Chapter Fourteen

Family Matters

"Afternoon, Iris, and how are you today?" Edward asked the lovely woman pleasantly as Carl brought him in that afternoon, as usual. He noted how…sunnier she looked today now that Jonathan was back out on the streets. He wondered how his friend was doing now that he was a single man in their old cell now. How was he adjusting at DeLaine Manor? What was he even going to do with his life now that he was a free man?

He missed him now, and it was the fourth day.

"My session, Eddie," Iris teased him, nodding for the orderly to leave him with her. "And I'm fine," she answered with her favorite little smile. "How are you?"

"I'm very fine, indeed, except I miss my cellmate," Edward replied honestly.

She laughed and threw her head back. "I know what you're feeling. But it won't be long till you yourself are out of here." She leaned back against her chair, leg crossed over the other, putting her hands behind her head.

Edward laughed humorlessly and imitated her. "Maybe. If I'm as lucky as Jon." Sadly, he wasn't all that lucky as Jon. Jon had the opportunity to leave Arkham with permission to go to his hometown of Arlen, Georgia, with Iris as his chaperone. To put his past behind him. There was nothing much for Edward to make amends for, anyway. After Jon, he had his downside having to do with his old boss and the coroner's office, and the Batman who was one of those who didn't understand them and never would. He would never be allowed back in with GCPD again, and his options were limited to none.

"What are you thinking?"

He looked away from the window to see that Iris had assumed the position of leaning forward in her chair, hands folded neatly in front of her as she studied him curiously. He relaxed and brought his arms down. "Just thinking about getting out the same way Jon did," he answered honestly.

Her face lit up a little. "Really? Tell me how."

"Jon told me what you guys would be doing in Georgia, not that I intend to burn down anything. It has to do with someone I was very close with in high school before I met Jon and when I was still dating Joan." Edward took a deep breath. "Iris, I want to do something and set things right. Joan has a cousin who runs a video game and electronics company -"

"Competitron. Yes, I know," she answered patiently.

"So, my point is that I haven't seen him in years, not since Joan and I parted after graduation, and I want to see him again. I want him and Joan to both help get me out of this place. We were very close then, and I'd love to see him again. You never forget your girlfriend's relatives she was bonded with out of everyone else in her family - especially when they treat you like you ARE family."

~o~

Iris clutched the pen in her hand nervously as she waited for the line to pick up. Today really was so damn eventful that it wasn't even funny. First, she left Jonathan alone in her home - not that he ever planned to do anything he wasn't supposed to - and now she found out that one of her fellow doctors was pregnant by one of her favorite patients even though they had a history. What a day, she thought sarcastically. And now she was phoning the CEO of Competitron.

"This is Andrew Davis."

"Mr. Davis," Iris began, regaining her cool. "I apologize for bothering you, but this is Dr. DeLaine, head of the Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane."

"I hope this hasn't anything to do with my sanity."

She almost burst out laughing but didn't. "No, sir. This actually has to do with your cousin's boyfriend, Edward Nygma. One of my patients."

"Edward? How is he? Is he all right? Is Joan all right?"

"They're both fine, sir. Your cousin and I have done everything we could. He's close to recovery and release, but he has no place outside of Arkham, and besides Dr. Leland - a dear, dear friend and colleague - you're his only family left," Iris answered. "I understand you haven't seen him in almost a decade -"

"Since high school ended, and we went separate ways," the man answered, and she could almost picture him shaking his head. "Eddie and I loved playing video games instead of doing anything else - but then I heard about what happened last year with the Batman. So, Doctor, what can I do to help?"

Iris smiled; now they were getting somewhere. "If it won't be a problem, I would like you to come to the asylum. It's in the Narrows, but I promise I can arrange safe transport for you if you wish."

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much."

She laughed at the shot-back. "Well, then, I'll arrange for a meeting this Friday - two days from now, then. Good day, sir."

"And to you. And doctor? Thank you so much."

