When the Bough Breaks

The Joker was not looking forward to returning to his house. He had forced Harley to stay back with Diamante, the woman still bleary and confused as she mostly just stared into space while Harley babbled on about something. He assumed that it had something to do with her body still healing, her brain processing through the damage it had undergone and trying to recover memories that he doubted were still there.

Harley adored the woman, she usually wouldn't mind staying behind with her, but this particular time she had been ordered to stay behind. Of course that would cause a tantrum.

Slipping from the car as Frost pulled the keys from the ignition, the Joker stepped up to the entrance door from the five car garage. He could deal with a fussy Harley, he was used to having to do that, but he just hoped she hadn't destroyed the house out of spite.

That would give their new girl some ideas that the Joker really didn't want her to have. He hoped that Diamante was angered in different ways from Harley, because he really didn't think he could mentally survive two Harley Quinns.

Stepping into his house, the clown's eyes carefully looked over the entrance for any sign of destruction or vandalizing. Proceeding further into the room, his shoes clicking on the ground as he glanced inside of every room that he passed, he hid his surprise at realizing that everything was as he had left it. That was a first. Frost seemed just as surprised as he was, coming up behind his boss, but he was wisely silent.

The Joker abruptly went still as he heard the sound of humming from further down the hall, quiet enough that he almost missed it. Cocking his head to the side as he listened carefully, eyes narrowing, the clown knew immediately that it wasn't Harley that was humming. She was too excitable, too energetic with everything that she did. There was no chance that the soft, patient humming was coming from her.

Continuing to listen carefully as he followed the sound to just outside of Diamante's room—which had once been the only guest room—he lifted an eyebrow when he recognized the tune of the song that was being hummed. He reached for the handle of the door just as the humming went quiet barely more than a heartbeat.

"Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop,

When the wind blows, the cradle will rock,

When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,

And down will come baby, cradle and all."

Swinging the door open as silently as possible while the words were still drifting softly through the wood, the Joker silently stood in the doorway as he looked in on where Harley was lying curled up against Diamante as the other woman was softly carding her fingers through the Queen's hair. Both women had their eyes closed and Harley seemed entirely content to rest her cheek on Diamante's chest as she was sung to and coddled.

He hadn't known that Diamante could sing. Until that moment, he'd barely even heard her speak much and when she did it was in a soft tone that sounded almost tired. She had a crooning voice, almost haunting in quality as she was singing softly to Harley. Briefly he wondered if Harley had taught her that song or not, but he didn't dwell on the thought as Diamante's eyes opened to look over to the doorway.

The emerald green of her eyes met his icy blue ones as the Joker grinned broadly when she caught his eyes. Lifting a finger to his lips in a 'shh' gesture, Diamante answered by ducking her head down to press her lips to the top of Harley's head, too gentle to rouse the dozing blonde, never breaking eye contact.

Harley was pacing.

She hated when Diamante left the house, especially when she wouldn't let her or the Joker go with her. They knew where she was; she'd told them she was going to get a new tattoo and wanted to surprise them so they couldn't come with. Frost was with her, and if there was anyone that Harley trusted with her lover's safety, it was Frost. But…

Diamante leaving the house upped the anxiety by about a thousand percent. Even with the Joker, but he was better at hiding it. Harley could never sit still when she wasn't with Diamante; she always assumed the worst after what the three of them had been through months prior. She thought they died in the crash and they were forced to sit back while she was tortured and maimed by that damned doctor.

Of course they had gotten their revenge for what he had done. They'd been able to tap into the Bell Reve security feeds when they shipped Jace, still strapped down to the same chair, to the guards there. Diamante said that she only wished Waller had been there to see it, but she was sure that the woman would be given a heads up about it. The way the men had flinched back as soon as they popped the seal on the crate had Harley cackling, knowing that the body had most likely thawed out by then and was rotting away inside that box.

She and the Joker had definitely enjoyed watching the video that Dia had created when recording her time with Jace, lasting for two full hours. The Joker was pleased to know that he had lived through the majority of what Diamante had done to him—the woman had even stepped back to watch his heart visibly beating after she'd broken his ribs away just enough to see, not yet enough to kill.

