๐๐ท๐ด ๐ต๐ด๐ป๐ ๐๐ท๐ด ๐๐ท๐ธ๐ต๐ ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฝ ๐ท๐ธ๐ผ. She felt the understanding settle in with her not-so-subtle jabs in his direction. Barbara knew he meant well. Always has, always will, but it didn't mean he was without faults. How many times had she had to sit and listen to Dick's rantings about the wall Bruce put up around him? How many times did she have to break the two apart from their bickering?
It seemed Bruce was finally beginning to grasp the importance of it all. This was a second chance of sorts. A way to fix the things he'd neglected before and ensure this baby grew up with more than any of them ever had. And she didn't mean the mansion, she didn't mean the businesses, or the money or anything of that sort. Her mind was on the love, the family, the security of togetherness. All things, none of them had for long or if at all growing up. She meant to see it through that their child would receive everything.
She saw that now in his gaze and his gentle touch through the rough pads of his thumbs. She hoped he could break this generational curse. No, she needed him to break it. Not for her sake, but for Dick's and their baby.
ใย You're right,ย ใ she smiled, ใย Dick's actually planning to talk to him later today. I thought he'd like to tell Alfred in private as well as use the opportunity to gather the strength to come talk to you right after.ย ใ She gives Bruce a knowing look. One that conveyed just how much weight this had on Dick's shoulders and the lengths he'd go to to please Bruce, even when things were bad. Especially when they were.
Oh, this was the side she saw so seldom. The one where he kept locked tight to keep all vulnerability from sight. She always saw it as his one weakness. The one spot she could drive a stick through repeatedly if she needed to break through with him and force him to listen, or worse, drive him away. The same spot Dick always jabbed at, she can't recall who found it first at this point. But she always knew deep down inside, Bruce was a lot more caring than he ever let on to be.
ใย I'd love that,ย ใshe felt the corners of her lips twitch as she tried to smile through it. Unlike the others, Barbara wasn't afraid of showing her feelings. Or at least, more than the majority of them and she felt her heart swelling with a mixture of fear and excitement.
That was what new parents were supposed to feel, right?
ใย But I can't stay too late. Dick will begin to grow suspicious, and I can only fake my telling other people for so long. Luckily, I didn't tell him it was Dinah, or else he'd have known hours ago I was lying. She'd never be able to keep the secret for long.ย ใ
