It was the first weekend since Jim had come by to collect Cobblepot for their attack on Galavan. GCPD was still abuzz with rumors, something about a cult, and about the Wayne boy being kidnapped. Galavan had mysteriously disappeared shortly thereafter … there were wild rumors about that as well. Good riddance, as far as Kristen was concerned.

Though the Penguin was far from in power again, nor had he exactly been removed from GCPD's wanted fugitives list, he was decidedly back on his feet. Or at the very least, he was out of their apartment for the most part, and apparently out busily trying to reform his connections and regain some of his criminal holdings. It was strange, feeling glad for him. But after seeing him that badly beaten down, she wondered if she would ever stop feeling sympathy for him. In any case, things were starting to calm down a little… for her and Edward, anyway. For Lee and Jim, it was another matter. Already, Kristen had started scheming to organize a baby shower for Lee. It would be a nice chance to get involved in something normal, and to help someone react to good news, for once.

She was on her way back from buying groceries, walking down the hallway to Edward's apartment, confident that she had picked up everything on Edward's abnormally specific and precise grocery list. As she neared the apartment door however, she saw it open, a woman she didn't recognize walking out and slamming it behind her without a word.

Kristen trusted Edward. Really, she did. But she couldn't help feeling a little inadequate as the strange woman stormed past her. She was taller than Kristen, for one thing, and even when she was clearly pissed off managed to walk gracefully in a pair of expensive-looking heels. She was skinnier, too. Flawless skin, flawless makeup, perfect hair, perfect everything … Kristen felt short and disheveled and dorky just looking at her. As she neared the door, she heard what sounded like a very small child laughing. Her head whipped around, looking back at the annoyingly perfect woman striding down the hallway. Was that…?

Shaking her head, Kristen knocked at the door, so distracted that, for a moment, she forgot that he'd given her a key.

Edward's response was delayed as the child squealed again. He glanced up at the door as he hung Rubix over his shoulder.

"Come in." He said sounding rather annoyed, rather than welcoming.

Kristen felt a little taken aback at Edward's clear annoyance, and hesitated a moment before she stepped inside. Did he not want her here?

"I picked up groceries," she stammered uncertainly, feeling strangely defensive, as if she suddenly needed to justify why she was here. She looked up at the giggling child draped over Edward's shoulder, and smiled shyly. "You didn't mention Rubix was coming to visit this weekend."

"Sorry, I thought you were Brittany coming back to yell at me for something else …" He said walking over to the bed, Rubix laughing upside down at Kristen, his brown hair hanging down. Ed turned so his back was to the bed, Rubix squealing as he put his hands down.

"I'm gonna drop you." Ed said letting him slide a bit.

"Noooo." Rubix squealed but kept laughing.

"I'm going to drop you." He said letting him slide a bit more until all he was holding was his ankles. "Uh oh …. I'm dropping you." He said as Rubix's hands touched the bed and he landed on the soft bed, giggling.

"Hey." He said to Kristen smiling as Rubix rolled around on the bed and climbed off the other side.

"Hi," Kristen responded, relaxing slightly. She couldn't help smiling a little, as she set the grocery bags on the counter. "Pretty happy kid you've got there."

"Yeah, he's just happy to see his old man. Isn't that right Rubix?" He asked as the boy ran across the room to the closed trap door.

"Toys?" He asked looking up at his father. "Toys?" He asked again.

"Well …. Perhaps he's more excited about his toys." He said with a slight chuckle. "What do you say?" Edward asked.

"Toys peas?" Rubix asked. Edward nodded as he moved to the trap door and opened it, hooking the latch into the wall.

"Careful on the stairs." He said as Rubix moved carefully, backwards on his hands and knees down to the basement.

"Should one of us go with him?" Kristen asked, a little anxious about this tiny child making his way down the stairs … though he seemed to be doing just fine.

