"You know Oswald it's kind of shocking of you and Ed taking in a child." Said Jim Gordon as he and Lee Tompkins were in Oswald's home talking to them about this little boy they had found. Lee was there to check up on him since they were insistent that he was sick.
"I may have killed in the past, Jim but I'm a changed man." Said Oswald in a snarky tone as he didn't take too kindly to Jim thinking so low of him even if it was true.
"Is he going to be alright?" Asked Edward as he was genuinely concerned for the boy.
"He's going to be fine, it just seems like he has the flu but he is going to need constant care." Said Lee as she put her hand on the boy's chest. "We can take him to a hospital where they can care for him until we get him into a foster home upstate." Said Lee as Edward looked at the boy.
"There's no need to waste the hospital's time and resources, I can care for him right here." Said Edward as Lee and Jim looked at each other.
"Ed do you know anything about taking care of children?" Asked Jim as Oswald smirked.
"Ed seems to know quite a lot actually." Said Oswald as he didn't mind the idea of having the boy around. Jim and Lee looked at each other both knowing that it would be insane to trust these two to care for an infant but they really had no good reason to say no.
Lee and Jim stepped aside to talk. "Lee you know this is insane!" Said Jim softly as Lee sighed.
"Yes it is but look at them." Said Lee as she gestured over to see Edward holding the boy in his arms in such a tender way and though Oswald was nervous to be around him it seemed to come from a place of care but it wasn't that they expected either of them to be around a child. They had seen Oswald and Edward around children before and they always seemed to dislike most children besides the boy Martin that Oswald seemed to mentor. However with this child, neither one of them had any reason to be this kind and generous with him but still they were, they actually seemed like a family and Lee couldn't dare to separate them.
"Fine, we'll let them take care of him until we have all the paperwork sorted out." Said Jim as he sighed. They informed Oswald and Edward of the decision, both men were thrilled to be given the chance.
While Oswald and Edward were choosing to be fathers to an abandoned little boy, the Joker was trying to be a father while still staying distant. He had gone by Piper's apartment but hadn't found her but he did find a note she wrote for her parents who often came to check on her and their granddaughter.
Took Sarah to the hospital
So that's just where he went. Joker wasn't a super well known criminal just yet so he was certain he could walk right into the hospital and get a visitor's pass.
He stepped into the hospital and they immediately knew who he was here to see which took him by surprise. "How do you know who I'm here to see exactly?" Joker asked the nurse as she scoffed.
"Are you serious!? Your little girl looks just like you!" Said the nurse as Joker's classic smile faded.
"Oh..." He muttered as she showed him to the room. The nurse knocked at the door and Piper responded.
"Come on." Said Piper's voice as the nurse opened the door.
"Little Miss Sarah has a special visitor." Said the nurse as Joker stepped into the room and Piper smiled.
"Hey..." She said softly.
"Hi." Said Joker with a soft smile. "Can I come in?" Asked Joker softly as she nodded.
"Mhm." Said Piper as she set down her book.
"Do they know what's wrong with her?" Asked Joker as he walked into the room and over to the crib where his darling little Sarah was laying, sleeping soundly.
"No, not yet. They've been doing all sorts of tests but they haven't found anything conclusive." Said Piper as she sighed. "I'm really starting to get worried." She said as Joker reached into the crib and put his hand on little Sarah's chest and rubbed her chest.
"Poor little girl, she must be in so much pain." Said Joker as he frowned.
"She wouldn't stop crying for days but now she's seemed to have settled down." Said Piper as she stood and walked over.
"Well I'm glad she's stopped crying but I hope whatever's wrong with her isn't too serious." Said Joker as Piper nodded. "How are you?" Asked Joker as he looked at her and she sighed.
"I'm doing as well as I can but my parents are starting to become a bit of a pain." Said Piper as Joker grinned.
"Oh they always were!" He said as he laughed.
"Yeah I know, but now every time I try to explain to them that I want to raise Sarah my way they drop the money card on me and guilt trip me into doing things their way." Said Piper as she walked across the room.
"Well you know you could just take my offer." Said Joker as Piper shook her head.
"I've told you before, I'm not gonna raise our daughter on dirty money you've stolen." Said Piper as Joker looked at her.
"Is it really stealing when I'm taking it from the Penguin?" Asked Joker as Piper rolled her eyes.
"I'm not having this discussion again, Joker!" Said Piper as she walked over to her diaper bag and pulled out a bottle for Sarah.
"Piper, please! Don't think of where it comes from just think of how much it can help! I hate that I can't help you raise her in person but please just let me do this so you can tell her that her Dad tried for her even if I couldn't actually be there." Said Joker as Piper sighed.
"Fine, I'll take your money but only if you promise me one day a month you'll come and see her." Said Piper as Joker nodded.
"Of course." Said Joker with a soft smile.
While Sarah's parents were discussing the terms of her care, Bruce sat in his office thinking about Vanessa when suddenly Lucius burst in with a shocked look on his face. "Mister Wayne you need to come see this!" Said Lucius as Bruce stood and went down to the lobby to see the young Abigail Dupont standing in the lobby.
The reason this sight was quite the one to behold was because 5 years ago Gotham socialite and Wayne Enterprises liaison to the Paris Bioengineering Company Lumière Sombre: Cecilia Dupont was found dead and gutted in her home after her 13 year old daughter Abigail Dupont made a terrified 911 call. Abigail was the only witness to her mother's death but while she was still on the line with the dispatcher she was abducted. For 5 years Abigail was missing and during those years, her father Howard Dupont took her mother's position but sadly he was killed in a car accident 3 years after she disappeared, everything was then left to the eldest daughter Lillian Dupont but Lillian found the stress to be too much and after a mental break down and having to be talked down from jumping out the window of her office in the Wayne Enterprises building she was admitted Arkham so the Dupont family was left in shambles until now.
