Yes Virginia, Sometimes Wrong is Right
by Vicki Napier (VNapier@aol.com)

***

Dick sat in his car outside Helena's apartment building for quite a while. He 
knew what he was going to do was the right thing. He knew what he had to do.

Bruce had tried to be supportive of his decision, but he hadn't been too 
convincing. He was still getting used to his new found emotional "freedom" and 
Dick could tell he was just putting up a good front to keep from hurting Dick's 
feelings. He knew he had hurt Dick so much in the past, and didn't want to start 
off their attempted reconciliation by questioning Dick's decision. He really had 
done his best at pointing out the pro's, as well as his heartfelt cons,
and Dick's appreciation was immeasurable. But this was something he had to do.

Dick grinned slightly and shook his head in amazement as the sound of Bruce's 
laughter continued to echo through his head. God, it was good to have him back. 
But at the same time is was just down right strange. Almost eerie even.

Gathering his courage, he locked the car and headed up to Helena's apartment. 
She would be expecting him and he didn't want her to glance out the window and 
see him sitting outside her building. It might give her the idea that he didn't 
really want to do what he was about to do.

Helena opened the door as Dick knocked and smiled almost shyly, "Come on in. 
It's good to see you."

"How are you feeling," Dick asked, genuine concern shown in his eyes and rang in 
his voice. "Is there anything you need?"

"No, I'm fine. I had an appointment this morning and got a clean bill of health, 
both of us. Have a seat." Helena motioned toward the couch in the living room. 
"Can I get you something to drink?"

Helena had been a little surprised when Nightwing had called and asked if he 
could come over and talk to her. The other night she had known as soon as she 
spoke the words to him, that he had gone into a complete state of shock. He had 
refused her invitation to talk then, and she only hoped that he had someone he 
could talk to at 'home', wherever that was.

"No, I'm fine. I just really need to talk to you."

Helena quickly went to the kitchen and retrieved the glass of water she had 
filled just as Dick arrived, and sat down on the sofa next to him.

"I'm really sorry about the other night. I shouldn't have sprung this on you so 
bluntly. Are you all right?"

"Me?" Dick asked, "I don't want you to worry about me. I'll be fine. It's you 
and the...our baby that are the most important things right now." Dick replied. 
"I'll admit that I was a little shocked and I'm sorry for the way I reacted, but 
I've done a lot of thinking these past two days now I know how I feel." Dick 
took her hand and looked earnestly in her eyes.

"Helena, will you marry me?" Dick asked with all misguided sincerity he could 
muster.

"Oh, yeah, now that would be really cute." Helena laughed, and added mockingly, 
"I can hear it now, 'Do you, Helena, take what's-his-name, to be your lawfully 
wedded husband'." She laughed again. "Yeah, real cute."

"It's Richard. My name is Richard Grayson. My friends call me Dick." Dick almost 
choked on the words. ~I'm sorry Bruce.~

"Dick," Helena took his hands in hers, "thank you. I know that wasn't easy. And 
this isn't going to be easy for you, either. No, I won't marry you."

Putting her finger to his lips to silence his objections, she explained. "I 
respect you so much for asking, but I can't marry someone who I know doesn't 
love me and that I don't love either." Leaning forward she kissed him gently on 
the cheek. "You are the sweetest man I've ever known and anyone would think me a 
total fool, but, no, I can't marry you."

"But, Helena, what about...." Dick started to say, but was interrupted before he 
could finish.

"But what? What about the baby? Dick that is no reason to get married." Helena 
placed both hands on his cheeks and held his face, making him look her in the 
eye. "Can you honestly tell me that you love me?"

"I ... I could love you." Dick answered softly.

"Sorry, that's not good enough." She released his face and sat back. "Look, 
Dick, I don't want 'pity' love."

"It wouldn't be 'pity' love, as you put it. It would be..." Dick hesitated as he 
searched for the words that remained frustratingly elusive.

"Dick, listen to me. I'm a teacher. I see kids every day and I see the problems 
they face. And do you know what? The ones with the most problems, academically, 
emotionally, socially, are those from broken homes." Helena's voice and eyes 
were filled with a compassion that made Dick know she had to be a wonderful and 
caring teacher.

"That's what I'm trying to avoid." Dick said rather forcefully.

