Chapter Eighteen

Jamie sitting in a wheelchair didn't last long at all. They had gotten him to sit in there for the first two exhibits, then the little troublemaker decided to get out of the chair and run over to the penguin building and they lost him in the crowd for a few panicked seconds. When they found him again, they ditched the wheelchair at the nearest area able and Dick ended up carrying the small boy. Jamie said that it was better that way, he could actually see over people's heads at the animals.

Ellie was having a blast. Not that she would tell anyone that. But the opportunity to be just Eileen Grayson, and out in public was a real treat. There were no people shouting at her, nor police trying to arrest her. She missed this. It'd been two years since she was able to walk without too much disturbance. There would always be disturbances when you're the daughter of the richest man in Gotham, in the nation really.

Barbara was enjoying watching the faces on the kids, her kids, faces. They were relaxed, and displayed a radiant joy she hadn't seen before.

Dick's shoulder was getting tired. He wasn't going to lie. Carrying a nearly sixty pound child could really take its toll. But he wasn't complaining. He was carrying his son. His son.

Currently Ellie and Jamie were leaning into the glass making faces at the seals on the other side. The best part was the seals would react back. Ellie and Jamie could barely contain their giggles. Ellie was actually clutching her side in effort to keep them inside.

Somehow they managed to drag the giggling maniacs out of the artic exhibit and back out into the harsh sun.

"Would you like to get something to drink?" Barbara asked getting her wallet out of her purse.

"Yeah."

"Wait, why are you paying for the snacks? You paid for the tickets to get in," Dick protested.

Barbara raised an eyebrow. "Because I have a job that actually pays regularly. No offense Dick, but you need to get a different job. Living off tips at a bar really isn't the best way to start a family. So, yes I'll pay for the snacks as well. Get used to it."

Dick kept his mouth shut. He could tell he wasn't going to win this battle. He had an ominous feeling that there would be many arguments in the future that he would lose too.

Babs went to go pay for their snacks and Dick's phone went off. He set Jamie on the ground and grabbed his phone out of his back pocket. It was Tim.

"Hey guys, I have to take this. Ellie would you watch your brother and make sure that he doesn't run off anywhere. Maybe you could go look at the tigers over there." He pointed.

Ellie nodded and grabbed her brother's hand, dragging him to the tiger building.

"What's up Tim? There can't be anything that bad happening that you can't handle," he said with a smile.

"Actually Dick we have a problem. A really, really big problem."

Crap.

"What type of problem?"

"Well, that assassin that we captured when we rescued Jamie, well, he's not really, not really-"

"Spit it out Tim. I don't have all day here."

"He's gone. Escaped. Vanished."

"WHAT!? What do you mean that he escaped? I thought he was incarcerated. How did he get out?" Dick was close to yelling.

Tim made a noise that was a combination between a choke and a cough. Dick heard someone talking on the other side of the phone. There was a moment that nothing was told to him. During that moment a frantic worry was settling over him. That bastard had escaped. Oh, god. He would come after Ellie and Jamie, or even worse, he would go after Barbara.

Dick could feel as his blood ran cold. He couldn't let anything happen to her. Not his Babs. Not their child growing inside. He hung up the phone before Tim could do anything in protest.

"So does this mean that we're boyfriend/girlfriend, or what?" Barbara asked as she handed him his lemonade.

"Um, yeah, sure," he agreed without ever really thinking.

"Excellent, then that gives me the right to do this."

Before Dick could ask what she was talking about she had grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him down. She crashed her lips to his. For a moment Dick was surprised. But he didn't pull back.

Despite what had just been going through his head moments before, all of that was gone now. The only thought on his mind was that the most beautiful woman in the world was kissing him. And he wasn't the one who had initiated it. That thrilled him and terrified him.

She dragged him behind a tall bush and broke off.

"Now isn't really a good time," Dick choked out.

"What? No, of course not. I needed a reason to get you back here though." She rummaged through her purse.

"What are you talking about?" Dick was confused.

"Get changed." She tossed him his Nightwing uniform. He caught it easily.

She held a hand up as he opened his mouth. It wasn't two seconds later when screams were heard from across the entire zoo. People began running in every direction. Barbara peeled off her outer layers to change into her Batgirl costume. She caught Dick staring.

"Really? Out here? It's not like you haven't seen any of it before. Now get your ass into that suit before I kick it in there for you." She slipped the mask on her head. "Later then Wing-nut."

She disappeared into the crowd of people.

Dick quickly changed and followed her. She was telling people how to get out of the zoo safely. He approached her.

"Where are the kids?" She asked.

"They went to the tiger cages while you went to get snacks," he answered.

"What? You let them go off on their own? You do realize that their assassin escaped right?"

"How did you know that?"

"Batman called." Simple.

Most of the people were out of the area by then. And the remaining people were hurrying out of there as fast as possible. Batgirl stopped one of the teenagers.

"Get on your cell phone, and call the police. Get Commissioner Gordon on this. He'll know what to do."

The small ebony nodded her head and quickly began to dial on her phone. She looked at the two heroes before running towards the exit.

Batgirl marched towards the tiger's cage. She was about twenty feet away from the entry of the building when Dick realized what she was doing and hurried to catch up with her. He couldn't let her go in. He couldn't.

"Nightwing, what are you doing?" She hissed.

"BG, I can't let you do it."

"'Can't let me do it'! Are you crazy! Those are our kids in there! You can't expect me to stay out of the thick of it this time. Not with their lives on the line!" Her voice switched from hissing to outright yelling at times.

"NO! You listen to me. If you go in there and something happens to you, their existence could cease. And you're already, you know," he decided against shouting that she was pregnant for the world to hear. "And that assassin would be most likely aiming for you. If you were to get hurt." He let that sink in. "I don't know what I would do if you were to get hurt or killed Babs. I love you too much for that."

Batgirl stopped fighting him. He was speaking from the heart.

"But then you can't go in there either. You are the father. If something happens to you," she trailed off, not daring to think of what that would mean.

"There's no need-"

A scream echoed from the inside of the tiger's house. Both heads snapped towards the building. Nightwing dropped Batgirl's arm and ran inside.

As Barbara watched Dick run inside she felt hollow. She knew he loved her and she knew that he was only doing what he thought was right for her and Ellie growing inside. But as she watched him run, she couldn't help but feel as if she should have done more.

She watched him leave.

She came to the realization that she didn't want him to go. She wanted him to stay by her all of the time. She wanted to be with him forever.

She loved him.

A/N: And the next chapter we get some fighting action! As always, Review. :D