"Yes, yes I know I've been away but I'm here now and that's all that matters." Said Abigail as she tucked a long silver hair behind her ear.
"Miss Dupont, we're glad to see that you're alive." Said Bruce as he came down the stairs. "You've been gone so long, we assumed the worst." Said Bruce as he walked out to greet her. "How did you ever manage to escape?" He asked as she removed her dark sunglasses.
"Oh no there was no escaping needed, it was a bit of a shock but the truth was I was taken away by some old relatives in France, they required my audience, I couldn't exactly say no." Said Abigail with a kind smile.
"I see, but what are you doing here?" Asked Bruce as she placed the glasses in her breast pocket of her long coat.
"I've come to take my place in the company." Said Abigail as Bruce nodded.
"I see that but are you certain you don't need time to rest, a lot has happened in your family since your disappearance." Said Bruce as Abigail sighed.
"Yes I am sadly aware of my father's death and my sister's incarceration but I assure you this will not affect my work." Said Abigail as Bruce walked up.
"Please, Abigail take some time to grieve, I understand how loss affects people especially so young, please do this." Bruce begged her as her smug exterior melted away.
"I really just don't want to think about all this right now, please Mister Wayne." Said Abigail as her voice started to tremble.
"Why don't you come up to my office and we can talk?" Asked Bruce as Abigail nodded.
They went up to his office and talked. He tried to ask what had happened to her but all she told him was what the police already knew, he tried to ask where she had been these past 5 years she just said Paris with family. He didn't tell him anything more and her tears completely ceased once they were alone it was like they were a show to everyone else. Eventually she must've gotten uncomfortable with the questions and she decided that it would be best if she went home so she did. Bruce noticed that her behavior was strange so he decided to look further into her disappearance as Batman.
Over the week it took Jim to get everything set up for the little boy to be shipped upstate, Oswald and Edward became incredibly attached to him.
After about 5 days of taking care of him Oswald truly loved him like his own son so it was understandable when Oswald became very defensive at the sight of the boy's true father. "Hey Boss, this guy wants to talk with you." Said Victor Zsasz as he walked into Oswald's office at the Iceberg Lounge without knocking like Victor does.
"Well I'm a little busy at the moment Victor!" Oswald barked as he was sitting in his chair holding the boy while Edward sat on the arm of the chair.
"He says he's the kid's father." Said Victor as Oswald and Edward looked at each other.
"We should get the facts Oswald." Said Edward firmly as Oswald looked at the boy.
"I agree, I need to know why someone would just throw away an innocent child like garbage!" Said Oswald in a very emotional tone as he rubbed his thumb against the side of the boy's head as the boy slept. "Show him in." Said Oswald as he looked back to see an older gentleman walk into the room. The man had dark thinning oiled hair with streaks of white, he was dressed in an old suit that definitely had a couple tears and stains.
"Mister Cobblepot, my name is Donnie Ryans and uh that's my son ya got there. Now I understand the way you found him makes me look pretty bad but I promise you, it wasn't my idea." Said Donnie as he was shaking terrified of Oswald.
"Who's idea was it?" Asked Oswald firmly.
"My wife, his mother. He and his twin sister were only born a couple weeks ago and he got sick. We couldn't afford a hospital trip and he just kept getting worse, I told her we needed to do something and she said we just needed to drop the kid off somewhere. I tried to tell her it was wrong that we had to take care of him like his siblings but all she cared about was the money it was gonna cost. I ordered her not to do it but she threatened to turn me over to the police for the business I run that I pay you to keep in business." Said Donnie as he shook his head. "I followed her and found where she dropped him but by the time I got there, you and your husband had picked him up and we're talking about taking care of him." Said Donnie as he lowered his head. "Look I'm not here to ask for him back, I am here to beg you to keep him. I can tell you guys care about him and you got the money to make sure he can live well, me including him I got 6 kids I can barely feed! It's not fair to anyone to make him suffer when he could have a much better life if me and his bitch mother stay outta his." Said Donnie as he dropped to his knees. "Please I'm begging you." Said Donnie as Oswald looked at the boy then at Ed. Edward nodded and Oswald took a breath.
"I have to say I am glad to hear this, in all honesty I've grown quite attached to your son, I love him as if he were my own so I just have one request." Stated Oswald as the man stood.
"Yes! Of course anything!" Said Donnie as Oswald looked at him with a determined look in his eye.
"Can I get all of that in writing?" Asked Oswald as the man nodded.
"One more thing!" Said Edward as he finally chimed up. The man looked at him. "What's the boy's name?" Asked Edward as the man shuffled for a second.
"Daniel." Said Donnie as Edward nodded.
"Thank you." Said Edward as he looked at Oswald. The man left and they looked at each other. "Daniel." Said Edward as he smiled.
"He looks like a Daniel." Said Oswald as he tucked the blanket around the boy.
Oswald and Edward actually convinced Jim to let the two of them adopt Daniel with written permission from Daniel's birth father. Donnie Ryans told them everything he knew about Daniel, including his birthday was November 6th, he was completely unvaccinated due to lack of medical insurance, and he was allergic to oranges which his father only knew because his mother gave him a sip of orange juice and he started getting red and itchy, they gave him a small dose of allergy medicine and it went away.
Oswald and Edward signed all the documents and then became the legal guardians of the boy and then they both signed his birth certificate which he never actually had and they discussed what name to give him. They insisted upon not giving him his birth family's name but they knew neither one of their names would be good then Oswald had an idea. They decided to name the boy Daniel Elijah Van Dahl.