Chapter 183 Chapter 183 [VIP]
The next morning, Megan had breakfast at Wayne Manor before leaving. When she came back after rinsing her mouth, she saw Bruce coming down the stairs. He looked sleepy, as if he had not woken up at all. Fortunately, his clothes were neatly on. Behind him was Jason, who had just disappeared. Obviously, he had gone to do this thing.
Bruce perked up, looked up at Megan, who was looking up at him, and gave her a gentle smile. After walking down the stairs, he said, "You're going home, right? Thank you for coming to Jason's birthday party, Megan. You're welcome to come again next time."
Yes, Jason dragged him out of bed just to let Bruce say this to his best friend, as if only in this way would Jason's invitation to Megan be complete because he was an adult.
He is Jason's adult, so he should behave like a child's friend who comes to visit.
Bruce had finished greeting everyone and looked around to see that Alfred was not there, which meant that he had gone to drive Megan home. He was already up and had no intention of going back to sleep. He went to the kitchen to look for the breakfast left for him by the old housekeeper. If there was none, he could make do with toast. If he was lucky, he might even find some instant food stored by Dick or Jason and just heat it up in the microwave.
Watching the adults who had completed the procedures leave, Jason pulled Megan and stood at the door of the main house. He did not feel reluctant to leave, because if he wanted to see Megan, they could meet at any time. For example, they could separate during the day and then he could knock on the window to enter the house at night.
Jason's birthday had passed, so he asked Megan, "What about your birthday? What gift do you want?" The question Megan had asked him at that time was now returned to him.
Their answers were different. Megan was more honest. She thought about it carefully and said, "I want a big teddy bear." When they looked at each other, Megan added, "But my dad will buy it for me."
So copying the answers definitely wouldn't work, and Megan didn't know what else she wanted. When the two children were lost in thought, Dick came over and gave his suggestion, "I heard from Alfu that Megan likes bears. Maybe you can make a bear-themed handmade pop-up book as a souvenir?" It sounded like a good idea. He didn't know that Megan's nickname was 'Bear', and Jason's eyes lit up.
When Alfred drove over, Bruce had also prepared breakfast. He was planning to go to the company, so he sat in the passenger seat of the car. Jason and Megan sat in the back seat as usual, leaving Dick alone at home, and waved to them.
Bruce heard two children talking on the road. Megan said, "I want to make a pop-up book too. Does it need pictures?"
She knew nothing about pop-up books, but Jason knew much more. Huddled together with Megan, he made a proud, disapproving, but ultimately consoling, voice, "This is my gift for you." Wouldn't it take away from the surprise if he included her? Jason also knew Megan didn't really like painting. Even though she'd mastered a lot of techniques in class, she still couldn't create the kind of work that required imagination, inspiration, and a certain state of mind.
But when Jason saw Megan looking at him with droopy eyes, his heart suddenly softened, so he compromised and said, "We won't draw, but we will cut a lot of colorful cardboard to make mechanisms. Xiaomei, do you want to do the paper cutting part? I can just assemble it at the end."
"The finished product is a secret. You'll see it on your birthday."
He made a suggestion in a light voice that Megan couldn't refuse, so the little bear, who had been a little lost just now, suddenly laughed and nodded vigorously, "Yeah!"
Megan doesn't want any expensive gifts because she feels that she has everything. She wants things that can prove her love or can be collected. Handmade pop-up books do not use precious materials, but only require ingenuity and hands-on ability, as well as a lot of patience and "love" that can definitely be reflected in the production process.
She realized that she was about to reap rewards, so she showed happiness and anticipation at this moment.
After they had a brief agreement, Robin brought Megan the colored card paper she needed to cut at night, and then took away the small cards she had already cut. This was just a small thing, and could even be called an unnecessary little thing. After all, for Robin, was it difficult to cut some paper?
But in order to make Megan happy, get her involved and learn to look forward to it, Robin went back and forth tirelessly and told her that the pop-up book was ready a few days before Megan's birthday.
