No words were spoken between us after he uttered that four letter word. My fight seems to also have left me. He would bring me my food and I’d eat it and leave it by the door for him so that I didn’t even have to endure him fully entering the room. He’s probably over the moon right now since he’s finally done something to get me to stay in line. It wasn’t so much that to be honest, it’s just I couldn’t bear his presence so I’d do whatever necessary to avoid any kind of contact.

It’s been three weeks since the incident and I felt like I was losing myself. Bull had come to see me twice, and he’s worried about me. There had been a calendar in the room when I’d returned that hadn’t been there before and I should’ve been keeping track of time. I found today’s date and realized I should’ve gone for my six month prenatal appointment two weeks ago, but with everything going on that slipped my mind. I cringed thinking about what it was that needed to be done. I would actually have to interact with Lucifer. What if he didn’t let me go?

I waited until he showed up to bring lunch to broach the subject. He placed the plate down on the dresser and turned to leave. “Lucifer?”

He turned around and looked utterly shocked. I couldn’t blame him because I’d been shocked had he suddenly spoke to me. “I need to see a doctor.” I told him.

He frowned and walked closer to me. I instinctively put up a hand to stop him from getting any closer, he froze in his tracks. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No. Nothing is wrong, at least not that I know of… I’m overdue for my prenatal appointment. I have to go to those so they can check the progress and make sure everything is fine.” I explained.

He nodded. “You had a doctor out here?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yes. I was going to Jersey General. My doctor was Alice Silverman.” I explained.

“Ok, do you just go in…?” he asked.

“No, it’s by appointment.”

He took his phone out of his pocket.  “Know the number?” he asked.

I shook my head. He pressed a few keys and handed me the phone as it dialed a number. I spoke to the receptionist and after informing them I was past due for my appointment they scheduled me in for the following day. I thanked her and hung up.

“My appointment is tomorrow at noon.” I informed him.

He nodded. “Ok.” Was all the response he offered and left the room. I’m grateful that went as smoothly as it did.

He knocked on the door at 11:00 the next morning. I was already dressed since I wasn’t sure when we would be leaving. I followed him downstairs and out of the clubhouse in silence. He led me to his jeep and shocked the heck out of me by opening the passenger side door for me and closed it once I was fully inside. He turned the radio on to a pop station and I couldn’t help but fidget in my seat. I knew for a fact this wasn’t the type of music he listened to so I could only assume he was putting it on for me. What I didn’t understand was why he was being nice to me all of a sudden. He’d finally admitted his true feelings for me, and if this was his way of pitying me he could keep it.

We pulled into the hospital parking lot with 15 minutes to spare. As soon as he cutoff the engine I hopped out the car not giving him an opportunity to try to pull any more gestures he sure didn’t want or need to do. I navigated to the OB/GYN department and signed in. I turned to see Lucifer trying to get comfortable in one of the chairs in the waiting room, there was a single empty seat beside him. The place wasn’t completely packed, but there were enough people here. I scanned the room for an empty seat and found one next to a woman who looked about ready to burst. I offered her a smile as I took the seat.

“Hi, I’m Annie.” She greeted me.

I offered my hand. “Abee.”

She gestured to my stomach. “So how far along are you?” she asked.

“Six and a half months.” I told her with a smile while my hand rubbed my belly unconsciously.

“Good god, I remember those days. I have 2 weeks left and I cannot wait for this baby to pop on out. My feet are praying for the day I tell you.” She said with a chuckle and I followed suit.

“Does it get harder the further along you get?” I asked.

She shrugged. “Each person is different. It depends on your pregnancy and your body. You know, some woman have to go on bed rest and things while others are still up and running when they’re a week overdue. Hopefully you’re one of the lucky ones and your feet don’t inflate. The only thing I could complain about is that I can’t see anything below the belly. I mean, let’s be real… it’s not all that easy getting your shoes on the right feet or anything if you can’t see what you’re doing.” She rolled her eyes and I laughed.

“Sounds horrible.” I told her.

She smiled. “Oh, I’m just complaining right now. I am here as a walk-in and I’ve been here waiting for an hour, I’m irritable. But really, no matter what I say it’s all worth it for this baby.”

I grinned at her. I chanced a glance at Lucifer who was watching me from across the room with narrowed eyes. “I agree.” I told her and it was true. This baby was worth me enduring anything that Lucifer throws at me. No matter what he does or says to me, my child is worth facing any obstacle… and he might be one of the biggest of all.

When the nurse called my name and I stood, I watched as Lucifer followed suit. I frowned, what was he doing? Sure he was my ride here and I figured he’d stick around afraid I’d run… but following me into the exam room was a bit much. I walked slowly to the door leading to the back and waited for him to catch up.

“What are you doing?” I asked in an angry whisper.

He looked down at me with a cocked eyebrow. “What?” he asked.

I sighed. “Where are you going? I’m just going to an exam room.”

He shrugged. “I’m coming too…”

I shook my head. “Is there any way you won’t come?” I asked.

He shook his head slowly and I blew out an exasperated breath. I brushed past him bumping into his shoulder none too gently and stomped after the nurse to the room. When we entered, she turned and noticed Lucifer. Her eyes made a quick and not so subtle scan of him, her cheeks lighting on fire when he smirked at her attentions. What a major A hole.

