Harley's scream shook the room, her body practically collapsing in Joker's grasp. He shouted her name, but aside from her soft whimpering, she had gone completely silent. Her body was shivering, eyes rolling to the back of her head. She'd slid out of his hold, back onto the bed, breathing heavily, her pulse practically visible through the veins of her neck.

It was done. It was over.

It was all over.

The silence in the room was overtaken by a shrill wail, causing Joker to turn his attention from the ailing Harley to where Melissa was now cradling a shrieking, slimy-looking infant. The tiny little thing flailed in her arms, screaming her lungs out, even as she was shushed.

Something stirred in Joker. Though his mind was still concerned for Harley, he couldn't force himself to tear his gaze away from the child...this... this was his child. His daughter. This was someone created from his own flesh and blood, not by chemicals or any mental manipulations.

This was their creation, they'd created this little creature together.

Oh, how it was such a strange, strange thing to be witnessing. For him to be hearing the loud, ear-splitting cry of this newborn, to be seeing the little thing as her aunt wrapped her in the clean towel, continuing in her attempts to soothe her.

And that cry...that cry was loud enough to make a roof cave in.

How was he witnessing all of this, how was all of this actually happening?

Well, science could tell you how it happened, but that was a story for another day. That was not important. What was important was that he, the Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime, and King of Gotham...was now a father.

He didn't know if his mind was able to process that, for it had gone fuzzy.

Melissa was looking up at the couple now, smiling from ear-to-ear despite her failure in getting the baby to quiet down.

"Congratulations, guys. She's beautiful."

Was she?

He couldn't tell from here; but all he saw was red, wrinkly skin.

"Baby, Baby..." He jolted at Harley's mumbling, looking down to see she was still laying down, not having moved from where she'd fallen. Her arms moved from where they'd previously been laying by her sides, outstretching, hands making grabbing motions, almost looking like claws.

"Give her to me...gimme... I can hear her crying, Lissy, I wanna hold her. Lemme hold her..."

"Just a second, Leeny, I still have to clean her up." Her sister chuckled, carefully laying the infant down onto the mattress. Her cries had softened a bit, but she hadn't stopped wriggling, arms waving in the air. Melissa picked up one of the other hand towels she'd left folded on the bed and finished wiping off the last remnants of amniotic fluid and blood from her skin, which was now a flushed pink instead of the beet red it'd been prior.

"There we go...isn't that better?" She said, gently patting the infant's cheek with the towel. The baby gurgled in response, which prompted an impatient growl from Harley. Her hands remained outstretched still, grabbing for her daughter.

"Hang on, we're almost done. We don't want the cord trailing over there, do we?" Melissa sat the hand towel back into the small pile of messy towels that had accumulated over the birth. Humming, she turned, picking up a small black shoelace that she'd taken off her shoe an hour ago. She looked back up towards the new parents, towards the Joker.

"Hey Papa, you wanna take care of it?"

He blinked.

"What?"

"The cord. You wanna do the honors?"

"Aw pud, would you?" Harley gasped and grabbed his arm, tugging at it. "Please?"

Joker glanced down at her, then over at Melissa. He listened to the baby's soft cooing for a moment.

Would he do it?

Did he really deserve to after being the one responsible for his own daughter's almost-death nine months ago, after he'd spent day after day denying her and refusing to accept her? Now was not the time to be debating these questions, but he hadn't planned on being present for this, let alone being asked to complete such a task as cutting off an umbilical cord.

"Puddin'...pu-leaseeee...I wanna hold her..." Harley tugged at his arm again, whining softly. He looked back down at her again, sighed, and brushed her hand off, getting up from the bed. Taking his switchblade out, he flicked it open and padded over to the foot of the bed. Now that he was closer, he let himself observe the little thing, eyes going up and down her small, wiggly form. He didn't know if he entirely agreed with Melissa's statement of her "being beautiful"; her face was all wrinkled and scrunched up... but maybe that was because she was yawning.

He watched her tiny lips spread open, then shut, her features softening and eyes popping back open, revealing a pair of light, blue irises, that seemed to be staring back up at him.

Wonder...he could see wonder in those eyes, wonder and curiosity. The same look he'd seen in her mother's eyes the minute she'd first laid eyes on him, he could see it now in their child. The same wonder, and she was barely a few minutes old.

This was his. This thing was his.

This was their creation.

He didn't know how to feel.

"Here." He snapped his head to the side, seeing Melissa had tied the shoe lace onto the cord. "Just cut right there, carefully."

She'd put a lot of emphasis on that last word, "carefully". Pfft, sure, she didn't know how much he'd cut with this knife, how many people he'd cut with it. Stuff like this was a piece of a cake for him, he'd had plenty of practice being "careful" with blades.

And by careful, that meant slowly dragging the blade further into someone's cheek until they were crying.

"Er...huh, you got a light?" She nodded, reaching into her suitcase to pull out a lighter, and handed it to him. He ignited it, running the flame underneath the switchblade's edge to cauterize it, snapping the lighter off the minute the blade began to a glow a light red. He could already feel Harley watching him, no doubt with great eagerness, as he cut the blade through the cord, severing it enough for it to fall off.

The switchblade went back into his coat, and he stepped back, watching as Melissa re-wrapped the baby back into the towel. The minute she stood up, Harley's arms shot back up again, reaching out as her sister approached. A huge grin was on her face, despite the fact that she looked like death.

"Mine, mine!" She sounded like a greedy toddler, eagerly snatching her daughter out of Melissa's arms. She fell back onto the pillows, pressing the baby close to her body, petting the wispy, damp peach fuzz that made up her hair.

