Disclaimer: If I owned Borderlands, Lilith and Mordecai would be together.
Hey, read the comment at the bottom and help make a vote to help determine a bit on what I do with the story.
"I have no clue whether or not I should chase after her," Maya sighed, pacing in Sanctuary. Krieg was sitting on the couch, and Tannis has retired to her own bedroom to cry in private over her loss. "I mean, I doubt she'd go far."
Krieg gave a mumble-like grunt in response.
"But even if she doesn't go far, she could run into danger. And if she is pregnant, she'd not only risk hurting herself but also the baby."
Krieg's eye twitched, staring at Maya.
Comfort her. Tell her that Lilith is strong, she can defend herself. Remind her that all who've crossed the Siren before had paid with their lives.
"Monster down! Angel up!" was all he could form. Maya gave a small smile, and Krieg smiled slightly behind his mask. He had gotten a little better at communicating with his beloved Siren, and said Siren was beginning to get the message his sane voice was telling him in his head to tell her.
"I know, Krieg. She's a Siren, and even if she wasn't one, she's still capable of handling herself on her own," Maya sighed, walking towards the balcony. "But that's not the issue. I've never heard of a pregnant Siren, what if when Sirens use their powers it affects the baby? Or her Eridium addiction? That can't be good for an unborn child."
Krieg stood and slowly followed her.
Tell her that Lilith will be fine. Let her know that Lilith might not even be having a baby, just so distraught over Roland's death that she's driving herself mad…like us…
Krieg's arms flailed wildly for a minute as he struggled to make a normal sentence.
"Keep your chin up!" he blurted out. Maya turned in slight surprise to raise an eyebrow at him. Was this Krieg's first normal, sane sentence? "SO I CAN SMASH IT WITH A HAMMER!"
Guess not.
Maya's features relaxed lightly.
"I'm probably just overreacting," she sighed, walking past him back into the building, the psycho hot on her trail. "This is Lilith we're talking about. She wouldn't do anything stupid."
"You'd be surprised," Mordecai called out. Maya looked up to see Mordecai's form enter the doorway that headed towards the stairs. "What'd she get herself into this time?"
Lilith set the test gently on the bathroom sink. She sat down on the edge of the bathtub/shower and drummed her fingers on her knees once more. Less than thirty seconds after that, she stood and rushed out of the bathroom.
"I need to get my mind off this," she murmured to herself, prying the fridge open via the side. The handle had been broken off and was sitting on the counter.
"Lily? You up here?"
Lilith turned to see Mordecai stroll slowly into the small apartment, kicking aside a beer bottle.
"How did you know where I was?" she wondered. "And why were you even looking for me?"
"Asked Moxxi. Said you were up here," Mordecai responded. "Overheard Maya talking to Krieg. Even though I have no clue why she still tries to communicate with him. Either way, I know what's going on."
Lilith shut the fridge door and shuffled slightly to plop in one of the dining chairs, hiding her head in her arms. Mordecai's footsteps moved over to her before his boot nudged hers as he sat across from her. He put a hand on her tattooed arm, causing her to sit up. She bit her lip and wiped her eyes, hoping he wouldn't notice the small tear stains on her cheeks.
"Lil, I know this is really difficult for you," he told her gently.
"When did you become Mr. Sensitive?" she snapped.
"When we learned that you're possibly a hormonal pregnant bitch," he snapped back. "Look, I know that Roland's death is still hard for you to get past, Lilith. It's hard on me too, but I was won-"
"How is this hard for you, Mordecai?" Lilith shouted, standing up. Her fingers gripped the edge of the table, threatening to flip it. "You never loved Roland!"
"I did love Roland," Mordecai responded hotly, grabbing her arm and yanking her down. She stumbled back into her seat. "He was like a brother to me."
"But not like I did!" she protested, her fingers clenching into fists. "Nobody did! Everybody's moved on except me because nobody loved Roland like I did. Nobody else shared an intimate bond with him for as long and as strongly as I did. And to top it off, I might be pregnant with his baby. He's dead, Mordy."
"I know, Lilith, but-" Mordecai tried to cut in, but Lilith went on, ignoring him.
