I've taken inspiration, dialogue, and situations from "Wayne Family Adventures" episodes 92 and 95, along with ch.17 of "and how does that make you feel?" by Mystery_tea on AO3. I also finally got an explanation for Roy's absence. Sadly, I can't believe I stopped thinking about him, but blame that on life and stress.
Title by Margaret Pargeter.
Chapter Twelve
Storm Cycle
The Todds were busy by the time Christmas rolled around, fall passing into winter.
First of all, on a personal level, Roy had been checked into rehab and that explained why he couldn't attend the debut of Jason and Stephanie to the world. He was due to be released just before Christmas Eve, and just in time to spend it with his little girl and his family; the plan was for everyone to gather on Oliver Queen's yacht on New Year's Eve.
The investigation against Bruce Wayne was ongoing, but the board of Wayne Enterprises was finite in its decision to announce they would remove him from the head seat of his family's company in light of the newest scandal of showing up uninvited to the al Ghul's Iceberg Lounge reopening. No doubt the man himself was raging in that personal cage of his, and it also sparked concerns amongst the group.
It might appear as a small matter, but with the batarang in Bruce's possession, the war was going to get worse.
~o~
"Mr. al Ghul," one male reporter called out to him as he was making his way up the stairs for the entrance to the mayor's office for what was hopefully the last meeting before everything was finalized, "what are the updates in terms of the housing and rental crisis in Crime Alley that you can share with us?"
It was more along the lines of the deals done with no issue, and it would take some more months or less to get the machine running on every detail, make it all come alive. Talk about a fantastic early Christmas present for everyone in Crime Alley. As for the name of the neighborhood, that caused Jason, who was in his dark gray suit with a white shirt and ruby silk tie, to halt halfway up the stairs.
Steph was at her station with coworkers that day, at the general hospital, when everyone caught her husband on the TV with her. She grinned at his narrowed eyes and smirk, as well as his response. "It's Park Row, to you. Obviously, it's coming along well, so let's see how it goes with the mayor and committees. I'd hate to get hopes up, still. Fingers crossed." He then held up two fingers on his left hand, also flashing his ring; did he mean that for her to see?
Previously, Jason had been quoted on this: "Landlords have always either gotten greedy and left their complexes to rot, therefore marking unsafe and decrepit conditions for their tenants. Driving everything up and everyone out to make more money. You wanna know why those people living there won't just move? Again, obviously, not everyone can afford to, and as a result, these are their HOMES. Meaning all they want is to feel safe." That also brought to mind, from viewers' mouths, the mentions in conversations about Batman and his rogues, since the bat never seemed to consider the residents want to walk about without carrying a gas mask, wondering what the flipped coin would determine, what Joker's latest ploy would be, or what lives Black Mask or the Penguin would butcher.
"Steph, that husband of yours is really inspiring," Lynn whispered to her, that grin of hers giving away that it would hurt her cheeks after too much of it. "And you, too, among the rest of us." She then scowled. "Unlike Bruce Wayne. My grandparents knew he was a pretty face who was all talk and no do, but as a kid, I thought they were just...I don't know the words anymore, but it doesn't matter. I see it now." That same idiot reporter had asked Jason something new, but the question was unheard until Stephanie heard her husband's snarky response.
"Okay, you just wanna keep talking about the same thing when the people watching and reading are speaking enough as it is, but what the heck? At least the ones I'm working with and myself are making a bigger difference than any of the politicians or Batman have, bringing hope back to the ignored people. Gotham gave up on my neighborhood long ago, which is why we got people like Black Mask and Penguin, wouldn't fight for its people. Today's the day it finally starts ending. New problems after this? No brainer."
Stephanie would have cheered for her man - yes, her MAN - if not for the sudden clench in her stomach she'd been feeling since sometime before Halloween.
~o~
And the news just kept getting better with social media, which Cass had forwarded to her as soon as she was feeling better. This was in from a fourteen-year-old boy in the Bowery who had been "saved" by the goddamned He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, in several parts which was rather impressive from the kid's memory.
