Will You Be My Daddy? ~Joker Fanfiction~

Thirty-Six

Alfred and Madeline occupied themselves with board games the rest of the day. When Bruce came home, he found Maddie besting his butler at Monopoly in the study. He leaned against the doorframe silently, smirking to himself at the scene. It was refreshing to see Alfred relaxing for once. It reminded him slightly of the upbringing he'd had with the old family servant.

"Bankrupt," Alfred declared despondently, throwing the last of his bills in Madeline's direction. Bruce chuckled and the other two turned to look at him, having finally noticed his presence.

"It's a good thing we don't have you in charge of the family fortune," Bruce teased.

"Oh, sod off," Alfred scoffed, standing. "I take it you have some news for Miss Madeline?"

"Yes, in fact, I do," he replied, clearing his throat and turning to the girl. "Do you happen to know an Andy and Tommy?"

Madeline grinned widely in excitement, standing up out of her seat. "Andy and Tommy?! Are they here?"

"Not quite," Bruce corrected. "But they will be adopting you once they accept their job offers at Wayne Enterprises and move into their new house."

Maddie's jaw dropped practically to the floor, leaving what felt like a mile tall hole for flies to hop into if they so chose. "Really?!"

"Yes, my dear, really," Alfred confirmed for his boss. She squealed loudly in pure joy and hopped up and down around the room while the two older men watched in amusement.

"Oh, I've missed them so much," she sighed as she finally stopped spinning. "I was so worried about them after Batman came."

When Bruce and Alfred furrowed their eyebrows she explained. "They're not fighters. They've only ever taken care of me when my daddy was busy. He sent them on a spa day the day of the attack. I never heard anything from or about them since."

Bruce nodded, glad to see that Madeline had confirmed the couple's story. That at least assured him that they were trustworthy.

"Can I join the next game?" Bruce asked the pair. Maddie and Alfred exchanged exasperated glances.

"Maybe tomorrow. We were at it for hours before I finally beat Alfred," she groaned.

"She's right, sir. And it's high time we all had supper, and then off to bed with this young scamp," Alfred agreed.

"Hey! I'm no scamp!" Maddie protested.

"Oh yes you most certainly are," Alfred disagreed. "Speaking of scamps, I think I'll be serving some shrimp scampi tonight."

With that, the sassy old butler left the room, leaving behind an amused billionaire and a chuffed little girl.

"Let him go, honey. Besides, I think it's high time you had a bath. Did Selina not bathe you?" Bruce asked, chuckling.

Maddie just narrowed her eyes at the billionaire. All he knows is that I got into Joker's cell somehow and left there. How does he know I got brought by Catwoman, let alone that she's actually Auntie Selina?

"Selina?" Maddie repeated. "How would you know who I stayed with before I got to Arkham?"

Bruce stiffened, realizing that he'd slipped up and said too much.

"Um, well, the police told me that Batman told them that Catwoman was the one who kidnapped you," he said slowly.

"But then why did you say Selina? Why not Catwoman?" She demanded to know.

"I've, uh... well, you see I've sort of... been on dates with her before," Bruce explained. "Somewhere along the lines she told me that she was Catwoman. I promised not to say anything."