This chapter is a little long, but I had a tough time trying to find a place to just stop it and in so, this one took a while to wrap up. If this chapter had a title, it would be called, LATE, in every sense of the word. It's the theme of the chapter. I hope that you enjoy it. Thank you for all the private messages to let me know that you were still with me. And thank you for the reviews and alerts. Knowing that there is someone out there enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing it makes this all worth while. :)

Emily was late.

She walked into the pub and instantly saw Louise and Janie sitting, and conversing at a tall pub table near a window. Emily made her way through the busy place and caught the attention of the two ladies as she pulled out the empty chair.

"I was just about to call you," Louise told her as Emily sat down beside Janie. She placed a portfolio on the table and placed her purse under the table.

"Are you all right?" Janie asked, seeming to study Emily's body language and facial expression as she had sat down.

Emily forced a smile on her face, trying to forget what Bill had told her just minutes before she walked into the pub.

"I'm fine."

Questions had haunted her since she pulled away from that curb. Why did Crane want to kill her? Did he figure out that it was her that snuck into Bill's apartment and then confronted him on the rooftop that one night?

"Emily," Louise said, catching her attention. "You certainly don't look fine."

"I'm just a little tired," she explained, as it was partially true. She ran her hand over her face. "I'm glad that I'm not working the shift tonight."

Suddenly Janie reached forward and grabbed Emily's wrist, pulling it towards her.

"Holy crap! Is that...?"

The quick gesture caught Emily off guard until she realized what Janie had seen.

"Oh my," was all that Louise had said, as she leaned over with a broad smile to see the ring on Emily's hand.

"Is this what I think it is?" Janie asked with excitement that she could barely contain.

Emily smiled meekly and simply nodded. She leaned forward to speak as they had already caught the attention of most of the patrons in the pub.

"He gave it to me earlier today," she told them softly. "It caught me completely off guard."

"I'll say," Louise remarked. "You haven't been going out with him for that long. Speaking as a friend who's only concerned for you, are you certain that this is something you're ready for? Bruce Wayne has a history of being a playboy. I'm sure he has had his fair share of wild nights. He doesn't seem the type that would settle down."

Emily shrugged and smiled.

"You'd be surprised," Emily told them.

"Well, if he's captured your heart, that tells me a lot about the man," Janie said, reaching for the pitcher of water sitting in the centre of their table. She began to fill the three glasses at the table, after which Emily and Louise both took theirs.

"To you and Bruce," Janie said softly, before clinking their glasses together and each took a drink from their glasses. Janie decided to continue. "And may your marriage last longer than mine ever did."

Louise let out a laugh as Emily nearly spit the wine out from her mouth. She quickly recovered and laughed along with Louise.

After this, attempts at keeping the conversation headed in the direction of benefit preparations proved to be difficult. Although they kept on track, the meeting ended up going longer than expected due to some laughter from stories being exchanged. It made Emily forget the events that occurred prior to meeting with Louise and Janie.

It wasn't until she was on her drive back to Wayne manor that she heard her cell phone begin to ring from the seat beside her. She reached for it and turned it over, seeing the illuminated screen with the caller ID - B. Wayne. With a quick glance at the time on the clock telling her it was nearly midnight, she pressed the button to put the call on speaker.

"I didn't think you'd be up yet," she said, cheerfully. "I wasn't expecting you to be up until morning."

"I know that you went to that transmitter location," he quickly admitted.

"Bruce, I just happened to be going by there on the way to the meeting. It's not a big deal."

"It is, when you park the car and stop for 5 minutes and 32 seconds."

What the hell?

"Were you tracking me?"

"No. Alfred was," Bruce replied. "I just happened to come downstairs when he was going over the download data from Dravis' computer and I saw that he had made sure that you had made it to the pub."

Emily pulled up to a light and stopped.

"Wait," she stated, as a realization hit her. "You're out of bed?!"

"Emily..."

"No, get your ass back upstairs."