"Baby...my baby..." Harley started cooing, continuing to pet and cuddle the tiny infant. "Hi there, hi...hi, you're my baby, aren't you? Yeah, you are, and I'm your Momma! Yes, I am, and I love you so much! I've been wanting to meet you for so long..."

She kept hugging, petting, talking to the girl like she could understand her. It bewildered Joker, standing here and watching his queen act like this. He couldn't say he liked this new mushy side all too much, and he couldn't guarantee that he'd get used to it.

It was just so...odd.

Not just the mushy talk, but the fact that she was holding a baby. It almost looked unnatural, for Harley Quinn, the Clown Queen and merry murderess herself to be cradling and cooing at a small child like this.

"Hey...puddin'?"

She'd stopped cooing, she was talking to him now. He didn't respond, just looked, saw her looking inquisitively at him.

"You...wanna come see her?"

But he already had seen her, just a minute ago.

Forget it J, she's not going to take no for an answer. She rarely does.

So, he went back to her side, only standing next to the bed this time. Harley beamed up at him, holding the baby up for him to see, even though her arms were weak and trembling.

"Just look at her, isn't she pretty?" she gushed, gaining no visible reaction from him. The only thing he did do was squint, silently observing the infant as she gurgled, her tiny hands pawing the air. Such a tiny little thing...tiny and helpless...

"She's...so small..." He didn't know why that had been the first thing to come out of his mouth, those had been thoughts he hadn't meant to say out loud. Harley harshly laughed, lowering the baby back onto her lap.

"Really? I would've thought otherwise." She countered. "With how much effort it took, I could'a sworn I was pushin' out a ten-pound watermelon."

She went back to looking down at the baby, smiling widely at her.

"But you're a tiny melon, aintcha?" she chirped, grabbing onto her wiggling arms. "You're just a tiny little thing, how come you were givin' Mama so much trouble? Huh?"

The only response the baby gave was a soft coo, causing her mother to laugh and kiss both her hands, rubbing them against her own cheeks. Joker continued watching in absolute amazement; no, his mind was doing a shit job of processing of this felt like it was really happening.

She'd only been a mother for about six minutes and she was already a natural. It was like it had just come naturally, maybe there really was some truth about the bullshit myth talking about how having a baby always brought out the maternal instinct in a woman.

He chuckled within himself. His Harley, a mother. Him, a father.

This was quite the sight to behold. A sight that he knew many people might find hilarious.

Many people aside from Bats, of course.

No no, that was a matter for another time. The last few hours had been hours from hell, and it was over, he could worry over shit like that another day.

Slowly, he sat on the bed, allowing a grin to place itself on his face as he kept a focus on the baby. He was impressed; in all the time he'd been looking at her, she hadn't cried at all. The same wonder and curiosity was in her eyes, even as she looked between both strange people looking down at her. It was kind of funny, perhaps she hadn't been expecting these strange-looking people to be her parents.

He did wonder what else could possibly be going through her mind.

By now, Melissa had left the room; he'd heard her briefly mention something about to going to clean up, but he hadn't been paying attention. The family of three were the only ones currently in this room, and oddly enough...everything felt peaceful.

Is this what could have been, a long, long time ago?

More gurgling came from the baby, who still stared up at her parents with curious wonder. Her main focus seemed to be fixated on her father however, and Harley had taken notice as well as he had. She giggled, looking over at the Joker.

"She knows you." He scoffed at this, rolling his eyes.

"Harls, please—"

"No, look! She knows you're her papa, she just can't stop lookin' at ya." Harley pressed further, looking back to the infant. Sure enough, her eyes remained focused towards her father, as if to further prove Harley's point.

"Look at that, she loves you already. Isn't that sweet?"

"That's bullshit, Harls. She's just staring at me, that doesn't mean she loves me." Joker pointed out, huffing as he lifted both legs onto the bed. "It doesn't mean that she knows who I am, either."

"No, she does." She disagreed, pulling the baby back in her arms, as she'd begun to cry. "She knows you, Mistah J. I didn't spend a good amount of time tellin' her about ya for her to not know."

The crying picked up, prompting a shush out of Harley as she gently started bouncing the newborn.

"Hey, hush now. What's wrong? Are ya hungry?" she asked. "Is that it?"

She pushed her knees back up, allowing the baby to rest on them while she pushed her shirt up. Reaching back, she managed to unclip her bra and pressed the baby close to her chest, allowing her to nuzzle around for a few minutes until she began nursing. Harley kept one hand balanced on the back of her head, rubbing the other on her back. A good minute passed before Harley realized Joker was staring, and she looked up at him, taking in the expression on his face.

It wasn't a smile, or a grin; he just looked...conflicted.

"What are you starin' at?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow. He pursed his lips together, shrugging.

"Dunno. I'm still trying to process it, whatever it is." he said, scooting a bit closer to Harley. She raised at her other eyebrow at him, before also shrugging, and moved her attention back to the baby. She'd seemed to have finished eating, so Harley pulled her back, and let her shirt fall back down. The room went quiet, as she went back to cuddling the infant, cooing to her; all while Joker sat next to her and watched with his own great curiosity.

"So..." He spoke, silently, enough to gain Harley's attention. "This is what being a parent is like?"

"Huh...I guess." The baby had grabbed onto Harley's finger with both hands, tugging and grunting. "Uh...how's it makin' you feel?"

She had to ask; their unfinished conversation in the asylum still had many questions with it, many questions that had not yet been answered. He'd seemed very eager to have her back, had mentioned something about being okay with having the baby around...but nothing he emoted now showed any of that. Harley knew as well as his henchmen, if not better, that it was either a good thing or a bad thing when the Joker went quiet; and in most cases, it was never a good thing.

"Hm..." He hummed, resting his head against the wall, hands now folded in his lap. "Don't know yet."

