Four weeks flew by before Abby knew it. With her break from classes nearly over, she was already back at the university preparing for the semester ahead. And with the return of her energy (that seemed to come back to her after week sixteen), she found herself optimistically looking forward to the next few months rather than dreading them.

Just as long as she kept out of the dining halls. At just over seventeen weeks, her aversion to meat had not gotten any better only worsened. So much so she had to start incorporating more protein-based plant foods like spinach and broccoli, quinoa and lentils, and her favorite that Marcus had found for her, almond chocolate milk into her diet. The doctor in her reasoned at least her meals were a lot healthier than they had been, but Abby mourned her teriyaki chicken.

At least she felt better, and that was what was important.

A soft voice at her door had her looking up from her laptop. A smile lighting her face when her daughter stepped into the room. "Hey, honey. What are you doing here?"

Clarke's head tipped to the side, her smile amused. "Registering, remember?"

"No, I knew that you were going to do that today I just didn't expect you to come here."

"Well, yeah," Clarke laughed lightly and raised a white bag into the air. "Who else would I have lunch with?"

Abby dropped a hand to her stomach that had been growling on and off for the last hour and rose from her chair. The oatmeal she had for breakfast seemed like forever ago. She tilted her head trying to read the name on the take-out. "You brought lunch?"

Clarke placed the bag on the table. "I've never seen you look so excited over food."

Abby frowned over at her, and quipped, "It's all your sibling's fault."

Her look was skeptical and she hummed like she wasn't buying it. "Well, I hope he or she likes southwest sweet potato taco bowls… without the chicken."

Sweet potato taco bowls? God, how horrible was it her mouth was already watering? She had been missing her and Clarke's taco nights for weeks. "Have I told you how much I love you?"

"Not since this morning," Clarke said, grabbing her styrofoam container and taking a seat in one of the two chairs in front of her desk.

"Too long then," she said, with a grateful smile. "I love you. Thank you, honey."

Abby went back around her desk, and setting her laptop aside, retook her chair and dug into her meal along with Clarke. And God, it was so good. She actually moaned through her first bite making her daughter laugh.

Each of them ate a few bites in silence until Clarke paused to take a drink from one of the bottles of water she got for each of them. Gesturing with a tilt of her chin at the stacks of papers, asked, "How's all this going?"

Abby gazed around her cluttered desk. Syllabus', class schedules, attendance sheets, and books. To anyone who wasn't her, it looked like a mess, but it was her organized mess. "Good. I think I'm almost ready. Did you get the classes you wanted?"

"Mostly. All except for the history class in the afternoon that had a waitlist as long as the Great Wall of China. So I went ahead and took the morning class."

For a few seconds, Abby stared at her daughter. For months Clarke had been saying she couldn't wait to go to college and finally be able to take afternoon classes and sleep in. Not that she could blame her. She wasn't a morning person either, but something told her there was more than meets the eye. She finished the bite of seasoned potato then asked, "What time is it?"

"Seven-thirty."

Hmm. Something was definitely afoot. "What days?"

"Monday, Wednesday, and Friday." Her daughter didn't look at her. Her gaze was drawn down on her food as she picked through it. "I figured it would work and that way you can always ride here with me. I have a math class later in the afternoon so I'll be here when you're ready to go home."

Her eyes narrowed at her daughter. "Have you been plotting with Marcus?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Her voice sounded innocent but Abby knew better.

A little over a week ago she and Clarke went and had dinner with Marcus and Octavia and while she and Octavia made salads, Marcus and Clarke had been at the dinner table talking, their voices low. When she asked what the conspiracy had been about, they both laughed and said they had been talking about Clarke's classes.

She pointed her fork at her daughter. "I saw you both talking at dinner the other night. I don't need to be coddled."

Clarke merely shrugged. "If you don't want to ride with me to class and spend the mornings and afternoons with me you don't have to."

