no rest for the wicked [jason todd]

fifty

THE WEDDING WAS COMING UP NOW, AND THINGS WERE WILDLY DIFFERENT THAN THEY HAD BEEN A FEW YEARS AGO.

Jamie was two now and she could run, going right past Tye, right through Dick's legs, all the way to get to Jason. He'd smile, lift her off the ground and say some things Tye was learning to understand in Spanish so far. 

Stephanie had the baby. She'd been terrified but Tye and Tim had been there the entire time, and when the doctor took the baby away with her instructions to be adopted, Tim held her tightly when she cried. She was so young and scared that it ached somewhere in Tye to see her struggle through that, but honestly? She was a good kid even after that happened. She helped with Jamie and Lian, helped with the wedding planning -- other than the menu, Tye didn't want to have waffles.

Slade was okay, too. He wasn't perfect, not that any of them expected him to be, but he was trying. Sometimes even Bruce could see that, no matter how many times he tried to object.

On the morning of the wedding, Jason was panicked. He was standing at the door to the girls' dressing room, having knocked twice already, his hair all messed up and lacking both his jacket and his tie -- and really, lacking his Tye too. That was why he was there, waiting impatiently for Barbara to open the door and probably curse at him for being this way. However, Stephanie opened the door.

"Barb told me to give you her," she said, heaving Jamie up in her arms, his little girl wearing that cute dress and that little flower crown. "Said it'd help calm you down."

"Daddy!" Jamie exclaimed, reaching out and immediately looping her arms around Jason's neck as he took her from Stephanie's arms. He frowned slightly when he couldn't see in past her, and yeah, Stephanie knew why, but she couldn't just open the door and ruin the whole surprise of the dress and how Tye looked. 

Jason hummed instead, shaking his head and messing up his hair again. "Let's go see Uncle Roy, princesa," he told her, heading back toward the change room and knocking on the door. "Guys better be decent," he said firmly, "bringin' Jamie in."

Roy turned toward the door when it opened and immediately smiled brightly, raising his arms to accept Jamie into them. "Hey pumpkin," he said, lifting her high enough that she could stick one of those small, grabby hands into his hair, pushing it aside until he looked just as messy as he had before he'd taken a comb to his hair. "You all ready to sprinkle the little flowers down the aisle? You're gonna look absolutely gorgeous."

Jamie giggled and pulled a hand away from his hair, turning away until she made eye contact with Dick, who was pulling at the knot in his tie. "Uncle Dickie!" She exclaimed loudly. He turned, giving her a crooked smile over his shoulder. 

She sat in there while the rest of them tied their ties and put their jackets on, combed their hair down and got ready for the wedding. Everyone was still walking in when Jason headed out of the room and stood at the front, speaking indistinctly to someone near him. Everyone's voices were still hushed but energetic, and Tim sat by the piano with his hair slicked back and his lips curled into a smile. When he looked up to see Slade giving him a one-minute sign, he started to play.

River Flows in You gently filled the space of the building and the hushed voices began to quiet down as Jason's eyes directed toward the front, his eyes going wide. He felt like he couldn't breathe waiting for her at the front, but first, the bridesmaids and groomsmen slipped in, fronted by Jamie sprinkling petals of flowers onto the ground, putting one foot in front of the other gently. 

He was trying to breathe even as Jamie dropped a couple of petals onto his foot and grabbed onto his leg, looking up at him. "Daddy," she said, and he lifted her up, pressing a kiss to her cheek. 

"You see Mommy?" He asked softly, turning toward the entrance as the song suddenly changed to a different tune. A piano cover of 'Here Comes the Sun'. There was Tye in the entrance, holding an arm of Slade and another of Jim Gordon, looking like she was about to cry. Her lips were trembling too, and he wanted to kiss the smile off her face, but he knew that didn't come yet.

He felt Roy gently coaxing Jamie from his arms and he could barely breathe as Tye moved to step in front of him, gently reaching to hold one of his hands. They got easily through the rest of the service, and the rest of the night, but Tye did end up going home completely smashed. Jim took Jamie with him for the night and Jason stroked back her hair even as she took her makeup off.

"You're smashed," he said in a soft voice, smiling as she rubbed her mascara onto her cheek. He reached for the wipe and helped her, wiping the makeup off easily before he tossed it away, pushing his hands through her soft blonde hair. "C'mon to bed, Mrs. Todd," he said quietly, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Laughing, Tye leaned up and looked at his face, pressing a kiss to his lips. "I'm not gonna remember you saying that," she said in a soft voice, a little smirk on her lips. "But I'm gonna wanna hear you say it again right now, Mr. Todd."

He lifted her up in his arms, bridal style, and carried her to their bedroom, gently setting her down with her head against the pillow. He gently leaned in to kiss her, softly adding, "Let's go to sleep, Mrs. Todd. You're gonna need some sleep."