Well, that wasn't entirely bad. But it wasn't good either.

She nodded, slowly, and looked away from him, only to look back up at again at his question.

"How about you?"

"Oh...um...weird. Huh, yeah. It feels weird."

She went back to rocking the baby, smiling brightly at her.

"But ya know...I've been waitin' so long to hold her...and I almost never did." she mused. "Yeah, so maybe it does feel weird...but it also feels incredible."

Incredible?

He wondered what that must feel like. It was frustrating, because he felt like he should be happy, or hell, angry right now; he wanted to feel some kind of emotion, not the blankness, or the confusion, he felt instead. Harley's happiness was practically radiating off her, she'd been wanting this; yearning for this for so long, perhaps longer than he'd ever known.

And meanwhile, he couldn't even properly assess his own emotions.

"Err...did you...did you, uh, ever pick a name out for her?" he questioned, trying to at least sound invested. Though he was curious, she'd not made mention of any name of any sort for the baby in the short time that they'd been reunited, then again, they'd only been reunited since last night. It wasn't like they'd had the time to chat what with having to avoid being shot up, arrested, and/or thrown back into Arkham by Batman or the GCPD.

Harley did seem delighted he'd asked, however. She pondered his question briefly, pressing her mouth into a tight line.

"Kinda..." She shifted on the bed, slipping down onto one of the pillows. "I mean I...nah, nah, not really..."

He had to laugh at this, turning onto his side to look down at her.

"Really? Nine months, Harls, you had nine months to decide." She scowled as he cackled. "And you say I take too long, I truly think you're mistaken."

"If I am, it's your fault." Harley deflected. "You're the one who kept tellin' me a name had to mean somethin'—you know, back in Arkham? Our first session?"

"How could I forget?" He smiled at the memory, recalling the look on her face when she'd stepped into the room. How she'd asked so many questions, trying to get a "real" name out of him, asking him how it related to what he did. That had only been the first of many times he'd imparted his own wisdom to her.

"Yeah, I started talkin' to you about names and stuff like that." She paused, long enough to wince, and looked back over at him. "I remember, puddin', I remember how you said a name is what makes a person, how it has to be something people would fear. I remembered all of that, so I wanted to find a name like that for the baby."

"And did you?"

"I... I don't know, I mean there was one name that stood out to me..." She winced again, inhaling sharply. "I dunno...and geez pud, you've always been better at names than me, you're the one who got Harley Quinn outta Harleen Quinzel, y'know."

"Well, I do consider myself an expert in the field." Joker chuckled, turning back onto his back in order to sit up. "But give yourself some credit where it's due, you do a fantastic job with animal names."

"Oh, great..."

"No, but really;" He swung his legs off the bed, standing up. "Tell me; what's the name? The one that was standing out to you, I'm curious."

"Um...Lilith." Harley said, shifting once again. "It means 'of the night'. The website I found it on said it was the name of some demonic goddess in Jewish mythology, one I apparently missed out on hearing as a kid."

Joker said nothing to this straight away, only leaning against the wall. He looked upwards, his mouth was moving despite no words coming out. He seemed to be in contemplation of the name...that was good, that was definitely good, wasn't it? It had to be, he'd cared enough to break her out, had cared enough to stay with her through the whole delivery. Surely, he cared enough to help her decide on a name.

He continued as Harley watched on. She hoped he'd decide soon, she was starting to feel sick again.

The bathroom door opened, and Melissa walked out, heading back to her suitcase to fiddle around with something. By this time, Joker had stopped his murmuring and was looking down again, back at Harley and the baby.

"...I like it." He decided, finally. "I think...I think it'll do just fine."

Harley lit up, looking back down at the cooing baby in her arms.

"You hear that, sweetie? Daddy liked the name Momma picked out for ya!" she grinned, enough to earn attention from Melissa, who looked on at the small family with a smile. "Looks like you got a name now, huh? How do you like it?"

Joker had turned his back, rolling his eyes at hearing Harley babble onto their daughter. It still amazed him how she could just talk to her like she understood everything she was saying...then again... that wasn't really a shock considering how she talked to animals. He should've expected it.

It was only when she stopped talking, abruptly, was when he started to become concerned. Which, was now.

He turned back around at the same time baby Lilith fell from her mother's embrace, hitting the mattress with a soft cry. His eyes widened, blood going cold, at the sight of Harley's body violently convulsing on the bed, her breath in and out at an alarmingly-fast pace.

"Harley!" It didn't take him any time at all to practically jump onto the bed, ready to completely pull her up, shake her out of her stupor. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew it wasn't good. She'd completely paled over, her skin cold, and pupils huge.

"Don't move her!" His arms recoiled back at the sound of Melissa snapping at him, and he looked to see her propping the suitcase up underneath Harley's feet. She'd jumped into action quick, running over next to him to scoop the crying baby up from where she'd fallen, hastily shoving her into her father's surprised arms before returning to attend to her sister. Joker could only watch in a furious worry, stumbling back, almost entirely into the wall, while Lilith cried and squirmed in his hold.

What was happening? Everything was so fine just a minute ago, this wasn't supposed to happen! Not again!

Every voice screamed at him, clouded any coherent train thought, the longer he watched the scene unfold in front of him. Melissa was doing a lot of things, things he couldn't pay enough attention to. She was saying some things to Harley, covering her with the blanket, readjusting the pillows underneath her head. She rushed back to the foot of the bed, allowing Joker enough time to see that Harley had stopped convulsing, her body having gone disturbingly still. Her eyes almost looked sealed shut, lips looking slightly parted. Her breath did sound like it was slowing down, and her chest was slowly but surely rising up and down.

So, she was alive...thank fuck for that. What had just happened?