She heard Bruce scoff. "You're the one who went alone to that corner and you're angry with me that I'm out of bed?!"

Emily let out an exasperated sigh as she began driving again. "Look, I'll talk to you about what happened when I get home. I really don't want to talk about it while I'm driving."

"What? What happened?"

Emily could hear the urgency and the tone in his voice had changed.

"Nothing really," she assured him. "I just spoke with Bill."

"What did he say?"

Emily paused and shook her head as she slowed down behind traffic.

"Bruce, I'll talk to you about it when I get back," she told him, just before she hung up.

She knew that hanging up on him would leave him to stew in his frustration. In fact, she noticed him call back twice on her way back to Wayne Manor and she wasn't surprised when she saw him make his way towards the front door as she walked in.

"Why didn't you answer your phone?" he asked bitterly, as she met him halfway across the large foyer. He was still wearing the flannel PJ pants and the same t-shirt that he had on when she had left him.

"You should be in bed," she quickly retorted, ignoring his question as Emily put her arm around Bruce's torso and walked with him towards the staircase.

Bruce let out an exasperated sigh. "Em, you can't just go after Crane like that on your own."

"I wasn't going after Crane," she replied. "I was merely checking out a location on my way through and I happened to see Bill. That's the only reason why I stopped."

Bruce paused and nodded, almost coming to the conclusion that he was all right with the explanation.

"What did he say?"

Emily paused, not certain how she should say it. Finally, it just suddenly fell out of her mouth.

"He's helping Crane so that Crane will not kill me."

That revelation caught Bruce off guard and he stopped halfway up the staircase for a moment.

"Crane is using you as leverage to get Bill to work for him," Bruce concluded. As he digested that information, he looked at Emily. "Did he say what he was doing?"

Emily shook her head. "He was eager to get me to leave as quickly as possible. He looked like a classic stereotypical drug addict that we see everyday at the clinic. Bill didn't look good."

Neither spoke until they reached the top of the staircase.

"He saw the ring," Emily told him, softly. "And he didn't seem to pleased to know it was from you."

Bruce sighed, taking her hand as they walked into the bedroom.

"I know you well enough that telling you not to do something isn't going to stop you from doing it, so I wont even bother," he said, with a smirk as he turned to face her, cupping her cheek as he continued to hold her hand. "But you must promise me that you wont knowingly do anything that would put yourself in harms way. I want to be able to come home to you every morning."

Emily smiled, squeezing his hand. "I promise."

The morning sun shone across the bedspread and it caught Emily's eyes. She rolled away from the window and found herself pressed up against the side of Bruce's warm body. Emily moved closer to him as she had gotten used to doing for the past few months and even rested her arm across Bruce's stomach, being careful of the stitches on his side. Slowly, she closed her eyes again, attempting to fall back asleep. Bruce's chest rose and fell in perfect rhythm indicating that he was in a deep sleep.

Sleep wasn't finding her.

After another few minutes of laying still in bed with her eyes open, Emily slid out from between the blankets, and managed to get dressed into shorts and a t-shirt before sneaking out of the room. The morning sun shone across the marble floors as she made her way towards the kitchen. As she neared the open door, she could hear the television on in the small room.

"Good morning, Miss Emily," Alfred said, cheerfully. "I should have breakfast ready in about a half hour or so."

"Sounds good," she told him, reaching for a muffin off the counter and taking a glass full of juice from the table. "Bruce is still asleep and I'm going to go for a quick jog around the property."

"I'll wake him before you're back," Alfred told her with a smile.

She quickly drank the juice and smirked before she headed out the back door with the muffin in hand.

Emily had gotten to know the extensive Wayne property pretty well. Bruce had shown her the outlining edges of the property and had a fairly well traveled path that she had been using. As much as she liked having the company of another jogger, she enjoyed being alone with her thoughts. The wind blowing through the new leaves and the green grass felt great against her skin. The morning smelled wonderful.

