Remembering where Daniel had stabbed her, Selene checked her wound -- in the stomach.

Michael looked down, too, and worry filled his eyes. "Oh, God," he breathed.

Selene looked back up, and, with tears in her eyes, whispered, "Michael…" It can't be true, she wailed in her mind. Our baby can't be… dead.

Michael met her eyes, confirming her worst fears – Daniel had inadvertently slaughtered their unborn baby in the process of trying to murder Selene.

"Th-there's no way… our baby could never have survived this," he said.

Selene felt bile rise in her throat at these words.

Allowing tears to wash down her cheeks, Selene sat down on the ground. "That does it," she announced gravely, but still cracking a smile, "this week sucks more than last week."

Michael laughed, but his worried expression returned.

"Look," Selene said. "Let's get some sleep, and then when we wake up, we can go back to Nueve Esperanza."

Michael nodded his agreement grimly, and they both returned to the car. Selene slept in the back seats, and Michael slept in the space behind those seats.

They awoke, neither sleeping too well, but having slept got the energy to go back to the mansion.

Selene and Michael got out the car to go to the front for their drive back.

Outside, Michael wrapped his arms around Selene. He nuzzled her neck from behind her. "Hello," he said warmly.

Selene fought the urge to close up again, and returned just as affectionately, "Hey."

His arms traveled down to her waist. Careful of where Daniel had stabbed her, he squeezed her lightly. "How's your back?"

"Fine," she said. There was a slight soreness, but no pain. In fact, she was basically completely healed by her experiences with Daisy and Marc not too long before. There were scars that were likely to never fade, of course, but at least she could walk around the mansion without the fear of passing out at any moment gnawing at the back of her mind.

"I'm glad." He let her go. "Do you need to talk?"

Once again, fighting an urge to lock her emotions up behind a door, Selene shook her head. "I think if it had been further along," she explained, "I would've been more upset. But I only knew I was pregnant for what? A few hours?"

"True," he acknowledged, "but it still hurts."

Selene looked at Michael, not hiding a shred of emotion. She kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Do you need to talk?"

Michael leaned against the door and sighed heavily. "It just kind of…"

"…sucks?" Selene filled in.

"You've been hanging out with Damien way too much." He smiled at her, but then it faded. "But yeah, it… sucks." He frowned, his brows wrinkling together. "I wasn't even sure I wanted a baby with you, I didn't think we needed one. But when Adam told me you were pregnant, I got so happy…"

Selene could've visualized the scene. Something like Tom Cruise jumping up and down on Oprah's couch, perhaps.

"I kept thinking, 'Wow, I'm gonna be a daddy!'" He smiled at the thought. Once again, a grim expression crept across his face. "But now…"

Selene gave him a hug. "Now is no different." He gave her a surprised look. "Look, I'm not saying I wanna try right away." She took a breath. "But maybe… someday, we can try to start a family. Right now, it's way too dangerous. If things start to mellow down, perhaps we can try to get you that Daddy title you want."

Michael looked pleasantly shocked. He had known Selene would try to open up… not begin planning their future. It was a nice change.

She smiled, and Michael wished that she would do it more often. Her stunning teeth were shown just enough, and the ends of her lips curled up perfectly.

"You should do that more," he commented out loud.

"Do what?"

He gave her a kiss on the forehead, holding her there so that they could both feel the comfort of the skin-on-skin contact. "Smile," he responded eventually. "You look so beautiful when you smile."

She pouted, teasing. "Don't I always look beautiful?"

He laughed. "Fine, you look more beautiful."

A/N:

I know it was kind of a bitter-sweet chapter...

Initially, I had this chapter and chapter 8 mixed into one, but Matthew316 pointed out to me that it might be overwhelming and a bit too much to digest...

So thanks to him for that.

Thank you for reading. I hope you liked what you read.

Leave a comment, if you want...

KATEB819