"Dick, stop interrupting and just listen to me." Helena's voice was gentle, but 
also said she meant business. "There are just as many broken homes out there 
with married biological fathers and mothers in them as there are with step 
parents and single parents. By broken I don't mean divorced or never been 
married. By broken I mean devoid of love."

Trying to make him understand, Helena said "I have a girl in one of my classes 
who told me that she just wishes her parents would get divorced and get it over 
with." Tears welled in her eyes as she continued. "Children are not stupid. They 
know when there is no love in their parents' relationship, even if they don't 
know exactly what that means."

"I want my... I want our child to know what real love is. I want our child to 
have an example of a wonderful and loving relationship that he, or she, can look 
forward to having themselves. I want our child to see honest and true love, not 
love out of necessity." Dick gently brushed away the tear that had found its way 
down her cheek. "Our child will be much better off with us apart, and happy, 
than with us together and, at best, tolerating the situation."

"It wouldn't be that way. I promise. I will..." Dick whispered softly, honestly 
believing that he meant the words coming from his lips.

"You will what? Make yourself love me? Are you planning on making me love you, 
too?" Helena asked, just a trace of sarcasm in her voice. "It doesn't work that 
way."

"You really are the sweetest man alive." Her smile told Dick she really meant 
what she said. "But we deserve so much better that a loveless marriage, and, no 
Dick, love cannot be forced. Not real love. And you deserve real love." He voice 
again gained an edge, "I deserve real love, too."

"I want my husband to be my best friend, not just the father of my children. I 
want his face to light up at the mere sound of my voice. I want him to want me 
with a passion that can't be 'made' into being. I want to see the sparkle in his 
eyes that says 'I love you more than anything' every time he thinks of me," she 
paused, looked deep in Dick's eyes, once again taking his hands in hers. She 
gave them a gentle squeeze, and then added with a sincere honesty that cut Dick 
to the core.

"I want my husband to love me the way you love Oracle."

Dick dropped his head in embarrassment, tears filling his eyes, but Helena 
hooked her finger under his chin and raised his eyes to meet hers. "You can't 
love me the way I want, the way I deserve, to be loved. If I married you, it 
wouldn't be fair to our child, to me, to you, or even to her." Her reassuring 
smile made him suddenly realized that this what was what Bruce had been trying 
to tell him last night, only he had been unable to find the words and Dick had 
been unwilling to listen anyway.

"Our child will be one of the lucky ones." She made the statement as if it was 
fact and was not open for discussion. "With her as a stepmother, our child will 
know what a happy, loving marriage should be, and can be, if you do the right 
thing. And the right thing in this case, is for you to marry your true love, not 
for us to get married just because it's considered 'the right thing to do.' I 
hope I can someday find someone who will love me like you love her, but until 
then, I'd rather set the example that not making a bigger mistake out of a big 
mistake can be a good thing too."

"Stepmother? But, Oracle and I are...." Dick started, his voice a little too 
defensive.

"If you say you two are 'just friends', I swear, Mr. Richard Grayson, I'll beat 
you till you're so black and blue you could go out on patrol tonight naked and 
even Batman wouldn't notice you weren't in uniform!" The annoyance in her voice 
turned to sad resignation.

"You two are in love. 'True blue, star struck, googoo eyed, more hormones raging 
between you than any of the teenagers at my school' in love."

Sounding exasperated, she added, "How long is it going to take you two to 
realized what everybody else already knows? I mean, for goodness sake, you two 
must be the only ones on the entire planet who don't know." She smiled playfully 
at his look of disbelief. "I said before that it was cute. Well, now its gone 
way beyond cute. Now its just down right annoying."

"But..." Dick started to say something, but then admitted to himself there was 
no arguing with Helena. Right or wrong, she wasn't going to budge.

"I know this situation is going to put a terrible strain on your 'nonexistent' 
relationship, but as 'nonexistent' relationships go, from what I've seen you two 
will be able to work it out." She had to admit she was having fun putting him on 
the spot.

Dick rolled his eyes in defeat. No matter what he said, she was not going to be 
convinced that he and Babs were just friends. Of, course, if she was right that 
would explain why his first thought when she told him the news was how he was 
going to explain it to Barbara. He had been ashamed when he first realized what 
he'd done. His first thoughts should have been about his child. About Helena. 
Not about someone who was 'just a friend.'