"My pleasure, Mr. Davis," Iris answered with a smile, before hanging up. She uttered a shuddering sigh of relief. Things were now getting improved with Eddie - literally. There were no words for it, same with Jonathan, other than the fact that they were getting better places of residence instead of a halfway house like normal patients. And Jervis and Alice engaged…

But there was also Joan to think about. Iris remembered the terror in the other woman's eyes when she'd seen the terrible crossroad pink sign on the screen of the plastic stick, the fact that she didn't plan on having a baby at a time like this and with a patient…and how would Edward react to the news that he was going to be a father?

Suddenly, the phone rang again, and she jumped in her chair, nearly screaming, and picked it up. "Dr. DeLaine."

"Is this my granddaughter I'm speaking to?"

Iris laughed at the teasing, elderly voice tinged with a silvery edge. "Yes, Grandma, this is me. How you doing?"

"I'm very well, indeed," Sylvia DeLaine responded in her lilting Russian-born accent. "I was calling to see if you and Alice are still coming Saturday morning."

It had been decided that the whole clan take the rest of the time before the wedding to stay at the mansion of Iris' paternal grandmother, and since she and her grandmother were very close while she'd been growing up, she was very excited to see her again. "Of course, we are, Grandma. Not like we don't ever come when you invite us."

"Oh, it's not that. The thought just crossed my mind when you told me that interesting man of yours is now living with you."

"Jonathan is coming with us," Iris said, wondering how he would receive her grandmother. Of course, he would assume they were all the same given his own, but Sylvia had to get him to change his mind. Just because he had no respect for his didn't mean he would go around judging everyone else's grandmother.

Sylvia chuckled on the other line. "I'd love to meet him, dear Iris. I've heard enough about him to know that. He sounds so much like your grandfather to me…independent, intelligent, handsome…"

Iris heard the knock on her office door, then looked up at the clock and almost jumped again. It was time for therapy - this time being Harley Quinn. "Yes, listen, Grandma. I have to go; I have a therapy session now with a patient. We'll see you Saturday. Love you." She hung up the phone then and called for them to come in. In came a happily smiling Harley led in by a serious-looking male orderly. Just something she needed for more brightening of the day.

~o~

The lock to his cell door clicked open, and Edward rolled over on his side, blinking himself awake from his nap. He could just make out the figure in the white coat over a soft rose sweater and a tan skirt. Only one person he knew sometimes in soft, pale colors who couldn't be Iris. "Joan? What are you doing here? What time is it?"

"It's nearly three, and I'm on one of my breaks," she answered, turning to close the door behind her. "Edward, I have something to tell you." He sat up in his bed, eyeing her. Something was not right in the way she spoke to him; something was wrong, and he knew it. Joan was not usually so...timid. She was much tougher than that.

"What is it, my little riddle queen?" he asked, using the nickname he'd used to use for her before his commitment. He moved back to give her room to sit down on the foot of the bed, looking at him nervously.

"Eddie, I'm afraid," she whispered, voice soft and childlike…like a child who had been caught doing something naughty. "I should have been careful with you…all those times we were together…and now something has happened."

He looked into her eyes, seeing the tears in those soft brown orbs, his mind clicking altogether when the words knocked sense. Immediately he felt his blood flow stop altogether, his heart threatening to leap into his chest. A baby… "You're pregnant, aren't you?" Joan was going to have his child. The thought was very exciting and life-changing…and yet terrifying at the same time. She nodded, not speaking, but still looking terrified - at whatever he would tell her, no doubt. She had been afraid to learn his reaction. Well, honestly, he was a little angry at not making this safe and sparing them both the burden of having to raise a child they couldn't take care of with the way things were now…but it happened anyway.

And what if this got out? She would lose her job, and who knew what would happen to him. Iris would be forced to do whatever it was that your average employer would do to avoid criticism for favoritism. He was about to speak more when the door opened again, and in walked a familiar face wearing a vivid blue sweater with a V-neckline and tight black pants. Iris stopped right in the doorway when she saw her newly pregnant coworker sitting with the father of her child. "Oh, um, I'm sorry to interrupt, but Eddie…I have someone here to see you."