She pushed the ear buds into her ears and turned up the volume on her MP3 player. The bass rhythmically boomed in her ears and created a perfect beat for her to jog to.

Her mind thought of everything from the benefit at the end of the week, to Bill's involvement with Crane, to Bruce's injuries, to the ring on her finger and her work at the clinic. So much had changed and so much had happened in less than 6 months. If anyone had told her a year ago what she knew now, she would call them crazy.

After a few minutes of thinking and running, Emily found herself having to slow down. She was having trouble catching her breath. She felt her face flush as she began to walk.

What is wrong with me?

Emily looked back at Wayne manor across the vast field of green grass and realized she was just barely three quarters the way around the property. She had gone further in the past before getting winded.

Am I finally stressing out?

There was a lot on her mind and she found that she couldn't focus on just one thing anymore.

Taking a deep breath, she turned up the volume on the ear buds and continued her jog, keeping her mind occupied with the music. Yet again, after a few minutes of pushing herself Emily had to slow down. Her face glistened with sweat as she tried to catch her breath. Emily pulled the ear buds from her ears, hearing herself breathing deeply.

Emily stopped walking and leaned over, feeling herself suddenly getting light headed. She turned her head and looked over at Wayne manor, realizing how far she really was from it. Emily could see the backdoor from which she had originally left. It might as well had been a mile away.

Slowly, she went down onto her knees as she felt the world spin around her and continued to lean forward, hoping to end the chaos and pounding in her head. Instead, it just went white and the sound faded.

The cold wash cloth on the back of her neck was the first thing she could actually recall. Emily reached behind her head and pulled the wash cloth from her neck and pushed herself up to sit up on the couch. She looked around and realized that she was sitting in the den and Bruce sat beside her as he spoke to Alfred who seemed to be busying himself at a table with a glass and a pitcher.

"She could probably handle that juice now," Bruce said, realizing that Emily was alert once again.

"What happened?" Emily asked.

"You passed out from exhaustion," Bruce said as Alfred walked over and handed Emily a glass of orange juice. "Alfred saw you from the kitchen window just as I was coming down."

Emily nodded as she drank from the glass.

"You're colour is coming back," Alfred commented. "I think you overdid it this morning."

"How can I overdo it when I did less than I usually do?"

Bruce shrugged, looking up to Alfred for an answer.

Emily spoke again. "I'm just stressed. I've had a lot on my mind lately."

She noticed Bruce watching her, with concern in his eyes.

"I'm fine," she stated emphatically for him, and smiled, hoping to alleviate his concerns.

He sighed. "Then let me help. What can I do to lessen the stress?"

Emily smiled and leaned forward taking his face between her hands.

"That's sweet, but there isn't much that you can do," she said, until a thought came to mind. "Unless, you want to help write a speech with me."

"A speech?"

Emily nodded. "Your board wants me to say a speech at the benefit on behalf of the clinic and I haven't done any public speaking since University. I have no idea where to start and you must have given your fair share of speeches."

Bruce smiled and leaned forward, giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

"I'll help you," he said. "But honestly, the speeches that I give are usually written for me or I give them on the fly."

Emily smirked. "Just try not to make my words sound like a pompous, air headed playboy."

Bruce chuckled.

He was feeling better. Despite the ache in his side from the pulling stitches, it wasn't too bad. Bruce had a high pain tolerance to begin with but he also knew that he didn't want to sit at home all day. After the exciting events of the morning, he surprised Emily and told her that he would take her out for lunch downtown.

He would glance over in her direction as he drove the Audi through the city. He couldn't get his mind over the fact that something might be wrong with her. Bruce studied her body language for any indication that she may be in pain or hiding some sort of infliction. He found nothing, but he still couldn't get over that nagging feeling.

"So, where are we going for lunch?" Emily asked.

He smiled and thought, coming up with a location. "I was thinking of that new bistro between Fifth and College Avenue."

Emily paused, looking at the street sign they had passed.

