sightless.

30: Promises

A/N: Soooo Yayyyyy! We hit 5K reads and as usual, this is my gift to you: another chapter. 

-----

The next couple hours consisted of sorting out all the new clothes and getting Freddy settled in what she assumed was his new bedroom. J wasn't around for the rest of the night.

She finally laid down in bed and thought back through the day. She felt like a horrible person for accepting everything, but she was so happy that she would be able to provide Freddy with what he needed.

She didn't know how she fit into J's life, and she didn't know if he had any ulterior motives. Hell, she didn't know how he fit into her life. She was just going to go with it and keep her eye on him. She didn't trust him as far as she could throw him, but he seemed to want to get along with Freddy, even though he had no idea how to treat children or keep them safe. She wouldn't be able to leave Freddy alone with him until she figured out what his motives were, but as long as she wasn't going to be working for an indefinite period of time, she wouldn't worry about that.

She knew she should still be going to work, but honestly, she was too afraid to step out of her little cocoon. This house felt safe to her for some reason. She guessed it was because J killed a whole lot of people for her to get her out of that basement, but she felt safe for the time being. Again, gift horses and all.

Sometime in the middle of the night, she felt the bed dip. She rolled over towards J and said, "Well, this feels familiar."

"Want to feel something else familiar, kitten?" he growled out.

She laughed at his teasing and scoffed, "Been there, done that. Stay on your side, Mr. J." He was on top of the covers without a shirt on, and he looked yummy enough to eat up, but she was going to keep herself under control. She was already knocked up by the guy; she couldn't complicate things further. "Why are you taking care of us?"

"Why do you insist on questioning me, Amelia? Do you know what happens to naughty little girls that question me, kitten?"

"Am I supposed to be afraid of you?"

He sighed. "Well, yea. That's the point."

She ignored his answer. "Why are you taking care of us?"

"There's a baby?" It was more of a question than anything. He sounded like he was trying to give the right answer.

"Have you ever gotten a girl pregnant before?" For some reason, she just couldn't picture the Joker finding condoms every time he wanted to have sex.

"None that have lived to tell the story." Chills immediately went up her spine. She had no idea if he was serious or not, and there was no reading that tone. He said it so nonchalantly that she had a feeling it could go either way. He chuckled and then continued, "Don't question my taking care of you, Amelia. Just go with it." She figured he was right. She also figured that it was a joke about getting other women pregnant. She guessed, at least. Oh my God. I'm questioning the Joker.

"How are you feeling?" And now the Joker is asking me how I feel. What the hell happened to my life?

"I'm ok. The morning sickness has been a constant, but I'm ok otherwise. It helps that I'm not stuck in a dark basement with a restless, cranky child. Thank you, by the way. I don't know how you got in there and got us out, but thank you. That was horrible. I felt blind all over again, and you weren't there to help me out." She looked him right in the eye and continued, "And about everything else before that..."

She wasn't able to get the rest of her sentence out. He told her, "Amelia, you're here, you're safe, Freddy's safe, the baby's safe. Just let dead things lie."

"I feel bad for how I reacted, though. I'm sorry."

"Listen, kitten. You were right to react that way. I am the Joker, ain't I?" She saw a look of vulnerability pass across his face, while he was thinking of his next words. "You're safe here, and you're welcome here. Everything will be fine. You three will be fine." She could almost swear he was trying to convince himself more than her. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew she already questioned him enough for one night.

That was when the door creaked open anyway. She heard tiny footsteps tiptoe across the hardwood floors. She watched J sit up in bed and look towards the door. She heard a tiny voice tell them, "I'm scared. I had a bad dream." Amy didn't sit up; she instead waited to see how J would deal with the scared little boy. "Can I sleep with you?"

"Come here, Freddy," J softly told the little one.

When she felt the covers pull and the bed softly dip, she looked at the end of the bed. She saw Freddy crawling up the bed between her and J. He asked Freddy, "What happened?"

Freddy continued crawling up the bed to the pillows, then shoved his little feet under the covers. He pulled the covers all the way up to his chin, and Amy rested her arm over the boy's midsection. Freddy looked to J and told him, "The bad guys came to get me and Mommy. They were scary."

There was a moment of silence, and then J sealed all three of their fates. "But I'll always save you and Mommy, like I did before. They won't ever get you again."

"Promise?" Freddy whispered.

"I promise," J whispered back.

Amy fell asleep knowing that life was somehow someway going to work out for her and the kids. The Joker may not be father material, and she didn't know what the future held for them all, but for now, everything was going to be just fine.

-----

A/N:  Let me know what you think. Another filler chapter, but some crazy things coming up in the next couple chapters. But you know how I feel about these filler chapters: sometimes they're even more important that the ones with crazy action going on. If you liked it, hit that little vote button at the bottom. If you didn't, please let me know why!

Until next time, lovelies! Ta!