Sour Candy | T. Drake ✔

[25] Plans For A Happy Future

He had brought her out to the balcony and they were looking up at the night sky, the silvery stars dotted along the royal blue canvas. Tim knew fresh air would help her feel better so he had spread the rug out on the floor and both were cuddled together, letting the cool night air engulf them.

Dora's eyes were subtly counting the stars strewn above, her hand entwined through Tim's as she finally spoke, "so when the time comes and I do marry you, what would happen next?"

"We would buy an apartment of our own," he replied, voicing out all he had thought for the future, "probably somewhere close by because I know you'll have to come to the shop daily."

She nodded, head resting on his shoulder, "alright, we get our own home. Then?"

"Then we could work on making all those happy memories I mentioned earlier," his blue eyes looked down fondly at her and she smiled, letting him resume, "I promise you, Dora, I will never let you regret choosing me."

She laughed lightly, letting all the worries from earlier fade away as she took in his pristine features, "alright lover boy, what next?"

"Well, I do know Steph would be a frequent visitor so we will have to set up a spare room for her too," he spoke and saw her laugh at that remark, "or else she will claim whichever room that caches her eye and we won't be able to do anything about it."

"At times it seems as if you're scared of Steph."

"You haven't yet seen her in her scary mode or else you would have thought the same."

She looked back at the stars, her grip tightening on his hand, "do you really think you and me would be more than enough for each other?"

"Of course," he replied, pulling her closer as he gently kissed her cheek, "but if you agree, we could always opt for adoption. My family has held quite a record in it."

She paused as if considering his words over again, "adoption?"

"Yup," he resumed in a soft tone, "I know how much you love children, Dora, and even if we can't have our own, we could adopt one or two or as many as you want. No issue."

"Not as many as Mister Wayne has adopted though," she remarked at last after pausing to think for a while and was greeted with the light sound of his laughter, her heart easing upon hearing it.

"True enough. Bruce has reached the point that he no longer remembers how many kids he does have at the moment. It's alarming."

She had closed her eyes, thinking about it all. A happy little home with Tim and probably with them adopting one or two children to make their lives complete. 

The idea didn't sound bad at all. In fact, she felt tempted to say yes to marrying him right then.

"And do you know, I have also thought about a lot that we could do in the meanwhile, before the right time comes for us to marry," he resumed.

"Oh really? And what have you thought about it?" She turned to face him, coffee brown eyes connecting with shining blue.

"You could teach me baking," he spoke up, "I am not a terrible student and I am sure it would be worthwhile for both of us."

"You go to Wayne Tech now, Timmy, guess you forgot about that."

"So what?" He shrugged lightly, "I have the weekends off. Besides I know on the other days you are busy with the shop too so I wasn't going to burden you with this as well."

"Oh..." She thought about it but then started laughing.

The abrupt laughter took Tim by surprise, "why are you laughing? I am not joking, Dora, I'm serious about it."

Her eyes crinkled as she laughed and though he was surprised why she had burst into laughter, he felt a relieved smile broke onto his face as well. It always felt good to see her laugh and be happy.

"My idea wasn't that bad, really," he insisted.

"No," she shook her head, still laughing, "it's actually a very good idea but I was imagining you trying to learn how to bake and the sight was hilarious."

"I will not burn my hands off ever again," he remarked quickly, having a clear guess on what she was thinking, "I do know that we have to use baking gloves when we take out the trays."

She laughed even more, "oh no, I didn't mean that. I was just thinking... If I teach you... Oh my goodness, I really do have to stop laughing..."

"You look lovely when you laugh," he breathed but leaned closer and kissed her, the laughter drowning within as she kissed him back.

When he pulled apart and her laughter had faded, she resumed, "I was just thinking that if I teach you baking, it would be no use."

"Why?" He raised an eyebrow skeptically, "I'm a quick learner, you know that. I bet I could learn it easily in a month and will join you and Al in baking all those delicious cupcakes. Maybe I would even ditch Wayne Tech for working with you guys instead."

"Yeah, but you're an even quicker batter eater," she remarked with a playful smile gracing her features as she affectionately pinched his nose, "I was thinking that if I taught you, you would finish up all the batter before we could even get to the baking part."

"Oh... Now that is a problem I hadn't considered," he replied, "of course, I can't resist the temptation to eat it all up. But it's so delicious, I just can't help it."

"Cassie is like that too. I gave her another batter box yesterday," she remarked, "but seriously, don't eat too much of it or else you both will get a stomach ache."

Tim thought for a while then spoke up, "hey, if I promise to try my very best to not finish the batter up before it gets baked, would you teach me then?"

She considered, lips pursing into a cute frown, "let's see. How likely are you to break this promise?"

"I don't break promises, Dora," he replied, "I will try my very best to keep it."

She nodded, agreeing at last, "alright then. Baking lessons start from this weekend. And remember your promise."

"Of course I will," he smiled brightly at her and she leaned in to kiss him lightly. 

Though the second her lips connected with his, he had wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer as he deepened the moment.

"Oh no, Romeo and Juliet are at it again," Alex's distinct voice made them pull apart though they saw him retreating to his room without stopping by to further tease them.

"I beg to differ, Al," Tim called back, "Romeo and Juliet was a tragedy. Consider us Westley and Buttercup who do get a happy ending even after all they went through."

Dora heard Al's laughter and turned back to look at Tim, "Westley and Buttercup?"

"You haven't seen The Princess Bride, have you?" 

She shook her head, "nope. But seems like Al understood."

He nodded, "I'll show you the movie. Next time I come to visit, I'll ask Jay to lend me his DVD nd even if he doesn't, I'll sneak it out without him noticing. He has an entire carton of classic movies and books."

She smiled, "can't wait then."

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