Hello! Here's a story I've always wanted to write, and now finally found time and disposition to do it. I'm writing another story, one about Batman and Superman, but, since I was having problems with the next chapter, I decided to take some time to work in something else… and here we have it.

I must say this one here is nothing but a "what if", and, of course, has no connections to the Batman timeline. If I had to place it in the Batman Universe, it would take place after Jeph Loeb's "Hush", but before "Infinite Crises". To be honest, ever since "Hush" I haven't been very happy about Batman's stories…

Anyway, I apologize for any mistakes you may see in my text. English is a foreign language for me, and I ask you good readers to be patient. I appreciate any reviews, your opinion is always welcome.

To be finished with it, the disclaimer… I do not own Batman, Catwoman, or any other DC character. But I do love and respect them… 

Have fun!

Two weeks

It was a rainy night when Selina discovered. She would always remember that. She would always remember how she had walked from the window, thinking patrol in the rain wasn't a pleasant task. She would remember how she was already in her Catwoman outfit, except for the mask. And that the clock showed it was midnight already.

Late, she thought, I'm already late.

In that night, she felt restless and uneasy. She didn't feel like going outside, in the rain. However, she also didn't feel like going into the bathroom, and checking the pregnancy test either. It was there, where she had left it. With an answer for her already. Yes, the minute had passed. Actually, almost half an hour had passed since she took the test… but she just couldn't put together enough courage to go see the result.

Her plan was to go outside like in any other night… stop criminals if she could, and, maybe, talk to him… He was there, in the night, over some roof top, probably watching the city and lost in thoughts. Whatever his thoughts were.

Selina knew she would not be able to talk. She would never tell him.

"Even if it's positive…" Yes, even if it's positive. She would never be able to go to him and say… and say…

"But maybe is a negative." Maybe. Maybe there was no reason to worry; maybe she was confused and restless for no good reason. Maybe it's negative. Just a negative. Just a late period, it had happened before. The psychological pressure, the physical effort… it could happen. It could.

But it hadn't.

She could feel something different, all the strange symptoms, or signs, she didn't know how to call it. The nausea. The fatigue. And a strange, strange idea, a thought that had never before crossed her mind…

"Could I be a mother…?"

Selina didn't have an answer to that.

Three weeks

"Would you like to schedule an appointment, madam?"

The secretary sounded polite, that's something that would always stay on her memories. The secretary even sounded like she cared.

"Madam, are you alright?"

Selina was holding the phone with one hand, as her other arm was hugging her legs. She was seating on the floor, back against the wall. Except for the woman talking on the other side of the line, everything else was silent, just silence… even in Selina's mind.

Leslie Thompkins had given her the number, without asking for any explanation. Most likely thought it was for yet another pregnant teenager. Leslie was a humanist, but also believed in a woman's choice. Like Selina. She had thought this through. She had made a decision – a smart one. She had a life, a complicated life, and responsibilities, and problems with the law… She was the Catwoman. She loved that she was the Catwoman.

Why couldn't she speak, then? Why couldn't she just say yes to this secretary, and "schedule an appointment", and that would be the end of it… Right?

The end.

But there she was, seating on the floor, and her eyes were wet… why, why? She was just thinking nonsense, that's why. Imagining a doll house with a baby, and a mom, and a dad… Just nonsense. Just something that would never happen. Doll houses are not real, they are toys for rich little girls – she was never one. Her child would never have a father, would it? And how could she possibly be a mom? She never even had a mom herself. Not really.

And yet, this one thing would always bother her: the baby's eyes would be blue like his? Or maybe green like hers… With dark hair, no doubt. Their child. Their child.

"Madam, are you there?"

Selina hung up without a word.

A month

The scar would stay there forever, to remind her of the fear… cold, dreadful fear.

She was careless, true. No more than a bunch of kids, they were. Three boys. Attacking a girl. Jumped on the bigger guy. Kicked the second on the face. Third guy came from behind with a knife.

The blood came down profusely from her belly. Warm and red… scary. Knocked down the kid with the knife, hit him too hard. Heard the noise of a bone breaking. She hoped, just hoped it hadn't been his spine.

Leslie treated her. "Just a scratch", she said. But it bled so much… Leslie told her everything was going to be alright; secretly, Selina cried anyway. What if… What if…?, her mind wondered as she slept. Tired, so tired. Lying on a bed, in Leslie's clinic. Alone.

Six weeks

For the rest of her life Selina could remember it as it had happened yesterday. Clear details, like the keys she had in her hand. How she opened the door of her apartment, entered the dark living room, without even bothering to lock. She didn't turn the lights on, her feet were sore, so she just went to the sofa, seating on it while she let air escape heavily from her lungs…

"You shouldn't leave the door unlocked." He said.

And she jumped off the sofa, turning the lamp on.

He was by the window, his dark figure mixed with shadows, in that way only he was able to do. She couldn't see his eyes, concealed by the mask, but his lips, she noticed, were pressed in a thin line; this, she knew, was a sign he was not comfortable.

"Why should I care about the door? All the crazy ones use the window…"

There was a feeling of anger in her, she would recognize later. There was this bitterness, something she could feel in her chest, in her mouth… Her hands trembled slightly, she just made her best to not let him see. In a way, she was glad he was there; however, she was also furious, thinking he was so very wrong if he thought he could come and go as he pleased… as he wanted. This strange man in her living room, wearing a dark and scary outfit, this person she also knew to be Bruce Wayne, the millionaire that owned Wayne Enterprises. He was the Batman, a legendary vigilante… he was Bruce, a famous philanthropist… He was once her enemy, he was once her lover. In a way, she admired him. His strength, his independence, his intelligence, his character. He saved her many times. She did the same for him more than just one time. She thought he could do anything… except for this one thing.

