She stood in front of the mirror as she got dressed, knowing that Alex was waiting down for her at breakfast. Her gaze traveled down to her stomach and she sighed softly, buttoning up her cardigan as her arms gently hugged her own self.

Not long ago, a tiny soul had resided within her but she had had to let go of it before she could even feel the faint heartbeat or behold the small form.

A month had passed by since then and yet she still felt horribly empty each time she thought about it, the guilt clawing at the void inside her. Tim had been very supportive throughout and she had recovered considerably also with the antidote Pamela had finally prepared for her. But still it couldn't bring her child back and the thought of never being able to have that feeling again was quite tormenting.

Even with the antidote, they had managed to stop the toxin from deteriorating her further but Pamela had not been so sure of whether it would be able to heal her completely. So she had advised her not to take the risk of getting pregnant again as the pregnancy seemed to have sped up the deterioration to an alarming rate earlier as well.

Dora had been devastated to hear that initially but as time passed, she had begun to reach acceptance.

She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and descended the stairs to the kitchen at last. However, a surprise was awaiting her because not only Tim was there but he had also brought someone along.

Dora smiled as she saw how delighted Tim was, her brown eyes flickering towards the girl beside him with short black hair, pale skin and dark eyes. The girl nodded her head slightly and she returned the gesture with a slight greeting, "Hi."

"Good morning," Tim spoke up, "I brought Cass along."

"Cassandra?" Her eyes widened in surprise, "it's so nice to finally meet you."

She had extended her hand out towards her that the girl took, shaking it for the briefest of seconds before letting go. "Dora," she nodded in acknowledgment but spoke no further.

Alex had brought breakfast and Tim helped him set it on the table while Dora fetched the plates. Cass was silently observing the siblings she had just met, her eyes taking in each detail out of habit.

"Cass came back to us after two years," Tim had joined Dora and took the plates from her, "and I wanted her to meet you so I brought her over."

"That's great."

He noticed that her tone was slightly lower than usual so he whispered, "you okay?"

"Yeah," she replied, gently kissing his cheek, "come now, they're waiting for us at breakfast."

Throughout breakfast, Dora noticed that Cassandra was probably the most silent Wayne she had ever met. She hardly ever spoke though she could see the girl was very observant as her eyes kept flickering towards even the slightest of sounds.

But Dora didn't find that uncomfortable, Tim had told her a lot about Cass already and she knew the girl was much different from the rest of them.

On the other hand, Cass was silently observing her little brother's girlfriend. She could see that Dora was very pretty and sweet, someone Tim would feel immediately drawn to. And the way the two were comfortable with one another also suggested that they were genuinely content in each other's company.

But Cass couldn't help noticing that Dora was sad about something even though she managed to hide it well with her smile and light bell-like laughter. She could easily read her body language and to her it somehow translated into grievance.

Almost as if the girl was grieving over a huge loss even then but holding it within herself because she didn't want anyone to get worried due to her.

"Is it okay if I call you Cassie too?" Dora asked, a soft smile playing on her lips as she mixed the batter of the cupcakes.

"Okay."

"So Cassie, what kind of desserts do you like?"

Her dark irises locked with her coffee brown eyes and she shook her head.

"You don't like desserts?"

"No preference," she mumbled, "all are good."

Tim had joined them as well, "are you thinking about giving her a complimentary gift box just like you did with Jay?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Depends on whether Cass would like to have it."

Cass had dipped a spoon into the chocolate batter and tentatively tasted it. Dora looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to make a remark.

She spoke up at a last, "a box of this."

"Just like Tim," Dora laughed, "this is batter and it's uncooked. It gets baked into cupcakes. I could give you a box of cupcakes if you like."

But she pointed at the bowl again, "no. Just this."

"Alright," her brown eyes sparkled, "of course you can have it. I'll make a box for you but be careful not to eat too much of it because it's uncooked and a lot of it will give you a stomach ache."

Cass nodded in reply, watching as Dora poured the batter into the molds then gave Tim the tray.

"Don't forget the baking gloves," she remarked.

"I would never."

Dora had used the same bowl to make some more chocolate batter for Cass which she set into another container and placed it in the fridge.

"Keep it stored in the fridge and it will last three days," Dora told her, "I'm keeping it here and you can take it with you when you're going."

"Thank you," Cass nodded.