"Then why are we heading away from that area?"

"Leslie called just before we left," Bruce simply replied. "She wanted to take a look at the stitches and see how the healing was going."

Emily seemed to study Bruce as he kept his eyes on the traffic. She crossed her arms.

"I could have just taken a look at them," she told him.

Bruce merely shrugged.

"Well, you met Dr. Thompkins and you know how insistent she can be," Bruce said. "She wanted to see them first hand."

Emily nodded, and kept silent for the rest of the trip. Bruce was hiding something. In the months of knowing Bruce, she had come to be able to read him more and more.

Bruce parked a few blocks from Leslie's office. They walked the rest of the way and even discreetly made their way to the back door. Bruce had texted Leslie as they made their way around the building and found the older woman waiting for them. She smiled as she pushed the door open for them to walk in.

"Bruce told me that you had passed out this morning," Leslie said, as she walked beside Emily and sat down on a chair.

Emily glanced back at Bruce, realizing the whole fiasco about his stitches and lunch was bull shit. She let out a light scoff and sat down, not bothering to take out her frustration on the older woman. Leslie was innocent and was simply doing what any concerned doctor would do.

"As I told Bruce," she began, glaring over at the man as he sat down in a chair along the wall. "It was no big deal."

Leslie glanced over at Bruce who simply shrugged before looking back to Emily.

"I could run some simple blood tests to make sure everything is all right," Leslie suggested. "It could be as simple as low blood sugar or anemia."

Emily shook her head. "I'm not anemic nor do I have low blood sugar."

The older woman smiled politely, as she opened up a file folder on her lap.

"My dear, people don't pass out for no reason," Leslie began, pulling a pen from her lab coat pocket. "I noticed a few things about you when we first met and now with the fainting, it makes me concerned for your health."

Emily was taken back and surprised that she would even suspect anything. "Things? What kind of things?"

"You were exhausted," Leslie said. "There were times when I was explaining things to you and it seemed that your mind was elsewhere. The plain fact that you fell asleep on the chair beside Bruce's bedside while I was speaking with Alfred tells me that something may be wrong with you."

"Nothing is wrong with me," Emily argued. "I feel fine. Yes, I've been tired lately. I assume anyone in my position would be. I'm heading up a benefit party this week. I've taken leadership within the small clinic, something that I haven't ever done along with a boat load of other issues that are facing my life right now. So, I think those things alone are likely to make anyone exhausted."

Leslie nodded and wrote down notes in the file in front of her. "How about mood swings?"

"Not really."

"Weight change?"

Emily shrugged and glanced over at Bruce. "I've been exercising a lot with Bruce over the past month and I have put on a little weight. I'm guessing it's from muscle gain."

Leslie looked over at Bruce.

"Have you noticed any change?"

He leaned forward in the chair and looked over at Emily.

"Physically, yeah," he replied. "I have to say that she's become more short tempered than usual. It's been easier to tick her off lately."

Emily quickly turned, a look of incredulousness on her face.

"What?! Are you kidding me?"

Bruce held up his hands and nodded. "Leslie asked."

Leslie wrote down some notes and then looked back to Emily, as the younger woman scoffed.

"How about appetite?"

"It's fine," Emily replied, starting to wonder where this was all leading to. "I've been eating more than usual but it's only because of the stress I've been under."

Leslie nodded and wrote down more notes before looking back up at her.

"When was your last period?"

Emily paused, as the colour drained from her face and her mind raced through her mental calendar. Emily chuckled nervously.

"Seriously? You're thinking that my fainting was because I'm pregnant?"

Leslie smiled.

"I'm just trying to exhaust all possible reasons. Humour an old lady," she insisted, as she passed Emily a small calendar from her desk.

Emily didn't dare look over at Bruce as he sat a few feet from her. From the corner of her eye, she could see him sit up straighter in his chair. She was certain that he could hear her own heart beating as she flipped through the calendar. Emily did her best to keep her hands from shaking as she went back as far as the end of April and here they were in mid-July.

