doctor-bruce-banner :
@wclksthroughwclls
Bruce was trying his hardest to not be the kind of overly protective parent that would eventually end up driving their children to craziness, and honestly, he thought more or less, he’d done a good job of maintaining that so far. He’d managed to make it through Kitty’s more wild teenage years and now she was shaping up to be a young woman after his own heart, launching into her mathematics major in a way that made Bruce feel a kind of pride that almost brought tears to his eyes.
But the awful part was that Kitty growing up also meant her growing away, and he found himself counting how many hours had passed since he’d seen her. Of course she had her studies, and her job, but sometimes Bruce felt like it had been days since she’d been around, and he would stare at her bedroom door, wondering if she even came in at nights anymore. He knew something was on her mind, even if she wasn’t saying. He’d raised her, of course he knew every single one of her expressions. Which was why he made a point to cancel all of his morning appointments so he could stalk around the kitchen, waiting to hear her moving around upstairs before he started making breakfast. He hadn’t lost his touch, and he had pancakes, eggs and bacon on the table by the time his erstwhile daughter was descending the stairs. "Breakfast?“ he said and then grinned, the grin of a parent who wasn’t really asking a question. "Sit down, indulge your father for a few minutes before you run off and break his heart all over again.”
Avoiding her dad was hard, and more than that--unnecessary. If she just told him she was having nightmares, that she was confused and angry and tired from nights spent unable to sleep, she knew he would try to understand. But she couldn’t handle the thought of being fixed with his sad eyes as he tried to figure out how to fix things for her. She’d never been able to handle making him sad. Especially when she’d finally gotten her biological father in town, and hoped to potentially get the two of them to meet soon. Which couldn’t happen if Bruce thought she was having a breakdown.
She was just sneaking down the stairs (careful to skip the one that creaked) when she heard him speak, watching her expectantly like he wasn’t giving her a choice. With an inaudible sigh, she trudged to the table and dropped her backpack to the ground. “Looks good, dad. Thanks.” Even if she hadn’t ordered her pancakes with a side of guilt trip, the food smelled delicious. She appreciated the effort he was putting in. “This isn’t going to be one of those breakfasts where you sit me down and tell me some terrible news, right? Oh my god, you’re pregnant, right? I knew this would happen one day.” She said dramatically, waving her fork around like she was making a point. “This is why you always use protection, dad.”









