It was quite usual for Dora's Coffee Haunt to be crowded from four to six in the evening as it was the time period most institutions and offices in Gotham closed, so the customer influx increased in that particular time span.

Eliza had gotten trained to take orders efficiently by then while Susan helped Dora and Alex in the kitchen. Being the youngest, Tyler fluctuated from the counter to the kitchen and also to the tables, making sure that everything was running smoothly.

That day, Dora had made twice the amount of cupcakes she usually did but even then the trays kept getting emptier by every hour our two. Until Alex told her to stop overworking and just put up a tag of Finished in the cupcake display.

She had stepped out to do just that, pasting the tag on to the display section, when she turned around and saw a rather unexpected person at the counter.

"One Cappuccino please, sugar free," the familiar worn out voice reached her as the woman gave her order to Eliza, rummaging in her bag for the required amount.

Dora stood frozen to her spot, looking at her closely as if not certain whether she had rightly recognized her or not. The woman had aged a lot since the last time she had seen her but the honey shaded eyes and the coffee colored hair were rather hard to mistake for someone else.

"Mum?"

Camille paused and looked in her direction, eyes widening in surprise, "Dora..."

Eliza had sent the order to the kitchen and Dora knew very well that it would take a couple minutes so she brought her mother to the comfy corner of the shop.

Camille was looking at her closely, observing how much she had changed from the last time she had seen her daughter. And then she finally spoke up, "Dora, I am so glad to see you."

"So am I," she smiled softly, taking her mother's hands in her own as she made her sit down on the couch, "how are George and Luke?"

"They are both fine," she replied, "we had come to Gotham for a week, George had a meeting here with some clients and he brought us along."

Camille and Vincent Beaumont had gotten divorced not long after Vincent had kicked Alex out and the latter had come to Gotham to start afresh. Her mother had remarried a businessman George Wilson who already had a son Lucas. 

Lucas was an year older than Dora and both had gotten along well with each other back in the short time period she had spent with Camille's new family.

"Did Luke get into Yale? He was so enthusiastic about it."

"Yes, he got his letter. He's still quite enthusiastic about it," the woman smiled but then recalling something, she asked, "Dora, have you had any news about Alex? I mean... I haven't heard from him ever since he left."

Dora realized that her mother had probably stepped into the coffee shop in a hurry and might not have noticed the name nor the fact that everyone knew it was owned by Alex. So she nodded and stood up, "of course, come I'll take you to meet him."

Her cappuccino had arrived so Camille took the cup from the counter and followed Dora as she led her into the kitchen.

The sight that awaited her was unexpected to say the least. She had seen her son last when he was nineteen, the last look she remembered on his face was that of disappointment as Vincent had threatened him to leave the family.

But right then after almost ten years, her son had still not changed at all. The same sandy brown hair danced around his face, his identical honey shaded eyes looked kindly at the girl to whom he was explaining how to mix the flavors to make a Frappuccino and she had not expected to see him there at all.

"Alex, look who's here to meet you."

Hearing Dora's voice, Alex looked up and a mixture of shock and surprise flickered on his face. The spectacles that were placed in his pocket went back on his nose, as if he was not sure of what he saw.

"Alexander," the woman stepped forward, gently taking his face in her hands, eyes welling up with tears, "it's you... I thought I would never see you again."

Susan had left the three there and gone to the counter to see if Eliza had any more orders to send in.

"I thought I would never see you again either," his voice was slightly strained as the flashback of the last time he had seen her struck him hard but seeing Dora standing beside her, silently urging him to look past it, his features softened, "oh, please take a seat."

He pulled out the seat from the makeshift dinette they had and though Camille did as asked, her eyes didn't leave him for even a second.

"I'm sorry, there are a few more orders to cater but I'll be back as soon as possible," he went back to his work while Dora took the seat across from her mother.

"Is he still angry at me?" Camille asked, her voice breaking slightly from recalling the past.

Dora shook her head, her hand resting on top of hers comfortingly, "he hasn't been angry at you ever."

"I could have stopped Vincent but watched my son leave instead... He has every right to be angry."

"I am not angry at you, Mum," his voice shook them out of their conversation. Alex was standing beside Dora, "you didn't kick me out, Dad did."

