Clear the Way!

The small piece firmly in his grasp, Robin pushed open the door, the sound of a hissing pan greeting his ears as he looked into the kitchen. His youngest daughter stood facing away from him, poking at something on the stove.

"Hey uh... can you clear out for a minute?" Robin asked his daughter, not wanting to drag glass and metal into the house on his way to the shower.

"Ugh. Thanks for the warning." Titania reached forward, flipping the burner to the zero mark, and scurried out of the kitchen and up the stairs. While she didn't mind as much when her dad walked through the house in his shorts, she greatly appreciated not being confronted with the marks on his body all the time. While Lauren and wow... Viola.

Titania closed the door to her room behind herself as she heard her dad downstairs starting the washing machine. The familiar sound of his footsteps tromped up the steps and along the hallway, pausing outside her door.

"Thanks for making dinner, kiddo! But you're making a little much!" Robin commented outside her door before heading into the shower. Titania knew he'd be at least thirty minutes or so, as he always was, and she could finish cooking without worrying about semi nude and hard male walking through the house. It was a frustration, but she vastly preferred her dad's occasional streak to a shard in the foot which had occurred only once before rules around the house had changed.

Titania knew she was making a lot of food when she restarted the burgers sizzling in their pan. She figured one for each, assuming Lauren would be coming over, which to judge by the piece sitting on the counter, she would. Titania looked at the little glass and shiny metal piece as it lay on the counter. Clearly her dad had put a lot of work into it, and he really cared about whoever it was for. Probably... Viola.

Titania felt a slight knot of jealousy run through her stomach at the though of how her father had looked sitting with the girl. She liked Viola, and had been trying to figure out some way to say it. She'd never dated, unlike her sister who had an active social life, and the idea of asking her Dad for tips on how to ask a girl out just seemed wrong. While she got along with Lauren, the idea of asking her seemed almost creepy, even though she'd known the woman for years.

A slight rush of excitement went though her as she realized that if her dad was making Viola presents... that meant that he wanted her around. He'd never made anything for any gal he wasn't serious about. Her dad was predictable, and she should have known he'd go for a gal she liked.

Titania flipped the burger over again, hearing the sounds of Miranda's Cello floating through the house. Yep, typical night around her. She placed a long strip of bacon along each side of the pan. The frozen hamburger patties always sucked, but add a little bacon, and you forget about how bad they taste. That one was from her dad, one of the first thing's they'd figured out as a family. Yes, they were bad for you, that's why you worked out. She looked at a small scab on her hand as she did so, remembering how she had caught her finger on her opponent's gi and jammed her nail back into the finger.

It was a crazy way to live sometimes, but she got used to it. The smell of burning bread brought her out of her thoughts and she quickly pulled open the oven, finding that she'd just burned two of the buns. No big whoop there. Let's see, three for us, one for Lauren... and one for the gal next door.

She momentarily scraped off the worst of the carbon from the bun into the trash can. Wasn't TOO bad... Enough ketchup on it, and it'd taste fine. Better cook one more just in case.

The sound of the house phone ringing caused her to immediately grasp at the ancient cordless relic sitting near the computer. Lauren was the only person she could ever remember calling on it, since none of them ever gave out the house phone number.

"Commissioner Gordon's office. How can I help you, Batman?" Titania spoke briskly into the phone, her eye on the frying pan.

A muffled laugh from the other end of the line let Titania know it was exactly who she thought it was on the phone, and waited for Lauren to respond.

"That one was cute. Is your dad around?"

"Dad's in the shower. Dinner's ready, if you want."

"Ok, well let him know I got the beads done, and I'll be over later. I just realized you said you made dinner, did I hear that right? Without prompting?" Lauren's voice sounded happy over the phone.

"Well, uh... is your... uh..." Titania wasn't quite sure how to phrase the response. "Yeah, I just wanted to do something nice for my family."

"You know I've got tears in my eyes here. Ok. So... I was thinking of coming over, but now I'm set on it. Tell your dad he needs to do something nice for you."

"Can I tell him you said so?"

"Tell him me and Viola BOTH said so... and that he needs to check his phone more often."

"Is she coming over too?"

"Hope that doesn't bug you. We haven't really talked about what's going on with her, have we?"

"You don't have to." Titania Checked the toasting bun again. This one was a little closer to the proper level of brown, and she tossed it onto a plate with the tips of her fingers. "It's like that one time with whatshername."

"No... don't even... nothing like that. That was not a good situation. I'm not going to walk out on you girls again, and your dad isn't going to make me." Lauren's voice became earnest.

"I know. And I like Viola. Just... don't want to see anybody get hurt again." Titania sighed, not wanting to admit how much it was hurting that she was going to have to treat Viola like a parent, and not like someone her own age. The horrified thought of having to call Viola "Mom" at some point just felt squicky as hell. Lauren at least had enough of an age difference that it didn't feel awkward. Add in that it's really feels kinda creepy wanting to kiss a girl that your father is currently sporting hickeys from...

That thought caused a slight twinge to run through her. What else had her dad done to her? She had an image in her head of the beautiful redhead laying back, and her dad doing her like in one of her favorite porn films. She winced a little, hoping he wasn't as rough as a porn star. She'd wrestled with her dad on a regular basis in Judo, and the thought of him holding a woman down was scary. The sounds had always been pleasurable and arousing, especially when they'd floated in from her father's bedroom, but the young virgin had no firsthand knowledge save for the occasional glance at another girl in a locker room or through a window...

"Then you should know that we're gonna be honest. Anything you want to know. Just ask."

"Not over the phone."

"Do you want to just talk to me?"

"That might... that might be a good idea sometime." Titania agreed. "Just not tonight. Kay, Mom?"

"Ok... well, I don't work tonight, so see you when I get there. "

"I'll let dad know. What do you want on your burger?"

"The usual."