The Perfect Excuse ((Gordon!))

[gordon]

Jim let out a chuckle. He couldn't help it, Barbara's cheerfulness had always been contagious. It was in those moments that he realised how much he missed his family. There was work, and there was his private life, and never the two shall meet, it was his first rule, thus he too often forgot about the support they could bring.

The sound of the entrance door opening pulled him out of his thoughts.

"You better hide all this, I'll talk to her first," Jim smiled, every inch the conspirator.

Even if his wife already knew that their daughter was moving out -- which she probably did, this had obviously been a long time coming -- she would disapprove of the amount of... furniture Barbara had seen fit to buy, all in one go.

[Barbara Gordon]

Barbara blinked as she heard the door open and her mouth dropped open to say hello, but her father whispered to her first. Her eyes widened a little bit and she looked around the room; hide it? Where? Grabbing one of her comforters, she threw it on top of the bed and her face looked concerned as her bed looked like it was taken over by bed monsters. Crossing her arms and tapping her index finger on her chin, she pushed another bag into the closet behind her and wondered how much worse her mother would take the news (of either: the apartment or the shopping). She inched towards her open door to listen to the conversation between her parents, while staring at the bed and wondering when it would be appropriate to try on her new shoes.

[gordon]

What Barbara senior didn't know, she had guessed. She had been twenty-two after all, and if the circumstances were different, the feeling stayed. It seemed to Jim that she was taking this remarkably well. She had her reasons, certainly. They would talk about this later. Maybe she wanted Babs away from the sombre atmosphere of the house these days. Yes, that had to be it. Thankfully Babs had been away when Dent had attacked them, and his wife was trying to keep away from the aftermath. It made sense. Or maybe Jim was all wrong about this and his wife was just better at letting her go.

They exchanged a few words about the rising prices of fresh vegetables in town while putting said vegetables in the fridge, and Jim slipped a sentence about Babs' shopping, in between the tomatoes and the salad.

Which had Barbara frowning and abandoning the rest of the groceries in order to visit their daughter's bedroom.

[Barbara Gordon]

“Oh –“

Barbara whispered under her breath as the conversation simply died when her father brought up the shopping. Her eyes opened wide as she looked around the room, trying to think of a quick fix to the problem. Her mother wasn’t exactly into bribes, so giving her one of the items she bought was simply not going to work (but that doesn’t mean it didn’t cross her mind… several times). She quickly pushed the rest of the bags on the ground into her closet and shut the doors just in time for her mother to enter and smiled that huge cheesy grin that meant she was up to no good.

“Mom! Hi!” she lied horribly, pretending she hadn’t known the woman was here the entire time. “How was shopping?”

(( I figured you might want to control Babs Snr.? ))

[gordon]

There was a moment of silence as Barbara, the mother, entered Barbara junior's room. Jim followed close behind, and took into her frowning face. Oh not good. He glanced at his daughter, but there was no helping her now. Jim had been married to his wife long enough to know where to stand in this kind of contest.

"Barbara," said Jim's wife calmly, and somehow it sounded terrible, "how much did you spend?"

Jim gazed at the badly concealed bags on the bed, the ajar closet door and the plastic paper strewing the carpet. Then he looked at his daughter, remembered he was supposed to be annoyed as well, but somehow couldn't muster the strength to be annoyed at his little sweetheart. No matter how old she would get, she would always be his little sweetheart, and that was that, cliche and all.

[Barbara Gordon]

Clenching her jaw, Barbara tried to bite back the obvious response that this kind of pestering was why she was moving out. Which, of course, was simply not true, but any child backed into a corner by their parents felt the urge to say it. She was twenty-two after all, and hadn’t really answered to anyone at school for four years. It was no surprise that this was difficult for her to get back used to and, glancing to the bed, she made a face as if she had no idea the cost.

“You know,” she started dangerously casual, still searching her brain for a response to appease all while flying by the seat of her pants. Usually the two never worked out well together. Lifting a hand up to point a finger to the ceiling, she opened her mouth and looked to her angry mother. Pausing, she glanced between her mother and father and a tiny, tiny grin started to take over her face.

“Have I mentioned I love you lately?” she asked honestly and before her mother could protest, she threw her arms around her and hugged her.

[gordon]

Jim burst out laughing. He just had to, and his wife's conflicted face did nothing to calm him down. Her first move was of course to hug back, but Jim could see that she was trying hard to keep a straight face, her eyes on the somewhat rocky bed.

"Cunning as always." Jim smiled fondly at the pair.

"Why do you need all--"

"Barbara," Jim interrupted, gentle but firm. "Let it go." He didn't add: I have; but it carried.

Strangely enough she did, and though the shadow of a smile played on her lips, Jim could see a hint of sadness in her eyes. This was no easier for her than it was for him. Their were both Babs' parent, after all. They both loved her as much, and they wanted her safe. Jim knew his wife thought about Dent much more often than he did. He was busy, he had crimes to fight, reports to write, and Batman to chase. She had none of that.