"Not a problem," her smile widened, "you know I wasn't expecting a Wayne to be so silent but it's refreshing. Jason never shuts up and Steph talks a lot too but I love talking to her. By now, I had almost started to believe that all the Waynes were talkative except for Bruce. But here you are, proving me wrong."

Cass shrugged, keeping silent for a while but then remarked vaguely, "I like you."

"You do?"

"You are sweet. Good for Tim."

A soft smile lit up her face at the compliment, "thank you. Tim is very sweet too."

Her voice lowered slightly, "he can be very mean."

Dora's smile turned into a light chuckle, "you're warning me?"

"Very mean," she emphasized though her eyes had sparked playfully knowing full well that Tim was listening.

"Not fair, Cassie," he remarked, "I trusted you. This is betrayal."

"This is honesty," she interjected.

Dora noticed the small pout on Tim's face and stepped forward to hug him, "I do know how mean you can get. It was sweet of Cassie to warn me though."

A small smile tugged up on Cassie's face at that. She could clearly see the two were genuinely in love and had a positive influence on each other.

"No really Dora, tell me. Have I ever been mean to you?" Tim asked, blue eyes gazing into coffee brown.

She laughed, "yes of course. The night when I almost broke your ribs with my floor mop."

Cass was not expecting that answer and shifted in her seat, eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

Tim chuckled, noticing her protective sister mode get switched on, "Cass, I haven't yet told you about the floor mop either."

"That mop?" She pointed to the floor mop placed in the corner.

Tim shuddered slightly but the smile on his face hadn't faltered, "the one and only."

"Now before you give her a very biased account of what happened that night, I'll tell her myself," Dora spoke up and turned to Cass, "you see it was back in the days when I had just come to Gotham and had no idea about the Bat vigilantes. Neither did I know that Timmy used to visit during patrol often for coffee because he had asked Alex permission to take coffee whenever he needed it."

"But Alex forgot to tell Dora that and one night when I did drop by for the routinely coffee, Dora suspected I was an intruder and attacked me with her floor mop," Tim added.

She was shaking her head, smile widening upon seeing the curious expression on Cassie's face, "in my defense, he was in his suit and looked as if he had just stepped out of a rainstorm. Al had warned me that the city was full of dangerous people and I had to be on my own guard so that's exactly what I did."

"It was raining, Dora, and I had gotten thrown like a Frisbee as well. I was in need of first aid and coffee, instead you classified me as a dangerous person."

"Poor you," she laughed again and even though Tim feigned a hurt look in his face, his eyes shone to see her laugh.

"And you say I'm the mean one?" He asked Cassie who shrugged then nodded her head in affirmation.

"You two are never going to let go of that night, are you?" Alex remarked who had just stepped in the kitchen as he had been out in the shop earlier.

"It is unforgettable," Dora replied.

"Agreed because no way in hell am I going to forget how bad the floor mop hits can get," his blue eyes had flickered towards the mop in slight unease.

She pinched his nose affectionately, "remember not to mess up anything again, bird boy, because the threat I gave you earlier still stands."

Cassie's faint smile hadn't faded as she watched the two, eyes flickering towards Alex who was smiling as well at the memory.

The Beaumonts were sweet, she concluded, and Dora definitely was the right choice for her little brother. Ever since the time she had rescued him from the League, she had seldom seen him as happy and cheerful as he used to be.

But right then as he was with Dora, Cass could very easily judge that the adorable boy he had been before the incident hadn't completely gotten lost. He was still there, just peeking out only when he was around his girlfriend.

"Do you know, some people think the floor mop was our wingman," Dora remarked, watching Tim's eyes widen in alarm.

"Who the hell thinks that? If that's called wingmaning then Goodbye planet Earth..."

"Steph believes that, tell it to her."

"All the floor mop did was scare me into staying away from the shop for weeks. That's the total opposite of wingmaning."

Cassie, who had been silently watching them, spoke unexpectedly, "absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"Excuse me?"

She looked at Tim who was staring at her in shock but shrugged casually, "movie quote. Steph's right."

"Cassie, I swear you were the last person I would expect to take the mop's side here."

Dora's smile had widened as she winked at Cass then turning to Tim, she spoke, "that just shows how awesome she is." Then looking back at the girl, she added, "Cassie, I really like you too."

***