Fic: O Holy Night, Fandom: DCU, Characters: Dick/Helena, Rating: G
Title: O Holy Night
Author: in_excelsis_dea
Fandom: DCU
Characters: Dick/Helena, Bruce, Alfred and Tim
Rating: G
Warnings: Again, some slightly religious tones- this is a Christmas fic after all.
Summary: Sometimes it takes the right moment to realize something.
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, I am simply borrowing them.
AN: Writte for 24xmas prompt 3.church. More Dick/Helena, because the couple is on my brain. A “sequel” to Tying the Knot, taking place after they’re married, but you don’t need to have read it to understand this fic. Comments and con crit are always appreciated.
She didn’t set out to fall in love with him. Hell, the only reason she accepted his proposal in the first place was because of their child, and not because of any underlying feelings. She was well aware that he had the means to provide for her and their baby, that he was being earnest when he said he wanted them in his life, and that he meant it when he said he would do anything for her- including marrying her, even if the notion of “love” had never been discussed and she doubted she felt much more for him than enjoying his company- and his body.
And maybe it is the pregnancy wracking havoc on her emotions, just like it’s messing with her body. But regardless- the way he’s barely managing to keep from bursting out in song (and it took a punch to the stomach to get him to quit in the first place), and prancing around the foyer of the Manor while Bruce finishes getting ready- it all brings a smile to her face, and warms her.
“Bruce! Bruce! Hurry up!” He takes a running leap and lands a perfect one-handed handstand on the banister of the main staircase, his tie and jacket following gravity and covering his face. “We’re going to be late!”
“Master Richard, such behavior is not becoming of a grown man- especially a married man with a child on the way. Get down this instant.”
She sends Alfred a grateful look as he takes care of scolding her husband for her. Dick mumbles an apology, before practically bouncing around the foyer. If she didn’t know better, she’d believe he’d been drugged- or eaten a ton of sugar. Quirking her mouth, she shakes her head. To think she thought her students were bad right before Holiday Break.
“Are you okay?” A quiet voice brings her out of her thoughts. She rearranges her expression into a soft smile and turns to her youngest brother-in-law.
“I’m wondering who spiked his dinner, but other than that, I’m fine.” Sighing, she places a hand on her stomach. “Kiddo here has actually been pretty quiet today. Of course, its daddy is more than enough making up for it…”
“Bruce! Bru-oh hi, Bruce.” Dick straightens up instantly the moment Bruce appears on the upstairs landing.
“Hello.” He adjusts his tie and jacket as he comes down the stairs.
Helena notices that when he greets her, his smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes, but she’s past caring. Bruce has taken things a lot better than he did when they first announced their engagement, and she’s not expecting him to wake up one morning and suddenly welcome her into the family. She knows how tight knit this family is, and if it takes awhile for Bruce to accept her, then she’ll (impatiently) wait.
It’s amazing how her perspective has changed, with a baby on the way and a husband. Things, like Bruce’s acceptance, don’t seem quite as important anymore. And…she kind of likes the feeling of not having to prove herself. She can concentrate on being her and doesn’t have to fit in to a preexisting mold she doesn’t and never will fit.
“Let’s go!” Dick appears at her side and grabs her elbow. “We’re going to be late if we don’t hurry.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so anxious to attend Mass,” she mutters, before allowing him to guide her out the door. Tim just laughs quietly behind his hand, his eyes shining in mirth.
“It starts in an hour and a half, Dick.” Bruce leads them down the front steps of the Manor to the limo waiting for them. “We couldn’t be late if we tried. Now calm down.”
Once in the car, she ends up next to Dick and across from Tim. Dick still has a hold of her elbow, keeping her close to him, even while he argues with Bruce about the service and coming late and how important it is to get the best seats. Ignoring her childlike husband and his obstinate father, she strikes up a conversation with Tim.
“You didn’t want to invite anyone to the service?”
“I invited Cassie, but she didn’t think it would be a good idea to come.” He looks up, meeting her eyes. “With, well, everything that’s gone on the last couple of months, she didn’t want to just show up at a family event.”
