#oraclebabsday

[galaxymolecule]

she’s schmoozing

[galaxymolecule]

shes so cool

[galaxymolecule]

Long night 

@oraclebabsday

[galaxymolecule]

Quick Sketch of Babs for her Birthday!

[thychesters]

It’s a perfect day for staying in, Barbara thinks, curled up on the couch with a mug of oolong tea. The ceramic warms her fingers as she watches the rain pour outside, and she sits, content with watching drops trace their way along the window panes, each following its own path, none of them the same as she sips her tea. She’d treated herself this morning already, letting herself stay in bed for an extra hour, bundled up in her new bedding with a book she’d been trying to find the chance to read for the better part of the last month. She’d been warm and comfortable, accompanied by the sound of the rain outside and the chime of her phone with birthday wishes from close friends and a few surprises, including the doorman from Dalton Towers, and from Suze and Rob, and the former was sure to include a cheerful hello and well wishes from Renee.

She heads over to her father’s shortly after she’s finished her tea and reminded Dinah that she’s not that old, not yet, thank you, and Dick that yes, she’s turning twenty-two again, thank you for remembering. Dad greets her with a big hug, the kind that engulfs her frame and she used to burrow into when he came home from nights that went on too long, when he’d smelled like rain and cigarette smoke and she took comfort in because it meant he was home and safe. Sarah smiles at her and at least gives her the chance to take her coat off first, before she’s enveloping her in a hug of her own, and as she pulls away she smells like fresh pastries. She holds Barbara’s face in her hands for a moment, and her eyes are soft before she tells both of them to come on, then, breakfast is going to be ready in a minute. Dad leads her back to the kitchen, where the paint’s peeling in the same spot it has been since she first came to live with him, and she pauses to admire the ticks in the wall where he used to mark her height. As she rounds the corner there’s a bouquet of flowers on the table, and a card with Sarah’s neat handwriting, and an equally neat box with a bow beside a plate of freshly made scones. When she opens the box the look on Sarah’s face is hard to read for a moment, and as she holds up the locket she says it used to belong to her mother, something she would like her own daughter to have, if that’s alright, and Barbara’s chest aches in a way that’s more pleasant than painful as she swallows and says thank you.

She holds her hair up to let Sarah do the clasp properly, and she comments on the scones while dad busies himself with coffee. When they sit for breakfast dad says he wishes the weather was a little nicer for her day, at least, and Barbara only shakes her head and smiles because it’s not unusual in Gotham, and her fingers touch the locket at the base of her throat and she says it’s been a lovely morning so far. They don’t let her lend a hand with clean up, after, and so she relegates herself to finishing another cup of coffee and admiring the flowers after tucking the card away and deciding she’ll read the inscription in its entirety later after her vision blurred when she first tried. Dad starts brewing a third pot of coffee, to which Sarah shakes her head, before the three of them sit for a game of pinochle, and after a few rounds of smack talk dad insists she’s cheating.

Barbara doesn’t miss the way the two of them exchange a few glances, and from her bag her phone chimes with a message from Dick, asking if she’s doing anything for the day. Helena follows in short order to ask if grandma is up to do anything, or if she has a curfew, and she scoffs. Her phone buzzes again, but she doesn’t get a chance to check when Sarah clears her throat. She pauses when dad offers her a ride in the middle of gathering her things, and is about to tell him no, that’s fine, thank you, when she catches the look in his eye and frowns before saying that would be great, sure. The ride back to the Clock Tower is fairly quiet, all things considered, though the three carry on conversation while Sarah puts on a soft rock station in the background. Her phone buzzes again as they approach, but she gets distracted by her dad rounding the car to fetch her chair, and both she and Sarah struggle with the umbrella.

Sarah smiles and dad fidgets on the way up, and she has to fight the urge to tell them as much as she appreciates this morning, they don’t need to accompany her all the way to her front door. Dad walks too fast after the elevator door opens, and Sarah sighs as they make to follow, holding onto Barbara’s bouquet as she wheels herself after him.

“It probably feels nice to be home, doesn’t it?” he asks as she gives him a look and fishes out her keys with a slow nod. She goes to tell him sure, she thinks so, when he adds, just a touch louder: “Nothing beats a nice, quiet day, huh?”

“Dad, what are you -- ” she starts, and then all but shrieks as a few too many familiar faces greet her, camped out in her living room, and if she wasn’t so shocked she would ask them what they were all doing there, how they got in. But then she has an armful of Dinah, of Helena, of Zinda cheering and then Cass worming her way in. Stephanie bellows and Damian tells her to keep it down. She thinks Bruce might be grinning and she lets Dick kiss her on the forehead as he tells her happy birthday.

She makes sure to make a show of grumbling the entire time, because what are all of these people doing in her house, who invited them, but dad squeezes her shoulder and she smiles.

It’s a perfect day for staying in, Barbara thinks.

@oraclebabsday