Abby's shoulders dropped, right along with her mouth. "Oh, so that's how you're going to play it. Fine. You both win." Clarke smiled triumphantly over at her through another bite. Abby smiled though she shook her head. So that's how the next five months were going to go? With Clarke and Marcus plotting and lining the floor around her with bubble wrap. She should have known. "I'll deal with him later."

With the jig up, Clarke told her, "Go easy on the poor guy. He's just worried it might be too much on you."

"Which is why I'll only give him half the hard time I might normally," she teased. She wasn't really planning on giving him a hard time, even though it was a bit annoying for him to assume. But the gesture made by him and Clarke was enough for her to put her stubbornness aside.

For the next little while, she and Clarke enjoyed lunch. Talking about Clarke's classes and hers and when they finished she kissed her daughter goodbye and instead of heading home, drove to her other. The one downtown, with the handsome father of her child whose arms she'd been growing accustomed to waking in.

Upstairs, he had dinner ready for them, or as Octavia called it, brinner. Much to her surprise, the recipe they used downstairs for the french toast had been Marcus' mothers, and he made it just as good if not better than the cooks downstairs. With those butter crispy edges, and hints of vanilla and cinnamon. It was delicious. As were the eggs he made to go with it and fruit that Octavia sliced. When dinner was over she felt well and truly spoiled and tired.

And when she made her way into the living room after having a long conversation with Diana in Marcus' room, she found him reading on the couch smiling and patting the seat next to him when he spotted her. She went willingly, falling beside him softly and curling into his side ready for bed but not wanting their time spent together be with her sleeping all the time.

She felt him kiss the top of her head, and she let out a sigh. "Why don't you close your eyes for a while?"

He couldn't see it but her eyes were already closed. But it was only after six and she still had to log into her classes and start uploading her online homework before classes started on Wednesday. But then again she still had tomorrow and she was tired. "So what I'm just going to sleep and you're going to read?"

"Mmhm."

She shouldn't, but he was warm and smelled like laundry soap and faded cologne and did she mention warm? Still, with her eyes shut she protested, "I feel like I should be doing something."

"You are doing something," he told her and then sat them both fully up so he could turn and sit with his legs across the couch so she could lie between them and curl up against his chest. When she was settled, he kissed her, and said, "You're carrying our child."

Laying her head on his chest, she sighed. "It must be a boy. Only a man could be this exhausting."

He snorted. "Sure only men… She's probably restless and taking after her mother."

That could be it too, she thought with a small smile. "You're going to regret wishing for a girl with both mine and your DNA. She'll be a handful."

His chest vibrated under her cheek with his deep chuckle. "That's the way I like them," he teased and kissed her head again.

"You're a glutton," she murmured, sleepily.

"Probably," he said, softly. "Sleep, Abby. I've got you both."

With her eyes fluttering closed once again, she let the soft thud of his heartbeat beneath her ear lull her. But then just as she was about to drift off a sensation, a fluttering low in her belly had her eyes flying open. Was that? She waited. She could have been imagining it but… there it was! It happened again. "Marcus!"

"What?" he asked and must have picked up on her excitement mistaking it for something wrong because he sat up on alert.

"Give me your hand." With his hand in hers, she pushed herself back against him and he got the idea and moved back with her to where they were before while placing his hand over where she was feeling the movements. "I can feel the baby move."

"What? Where?"

She frowned slightly thinking about how it had been weeks after she had started feeling Clarke before Jake could feel her movements too. "It's still too early for you to feel it, but…" she trailed off tears filling her eyes, "I almost forgot how it felt."

His hand moved out from under hers and slid under her shirt, back over the spot where she placed it before. Wrapping his other arm around her, he moved his face beside hers and in a murmur asked, "Are you crying?"

Her head shook softly. "No…" she lied.

"What does it feel like?" he asked, his voice now an intimate whisper.

