Disclaimer: These characters aren't mine.

Epilogue

Had he ever been to Des Moines before? Had he ever had a reason to be there? Bart highly doubted it. It was Des Moines. It was Iowa. Not that Kansas was that much better in his mind. Yeah, he lived in Kansas, called it home, but not really by choice. Instead, it was tradition. Okay, maybe he could have called Missouri home, but again, not much better.

Bart sighed. He had arrived at the park with fifteen minutes to spare. Speedsters and downtime never went well together, but waiting at home hadn't been working either. So here he sat and waited. Maybe she would be early. As he sat, he nervously twisted the wedding ring on his finger. His wife knew about Melanie. His three kids knew they had a half sister somewhere in the world. He may not have been able to acknowledge her as his daughter, he may not have been able to watch her grow up, he may not have even known where she lived, but he had never forgotten her. He had made her part of the family he did have. It was the least he could do.

As part of the adoption agreement, Melanie had had the opportunity to learn about him once she turned eighteen. When that magical date had arrived, Bart had anxiously awaited for any sort of notification. The process had been built into the adoption agreement. She only needed to contact the legal department at Wayne Enterprises. The notification had never come. After a year, he had given up. She didn't want to know about him. He had forced himself to accept the truth, even though it had hurt. Time had continued to pass.

Then Tim had called. Melanie had finally made contact. She wanted to meet him. Part of him was overjoyed at the prospect. Another part was cynical. Why now? Why did she wait seven years? What had suddenly changed? In talking to his wife, the speedster clan and his friends, they had all asked the same question – did it really matter? The answer was no. She wanted to meet him. There was no way he would turn her down.

So, here he sat. Waiting to meet his grown daughter. Selina had been right. The pain had never gone away completely. There was always a dull ache. Through the years, he had found himself looking at dark-haired girls the same age as Melanie would have been and wondering where she was. What did she look like? What were her likes and dislikes? Did she ask, or even think about, about him?

Bart still couldn't clearly remember that first week after he had signed the papers. His memories remained foggy. He had spent the week at the manor. Tim had stayed close. So, too, had Selina. When he had finally ventured back to Keystone City, it had been heartbreaking. His reappearance at the Garrick household without a baby in his arms had made it real for the rest of the speedster family. Melanie Dawn Allen had ceased to exist.

To try to keep his mind off Melanie, he had focused on school. He had also focused on training. He had questioned his grandpa, Wally, Max and Jay about everything and anything. If he couldn't have Melanie in his life because of Thawne, he was damn well going to be prepared when he met the man again. Eventually, the speedsters had pulled him aside and talked to him. They were worried about him. However, it wasn't their words that impacted his attitude. Instead, it was Tim. Tim, the one they had always worried about becoming too Bat-like, was worried Bart was headed down the same road. Eventually Bart had settled into his life again. And like Selina had predicted, the pain never left, but it became more bearable.

As Bart sat and waited, the sight of any young woman made his heart quicken slightly. Was that her? Or how about her? Eventually his gaze fell on a young woman pushing a stroller. There was something familiar about her. As she got closer, he could see Valerie in her. He could see himself, too. He stood up and nervously wiped his hands on his jeans.

"Melanie?" he asked hesitantly.

She looked at him in surprise. "Mr. Allen?"

He still wasn't used to being called that. Mr. Allen was his grandpa, not him. He smiled and nodded. "Hi."

Melanie appeared flustered. "I'm sorry. I just…I…well, they said you were eighteen when you gave me up. You don't look old enough."

His smile broadened. "I'm older than I look." The benefits of the Speed Force. While Jay and Max had both officially retired – at least until there was some sort of crisis – they still looked as if they were in their late fifties. Barry, too, had semi-retired even though he didn't look much older than forty. Wally had also started to hint at slowing down, noting the world would still be safe with two Flashes – Bart and Irey. Currently, the world was without a Kid Flash, but Bart's middle child had happily taken up the name Impulse. All three of his kids had inherited the metagene. His oldest wasn't interested in the hero business. His youngest…well, the jury was still out. However, the middle child had been begging and pleading to be involved for years. When Bart had finally broken down and allowed it, he wondered what he had done. Suddenly he understood why he and Wally had clashed all those years back when he had been Impulse. The Impulse legacy needed to end.

His eyes took in the young woman standing before him. Shoulder length dark brown hair. Olive complexion. A petite frame. It was her eyes that caught his attention. While they were brown, they were filled with flecks of gold. To ease the tension, he looked at the stroller's occupant. "Who's this?"

Melanie smiled and lifted out the baby. Bart guessed the baby girl to be about three months old. "This is Valerie. She's the reason I decided to meet you. She's your granddaughter." Of everything he had pictured occurring, learning he was a grandpa was definitely not one of the options. But the name…Valerie. He gazed at the baby, speechless. "My mom and dad and my husband encouraged me to meet you. I wasn't sure if I wanted to. I'm still not sure," she admitted. "But they argued you had a right to know you had a granddaughter."

His mind registered the words "mom," "dad" and "husband." Melanie was married. Surprise number two. Tim had obviously kept some facts to himself. "I…I…wow." He grinned. "There are many, many people who would be impressed to know that you made me speechless."

Melanie laughed. "Would you like to hold her?"

Before Bart knew it, a baby – his granddaughter – was in his arms. The memories flooded back. Holding Melanie for the first time. Giving her up. This baby was about the same age Melanie had been when she had first entered his life. "I've done a lot of things. I've faced a lot of challenges, but nothing compared to giving you up. It was the hardest decision I ever made. Looking at you now, I know I made the right one."

Bart sat down on the park bench and looked at the baby. Melanie sat down, too. He could feel her watching him. He could sense the hundreds of questions she wanted to ask. "When you turned eighteen, I waited and waited to receive the call telling me you wanted to meet me. When it didn't come, I was disappointed, but I also sort of understood. Then when this call came…" His voice trailed off.

"My parents never hid the fact that I was adopted," Melanie started. "They were honest about it, but they didn't have much information. They only knew that my mother had died and that my father was unable to care for me. They reassured me that it wasn't because you didn't want me or that you didn't love me, but it still hurt. They always told me that when I turned eighteen, I could meet you. When that day came, I was angry. I love my parents. I didn't want to hurt them. I didn't feel as if you had the right to know anything about me, that if you had really cared about me, you would have found a way to keep me. When I got engaged, my parents again suggested I reach out to you. My fiancé did, too. But I was still angry. I felt as if you had rejected me, so I could reject you. Then I had Valerie. She changed things. I can't imagine giving her up. I can't imagine life without her. That's when I realized what it must have been like for you. My parents told me you raised me for several months, that I was nine, almost ten, months old when they adopted me."

"It wasn't that I couldn't take of you. I could do that. I was doing that. And it wasn't that I didn't love you. I…you were my world. You were one of the best things that had ever happened in my life." He paused, the memories and emotions flooding back. "I gave you up because I couldn't protect you. I couldn't guarantee your safety."

Melanie frowned. "I don't understand."

Before coming to Iowa to meet his daughter, Bart had talked to the speedster family. If he were meeting his daughter, if she were to really know him, to really understand why he had done what he had done, she would need to know who he was. To get a complete picture, she had to know the speedster family, too. Tim had run the background checks. Neither she nor her family had raised any potential security concerns. Taking a deep breath, he met her gaze. "I have a story to tell you, one that requires you to keep an open mind, one that you can share with your parents and husband, but that's it. Once you hear the story, you'll understand why." He paused again. "You know my name is Bart Allen. But what you don't know, what hardly anyone knows, is that I'm the Flash."