Kate

I flinched at the sound of his voice, my stomach felt like I had swallowed a thousand mouthfuls of gum, my heart was beating so loudly I could hear it through my ears, my chest and my cheeks were on fire, I might start sweating.

He hummed, totally relaxed to the infant, one hand rested by his small belly to keep the blanket out of his face.

I took a single step inside, caving into the fact that I had been caught. "I-I didn't think you would be here, I thought you would be in Italy." He didn't respond, only continued to hum. "I'm sorry I'll just let me leave you guys alone, I didn't think you'd be here I wouldn't have-"

"Would you like to hold him?"

"What?"

He looked up for the first time. His eyes were different than the last time I had seen them, they seemed softer, more relaxed maybe. "To hold him Katherine."

I tried not to lose myself when he said my name, the very last thing he had screamed at me as I fled. My name. From his lips. "I can come back another time-" Any time when you aren't here.

But he was already standing, bouncing and shushing the bundle gently as he came towards me. I took a step back. "Here." He said softly. "You can have the rocking chair."

"I'll stand." I insisted and before I could argue a beautiful baby boy was in my hands. "Oh." I managed. He wiggled, his face scrunching up in despair but his eyes didn't open. I bounced him gently as Alessio had and he calmed. "He's so light." I whispered feeling myself welling up already. "Here, take him back." I insisted turning back to him already on the verge of tears.

He didn't offer his hands back up to take him.

"Alessio please take him I-"

"Were you going to tell me?"

"What?"

"Katherine." He said soft, but sharply. "Were you going to tell me?"

"Take the baby Alessio."

He reached out and touched my stomach and I jerked backwards.

"Don't." I warned.

He repeated his question again. "Were you or were you not going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"Hm."

The baby began fussing at this point, no longer merely scrunching his face up but actually crying now. I was instantly filled with anxiety and panic. He stepped forward and took him at this point and he calmed instantly. I wiped my eyes quickly when my hands were free. "I have to go. It was...nice seeing you, take care." I tried quickly.

"Are you keeping it?" He asked and I stilled. He tilted his head to the side. "Have you already-?"

I shook my head and whispered a soft no.

"But you've considered."

"Why do you do that?" I took several steps backwards despite the fact that he'd made no advance. "Why do you state things instead of ask them? You're not in my mind. You have no idea what I want to do, what I've considered, what I want-"

"No, I'm not in your mind, I don't know, I haven't a clue Katherine. You won't include me, how should I?"

"Include you? Why should I include you? Isn't that the point of breaking up? You don't have to include each other anymore?"

"I think there's a little bit of leeway when one is carrying the other's child."

"Stop."

"For fὑck's sake Kate were you going to tell me?" He rose is voice this time and I shied away.

"Maybe. I don't know. No." I admitted. "Have you been stalking me? How do you even know? I didn't tell anyone." Not Stacey or Mia, not my uncle, not even Nash.

"Does that even matter at this point Kate?"

"It does matter!"

"Yes. Katherine. I have been keeping eyes on you. I was worried about you, okay?"

"I'm surprised you have any time to do so! I mean your precious mafia is at war nothing else matters more than that right?"

"We aren't at war."

For some reason, some ridiculous reason this actually made me mad. "Not worth going to war over? Or, I know, maybe since once fiancé left Daddy asked you to wed the other in the name of peace. That's what he always wanted isn't it? You and Aria, your families together, you should really wear a ring you know!"

"What? No, Katherine you're being crazy right now. I haven't wed Aria, I'm not going to wed Aria, I haven't even spoken to Aria, not since Dante's funeral."

"Funeral?"

"Yes Katherine. Dante is dead. There is no war because there is no one alive who wants a war anymore."

"Oh. Poor Aria." Despite my better judgement, I actually felt a little bad for Aria. It wasn't her fault Alessio was a little shit, and while her brother had tried to kill me, he was still her family. I wasn't sad that he was dead, assuming that Alessio had killed him I imagined this must be hard. Her former lover takes the life of his brother after he tries to kill the former lover's new lover and-

"Yes poor Aria, she is doing well from what Sergio has told us. She hasn't been too keen on me since I spit on her brother's casket but that's beside the point, I'm not here to talk about Aria, or the family or anything but this."He motioned towards my stomach. "You're carrying my child and you were going to keep it from me? Did you think I wouldn't find out?"