A stilled image of Diamante, laughing as blood dripped from her chin, was now the wallpaper on the Joker's office computer.

Whining low in her throat as she glanced back toward the front door, continuing her pacing, Harley wondered what Diamante was doing at that moment. Was she still getting the tattoo? Was she on her way back? Had something happened?

They had all decided the lay low for the past few weeks, only making some brief appearances at the clubs that the Joker owned so no one got the wrong idea about them. They hadn't gone anywhere, and they would fuck up anyone who needed to be reminded who owned this city. Nearly two months had passed since Diamante had returned with the Joker, and the three had been more inseparable than ever.

Even more so in their attempts to have a baby.

At Diamante's insistence, Harley had also gone to a new doctor and they found out that her eggs were in perfect condition, but her body just couldn't grow a fetus due to damage to her uterus. As soon as they'd heard that Harley had wanted to start weeping and screaming all over again—so close but forever out of reach. Diamante, however, was smiling.

Harley hadn't realized why Diamante was so happy until the doctor mentioned that if they could find someone to carry the baby, they could still have a baby that was Harley's and the Joker's but without Harley carrying it. Her tears had immediately turned to pure joy as Diamante had wrapped her up in a tight embrace, offering to do anything Harley wanted if she was willing to let Dia carry her baby.

The thought of having a baby of her own, even if she wasn't actually the one who was pregnant, had Harley weeping all the way home. The Joker had been furious at first, thinking that something had gone wrong and his Queen was upset again, before Diamante explained what they were told that led the three of them to spending the remainder of the night tucked away in their bedroom.

While lying low, they had moved to the Joker's penthouse, which had been remodelled after he'd confessed to destroying it in rage after they'd disappeared.

The carpet was plush beneath Harley's bare feet as she paced across the large living room, the entranceway in clear view so she would know exactly when Diamante returned. At first she'd intended to sit by the window, but the black car that she and Frost had taken was as plain and easily overlooked as possible, with about a thousand others just like it passing along the street every few minutes. So, that idea was scrapped.

"Pumpkin," the Joker cooed when he slipped up behind her, stopping her pacing as he wrapped his arms around her tightly. "She'll be fine…"

"But…I don't like her being away," Harley confessed, pouting deeply as she leaned back into the green haired man. "How long did she say she would be gone?"

"Not long," he assured. "She said it was a small tattoo, something to surprise us. Relax, baby, Mummy will be back before you know it." She could feel the vibrations of his words at her back and the ghost of his breath at her neck, helping her to relax into his even further.

Sighing softly and reaching up to clasp her hands over his, which rested at her sides, Harley let her eyes fall closed and finally block off view of the front door. "What do you think she got?" she finally asked, breaking the silence between them but remaining relaxed in his hold.

Humming in thought as he held Harley closer, the Joker tried to think of anything Diamante had mentioned lately to suggest what she would get. "Dunno," he finally answered. "But our girl knows us so well, Pumpkin, she'll get something so, so pretty."

Giggling in agreement as a smile finally replaced her pout, Harley turned herself around in his arms to look up to those ice blue eyes and the porcelain skin that surrounded them. He was still wearing makeup, but it wasn't as much as he did when he was leaving the penthouse. "Maybe something to match her JOKER tattoo," she offered, grinning as she watched his pupils dilate at the thought of the gorgeous back tattoo. "Or some new writing," she continued while leaning down to press a kiss against the Joker's collarbone, where Diamante had Jester of Genocide on her skin.

The Joker never had the chance to answer before the familiar ding of the elevator returning to their floor had Harley gasping and pulling back to excitedly rush for the door, the Joker watching her run with a grin as he, too, approached the entrance more leisurely.

"Dia!" Harley was already calling excitedly, the doors not even having opened yet.

When they finally did, Diamante rushing through before they were even fully opened, to wrap her arms around Harley and spin the smaller woman in an excited circle.

"Baby Clown!" Diamante cheered back, before she put Harley back down and immediately began peppering the woman's face with kisses that left black smudges from Diamante's lipstick across her pale skin. Even though she was the one who had left, she had been anxious to get home and be with her lovers again. Having Frost there with her had made everything easier; had it been anyone else, she would more than likely had had a minor breakdown that immediately had her rushing back to the penthouse.

