A Broken Family

"Alfred, I just don't know what to do... I can't get this nightmare to stop haunting me. I don't even know if Bruce loves me anymore!," Diana sighed as she rested her elbows on the cold marble of the kitchen countertop.

Alfred closed the oven and set aside the roasted chicken on the stovetop. He set his oven mitts down and untied the apron from his torso. "Lady Diana, as his surrogate father, I am completely positive that his love for you will always be present in his heart."

"How can I be sure? I'm not the innocent princess that just arrived in this complicated world. I know how relationships fall, I know what the victims say when they're in that situation. Ever since Jason died, nothing's been the same…"

"That is a fact that is in no use of denying."

Diana sighed again and whisked her hair onto one shoulder. "I just want everything to go back to the way they were. The only thing that's keeping me here are the boys. I can't just leave them after what they've gone through. This is killing me, Alfred," she said right before Terry burst into the kitchen.

"Mama, can you play with me, Timmy, and Dick?"

Diana plastered on a smile and ran over to scoop Terry into her arms. "Anything for you, my little sun."

She turned her head back to look at Alfred, who responded with eyes of uncertainty. "It can't possibly get worse than this.."

An hour later, Bruce arrived home from Wayne Towers. "I'm back," he said as he walked towards the Master Bedroom. On his way, he heard Diana's laugh joined with his sons'. He peeked through the door, seeing the four playing Risk, with Tim dominating the entire Eastern Hemisphere.

"No fair, Timmy!," Terry giggled. Diana cradled her toddler in her arms and began to tickle him. "Mama! I'm ticklish!"

She withdrew her hands slowly, saying, "Alright, if you say so," before smothering him with kisses.

"Mom, stop embarrassing yourself," Tim sighed as he rolled the dice.

"What do you mean by that?" Diana crossed her arms and jokingly stuck her tongue out at her son.

Dick began laughing again and punched Tim lightly in the arm. "Never question a woman, man. Words to live by."

Bruce snapped away from his observation and silently crept away. It wasn't the right time to make amends.

Not long after, the family situated themselves at the dining room table. Bruce and Diana were at the opposite sides of the table, with the boys and Alfred in between them. No one uttered a word to each other, just savoring their meal in silence.

"Can someone pass me the mashed potatoes?," Dick interrupted. Bruce silently handed them over as he stared down Diana.

"Would you stop staring at me?," she quipped.

Bruce raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "I was not staring at you, Princess."

Diana stood up from her seat and clenched her hands into fists. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Princess? You do not have that privilege anymore, Bruce!"

"So it's a privilege now… I see. Maybe like the fact that it's a "privilege" to be stuck with an insufferable wife!"

"I am not insufferable! If you were in my situation, you would have filed divorce papers faster than Hermes can run," she shouted across as she pointed her finger at him.

Bruce rose from his seat and rubbed his forehead. "How many times do I have to tell you that it was an accident? It wasn't even my fault! I love you, Diana."

She held back her tears and took a deep breath.

"I don't care. Even with Zeus' favor, you wouldn't get me to forgive you."

"Diana, grow up! We're not frickin' teenagers. It was an accident!"

"I wish we were, so I could dump your lying gaidaros right now!"

Dick cleared his throat and raised a finger. "Um, sorry to interrupt this fascinating conversation, but what's a gaidaros?"

"-It means ass," Bruce answered coldly.

"That's not a nice word to say, Daddy!," Terry yelled.

Bruce sighed and rested his hands on the table. "If you want to leave, then leave. I'm going to die eventually, so you might as well move on," he quipped.

"If I cared about that, then why would I have married you? You mean everything to me. It just kills to see you letting go of me and the family we built together!"

"I'm not letting go of anything, Princes-"

"Save it," she ended as she stormed away. They heard a loud crash of some fragile piece, followed by a scream fit for a banshee.

"Diana, calm yourself!," he shouted.

"I hate you!"

Bruce sat down in his chair again and let out a sigh. "Eat your vegetables, Tim."

"Awww!"