"Do you have any idea how this makes me feel?" Lilith began to choke up. She put her hand over her mouth before bowing her head, shielding her face from Mordecai. "I lost somebody I love so much, and I might be having their baby. Roland's not going to be here for any of it. I mean…I mean…Oh God, Mordy. Roland doesn't even know that he's possibly a daddy, let alone ever see the baby being born, first steps, be there to give him his first shooting lesson or anything."
Lilith slowly began to sob. Mordecai sighed, getting out of his seat and sitting on the table. He reached out and slowly rubbed her back soothingly. She slowly stood. Mordecai's hand moved to her arm, pulling her towards him in a hug, which Lilith gladly accepted. She held him tightly and began to sob more.
It hurt to see the legendary Firehawk and a powerful Siren reduced to sobbing her broken heart out. Mordecai continued to rub her back, shushing her.
"We don't even know if you are pregnant yet," Mordecai pointed out. Although you're acting like a hormonal bitch.
"My test!" Lilith gasped, pushing herself gently away from Mordecai. He released his hold on her.
"Where is it?" he asked. "What's the results?"
"It's in the bathroom, but I don't know," she admitted, holding his shirt in the fists of her hands, biting her lower lip. "I took it, but I was waiting for the results when you came up."
"Go get it then," he urged.
"Um…will you go look at it?" she asked.
"Uh…," He was about to protest until he saw the tears filling her eyes again. "Sure."
"One line means no, two lines mean yes," she told him. He nodded and walked into the bathroom.
Lilith slipped back into the seat. She stared at the pizza box next to her until Mordecai walked out of the bathroom, the test in his left hand. She stood up again, staring anxiously at him. He gave a small smile.
"Congratulations. You're a mommy," he announced. Lilith rushed over and pried the test from his fingers. He didn't misread. There were two lines.
Lilith immediately burst into more tears. Mordecai grabbed her before she could collapse to the floor. He grunted, mostly dragging her to the couch and lightly pushing her on it. Lilith immediately pulling her legs up against her, rolling to face the back of the couch.
"I'll be back," he told her, gently patting her back. Lilith didn't respond. She heard him decent the stairs, and a few minutes later, footsteps coming back up.
They came towards her before she felt somebody's weight sit on the couch near her thighs.
"Mordy told me your results," Moxxi's voice cooed soothingly as she began to rub her back. "What's wrong? Aren't you excited? Most would be thrilled to discover that they're about to become a mother."
"Most aren't carrying their dead boyfriend's baby," Lilith responded, hiccupping as more tears rolled down her cheeks. "Roland isn't here. It's not because he doesn't want to be, it's because he's dead. He never even got to learn that he's going to be a daddy. He's not going to be here. He's never going to be here. Ever."
"Oh, Sugar, it'll be alright. Sure, this baby will grow up without their biological father. None of my children did," Moxxi comforted, making small circles on Lilith's back. "But that doesn't matter. You have a family of Vault Hunters that will fill in every role that a child could and would ever need. When I left the Hodunk clan, I left my entire family, but I quickly found a small bar family that played family to my babies."
"I guess," Lilith sighed. Her tears still flowed in a steady stream. "But I have nothing. I'm not sure I'm even ready for a baby. I have no clue where to even find any of the things a baby could possibly need on Pandora."
Moxxi took Lilith's arm and forced her to sit up.
"Come with me, Sugar," Moxxi told her. Lilith sighed and stood. She fumbled slightly, and Moxxi held her hand to prevent her from falling.
The Siren followed Moxxi down the stairs back into the back room of the bar. Through the window, Lilith saw Mordecai tending the bar, washing a glass out and chatting with a man at the bar stool. Moxxi bent down to open a door on the floor, swinging it open.
Moxxi casually began to walk down the stairs, Lilith hesitantly following. After a few steps, Moxxi paused to flip a light switch before continuing down the stairs until she reached the end.
The basement of the bar was basically used as a storage center. It had boxes everywhere and a few pieces of furniture, some guns scattered on the ground and a small stack of beer and a freezer that was pushed against the stairs.
"Most of this is Torgue's things," Moxxi replied to Lilith's unspoken question. "He hasn't quite unpacked and gotten rid of everything we don't need just yet."