"Aww, doesn't Daddy get a hello?" the Joker pouted from behind them, pleased by Diamante's immediate reaction as she turned around to face him with a manic grin immediately blooming across her features.

"Daddy J!"

Opening his arms to her, Diamante nearly threw herself against him as she leapt up to wrap her legs around his hips. He groaned at the feeling of her pressing tight against his front, stilettos digging into the backs of his thighs. "Hello, Daddy J," she cooed into his ear, the heat of her breath nearly driving a shiver down his spine. Pulling back enough so look him in the eye, her black lipstick was smeared slightly from all the kisses she's given Harley, but it was impossible to miss the coy smirk she was wearing.

"Oh, baby," he mumbled, spotting her tattoo now that he had a moment to look upon her face.

He and Harley had already had their face tattoos before Diamante had shown up, the swooping cursive Damaged at the top of his forehead having been the inspiration for Harley's ROTTEN along her right cheek, along the jawline. Diamante had finally decided on her own word, one that both suited her perfectly and broke something within the Joker to read. Cracked was done in tight, perfect calligraphy along her left cheekbone, beginning just under her eye and along the bone in a slight curve to reach her temple.

"Do you like it?" she purred, knowing that he was examining the tattoo.

"It's perfect, Baby Jewel. Just perfect," he complimented, leaning forward to press a lingering kiss just beneath the slightly reddened, abused skin. "Har! Come see, Pumpkin."

Harley bounced over to them happily, Diamante turning to look at her as she approached. She was on Diamante's left, so she had a perfect view of the tattoo as soon as Dia turned to look at her. Gasping happily, Harley then squealed as she leaned in close to take in the unique tattoo that seemed to settle Diamante even more perfectly into their demented family.

"Dia," she cooed, tracing her fingertips beneath it, between the Joker's lipstick kiss and the tattoo itself. "I love it, Mummy."

The nickname caused Diamante to groan; it had become commonplace since they'd returned and began actively trying to conceive. Diamante could let slip calling Harley Mommy Har now and then, but Harley had made it nearly as common as Jewel. The Joker had picked up on it as well, beginning to call her Mummy whether in jest or in the everyday. The best part was that Harley nearly orgasmed instantly whenever she heard Daddy J and Mummy Dia in the same sentence, especially if the two were already sexually teasing one another. It just added another layer to the sexual tension that was a constant in their lives.

Their last visit to the Joker's club was a business meeting for him while Harley had been sitting with the Joker as he listened with complete boredom to the men across from him, already aware that they were trying to mooch money off of him for some ridiculous deal that would never happen. Diamante joined them partway through the deal, causing the man to stutter in his offer as she stepped into the private booth in a short gold dress with strappy back heels, long hair curled and framing her breasts—which had been filling in nicely since her return from Bell Reve.

He could feel Harley tense beside him due to the man's reaction, as well as the sideman he'd brought with him, and nearly cracked a tooth when his jaw clenched. Every instinct in him screamed to kill the offending bastard, but Diamante didn't even bat an eye at him as she smiled coyly to him and Harley instead.

So, instead, he cooed back, "Oh, Mummy, come 'ere," as he opened his arm out to her, Harley still pressed into his other side and preventing him from using both arms. Harley shivered beside him, the combination of his tone and words sending a tremor of arousal through her. Diamante had slipped up against his side, throwing one leg over his while she reached out for Harley's hand, which had been resting on the Joker's abdomen, and laced their fingers together. The sight of the women wrapped around the Joker, legs across his thighs and hands hovering dangerously close to his crotch had the men stuttering over themselves in an attempt to dismiss themselves safely.

"I have another surprise for you," Diamante mumbled breathlessly, trying to compose herself after the effect of Harley's words. Dropping her legs from around the Joker's waist, dragging her hips against his to relish in the hard fact that he was just as affected as she was, Diamante turned to where Frost was waiting with a simple black box roughly the size of a shoebox.

Harley tipped her head to the side in curiosity, trying to think of something Diamante would give them around that size. Her gifts in the past were usually small but well thought out—or tattoos, since there was nothing more personal and arousing than seeing your name on someone's skin. "It is a kitty? They're that small, right?"