"No he's fine … He knows to stay in his area, and not to touch the electronics unless I'm with him. He'll go straight for his toy box." He said watching as Rubix reached the bottom, and as predicted headed straight in the direction of the toy box. Ed stood up from where he was crouched and moved over to the groceries Kristen picked up for him. "How much do I owe you?" He asked, taking some fresh vegetables out of a bag, and a block of cheese, surprised that she'd managed to find his specified kind.

Kristen shook her head. "Don't worry about it," she said. "As often as you keep cooking for me, I figured I kind of owe you by now anyway."

"You don't owe me anything Kristen." He said quietly. "How much did all this come to?" He asked looking through the bag and trying to find the receipt.

"Then you don't owe me anything either," Kristen said stubbornly. She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him on the back of the neck. "Don't I get to do nice things for you too, every once in awhile?" She loved how sweet Edward could be, but she started to feel bad when he kept doing everything all the time. He hardly ever even let her help with the dishes. Though he never complained about it, she still didn't think it was fair to him.

Edward smiled she she kissed his neck, still pulling out groceries out of the bags. "Well, if you want to do something nice … You can help me put the groceries away." He said emptying the last bag and still not finding a receipt. "You took the receipt didn't you?" He asked with a smirk.

"Yes," Kristen smiled. "Yes, I did." She'd had a feeling Edward would be stubbornly selfless. She kissed him again, before going to put things away. She'd been over here watching Edward cook enough times now that she knew where just about everything went.

Edward heard a small crash from downstairs and paused listening as Rubix laughed knocking over more blocks. He shook his head as he started putting cans away into the cupboard.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know he was going to be here. She just kind of showed up. I would have called but you showed up right after she left."

"It's alright," Kristen said. "I'll admit, I was caught off guard a little when I saw her walking out of here … But I'd been wanting to meet Rubix anyway. He's adorable."

"Well he certainly has his moments. He likes showing off, he won't be so cute at two in the morning." He said with a laugh. "If you don't want to stay tonight, I'd understand."

"I doubt any child is cute at two in the morning," Kristen chuckled. "But I don't really mind. Anyway, if a wanted fugitive crashing here didn't scare me off, do you really think a toddler will?"

"DAAAAADDDY!" Edward sighed and shook his head, the cry wasn't a distressed one.

"We'll see." Edward said making his way downstairs to help Rubix.

Kristen smiled softly as she followed Edward down the stairs. Really, Rubix had been more overwhelming as an idea than in person. The knowledge that Edward had a child already … it had been daunting. But in person, Rubix was that: a child, who was too busy playing and being a kid to disapprove of her. And, despite his warnings, she could tell how happy it made Edward to have his son here.

"Dada pay!" He said throwing a toy at Edward.

"Hey, what did I tell you about throwing toys?" He said sitting down next to Rubix on the carpet. "How about I introduce you to Kristen hmm?" He asked pulling Rubix towards him so that he was standing in front of his crossed legs. "Rubix this is Kristen, Kristen Rubix." He said as Rubix leaned against his chest and looking a bit uncertain. "Are you gonna say hi?" Ed asked with a slight chuckle. "She's really nice."

"Hi, Rubix," Kristen said, smiling. "Looks like you've got some really great toys here." She pointed to the one he'd just thrown. "What's that one?"

"Matwon!" He said twisting and hugging his dad.

"Rubix …. Say Hi to Kristen." Edward said nudging him playfully. Rubix looked up at her shyly.

"Hi." He said quietly. "This Matwon!"

Kristen smiled in amusement as she looked down at the toy, recognizing the character. "Megatron, huh?" she said. She wondered whether Rubix had picked out the toy or Edward had. "He looks pretty cool. What does Megatron do?"

"He tansfos!" He said moving to the toy and picking it up. He started moving pieces and shaping it until he had it fully transformed, as if it had been a piece of cake.

"Wow," Kristen said. Rubix clearly had really good dexterity for his age… and also really used to playing with this toy. It was probably one of his favorites. "That's pretty amazing."

"I have mo." Rubix said moving away from Edward and to the toy box suddenly excited to show her all his transformers. "This is Sconawk. And Stawsceen. And Sockway. And …. Dada where Unicorn?"

