million years ago (sequel to sweetest devotion)

Loving

The two women slept on either side of Joker. The morning sunlight crept over Allie's face, causing her to wake up. Just seconds later, the bedroom door opened slightly and Jake appeared. She shot up from the bed and went to him. "Hey buddy." She picked him up and took him to the bathroom. She put him down on the floor. "Wow!" He exclaimed, looking all around at the lavishness and the huge bathtub. "Can I take a bath in there momma?" "Maybe after breakfast. But now you have to potty." Jake did his business and Allie helped him wash his hands.

The door opened, and Jake said, "Daddy." "Good morning family." Joker beamed and walked over them and handed Jake a towel to dry his hands with. He kissed Allie's head and roughed up Jake's hair. Allie felt his hand gently resting on her lower back and she felt comforted. "Let's go downstairs and have Arthur make us some breakfast." He said to Jake. "Yes!" Joker picked him up from the sink and headed for the door. "Come on, momma!"

The three of them sat down to eat breakfast. Arthur made pancakes, per Jake's request. "Daddy, do you have any bath toys?" Joker looked at the boy in all seriousness, "Do I look like I have bath toys?" Jake laughed and Allie giggled. Joker smiled and spoke again, "I'm sure you've got something that'll do in your bag." "Momma can I go?" Allie looked at his plate, and noticed that he ate about 3/4 of the meal. "Yeah, go ahead." She got up from the table and felt Joker's hand on her forearm. "Daddy'll do it." He winked at her and went after Jake.

While the boys were in the bathroom, Allie returned to Joker's bedroom. She saw Harley awake and sitting upright in the bed. "Oh hey pretty. Where's Puddin?" Allie looked around awkwardly, "He's giving my son a bath." "I saw him. What a cutie! He looks like a mini Mistah J." "Well he's his father so" Allie said awkwardly. "What's his name again? Jake? How adorable!" Harley got up from the bed, still completely naked. Allie instinctively averted her eyes, despite the night she had previously spent with Joker and the other woman.

Harley stretched her whole body before heading to the closet-Allie's former closet. She followed her and saw a bunch of mostly skimpy clothes on one side. She recognized the entire other side of the closet as her old clothes. Joker promised to keep them for her, though she never came for them. She thought she wouldn't be able to leave if she had returned. Allie went to her rack of clothes and slowly ran her hand over the fabrics. "Are they yours?" Harley asked. Allie looked back at her, "Yes." Then she turned her attention back to the beautiful clothes. "He's never told me whose they were. He never even let me try anything on. Some of these things are so pretty."

"So are you gonna be living here with us?" Harley looked at Allie while she put on a pair of booty shorts and a t shirt with 'Property of Joker' across the front. "I don't know. We haven't really talked about anything." "Well," Harley took a few steps closer to Allie, "I hope you move in. It'd be fun to have another woman in the house. Puddin seems to really like you." She brought a hand up to Allie's hair and twirled it between her fingers. "And I do too." She smiled flirtatiously then giggled as she walked out of the closet.

Allie stood there for a bit, thinking. She couldn't just slide right back into her old life with Joker. She remembered that she left him over three years ago for a reason. She couldn't stay because her safety was at risk. And now she had Jake. She knew Joker loved him and could take care of him, but was that enough? She wanted to have them to be a part of each other's lives, but couldn't sacrifice her son's well-being. If she could get shot by a deranged person, then surely something bad could happen to Jake. They could figure out a way to keep their family in tact, but she knew she couldn't be his woman again. Harley filled that spot now, which would be good for J. He'd had a sidekick in her. A beautiful woman who was comfortable in his world and could be by his side in any situation, no matter the danger.

Allie couldn't help but wonder where in the world he found Harley. Allie could tell by her bleached skin and white hair that he'd taken her for a chemical bath. Allie wasn't willing to jump into the vat years ago, so how did Joker convince his new woman to do it? To throw her own life away to become a female version of him? Who was Harley before Joker?

Allie went to the bathroom and opened the door to see Jake in the tub playing and Joker sitting on the fancy ottoman near the shower looking on. He looked over at Allie when he heard the door open. "Kitten." His face lit up per usual at the sight of her and Allie's heart fluttered. "Jake you should get out before you shrivel up." "Okay Momma." She looked at Joker, "You washed his hair right?" He rolled his eyes playfully and said to Jake, "Can you tell your mom that I'm not an idiot?" Jake laughed and turned toward Allie. "Daddy's not an idiot, Momma." 

They returned downstairs and Jake was playing and watching tv while his parents were in the kitchen. "I don't like the look on your face, Allie. This is like déjà vu." He held her hips, "You don't want this. Not anymore." She caressed his upper arms, "I love you, J. Nothing can change that. But Jake needs to be completely safe. I know you love him, but you can't insure that he'll be safe at all times."  "It's gonna kill me to lose you this time." "You won't lose me. You can visit us anytime. We can still be a family. Plus you still have Harley."

"She's not you." She looked at him dumbly, "You like any type of woman, J." He grinned, "That's true Kitten, but I prefer you over any other." He leaned in and kissed her deeply. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck. "I love you." He purred in her ear. "Hey, lovers, what's happenin'?" Harley waltzed into the kitchen. "Don't worry the little one didn't notice me." She put her hands on either side of Joker's face and kissed him hard and sloppily. They parted and Joker said, "I think Allie has come to the decision that she doesn't want to be with us." Harley pouted, "Allie that makes me sad. I hope you visit a lot! You're tons of fun." Joker laughed sinisterly, "She learned everything from me." Allie smacked his chest playfully.

Joker walked Allie and Jake out to the car. Joker fastened his son into his car seat. "Bye my boy. I'll see you later." He pressed a kiss to Jake's forehead. "Love you, Daddy." "I love you too, son." He closed the door and turned to face Allie. "How did you meet Harley?" "She came into the club one night." She was suspicious, "I didn't know you had a thing for blondes." "Like you said, I like all women."

"Would you ever lie to me, J?" He looked away from her and growled gritting his teeth. "She was my way out of Arkham." "What do you mean." "Long story short: She was my psychiatrist, and I got her to trust me. Eventually, I asked her to get me a machine gun to kill the staff." "You made her fall in love with you." Allie said for clarification. "I did what I had to do to get back to you."

"You took her life away, J." Allie shook her head disapprovingly at him. "I had to have you back, Allie. Besides, her life is way more exciting now than it ever would have been before. It turned out fine." She scoffed and folded her arms across her chest, "At least you found someone that was willing to engage in Ace Chemical activity." "Babe, I was gonna leave her in there-" "Jesus Christ, you are-" "But I couldn't. For some reason all I could think about was you. It was like you represented the entire female gender and in my mind, somehow, it was you in that vat. And I couldn't let that woman stay in there."

"I should go." Allie didn't really no what else to say to him in that moment. She started to walk away from him. "I love you, Allie. I'm incapable of loving anyone else."