"No, it's not a kitty," Dia denied teasingly.

Motioning them into the living area, which was a couple of steps lower than the rest of the apartment, Diamante moved to the opposite side of the coffee table and leapt onto the loveseat excitedly, nearly wiggling as she waited for Harley and the Joker to follow her and take the space across from her. Both wanted to go to her and sit with her, hating that she was still too far from them even though she was in the same room.

"Frost helped me with this since it's almost impossible to hide anything from either of you," Diamante began, nodding to Frost in gratitude as he remained near the entrance. He hadn't been dismissed by Mr. J yet, so he remained.

Harley perched herself on the edge of the couch, eyes locked on that box.

Diamante glanced between the two of them, the box still in her hands, as she lifted herself to kneel on the couch. The Joker had a faint frown on his face, an expression she recognized as one that meant he was thinking. He was trying just as hard as Harley to figure out what she had in the box. Biting her lip as she pulled off the plain black lid and dropped it down beside her, she shuffled forward enough to hold the box over the table before she flipped it over, dumping the contents.

Harley jumped at the sudden manoeuvre, the sound of plastic clattering down onto the glass table filling the otherwise silent room. Her brows pinched on confusion at first, the Joker mirroring her expression, as they watched dozens of plastic sticks clatter to the table.

It was Harley who registered what they were looking at first, a strangled gasp escaping her as she lunged forward to snatch one of the pregnancy tests from the table. They each had gold permanent marker written on them, spelling out positive. Only when he spotted the writing on the stick did the Joker finally clue in and lean forward, snatching another test from the table to read for himself.

Diamante giggled at their reactions, still wiggling with excitement. Even Frost grinned from behind Harley and the Joker as he watched their shocked reactions, but was sure not to draw their attention.

"I wanted to be sure, so I've taken twenty-four tests over the past week," Diamante explained as her lovers finally looked up from the plastic sticks they were holding in their hands.

Driamante tossed the empty box aside and opened her arms wide, as though in invitation, so her still-flat stomach was on display.

"I'm three weeks pregnant."

Harley absolutely shrieked while diving across the space between them, first claiming Diamante's lips in several exuberant kisses before ducking down and peppering more lipstick staining kissing along her pale tummy. Diamante giggled at the ticklish feeling and squirmed on the couch where she was still kneeling.

The Joker had finally moved from the couch while she had been distracted as he simultaneously motioned for Frost to leave, causing Diamante to jump slightly when her face was suddenly framed in large, warm hands and turned to the right. She met the Joker's icy eyes before his lips descended over hers.

The difference in that one kiss was astronomical; it was more than just possession or pleasure, dominance or defiance. This was, of all things, love. Moaning softly into his mouth, one of Diamante's hands came to rest on Harley's soft hair as she began to coo and talk to the other woman's belly, her free hand moving to cup the back of the Joker's neck gently and pull him closer.

When Harley finally removed herself from where she'd been knelt, lifting up to press a loud, smacking kiss against Diamante's cheek while the diamond woman was still kissing the Joker. "So," she started in a soft purr, watching as the Joker broke away from Diamante to turn his intense stare over to Harley. "I think this deserves celebratory sex," she declared easily, getting a giggling laugh from Diamante as the slightly taller woman leaned to the side against Harley.

"I figured that's what we've been doing for the past two months. Just…pre-emptively."

Harley snorted as a grin revealed her teeth. "That was nothing. Now the fun begins; because, you know, hormones."

Humming teasingly as she caught Harley's lips in an abrupt kiss that was no less deep than any of their others, Diamante reached around Harley in order to draw her in close as her other hand remained at the back of the Joker's neck, teasing the ends of his hair there.

"I'm inclined to agree," he murmured against Diamante's cheek, stepping in close to his two favourite women.

I hope you guys enjoyed this story! This is the final chapter for Blood of the Crown, but I am going to be working on a prequel and a side-story for Diamante's pregnancy, because hell yes that'll be fun! I'll post another chapter here once I have both of those out so anyone following it knows right away.

Thank you all for the amazing reviews and for sticking with this story all the way through, I hope every chapter was worth it!