Realizing Lilith was slipping from his grasp, Joker shifted her back up against the crook of his right arm and walked over to Melissa, who was pre-occupied with checking under the sheet still covering Harley's legs.

"What is going on?" he demanded, struggling to keep the wiggling baby from slipping even further. "What's wrong with her?"

"She's lost too much blood, it sent her body into shock." Melissa moved one hand away from the sheets to retrieve another towel from her suitcase, wadding it up into a ball. "I've seen it happen far too often."

Her face creased as she pressed the towel into place, biting down on her lower lip.

"This is why I was hoping she wouldn't tear, she's already lost too much blood as is...hell, she's still bleeding now..." she said. "I'm gonna try my best to stop the bleeding—"

"No, you aren't going to try, you're going to stop it." He snapped, causing Melissa to silence, having to raise his tone as the baby hadn't yet calmed down from her crying fit. "Remember why I've kept you around, Mel. You're of no use to me if you don't stop this."

His tone had transitioned to a low growl, signifying that he was dead serious. Swallowing hard, Melissa nodded grimly, looking away.

"I... if I had a, um, curette, I could perform a D&C..." she spoke slowly, keeping her hands secured beneath the sheet. "It could temporarily stop the bleeding, but there's no guarantee..."

"We've got a whole stash of medical supplies in the basement of this place, getting you one of those shouldn't be a problem." Joker cut her off, glancing down at Lilith. He grit down on his grill, harshly shushing her. She hadn't stopped crying since her mother had gone unconscious, and he wasn't having much luck in getting her to be quiet.

She knows I'm her father, huh? Bullshit.

She wanted to be back with her mother, she didn't want this strange man holding her. These were the same arms, the same hands, that had wielded the cane that had almost resulted in her death, so he couldn't really blame her for wanting out of them.

"If it's not a problem, then great, because it's really our only other option at this rate." Melissa temporarily moved one blood-covered hand out, picking up another towel. "Oh, and you might want to try rocking her."

He was about to ask what she meant until he realized she was talking about the baby. Grumbling, he attempted to do as she said, which to his surprise, seemed to quell the infant. She went quiet, aside from tiny sniffles.

So far, this parenting thing wasn't proving to be any fun. Not yet, anyways.

"I'll uh...I'll go tell Frost to get the stuff...you need..." He trailed off, stepping back. Now that Lilith had quieted down, he attempted to lay her back down on the bed next to Harley, only to receive a loud cry, which caused him to pull her back up, staring down in confusion at her.

"Yeah, I don't think you're going to get away with that." Melissa cracked a smile and shook her head, turning her focus back to Harley. "I can't be keeping an eye on her anyways, you're going to need to keep her with you for at least a couple of hours."

Protest.

He almost did, wanted to, but Melissa had a point. She was already up to her wrists in blood, and as soon as she had that curette in her possession, she'd be up to her elbows. There was no way she'd be able to tend to both Harley and Lilith at the same time.

Protest.

His mind told him to, but he ignored it. Re-securing Lilith back into his hold, he moved to leave the room, not before allowing himself one more glance at Harley. She was still unconscious, laying on the bed and looking as pale as a ghost. Barely, just barely, he could hear her breathing...so quick, so frighteningly quick.

Melissa better hope nothing went wrong during that procedure, else she'd be finding herself at the short end of a gun's barrel.

The sun brightly shone in the living room, casting rays across it as Joker stepped out from the bedroom. He shut the door with his free arm, back turned still, Lilith cooing in his arms. He stayed there for a moment, hand pressed against the wood.

...she would be okay. She was Harley Quinn, she'd come back from worse. She was going to be okay. For her to be defeated like this would just be...ridiculous.

She would not be defeated. She'd come back from this, perkier and crazier than ever.

"J?" He barely turned at hearing Frost's voice, having forgotten the other man had been in the room, though he was shocked he was still here, especially with having to listen to all the lovely sounds travelling through the walls.

"...yeah?"

"Is... Ms. Quinn doing alright?" Ah, good old concern. And it was genuine too, any prior right-hand man he'd had been excellent at faking it, just to stay on his good side. This was why he'd kept Frost around for so long.

It did take Joker a minute to respond, Frost even having to repeat himself a second time. Finally, he looked up, back at him.

"She's...going to be fine..." Lying to yourself again, J? God, you're pathetic. "Look uh, Johnny, you remember where we keep the medical supplies in this place, right?"

"Yeah, the basement, right?"

"Right. Great, because the doc needs some." He fully turned around, moving to a chair, which he seated himself in. "A curette, probably some medication. Go get those for her."

"Sure thing." Frost nodded and started to leave. He stopped upon opening the door and looked back. "Oh...yeah, boss? Congrats."

It was a quick and curt congratulations, because he had already left before Joker had a chance to say anything to him. He looked over just in time to see the door shutting, and closed his eyes, exhaling heavily.

This...this was all so strange...this wasn't supposed to happen.

This wasn't ever supposed to happen.

None of this...he'd anticipated none of this when he'd gone to rescue her. He'd not anticipated her giving birth, and he'd certainly not anticipated her now bleeding out.

Fuck, sometimes he wished his brain was able to process things better and not just...shut itself off like this. He couldn't think straight now, he'd thought it'd be better after having Harley back, but it'd just gotten worse. The imagery of her tied up and screaming was out of his head, but now all he could see was her laying there in bed, resembling nothing less than a corpse.

Why...why did it have to be so...painful to care?

If he didn't know any better, he'd close himself off again, but he knew he couldn't. It was too late for that now.

