𝐁𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍 ; 𝐉𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐎𝐃𝐃

𝕻𝖗𝖔𝖑𝖔𝖌𝖚𝖊

 The sun hadn't been shy that day, seeing as it kissed her pale skin with its delicate orange hue, sending warm waves of heat across her arm. It had been a long time since she felt as happy as the sun or even the flowers that danced to the beat of the wind. Alfred occasionally sent a few glances from the driver's seat, noticing the grave mood of the sulking girl while she simply opted to stick her nose to the glass of the window.

Irene longed for any sort of familiarity, her mother's favourite perfume or maybe the scent of cheap brewing coffee that her aunt Harley would drink every single morning. Everything had been clean and proper for the past three months. Her clothes would be so nicely pressed and crisp that she would feel a tinge of guilt for putting them on and wrinkling them. Irene would sit in front of her father, watching him with a puzzled look on her face while she cocked her head to the side trying to understand the difference between the three forks of different sizes that rested on the left side of her plate during dinner. Then with a defeated look, she would pick up the biggest one, simply shoving everything in her mouth until her plate looked clean- because she liked the look of satisfaction on the old butler's face.

She wouldn't say her father was ignoring her, he had brought her to the park once, held her hand and bought her ice cream while she ran around trying to catch a squirrel so that she could name him Mr Nutmeg and bring him home with her. Her father had looked at her, took the squirrel out of her hand and set him free when she had shown him her new pet. Her mouth hanged open for a while before she looked at him, a pained expression of pure betrayal etched on her face. Bruce smiled, cradled her in his arms while he said that animals were better off in their natural habitats. Irene begged to differ, she had at least ten cats back home!

She wondered how her mom was doing, was she watching their favourite show alone without her? or maybe playing monopoly with aunt Harley and aunt Pam like they used to every Sunday night? Irene huffed, slumping back on her seat, revisiting the old memories of the first time she had seen her dad.

Sitting on the couch, she cradled to her chest a golden kitten when the doorbell rang. Selina's head quirked up alarmingly before she hastily turned off the television and hushed Irene back into her room. The woman glanced around nervously, walking up to the door and hesitantly opening it.

"Bruce?" Selina said, her eyes wide with surprise as she opened the door widely, offering him to step inside. She bit her lower lip, closing the door at the pace of a snail before turning around to look at the man inside the house. He cleared his throat, shooting her a small smile before asking her how she has been.

"I know I should have told you earlier, i-it just slipped out of my mind," Selina said guiltily, rubbing her forearm, her eyes dropping low while her shoulders slumped back.

"It's alright, no harm done" He answered, taking his cold hands out of his pockets to engulf hers.

"Where is she?" Bruce asked, looking around to look for a bundle of black hair.

"I will go get her" The woman answered, before walking down the short hallway and entering the small master bedroom. She smiled warmly at the sight of the small girl sitting on a chair by the window, petting the kitten while it stared at the glistening sky, its moist muzzle seeking the fresh air that blew into the room.

"Hey kitten, there's someone I want you to meet" Selina crouched down beside the chair, taking the baby cat out of her arms and placing it on the bundle of warm blankets into an open box.

"Who is it? Is aunt Pam back already?" Irene said, tilting her head a little. 

"No, do you not remember your bedtime stories? You would know if you didn't doze off every time" Her mom answered teasingly, touching her nose with the pad of her index finger.

"Oh, is it dad?" Irene said, her green eyes shining as she made grabby hands for her mom to take her into her arms.

"Yes, it's dad. Are you excited to see him?" Selina blatantly ignored the drop in her stomach as she made her way closer to the kitchen.

The meeting had been bittersweet, finding out mom was going to stay back home alone was not pleasant. Her dad was really tall and she had to crane her neck back all the way to really look at his face, that's when she noticed his raven hair that was a lot similar to hers and his bright blue eyes. Irene blinked, he seemed a lot different from what she had expected, from the stories her mom would tell her before she went to sleep every night. He didn't look like a knight in shining armour. She was snapped out of her thoughts when the car stopped. Irene placed a messy kiss on Alfred's cheek before jumping out of the car and slowly making her way up the marble stairs of Gotham Academy. Her hands flew to her plaid skirt, unsuccessfully taming the wrinkles. Her eyes wandered around, it was going to take a long time to get used to this, she thought.