"Are we looking for anything specific?" Lilith asked, walking over to a small stack of boxes and opening the top of it. Inside was a bunch of parts to various Torgue weapons.
"We're not looking, because what I want is right here," Moxxi answered.
She picked up a box and handed it to Lilith. The Siren slowly took it and held it as Moxxi opened it. The contents were a few small articles of clothing and a small blanket.
"What is this?" Lilith asked.
"These are some of," Moxxi began, but paused. She made Lilith hold the box up so that she could look underneath it, "Scooter's old baby clothes and his baby blanket. Sugar, you don't need to worry at all about any baby things. I will make sure you have everything you need."
"You kept them?" Lilith wondered in amazement, using one hand to hold the box and using the other to run her fingers against the fabric. "Why?"
"Well…I was saving them for, well, when my babies had babies themselves. Baby things are hard to come by on Pandora. Actually, I'm not sure if they even exited," Moxxi sighed, opening another box. Lilith walked up and peered over her shoulder to see a few baby toys. "But at the rate things are going, I doubt I'll be a grandmother within my lifetime."
"Don't you think that Ellie and Salvador will have kids soon though? I mean, they just got married."
"It's not possible," Moxxi replied, closing the box. "All the drugs Salvador took in his youth have rendered him infertile. Scooter? Well, you know the story with him. It's a miracle if he gets a girlfriend before fifty. My other children? I haven't heard from them in so long…I'm afraid I don't even know if they're alive."
"I...I can't just take your stuff like this," Lilith insisted, handing Moxxi the box back.
"I'm not giving it to you then," Moxxi responded, refusing the box. "Think of it as a loan until the baby outgrows them, then I'll take them back and wait for Salvador and Ellie to have a miracle. It's been a while since any of these were used, but they're still good. Sugar, you're not going to find baby items as easily as you do ammo on Pandora. Hell, my first and second husband made most of the baby furniture." Moxxi glanced over at what seemed to be a dresser and other non-box objects hidden behind the boxes. "I'll have Torgue bring out all the baby things when it gets closer."
"But...why?" Lilith asked softly, putting the box on top of a stack. "Why let me use these?"
"Sugar, let me tell you a little story about when I was a young woman. Somewhat like you, only much younger," Moxxi began. "I was fifteen years old. Thought I was grown up and didn't need my parents and ran away from home for Pandora to search for the Vault. Ended up in the Hodunk clan at sixteen after a bad run-in with bandits, and at seventeen I was pregnant with Ellie. Shortly before eighteen, I found myself married to Jimbo Hodunk. Know what being a Hodunk means? It means you live in the desert with nothing around for miles and miles. This was before Catch-A-Rides and Fast Travel Stations, Sugar. I was stuck there, and I had no means nor way of preparing for my baby. I wasn't some dumb redneck, I wasn't going to stand for using half a tire as a crib or dressing them in Rakkwings like them Hodunk women. I bitched and whined and moaned at Jimbo until he built me proper baby furniture out of car parts, and the few times we drove to any town, I bought things that I could use to make my own baby clothing and toys. After I left the clan, I almost immediately married Shank and convinced him to update and make a few more pieces of furniture too."
"I have never seen any baby things whenever I shopped in Pandora," Lilith admitted.
"Of course not. Very few ever deliver on this planet. It's mainly for Vault Hunters with a dream or crazy people," Moxxi replied, beginning to head up the stairs. "Now come on. Need to make sure Mordy's been keeping my bar up and running or if he's scared away all my customers."
Moxxi and Lilith walked through the back door of the bar. Mordecai was leaning against the counter, but stood up straight when he saw the two women emerge from the backroom.
"Hey," he greeted. "You okay, Lil?"
Lilith, for the first time since Roland's death, gave a small, genuine smile and nodded.
"Not entire, but I'm going to be fine," she sighed. Mordecai gave a sigh of relief.
"Good. Wanna discuss what you're planning on doing over pizza?" he asked. "We can snag that more private booth in the back."
"Sounds good," Lilith agreed. "I'm starving."
Would you guys like to see a miracle and have Ellie be pregnant alongside Lilith? Yes or No.