"It's probably been around 10 or 11 weeks," Emily said softly, barely audibly as she handed the calendar back to Leslie.

The older woman had a smile on her face.

"I always find it odd that us doctors are the least conscious of what's going on in our own bodies," she commented, as she stood up and walked over to her desk.

"Just because I'm late...very late, doesn't mean anything," Emily argued. "I've been working a lot and I've been very stressed out lately. Stress can certainly be a factor in why I'm so late."

Leslie nodded. "You're very right. It can be. But coupled with your exhaustion, weight gain and now fainting, it's not pointing toward stress." Leslie paused and smiled. She noticed the expressions on both Bruce and Emily's faces. "This is a good thing. I know of so many couples who would love to be in your position."

Finally, Emily looked over at Bruce seeing the same terror that she felt inside her mirrored on his face. She opened her mouth to speak, not certain what she should even say.

"Can we find out for certain?" Bruce suddenly asked.

"Of course," Leslie said, happily. The woman pushed out her chair and walked over a large cabinet, and searched through it before pulling out a white, plastic wrapper. With a smile, she handed it to Emily.

"I doubt that I need to tell you how it works," Leslie quipped, gaining a small smile from Emily.

Emily stood up. "I've taken one or two of these in my life."

Leslie directed Emily to the bathroom and sat back down, letting silence fill the small room. She glanced up from writing in Emily's new file as Bruce sat in the chair. The man tapped his toes and fidgeted in his seat as he anxiously rubbed his hands together. In all her years, she had never seen Bruce Wayne act more nervous.

"She'll be fine, Bruce," Leslie assured him. "And if I'm right and she is pregnant, then the baby will be fine as well. After all, it'll have those strong Wayne genes wrapped in there."

Bruce nodded. "I'm not concerned for Emily. It's...um..." He paused and Leslie put down her glasses as she watched him struggle with whatever he was trying to say; another thing she rarely saw of Bruce.

"I grew up without parents," he finally said. "I know what it's like to live over half a lifetime without a Father. I wouldn't want to wish that upon anyone."

"And your concern is that your child may one day experience that as well," Leslie concluded. She sighed. "Bruce, what happened to you was horrible, but things like that do not happen every day. Look at me! I knew you before you were born. I lived through the depression in this city and the horrible characters that were born out of it, yet somehow I survived, along with thousands of others, including yourself, Alfred and Emily. Chances are, your child will live to see his Father retire from all that he does at a ripe old age."

Bruce smirked.

"Who said that I was ever going to retire?"

Leslie chuckled when she saw Bruce turn towards the door as it was opened. Emily walked in and closed the door behind her, holding a white stick in her hand.

She shrugged and let out a sigh, looking from Leslie to Bruce. A small smile grew on her face when she looked at Bruce.

Bruce drove through Gotham, shifting gears as he slowed down and then sped up. Neither him nor Emily who sat beside him had said a word since they had left Dr. Thompkins' clinic. Emily pressed a button in the centre console which rolled down her window slightly, allowing the fresh air into the warm car. She looked out the window, watching as the buildings passed by them. Occasionally, she glanced over at Bruce who kept his eyes on the road. Finally, she sighed and turned back to the buildings.

He heard her sigh as she looked back out the window. Bruce didn't know where to start. His mind just seemed to disconnect from the conversation at the clinic once he had heard Emily's words of, 'it's positive'. He didn't know how to react and the best way that he knew how was to not.

"I know that you're not happy about this," Emily finally said, looking forward at the tail lights of the car in front of them.

"I never said that."

"But you haven't said a thing since we left Dr. Thompkins."

"Neither have you," Bruce countered.

He was right.

Bruce and Emily barely said a word to each other after they walked out of Leslie's office. Emily was too afraid to ask Bruce what he thought, especially when she, herself didn't know what to think.

"What am I supposed to say? I'm sorry? We made a mistake? Because I'm starting to feel sick to my stomach about what's going on with us and I doubt that it's morning sickness."

