Eagerly

Martha Wayne was back at Wayne Manor. She was in the dining room listening to her husband and son talk at great length about how well their magic show went and how happy the kids were. She listened as she worked slowly, creating canvases with the special material she had just gotten. She would nod and give sounds of awe whenever they mentioned how a trick went far better than they thought it would.

"You wouldn't believe it, Martha. Our boy's a natural at it. Why, I don't think Houdini himself could have pulled off the same escape tricks as this boy did. Though I will admit there were great times, I was just as scared as the kids were. Thomas Wayne said, giving Bruce a bit of the stink eye for scaring him like that.

"Well, it helped with the show, didn't it? You being scared really sold the whole performance to the kids." "Bruce said, giving his father a cheeky grin." Damian appeared suddenly next to them, giving a bit of an angry glare at nothing in particular. Bruce and Thomas noticed he wasn't exactly happy he hadn't gotten to go, though he had made it clear he didn't want to come before they left.

Bruce and his father looked at each other; a conversation passed in a moment without a word spoken between the two. "Well, my boy, I think it's time our Damian spent some quality time with his grandpa." Thomas said, to which Bruce nodded, then looked to Damian, who was looking back at him with a startled look.

"Go on, Damian; your grandpa has things to teach you." Bruce said knowing that he'd be easier to convince of spending time with his grandpa or her, though it was some type of training experience, as he wasn't all that comfortable with family time. A failure on his part that shouldn't have taken his parents coming back from the dead to rectify, but now with their help he will do better for his son.

"Good idea, dear. You could teach our little Damian about first aid along with your magic tricks." Martha said in a happy voice that made Bruce wince. His parents had sat him down and asked about who his son's mother was. They were not pleased to hear about Talia and how she'd been raising their grandson. Damian didn't look pleased about the first aid training, but he went with his grandfather anyway.

Once Damian and Thomas went away, Martha gave her son a look. Bruce, seeing the look on his mother's face, acted quickly. "I get it, Mom." Bruce said knowing the look on her face was from the clear lack of care from him when it came to the raising of Damian. Martha gave a small snort and went back to stitching canvas for the upcoming event.

Bruce, deciding he very much wanted to get away from the current subject, decided to ask her about what she was working on. "Mom, what are you making?" Bruce asked, to which Martha stitched the last bit she needed to then turn the blank canvas she had made over, checking if it was ready. Once she was sure it was as good as it needed to be, she turned towards Bruce.

"Well, Bruce, I'm making blank canvases for an art competition that's going to happen in a few days from now." Martha said, to which Bruce gave a nod of understanding. Though he wondered what kind of art competition had gotten her attention. Martha, seeing the unasked question, answered it.

"My dear Bruce, before we left you on that dark and terrible night, I had been practicing art, becoming an amateur artist." Martha said pride was evident in her voice at her work and ignored the feeling that the mention of that night stirred up inside of her. The look on her son's face showed he was doing the same.

"Well, I expect you to be there." Martha shocked Bruce and **** him to focus back onto her instead of his own dark thoughts. He stared at her, clearly not comprehending why she was telling him that. "Yes, my little Bruce, you will attend the art competition and have fun with your mother. " Martha said in a nice voice with a very pointed look, and so for the first time in history, Batman gave in to demands.