Tiny noises led him into opening his eyes back, shooting them down to Lilith, who was grunting and squirming against his stomach. He glared, feeling a small rage begin to burn through his heart. Gradually, he slipped the baby from his arm, tightly gathering her into both his hands, lifting her up until she was face to face with him. She continued squirming, her grunts increasing as her father's grip increased. His eyes glazed over in fury the more he watched her squirm, the more he listened to the noises she was making.

"You..." he growled, arms shaking. "This is all your fault..."

It was. It was all her fault; her mother was heavily bleeding out because of her, possibly dying because of her. It was her fault.

His whole face contorted in anger, fingers pressing hard against the baby's body. She kept squirming, kept whimpering.

Wasn't supposed to happen. Didn't want this. Didn't want you. Your fault, your fault, your fault-

He was gripping tight enough, that Lilith's small noises had developed into a loud squall. This brought him out of his rage, feeling a harsh pang in his chest. Her squalls kept on, even as he lowered her, his grip loosening, laying her down on his knees. His hands continued to shake, as he cautiously lifted them, staring in a dumbfounded manner.

No...

No.

He wasn't going to do this. He couldn't.

Maybe it was Lilith's fault, but he knew he held the blame too. Lilith only existed because of him, after all.

"Hey..." He picked her back up, laying her against his chest. "Hey, stop that. Don't do that."

Her tiny body was quivering as the loud squalls quieted down into whimpers, he could feel it. God, she really was so tiny...it would have been so easy to hurt her. That was...not a comforting fact. If he had in fact, done something, and Harley got better...she'd skin him alive, and not just metaphorically.

With heavy uncertainty, he pressed his hand on her back, slowly rubbing it. He'd seen people do this on television shows, not that he watched these types of shows, but he'd caught glimpses of them, due to sometimes coming home at 2 AM to find Harley awake and seated in the living room, watching some bad Lifetime channel movie while she emptied out a whole carton of chocolate pudding. That was a routine he fully expected to continue once they got back home.

Especially now with a baby around, things were bound to change, but at least they weren't strangers to staying up late.

The whimpers had stopped, meaning that he was doing something right. He heard the door opening and slamming shut, heard Frost's footsteps go by as he ran across to the bedroom, presumably with the needed supplies in hand. He didn't bother looking up or acknowledging this, only continued rubbing Lilith's back, and once she'd gone completely quiet, lay her back down in his lap.

Those eyes...wide and curious...he couldn't get over how curious they looked. You couldn't even tell she'd been crying a minute ago, it was almost scary how calm she was now. It looked as if she were trying to figure Joker out...like why had he been ready to crush her one minute, but had started to soothe her the next?

So young, and already so eager.

It made him smile.

"Don't think too much on it, kid." He couldn't believe he was talking to her, but she seemed to be paying attention, so he continued. "Even I don't know how things work up there most of the time... shit, I don't think your mother does either. I'll give her points for trying, as long ago as that was..."

Lilith cooed, her little head wobbling to the side. Joker was quick to set it back up, keeping one hand propped underneath it.

"No, no, I'm sure she told you enough about that." he said with a chuckle. "I'll bet she's told you a lot, huh? She probably did, she loves talking. Sometimes, I can't get her to shut up."

Another coo from Lilith, who by now had taken noticed of her father's thumb and seized it, pulling it into her mouth. He almost jerked it back, alarmed, but instead did nothing, observing the little girl as she continued to gum it to her best extent, but her eyes had not left him. They remained looking up at him, even as she was sucking at his thumb.

This made his smile even bigger.

Maybe Harley hadn't been bullshitting him. Maybe she really did know who he was.

He pulled his thumb loose, lifting her up, this time, until their foreheads touched, and he was grinning.

"You know, what Lily?" he purred, the baby grunting. "I think you're going to be fun, after all..."

The next few days passed by, even if it felt like time wasn't moving by at all.

Harley been out of commission, for the most part. She'd woken up a few times, the first time being a whole day after she'd first passed out, but she'd only stayed up long enough to feed Lilith, and herself, before going back to sleep. Thankfully, she didn't seem to be losing anymore blood, as the D&C procedure had seemed to have taken care of most of the heavy bleeding, but regardless of this, she remained bedbound, primarily by Melissa's orders, and especially by Joker's orders.

When she was asleep, the task of tending to the baby had fallen to Melissa. She'd handled giving her a bath, changing her diaper, putting her to sleep. She'd gone out the morning after she was born and had come back with all the supplies needed to take care of Lilith, including formula in the event that Harley might be asleep during her meal times, and a few baby onesies so she wouldn't have to keep wearing the same dirty towel she'd been wrapped in for the first few hours of her life.

Suffice it to say that it'd been an interesting few days, having to adjust to having a baby around. By now, Joker had hoped they'd be back in Gotham City, at the penthouse, but it was evident they weren't going to be leaving anytime soon, nor did he want to. Not until Harley was strong enough to get out of bed, even if she kept insisting she was whenever she was awake, he knew she wasn't. Not with how much she kept sleeping, it would be at least a whole week before they'd be back, maybe two.

He didn't want her setting a foot outside of that room until she didn't look like death anymore.

In the meantime, he'd turned his attention towards other things. His arrested henchmen had managed to free themselves, with the help of some officers who just so happened to be on Joker's payroll. When they'd arrived at the hotel, he'd assigned them to head back into the city, to Harley's apartment above the Blue Bell Diner, in order to retrieve her things there.

Of course, by her things, he meant the baby's thing, which mainly included her crib, toys, and clothes, some of the décor as well. He'd had these things taken to the penthouse, where the rest of the guys and some of the girls from the club were converting one of the spare rooms into a nursery. Joker hadn't told Harley about this, she did love surprises and after all the crap she'd been through lately, she deserved a surprise that wouldn't result in blood.

