Seven years pass… It was spring, and Bruce was holding a brunch, benefiting the children's hospital. The entire back garden was filled with people, most of which were the top socialites of Gotham. Bruce was having a conversation with Gotham's top open heart surgeon, when Veronica Vreeland tugged at Bruce's arm.
"You may want to intervene," she whispered looking the direction of a gaggle of women surrounding Marti. "Lest they get the idea they would make a perfect mother for her."
Bruce shook his head at this. He figured publicly announcing a secret engagement, as well as a child, would deter the women of Gotham. But it seems this only opened up a new avenue.
"Yes, thank you." He squeezed Veronica's shoulder in appreciation with this, "Excuse me Doctor, but I must attend to something." Walking over to Marti, he could see she was trying her best to listen to each different woman speak. "Marti, there is someone I'd like you to meet." He interrupted.
"Oh Bruce, your daughter is such a treasure." Nina Valvon said, as she held Marti's arm.
"How do you do it alone Bruce. I mean you have this huge house and -"
"Marti! There you are. This is Doctor Jens, I believe you will be going on a school field trip to his hospital?" Veronica questioned, slightly raising her brow, encouraging Marti to take her lead.
"Oh… Yes!" Marti exclaimed, as she politely released from Nina's grasp. "We have that coming up this next month."
"So very nice to meet you Miss Wayne." The Doctor said, offering his hand to shake. He obviously was playing along.
The gaggle of women eventually dissipated as they carried on their conversation.
"Thank you for your help with that Doctor." Bruce said once the last woman left.
"No, thank you. You have done so much for my hospital sir. And.." Looking over to Marti, "Feel free to have your school contact me, we could make a real tour possible for your school."
"That would be wonderful, Thank you." Marti said, as she shook his hand before he left.
"Well I must be off too." Veronica hugged Marti, then kissed Bruce on the cheek. "Hopefully you won't need saving during this Saturday's Opera."
Bruce smirked, and waved goodbye.
About an hour later the last guests left. The sun was setting, and Marti was still out in the garden. She was working on a piece of cheesecake, and sitting on the bench next to the pond. Her eyes were fixed on the waterlilies. They were just like the ones in the photo with her mother.
"Was the cake good?" Bruce questioned, as he approached.
Marti shook her head a little, snapping out of her trance. Looking down at her now empty plate, she couldn't remember finishing it. "Yes, I guess it was." She mused,as she put her plate down.
In the background the catering staff were collecting dishes and plates, and dismantling the extra tables and chairs.
"Do you think it was an enjoyable event? I know we managed to get quite a few more donations."
She shrugged at this, "I suppose," and looked down at her shoes.
Bruce grabbed at his chin in thought, "I'm sorry about the way the women treat you. That is beyond my control."
"It's okay." She bit at her lower lip. "I'm used to them. It's just I wish Dick or even…" She stopped short with this. She knew he didn't like to talk about Jason.
He moved her plate over, and took a seat beside her. For a few moments they were both quiet. To the public, this would be seen as odd. But for them this was normal. Despite the passage of time, they never developed a endearing father-daughter relationship. Yes, he was an authority figure to her, but their day to day interactions were that of distant friends.
"You were thinking of her, weren't you?"
She cocked her head at this, he was obviously changing the subject. "Yes, the waterlilies remind me of her."
"We can go back to France again if you like."
She smiled at this. Over the past years Bruce had taken her back to all those places her mother and her had gone. She thought that maybe they would find her that way. But they had no such luck. GCPD put her on the top list of missing persons, but there has been no leads.
"No, it's fine. Besides, there are a lot of exciting trips planned ahead for school." She picked up her plate, and walked it over to a catering staff member.
Bruce remained behind on the bench. He watched as Marti helped Alfred bring in a large vase full of flowers. She was twelve now, and with every passing year she looked more and more like her mother. Andi was a sore subject with him. He expected her to have shown up by now. But he hadn't received a word from her. From his sources, she was still keeping up with her Phantom work, but this work was sporadic, and next to impossible to trace. Plus it all was far beyond Gotham. Since Marti became Martha Wayne, Bruce has kept close to her. Any time he had work out of town he brought her with him. On the occasion, he would leave her with Dick or Jason. But… Since the passing of Jason, he didn't want to take any chances.
Spotting her coming back down the steps again with Alfred, Bruce decided to lend a hand with the cleanup. Judging by the mess left behind, they were going to need it.