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Gotham traffic wasn’t as congested as he had expected it to be for the time of day. Bruce hummed along to the radio absentmindedly as he waited at a red light. A peek in the rear view mirror had the trace of smile ghost on his face. Cass hadn’t taken her seatbelt off while the car was moving just yet—a nasty habit he and Alfred were working hard to break. They had specifically bought a child's carseat with more buckles and belts after the fourth time. Thankfully, the little girl was apparently too busy fiddling with the ribbons attached to her carseat and looking out the window to think to unclick the seatbelt at present.
She looks up, catches his eye in the mirror and gives him a wide, toothy smile. He manages a smile back before he grasps the steering wheel harder in what can only be described as Cuteness Aggression. "Are you excited for our Daddy-Daughter day, Cassie?" He asks, keeping his eyes on the road as the light flickers from orange to green. Their destination was some way on the suburbs of Gotham. She had chosen it as their first stop of the afternoon.
"...Ye...s...Yes." Cassandra nods, taking her time and sounding out the phonetics as she twists and turns in her carseat. She was getting slightly restless, and it warmed his heart to see her comfortable enough to even fidget in his vicinity. His lovely daughter truly had come on leaps and bounds in the two years she had lived with him.
Soon enough, they arrive at their destination.
Bruce parks the car, getting out of the driver's seat and walking around to the back of the car, opening Cassandra's door. He unbuckles her two seatbelts, before wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her up, squeezing her into an impromptu hug because he just can't take it. She grins, wrapping her own little arms around his shoulders and nuzzling into him. They stay like that for a minute before he begrudgingly lets her down. "Hold my hand okay, Cass? The parking lot can be dangerous."
"Okay." She obediently holds his hand, letting Bruce guide her through to the entrance of the Ice Cream Parlour. They must look like quite the pair, with Bruce in a simple sweater and slacks with a singular flower clip in his hair, looking mostly put together, and with Cass wearing a long-sleeved shirt with the batman symbol on it (she asked for it so nicely three months ago when she saw it in the clothes store and he couldn't just say no) purple leggings, a bright pink tutu and some pink dress-up wings to match.
The parlour was 50s-esque in its decoration, the counter was painted a mint green, the walls were a light pink with wooden detailing painted a blueish-grey. There were booths in the corner, and a charming jukebox against the far wall. There were a few tables scattered here and there which seated families and the occasional teenage couple. Bruce walks towards the counter as Cass makes a game of hop scotching across the black and white checker board floor tiles. He slows his pace to accommodate her game, only stopping when her fabric fairy wing gets stuck on the edge of a chair. She gives him a toothy grin.
The cashier smiles at them as they approach. "Hi folks! What can I get for ya?"
Bruce hoists his daughter up onto his hip so she can see the ice cream flavours better. She clings to him like a little spider monkey. Bruce feels the need to punch something, preferably the Joker, or another Gotham rogue. "I'll have a small tub of vanilla ice cream and a cappuccino, please." He smiles at the cashier, before glancing at Cassandra, unsurprised to find her big brown eyes already fixed on him. "What about you, sweetheart?" He says, pressing a kiss to her forehead, "What ice cream flavour would you like? You can have two scoops and a topping."
Cass pauses, looking over her options and turning back to him. She tilts her head, and Bruce melts like ice cream on a warm day. "They....have cookies' cream and choc'late?"
"Yes, they have cookies n' cream and chocolate. Are those the flavours you want?" He asks her, before pausing, he knew his daughter all too well. "with rainbow sprinkles?"
She nods, resting her head on the crook of his neck. Bruce turns back to the cashier. "And one cone with a scoop of cookies n' cream and a scoop of chocolate, with rainbow sprinkles, please."
"Alright..." The cashier says, noting it down. "That'll be $12."
Bruce pays with card, but sneaks a 50 dollar bill into the tip jar whilst the worker's back is turned for good measure.
They make eye contact with Cassandra as they begin to make the cappuccino. "That's a beautiful tutu."
The little girl smiles, before hiding her face in his shoulder timidly. "...Fanks."
Bruce puts another fifty in the tip jar, just for that.
They take their treats and walk over to a booth in the corner, Bruce carefully sets Cassandra down, waiting until she's properly seated before taking the small tub of vanilla ice cream she offered to him. Bruce sits down across from her, smiling to himself as little feet rest themselves on his lap. He slowly sips at his coffee, taking the occasional bite of his ice cream as he watches his daughter get chocolate and sprinkles all over her face. She was such a messy eater.
"Slow down, pickle, you might get a brain freeze." He warns, reaching over to boop her tip of her nose, wiping the blob of ice cream she had somehow got on it off while he's at it. The ice cream on her nose mysteriously reappears in the next minute, so it was all for naught.
The ambience of the hustle and bustle in the Parlour is comforting background noise as they eat their little treat. When they're both finished, he grabs a napkin from the dispenser on the table, wets it, and begins dabbing at his baby girl's chocolatey sprinkly cheeks to clean them up. Cass giggles at the sensation. It's a heavenly sound. She leans into the touch, closing her eyes, a stark contrast to Dick or Jason, who would have grumbled and slapped his hand away.
When satisfied with his cleaning spree, he scoops her up into his arms, holding her tightly and securely to his chest. "Where do you want to go now, sweet pea?" He presses a kiss to his daughter's chubby cheeks, then another, then another, then he finally continues his sentence. "We could go to the playpark, or the toy store so you could pick out a new dollie, or we could go to the cinema, or somewhere else entirely....the world's your oyster, Cassie."
Cass looks up at him with those big brown eyes, the ones that make him want to punch something they're that adorable. Bruce felt the urge to don his Batman suit, to punch the living daylights out of any and everyone who would make the city less safe for his daughter (and his sons too of course.) "...Dollie, please."
"Dollie it is then," He says, his voice taking on a playful lilt that's not quite Brucie—it was much too genuine, soft and loving to be Brucie.
Cassandra—his sweet baby girl—grins widely, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a hug as he carries her to the car. "...Fank you, Daddy."
He pauses, something warm and fulfilling squeezing around his heart like a hug. He smiles, running a hand through her black hair. "Anything for my little girl."
".....L-...." She pauses as he gets into the car, having buckled her up securely in her carseat. "Love you, Daddy."
"I love you too, Cass. More than you'll ever know." He says, glancing back at his baby in the rearview mirror.
And with that, he exits out of the parking lot, about to begin the ten minute drive to the toy store. He should make the time for these Daddy-Daughter days more often.