Speaking of the guys and girls, some of them had dropped by in the few days that had passed, dropping off their congratulations and their gifts. The guys were quick about it and usually left after a couple of minutes, in order to get back to work, but the girls had stayed longer, oohing and awing over Lilith, even helping out with her.

In fact, she'd been getting so much attention from everyone, that Joker had found himself barely interacting with her. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but ever since their little interaction before, he'd had a lot to think about, a lot to ponder. By now, it was cemented that they were keeping the baby, that he was okay with it, and he'd accepted it. But there was so much more on his mind than that factor, and so much that needed to be talked about.

Unfortunately, Harley was never awake long enough for such a conversation to take place.

So, he'd spent a lot of time outside the bedroom, mulling over his thoughts, pacing, or distracting himself with some kind of task, any old task.

It was actually what he was doing right now, as it was 5:30 in the evening, clouds gathered in the sky and the room dark. Aside from the few men surrounding the outside of the place to keep an eye on things, the only other people in the building were Melissa, Harley, the Joker, and Lilith. Most of the guys were back in the city, and Melissa was in the bedroom tending to Lilith while Harley was in the shower. It was the first time she'd really been up since giving birth, and she'd had to fight Melissa on letting her out of bed, stating she was sick of smelling like "blood and shit".

So, it was pretty much quiet, though you could faintly hear the running water through the thin walls.

As for the Joker, he was currently seated on the sofa, going over a chart of the club's assets. Things had really fallen behind the long nine months he'd been mentally absent, and things were not looking too hot financially. He had some clients he'd have to be paying a visit to soon if he wanted this chart to looking any better, a whole list of said-client next to him, as he tried to map out who owed him what.

Melissa stepped out of the bedroom door, sighing tiredly as she sat a half-empty baby bottle down on the coffee table, next to where Joker's feet were propped. He looked up briefly, before looking back down at the name list, marking a name off on it.

"Sounded awful quiet in there..." he remarked, as Melissa retrieved her coat from where it was hanging on a chair. She shrugged it on, chuckling softly.

"Hah, well, that might have something to do with Lily." she said, scooping her purse up as well. "She wasn't even halfway done with her bottle before she started nodding off. Poor kid couldn't even keep her eyes open."

"Hm." Joker circled off another name, absent-mindedly rocking his feet. "She's asleep then?"

"Yup, since about...oh, I think five minutes ago." She fumbled through her purse, pulling her keys out. "I figured since she is, I'd take the chance to slip out and bring back some supper. How's Chinese sound?"

"Sure. Sounds fantastic..." He sat his pen aside, squinting at the chart. Keys in hand, Melissa zipped her purse up and headed towards the door.

"I'll be back in a few, if Lily wakes up, just give her the rest of her bottle. She still might be hungry." She called, stepping out. Almost as instantly as the door shut, Joker was interrupted from his work by the very sound that had woken him up the last couple of nights. He sighed, setting both the chart and his pen back onto the couch, and pushed himself off the couch.

Bottle in hand, he went to the bedroom, where Harley's remained empty, and her voice could be heard coming from the bathroom, singing some off-tune version of "Lollipop" as the shower water was shut off. Lilith lay alone, and presumably-hungry on the bed, crying and kicking. He approached, shushing her as he scooped her up.

"Hey hey, don't do that..." he scolded, lightly bouncing her. He shoved the bottle towards her mouth, and she scrunched her face up, turning her head away. Joker fought a couple of more times to get her to eat, until he gave up and tossed the bottle onto the bed, propping the infant up against his shoulder. Her crying went on, soft, not loud, and he continued bouncing her, patting her back.

He had to admit, it did feel quite foreign to be doing such a thing as this...such a normal thing, holding and soothing a baby. The hands that had not only threatened to end her life, but had ended so many other lives, were holding her with such care and such gentleness, that he wasn't even sure if they were his anymore.

This was just hilarious, he had enemies who would no doubt be doubling over in laughter at a sight like this.

The bathroom light flicked off as the door opened. Harley was humming as she exited, drying off the ends of her hair before crumpling up the towel and chucking it onto a chair. After having been dressed in the same t-shirt for days, one that was covered in dried blood and piss stains, it was a relief to have changed into a nicer, cleaner pair of pajamas; especially one that was her own pair. It was one of the things Joker had had retrieved from their penthouse for her while she was out of it, alongside some of her other clothing. Not the ugly stuff Ivy had bought for her, no, her actual clothing.

And she couldn't have been happier.

She'd lit up like a Christmas tree when she'd dug into the box and picked up one of her favorite pairs of pajamas; a light pink top and bottom, with kitty cats printed all over them. This was the pair she was wearing now as she turned to look at herself in the dusty old mirror, continuing to hum, and attempted to pin her wet hair up into space buns, rather sloppy space buns at that.

She overheard small grunts, then noticed the sight of Lilith in the mirror, cradled in her father's arms. Joker's back was turned, and he hadn't quite noticed Harley yet; in fact, all his attention seemed to be on Lilith.

It made her heart bubble up with joy, a smile spreading over her features.

Stiffly walking back over (stiffly, only because she was still recovering), she plopped down on the bed next to J, wrapping her arms around him all while sighing happily, resting her head against his back. She felt his body jolt, startled, but he didn't say anything just yet.

Harley propped her chin on his shoulder, peering down at baby Lily. Aside from her occasional late-night cries, she'd been a very well-behaved baby. At least, from what Melissa had said, but Harley could see it now. She looked so calm, and not at all uncomfortable, being held by Joker.

"Look at her, puddin'..." she chirped softly, moving one hand over to tweak the girl's cheek. "Look at how comfortable she is with ya, she's so happy!"

Joker pulled Lilith back from his shoulder, looking over her features.