"Who say it's yours anyway. Maybe I'm a liar, maybe I did sleep with Sergio, maybe I was sleeping with him for weeks, Dante drugged me maybe he took advantage of me before putting me up on that buoy, maybe I came home from Italy angry and broken and screwed everyone who would look my way, I stayed with Nash for a while maybe-"

"Shut up."

"You don't get to tell me what to do-"

"Shut. Up."

I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest.

"I'm going to lay him down. Don't go."

"Why? Will you just have me followed if I do?" I asked sarcastically.

He gave me a look but said nothing. He passed by me and around the corner to take the little one back to the nursery. I tapped my foot, considered making a last second run for it, but I didn't. He came back into the room a few minute later and shut the door behind him.

My stomach lurched, I was somewhere between excited and nervous. Something about sharing the same air with Alessio, about being alone in a dimly lit room with the door closed, it had me stirring. On the other hand, he sighed, his shoulders were tense, jaw clenched, he was angry at me. We were no longer together, I was no longer his love, I had not only turned my back on him, almost slept with his brother, but now I was holding something that was undoubtedly his and undoubtedly important.

"Are you angry?" I whispered into the silent room.

"No."

"Well I am." I said tears rising.

He stared at me, completely stone faced. I hated that face. I could just hurl a bedpan at his head. "Just tell me this. Are you or are you not keeping it."

"You know I didn't sign up for this."

"Oh here we go." He sighed. "It's a really simple question Katherine, are you or are you not keeping the baby?" He finally stepped away from the door and approached me, I backed up until I fell into the chair he'd been sitting in prior. "Oh for fὑcks sake. I'm not going to hurt you." His tone came out angry as though I was being ridiculous but his expression showed hurt rather than anger, hurt that I could even be afraid of him of all people.

"Is there a correct and incorrect answer?"

"What?"

"Is there an incorrect answer? If I say I'm keeping it are you going to force me otherwise? Slip something in my drink that will cause me to lose it? Drug me so you can take me somewhere and have the abortion performed in some old warehouse or back alley while I'm passed out? If I say I'm not are you going to chain me in a room until he's born to ensure I can't interfere? Throw me away when the baby is born and I'm no use to you anymore?"

"Jesus Katherine is that what you think of me?"

I threw my hands up in the air. "How am I supposed to know what you're going to do? You put a bomb in every airport of an entire country! You're twisted and unpredictable and cruel-"

"You should know me! If you know anything about me you should know that I would never hurt you. I didn't put bombs anywhere it was simply a series of bomb threats to halt the flights."

"You're crazy. I don't know a thing about you!" I yelled. "Everything I have ever known about you is nothing but a lie, bullshit, bologna!"

"I just want to know. I'm going to respect your opinion one way or another Katherine. I just want to know. Am I or am I not going to be a father?"

"I didn't sign up for this. I signed up for you and me. You know that. You promised that. I gave up everything to be with you."

"Yes, I know that."

"Do you? Do you really? Do you have any idea how I feel right now? I'll tell you why I didn't tell Stacey, or Nash, or my own uncle, because I didn't want to keep it. Because I thought if I kept it that this baby would be as doomed and fὑcked up as you are. Because I was terrified if I kept it that I would wake up one day and he would be gone. Irrationally, I thought the mafia would just swoop in and take him because he was your son, some rival would come in and they would take my kid and use him as bait in your bὑllshit mafia war. Or that I would wake up one day and you would have taken him because he's yours and he has to grow up to run the family just like you did. I am irrationally terrified that this kid will never be safe, or that he will grow up to be evil and cruel like the rest of you. I thought if I kept him it would be too hard. That I would look at an innocent baby and see you, and see hate, and see violence. Frankly, I didn't want to put a baby through what you went through, what Sergio went through, hell what Aria went through, and I didn't want any single connection left to you!"

"I respect your choice Katherine. I just wanted to know."

I rose to my feet again. "But I couldn't." I shoved him. "I made appointment, after appointment to get it done but I couldn't. And I hate you for it!"