He frowned. It couldn't be Jonathan, could it? And then in stepped a face he hadn't seen in so many years. The man, face uncanny to Joan with slicked dark hair and eyes, wore a pressed black business suit and a red tie over a white collar shirt, while the woman with him - his wife - had her normal flyaway black hair in a clip-up, her five-months worth of fetal development shown through the wine-colored sweater dress.

"Eddie," Joan's cousin, Drew, managed, looking at him in a way he would as he hadn't seen him for a long time. And his wife, Rochelle, smiled warmly down at him despite meeting him only a couple of times before. "And Joan, it's been a while."

"It has," she agreed. "Life does that to you."

"Hello, Drew," Edward answered, reclining awkwardly against the wall his bed was against. There was so much to catch up on, and some discussions to be made, it turned out.

~o~

Jonathan looked out the window of the SUV, enjoying the view of the forest and skies. How fitting that his best friend and Iris' sister were getting married on the first day of spring in a matter of days all the way out here beyond the Palisades. Beyond Wayne Manor, beyond DeLaine Manor…again, how fitting when there were three manors in this area that rhymed, and two of the same name. He had no idea why he was acting this way, but he couldn't help it one bit. Meeting with Iris' paternal grandmother wasn't something he'd been too jubilant about, and Iris was trying to do everything she could to calm him down as she drove the vehicle with him in the shotgun seat. "You do know she isn't going to be like yours, right?"

He turned to look her over, taking in her simple, casual attire, the black shirt that hugged her arms and torso and accentuated her chest, and her favorite narrow black denims, smiling slightly. "You and she were close?"

"She was my rock, been there whenever she could to stop Maria." She nodded. "And she was a Russian dancer when she was young, something I took after her. She had time to train me." She chuckled. "She's still beautiful despite her age; you don't see that all the time. She and Grandpa were married for a long time, but he died before I was born. I wish I knew him, sometimes, because Grandma always talked about how he had wanted to be there to see me born. He would have loved Alice, too." She brought the car to a stop as soon as it reached the end of the long driveway. "Here we are," she announced, not only to him but to Alice and Jervis - who had been making out the whole time - in the backseat. Jonathan paid them no attention, though, instead looking upon the other DeLaine Manor. The one currently owned by Sylvia DeLaine.

The manor was constructed from clean white stone, glowing brighter than the sun even on the gloomiest of days. Both levels of arched windows were supported by pillars, and not one part of the exterior was spared from complex, extravagant golden trimmings and ornaments. Iris locked the car doors - not the trunk - as soon as everyone was out, leading the way up the white steps of the grand porch to a pair of dark double doors that were opened for them by a man dressed in a black suit who nodded a greeting and smiled before helping them bring in their luggage. As soon as they were inside, Jonathan felt like the breath had been knocked out of him as he took in the majestic foyer - unlike Iris', Sylvia DeLaine's estate was a fine, not-too-money-well-spent version fuse of Russian and English influences. Warm golden panels dominated much of the doorways and the railings of the double-sided grand staircase, and the shiny marble floor was warm ivory overlapped with black crisscross designs similar to the lattice-work of a windowpane or a fence. Three arched windows between the two sets of stairs allowed the light of day to pour in and illuminate the dark panels of the walls and spark the floor to life and reflected off the finely proportioned, early-19th-century Russian gilt-bronze chandelier overhead.

"My granddaughters," called a silvery voice from above, "finally came. And I see you brought your beaus."

"Grandma Sylvia!" Alice cried, happily rushing forward to the edge of the steps. Iris followed her in a flash, leaving Jonathan alone with Jervis beside him. She was a woman of elderly years, her physique matching Iris', with dark hair dominated pretty much with silver, and her dress was long emerald green satin lavishly overlaid with black sequin lace appliques, the train sweeping and also adorned with the same florals. She didn't hold a cane as she was still apparently strong, and her face - he could perfectly see Iris in her - had no wrinkles except for a decent amount on her neck. And the way she accepted her granddaughters in an embrace was something that Jonathan's grandmother never gave him.