"Like a butterfly, a fluttering sensation. Like…" She took his hand in hers and taped the gentlest taps on the back of his hand. "Something like that. In a few weeks, you'll be able to feel it too."

They sat there, with his hand on her belly and her enjoying the little flutter of movements until she started to feel sleepy again.

But then came another whisper and this time it was almost, hesitant. "Can we... talk about something I've been wondering about lately? About us and the baby, what we'll do once he or she is here."

Turning sideways, she gazed up into his eyes that held a bit of uncertainty she hadn't seen in them before. "What do you mean?"

She had a feeling she knew where this was going but wanted to be sure.

"I know we're not at a point in our relationship where we would consider something more… permanent. But I was wondering maybe in the future if you saw that as a possibility?"

"Saw what?"

He laughed lightly and she smiled softly. She wasn't going to make this easy on him. Not when it was too adorable to see him fumble.

"Like the possibility of us living together."

"Here?" she asked because that was something she had been wondering about lately late at night while he slept beside her. His apartment was wonderful. Cozy and had room for her and the baby, but what about Clarke? She couldn't just leave her. Not when she was starting college and finding her place in the world.

It was with a sigh of relief when he suggested, "Here, your place… somewhere new that's just ours."

Her heart knocked hard in her chest.

Somewhere new that's just ours.

The idea of it was enough to make her smile. "That's definitely something we should discuss."

But before either of them could get another word out, the sudden sound of the door slamming had her and his head whipping around. Octavia's heavy footsteps followed quickly after. She only caught a glimpse of the young girl's face but it was enough to see the redness in her eyes and wet cheeks.

"Octavia?" Marcus asked.

"I don't want to talk about it!" she called jogging down the hall. The sound of her door slamming shut followed soon after.

He looked like he was about to go after her, but Abby put her hand on his arm to stop him. "Let me try and talk to her."

He nodded. "All right. I'm going to lock up. I'll meet you in the bedroom."

She took his hand, let him help her to her feet. In the weeks that had passed, she and Octavia had grown closer. The teenager was so much different than her own daughter, having grown up most of her life without a mother. A little rougher around the edges than Clarke but it only made Abby want to protect her more.

Making her way down the hall, she knocked on Octavia's door, and called, "Octavia, honey, can I come in?"

There were a few heartbeats before she heard Octavia's voice say, "Yeah."

Opening the door to her room, Abby stepped inside and shut it behind her. Octavia was lying on her bed, her phone in her hand her eyes still a bit red from crying. Going over beside the bed, Abby took a seat on the edge facing the girl.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" she asked.

Octavia looked up, her eyes on the ceiling and sighed. "You're just gonna be mad."

Well, that wasn't worrying at all, Abby thought wryly. But then again, Octavia was a teenager and really what could she have done that would make her mad besides outside of getting a ticket in her father's car or getting into a physical fight with someone. Even then she wouldn't say she'd be mad more concerned. "We'll see about that."

"So... maybe I asked him out."

Oh.

Oh.

Well, hell. There was no need for her to ask her who she asked out because Abby knew. And damnit, she should have seen it coming. But judging by the red eyes and the slamming door she only needed one guess as to the outcome. "And what did he say?"

Her eyebrows shot up and Abby had to suppress a smile. Octavia hadn't seen that coming. "He said he couldn't because I was too young."

She took a deep breath, held Octavia's eyes a moment before she replied, "He's right, you are."

"I know, I just like him." She took the pillow she had been cuddling against her chest and covered her face with it growling into it. Abby's lips tipped up, remembering how dramatic her own teenage years were. A boy not returning the feelings you had for them was no less than devastating. Pulling the pillow from her face, Octavia went on, "I played pool with him the other night and it was fun. He's not like the guys I go to school with. He's mature and…"

Abby raised a brow at her. "And what?"

Octavia closed her eyes and groaned. "Ugh, I can't talk to you about this cause you're like… like a mom."

