Hope was fixing dinner that evening. Lasagna and a garden salad. Matthew had been working in the yard most of the afternoon. She could tell he had something on his mind. She was sure what it was too. Ever since talking to him about Harleen's baby, he seemed distant. They wanted children and although this was a little sooner than they planned, even he had a hard time saying no to this opportunity. Neither of them wanted any child to be raised by The Joker and neither of them wanted Harleen to be forced into aborting either.

As she began to set the table she saw that Matthew was walking up the porch and making his way through the sliding glass door.

"Hey babe, it's lookin' good out there." She kissed his cheek.

He walked to the sink and washed his hands and wiped some water across his sweaty brow. "Yeah, it's coming along.", he replied distantly.

The two sat down and Hope poured some red wine into their glasses. Matthew stared at his empty plate, not quite focusing on anything.

"Penny for your thoughts?", Hope asked as she winked at him across the table.

"What if, what if the baby ends up like him. Like the evil is just in its genes or something."

Hope smiled, "I don't really think that's how it works." She reached across and rubbed his hand.

"Logically, I know you're right, but I can't shake the feeling that one day this kid is going to start torturing small animals or light their school on fire."

Hope chuckled, "I feel like you're over thinking this, Matt. He doesn't even want to see this kid, like ever. Once we take it from them, he won't even let me see Harleen again." Her voice trailed off during her last sentence. She tried not to think about what was going to happen after the baby was born. The situation was bittersweet in that she was getting excited about having a baby, but heartbroken that it meant she would lose her sister again, but this time forever.

Matthew stood up and walked to her and kneeled next to her side. He brushed the hair away from her face sweetly. "You know, if you feel this isn't the right thing to do, then we can always back out."

"No Matthew, I really don't think we can. I want this baby. I want to do this for my sister. I can't let him ruin an innocent little life, a life that is so closely connected to me."

Matthew kissed her hair and walked to the window to stare out at the yard. "I feel the same way, Hope. I really do. But I think we need to take every precaution we can with this. I think we should move. We don't have to move out of the city if you don't want to, but I don't think they should know where we live. I also think we need to join a church."

"A church? Matthew, I didn't think you were the religious type." She giggled.

"I just think that if we're going to be raising the child of the devil, we're going to need all the help we can get."