A/N: No excuses, just updates
Thx!
AMM
~Diana's POV~
It was almost alarming how long it took for Bruce and I to go back to normal life. The hardest transition was losing my favorite pillow and gaining cold sheets. Even on the rare nights we weren't devouring each other, I had him to fall asleep on. But once nightly patrols resumed, it was back to empty and too big beds and oversized sweaters to keep me warm. At least his pillow never seemed to lack his scent. I found myself using his more than mine.
I know it was no easier for him. He lingered when he should've been getting ready for patrol, struggled to turn off his alarm and get ready for work, wanting to stay in bed with me. My favorite hours of the night were always right before dawn when he'd finally crawl into bed with me and wrap his arms tightly around my waist. It always felt that just as we got settled in, his alarm would screech and he'd have to leave me again.
I felt like I had next to nothing to do during the day. Alfred kept the house in pristine condition and I could only work out for so long before growing bored. I tried spending more time on the watchtower but with Clark and Lois planning their wedding now and Shayera constantly hanging out with John, I felt lonely. Of course I had other friends on the Watchtower, but they were often out on missions. I took my fair share of missions as well but I've only had one so far that required me to be gone for longer than a day in the last three months since returning from my honeymoon.
For these reasons, I was unbelievably happy when Bruce walked into the kitchen shortly after two in the afternoon. I'd been making tea, a habit that Alfred has gotten me hooked on, when Bruce strolled in without seeming to think anything of it.
He'd actually managed to spook me as I had been concentrating on filling the teapot at the sink. I'd been so distracted by my task that it took the chill of the refrigerator opening behind me to alert me to someone else in the room.
I whipped around without a second thought for the teapot and felt my heart jump at the sight of my beloved husband pulling a water bottle from the fridge. His eyes met mine as he was tipping his head back to take a drink. My eyes briefly dropped to his throat as he swallowed but quickly returned to his eyes. He screwed the cap back on his bottle before setting it down on the island between us. We just stared at each other for a moment before both moving at the same time to each other. My arms wrapped around the back of his head as he wrapped his arms around my waist in return, pulling me against his chest. Our lips were surprisingly gentle when they connected. There was no intention behind the affection other than to enjoy being together in what felt like forever.
"What are you doing home so early?"
"I just had paperwork this afternoon so I thought I could do it here at home instead of sitting in the office. I know it's probably not your ideal way to spend time together but I thought-"
"I'll take it," my heart melting at the idea of Bruce choosing to come home and simply be in my presence instead of staying at work where it was surely more productive.
"I'm going to change out and then I'll be setting up shop in the library."
"Do you mind if I watch some TV while you're there? I'll keep it quiet."
"I don't mind," he presses a quick kiss to my forehead before dropping his arms and leaving the kitchen.
I smile at his back and let him go, having developed some self restraint over the last few months. I turn back to my tea and finish the task, pouring two cups and leaving it sitting on the stove in case Alfred would like some. I carefully carry the cups to the library, setting one on the desk and the other on the coffee table. I grab the remote and the heavy blanket off the back of the couch and make myself comfortable. I flip on the TV to try and find something to watch when Bruce pads into the library in a t-shirt and sweats, no socks. "Aren't your feet cold?"
Just looking at his bare feet makes me pull the blanket tighter around myself. I wish Gotham didn't get so cold towards the end of the year.
"No, not really," Bruce responds as he clicks on the desk lamp and starts to set his paperwork out. "Did you make tea?"
"Alfred has gotten me hooked." I say as an explanation and receive a chuckle in response.
I find a trashy reality show to entertain myself with while I listen to Bruce flipping through papers from behind me. I find myself nodding off from the warmth in the library. Alfred started a fire in here shortly before Bruce got home, though I'm not sure why. But no matter, the warmth of the fireplace and thick blanket added to the comfortable clothes and soft noises from the TV and Bruce is very quickly putting me to sleep.
I'm nearly out, listening to the end credits of the show and the start of the news. Some celebrity said something inappropriate on Twitter. Some other celebrity threw her cell phone at someone. Yet another celebrity had offended somebody else. Bruce Wayne is expecting his first child.
I sit up quickly, almost making myself dizzy. My eyes quickly scan over the TV, looking to see if I heard right. Paparazzi had caught pictures of another raven-haired beauty exiting Wayne Enterprises, a small baby bump clear in the skin tight black dress she was wearing. The news journalists had questioned the woman, having seen her attend a handful of events with the previous bachelor years before. The thief is almost three months pregnant.
