Wally still had a grin on his face when he arrived at his Aunt and Uncle's house. He could hear Don and Dawn screaming from the other side of the door and what sounded like Bart pleading with them to be quiet. He knocked on the door and it was opened by his aunt who held a red faced baby in her arms. "Oh, Wally." she sighed. "Thank goodness." she handed him the baby and ushered him into the house.
Wally adjusted the child in his arms and grinned at the scrunched up face. "Hey there Donny." he cooed, poking the chubby cheeks. "How are my little cousins eh?"
"Oh, they take after their father." Iris said fondly, swiftly braiding her fringe out of her eyes and pinning it down.
"When do you leave, Aunt I?" Wally asked. "You looking forward to a night off?"
His Aunt laughed and patted his cheek fondly. "We leave when your uncle gets out of the shower and yes, I am looking forward to a night off." he smiled lovingly at her infant. "Haven't had one for about a year and a half. Not since these little terrors were born." she let her son seize her finger just a gust of wind entered the room in the form of her future grandson with his aunt in his arms. The little girl seemed to have forgotten her crying and instead giggled at the superspeed.
"Wally!" Bart cried happily, echoed by Dawn in his arms who chattered happily, reaching for her cousin. "You look weird." Bart said, wincing as Dawn tugged on his hair.
"And you need a haircut." Wally retorted but by now Iris was looking closely at him, trying to see the difference."
"What happened Wally? Was it something good?"
"Did you meet Per...?" Bart began but then clamped a hand over his mouth, looking guilty and speed out of the room.
Wally scowled after the teenager while his aunt hounded for more information. "Who was he talking about? Did you meet someone Wally? A boy? A girl?"
Wally sighed. "A girl. Persephone Jackson."
His aunt got a mischievous smile on her face. "So..." she drawled, taking Don from his arms now that her hair was done. "What's she like then?"
"I don't know." Wally muttered. "Today was the first time I spoke to her. She seems nice. Fun and sort of sad at the same time. She's nothing like Artemis."
"That's good." Iris sighed. She had never really liked Artemis all that much, thought that she and Wally were too incompatible. She had been right in the end, Artemis and his relationship was mostly comprised of fights and make-up sex, none of which had been good for them and the break they had had whilst she was on her mission had been both stressful and a relief. When the other had returned they both agreed that it wasn't going to work and to go their separate ways. It wasn't long after that she and Kaldur had announced their new relationship, their time together in the midst of the enemy binding them together in a way that no one else could understand. They were engaged now and Wally was genuinely happy for them. They worked well together.
"Is she pretty?" Iris asked him softly, rocking gently from side to side, patting the back of the child
in her arms.
"She's beautiful." Wally whispered, fighting down a blush. "She's got long black hair and her skin's all gold and her eyes are amazing. They look like a different colour every time you look. Sometimes they're blue or green or purple."
Iris giggled. "Are you going to let us meet this lovely lady then?"
"What lovely lady?" Barry asked as he zoomed into the room, ruffling Wally's hair and kissing his wife and son. "Have you got a girlfriend?"
Wally opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by Iris who nodded. "Persephone Jackson. Apparently she's beautiful."
Barry clapped his nephew on the back with a grin. "Yeah? We gonna meet her?"
Wally shook his uncle's hand off with a scowl. "We haven't even been on a proper date yet. She's not my girlfriend."
"Yet." His aunt and uncle said together.
"Don't you have a movie to go to?" Wally asked desperately, grabbing his cousin back and ushering his aunt and uncle towards the door. "Off you go, Bart and I'll be fine. You go watch your movie and eat your dinner, bye!"
Iris laughed and called a goodbye to Bart and Dawn as she wiggled her fingers at her son before snatching her handbag up off the table while Barry zipped into the next room to say goodbye before joining his wife at the door. Wally breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the car pull out and looked down at his cousin who was sucking on his shirt front. "Your parents are evil, little cousin. I don't envy when you start taking an interest in girls. Or boys. Whichever." he paused, hearing Bart cooing at Dawn in the other room. "Girls." he corrected. "Wonder who Bart's mummy is. You'll tell me won't you, Donny? Of course you will." Donny looked up at him bemusedly with his light green eyes, somewhere between his father's blue and his mother's green and patted Wally's cheek with a slightly soggy hand.
Wally meandered into the living room and saw both Bart and Dawn staring at the TV, showing a child's show full of bright colours and people dancing about in ridiculous costumes, with identical expressions of adoration. "What are you watching?" Wally asked slowly, letting Don down so he could crawl over to his sister and flop on the ground beside her, gazing up at the screen like it was some something mesmerising.
"I have no idea." Bart replied softly, not looking away from the screen.
"Right." Wally replied, baffled. "Well I'm going to get started on dinner. Have the twins eaten?"
Bart nodded. "Yeah. Grandma gave em that mush stuff they like. No broccoli." he added in a moment of clarity, glancing away from the screen to fix his cousin with a serious look.
Wally sighed and nodded. "No broccoli." he agreed and returned to the kitchen wondering how the hell he got such a weird family. Maybe it was the exposure to chemicals and lightning bolts. Wally paused. That was probably a contributor, he conceded.