DISCLAIMER: The characters and the setting featured within are the 
property of DC Comics and are used without permission, in a non-profit 
setting meant solely for the enjoyment of myself and the readers

Yes Virginia, It's A......!
by Vicki Napier (VNapier@aol.com)

***

"Excuse me, sir, but this is a closed meeting." The President of the 
Gotham Heights School Board eyed the intruder suspiciously. Tonight's 
meeting had been called to handle a delicate matter and the board 
wanted to handle it with the least amount of publicity possible. The 
stranger did not look like a reporter, but there was something vaguely 
familiar about him.

"I realize that and when you hear what I have to say I'm sure you will 
be glad that I did not wait and address the board at it's public 
meeting next week." The stranger was impeccably dressed and had an air 
of authority about him that made all the members of the board very 
nervous.

"Sir, this is a closed meeting and I will have to ask you to leave," 
the president proceeded to push the point. He was in charge here and 
that was that. Or so he thought. 

"Mr. Talbot, I am aware of the agenda for your meeting tonight and I 
can assure you that what I have to say you will find more than 
relevant." The stranger had maintained his ground and showed no 
indication of leaving. "And if you have any doubts about that, sir, may 
I mention that I am aware of the relationship you have with, Miss 
Balinchi, a hair dresser in Metropolis."

"Sir, I don't know what you are implying, but if you do not leave I am 
going to be forced to call the police." Mr. Talbot had turned pale when 
the stranger mention a name he had never mentioned in Gotham. Edith 
Balinchi was an attractive woman that he had been having an affair with 
for the past seven years. Neither wanted a permanent commitment, they 
just enjoyed each other's company occasionally.

The stranger had taken a seat at a chair against the wall. He appeared 
to have made himself comfortable and did not give the impression that 
he would be leaving anytime soon.

"Oh, you don't have to worry that the other members of this auspicious 
group will be to aghast by your behavior." The stranger smiled an 
almost evil smile as his 'friendly' words permeated the silence.

"For instance, Mrs. Ludmere, couldn't possibly hold your having an 
adulterous affair against you when she herself has been know to keep 
the company of men other than her husband." The stranger's piercing 
eyes quickly darted to the board secretary, who appeared to be in 
shock.

"Well,..." Mrs. Ludmer gasped indignantly, "I never...I don't know what 
you think your talking about."

"Of course you don't, Mrs. Ludmere." There was that evil smile again. 
"Maybe these will help refresh your memory." The stranger stood briefly 
to place a group of pictures on the conference table in front of her. 
He quietly returned to his seat, and once again looked comfortable and 
very much settled. 

"I believe those photographs show you leaving a certain Bludhaven hotel 
with no less than five different men. I believe one of which was a 
college student young enough to be your son." The stranger stared hard 
at her, daring her to say anything. Anything at all. She slowly sank 
back down in her chair without so much as another word.

"But there's no reason for either Mr. Talbot or Mrs. Ludmere to feel 
that they are alone in there shame. Is there Mr. Jackson? Mr. 
Anderson?" The stranger turned his gaze to the two men at the opposite 
end of the table. "Now do we need to get into how you gentlemen spend 
your nights. It must be so very convenient living next door to each 
other."

Both men took a deep breath, neither having the nerve to look at the 
other. While the stranger had not come right out and said he knew they 
had a special relationship, the insinuation was more than clear. They 
had always taken great pains to protect their secret and were in total 
shock that anyone could have found them out.

"And Mr. Kranston, how's the view from that telescope of yours?" The 
stranger continued his calculated attack. His voice neither irate nor 
indignant, but the underlying threatening tone was unmistakable. "I 
think I should inform you that most people use such equipment to gaze 
at the stars. Tell me Mr. Kranston, don't you find it a little 
uncomfortable living in that neighborhood? The only elderly man in a 
neighborhood inhabited for the most part by 'young' college students.
You must find it difficult to find anything in common with your 'young'
neighbors. It must be difficult trying to relate to so many 'young' 
people. How do you do it? But I'm sure you're just feeling protective 
of them. That's why you keep such a watchful eye on them. Especially 
those young vulnerable female students."

Mr. Kranston refused to meet the stranger's gaze. He hadn't thought 
anyone knew about his 'hobby'. After all, it wasn't so terribly bad. 
All he was doing was looking. Or so he tried to convince himself.

"Oh, and we can't forget you, Mrs. Wiggins. Maybe you can be of help to 
Mr. Kranston to understand his neighbors." The strangers voice had 
become more and more ominous as it took aim at each of the members of 
the board. "Young people sometimes do things they regret later, not 
realizing the implications of their actions at the time. Some things 
they do in college they would just as soon forget. The drunken parties, 
the unprotected sex, the belief that the pictures would never be an 
issue later."