Almost three months. August. She got pregnant in August.
I'm vaguely aware of Bruce asking me what's wrong but I can't say anything, eyes staying glued to the screen. Ms. Kyle had gotten pregnant and was claiming the father was her former lover, billionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne.
"Holy shit," Bruce's voice says from behind me and the television's sound increases.
"….Ms. Kyle is said to be thrilled, excited to have her first child. It's too early to know the sex, but it has been reported that she's hoping for a boy. We can only hope the little tyke has his father striking blue eyes and his mother's stunning good looks…."
And of course a picture of Bruce is splashed across the screen.
"Diana, don't listen to that." Bruce demands, hurrying across the room to the door and hollering for Alfred.
"Bruce? What is this?"
"….Wayne has recently returned to town after a month-long honeymoon with wife and super hero, Diana Wayne, or more famously known as Wonder Woman. Is it possible Wayne had his mistress flown out during his honeymoon or was there an impromptu meeting as soon as the billionaire returned to town? When asked about Mrs. Wayne, Ms. Kyle said she was aware of the Princess, but didn't 'waste much thought' on her…."
"Diana, listen to me," Bruce came around the couch, squatting in front of me but I still can't tear my eyes away from the television screen. "She is lying. If she's pregnant-if-it's not mine."
"….it would be the first child for both twenty-eight year old Wayne and twenty-five year old Kyle. There are reports of their break up two years ago but it appears the relationship has been kept up in private."
And there it is, an old picture of Bruce and Selina from a fundraiser.
There's no way that Bruce was sleeping with Selina. Between work and being home with me and patrol, there couldn't have been any time for him to be sleeping with her unless he was seeing her sometime overnight while out on patrol or she really has been going to see him at the office.
But Bruce wouldn't, right? He wouldn't do that to me, would he?
"Diana, princess, I promise that I have not been seeing Selina. The last time I had any contact with Selina Kyle was months ago, before the wedding. She had shown up at the office but I had her kicked out. Please, you have to believe me."
My eyes finally leave the TV screen to meet Bruce's. His cerulean gaze is desperate, begging me to believe him. But he can't be telling the truth. Who else would Selina be seeing at Wayne Enterprises? Who else would she be having a baby with? If it were someone else, why would she claim the baby is Bruce's?
Alfred walks into the room, eyes landing on Bruce and I, worry immediately filling them. "What's going on?" The butler demands.
"Sit with her. I have to call my fucking lawyers." Bruce stands straight, practically seething at this point as he storms from the room, phone already pressed to his ear.
Alfred sits beside me as my eyes watch Bruce's back before turning to the TV.
"Mistress Diana, what-" I point to the TV and Alfred turns his attention as the story is retold, only making it sound worse as they list more "facts" that prove the baby belongs to Bruce.
"Oh my! Mistress Diana, you can't believe those tabloids or that nasty woman! She is trying to tear you and Master Bruce apart! It is simply not true!"
"I-I," I feel the tears dripping off my face, noticing that I've begun to cry. There's no way some amateur like me would keep someone as experienced as Bruce satisfied. Can I blame him for going back to someone who knows what she's doing?
"Mistress Diana, I can see it in your eyes, you're convincing yourself that what is being said on that blasted TV is true and I promise you with everything I have that it's not."
Their baby would be beautiful. I hope it has his eyes. He has amazing eyes. And her bone structure. It could rule the world with those kinds of looks.
I can briefly hear Bruce yelling from the other room. "No! No! I want this stopped, now! Any kind of lawsuit you can think of, just shut this bullshit up! I want a paternity test. I don't care, she can't claim it's mine without pro-" I drown him out. Alfred pulls me into a hug and I collapse against his shoulder. We've been so happy. I thought I would know if he was discontent or wanting someone else. Has he been sleeping with Selina then coming home to crawl into bed with me? Have I been touching skin after she had touched it?
I clung tightly to Alfred's shoulders. "He has never lied to you," Alfred says quietly against my hair. "He's not lying," he insists. "Please talk to him." I take a deep breath and nod, not wanting to lift from the older man's shoulder.
"I will," I weakly promise.
"You need to remember to trust him. You love him and he loves you. He would do anything to make you happy, Diana, and you know it." I can't recall a time where Alfred has only addressed me as Diana, foregoing the formal titles.
