The Billionaire's Baby Blues

This was wrong and Bruce knew it. He shouldn’t be getting ready to marry Evelyn Peters right now. She wasn’t the one that he truly wanted. The one that he was truly in love with had been dead for almost two years now, and she had taken his ability to love anyone else to the grave with her.

Rachel Dawes was Bruce’s true love, and was the person who should’ve been in Evelyn’s place. She probably would’ve been the one standing at the altar today if that sadistic clown hadn’t taken her from him. Bruce was positive that Rachel would’ve waited for him.

Part of Bruce wanted to call this whole thing off and let Evelyn go free. Not because he didn’t want to make the commitment, but because he felt as though he couldn’t give Evelyn what she and their child needed: true, unconditional love. He wanted to be there for his child, but he didn’t want to take away its mother’s freedom. Evelyn didn’t love him, so why should he force her into something that she didn’t want?

Bruce mulled this over as he stood in front of the full-length mirror and adjusted his tuxedo. He heard a small knock at his bedroom door. “Don’t you know I’m not supposed to see you yet, Eve?” he shouted, trying to sound happy.

“I’m not Eve, Bruce,” Max shouted back, “and I’m coming in.”

Two seconds later, Max’s reflection appeared in Bruce’s mirror. “Why so glum on your wedding day?”

“It’s nothing,” Bruce mumbled.

“I know you well enough to know that you’re lying,” Max said. “So just give it to me straight.”

He hesitated. “I… I don’t want to force your sister into a marriage when it’s obvious that she doesn’t love me.”

Max let out a snort of what sounded like disbelief. “Eve doesn’t love you? That’s silly. That girl is crazy for you!”

“But she thinks I’m a total ass.”

“Who doesn’t sometimes? But the difference with Eve is that she’s telling you that you’re an ass because she doesn’t want to tell you that she loves you. Mom and dad were killed nine months ago by a crazy clown who then kidnapped her and held her for six months until Batman rescued her. She had everything she loved taken away from her and you wonder why she won’t say, ‘I love you.’ Eve’s not going to say it and lose you, too.”

Bruce stood there, running what Max had said over in his head. Once he figured it all out, he put a smile on his face and left the room. He had a beautiful woman to marry.

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The whole wedding went by in a big white, green and pink blur for Evelyn. Everything had went so fast; except for their first kiss as Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Wayne, which was utter perfection. To Evelyn’s disappointment, the kiss was over too soon and she had to go and receive everyone’s congratulations. It was slightly better with Bruce on her arm and by the fact that she generally liked everyone that was in attendance.

The only time Evelyn got to relax was when she and Bruce finally managed to sneak off to their bedroom. She sat down on the bed and watched her husband with a hard stare as he took off his tie. A huge smile was spread across his face.

“You can stop pretending now, Bruce,” Evelyn told him.

“What do you mean?” he asked, smile fading fast.

“Stop pretending you love me,” she replied.

Bruce silently walked over to where Evelyn was sitting and gently pushed her back on the bed. “I’m not pretending, Eve,” he told her. “I really do love you, with all of my heart.” He kissed her softly. “What I want to know is if you love me because I don’t know if you do.”

He was patient as she took her time to think about it. There was a definite physical attraction but was there an emotional one? Evelyn thought back to the time that she had first met him in that hospital room. She was immediately interested in him, even if his sense of humor was a little dry and he acted like an asshole sometimes. His compassion and dedication to her more than made up for it. If she had to spend an eternity with someone, she’d choose Bruce.

Evelyn looked up at Bruce with big eyes. “I love you, Bruce,” she told him before they continued to consummate their marriage.

“That was amazing,” Evelyn breathed before collapsing onto Bruce’s chest.

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” he said, smiling as he ran his hand through her hair.

As Bruce laid there, he thought about whether he should reveal his biggest secret to his wife or not. Only two people alive (besides him) knew that he was not just Bruce Wayne, but also the Batman. Since Evelyn would be tangled up in this no matter what, he thought it best to tell her now.

“Eve, honey,” he said as she looked up to him, “I’ve got something important that I need to tell you.”