smiled. Albert nodded and left to fetch the child.
"Don't you have work to do?" Slade teased him.
"Hey! Don't you? Didn't I hire you to check over our security system?"
"Pft… that's a project I'll do in an afternoon," the man snorted.
"Good, I'll remember that when I pay you," Robin smirked then blinked. "Oh… I didn't think about the economical side of getting married… Should we have made arrangements?"
"Afraid I'll claim half of the business?" Slade smirked.
"If you do, I'll just claim half of your kills," Robin smirked back.
The man's eye widened comically. "Out of the question! I want a prenup!" he joked, making the teen laugh. "Well a postnup, but still."
"You can get a pin-up?" the teen leered.
"Great, I'll get a locker and tape it on the inside of the door," the man chuckled. "We should get a prenup, though… Neither of us are interested in the other's assets, but it's always good to have in writing, especially with a child in the mix."
"I'm hurt," the teen claimed sadly. "I'm very interested in your assets, and I thought you were at least somewhat interested in mine…" he ended with a smirk.
"Money, Robin. Money."
"Ah. Oh, well then, no."
"DADA! BIN-BIN!" an excited voice cried out from the door.
"There's our princess!" Robin grinned and held out his arms. They were soon filled with a babbling one-and-a-half-year-old. Apparently, Duckie had had many adventures that needed to be explained. Robin wished he had a translator, though.
After some time when she still hadn't shown any signs of wanting that nap, she began to grizzle, finding nothing funny anymore. Robin was wondering what was going on until he smelled it.
"Oh. She needs a new diaper…" he said. Slade had been mainly reading while he played with Rose, and Robin didn't want to push the man too much, but he also felt, very strongly, that she was his daughter when it came to these kinds of things.
"Alright. Do we have somewhere to change her?" Slade asked, putting his book down and standing up.
"I… don't know. Maybe up in her room? I haven't even been in there yet," he said, sounding a bit guilty.
"Well," Slade said, scooping up his unhappy daughter. "You were busy getting fucked."
"Firstly; yes, that might be a good excuse. Secondly; I don't think you should say such things in front of your daughter," Robin lectured him.
"What? She's too small to know what fuck means," the man snorted.
"Uck?" Rose asked and the man paused.
"Alright, I get your point," he admitted.
"Uck? Uck!" The child yelled happily.
Robin snickered all the way upstairs.
When they entered the guestroom-turned- nursery, Robin's eyes widened.
"Wow… they really turned it into a kid's room! How much stuff do we actually have in the attic?"
"Enough to fill a few museums, all perfectly organized, labeled and catalogized," Slade let him know dryly.
There were child friendly paintings on the walls, a small rocking horse and a toy chest in a corner, a piece of furniture that must have been an old-fashioned changing table to which Slade was currently heading. Sure, things look dated but it was all whole. Robin decided then and there that although they would update her wardrobe and such, most of the things in the nursery could stay. No need to replace things that still worked, unless there had been safety features added since then, of course. He knew that his knowledge when it came to these things was severely limited, but he was also sure that Alfred and Albert would have already looked into it.
He was there to watch Slade fumble and maybe even gag, but instead the man changed his daughter quickly and efficiently.
"Wow," Robin said. "Have you done that before?"
The man stilled for a moment as he was buttoning up the girl's clothes.
"Yes."
"You… have?"
"She's not my first kid. I… had two sons."
Robin took half a step backwards.
"You… you… have…? Had..? What…?"
"They and their mother died… many years ago."
"You… you never told me," the teen said, feeling strangely left out.
"It's something I'd rather put behind me," the man insisted.
"You didn't think I should know?"
"No. It's in the past. It doesn't matter."
"But it is your past!" Robin objected. "You know everything about mine, and you never bothered to tell me that you used to have a family?"
"Bin-bin ang-y?" Rose asked uncertainly, her voice a little wobbly.
"Yes, Bin-bin's a bit angry," Robin muttered, turned around and walked out.
"Bin-bin nap?" Rose asked her father.
"You know what, princess? I rather think he does need a nap," Slade sighed. "Or at least he'd be happier if he'd spend some time in bed."
"Why?" Rose wanted to know.
Slade met those almost turquoise eyes.
"I'll never, ever tell you."
To be Continued...
A/N: Oops. Well, Slade will take care of this, no worries.