“But you’re dating her- and that’s what Mass is for, Tim, especially Christmas Mass. It’s for family and loved ones to celebrate together.” She runs a hand over her belly, “Dick’s going on for months about how wonderful Christmas and Advent are and how it’s a special time of year. She shouldn’t feel like she’s not welcome, because she is- especially tonight.”
Tim just gives her that half-smile he uses when he’s mulling over something, and she leans back to relax for the rest of the journey. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of wedding preparations, the wedding itself, the short honeymoon and getting ready for Christmas. And now that the holiday is finally here, she almost finds herself lost. Regardless of what Dick might think, for the first time, she has time to sit back and rest and think.
It’s nice.
It’s nice to have a family- to have someone who cares for you, to have something and someone to come home to. She hasn’t been out on the streets at night for months because of the baby, and while at first she missed it, she’s slowly realizing that she doesn’t need it. Fighting crime was a way to get back at the people who took her family from her, and a way to feel needed. Barbara, Dinah and Zinda are great, and they’re like her sisters, but she now has more to live for.
It starts to snow as they arrive at the Cathedral and exit the limo. Once again, Dick helps her out of the car and up the steps. Were it any other night, she’d snap at him, insisting that being twenty-two weeks pregnant does not make her an invalid, thank you very much, and she can manage on her own. But the sight of the candle-lit entrance calms her nerves and eases the retort from her tongue. The organ is already playing, filling the cathedral with its tones, and people gather on the steps and inside the vestibule, chatting and greeting one another.
“Are you okay?” She has stopped in the middle of the entrance, taking in the festive decorations of the sanctuary, lost in her thoughts, when Dick touches her cheek. “Because if you don’t feel good, we can go home.”
It’s at that moment that she realizes everything will work out, no matter what happens. She knows how much Christmas, and this service, mean to Dick, and yet he offers to leave immediately, just for her. Because he cares about her. And she’s falling in love with him.
“It’s fine,” she smiles at him, clutching his hand. “I’m just enjoying the moment.”
He grins back at her and leads her down the aisle- the same aisle they walked down two weeks previously, and she can’t remember a time she has felt more content.
Author: in_excelsis_dea
Fandom: DCU
Characters: Dick/Helena, Bruce, Alfred and Tim
Rating: G
Warnings: Again, some slightly religious tones- this is a Christmas fic after all.
Summary: Sometimes it takes the right moment to realize something.
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, I am simply borrowing them.
AN: Writte for 24xmas prompt 3.church. More Dick/Helena, because the couple is on my brain. A “sequel” to Tying the Knot, taking place after they’re married, but you don’t need to have read it to understand this fic. Comments and con crit are always appreciated.
She didn’t set out to fall in love with him. Hell, the only reason she accepted his proposal in the first place was because of their child, and not because of any underlying feelings. She was well aware that he had the means to provide for her and their baby, that he was being earnest when he said he wanted them in his life, and that he meant it when he said he would do anything for her- including marrying her, even if the notion of “love” had never been discussed and she doubted she felt much more for him than enjoying his company- and his body.
And maybe it is the pregnancy wracking havoc on her emotions, just like it’s messing with her body. But regardless- the way he’s barely managing to keep from bursting out in song (and it took a punch to the stomach to get him to quit in the first place), and prancing around the foyer of the Manor while Bruce finishes getting ready- it all brings a smile to her face, and warms her.
“Bruce! Bruce! Hurry up!” He takes a running leap and lands a perfect one-handed handstand on the banister of the main staircase, his tie and jacket following gravity and covering his face. “We’re going to be late!”
“Master Richard, such behavior is not becoming of a grown man- especially a married man with a child on the way. Get down this instant.”
She sends Alfred a grateful look as he takes care of scolding her husband for her. Dick mumbles an apology, before practically bouncing around the foyer. If she didn’t know better, she’d believe he’d been drugged- or eaten a ton of sugar. Quirking her mouth, she shakes her head. To think she thought her students were bad right before Holiday Break.
“Are you okay?” A quiet voice brings her out of her thoughts. She rearranges her expression into a soft smile and turns to her youngest brother-in-law.
