Batcat pregnancy

2

"Wayne residence." Alfred's warm baritone answered after precisely two soft, tinkling rings. He was nothing if not prompt.

Lee relaxed slightly at the sound of his sure voice. This was certainly a man who could be trusted to keep his cool. "Good evening, Mr. Pennyworth. You haven't seen Selina Kyle around in the past hour or so, have you? She payed me a visit but ran out of here before we were done."

"Good evening to you too, Dr. Thompkins. Not to worry, Ms. Kyle is here with Master Bruce, safe and sound." The butler said quietly but definitively into the mouthpiece.

He had just minutes before checked to see if the boy had required anything of him before retiring for the evening when he saw the girl in question sneaking in for a visit. He had silently decided to give them a few moments of unsupervised time before intervening. They were still so very young, but not young enough for the butler to allow them to actually get away with spending the night together.

"She may be safe, but she is certainly not sound." Lee replied, at once relieved and exasperated. "I have arranged for a doctor to see her. It is urgent, so if you can convince her not to disappear this time, I would greatly appreciate it."

"Good heavens! A doctor? Is she sick? It is no good for a girl her age to be on out on the street by herself, there's no shortage of diseases one might catch out there." Alfred wondered if he might have to quarantine her from his young ward.

"I assure you she is not contagious," Lee responded quickly then added, "but she should see the doctor sooner rather than later." Although she was not Selina's doctor, she felt that doctor-patient confidentiality applied in this case so she tried to stress the seriousness of the situation without revealing secrets that were not hers to tell.

"Will do, Dr. Thompkins. I will send her your way shortly." The butler assured her before hanging up. He wanted to press the issue further but his military training had taught him not to demand information that was not freely given. Maybe he would be able to suss out the reason for the medical examiner's concern without causing too much damage. The young girl had a tough face for the world but to the trained eye she was as emotionally fragile any other pubescent child.

As the butler was deciding how to proceed, a shadow moving at the end of the hall caught his attention. "Master Bruce!" The boy must have thought his butler had gone to bed because the sound of his name in the otherwise silent hall caused him to start and nearly knock over a priceless Qing dynasty vase. Alfred made a mental note to work on stealth and control in the boy's next combat lesson. It wouldn't do to have him this jumpy.

"Oh! Hey, Alfred. I was coming down to get a snack before bed. All this training makes me really hungry."

"Of course, let me get something prepared for you. I'll bring it up in a jiff." The butler turned on his heels and headed for the kitchen. The cook was not on duty at this hour, but Alfred was more than capable of putting some cheese, crackers, and grapes on a plate.

Bruce followed behind his as quickly as his shorter legs would carry him. "It's okay!" He protested. "You don't need to do that. I can find something on my own." It was unusual for the boy to make such protestations about something so small as his butler preparing him food that said butler was suspicious.

"It is no bother. You do pay me to do these little services for you, after all." Alfred said definitively as he retrieved cambozola and table grapes from the large refrigerator. As he found the water crackers in the pantry he turned to Bruce. "Shall I put together a plate for Ms. Kyle as well or will she share yours?"

The tell on the young boy's face was priceless. Alfred reminded himself to work on his ward's stealth training.