Author's Note: Finally, the weekend is here. I have four days off from school, and I only have to work one of them (and only a five hour shift at that). So if you guys have been feeling neglected, I'll do my best to make it up to you. On another note... I take it the wallwisher idea didn't settle too well with you guys. Out of the 100+ people who read the last chapter, nobody used the wall. So I'll just assume that nobody really needs it. Just thought I'd put it out there for people who have questions. It really is a neat site, and totally anonymous. So I'll keep checking in there every once in a while, but I might just abandon it if nobody's interested. but enough of that... We've got a story to finish. Or start, really. Take your pick.
Diana groaned as she slumped over on the bed. She relaxed her muscles as she slowly settled down. She slowly lifted up her shirt and rubbed her belly thoughtfully. She was now showing quite visibly; it still shocked her a bit when she looked down and saw her stomach protruding out so far. She frowned and bit her lip. As much as she was enjoying this new experience, she was getting sick of being pregnant. While she loved the feeling of life growing within her, and realized that she should be honored to be the first of the Amazons to feel such a thing, she was growing anxious. She absolutely hated her decreased mobility; she had gone from being able to punch down a super powered villain with her eyes closed to being unable to stand up unassisted without falling over in a few short months. She couldn't stand being unable to go help Bruce with his raids, and she felt like she was letting down the Justice League. She knew that she couldn't help her circumstances... But still. She'd sworn to fight crime, but had been forced to sit on the sidelines for eight months.
In addition to her restlessness, she was anxious to meet her children. She'd never imagined herself as a mother; the Amazons never reproduced. Hippolyta was the only Amazon allowed to have a child; motherhood was always far from the minds of the Amazons. Prior to her journey to man's world, she'd only seen two children in her lifetime; herself, and her adopted sister, Aresia (who'd been shipwrecked on the island while she was still young). However, once she'd ventured into the world of man, she'd taken an immediate interest in the small creatures. They were all so innocent and impressionable. But she'd still never imagined herself being a mother... Until it just happened. And while she was grateful, she wished that she could have planned things out a bit more. She was worried for Bruce's sake; she was ready to be a parent, but she knew that he had trouble adapting to changes.
She could see the strain that all of the recent changes were putting on him. First, she'd finally managed to convince him that he was ready for a relationship with her. But before they knew it, they discovered that she was pregnant. They quickly agreed to get married, if for no other reason than for the kid's sake. (Diana nearly collapsed when Bruce presented the idea). Diana been impressed by how he handled the onslaught of sudden changes, she couldn't help but worry that their newest discovery had been too much for him. He would never admit it, but she could tell that he was terrified of having to raise twins. Personally, she couldn't see what he was so afraid of; as far as she was concerned, it was a win-win situation. From what she'd heard, the birthing process was somewhat... Unpleasant, and she was glad that she would only have to go through it once in order to get two children. And she figured that it would be nice for the kids to have sibling companionship. But she couldn't get Bruce to see it that way. No, everything always had to be doom and gloom for him. But she could see his attitude slowly changing; he was beginning to come out of his shell a bit. As the weeks and months passed, she could see him change. While she knew that he was still anxious, she could see a bit of curiosity growing in him. He was nervous, but she could tell that he was as excited to meet the twins as she was. And she was proud of the progress that he'd made with Tim; accepting him as an ally was a huge step for him. She was surprised by how willing he was to take him in; he'd resisted a big, as he was bound to, but had allowed him to work as Robin with a minimum of fuss. She could see the positive effect that the partnership was having already; when Bruce returned from his patrols, he seemed less exhausted. having somebody to ease the load seemed to do wonders for Bruce.
She pulled her shirt down again. With some effort, she managed to stand up. She looked around the bedroom, wondering what to do now. She still had another month to go, and cabin fever was setting in worse than ever. Thanks to the added weight of her children, she couldn't even get down low enough for pushups (a lesson that she'd learned the hard way. She glared down at her belly for a moment before softening her gaze. She couldn't blame the children. But she still wished that they could hurry up already. She was sick of waiting. She wasn't sure if she could take another day of just lying around the manor. Not to mention that the extra load was getting a bit heavy, even for her.
She wanted to go out and find something to do, but that was pretty much out of the question. Her sudden and spontaneous marriage to Bruce had elicited powerful reactions from the residents of Gotham; whenever she left the house, she was nearly assaulted by paparazzi. Things had only gotten worse when they discovered that she was pregnant; Bruce was great at keeping things secret, but he could only hide it for so long. When she started to show, they leapt on her like starving dogs. Most magazines printed stories that were truly atrocious, not too mention hurtful. They accused her of marrying Bruce for his money and power, as if they knew half of the story. That was nothing compared to the assaults that she suffered at the hands of Bruce's fangirls. Any time that she left the house, they attempted to pelt her with eggs and fruit. It had little effect (she could block bullets, so catching an egg was easy enough), but was still hurtful. It could be assumed that at any time there was a group of them outside of the gate, waiting to harass her as she left the manor. It had gotten to the point where Bruce had had to call the Police Department to break them up.
Diana winced as she felt one of the babies kick. It was a powerful kick, and she felt the other twin retaliate immediately. She felt a flurry of movement, as if they were pushing against each other. She groaned and laid down again, pulling up her shirt again. She rubbed her belly and hummed soothingly; in a moment, the movement ceased, leaving the surface of her stomach calm once again. She sighed, wondering when the kids would finally be born.
Author's Note: I decided to try something a little bit different here. No dialogue at all, just musing. This is a bit of a wrap-up chapter; we'll be hitting the part of the story very soon. I've decided that I'll be splitting the story up into a few different sections. The second section should be moderately short. Then, we'll get to the third one, which is the one that you should really be excited for. If the story goes as planned, the fourth one will be the last. I've put up a new prompt on my wallwisher in an attempt to get things going there; it should be a good way for you guys to get involved in the story if you so desire. The instructions for getting there are at the end of the last chapter, so check that out. Next time, things are going to start to pick up. Maybe.