Shitbag thinks to now show up just as I had it under control! He said "you're welcome" and I'm like "yeah u gonna be here next time they try to jump me again, or my friends, family?! You got no F-ing idea what that's like! (NEXT)
"You just save people when it's convenient, then just forget! You or that pretty boy Wayne just trying to make yourselves look good again! Not gonna work! Neither of you ever lived on our grounds! Your images of the future were always made-believe!" (NEXT)
Yeah, yeah, I remember all that, I'm just a kid, but screw it. It happened. Both of em think too much about big fishes than the little ones. I used to see him and Robin jump over rooftops, but they always mostly go for the richer parts that don't need shit. (NEXT)
Is this protecting people? Picking and choosing? F-k that, and I don't care if my family grounds me for my language. And when I called the bat out, he just said "enough" and even said why he saved me: he didn't trust Jason and Stephanie al Ghul, the people SAVING US! (NEXT)
He gave me a job to act as a spy or something, to keep in touch if I heard something on the streets, but I threw the thing back in his face and told him to get off his ass to go participate in the new housing and economic projects, what did he say? (NEXT)
"They have agendas." Yeah, right! His agenda tonight was thinking to use me, but he can go to hell! Bruce Wayne, too, I hope you see this! No one will help you out of the trouble you got yourself in, too (NEXT)
His last words to me: "You and everyone else abetting them will find themselves regretting this" (END)
And it ended with the middle finger emoji, as well as roaring applause and laughter in text, more icons, and support for his bravery. On the other hand, there was fear instilled from Batman's last words.
~o~
A couple of days later, Steph finally knew what was wrong with her, because she'd experienced these symptoms once before.
She shouldn't have been in denial, but she was.
Her breath seized on her, her brain shutting down. Her motor functions slowed down and halted before thundering back to life.
The pink plus said everything, along with the fact her already-sensitive skin enflamed with the fear erupting in her heart, her blood freezing faster than Mr. Freeze's weapons. She'd lost her appetite for certain foods, milkshakes being her primary craving along with fried eggplants, and sushi as well as any red meats making her gag.
Jason Todd, her husband, had gotten her pregnant.
~o~
"You've begotten."
"Y-yeah. I'm sure. I've had these symptoms before. I'm..." Stephanie felt her lip tremble and bit on it. "I'm scared. We weren't thinking of anything else since that night."
Talia hummed, pursing her lips. They were together in the woman's apartment, surrounded by luxury befitting her heritage. The L-shaped sofa and loveseat - the lady herself on the short end while Steph took the latter seat - both convertibles into sleeping places, were golden tan, accented with tall, elegant floor lamps that had glass shelves. An exquisite golden bowl detailing peacock feathers, set with jewels of red and green, carried Moroccan mosaic balls, rested atop the modern glass coffee table, the legs and wiring bronze. A great canvas covered the upper half of one slated wall, bearing textured elephants against a calm blue background, covered with many jewels and gold like those from India, and another wall was illuminated with a majestic mirror frosted and cut into the petals of a rose. The window curtains, silvery white brought to life with shining gold medallions and geometric borders, were parted to show the daylight radiating over all of the city covered with snow in its streets and on its skyscrapers and tall structures. You could see the most important building beyond, the WE being removed to be replaced with something else in the future.
It felt like something scratching against a chalkboard, either nails or something sharp which would increase the pain to the eardrums. That was how Stephanie would describe the tension. She and Jason had a good run in the last few months, but it seemed they had done everything but the one important thing.
Declare their love. She could see it in his eyes, but they hadn't talked about it. She was too chicken and hated herself for it. She couldn't hate Jason if he felt the same as her.
It was also because of the business in which one step was nearing completion, in terms of affordable housing in Park Row. Christmas was approaching in less than two weeks. It was extraordinary they'd accomplished so much together as a young married couple with the help of friends and loved ones that Wayne Enterprises tanked so much; donations from Bruce Wayne had been refused once before, right after his release from jail on bail, and his assets were also frozen to keep him from doing anything Batman-related after that. His response to why he'd come uninvited to the al Ghul opening last September was because he deserved to be there and wasn't invited, to which the flames fanned on as they were. Nothing was working in his favor anymore.
It was Lucius Fox who announced the decision to remove Wayne from the CEO seat of his family's company.
Back to her and Jason. She was gonna have a child with him that, once more, wasn't planned on her part. Should have brought a damned condom, but it was a heat of the moment. Why didn't I learn after last time?
But still...we made a baby.
"We were so stupid, Talia," she mumbled, feeling like the teenage girl she'd been back then, heart wrenching at the memories of her beautiful little girl she never got to name before handing her over for a better life. Goddamned Bruce telling her this life she led was not for a child. "Should have thought of a condom -"
"Hush, Stephanie." Talia held up one hand firmly. She wasn't judging. "What's done is done. What's important now is that Jason must know but after that? What do you wish to do?"
What did she want? Half of her wanted the baby, but she was barely finished with college, worked so hard, and married to a man who was getting his life back together and making his home safe for them and everyone who had been ignored long enough. Did she want to bring a baby into the world as it was now, and would Jason want to be a dad after having two failed experiences?