"My little angels, I have missed you both." She looked up and gave the same smile that never seemed to leave her face as she beheld the sight of the two men. "And you've brought these fine gentlemen I've longed to meet." She walked past Iris and Alice and extended a hand out. "Sylvia DeLaine."

Jonathan took her hand, noting the firmness of her handshake not unlike Iris'. When he did, he noted the unique flourishes of diamonds around a pear-shaped emerald on the forefinger. "I'm Jonathan Crane, Mrs. DeLaine, and this is Jervis Tetch."

"Ah yes," Sylvia murmured. "As I've heard the media call you…the Scarecrow. Not that I ever paid any mind to those media leeches who twist the truth and manipulate facts. So nice that my granddaughters have found their soulmates," she told them with a twitch of the corner of her mouth. She doesn't care who I am, Jonathan realized with a smile of his own. Already he liked her. "Well, dinner is at five, but I'll let you be shown to your rooms by Joseph." As he walked past the older woman, he received a wink. "A pleasure meeting you, Dr. Crane," she told him quietly.

The hallway they walked down was reminiscent of early twentieth-century Russia, under Czar Nicholas' reign before all went downhill for him and his family - the colorful paintings between panels of gold, the antique gold-and-crystal chandeliers attributed to St. Petersburg - but the number of doors didn't sum up to the amount Jonathan had seen in Iris' home. He was so busy looking around that he didn't see where Jervis and Alice went, nor did he notice when he arrived at his room. Or rather, his and Iris' room.

Sylvia DeLaine was allowing her granddaughter to share a room with a man.

He sat down on the bed, sighing, and looked around as Iris did the honors of bringing in their luggage for them. Everything about the whole room was opulent but brighter than what they were both used to in general…and yet its simple red walls and everything in them provided the perfect atmosphere for what they felt for each other. Two white pillars rested at the foot of the bed, which was covered with luxurious red satin bordered with gold damask patterns, including two elegant nightstands of mango wood carved beautifully into swans, all sitting on a rich red rug crawling with golden vines and leaves. On the opposite wall, beyond the foot of the bed and the chair and storage bench, both filled with ruby velvet cushions, was a fireplace of sweet ivory marble, elaborate with an arch above and set with acanthus leaves, the top piece supported by smaller versions of the pillars before the end of the bed. Off to the opposite wall to his left was an off-white vanity with natural carvings of shells and acanthus, and a mirror complete with the same work as well as a matching wardrobe on the other end of the wall.

Iris' voice broke him out of his reverie. "I think we should unpack, don't you think?" she asked with a teasing smile.

He chuckled as he accepted his duffel bag filled with everything he knew he would need for the duration of the time they would be staying here until the wedding. "What else is there to do until five o'clock? We have only…" He looked up at the graceful antique wall clock next to the fireplace. "…two hours."

"Well, then…" Before he could have gotten a warning, Iris was removing her top, exposing her bare abdomen and her breasts covered by a bra of sumptuous dark blue satin with sheer mesh panels, the parallel scars on her breasts catching the light of the antique-tiered crystal chandelier overhead. The action caused the lump - not the bad kind - to form in his throat, and Jonathan was unable to tear his eyes away from her while he unloaded his bag. He hadn't seen her this way since she was fourteen and assaulted by Mina Rosenberg and her gang, not since he treated her wounds and injuries that took months to heal. Then, she'd had more scars on her body than just where she had them now - surgeries, after Maria died, had to have been the solution. The ones on one of the sections of her femininity were all she'd left, and he thought it was attractive. "I'm going to take a bath first." He watched as she grabbed the robe she'd brought with her and headed through the door that was the bathroom. He noticed that other than some little bottles he couldn't make out, she didn't bring any of her home products with her - more like her hair tools - but her grandmother must've had some provided for their stay here. Jonathan wondered what his were. He just shrugged it off and went to unpack his bag.