"But you never turned back, I didn't hear from you for ten years."

"I'm sorry," he looked down, "I kept my contact with Dora but asked her not to tell you because I didn't want you to bring me back."

Sorrow spread on Camille's features, "don't apologize. I'm the one who should..."

But Dora interrupted her, "no, we met you after so long. I don't want this meeting to get ruined by whatever's happened in the past. Can we not look past it and start afresh?"

Camille's eyes locked with Al who retrieved his gaze shortly after but contrary to what she thought, he nodded, "sure."

It was almost closing time when Tyler stepped in, "there's someone outside looking for Mrs. Camille Wilson."

"It must be Lucas. He had gone off to a friend's and I had asked him to pick me up from here," Camille was about to stand up Dora placed her hand gently on her shoulder, stopping her.

"I'll bring him in," she replied, "and then I'll show you both around our place. In fact it would be lovely if you two stop for dinner. Right Al?"

Alex didn't refuse though he was a bit curious on who Lucas was, "right. Bring him in."

***

Dora immediately recognized the boy with hazel eyes and deep brown hair waiting at the counter. He was checking his phone and probably about to dial Camille's number.

"Lucas, long time no see."

He looked up startled, recognizing her voice. Though his eyes lit up seeing Dora approach him and he spoke up, "hey, didn't know I'd find our most annoying little explorer here."

"This morning I had no idea I'd be seeing you either, Boots."

He chuckled, hazel eyes twinkling, "the name's Lucas and please stick to Luke not Boots. Hey, have you seen Cami, I dropped her here earlier but the shop is closed now so..."

"You still call her Cami?"

He nodded, "well when Dad married her she didn't look old enough for me to call her Aunt or Mom, being fairly honest here. So I called her Cami and that stuck. It's hard to call her anything else. Besides, we're more like friends so it works well enough for me." Noticing that he was rambling, he added, "where is she though?"

"Mum's inside," she told him, "and I came to bring you in as well."

"Wait, you guys own this shop? Oh... It's Dora's Coffee Haunt, how could I miss that?" He followed her into the kitchen, "nice place by the way. Really like the vintage touch here and there."

"Thanks. Oh and you're stopping for dinner so you better cancel any other plans you have," she remarked lightly as the two stepped in the kitchen. Alex looked up, eyes briefly landing on the boy beside Dora.

"You must be Alex, I assume," Lucas had immediately held his hand out towards him, "I've heard a lot about you from Dora."

Alex shook the offered hand and offered him a seat as well, "can't say the same for you though."

"Wait... Dora, you didn't tell him about me? I feel betrayed!" But then he quickly added, "hey, don't take it seriously, I was kidding."

Dora shrugged, "well, I would have told him about you if you had done something worth mentioning."

"God, you're snappy as always, didn't ask for that."

Camille had a small smile on her face, watching them all together. And for a slight second, she felt as if her family was complete.

"You used to be such a midget," Lucas resumed, addressing Dora that once, "I can't believe that even now you're barely the same height as I was when we first met."

She shook her head, her smile widening, "it would have been even funnier if I was taller than you."

"No, the torture..."

"But then you're a giraffe so no thanks."

Alex could assess that Luke and Dora were surprisingly a lot like Tim and Stephanie. They teased each other but enjoyed the company and got along fairly well despite their apparent arguments.

Though he didn't have to think about Tim and Steph for long as his phone beeped with a message from Steph: We brought dinner and are waiting outside.

"Guess we'll be having more company tonight," Alex remarked, heading out to open the main door, "Dora, we'll have to put the tables in the shop area together. All of us can't fit in the kitchen's dinette."

Tim and Steph had brought pizza and after the introductions were done, all of them sat down to eat together though Luke and Dora's banter had not yet ended. Stephanie was rather amused to see another pair that could rival her and Tim's chaotic dynamic.

Dinner passed amid a rather lively conversation until Luke got a call from his father and the two had to leave. Camille hugged both her children, promised to visit frequently while Luke shook hands with Alex and Tim, waved to Steph and after a few mutually sharp remarks, hugged Dora as well.

And even though meeting their mother and Luke after so long was nowhere in the least expected for Dora and Alex, still the two had had a very pleasant time with them and looked forward to seeing them more often.

***