"You broke him, remember?" Edward said as Rubix looked at him. "Last time, you threw him down the stairs."

"No!" Rubix said digging through his toy box. "Mama take it?" He asked.

"No mama didn't take it. You broke it. We threw it out." Edward said calmly.

"Mama away take my toys!" He said as if it were no big deal and pulled out a large fire truck. "Play wace fucks?"

"Trucks." Edward corrected.

"Yeah … Wace fucks!" Rubix said bending over the large fire truck and racing it around the room, the wheels scraping on the wood floor once it hit the uncarpeted area.

Kristen put a hand to her mouth as she tried to stop laughing. "Where's the fire truck racing to?" she asked.

"Twack!" Rubix said zooming around the room before tripping and falling on his face, landing on the truck. He got up and kept going as if nothing happened.

"I'm going to have to go after supper or tomorrow morning and pick up some clothes for him. His mother just brought him and nothing else. So I'll have to pick up a few things." He said quietly. "Would you like to come with us, or stay here? It's up to you."

"I'd like that," Kristen said, then thought about it a moment. "If you'd rather, though, I could stay here with Rubix and look after him while you go to the store. You'd probably get done faster that way."

He shook his head. "I couldn't ask you to do that. You were coming over here for a date, not to baby sit." He said. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" asked Kristen. "Having parental responsibilities? We'll have plenty of dates in the future." Lately, she was at Edward's apartment almost as often as she was at her own. She doubted they were going to run out of opportunities for quality time together. "It's no trouble, really."

Ed sighed quietly before he nodded. "Thank you." He said. "It shouldn't take more than an hour, he's a good kid though, keeps mostly to himself unless you want to play with him. Like I said he enjoys showing off." He said with a bit of a laugh.

"I wonder where he gets that from," Kristen said with a slight smile, before kissing Edward on the cheek. "I'll make sure Megatron and the Decepticons don't attack while you're out."

"Oh good … Here I was worried." He said with a laugh.

"Hey," said Kristen, getting an idea. "What if we paid Marian and Ben a visit? I bet they'd love to see Rubix."

"I was thinking of taking him down there tomorrow. But if you want to pop down there while I'm shopping you're more than welcome to. They like you and they'd love to see Rubix. I can just pop down after I've put everything away." He said coming up to her and hugging her. "Have I recently told you how amazing you are?" He asked kissing her lightly.

"You might have mentioned it a few times," Kristen smiled. This was kind of nice, she thought, getting to help out with Edward's son. She definitely appreciated the amount of trust he was showing her. "Hey Rubix," Kristen said, looking over at where Rubix was still playing. "Want to go see Marian and Ben? You can bring your fire truck."

"Tut … No. That one doesn't leave the apartment he knows that." He said as Rubix zoomed it over to the toy box. "It's too big and I don't want to ruin their floors. He can take one of his smaller ones though."

"Sorry," Kristen said. She should have asked Edward first before telling Rubix he could do something. She didn't want to undermine his parenting. "I didn't think about that … Looks like Rubix knows the rules better than I do, though."

"What for din din?" Rubix asked hefting the fire truck into the air and pushing it into the toy box with a loud crash.

"Ask that again." Edward said quietly.

"What is for din din?" Rubix asked again.

"Dinner." Edward corrected as he stood up. Rubix was right, it was time for him to start making dinner.

"What for din … Dinah?" Rubix asked making Edward shake his head.

"Close enough …" He said quietly. "We're going to have lasagna and salad."

"Blechy salad!" Rubix said making a disgusted face.

"You like my salad!" Edward said sounding offended.

"No! Blechy salad!" He said sticking out his tongue and laughing as Edward made to grab for it.

Kristen laughed. "But it's good for you. And it's not nice to call food blechy."

"Blechy salad!" Rubix said as Edward made his way towards the stairs to make supper.

"There's no point arguing with him. He's stubborn." He said heading upstairs.