"So?" She did smile this time. "You know, some mothers and daughters do talk about things like this."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. So tell me about him."

"He's just so hot, but you've seen him..."

Abby rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. "I have, but let's try and leave the hormones out of this."

"Ugh, see. I knew you'd go all mom on me."

"Of course, I'm going to go all "mom" on you, but also as someone who was young once too, don't let all that," she paused and waved her hand in the air like he was standing between them, "That muscle he has to distract you and get you in a hurry. If he likes you, and I think he might, he can wait a year and a half to date you."

Octavia grinned. "You think he likes me?"

Abby tilted her head to the side and let out a heavy breath. "Did you hear anything I happened to say before that?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't get in a hurry." Octavia sat up and crossed her legs. Her eyes no longer red from her tears but shining brightly. "But let's get back to the liking me part. What makes you think that?"

"I can just see it, but what I also can tell you is there's no way your father is going to allow you to date him." God, she could just imagine his reaction and it wasn't pretty. "Not yet anyway. Be friends with him, get to know him in the meantime."

"I guess I could do that. But what if he dates someone else?" she asked and dropped her gaze to the floor. "There's all those girls down there."

"Is that what the slamming door was about?"

"Maybe."

She reached over and put her hand over Octavia's. "If he likes you, he'll wait."

"It's not like I haven't done stuff... before."

Abby sat up slightly taken aback by Octavia's openness. She hadn't been prepared at all for this conversation, but it was obvious Octavia needed this. Growing up without a mother there were probably only so many things she could talk to Marcus or even Echo about. That Octavia was opening up to her touched her and deepened the affection she already felt for her.

She never wanted to replace her mother, but if Octavia wanted her to be that role model she was all too willing to step into that place for her. "And by stuff you mean?"

"I haven't gone all the way yet, but I'm not the kind of girl that's going to wait to get married or something stupid like that."

Abby clinked her tongue. "I can appreciate your honesty and knowing who you are... And as long as you're being safe…" God, Marcus was going to kill her but what was there to be done? Lock her in her room? If she was determined to be sexually active there wasn't much they could do to stop her. But Abby could at least make sure Octavia knew what a healthy, mature relationship was and how to take precautions. "Do we need to talk about the hows and whys behind why you are getting a new brother or sister?"

"You don't have to have the talk with me, Abby. I know about everything, and I'd rather not hear the details about you and Dad."

"All right, but there are worse things out there than just getting pregnant. And Lincoln can get into trouble. A lot of trouble. If you both like each other, a little over a year isn't going to kill either of you. It just might add to the feelings you're already feeling."

Octavia groaned. "Says you. You and dad didn't even wait until you were dating."

Fair enough but…

"Your father and I were friends and are also adults. We knew and accepted the consequences." Octavia made a face. "We also cared about one another very much before we did what we did."

"How am I supposed to be friends with him? I can hang out in the restaurant, play pool with him downstairs, but if dad's not going to let me go out with him anywhere..."

"You could always spend supervised time here."

"What about Dad?" Her brow furrowed. "You think he's going to like that?"

"Probably not, but you leave your father to me." With some finesse, she could probably get him used to the idea of them being friends. It was better to give her permission to hang out with him there where they could watch her because if they didn't she'd only try and sneak around and that could lead to other things. She was damn sure Marcus wasn't ready to be a father and a grandfather. Letting Octavia know that she was trusted would take some of that rebellion off her shoulders. "But you have to promise me, you'll only be friends with him, for now."

"Fine. I'll be friends with him."

She tilted her head to make sure the young girl was looking her in the eyes. "Octavia, promise me."

Octavia held up her hands. "All right, I promise."

Almost a half an hour later, the door to his bedroom opened revealing his beautiful, pregnant girlfriend looking tired but at ease. Something that calmed his own nerves, but then there was also this look in her eyes like she had something to say only unsure where to begin.