And hadn't Bruce mentioned the same thing last night? Maybe there was something 
to this. Helena had said that 'everyone else knew' so that would definitely 
include the 'world's greatest detective.'

He remembered back to the time when he and Barbara were lovers and how, when she 
ended the relationship, denial of his feelings was the only way he had managed 
to cope with the hurt and the loss. Maybe he had been denying his true feelings 
for Barbara for so long, that he didn't even know he was doing it anymore. 
Maybe.... ~Stop it Grayson, you're a grown, intelligent adult and if you loved 
Barbara that much you would damn well be aware of it. Wouldn't You?~

"...Earth to Grayson," Helena's voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked 
startled and, remembering where he was, apologized immediately.

"Sorry, Helena, I guess my mind wandered for a moment."

"Wandering down the isle with 'just a freind?' She replied, still having fun 
with him. "What were the colors, and how many people were there?"

Dick blushed. Did she really know he was thinking about Babs? "Cut it out. 
Please. This is just too weird. How am I supposed to concentrate on the matters 
at hand when the mother of my child keeps trying to marry me off to someone 
else?"

"I told you our child was going to see a happy loving marriage, didn't I? Well, 
if it coincides with his college graduation, then it won't do him any good at 
all." Helena was actually surprised at her attitude concerning Dick and Oracle's 
relationship. He was right after all, this was weird. Weird, but fun.

"Him?" Dick's eyebrow raised in surprise. She said she had an appointment this 
morning. Did she know it was a boy?

"Down, boy." It was Helena's turn to roll her eyes. "I just cleaned so don't go 
hosing down the place in testosterone. I just said 'he' as opposed to 'it.' I 
don't know the sex yet."

"Wait a minute. I was just asking." Dick responded in mock indignation. "A 
little girl would be just as special as a little boy." A sly grin formed on his 
lips as he decided Helena wasn't the only one who could have some fun. "Well, 
probably. If she liked sports, that is." Helena hit him with one of the sofa 
pillows and they both ended up leaning against each other laughing.

"Seriously, though," Dick whispered as he shifted to face Helena. "I just want 
to be a good father to our child, boy or girl." As he remembered the recent 
events between he and Bruce, tears welled in his eyes.

"There's no way you could be anything but, Mr. Grayson." Helena whispered back, 
momentarily placing her hand on his cheek.

"And I want you to be an integral part of his life. You are a very special 
person and I can't imagine anyone else I would rather influence my child on how 
to be a person than you." Taking Dick's hand, she continued. "I know this isn't 
going to be easy for any of us. But I know that our child will have all the love 
he could ever possibly need."

Helena didn't want to get too bogged down with emotional issues again, there 
would be plenty of time for that later, so she coyly added. "At least now I 
won't have to list 'what's-his-name' as the father on the birth certificate."

Dick grinned, blushing slightly. But got serious again as Helena continued. 
"It's just that I don't know anything else about you. Your family. Your home. 
Your life. Nothing." Then as if she was suddenly struck with a thought, she 
asked rather hesitantly, "Is He your father?"

Dick knew who she meant by 'He' and knew that now it was going to get 
complicated.

"No. Well, yes and no." He stammered. "That's kinda complicated".

"'Kind of' complicated, two words Mr. Grayson." She corrected him. "It's a good 
thing I'll be around to make sure he learns proper English." Shaking her head 
with dismay. "And, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that usually a simple 'yes 
or no' question." She looked at him questioningly.

"I'm an only child and my parents, my biological parents, were killed when I was 
nine." Dick swallowed hard as the memories and pain flooded his mind. "We were 
in the circus, the trapeze act." Again he paused to swallow hard. It had been a 
long time since he had actually had to tell this story. "My parents and I, we 
... we were 'The Flying Grayson's,' the star attaction at the Haly Bros. 
Circus." He smiled slightly, remembering those happy times from so long ago, 
then, grimly, continued. 

"Before a show in Gotham an extortionist put acid on the swing ropes and halfway 
through the performance, the rope broke and they both....." Now he was definitly 
too choked up to finish. The realization that his child would never know what 
wonderful people they were hit him like a ton of bricks. Tears poured from his 
eyes and his breathing became hard and rapid.