Talia smiled at her when she asked this. "That is why we are both here to make sure. All of us are together in this. Consider this: you don't have to give up your schooling if you wish to keep the child. You're in a much better place than before."
She wasn't wrong about that, so that made Steph feel a little better, but that left one person to tell before final decisions would be made.
~o~
Wearing a deep purple sweater with lacing at the waist and gray sweatpants, she waited for her husband to come home, her mother-in-law in the kitchen and taking command because she wanted to.
Another worry was in Stephanie's mind: she had to tell Crystal, too, after this. Her mom might be overjoyed at a second chance to be a grandma, though it was unfortunate no grandfathers would be in the little one's life. At the thought, Stephanie put her hand on the middle of her belly when she felt the pull there. She painfully smiled.
The mother instincts never went away.
The front door to the apartment was unlocked, and the unknowing father of the little one growing within her entered. Her Jason and she wasn't ashamed to admit it. The man she'd fallen in love with but wanted so much to tell, and have more than just what made the baby, starting after the night they premiered themselves. Looking her way after shrugging off his dark coat which was covered with bits of falling snow, he smiled and walked over to kneel and butt his nose against hers playfully, the little spark making her laugh.
"Mom, you didn't tell me you were coming," Jason said as soon as he saw her and smelled the mouth-watering meat she was cooking.
"Wanted to surprise my children. Is that difficult to believe?" Talia asked coyly, turning around from the stove to regard him through the doorway to the living room. "We also got some marvelous news to share with you, but it can wait until after we've had food in our bellies." Her acting like a normal mom would, like mine would, is rare but welcome. I never thought I'd say it, but I like her this way, too.
"Really? 'Cuz I got something for my girls and couldn't wait until Christmas when we all got together." Jason laughed nervously. "Hid them so well I gotta go find them now that you both are here."
He was excited to give them something before Christmas, having lost patience. It was sweet of him, and Stephanie was so happy that she was moved to tears. Now her own impatience was threatening to break out when she decided a full stomach would come first and then his surprises for them. It made her wonder if telling him she was having THEIR baby would be her gift to him, but at the same time, what if it killed the holiday spirit and wonderful mood?
Talia went all out for them. The table was spread with kabsa rice, with the meats of chicken, lamb, and halibut on their own dishes. It was a great comfort for a relaxed family environment.
Now they sat before the Christmas tree they'd set up together with everyone's help. Outside on their door was a classic green wreath with the green-and-red plaid ribbon, fresh with evergreen-scented red berries, frosted pinecones, and some golden balls in bunches. The side tables were each topped with a trio of glittering, silver-and-gold frosted glass trees like those in a forest, both sides joined with everything you'd find in a neighborhood or town in the form of a miniature, cute little gingerbread village - a schoolhouse, a bank, hardware store, toy shop, bakery, and a house. In the center of the coffee table was a floral arrangement made for royalty; three golden candles rose from snowy white roses and alstroemeria, holly mistletoe, golden ornaments and mesh ribbons, and crystalline snowflakes. The windows themselves were draped with garlands of berries, apples, cones, some snow, and the LED lights flashed between white and multicolored just like the great tree fit for the height of this room. Said tree was ingeniously sprayed realistically with "snow", glinting and glittering with bejeweled snowflakes, some gold and silver ornaments with Greek borders, baubles of classic holiday figures in fine glass, and others in burlap and plaid for rustic touches.
"My dearest son, you have honored me with a piece of thousands of years of history," Talia breathed as she beheld the thing from its brown leathered box edged with black. Twelve inches long, beautifully tempered with a pattern reminiscent of the Turkish marbling technique in black against gray steel, this sharp-edged knife was the stuff of Viking legend.
Stephanie was now wearing hers around her neck and would cherish it always even if the passion cooled with time: a chain of beads of three colors of amber - classic amber, creamy yellow, and what looked either dark red or black - and suspended from the center was a perfect mother-of-pearl etched with a golden "S". She couldn't ask for anything better. And now...now would come the hard part in which Talia looked her way with her eyes, the message clear even as she looked her son in the eyes with a tender smile. "Jason, abn, this is what we both have to tell you."
She looked straight at her husband, will strong. She let go of her previous child, but she would NEVER surrender this one.
"I'm pregnant."
Jason's Christmas gift to Talia is the Viking Blade from the Stauer website.
Dun dun, dun, wait for the next chapter. I've decided on one more chapter from what I'd originally planned to end this story on.