[37]

                                    

                                          
A/N: I'm keeping the previous chapter as it is and including the reaction of the Batfam in this chapter.
***
Calmia didn't hear about the latest gossip dump by the Gotham Press targeted at her and Tim as soon as it came out. But she realized something was wrong when she got to work that morning and felt an awkward tension in the air.
Her team members knew about her pregnancy and they had privately congratulated her by holding a small celebration in the conference room of their office. Jade had been there too and organized everything, making sure that no outsider caught a whiff of their little exclusive party.
But that morning as she felt the stares of the people in the lobby and Lily at the reception desk linger at her, she felt as if something had been leaked to the press and they were causing unnecessary drama about it again.
Her assumption was proved right when she opened her laptop and saw several emails sent to her inbox. Most were regarding unchecked notifications on social media and it seems as if something had blown up overnight.
"Nicole, can I talk to you for a minute?" She rang up her colleague and shortly after, the young woman stepped into her working studio. "Did something happen in the time I was on a break from office?" 
She shook her head, "nothing happened at work. Although if you're asking if something happened other than work then yeah..."
"What is it?"
"The Gotham Daily published a column on you again," she told her carefully, "and it's... Um..."
Calmia could see that she was finding it hard to explain, "it's unpleasant?"
"That's one way to put it. They're always unpleasant," her features flickered, showing a surge of displeasure for the Gotham press clearly on her face. "They should mind their own business yet here they are, poking their pens where they're certainly not invited."
Calmia nodded, able to relate with the woman, "I didn't see what they're saying now but it's going to be a load of BS anyway so better to just ignore it. I only wanted to confirm whether people were paying me more attention than usual today or if it was just me being paranoid. Turns out it's all thanks to Gotham Daily, as usual..."
"Yes ignore it or let Jade sue the hell out of them," Nicole remarked, referring to an earlier conversation between them in which Jade had threatened to sue Gotham Daily for defamation. It was back when Bruce and Calmia had just started dating and the press was churning out terrible rumors about her.
A small smile flickered on Calmia's lips, "I'll talk to Jade. Who knows she might be filing a complaint as we speak?"
Nicole chuckled softly, "Yeah, you do that. Keep her out of trouble." Checking the time, she added, "Hey, Adam had brought over some samples for surface slabs. I had to go check them out, I'll bring the final pieces to you as soon as we get done there."
Calmia knew their schedule was tight for that month and no second could be spared so she nodded, watching her leave to get back to her work. With Nicole gone, she thought of checking out the article but then dismissed it, convincing herself that there were more important things for her to take care of at the moment.
There was no need to check out a meaningless article written only to create rumors and gossip. She knew if she decided to read the article, it would only make her feel bad so she chose to ignore it altogether.
***
Tim was a wreck.
Ever since he heard about the article and saw the terrible light it was painting him and Calmia in, his rational thinking seemed to have evaporated. And that left him in his dangerous vengeful mode as he wanted to teach Gotham Daily a well-deserved lesson for the latest stunt they pulled by dragging his family and especially Calmia's reputation into the mud by twisting the truth drastically.