"If you don't want to have a baby shower we won't" Artemis promised Wally. They were laying on his bed together, a few days after the movie. She and M'gann had decided it was probably best not to move forward without the boys' permission.
"I don't know if I really feel up to that." Wally admitted, he winced a little as he said it. Artemis frowned and slipped a hand under his shirt. To her surprise, his stomach was as hard as a rock.
"Are you okay?" She asked in alarm. She sat straight up on the bed, staring down at him in panic.
"They're just Braxton-Hicks contractions." He assured her with a laugh. "It's already over, see?" He put her hand back on his, now relaxed, abdomen.
"Does that happen a lot?" Artemis asked.
"I get them usually every other day or two, especially if I've been on my feet for a long time." Wally shrugged.
"That felt like it had to have hurt, why did you never say anything?"
"They aren't really that bad and they usually stop in in an hour. My back, on the other hand, is sore all of the time." He told her with a sigh.
"M'gann will be disappointed." Artemis complained, flopping back down onto the bed.
"I heard it was your idea." Wally grinned.
"Maybe." Was the terse response.
"You don't seem like the type."
"The type for what?"
"To like baby showers." Wally said. "Or babies, for that matter."
"Babies are the best things in the universe." Artemis said definitively.
"Why is that?" Wally questioned, surprised by the seriousness of her tone. Artemis was quite for a moment, then sat up abruptly. She slid a hand under Wally's shirt, feeling around until she found the outline of a little head, pressed against Wally's side.
"This little guy, or girl, isn't even born yet and they're already amazing." She began. "They're innocent and full of potential. Babies haven't made any mistakes and they aren't afraid of them. They aren't afraid of anything, all they know about is being warm, comfortable, taken care of. All they know about is you and how much you love them. Babies are the best because they don't know how much the world sucks yet." She gave Wally's stomach a rub as she finished her monologue. The redhead was going to make a witty retort but he saw a tear slide down the girl's face.
"You can have a baby shower." Wally said. He sat up and wiped away the tears.
"You're only saying that because I'm crying." She said as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Does that mean you don't want to have one?"
"We're having a damn party Kid Idiot."
"Kaldur, Roy." Ollie greeted the teens as he ushered them into the apartment he shared with Dinah. "How are you doing?" He clapped his former sidekick on the back.
"I'm good." Roy responded simply.
"How about you Kaldur?" Ollie asked.
"I am doing well. How are you and Black Canary?" Kaldur responded politely.
"We're great and its Dinah!" The blond insisted as she came into the large living room. "Kaldur, have a seat."
"Actually, Dinah, would I be able to have a glass of water?" Kaldur asked. Being away from Atlantis during these last few weeks had been hard. He was almost constantly dehydrated from being on the surface world.
"Of course, the kitchen is right through here." She led him into the other room.
"Roy, that boy looks like he could pop any second." Ollie remarked.
"I know." Roy smiled widely.
"How much longer until he's due?" Ollie questioned.
"He's thirty-seven weeks so technically another month, but the baby could pretty much come anytime."
"Better tell the girls if they're going to have a baby shower it needs to be sooner than later. He looks like the kid could fall out of him." Ollie told him. Roy grinned again.
"Boys, dinner!" Dinah called from the kitchen.
"Dinah, Oliver, I must admit that this was not just a social visit." Kaldur said as they finished their meal.
"Oh?" Ollie cocked an eyebrow.
"We..uh…had a question for you." Roy admitted, shifting awkwardly in her chair.
"What is it? Is everything alright?" Dinah asked worriedly.
"Yes! Yes." Roy assured her. "Nothing's wrong." He took Kaldur's hand across the table.
"We wished to know." Kaldur began. "If the two of you, would…be the child's godparents."
"Oh boys." Dinah gushed… She was immediately a little teary-eyed.
"Roy, Kaldur, we would be honored." Ollie told his mentor and the boy who had become his love.
"Yes, we would love too." Dinah confirmed.
"Roy." Ollie, too, was crying now. "Roy, I'm so happy for you."
"Do you think I'm making the right decision?" Dick asked his adoptive father.
"I can't answer that Dick, you know that." Bruce replied. The boy was curled up against his father's side.
"Sometimes I don't want to give him up." Dick admitted.
"You don't have too if you don't want too." Bruce assured him. "We have the resources, of course, it's all up to you."
"I already picked that family. They think they're getting him." Dick reasoned.
"And they will recover if you change your mind. Remember what the adoption counselor said, it's not too late to change your mind until twenty four hours after he's born."
"Would you be mad if I changed my mind?" Dick asked.
"It sounds like you already have."
"I can't give him away. He's mine, I feel him moving and I talk to him and…he's mine." Dick bawled.
"Shh, shh. It's alright. We'll call the adoption center in the morning and then Alfred and I will clear out the room next to yours for a nursery." Bruce said. "Is that what you want?"
"I want him."
"I'm glad."