I crossed my arms and gave her a death glare. When she finally noticed me in the room her cheeks turned brighter and she stumbled over her words before leaving the room. I picked up the gown off of the hospital bed and looked around the room. I glanced at Lucifer who was watching me confused and I closed my eyes praying for the strength to get me through this.

“I need to change, mind leaving the room?” I asked him.

He grunted. “I’ve seen you before what’s the big deal? I’m not paying you any attention anyway.”

I groaned. “Seriously, can I have an ounce of privacy?” when he didn’t respond and instead took a seat in one of the empty chairs in the room I scrubbed a hand down my face.

I just needed to get through this appointment then I could go back to pretending he doesn’t exist. I stripped down to my underclothes while calling him all kinds of dirty words in my head. I was so frustrated that I couldn’t focus on what I was doing and was having unusual difficulty getting the gown open to put on. I growled and spared a glance at Lucifer hoping to burn him with my laser vision.

When my eyes landed on his face I frowned. His eyes were scanning my body up and down from head to toe. His eyes were dark and he licked his lips slowly. My legs quivered at his attentions and I only became more frustrated. I mean come on, I’m six months pregnant! My hormones have been high before, but being in his presence hasn’t exactly helped the urge. Not to mention that I refuse to lust after him so I’ve been totally unsated. Yes, I’m frustrated about my situation, frustrated at him, and sexually frustrated. From where I was currently standing it was a dangerous combination.

“Stop looking at me!” I hissed at him.

He grunted and didn’t bother moving his eyes. “Just finish doing whatever the fuck you’re supposed to be doing before someone walks in here and see’s you naked. You don’t want to cause a scene here now do you?” He asked arching an eyebrow.

“You’ve got some nerve…” I muttered under my breath as I practically forced the gown on and plopped on the bed. I waited until I was fully covered until I shimmied out of my underwear’s. When they reached my ankle and I sat up to swipe them off, Lucifer let out a growl. I decided not to entertain him.

Mrs. Silverman came into the room seconds later and I focused all my attention on her and what she was doing. “Well, hello there Ms. Bianchi, long time no see…” she began with an arched eyebrow.

I smiled shyly. “I went away for a while but I’d still been seeking prenatal care.” I comforted her.

She smiled and nodded and began reading my charts. “I haven’t received your paperwork so we need to go on and have a thorough look, make sure everything is all good. I do want you to do some additional tests just because we don’t have that on hand if you don’t mind?” she asked.

I nodded. “Sure, whatever you need.”

“Let’s do this.”

She started with the normal vaginal exam, and I was extremely uncomfortable having this done with Lucifer’s probing eyes. Next was the sonogram. She covered me up, thank god and got the machine setup. When she applied the goo to my belly and placed the wand on my stomach she pressed a button and my baby’s heartbeat filled the silence in the room. Lucifer got out of his seat and came to stand at the side of the bed.

It seems like Alice just noticed his presence and offered him a smile. “Daddy?” she asked.

He removed his eyes from the screen just barely and gave her a nod before refocusing all of his attention to the monitor. “That’s the baby. He’s big.” He mentioned.

I looked up to Lucifer. His eyes were wide with wonder glued to the screen he was now leaning towards. I was fascinated with his enthusiasm. He looked down at me and for the first time in a long time his faced softened almost as if he was letting his guard down. “He’s real.” He whispered.

I felt my eyes tear up and offered him a nod. He used his thumb to wipe away the tears before they could make their way down my cheek.

When the sonogram was done, the doctor ran a bunch of other tests from blood and urine test to some other stuff I’m not totally sure were for. I just let her have at it, the best for the baby and all. We stayed around for an hour for the test results. It was extremely uncomfortable. While I was able to avoid his presence when we initially arrived he made sure to hover while we waited. I attempted to tune him out by reading magazines and baby books they had in the waiting area. He spent the whole time fiddling on his phone doing lord knows what.

When Dr. Silverman called us back in, the look on her face made me instantly worried. It wasn’t the usual happy smile that she gives me, she looked concerned.

“Alice?” I asked hesitantly.

She gestured to the chairs in front of her desk. “Please have a seat.”

Both Lucifer and I sat down and gave the doctor our undivided attention. “I’m a bit concerned here Abelie. I’m seeing high levels of consistent stress showing up in the tests. This is not good for the baby at all. One of the side effects if this continues is premature labor. It’s also been linked to babies being born smaller than they should or could impact brain development.”

I automatically held onto my stomach. She noticed the gesture and backtracked. “This can be fixed, if you know what the stressors are in your life work to decrease and eliminate them. I’m not saying that anything is going to happen you just need to know what could happen.” She explained.

My head cocked to the side and I was instantly pissed off. All the stress I’ve had since I’ve been pregnant has been associated to the man beside me. “Oh, I know what’s stressing me out…” I told her cutting my eyes to Lucifer.

She noticed the gesture and followed my gaze then cleared her throat. “If you two are having issues, I could refer you to a counselor that could help?” she suggested.

I immediately stood. “There’s no need, is there anything else?” I asked.

She studied us for a moment and sighed. “That’s all, but here…” she slid over a pamphlet. “Here, if you change your mind.”

I forced a smile and walked out of the hospital not sparing a glance at Lucifer. I couldn’t believe that this was happening. It’s like no matter what I did, we were destined for bad things.

When we got in the car Lucifer started it but didn’t pull off right away. “Am I really the reason for all of your stress?”

I instinctively scoffed and didn’t offer any further reply. That was the dumbest question I ever heard. The fact he had the nerve to even ask pissed me off.