At that time, he was sitting by the window next to the living room on the first floor of the small building, just like when he first came here with Killer Croc and Megan, swinging his legs, and his bright yellow cape behind him swayed slightly in the night breeze. He looked at Megan and asked with a bright smile, "What if I don't do well?"
Robin was extremely sure that Megan would like this gift, but he pretended to be nervous and asked tentatively. Seeing Megan put down the storybook in her hand, she knew without a second thought that Robin was teasing her again, and pretended to be fierce, "Then you won't give it to me?" She frowned, as if if Robin dared to say this, the little bear would come and try to 'show off his skills'.
The bad bird and the good bear looked at each other, and the smile on his face became brighter. Finally, he jumped down from the window, lightly approached Megan, leaned against her, and coaxed her softly, "No! I didn't say that, it's just..."
“But what if I can’t do it well?”
"Then you're the best, Jason!" Megan tilted her head. She guessed what Jason was thinking and said slowly, "Best friend."
Best friends won't have disagreements or conflicts over such trivial matters.
Before Megan's birthday, the clown also came back. He kept an eye on the child and of course knew what she did every day and who she was with. He came back exhausted at night and just as he walked in, he took off his hat and put it on the coat rack. When he opened his arms to take off his suit jacket, Megan, who was hiding somewhere, suddenly jumped out.
She could always tell whose movements belonged to whom, and the clown's steps in opening doors and the sound of his footsteps were too distinct for her to ever mistake.
The reckless child suddenly squeezed into the clown's arms, causing his open arms to drop. He leaned over and gently placed them on her shoulders. He smiled exaggeratedly and asked, "It's been a long time, kid! I heard you've been having a lot of fun lately..."
"Did you miss me?" He patted Megan's shoulder and stood up. When she wanted to cling to him, he directly pulled the child away. What was her weight? She was a little kid with developmental delays, a little kid who could never gain weight.
Megan followed him like a little tail and said excitedly: "Yeah!"
But this answer was too perfunctory. The clown sat on the sofa, and when she came closer, he reached out and pinched her chin, lowered his head and looked at her mysteriously. Seeing Megan frowning in confusion, he mumbled and asked, "Dad, what's wrong?" Then he let go of his hand, leaned his upper body back, and still had one arm around Megan.
The Joker said in a strange tone, "I heard you went to your friend's house..." Look at how this opening sounds like a controlling patriarch! But does he really care about this matter? He fostered Megan with Poison Ivy and placed her in a foster care center. Later, he let her play with the Mad Hatter and rested in other places. So his concern is not the surface of this matter, but the deeper level.
"I'm just curious about one thing, Megan," he asked with a terrifying smile on his face, "When did you decide to part ways with me?"
Living in Wayne Manor! Oh my god, it's Wayne Manor! It's inextricably linked to his old rival, that annoying nocturnal creature!
So does the Joker know the true connection between them?
He smiled deeply, with deep wrinkles between his eyebrows, at the ends of his eyes and even at the corners of his eyes, and the light cast shadows like ravines. He asked such a question for the first time: "Meghan, are you sure your friend didn't say anything to his head of the family?" Otherwise, how could he think that his child was going to be taken away?
But at the same time, the Joker also knew that if Batman knew that Megan was his child, he would not have been able to see her long ago! So he sat here today instead of confronting Batman or madly dragging Gotham into the vortex of crime. Facing this child, he had already been trained to have patience and endurance.
As for Megan herself? Would she actively try to escape his control? The Joker hadn't doubted it. He had saved Megan, he had brought her back to life. His mark had been etched into her very core, even into her spirit. Just as he had seen her from their first encounter, he had considered her his own. She was his, and that was why he was angry.
When the Joker asked the question, his hand was loosely placed on Megan's shoulder. If he pulled it back a little, he could touch her neck, which was her lifeline. He always wanted to have everything under control, but he knew that some things were forever out of his control. But he had to show some attitude, right?
