You wanna know what I think?

Chapter 38

Thanks to everyone who had made it this far and still sticking with me.  Thanks to everyone who had reviewed and voted.  I wrote this story several years ago and promised an epilogue, one I will do one day.  But in the meantime, thank you so much.

And a huge thank you to Ripley10 for going through each chapter and checking it over for me.  I really appreciate her hard work in turning the ramblings of a British Woman into something hopefully closer to the American it's supposed to be.  If you haven't, go and check put her work. It's amazingly brilliant. :)

Chapter 38

Waking the next day was quite an experience for Jane. Usually she awoke to dimly lit rooms smelling vaguely of printers ink and damp. But this morning was different. Sunshine filtered through the glass windows and it was warm and dry. She stretched under the sheets and looked over at where the Joker would be, if he was still there. But as usual, he was up, dressed, and gone from the room long before she even began to rouse from sleep. She knew that sleep for him was completely different than sleep for her. Even before falling pregnant, Jane had needed a good seven hours each night in order to be able to function the following day. But the Joker rarely slept more than five hours and sometimes not even that. She'd known him to go for days without sleeping and still be on top form. While if she missed even one hour of sleep, she was rendered her semi comatose for much of the next day.

She made her way from the bed and over to the window. It was a fine morning and the promise of spring was in the air. The Joker had been correct, from the windows it was a straight shot to see the blue of the sea on the horizon. Much of the landscape that led to the sea was trees. The outskirts of Bludhaven could be seen at the very bottom of the hill that Avalon Heights was built on. She could see the dirty buildings from here and even with the blue sky above them, she could see the layer of smog that covered most of the decaying city. It reminded her strongly of Gotham and, in a way that confused her, made her feel at home.

The door to the bedroom opened and she turned to see the Joker come through with a phone in one hand and the newspaper in the other. He looked up when he saw she wasn't in bed and slapped red painted lips together.

"Admiring the view?" he inquired and crossed to a desk that she hadn't noticed the night before.

She turned and leaned back against the window sill to look around the room. It was decorated in muted red and golds with old-fashioned furniture. She liked it and a warm feeling made her sigh.

"Thank you," she said and crossed to straighten the bed covers. The Joker sat at the desk, put the paper down and half turned to look over at her.

"What for?" he asked.

"For this place, for taking me out of the city to somewhere nice, for looking after me, I guess."

He shrugged and turned back to his paper. "You're my missus," he murmured. "Got to look after you."

"No, you don't," she murmured and straightened up to cross to the wardrobe. She drew out some of the new maternity dresses and laid them over the bed. "No one has ever looked after me the way you do," she said quietly and looked between the three dresses.

"Yeah, well, shut up or I may change my mind," he sniggered. "Wear the green one."

"What, so I can match your hair?" she snorted and slipped into the dress before crossing to look in the floor length mirror that stood in the corner by the door.

"You're starting to really show," he murmured and she saw his face reflected in the mirror over her shoulder. She pulled the dress in and then covered her stomach with her hands.