"Nothing is changing between us," Bruce assured her, looking over at her as the car came to a stop. "It's just something that I have to get used to. It's the last thing that I ever thought would happen."

"No kidding. The clinic has always been my baby. I don't know how it'll feel if that status gets shifted to someone else," Emily quipped, matching his smile.

Bruce chuckled, and reached over to take Emily's hand. Still, she wasn't entirely convinced.

"You're sure that you're all right with this? What about Batman?"

He nodded, as he turned to see the traffic begin to move ahead of them again.

"That's the one thing that scares me the most. This is more than just another person that would mean the world to me." He paused glancing down quickly at her stomach, although there wasn't any outward evidence of what was taking place inside. "This child would be completely helpless if anyone came after me."

"You're forgetting that I would beat the shit out of anyone who would threaten my family. You're not alone in this, Bruce."

Family. That's something that Bruce had never considered. He had a family.

Bruce smiled.

"And neither are you."

Emily smiled at him and then watched his expression suddenly change as she felt her body propel forward but was held back by the seatbelt. The sound of squealing tires and crunching metal and glass shattering filled the air as Emily reached for anything to hold onto as the Audi began to turn. As soon as it had begun, it stopped.

Bruce quickly turned to Emily, seeing the look of surprise on her face as she breathed quickly and stared straight ahead to see a pillow of smoke in front of them. He pulled off his seatbelt and reached for Emily, taking her face in his hands.

"Are you all right?!" he exclaimed. Still, her attention wasn't on him. "Emily!"

Finally, she turned. "What happened?"

"Car accident," he said, as Emily pulled off her seatbelt and pushed open the car door.

Bruce had spun the Audi towards the curb and narrowly missed the pickup in front of them. The Audi was fine. Ahead of the pickup a small sedan that was pinched between another car that sideswiped it.

People were staggering out of their cars ahead of them. More than a few were in shock as they sat down on the curbs.

Emily ran towards the sedan. A young woman with black hair and purple highlights sat in the passenger seat and was screaming. Emily saw the red gash on the woman's forehead.

"Hey!" Emily called out, knocking on her window to get the woman's attention. She woman didn't hear and instead Emily tried the door. It was stuck.

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Emily looked and saw Bruce beside her. He quickly took ahold of the door and pulled on it. It moved slightly and Emily managed to wedge her fingers inside the frame alongside Bruce's and together they pulled on the door.

The door scrapped against the concrete as they pulled on it. Once it got past a certain point, it flew open. Emily looked at the woman's legs and saw how she had been pushed into the front console.

"I'm a doctor," she told the woman as Emily glanced over at the driver as his body was slumped against the wheel, blood pouring from the wound in his head. Emily could see the headlights of the oncoming car in the window. Painfully, she ignored him.

"My name is Emily, what's yours?"

"J...J..Jenna," she replied, focusing on Emily for the first time. Emily quickly pulled off her sweater and drapped it over Jenna's torso. The young woman was going into shock.

"Can you get me out of here?"

"I can't. Not yet," Emily replied. "But I'll stay with you until help comes."

Sirens could be heard in the distance as more and more people seemed to watch the scene. Emily looked over her shoulder and saw that Bruce had disappeared but found him over by the car that had sideswiped Jenna's car. She saw him and another two men help some people away from the car.

"Is Mark, my brother all right?"

Emily didn't need to ask who Mark was. She glanced over at the lifeless man at the wheel.

"I can't tell from here, but I'm sure he needs to get to the hospital as well," Emily replied.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Bruce crouch down beside her.

"Everyone else is out of the cars and the ambulance is just trying to get through the traffic down the road," he said, glancing over at Jenna.

Emily smiled at Jenna. "Help is coming."

"Y...You're Bruce Wayne," she said with a smile.

A smile tugged at his lips. "I am. I'm sorry that we had to meet this way."