“I’m wondering who spiked his dinner, but other than that, I’m fine.” Sighing, she places a hand on her stomach. “Kiddo here has actually been pretty quiet today. Of course, its daddy is more than enough making up for it…”
“Bruce! Bru-oh hi, Bruce.” Dick straightens up instantly the moment Bruce appears on the upstairs landing.
“Hello.” He adjusts his tie and jacket as he comes down the stairs.
Helena notices that when he greets her, his smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes, but she’s past caring. Bruce has taken things a lot better than he did when they first announced their engagement, and she’s not expecting him to wake up one morning and suddenly welcome her into the family. She knows how tight knit this family is, and if it takes awhile for Bruce to accept her, then she’ll (impatiently) wait.
It’s amazing how her perspective has changed, with a baby on the way and a husband. Things, like Bruce’s acceptance, don’t seem quite as important anymore. And…she kind of likes the feeling of not having to prove herself. She can concentrate on being her and doesn’t have to fit in to a preexisting mold she doesn’t and never will fit.
“Let’s go!” Dick appears at her side and grabs her elbow. “We’re going to be late if we don’t hurry.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so anxious to attend Mass,” she mutters, before allowing him to guide her out the door. Tim just laughs quietly behind his hand, his eyes shining in mirth.
“It starts in an hour and a half, Dick.” Bruce leads them down the front steps of the Manor to the limo waiting for them. “We couldn’t be late if we tried. Now calm down.”
Once in the car, she ends up next to Dick and across from Tim. Dick still has a hold of her elbow, keeping her close to him, even while he argues with Bruce about the service and coming late and how important it is to get the best seats. Ignoring her childlike husband and his obstinate father, she strikes up a conversation with Tim.
“You didn’t want to invite anyone to the service?”
“I invited Cassie, but she didn’t think it would be a good idea to come.” He looks up, meeting her eyes. “With, well, everything that’s gone on the last couple of months, she didn’t want to just show up at a family event.”
“But you’re dating her- and that’s what Mass is for, Tim, especially Christmas Mass. It’s for family and loved ones to celebrate together.” She runs a hand over her belly, “Dick’s going on for months about how wonderful Christmas and Advent are and how it’s a special time of year. She shouldn’t feel like she’s not welcome, because she is- especially tonight.”
Tim just gives her that half-smile he uses when he’s mulling over something, and she leans back to relax for the rest of the journey. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of wedding preparations, the wedding itself, the short honeymoon and getting ready for Christmas. And now that the holiday is finally here, she almost finds herself lost. Regardless of what Dick might think, for the first time, she has time to sit back and rest and think.
It’s nice.
It’s nice to have a family- to have someone who cares for you, to have something and someone to come home to. She hasn’t been out on the streets at night for months because of the baby, and while at first she missed it, she’s slowly realizing that she doesn’t need it. Fighting crime was a way to get back at the people who took her family from her, and a way to feel needed. Barbara, Dinah and Zinda are great, and they’re like her sisters, but she now has more to live for.
It starts to snow as they arrive at the Cathedral and exit the limo. Once again, Dick helps her out of the car and up the steps. Were it any other night, she’d snap at him, insisting that being twenty-two weeks pregnant does not make her an invalid, thank you very much, and she can manage on her own. But the sight of the candle-lit entrance calms her nerves and eases the retort from her tongue. The organ is already playing, filling the cathedral with its tones, and people gather on the steps and inside the vestibule, chatting and greeting one another.
“Are you okay?” She has stopped in the middle of the entrance, taking in the festive decorations of the sanctuary, lost in her thoughts, when Dick touches her cheek. “Because if you don’t feel good, we can go home.”
It’s at that moment that she realizes everything will work out, no matter what happens. She knows how much Christmas, and this service, mean to Dick, and yet he offers to leave immediately, just for her. Because he cares about her. And she’s falling in love with him.
“It’s fine,” she smiles at him, clutching his hand. “I’m just enjoying the moment.”
He grins back at her and leads her down the aisle- the same aisle they walked down two weeks previously, and she can’t remember a time she has felt more content.