"That doesn't look happy to me." he said flatly, laying her back down.

"But she's calm!" Harley persisted, scooting over next to him with her hands still holding onto him. "Look at how calm she is, shouldn't that say something to you?"

She didn't get a reply to this, and she felt him slip out of her grasp, looking to see he was getting up from the bed. She bit her lip, looking back to Lily.

He doesn't want her, Harley.

Shut up.

The one good thing about being out cold had been Harleen's lack of nagging, that wasn't to say she'd had her fair share of bothering Harley every now and then. It hadn't been as often since she was back with Joker, thank goodness for that. But that didn't change anything about what she was being naggy about, what she was prattling on about.

It was always about Lily.

Harley kept trying to convince herself, convince Harleen, that everything was all well and good now, and that they'd be getting to go home together as a whole family. But...her mind kept going back to the conversation they'd had Arkham. He'd said he'd tell her everything, why he'd waited so long to take her back...there was a good chance her mind wouldn't be at ease until he told her.

She just had to know.

And he seemed to be reading her thoughts, because he was clearing his throat, and coming back over to the bed, after having paced around for a couple of minutes. She looked up, over at him, as he pulled both hands behind his back.

"Harls...I think, since you're awake..." he started. "I think it's time we talked...you wanna talk?"

Harley picked up Lilith and the bottle, which she seemed to be receiving better this time. She was silent, only nodding, which prompted him into continuing.

"Those...those nine months, before now...looking back, I realize that I may have overreacted..." He started his pacing up again. "In fact, I may have overreacted...just a bit too much."

"I think we've had this conversation already, pud..."

"We have, yes. You're not wrong." He stopped walking, arms unfolding. "But you see, when we had that conversation, I hadn't had quite enough time to truly think about this whole situation. Since then, I've had time...oh so much time, and so much was revealed to me..."

"Revealed? What the hell are you talkin' about?" Harley squinted in confusion at him as he sat back down, shifting Lilith up as her fussing indicated she'd finished with the bottle since the start of her parent's conversation.

"I... can't say. Fuck, at this point I'm not even sure if half of what I saw was real or not..." Joker combed his fingers through his hair, huffing. "But—yeah, basically, I'm pretty sure I ended up getting back a few memories while you were gone. Memories that made me realize why I was so against this whole parenting thing."

This revelation made Harley's eyes go wide, but he held up his hands before she could speak, causing her mouth to snap shut and fall into a whine.

"Wait, wait. No, like I said, I don't even know how many of those were real." he said. "But...it made me realize some things about myself, Harls. It made me realize that I was lying to myself, the whole damn time. You know, when it came to a kid not fitting in with our lifestyle?"

Voice trailing, he shut his eyes, contemplating what to say next. No, no—don't seize up now. Don't seize up.

"I figured..." He hummed, his eyes popping back open. "I figured that...that it was a bullshit excuse. Bats has plenty of brats of his own running around, why couldn't I have the same thing? Why couldn't I let myself be amused by the thought of...my own offspring? Then...those dreams started happening."

Even Lilith wasn't making much noises anymore, as if she too, was as closely listening to her father's words as Harley was. She had to say she was intrigued; Joker had never been this open before, not about dreams, not about things like memories. He'd always brushed her off whenever she'd asked...during the therapy sessions, during their times driving around the city, in bed.

"I don't have a past," he'd say. "Simply put, Harley—if I had one, I'd want it to be multiple choice."

But he wasn't saying that now, was he?

"What...what were in the dreams, Mistah J?"

"Hard to say...it's all foggy now..." His face scrunched up at remembering, and he leaned back on the bed, palms resting on the mattress. "I... vaguely remember a man and woman, yelling at each other...I remember the man, kicking me in the ribs...I remember stabbing the woman..."

This was starting to sound familiar. He'd told her a variation of this story a long time ago in one of their sessions. But, she chose not to interrupt him. She knew not to interrupt him when he was like this, voicing a train of thoughts out loud. One off-word could scramble it all up.

"The thing is though, Harls, all these dreams...memories, whatever..." He went on, Harley listening on intently. "They all had something in common...it was always about parents. And I think, Harley, that it was these things in my dreams that held my reasons for not accepting Lilith."

"...which are?" Lilith was squirming, having apparently lost interest in the conversation by now and was more concerned with trying to get a burp out, so Harley lifted her up and started patting her back, keeping her eyes locked on Joker. This conversation was going somewhere, her attention wasn't about to go anywhere else.

But he didn't seem like he wanted to continue it. He didn't seem like he wanted to state the reasons he was talking about, and grew very quiet, turning away from her.

What was it...what was it that he couldn't seem to bring himself to say?

She didn't know, but she wanted to know. Prodding wouldn't help, when it came to stuff like this...it was better to just let it be stated naturally. Especially with him, prodding him had never ended very well in the past.

"...I was..." Finally, he spoke, right at the same time Lilith let out a tiny belch, and Harley lowered back into her lap. "I was...scared, Harley. I was terrified. In those memories...nothing associated with the thought of being parent was good...and I think, when it comes down to it..."

Him...Joker...admitting he was scared?

This was not the answer she'd expected to hear.

"You...scared?" she had to ask, it even sounded weird as she asked.

"I know. It's hilarious isn't it?" He said over a chuckle, picking at the hem of the bedsheets. "I'm surprised you aren't rolling over in laughter at this...like c'mon, Harls, it's sad. Out of all the things I've done, the things I've seen...the one thing that terrifies me, is her..."

He gestured towards Lilith, who'd turned her attention to staring at the cats on her mother's pajamas.

"You know the things I've done, the things I've seen..." Cracking his neck, he grunted, shifting up a little bit more on the bed. "The things I've had done to me...but this? This little...human...no, she is the thing that scares me the most."