By the time Bruce re-enters the library, I've managed to pull away from Alfred and curl in on myself though I was holding his hand. He comes back to me and squats in front of me. Alfred pulls from my grasp and exits the room though I know he doesn't go far.
"Talk to me, please," Bruce begs, voice quiet and even a bit raspy from all the yelling he just did. "Princess, you can't believe that I'd ever sleep with another woman."
I know in my heart that Bruce would never, that what he and Alfred keep trying to assure me of should be all it takes for me to ignore the rumors. But that picture of Selina keeping a hand pressed to her baby bump as she leaves Bruce's office building won't leave my head. What other proof do I need then that picture and the knowledge that they've been something in the past so why can't they be something in secret now?
I remain silent, eyes locked on Bruce's but unfocused, nothing but that picture in my head. He leans toward me, pressing a kiss to my forehead and grasping my hands tightly between his. Part of me wants to lean away, now unsure where his lips have been while another part of me wants to lean into the reassuring affection. But I don't move. "I'm going to see my lawyer. I'm going to get this settled and then when I come home tonight, you can ask me any question and I will answer it truthfully. I will show you recordings of the building and my location from patrols these last few months. I will do everything in my power to prove to you that I have not been unfaithful to you." For a moment, my head clears and I find myself wondering why I even questioning his loyalty but then I hear the sound of the TV cut back in and I'm back in my head. Bruce presses one last kiss to my forehead before standing and leaving the library, looking over his shoulder at me.
Bruce is gone for two hours, slapping Selina with so many lawsuits that she and her lawyer are left spinning in circles. A cease and desist is first and foremost. Selina can not talk about Bruce in connection with her pregnancy, or she would be sued, though I'm not sure how good that will do since the media is gobbling up the story. Bruce also requested a paternity test, to prove that the baby isn't his but Selina is fighting it. Apparently it's going to take more time than any of us would prefer to get the results.
Returning home with flowers and an iced mocha, Bruce says nothing when he finds me still curled up in the library. He simply sets the flowers and coffee on the coffee table in front of me and sits on the table, looking at me expectantly. But when I don't open my mouth to say anything or ask him questions, he looks at his lap, twisting his wedding ring around his finger before standing and exiting the room, face grave and trying to keep his anger in check.
When nighttime rolls around, part of me hopes Bruce goes out on patrol but I'm surprised to see him sitting at the kitchen island, holding a letter in his hands. Upon noticing me, Bruce sets the letter down and steps away from the counter, walking into the dining room in a way to get around me. I don't feel guilt rolling off of him or even anger anymore. Just immense sorrow.
I debate whether or not I look at what he had been holding, at what he had clearly left behind for me but I simply turn and walk away, slowly climbing the stairs with my arms wrapped around myself. I change into pjs and climb into bed, opting for my own pillow and waiting for Bruce to eventually join me only to be left waiting. I fall asleep at some point and wake up snuggled into Bruce's pillow. The bedroom door is cracked open but after glancing around the room, I determine that Bruce isn't in here.
I push the covers off of me and silently climb from the bed. I pull the door open and exit the bedroom, padding down the hall and then the stairs. All of the lights throughout the house are off. Maybe Bruce did go out for patrol. Despite telling myself that I shouldn't care where he is, I find myself heading towards the library, intent on going down to the cave to check his location but stop short. There on the couch in the library, a shape is huddled up under the blanket I was using earlier. The fire died out a while ago so all he has is the blanket to keep him warm. His brows are drawn tight, frown lines deep in face and bags under his eyes dark.
Despite being unsure of where I stand with him right now or what to think of the situation, I grab another blanket from a basket in the corner and drape it across him, not missing the way his brow smooths ever so slightly. I lean away, intention of returning to our bedroom upstairs when I hear the couch creak slightly and a hand gently encircling my wrist. Even though he applies hardly any pressure, I stop, looking back down at my husband. His eyes are red and sad, begging me to forgive him.
"I love you," he rasps, voice thick with sleep and my heart betrays me by speeding up at the sound. "You, Diana, and only you." He releases my wrist and settles back into the couch locking eyes with me for a second more before turning over to face the back of the couch.
"I-"
Don't know what to do.
A/N: Bet you didn't think I'd come back with that beast of a chapter (not really a beast but didn't know what else to call it)
Thx!
AMM