He looked like he was about to explode at any moment, but Megan was undeterred by his question. She simply stared at the clown intently. She was now well-behaved again, without a trace of rebellion or willfulness. She was not afraid of this pale-faced madman. Instead, she said with crooked eyes, "Daddy, I'm your child. You won't abandon me."
Then, “Friends are good, friends don’t know.”
So she thought he was talking nonsense and was being unreasonable.
But the fact is, as long as the clown doesn't abandon her, Megan will never part ways with him. But she thought this was the worst thing her father had ever said, so she got upset again. With a bitter face, she shook her legs that were hanging off the sofa and said, "Dad, for my birthday, I want a big teddy bear."
She changed the subject so easily. Perhaps she felt a little guilty? Perhaps she wanted to avoid conflict between them? The clown narrowed his eyes slightly, but for some reason, he actually followed her lead and passed over the topic, saying nonchalantly, "A bear doll? If you really love it, you'll get it, kid."
…
Last year, Jason celebrated Megan's birthday a day earlier, and this year was no different. Megan's birthday would not be a big deal like his, and there were no formal invitations. Jason went to Damon's house to find Megan early in the morning with a handmade three-dimensional book.
During the day, when he came to see Megan, he would knock on the door very formally before entering. He was dressed more formally today than on his birthday. Of course -
Since it was summer, he didn't wear a suit and tie, but he wore a white shirt, a small bow tie, shorts, socks and leather shoes. Even his hair was carefully trimmed before going out. Alfu expressed high praise for his serious attitude and clothing aesthetics. After all, the other two people in the Wayne family had the disguise of playboys, but Jason was different.
He followed Megan into the familiar building with joyful steps, and couldn't wait to give the gift to Megan!
As soon as he entered the room, Jason saw a large white bear stuffed animal placed next to the living room. Combined with what Megan had said before, there was no doubt that this was bought by Arthur. It arrived before Megan's birthday, so perhaps Megan would receive another gift on her birthday? Arthur wouldn't treat her birthday lightly.
Looking at the huge bear stuffed animal still wrapped in a transparent plastic bag, Jason exclaimed in amazement. If it stood up, it would definitely be taller than him. After they sat together in the living room, he took out the gift box he had wrapped and put it on the coffee table, watching Megan eagerly open the gift.
They made this handmade three-dimensional book together, but Megan couldn't see how it would turn out day by day. Jason deliberately raised her expectations to the maximum just for this moment.
Megan took out a very thick book from the gift box. Compared with its heavy appearance, it was not heavy at all, and could even be described as light. She saw many obviously hand-painted white bears in different postures on the cover. They were either running or sitting, and in some corners, there were red-bellied birds with yellow back feathers. The strokes were all equally naive and vivid.
She held her breath and opened the first page. She saw the same little bears and birds as on the cover standing up. There was also a little bear with a bird perched on its shoulder, running as the pages closed and opened. Megan played for a long time. When she looked up at Jason, her eyes sparkled, "How fun—"
There was pure joy in her eyes, and when she smiled she was the cutest child in the world.
Jason laughed like her, tilted his head, and urged softly, "There's more to come."
Megan continued to flip through the pages. This pop-up book was more of a memory book for Jason than a gift. It contained the scene of their first meeting in the small building. There was a little bear in the house, a robin perched on the window, and a ferocious crocodile outside the window was roaring at it.
Bird and Bear on the rooftop; Bear and a giant zombie, Bird and a blue cat and a crocodile; a deserted playground at night; the school library; next to a gargoyle statue, Bear looking at the moon and saying to Bird, "The moon is in the sky," with burning hand-held fireworks in the corner; Bear and Bird reading together; Bear the painter; Alice Bear in an Alice in Wonderland-themed scene; Bear and Bird playing controller games, skiing and skating; Bear and Bird in a hot air balloon, parachute...
Finally, it was the bird’s birthday party, the night when shooting stars with long tails dotted the sky.