Almost thirty minutes had passed by when Iris didn't come out of the bathroom. He frowned as he wondered what was taking so long. Perhaps he could check in on her and see if she was still alive. He headed for the closed door and walked right on in, without knocking, because Iris didn't seem to mind the fact that he'd seen her that way eight years ago. He found himself in a bathroom of dreams, words doing this no justice as this was completely modern and nothing related to any exotic place in the world. Dark curtains on the only window in the room, behind the wall-attached, two-leveled bathtub, stood out against the warm golden ivory glow of the walls and floor, all of it a dream come true…except for the fact that Iris was leaning against the back rim of the tub, her back arched enough to show more of her breasts if not everything, her wet hair spilling out to let water drip madly onto the polished floor, left arm gripping the side rim, and her other deep under the foamed water to give away exactly what she was doing…the loud, needy moans she was making, her eyes closed tight…and the little hot pink tube off to the edge of the top step that he recognized as the warming version of Intensify Arousal Gel…

"Iris?" he choked out, unable to believe what he was seeing. His cheeks heated and flushed with embarrassment, and his stomach churned at the image of him doing that to her instead, to bring her to the edge of ecstasy…

She stopped what she was doing, and shrieked and bolted upwards in the tub, splashing water in places and knocking the little tube onto the floor in the process. It cluttered loudly as they locked eyes, hers filled with shame and his downcast slightly, trying to process the whole situation.

~o~

Iris felt the tension as she sat beside Jonathan at the dinner table. Of course, she felt his eyes take in her appearance, from her hair - which had been nourished and moisturized with a French hair product that left her hair revitalized and smelling of papaya, evening primrose, pomegranate, and coconut, as well as straightened and super shiny, flowing over her shoulders and covering her ears - to her dress of lustrous black silk with a V-neckline and brooches on the straps, the opal resting above her heart…but other than that, they didn't speak as much as she wanted to. It was her fault, after all, that she'd left the door unlocked. His bursting in, of course, was also unexpected. After he'd left the bathroom in awkward silence, they didn't even make eye contact, much less speak to each other.

Jervis and Alice sat across from them, with Grandma Sylvia at the head as she always did because she owned the place. Alice had switched out of her dotted blue cardigan, white tank, and khaki skirt for a nicer dinner look, her hair remaining in its high ponytail but the dress she'd picked was light blue, with simple spaghetti straps and adorned with a lovely sequin pattern of butterflies and flowers. Jervis and Jonathan hadn't changed much out of their clothes from their collared shirts and jeans.

"Iris, dear, it seems you don't feel like speaking a lot like you always do," Sylvia said gently. Iris opened her mouth, but her grandmother laughed and waved it off. "Oh, never mind. Silly me. You're tired from the drive and getting settled in, that's all." She nodded to the cream and mushroom soup that had been placed in front of her like everyone else. "Been a long day, I understand. I won't force anyone to chit-chat on the first day. We have three more weeks to go to have fun. I bid all of you good night if anyone is finished."

Good nights being said, Iris left the bridal couple and raced Jonathan's way as soon as they reached their room. "Jonathan, please, wait." He stopped where he was, from opening the door, and frowned at her. "I owe you an apology for my behavior," she blurted out.

He raised an eyebrow at her for a moment in confusion, before it softened, and he chuckled deeply, opening the door for her. "Oh, that was nothing. I should have knocked first."

She gaped at him. He couldn't have possibly meant that - "No, really, it was -"

"Just practice," he interrupted with an understanding smile. "Believe me, Iris, I've done my fair share of masturbation before. It's a completely normal thing for a human being - it's…practice for the big game." Jonathan's tone became awkward. "Except the act itself is not a game. And, um…" He trailed off, breaking eye contact with her to look off to the side and at nothing in particular.

"Yes?" she pressed. He finally looked at her then.

"Except I wish I was the one to make you feel that way."

Vytina once had an Alice/Jervis story called "The Words I Need to Say", one of the few I remember everything word for word. It's rare I remember EVERY detail after a long period of time, but it had everything I could never forget. Especially when it came to Sylvia herself and the role she plays in her granddaughters' lives. :)

Jonathan walking in on Iris masturbating in the bathtub came from the beginning of the fourth movie in the American Pie series, "American Reunion", and his explaining how normal it was stemmed from the main character's father giving him the talk in the first movie.