His gaze was locked onto her now; her being Lilith, and Harley could see what he meant. She could somewhat see the tiny bit of fear flashing over his eyes, a fear she'd seen a long, long time ago, two years to be exact...their time on the road, when she'd pulled the gun on him.

When she'd uttered those words, daring him to admit that her heart scared him...this was perhaps, the first time, he'd ever came close to acknowledging such feelings. Although, it bewildered her to hear such humbling things come from his mouth, this was not what she'd expected, not at all. At the same time, it did make her happy to hear those words...to hear a legit reason, and no excuses this time.

And it wasn't like that half-assed response he'd given her back in the alley, this one seemed to possess more earnest.

"I'm glad to hear you say that..." she concurred, scooting back up against the bed's headboard. Tucking Lilith close, Harley started to softly rock her, feeling somewhat solemn. "If it makes you feel any better, she scares me a little bit too."

"No, she doesn't. Don't say things just to make me feel like less of an asshole, Harley." She jolted at the loud abruptness of his voice, noting that his fists were clenching. "You've been all over her before she was even born, you were ready to kill me the very second I threatened to harm her."

He snapped her head back at her, looking at her with a very serious, very dark expression.

"You pledged your loyalty...to me..."

"Puddin'..."

"Stop." He warned, standing up slowly. And she did. She snapped her mouth shut, only chewing on her lower lip. The same expression remained, as he moved to stand next to her, if only growing darker with each step. "You pledged your loyalty to me, and me only...so I want to make one thing clear with you. And I wanna make it crystal clear, so listen to what I say now..."

Harley's eyes darted to his switchblade, which he was now holding in his hand. The blade was out, and before she could even make a sound, felt it pressed on her cheek. It felt dangerously close to drawing blood, and he lightly dragged it across her pale flesh, stopping at her lips. They closed, the tip of the blade resting on them.

"I will accept this child, I will make an... ah... an attempt, to parent her, to my best extent...despite my apparent fear of her." He pressed the blade further, Harley's breath hitching. It did not hitch out of fear, however; instead out of eagerness. Lilith didn't seem to share in her excitement, having drifted off to sleep within a couple of minutes of being rocked.

"But, I will only do this...if I know your loyalty will remain to me, and only me." He directed, the darkness, the utter crispness of his tone, was enough to make Harley shiver. There was a calmness to it, but also strong forcefulness, all at the very same time. "That doesn't mean...that you can't, uh, have some loyalty for her. That doesn't mean you can't love her, because I know there's no stopping you there...all I ask..."

He stopped, long enough to move his eyes up to hers. They were focused, intense...locking right onto his. The blade was practically pricking at the skin on Harley's lip, still not enough to draw blood, but getting close enough to do so.

"All I ask, Harley, is that you remember. Remember what you vowed." He dragged the blade down a bit, her lips parting. It split the center of her lower lip, causing a tiny trickle of blood to sprout out. "Simply...give me what I want, and I'll give you what you want."

Quick as could be, he swiped the blade back, causing Harley's eyes to snap shut, a quiet moan escaping from between her now-bleeding lips. Joker covered her mouth with one hand, kneeling close to her face, and grabbed the back of her head with his other hand, pressing their foreheads together.

"You know how this goes...surrender...desire...you know the whole deal by now." He whispered, her eyes fluttering open to meet his. "Tell me what you want, Harley Quinn. Do you want our child?"

He slid his hand down, allowing her to speak. First, she released the breath that had been building up in her throat, body shuddering.

"More than anything, Mistah J."

"What about me? What do you want from me?"

"To accept our baby and raise her with me." She was brightening, the corners of her mouth stretching into a slightly bloody smile. "It's all I've ever wanted these whole nine months, all I ever wanted from you."

"Then you know what to say, honey..." His finger was on her lips, tracing over the blood, over the curves of her smile. "Remember...remember your vow and say the magic word. Say it..."

"...Please."

His finger stopped it's travelling, settling on her lower lip, dragging itself down to her chin. He returned her smile as more fingers curled around her chin, and their lips met, engaging in a sensual, soft...and bloody, kiss. When they parted, their shared gaze went down to their daughter, who whimpered in her sleep, head turning to rest on the crook of her mother's elbow.

"Our little princess..." Harley murmured, lifting the baby long enough to plant a kiss on her, which left a red imprint on the infant's cheek. "Our beautiful, perfect little princess...oh puddin', I love her so much."

His arm wrapped itself around Harley, pulling her to him as he seated himself on the edge of the bed. He still couldn't say if he was feeling the same joy she was right now, but he was starting to feel something. The same-something he'd felt those few days ago, when he'd been holding Lilith, talking to her...that sense of his...own, curiosity. His own eagerness. He could feel it again as he looked down at her, watching her movements.

"Yeah...princess..." he mused to himself, silent enough to where Harley could barely hear him. He looked back down at his daughter... his daughter.

He didn't know if he'd be able to uphold his word to Harley, but damn it if he wouldn't try. A lesson had been learned in all of this, and the future held so much potential in it now. Lilith was a fresh mind, a fresh mold, one that he and his queen had created together, one that he could've very well missed out on because of stupid fears...fears from the past, fears that no longer mattered.

If he feared her...so would they...so would Gotham.

Author's Note: I've gotta say it, now that I've finally gotten to write these two as parents...I'm enjoying it. I'm enjoying it a whole dang lot. And I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much I did writing it. :) Also, what do you guys think of the name choice? I didn't want to go with the typical Lucy name that a lot of authors tend to use, and trust me, it took me a while to actually settle on Lilith. I'm happy with that choice though, I think it's very befitting. As always, leave a review if you enjoyed!