Mrs. Wiggins held her head in her hands. She had thought she had 
successfully dodged that bullet. But she was wrong.

"Now ladies and gentlemen, I believe you were going to take a vote this 
evening on the issue of firing a certain teacher. A teacher who I 
believe the record shows is dedicated, competent and devoted to helping 
her students learn. Her only 'crime' is that she made a mistake in 
judgement. Something I'm sure all of you are completely understanding 
and sypathic about." The stranger stood and approached the conference 
table once more.

"I believe some of the words you intended to use in your official 
separation notification are 'unfit' and 'corrupting influence' and 
'lacking in social responsibility'." Now the stranger stood directly in 
front of them. They all saw a dark determination in his eyes that 
prevented them from maintaining eye contact for more than a few seconds 
at a time. "I believe all of you understand that if you go through with 
your intended actions, this information will be sent to each and every 
register voter in this school district. If Ms. Bertinelli needs to 
loose her job because of a mistake, than I suggest, so do the rest of
you." The threat was clear, as was the promised action.

The stranger turned from the still stunned and speechless board 
members. Without another word he left them to ponder their next 
actions. If he had paused to listen at the door, he would have heard 
the Mr. Talbot quickly adjourn the meeting and declare the intended 
business no longer applicable. All members of the board quickly left 
without a word to each other.

***

Dick stared at the paper in his hand. He didn't know what to say. He 
didn't know how to react. He had never been in this position, nor had 
he ever contemplated its possibility. He was at a complete and total 
loss. For words. For a reaction. For just about everything.

"Dick, are you all right." Helena wasn't sure what his reaction would 
be, but this appeared to be some kind of shock. But was it a 'good' 
shock or a 'bad' shock?

Dick didn't say anything at first, he just looked up at her. Finally, 
he seemed to find his voice. "This is my child? Really?"

Helena smiled. This was almost too cute for words. Dick Grayson, 
Nightwing, former partner to Batman, was speechless and weak in the 
knees over a baby picture. "Yes, Dick. The ultrasound was done 
yesterday afternoon. That is a picture of your baby. Do you want to 
know the sex?" She wasn't sure if he would or not. Some parents wanted 
to be surprised and others wanted to know as soon as possible.

"The doctor...you...know what it is?" Dick was still trying to recover 
from his initial shock. He knew the realities. She was pregnant, he was 
the father, in four months his child would be born. But to actually see 
the child, his child, for the first time. It somehow made it so much 
more real.

"Yes, I think I want to know." Dick answered her question.

"Well, Mr. Grayson, in four months you are going to be the proud father 
of an adorably sweet, irresistibly cute, I'm still hoping we can avoid 
your sense of humor, baby girl."

"A girl?" Dick's face slowly lit up till it was glowing like Times 
Square on New Year's Eve. "I'm going to have a daughter? I'm going to 
have a daughter!" 

"You're not disappointed are you?" Helena asked. "I mean, most men seem 
to want a son." 

"Disappointed?" Dick looked at her like she had just made the most 
outlandish suggestion possible. "How could I be disappointed? I'm going 
to have a daughter!" Impulsively he wrapped his arms around Helena and 
hugged her tightly. "I'm going to have a daughter!"

Dick instantly realized what he was saying, and to whom he was saying 
it. He immediately released her from his embrace and stepped back. 
Blushing, he tried to apologize. "I'm sorry. I just got a little 
excited is all. You're having the baby, she's your daughter, too. I 
didn't mean to sound so...so...selfish." He nervously awaited her 
response.

"Dick, there's nothing to apologize for." Helena tried to soothe away 
his fears. "I know what you meant. This is an...unusual situation. The 
fact of the matter is that we are not together and we will not be 
together. Very seldom, if ever, will she be referred to as 'our 
daughter.' It is going to be perfectly natural for you to refer to her 
as your daughter, just as I will refer to her as my daughter. That's 
just the way it is so there's no need to be embarrassed about it."

Dick gave her a lopsided grin. "Thanks. I hadn't looked at it that 
way." Becoming serious again, he decided to address a concern that had 
been on his mind for quite awhile. "I'm just sorry you have to do so 
much of this alone. I can't be here for you like...like a husband would 
be. I feel like I'm letting you down in some way."

"You're not letting me down in any way, Dick." Helena decided to 
divulge some concerns of her own. "In fact, I feel like you're the one 
who's missing out on so much. And after she's born, there are just 
going to be so many things your going to miss simply because you won't 
be here day and night."

He knew what she meant. He had felt both disappointment and relief when 
Helena told him a friend of hers was going to help in the delivery 
room. He wanted to be there when his child was born, more than 
anything, but...but at the same time he wouldn't feel right being with 
her at that time. That was supposed to be something special, between a 
couple, not two people who just happened to be the biological parents 
of a child. He knew that was stupid, but that was how he felt.

