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“Get ready, I’ve got a surprise for you,” Bruce said to Y/N as he poked his head into the bedroom. She looked out of the window on the other side of the room and gave him a puzzled look, putting her bookmark back into the book she was reading.
“But it’s raining, Bruce,” she said.
“Don’t worry about that, the surprise will be indoors,” he said with a soft smile before leaving to attend to whatever he was doing in the cave.
For the first time in a very long time, the stars had aligned and allowed Bruce and Y/N to take a day off on the same day. And while Bruce was someone who didn’t really know the meaning of the words ‘day off’, Y/N wasn’t exactly the workaholic her husband was and cherished those days that she had to do nothing but read in bed. It had rained for almost a week straight and she had no intention of going outside, but she was curious to see what this surprise of his was.
She wasn’t really in the mood for dressing up fancy for any paparazzi that may find them, so she settled on jeans and a cosy sweater that she could keep dry with her raincoat. Bruce apparently had the same idea, as he had chosen a similar outfit.
“Great minds think alike, huh?” Y/N said when she met him at the front door.
“I guess they do,” he said as he stood up after tying his shoelaces. “You look really pretty, by the way.”
“Stop,” Y/N said with an eye roll. Bruce helped her into her coat and then put his own on before grabbing the keys to his Bentley.
“Ready to go?” he asked, pulling the hood of his raincoat up.
“Yup, let’s go be ducks,” Y/N said cheerfully.
Y/N didn’t expect the drive from the manor and into the suburbs of Gotham to take so long, but she was perfectly fine with listening to the radio softly playing music while the rain outside steadily fell on the car. Every so often Bruce would take his hand off of the steering wheel to rest it on her thigh, just above her knee to keep it chaste.
Even during the rain, traffic was a pain in Gotham, and it took a good half an hour to get into the suburbs. The rain had hit the windshield in sheets, making it difficult to see when Bruce turned the car off. Y/N tried to peer through the window to see where they were but had no luck.
“Recognise where we are?” he asked her, flicking a switch to unfog the windows.
Y/N looked out into the rain again, and instantly recognised the warm glow of a small café.
“You remembered!” she said with an excited smile.
“Of course I remembered,” Bruce said warmly. “I could never forget any of your favourite things.”
Y/N leaned over the centre console to kiss him.
“Thank you, honey,” she whispered against his lips. “This is the best surprise you’ve given me yet.”
“Better than when I asked you to marry me?” he asked teasingly.
“Okay, not as good as that, but still, thank you.”
“You’re very welcome, I think we should get inside before the owners wonder why there’s a fancy car sitting out in the rain.”
The two of them drew their hoods up and made a mad dash from the car to the café, water splashing with every step they took.
The cafe’s interior was just as warm and cosy as it looked from the outside. The walls were painted with earth tones, paintings of landscapes hanging on them, mingling in with the indoor plants that were dotted around the store. Warm yellow lights hung low from the ceiling, making the room seem darker, but more inviting. A friendly looking toy poodle sat on its own special pillow next to the counter, looking up when Bruce and Y/N entered and wagging his tail cutely in the hopes of getting scritches from some new friends.
“You go grab us a table and I’ll order some drinks,” Bruce said to Y/N who was trying to take his coat off of him so she could hang it up.
Y/N picked a spot next to the large store window and sat in the comfortable suede armchair, sinking into the soft cushion as she felt her body relax down to her bones. Even on her day off, she could be tense, but being in her happy place with her favourite person could always cheer her up. Especially when her happy place had a cute puppy who liked the attention.
Bruce returned to their table with a tray loaded with goodies: two slices of cake, an Americano for him, and her favourite latte for her. Y/N could have squealed in delight, she was so excited.
“So what’s the occasion?” she asked as she took a bite of cake.
“No occasion, I just know that you like coming here,” Bruce said, taking the sugar canister to pour a teaspoon or so into his coffee. “I remember the last time we were here you wondered what it would be like to sit in the window while it’s raining, and I just acted spontaneously.”
“Good thing I like spontaneity, ” she said with a smile. Y/N picked up her latte and blew on the hot liquid, cooling it down before she took a sip. Warmth spread through her entire body when she swallowed the coffee and she sat back in her armchair.
“Feeling okay there?” Bruce asked her with a chuckle.
“I’m more than okay,” Y/N sighed. “I have my favourite man to spend time with me in my favourite place.”
The poodle had jumped down from his place on the counter and made his way over to the two of them, asking for pets, which Y/N happily gave him, always a sucker for dogs.
The rain outside had eased up, gently patting against the window in steady drops rather than the sheets that fell from the sky earlier.
“I can see why you like this place so much,” Bruce said as he cradled his coffee cup in his hands.
“It’s great, isn’t it? I found it a couple of years ago and wanted to find somewhere quiet to chill out for a little while.”
“You definitely have good taste in coffee shops.”
“I guess I do,” Y/N said as she gathered some leftover cake frosting from her plate into her finger.
After a good two hours spent drinking the best coffee in Gotham and having easy conversations about work, life, and everything in between, it was time for the Waynes to go home. The rain had eased off considerably since they arrived, only a drizzle was left and the sun could just be seen peeking out from the clouds. A couple of other customers had snapped a couple of photos of the city’s favourite couple, as Twitter had shown, but neither of them really minded. It came with Bruce’s status after all.
“We should come here more often,” Bruce said as he buckled his seatbelt.
“If only we had the time,” Y/N said wistfully.
“We could always make time,” Bruce said, but Y/N knew that wasn’t going to be possible.
Between Wayne Enterprises, public events, and his nightly escapades, Bruce Wayne was not a man who had a lot of time on his hands. She’d known that for a very long time but she accepted that this was just a part of who he was.
“We could, but I don’t know if we will,” Y/N said as she fiddled with a loose thread on her sweater. Bruce placed his hand over hers, making her turn her head to look at him.
“I’ll always make time for you,” he said gently, his face sincere.
“Promise?” she asked quietly, her voice just above a whisper. He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed her knuckles softly.
“Promise. Now let’s get home, the boys will be wondering where we’ve been all day,” he said as he turned the key in the ignition.
“They’ll probably demand to know why we left them to patrol in the rain,” Y/N said with a giggle.