"I'm sorry, Dick." Helena put her hand on his, squeezed it supportively, and 
leaned over to gently kiss his trembling shoulder as he composed himself. "I'm 
so very sorry."

"It's OK," Dick finally replied, his voice still terribly hoarse. "It was a long 
time ago and, although I still love and miss them, I was able to go on with my 
life.

"Thanks to Br..." Dick stopped himself, a reflex action perfected over the 
years. But he was, after all, going to be the grandfather of her child. It's not 
like it could be kept from her forever. Bruce had even told him he was aware of 
that and that he would accept it. "Thanks to Bruce, I was able to help bring 
their killers to justice and make a new life for myself."

"Bruce?" Helena asked cautiously, not wanting to push Dick too much, but at the 
same time, she was very, very curious.

"Bruce, Bruce Wayne, took me in after my parents died. He raised me from that 
time on, and so, that's what make's your question complicated. No, he's not my 
father, but at the same time, yes he is."

Helena's eyes bugged out of her head and her mind raced ninety miles an hour.

Bruce Wayne is Batman. Billionaire, playboy, philanthropist Bruce Wayne is 
Batman.

Still stunned, she tried to voice her thoughts. "He.. He knows your telling me 
this?"

"Yeah, he knows. He's not real happy about it, but he knows. There was no way to 
keep it from you, under the circumstances." Beginning to feel more like himself 
again, Dick couldn't resist adding, "He's smart enough to know that 'Grandpa 
what's-his-name' wouldn't work for long."

"Oh, God, please don't let that sense of humor be hereditary," she smiled slyly, 
looking up and holding her hands together as if she were praying.

"Hey, I resent that remark," Dick shot back, grinning innocently.

Curiosity once again began to work on Helena and she asked, again rather 
hesitantly, "So he wasn't upset about, you know, this? About us?"

Dick smiled, remembering Bruce's reaction, "Oh, his reaction was, shall we say, 
completely unpredictable. But, no, he's not upset, not totally anyway." Dick 
thoughtfully added, "He might even be looking forward to being a grandpa."

"Grandpa Batman," Helena thought out loud, "now that's not something you hear 
everyday."

"Then again, maybe not," Dick ruefully responded.

"And if you think you changed the subject permanently, you are sadly mistaken, 
bucko." Helena poked him in the chest with her finger, grinning like a Cheshire 
cat. "So, when are you going to admit that you love her and get this 'happy 
marriage' thing rolling. Time's a-wasting. I want you two nice and settled in 
before 'junior' arrives. Don't make me have to call her for you."

Dick was horror stricken, "You wouldn't dare!"

"I might, if you don't get your exceptionally cute ass in gear." She said 
threateningly, but smiling at the same time. "Hasn't gramps said something about 
this? I mean, he has to have noticed. Everyone has noticed."

Dick was getting a little irritated now. "Listen, I don't need you, or him, or 
anybody else for that matter telling me how I feel or who I should marry. I'll 
make that decision myself, thank you," he snapped. 

"Oh, so he did mention it," she chuckled.

"Listen, its getting late and I have class tomorrow and I know you have 'things' 
you need to be doing too." They both stood up and walked to the door. "We'll 
keep in touch and in the mean time, don't worry. We're both fine. And I want you 
to know that I really appreciate everything you did today. I know it wasn't easy 
for you to open up like that."

Dick took her hands and took a moment to just to look at her. "I'm sorry this 
had to happen this way, but I'm glad we can be friends and put what's best for 
our child ahead of everything else." Reaching inside his coat pocket, he took 
out a small card and handed it to her. "There's my home number, my pager number, 
and my cell number. You're now on a very short list of people I trust with them. 
Call me anytime if you need anything at all. Day or Night." He gently kissed her 
cheek. "And I mean that."

Helena looked from the card to Dick, "I know you do and I promise I will."

Dick opened the door and as he left, he turned and gave her a warm smile and 
wink.

"Be careful out there," Helena said after him and quickly added, "And call her," 
quickly closing the door to head off any back talk.

Helena leaned against the door for many minutes and then, placing her hand on 
her stomach, said to herself, "I would give anything for him to be the right 
one. For you and for me both."