"No idea where he gets that from either," Kristen smiled down at Rubix. "Do you want to keep playing with your toys or shall we go upstairs with daddy?"

"Dada!" Rubix said lifting his arms up to Kristen so she could pick him up. "Ustairs!" Edward turned back to Rubix and held his hands out to him so that he could pick him up when he came over. "No! Kisten!"

Kristen looked down at the small child in surprise. She hadn't expected him to take such a liking to her, at least not so quickly. "Alright, Rubix," she said, bending down to gently pick him up. "Up we go."

Ed made supper as Rubix ran around the upstairs, a few times running over the trap door which made Ed grateful that Kristen had the foresight to close it. Rubix ran up to a shelf and pointed up, looking over at Kristen.

"Down pease!" He said pointing up as high as he could.

"You want something from the shelf?" Kristen asked, looking up at where he was pointing, before glancing questioningly at Edward. It might not be something he was supposed to have. Generally, when parents put something on a high shelf, it was for a reason.

Ed looked over at the shelf as he pulled the lasagna out of the oven. "He wants the Rubik's cube. It's okay he can play with it. I still have to make the salad." He said as he pulled out a bowl. "Thank you for watching him while I cook by the way. I appreciate it."

"It's not as if he's any trouble," Kristen smiled as she pulled down the Rubik's cube and handed it to the boy. "He's a good kid."

Rubix took the Rubik's cube and looked at it a moment before handing it back to Kristen. "Mix pease!"

"You want me to mix it up?" Kristen asked, hesitating a moment. She knew Edward liked certain things in his apartment to be just so… But then, she doubted solving a Rubik's cube would pose as much of a challenge for him as it did for most people. When he didn't say anything in objection, Kristen gave the cube a few twists, mixing up the colored squares, before handing the cube back to Rubix.

Rubix took the cube and sighed before walking over to Edward. "Dada mix pease!" He said. "Kisten no do it right!" He said holding it up to him. Edward didn't bother correcting him on his wording this time, but took the cube and mixed it up for him, spinning the pieces in every different direction for a few moments before giving it back to him. "Thank you dada!" He said before going over and sitting on the floor and starting to turn the pieces.

"Well," Kristen laughed, watching the serious look on Rubix's little face as he set about turning the cube. "Excuse my inferior cube-mixing technique."

Rubix kept twisting the cube over and over again, turning it in his hands as trying to figure out how to solve it. Within three minutes he held up the cube fully solved and yelled "TIME DADA!" He said as Ed dished salad and lasagna onto three different plates.

Kristen's eyes widened as the toddler proudly presented the finished Rubik's cube. "How … how long has he been able to do that?" she asked.

"I don't know." Edward said. "I started timing him the last time he was here so … A few months?"

"That's … an incredibly smart boy you have there," she said, impressed, though she supposed she shouldn't be terribly surprised. With Edward's genes, it certainly made sense.

"He'd good with math problems and patterns. No idea where he gets that from." He said as he took the Rubik's cube from him and picked him up. "Time for dinner."

"No! Blechy salad!" Rubix screamed as Edward put the cube back on the shelf.

"I only gave you a little. If you eat it, you can have some ice cream after supper." Edward said bringing him over to the table. Rubix put his hands on Edward's chest and pushed away from him and stared at him with the most serious look on his face that he could muster.

"Iceceam?" Rubix asked. He stared at Edward for a moment that serious look still on his face. "Kay." He said struggling to get down as Edward put him down in his chair.

"He responds well to bribery," Kristen said, amused, as she sat down at the table. "This really looks great, Edward," she added. The lasagna smelled fantastic.

Edward sat down next to Rubix and handed him a small plastic child's fork he could use to eat his food that had been cut up into small pieces. "He does, and I'm hoping to not make a habit of it."

"Right," Kristen said, taking a bite of the dreaded salad. "You wouldn't want that to become a pattern … Wow, you should really try this salad, Rubix," she said. "It's really good."

Rubix said nothing to Kristen as he dug into his lasagna, getting more sauce on his face than in his mouth, but eating on his own nonetheless.