Castle Of Glass | B. Wayne

[27]

Damian noticed Calmia didn't look as cheerful as usual at breakfast that morning. His eyes flickered to his mother who had shown up to the kitchen as well, although she would normally not leave her room otherwise.

He felt she must have said something to Calmia that had left an impact. Bruce too had been very stiff ever since Talia came to the manor and Damian was starting to feel that he shouldn't have brought his mother home.

Richard and Jason had come to the manor as well early that morning after getting the memo from Tim about Talia's visit. They were both cautiously observing the Al Ghul heiress while trying to cheer Calmia up at the same time.

None of them said anything to Talia until Calmia and Bruce left. Then Jason placed his plate down, gaining everyone's attention immediately.

"Why are you here?" He asked her coldly, ignoring Richard clearing his throat slightly to remind him of Damian's presence.

"I'm here to meet my son," Talia replied, her hand snaking around Damian's shoulders, "is there a problem with that?"

"No, but there is a problem if you say hurtful things to Mia."

"Mia?" She raised an eyebrow, a smile playing upon her lips, "you seem very close."

Jason's eyes flashed in a warning as if telling Talia not to go down that route or she would regret it. Richard on the other hand knew he had to take matters in hand before everything spiraled out of control.

"He's right," Richard backed him up, "Miss Talia, we have no issue if you come here to meet Damian or spend time with him. But we can't help but notice that you must have said something to Calmia that hurt her. We can't allow that."

Talia's gaze flickered towards Tim who hadn't yet said anything then back to Damian who looked uncomfortable. "Do you think I did something wrong too, Damian?" She asked and his emerald eyes focused on her.

"Mother, I was not there to be the judge of that. But if you have said something hurtful to her, I will remind you she doesn't deserve this treatment."

Her eyes sparked slightly and she folded her arms, leaning back in her seat, "and by that logic, does that mean I deserved not to be even made aware of my son's father choosing a woman to marry?"

"It's his life, he is free to spend it with whoever he wants," Tim spoke up at that remark, switching to Arabic so that she would keep that in mind clearer, "and your son's father discussed it with him before he took the decision. I think that's all that matters. You shouldn't interfere now. You have a right to Damian, not Bruce."

"That's enough, Drake, I will talk to Mother myself," Damian remarked, cutting him short.

It seemed as if he had gotten offended at Tim talking to his mother in that tone so the elder brother held his hands up as if silently apologizing then went back to filling his coffee thermos.

However, Damian had interrupted him because he could feel the anger radiating off Talia and he knew it wouldn't end well if she exploded. He had to put a stop to that.

"Ummi, come with me to the training hall. I have something to show you," he added, standing up as he had finished breakfast.

Talia glared at the three Wayne boys threateningly but then left the kitchen, following Damian down to the training hall.

When she had left, Jason asked, "Tim, what did you say to her?"

"Nothing. Just gave her a little reality check."

Richard shook his head in disappointment, "you do know that Damian understood whatever you said?"

"I do. That's why I was polite," he replied, putting his cereal bowl and coffee cup into the dishwasher, "did you see Calmia? She looked so crestfallen... I wish I knew whatever she had said to her so that I could convince her that's not the truth."

The eldest brother sighed softly, looking out of the kitchen to see that Talia and Damian weren't out there. "Well hopefully, Damian will make Talia see sense. As for Calmia, I think we should do something to cheer her up."

Jason was quickly on board with the idea, "like what?"

"In all honesty, we should wait for Talia to leave first," Tim remarked, "then we can do this cheering up thing and it would be more effective."

Richard knew he had a valid point and Jason's eyes sparked as if he had just gotten an idea. "I know, we can hatch a plan to make Talia leave."

"Jason no..."

"I'm on board," Tim agreed immediately while Richard was still thinking about how to dissuade the two from their plan to create further chaos.

"Guys, we are not doing anything of the sort. We trust Damian to handle the situation in the best way possible..."

"Boring, we're totally doing this though we have no issue if you don't wanna be a part of it," Jason remarked, pointing finger guns at him, "right Tim?"

"Absolutely right."

"No, listen both of you," he spoke up, giving them the characteristic eldest sibling glare, "if you do any such thing, it will only make things worse. So trust me on this one and sit it out. Damian will handle his mother. Understand?"

They exchanged a defeated glance, knowing Richard had a point and Bruce would be even more troubled if things got any worse than the present situation.

"Fine," Tim gave in, patting Jason's arm to make him agree too, "we won't mess things up. But if she doesn't leave by tomorrow, we will have to think of emergency measures."

"Fair enough," Jason agreed to the latter statement, "you better make sure the gremlin does the convincing right or we will have to step in."

Ricard shook his head wearily again, knowing just how much potential they had to cook up a chaotic situation right then and there. it would be best for Talia to leave as soon as possible so that their family's environment could come back to normal.

With her there and the constant tension between Bruce, Calmia, and Talia herself, things had gotten quite awkward already.

He left the kitchen, thinking about asking Damian later on how long his mother was planning to stay with them. While in the background, Jay and Tim were betting on whether Damian would be able to take Calmia's side in front of Talia or not.

***