He couldn't be a father.

"Heard that the Catwoman will be leaving Gotham", he spoke in an emotionless tone.

"Is that a fact? Oh, thanks for letting me know…" Selina gave him a sarcastic smile.

"Is it true?"

She couldn't stay. Just couldn't. Gotham was home… for the Catwoman. If she wanted to be just Selina Kyle, she had to do it somewhere else. And, of course, when you want to keep a secret from the Batman, the last place you should be is Gotham. Nothing happens in Gotham without his knowledge… as his visit there proved it again.

"Yes. Yes, it's true." She searched his face for reactions to that. A face almost completely covered by that mask, a face that showed only his mouth and chin, and even that under heavy shadows. All she got was a minor tension on his jaw, but was that something? "Catwoman will be gone… for a while."

"For how long?"

"For a while!"

Selina sighed, watching as he moved slightly forward. He was examining her, she knew, trying to read her. Trying to understand her from her reactions, body language, tone of voice… But you can't just ask me, can you?

"Where are you going to?" He now sounded more cautious, his voice was almost tender; he was concerned… or maybe suspicious.

"None of your business, sweetheart." She said it in the best playful tone she could fake.

He took this the same way he had taken all her answers: with an evaluative look. "I see."

"Sure you do… you see it even when you don't, isn't that right?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You tell me, detective…!"

Silence fell between them. Why did I say that? It was never smart to provoke his detective's instincts.

"Selina", he called her. Again she faced him, eyes on that cold mask.

"Yes?"

What was happening under that mask? Under that whole outfit, inside that unique person? Selina used to think they were alike, Catwoman and Batman, two of a kind… creatures of the night, always looking for a thrill, running from their pasts. "That's why it can work", she said it to him many times. She thought they could be together, forever in that crazy spin… helping each other, dancing on rooftops.

A romantic idea, now she knew.

Now, there was something real happening. Something she had never considered, and yet… something she was surprised to discover that she wanted. So, maybe it was true that Bruce was her twin soul; maybe it was true that they could be together. But that was before. That was for Catwoman and Batman, who would kiss on the top of buildings. It was not for Selina, soon to be a mother.

"If there's anything you need… anything at all…" He gave a step forward, his right hand moving to reach her arm…

"Don't." The word seemed to cut through him like an unexpected blade. She saw Batman retracting his hand. "I don't need anything. I want nothing."

Could he be a father? Ever?

She was sure he could love a child; he would always mean well… But he was a man in a mission, and that could never be avoided. That's why there were Robins, and Batgirls, and other teenagers following Batman around. He never asked them to join his cause, but his obsession, his heroism, his myth… it would always attract followers. He was so intense about this that no one around him could escape it.

And she didn't want that for her son or daughter.

"I don't need anything from you. Or from anybody." She waved her hand towards the window. "Now, if you could, please, leave me alone…"

He didn't leave immediately. For a few seconds, he just stood there. Looking at her, with his concealed eyes. She too allowed herself a last glance, silently saying goodbye. Keeping to her that image, of his tall and dark figure… and of the man behind it.

No more words were said. He left silently and swiftly, and he didn't look back. Neither did she.

It is what happens after a true and definitive farewell.

Nine months

She would never forget how scary and wonderful it was when she first saw him.

Her memories would be blurred by the confusion of the first moments, when he had just come out of her, in waves of pain and screams. He cried, the first thing about him was his cry, and then the doctor was saying "it's a boy", but she already knew. Ever since she felt him move inside her for the first time, she knew then it would be a boy.

And then he was not crying, not anymore, and she looked for him, "my baby, where's my baby…", she asked. One nurse, the one that had held her hand during labor, the one that was wiping her forehead now, the one that was smiling… the nurse said, "don't worry, they are just cleaning him…" "My baby…", she insisted, and the nurse smiled again, asking her to wait just a moment… and Selina could hear her son grumbling, whimpering, that small creature, that life… she just wanted to see him, to see if he existed, if he was for real, he, the one that had occupied all her thoughts for so many months.

He was carried to her, the smiling nurse whispered: "There he is, your son…!" My son. Tears came to her eyes, the tears she hadn't shown during the painful labor, the tears she hadn't dropped in her lonely nights, the tears that didn't come even when she left Gotham, or her life as Catwoman, or even him… Tears ran over her cheek, tears she couldn't explain, from feelings she couldn't define. Tears falling from her to her newborn child in her arms…

"He's beautiful", the nurse said. Selina touched the warm skin, her fingers feeling his chest, his face, holding his hand in hers. The baby was silent, quiet, trembling slightly… "You are cold…?", she asked him tenderly, and brought him closer to her body. "I'm here."

Together. They were together. He was no longer inside of her, but now she could see as he laid peaceful while she held him, she could touch him and embrace him, she could love him and… he would love her back. He was hers to care, to concern; her responsibility and no one else's. Just like she didn't belong to anyone else. She had always been alone. But her son, her baby, this child, he would never have to be alone… She would not leave him as she was left in her childhood. He wouldn't be abandoned. Afraid. Scared.

I promise. I don't care what it takes; you will not be like me… or him. You will be happy.

"Oh, look", the nurse said, "he opened his eyes."

Selina smiled. He had blue eyes, like she knew he would.