Jenna even smiled and managed to chuckle although she winced at the pain it caused. She looked to Emily.

"I'm supposed to hate you," she said, which surprised Emily. Jenna smiled and tried to stifle her laughter. "You're dating Bruce Wayne and I was so...so disappointed when I found out that he was..f..finally taken. I missed my chance."

Emily smiled.

"But I can't hate someone who is trying to help me," Jenna added. She took a breath and began to sob. "I don't want to die."

Emily brushed her hand over Jenna's black and purple hair, attempting to calm her down. She took her hand, which Jenna promptly held onto tightly.

"You aren't going to die, Jenna," Bruce said, over Emily's shoulder.

"That's right," Emily stated. "Because you're going to be coming to our wedding."

The words caught the young woman's attention as a smile came back to her face.

"Now I really hate you."

Emily chuckled as she noticed Bruce had disappeared. She turned back to Jenna.

"Can you keep a secret? It'll probably make you hate me a little more."

She could see the confusion and interest grow on the younger woman's face as she nodded.

"I'm pregnant."

A smile grew on Jenna's face as she shook her head. "I can't hate you for that. I have a one year old son at home so I know exactly how it feels when you know there's life growing inside of you. It's wonderful."

A commotion approaching them caught Emily's attention as Bruce with three EMT's ran towards them.

Emily never let go of Jenna's hand as she quickly explained the situation to the EMT's. After finally getting her out of the car, Emily saw first hand how mangled Jenna's feet had become while they were trapped. She watched as she was strapped onto a gurney and rolled over to an ambulance. With an assurance to the young woman that she would visit her at the hospital, Emily and Bruce stood back as the ambulance left the area while the police approached them for a statement. She reached beside her and took Bruce's hand as he spoke with an officer.

It wasn't until then that they noticed the line of photographers standing behind the police tape that had been set up around the scene. They continued to flash their cameras in their direction. Emily wanted nothing more than to get out of there.

"Thank goodness you're both all right," Alfred said as Emily and Bruce walked though the door, looking a little worse for wear. Emily had Bruce's jacket on and Bruce had his shirt untucked from his pants and his hair was in disarray. "The accident has been all over the news."

"Thank goodness for Bruce's quick reflexes and driving skills," Emily added, as she sat down on a chair and pulled off her shoes.

Bruce smiled as he took his jacket from Emily. Alfred took it from him and proceeded to hang it up.

"I trust that the appointment with Dr. Thompkins went well."

Bruce chuckled and smiled as he crossed his arms. "It did."

Emily gestured silently to Bruce and pointed to Alfred, indicating that she wanted him to say something to him. They watched as Alfred closed the closet door and turned to look at the couple. Alfred looked at the pair, confused.

"Is something wrong? You both don't look too good."

Bruce shook his head as Emily spoke.

"Nothing is wrong. We do want to tell you something though."

"All right," Alfred said, looking to Bruce, who simply met Emily's prodding eyes.

"Um, Wayne Manor is about to get a little bit more crowded," Bruce said.

"It is? Are you planning a party, sir?"

He shook his head. "No, not a party. Just one, small guest that should be arriving in...about six months or so and then wouldn't be leaving anytime soon."

Alfred digested the words, and watched Emily's smile on her face as it dawned on him.

"You're pregnant?"

Emily nodded as Alfred's face lit up. He quickly wrapped his arms around Emily and Bruce.

"I was beginning to think that your newborn cries would be the last I'd hear in this house," Alfred said to Bruce, with a glint of tears in the corner of his eyes. "A baby is something to celebrate! Come with me to the kitchen and I'm certain that I can find some sparkling cider or something along that line."

Emily was about to follow Bruce and Alfred to the kitchen when she heard her cell phone chime from her purse. She turned and picked it up from inside the bag.

Bruce saw her face blanche as she read the screen.

"Em, what is it?"

"That accident was no accident," she said, handing him the phone.

Bruce quickly read the text message.

"It was meant for us."