He also hadn't missed the look of relief that passed briefly over 
Barbara's face when he told her of Helena's decision. She would never 
have been anything but supportive if it had been decided he could be in 
the delivery room, but he could tell the thought bothered her just the 
same. Someday, with any luck, they both could be there, together, for 
the birth of their own child.

"Dick, I want you to do something." Helena spoke softly.

"Anything."

"I want you to chose her name," Helena beamed a smile at him. She 
really wanted him to feel like he was an important part of his 
daughter’s life.

"I can't...I mean...isn't that something you should have some say in as 
well." Dick had been taken by surprise. Naming a child was something 
else he had not yet given any consideration too. Somewhere deep in his 
gut he had felt that it would be Helena's decision.

"Believe me, I thought long and hard about that." She teased him with 
her grin. "What with that warped sense of humor and all. Just try to 
remember that she will have to go to school and live with that name, so 
don't make it too awful." 

"Well, Hortensia has a nice ring to it," Dick teased back. One day 
Helena would learn that Dick was a natural and therefore not someone a 
rank amateur needed to be needling. "Hortensia Crueatia..." Dick 
hesitated and gave Helena a concerned look.

"What's wrong Dick?" Helena asked, slightly alarmed by his sudden 
change in demeanor. "I mean besides that name?"

Dick swallowed. He wasn't quite sure how to ask this. "What about her 
last name?" He said rather meekly. This whole situation was hopelessly 
complex. Some things he had been able to anticipate, but others were 
continually throwing him for a loop.

"Actually, I had thought about that." Helena conceded, but proceeded 
cautiously. "For practical  reasons, it would be better for her to have 
my last name since I will have custody the majority of the time. 
Insurance, school, doctors and all that would be less confusing. But at 
the same time, with all the divorces around there are lots of kids out 
there with different last names than their custodial parents."

"Dick, but if it really means that much to you, it is something I am 
willing to discuss." She hoped she hadn't sounded to awful and selfish. 
That really wasn't her intentions at all. "In fact, I seriously started 
considering letting her have your name when the school board was so up 
in arms about my pregnancy. I mean, then it would just seem like I was 
divorced and had custody of our child. Nobody would give it a second 
thought."

Dick gave her an alarmed look. "What do you mean the school board was 
up in arms?"

"Well, they seemed to think that my being unmarried and pregnant was 
going to be a bad example for the students. That I would be a 
‘corrupting' influence."

"That's just plain crap," Dick said more forcefully than he really 
intended. "You're a good teacher and that should be all that matters."

"Well, it's not. Or at least it wasn't." Helena sounded confused but 
relieved. "I was rumored that the board was going to hold a closed 
meeting to vote on firing me. They didn't want it getting out that one 
of their teachers was irresponsible and promiscuous." Her eyes rolled 
in disbelief and she added, "Just a bunch of self-righteous jackasses."

"So what happened?"

"I don't know exactly. It's been said that the meeting was convened but 
for some reason was called off and no vote was taken. Then Mr. Talbot, 
the board's president, came by my classroom yesterday to tell me that 
the board had reconsidered its position and were not going to take any 
action against me."

"I wonder why the sudden change of heart?" Dick wondered suspiciously.

"You got me with that one," Helena replied. "I was discussing it with a 
couple of the other teachers and one of them suggested that maybe the 
board had some dirty laundry of their own they didn't want aired. But 
if that was the case, someone would have to have found out and informed 
the board would that their secrets would be exposed if they fired me. 
But who would be that interested in protecting me?" The last statement 
was more of a thought out loud than an actual question.

"Yeah," Dick eyes gleamed brightly with realization. "Who would be that 
interested?" He would have to question a certain father of his about 
this later.

"Now, I want you to think about a name. And we'll talk about the last 
name thing later." Helena had looked at the clock on the wall and 
realized she was going to be late for a faculty meeting if she did not 
hurry. "I hate to run you off, but I have a meeting and I'm going to be 
late as it is."

"Sorry, I just wanted to stop by and see how the doctor's appointment 
went." Dick looked back at the ultrasound picture that had been in his 
hand this whole time. "Thanks for showing me this." He started to hand 
it back to her.

"Keep it." She smiled mischievously she closed the door behind them. 
"And I want an in depth report, pictures would be really nice, of 
granddad's reaction."

Dick smiled and nodded. He walked her to her car and waved as she drove 
away.

Looking down at the picture in his hand he stood there for a long time 
looking at the image of his daughter. Yeah, Bruce was going to get a 
shock out of this, too.

~Grandpa Batman~ Dick chuckled and shook his head as he went to meet 
his dad.

-Continued-