The bird and bear were no longer animal images. The little boy held something in his hand. A little girl stood opposite him. Megan looked at the handheld fireworks that were lit after he let go of her hand, and Jason looked at her.
The scene in the book was the same as now. The pop-up book had already been turned to the end. Jason smiled and asked, "Do you like this gift, Little Bear?"
Megan still had the book open, and she rested her cheeks on the table with her hands. She couldn't help but squint her eyes, looked at Jason, and slowly said, "Oh my God, Jason--" She didn't know what to say.
Standing in the distant past, the child in the desolate and dead world felt the wind again. The whistling wind passed through Megan's chest. The wind brought seeds and blew open the closed door. In an instant, flowers bloomed everywhere. Her heart was also filled with those flowers, and even overflowed.
"Heart blossoms are in full bloom", they are brilliant and warm, so many that it seems Megan can never harvest them all, making her feel that in the future, every time she opens the handmade three-dimensional book, she will usher in another spring.
Her moist, soft eyes stared at Jason for a long moment, then suddenly stiffened. Pretending to be angry at Little Bear, she asked, "Do you really have to make me cry?"
Jason saw that Megan was too helpless and was pretending because she didn't know how to deal with it. He felt that she was so pitiful, and her pity was also extremely cute, which made his heart soften.
He bent his gentle and bright blue eyes, reached out and held Megan's hand, "We are best friends, right?" So even if Megan couldn't express it, he knew it.
Megan nodded vigorously, "Yeah!"
In the gift box, the handmade pop-up book takes up most of the space, but there is also a notebook underneath it. The pictures printed in it are exactly the same as those in the pop-up book. Jason designed the three-dimensional effect only after he finished the content of each page. Since the pop-up book is very large after it is completed, he also printed a thin notebook on which you can take notes and draw.
Then there were other small gifts, such as Alfred gave Megan a brooch, Bruce gave her a hairpin, and another gift prepared by Jason was a little bear wearing a birthday hat from his ornaments series.
The whole set of bears are made from the same model, but slight optimizations are made every time they are adjusted. If you look at them individually, only the movements and costumes are different. However, if you put the first pumpkin bear and the current birthday hat bear together, you will clearly see the changes.
Megan received a gift and wanted to store all of it, so she took it upstairs to her bedroom. She had some minor habits that others might have noticed, but because they were harmless, she was never allowed to correct them. Whether she could correct them was another matter. This child always had a domineering and willful temper.
She was keen on collecting things she liked and that belonged to her, hiding them all and placing them in the bedroom closest to her.
There were too many things on the table for Megan to carry, so she asked Jason, "Do you want to come? If not, then help me carry it."
Jason:?
He smiled and followed with a brisk pace, watching Megan walk into the bedroom, open the cabinet, drag out her ever-growing "treasure chest", and skillfully open the box. Jason, who was squatting next to her, saw some strange things inside, but he didn't ask, just smiled as he watched Megan carefully put the handmade three-dimensional book in. When she was about to close the box, she quickly threw in a Robin logo that belonged to him.
The clanking sound and his overly obvious movements did not escape Megan's notice. Megan opened the lid, picked it up, and put it back neatly.
As everything that belonged to her continued to be put back and hidden away, Megan finally thought of what she wanted to say.
The little bear, who has long become flexible and smart, is still clumsy at times, but she is still growing. As long as she can reach the future, she will learn many things that she cannot master yet.
Megan pointed to the box and said earnestly: "There is so much love in there."
She pointed to her heart again, "There's more love here."
It wasn't too late. Megan finally understood what Misha said. It turned out to be true what she said about there being many things hidden in everyone's heart.
The little bear puffed out her chest with pride and felt great about herself.
The author has something to say:
A long post today! Tomorrow is Megan's birthday, and Little Bear has found her North Star.
While writing, I took a screenshot of the part "And Jason is Different" and gave it to a friend.
Me: Ah Fu (to Jason): You are different, you are pure love.
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