The next afternoon, Harley was sitting in a comfortable recliner with a blanket wrapped around her in Hope's living room. She just finished her twenty-week appointment with Dr White.

Hope walked in from the kitchen and gave Harley her cup of hot chocolate with extra marshmallows. "A little girl.", Hope smiled. "I can't believe it, it almost doesn't seem real."

Harley gave a small smile and sniffed her drink. She had so many mixed emotions. She could feel the tears once again gathering in her eyes. Between the pregnancy hormones, her marital issues, and losing the only baby she'd ever have, she almost couldn't take it anymore.

"Harls, you wanna talk about it? Let it all out?"

"I just- I just can't even wrap my thoughts around any of it. Hope, my heart hurts all the time. I mean, Mista J won't even look at me most of the time. I've disappointed him so much. I miss him. Sometimes... sometimes I wish that I just got rid of the baby in the beginning. Then it wouldn't hurt so bad." Harley began sobbing and she put the mug down so she could bury her face in her hands. "Oh Hope, I'm sure a terrible mother! How could I have these feelings?"

Hope came to her and curled up in the chair while wrapping her arms around her sister. "Listen to me Harleen. You are such a wonderful, selfless mother. You could have taken the easy way out and had an abortion, but you risked your life to stand up against that man. You demanded to keep your baby safe even if it meant you would lose her. You are so brave, sweetie. I admire you so much. I promise that you will always be her mother, always. She may not know it, but I will. Thank you for this precious gift." She kissed Harley's cheek and held her while they both had silent tears stream down their faces.

"Hannah Joy.", Harley whispered.

"What was that?"

"Hope, I want to give our little girl a gift, probably the only gift I'll ever be able to give her. I want to name her Hannah Joy."

"Oh Harl, that's so beautiful. Thank you for giving her such a lovely name."

A few days later, The Joker was coming home late, almost midnight. He wanted to crawl onto the couch in his office and forget about everything for a few hours. Normally Harley would be asleep by the time he came home, but he saw the light on in the kitchen flooding through the living space. He also heard her singing. He crept to the kitchen and stood behind the wall, but peeked in to see her standing in front of the counter with her back to him. She was wearing her normal sleep shorts and a tank top. When she turned to the side he could see her swollen belly sticking out from under her shirt. She was singing a song along with the radio:

But you don't judge me'Cause if you did, baby, I would judge you tooNo, you don't judge me'Cause if you did, baby, I would judge you too

'Cause I got issuesBut you got 'em tooSo give 'em all to meAnd I'll give mine to youBask in the gloryOf all our problems'Cause we got the kind of loveIt takes to solve 'em

Yeah, I got issuesAnd one of them is how bad I need you

He could see that she was frosting a cake, chocolate. As the song finished, she poured sprinkles excessively across the top. She turned off the radio, but continued to hum the song. She grabbed a plate and a fork and a cup of milk and as she balanced all of that in her hands she also lifted the large plate with the cake. She headed towards the living area slowly. He stepped back trying to hide in the shadow of the corner he was in, but she saw him anyway. Surprised, she let out a shriek and everything in her arms flew up into the air and landed on the floor. The plate and the milk glass shattered and milk started seeping into the cracks in the hardwood. The cake landed face up, but the dish it was resting on cracked in half making the cake also crack in half. Harley's hand flew up to her heart as she tried to catch her breath from the scare. He stood there with his mouth agape and hands held up defensively. Her lip began to tremble and she covered her face as she ran up the stairs, slamming her bedroom door. The Joker looked down at the mess and went into the kitchen to grab some towels. As he sopped up the milk his eyes drifted over to the cake. It was a chocolate on chocolate, his favorite. She had written words in red gel icing, "Happy 1 Year Anniversary" and signed it with her initials. She had been bringing it upstairs to put in his office before he came home. He sighed and tossed the rags in the sink. He looked around for a broom and finally found one. He swept up all the broken glass and tossed it in the trash can. He sat the broken cake on the counter and dipped a finger in the chocolate frosting and licked it off his finger. He leaned against the counter and rested his forehead on the cabinet. He closed his eyes and breathed heavily. He pushed off and headed up the stairs. He stopped outside her bedroom and listened through the door. He heard the bed creak as she tossed and turned. He opened the door and the room was dark except for the light that spilled in from the hallway.

"Harley-"

She sat up, it was the first time he uttered her name in months and it sounded so sweet.

He licked his scars, "Thanks for the cake."

She sniffed and fiddled with the blanket in her hands, "You're welcome, Mista J." She wiped the drying tears from her face. He pursed his lips and closed the door.

Three months had passed. Harley was counting down the final weeks until she would lose so much of what she held dear. She had grown very attached to Hannah already. She felt the baby girl dance and wiggle in her womb at all hours of the day and night. Harley would poke at her tummy and Hannah would kick right back. Harley sang and read to the baby every day.

Things with The Joker were worse than ever. He must have been working on something big because he was so rarely home. Even when he was home, he would be locked in his office. Harley had been brave enough to peek inside the room one day to find that he had been working on a dozen detonators. She had been watching the henchmen stock up on drums of gasoline and crates of other things she was unable to recognize. Aside from daily conversations with Hope and the occasional visit from Ivy, Harley hadn't spoken to anyone. She was forbidden to leave the house the moment she started showing. J hadn't said much of anything to her since the night of their anniversary. She longed for him to kiss her again, speak to her, even hit her. Her thoughts plagued her. Was he still in love with her? Would he kill her after the baby was born? Would things ever get back to normal? Had he found someone else to spend his time with? The last fear was the biggest. He had never been much for relationships before Harley, but he was still a man with needs and she wasn't the one fulfilling those needs for him.