He caught my wrists as I continued to smack his chest. "If it's what you want done, we can go. Right now. You don't need to do this alone Katherine. Regardless of if you want me involved this is mine as well, and you shouldn't have to go through it alone."

I pulled my wrists back. "That is what I want!" He was trying to press me, to see where I stood and I knew that. We both had to know that if I was going to have done it, I would have gone within a week of seeing the second line.

He glanced to my stomach and back up quickly, not quickly enough for me to miss it, but quickly. I crossed my arms over my chest. He tested me at this. "I know people Katherine. It can be taken care of. Discreetly and quickly."

"No."

"No?" He repeated raising a brow. I shook my head and he put his hands into his pockets. He looked relaxed, as he usually did but I read him well enough to know he was just as confused as I was. "I have to admit Katherine, I don't know where we go from here."

"I don't want him exposed to the mafia, I don't want his life to be in danger, I don't want you involved."

"Yes, well, that simply isn't an option."

"Your involvement, or all of it?"

He shrugged lightly. "Time will tell on that."

"No. If I keep this baby, then you are not to be anywhere near him. Ever. I don't want you there during the pregnancy, I don't want you there when he is born, I don't want you keeping tabs, sending money, or gifts, as far as this baby needs to be concerned, and as far as your enemies need to be concerned you are nothing to each other."

"No."

"Yes!"

"I will allow you your decision Katherine. Shall you decide to terminate the pregnancy, I will not try to stop you, but if you intend to carry this pregnancy to term that is my child in there and keeping me away simply is not going to happen."

"If you cared at all you would understand that this baby deserves a normal life, a safe life-"

"I will give my child everything and more."

"Just as your father gave you? And his gave him? No. If my options are to have you involved, or to end it all together then I'll end it!" I threatened stumbling away from him. "I won't, I can't-"

"Threaten me with his or her life all you would like, my answer remains the same."

"I hate you!"

"If you have this child, my child, there will be no keeping me away. I would never threaten your life Katherine, I love you far too much for that, but if it comes to you trying to hide my child from me, I will find out, I will find you, and I will take the baby. You're not shutting me out of my child's life."

I let out a frustrated yell through tears and he rattled his keys calmly in his pocket. "It's not a decision you have to make today. By my clock you have, what, six, seven weeks in the first trimester still? Even then, legal limit is another six weeks from there. Take the time you need to make your choice if you must. But know that the choice of my involvement is not yours to make. I am the father."

"You're not." I tried to say so firmly but my voice was shaking uncontrollably.

"They have tests to prove such a thing as well. I am a patient man Katherine. I can wait to confirm what we both already know. And even that thing that I so rarely abide by, the law, is on my side on this one. You can't keep a father from his child."

There was no escaping him. During this I'd found myself pushing further and further from him, backing up until I hit a wall. He hadn't even needed to approach me to corner me, but once I was back far enough he'd finally approached. Calmly he brushed the hair from my face and paused a second to hold my cheek.

"I love you Katherine. But do not test me, not on this. You may not keep my child from me." He let me go and left the room calmly without another word and I slid down to the ground.

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So I really really pride myself on not writing cliches or predictable stuff and I feel like this pregnancy was totally a cliche! But you know what, I'm okay with that three books in it's apparentlyyyy baby time?

Random unrelated to the story authors note, I mentioned a chapter or two ago my son wanted to be a Dalek for Halloween (where are my Doctor Who fans?!) I've never shared anything personal about my life before but seeing as the people I most didn't want to know about my writing identity have already found it fuck ittt. You can see the Dalek and the Ghost costumes on my Twitter, and will update to facebook shortly after I post this chapter. When your kid wants to be a Dalek, you make him a freaking Dalek, hi brother wanted to be a ghost and I didn't want him to look like the red headed step child, just throw a sheet over his head while the other one has this intense hand made costume so I had to make him a unique one too, I kind of think he ended up looking like a mummy, but once the lights went down he looked awesome too and we got more compliments on his costume because of the lights than we actually did the Dalek costume lol Anyway, please do remember to vote and comment, this IS your Friday update just slightly early because I am beattttt. For some reason my town does trick or treat on the last Thursday of October, it's super dumb, but whatever. I'm uploading and taking my ass to beddd

<3 <3 <3 <3