A/N: Very little BMWW here, since I was planning on leaving it at the previous chapter, but this is for AQ, based on an idea of hers. Thanks, hon!

Epilogue

Shayera cursed under her breath as the infirmary doors hissed open. Had it always been such a loud noise? She tiptoed inside to see Bruce already on his feet, muscles tense. She smirked; a daddy for less than four hours and already he was on maximum-defense alert.

"Relax, it's just me."

"Huh? Oh right." He relaxed and looked back at the children, still sleeping. "Reflex."

"I bet," she replied. "How are they all doing?"

"Fine. All still fast asle–"

He spoke too soon; Sarah stirred, then opened her eyes and her mouth, crying. The sound inevitably woke Nicholas, though he didn't cry. Bruce crossed to his daughter and picked her up gently, making soft shushing noises that Shayera didn't think he was aware of making. She bit her lip to keep from grinning at the image of Batman making baby-noises. The girl had only been born less than a day and already she had a daddy who would give her the world in a heartbeat.

Of course, being Bruce Wayne, he actually could give her the world. At the moment, though, it didn't seem like that idea was impressing Sarah that much. She only cried louder, causing both Nicholas to cry as well as her mother to stir slightly. Bruce looked positively panicked at having to deal with two screaming babies and an Amazon who desperately needed to rest.

Shayera smiled, figuring that Nicholas was only crying because someone was keeping him from his sleep. "I can take him for a walk around the Watchtower if you want me to," she offered.

Bruce hesitated for a moment. Shayera knew not to take it personally – it wasn't about her. With the exception of Clark, she doubted there was anyone Bruce would just allow to take his son without serious thought. Finally he nodded. "Alright."

She smiled. "I won't go far, don't worry. And I'll look after him."

He nodded. "I know."

Shayera walked to the crib and picked up the tiny little boy, cradling his head and trying not to let her emotions show. It helped that he looked so much like his mother. Still... this might be as close to Rex as she was ever going to get. With another reassuring smile to Bruce, she left the infirmary with Nicholas, not really having a destination in mind.

It was only just coming up to dawn GMT, and with the exception of the skeleton staff and the hero on monitor duty, there wasn't really anyone around to stare at Hawkgirl carrying a baby. Now that she was out of the Infirmary, the little boy in her arms had relaxed, and was no longer crying. He wasn't asleep either, but was quiet, his eyes wandering around. Shayera knew that as a newborn he wouldn't be able to see anything clearly, but he was certainly giving it his best shot. She found herself in the transporter room, in front of the panoramic window. Best view of Earth in the galaxy.

She was silent for a while, patting Nicholas gently on the back. When she looked down, his dark blue eyes were on her face. "You know, kid, I like you, but you stand no chance of being normal." She smirked. "Not with those two as parents. Now don't get me wrong, they're going to love you and your sister completely, but whether they'll love each other..."

She smiled and ran a finger gently over his nose. Nicholas grabbed her finger with surprising strength. There was no one else around, but Shayera found herself speaking in a whisper anyway. "Though to be fair, there's no question that your daddy loves your mom. We were on this mission once, in Gorilla City, and Diana got buried beneath a crashing missile. She was fine, of course, but I'd never seen anyone more desperate in my life as your dad was to get her out, and they hadn't even known each other that long then."

She sighed. "Anyway, this is what we do. We look after that planet down there, and all the people on it. Who knows, maybe one day you'll be doing it too. Once your dad gets used to the idea anyway, because you can bet your enormous trust-fund-to-be that he's going to fight tooth and nail against it." She winked at the baby. "But don't worry. We'll get your mom to work on him."

When she looked down again, Nicholas's eyes were shut, and he was fast asleep. Shayera smiled. He really was a good-looking kid. Though, with Bruce Wayne and Wonder Woman as his parents, a handsome face was fairly inescapable. God help the girls of Gotham City. Her thoughts settled on Sarah for a moment. And the boys, for that matter.

She knew he was asleep, but she continued to whisper to the baby anyway. "And if you need help, if you need anything, you come to your Auntie Shayera, okay? Or anyone in the League, actually. One big happy family, that's us."

There was a faint noise behind her, and Shayera turned to see John staring at her. "Oh. Um, hi."

---

Aw hell. This just wasn't fair.

John only wanted to go home. It had been a long hard day, and while he was thrilled that Bruce and Diana's children had been born and it looked like that particular piece of the League family were reunited, all he really wanted to do was sleep. Which required that he teleport back down to Earth. Which meant using the transporter room.

Which was occupied by one Shayera Hol, looking more beautiful than he'd ever seen her.

With a baby in her arms.

Hence the first thought. Not fair.

Her back was to him, and she was whispering softly to the child. The room was too echoey and her voice too quiet for him to make out the distinct words, but it was all too easy anyway.

For half a second, she wasn't holding Bruce and Diana's son, she was holding theirs.

For half a second, she wasn't a room and a million miles away from him, she was his wife.

For half a second, they were together, and happy.

He took an involuntary step forward, then stopped. At the sound, Shayera turned, an expression of surprise in her bright green eyes. Rex had had those eyes. "Oh. Um, hi."

He moved closer. "Hey. Isn't it past his bedtime?"

She chuckled softly and looked at Nicholas. "Probably, but his sister decided that she was going to wake up, so..."

"So Bruce just handed his son to you?"

She smiled. "I guess. I'm going to take him back in a minute." She paused, her eyes still on the baby. "John? Do you ever... think about him?" She looked up, her gaze burning into his with a startling intensity. "About Rex?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "All the time," he confessed quietly.

She shook her head. "So… what? You just... don't want him to happen?"

"Of course not!"

In her arms, Nicholas stirred fretfully, and John lowered his tone. "Of course not," he repeated. "Shay... Rex was... is... everything I ever wanted. Everything I still want."

"Then take it, John!" she hissed back.

It felt very odd, to be having this argument in whispers, about a child when another child lay between them.

"You know what, one of these days I'm going to get tired of waiting!" she continued. "I know what you want, John, everyone knows! Do you think Mari doesn't know? She deserves more than you're giving her, and so do I!"

John folded his arms and stared obstinately back at her. "Look, I've told you before, it's not that simple –"

"And I've told you before, that is bullshit!" she replied. "John, I don't care what Fate may or may not have decreed. What I care about is that you're putting my life on hold. What I care about is that, as it stands, this baby," she nodded to the child in her arms, "is the closest I'm likely to ever get to having a son of my own if I keep waiting for you to make up your mind."

She turned away for a moment, lifting Nicholas and pressing a kiss to his forehead as if saying goodbye to something. When she turned back to him, he understood. She was saying goodbye, if need be, to the possibility of Rex.

"I'm going to ask one question, John. And it requires a yes or no answer. If the answer's yes, then we do something about it now. And not answering is a no as far as I'm concerned. Got it?"

He nodded mutely.

"Do you love me?"

---

Ten minutes later, Shayera walked back inside the infirmary with an incandescent smile on her face to see Diana still asleep. Bruce was also slumbering in a chair at her bedside, Sarah still cradled protectively in his arms. Moving silently, Shayera put Nicholas gently down in his crib on the other side of his mother, then took a step back. They really did look like a perfect family.

As Shayera left the med-bay, she hoped that her own perfect family wasn't too far away.

---

A/N: Ok, so I'm a total sap. I'm not apologising. Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing, you've kept me going. Stay tuned to see if there's a sequel, and I hope you enjoyed this story,

Isis