Octavia wasn't prone to outbursts. But whatever it was, it couldn't be as bad as he'd been imagining. A spat with a girlfriend, maybe… just Jesus Almighty, let it not be about a boy. Or his car.

Great saints above, what if it was his car?

Setting his book aside, he raised an eyebrow at her. His mouth too dry to say a word.

"We have a problem that you need to be aware of," she started and held up a finger, "but I need you not to overreact or do something stupid."

His gaze flew from her to the closed door she was standing in front of. His nerves on edge even more than they were. "All right..."

"Your daughter has a crush on a certain tattooed doorman."

The air left his lungs in a rush. Jesus Christ, was that it? He thought he was about to have a heart attack. Collapsing back against the pillows he rubbed his eyes. All this over a crush? A crush he could handle. Though, a boy breaking his daughter's heart was another. Then somehow his brain managed to catch up on Abby's use of the word doorman and he realized she was talking about his doorman.

Dropping his hands, he blinked at her, and asked, "Lincoln?"

She must have decided he wasn't going to go marching out the door because she moved away from it and crossed the room while undoing the buttons of her blouse, drawing his gaze. "Yep."

"She can't…" he said, trailing off when said blouse was removed leaving her a black cotton bra. She had the most wonderful breasts. Catching her gaze that was on him, he cleared his throat. "He's older than her," he finished, lamely.

She stared at him, brows furrowed. "Really, Marcus?" She hooked her fingers around the hem of her slacks pulled them down and then off. The small curve of her belly made him smile despite their conversation. It thrilled him to no end and sent a proud punch straight to his heart seeing her carry his child. The tilt of her head and her lifted a brow at him pulled him once again from his musings. "Do you remember being young at all?"

"Vaguely," he groused but then smiled as she took the book from his lap and tossed it on the nightstand. Pulling back the comforter, she then swiftly moving her leg over his to straddle him. He grasped her hips and watched as she bit her lower lip in response. "I forbid it. She's a minor. Besides, I don't know what she sees in that brooding, flippant attitude of his. And what's with all those tattoos? Does he really think he's going to get far in life looking like a hooligan?"

Her eyes rolled and she took his arm, fingertips tracing around his own tattoo. "And this?"

"This is nothing and easy to cover," he said.

"Mmhmm," she hummed. Her smile soft and easy, but the mischievousness in her eyes told him they wouldn't be going to bed anytime soon. He already felt himself stirring at the feel of her straddling his lap and the low sultry of her voice, that lowered even further when she told him, "Deny it all you will, Marcus Kane, but the simple fact is you're not much different than he is."

"How so?"

"Well, I am a bit younger than you, you have a tattoo, and let's face it, you were an intolerable, brooding ass in the beginning."

He snorted a laugh. Loving that she used his word. "Admit it. You loved it."

She made a face making him grin and grasp her hips moving over where he was already hard for her. "Oh yes, I could hardly keep myself from swooning."

Her voice had gone breathless, and he knew then he had her. He reached up and cupped the back of her head, tangling his fingers into her hair and drew her down to him. "I wore you down eventually... and then you were like a moth to a flame," he said, right before their lips met.

By the end of the week, Abby was thankful for the weekend. She made it through all of her classes easily enough and had to admit, driving with Clarke was a lot more easy on her than driving herself. Although her daughter's bleary eyes and speed that morning slightly concerned her. But one quick stop at their neighborhoods coffee shop mostly cured her fatigue. At least well enough that when they got back into the car she was more alert than before.

At home for the night, Abby quickly made dinner from a recipe she found on Pinterest earlier that day, and with it in the oven went upstairs. She had almost an hour to kill and a bath sounded like heaven. She pulled up her hair while the warm water ran and placed her phone down on the floor beside the tub before sinking into its depths.

With a sigh, she rested back against the back of the tub. Let the warm water soothe her tired muscles and enjoyed the little fluttering that now came whenever she relaxed in the evening or just after she ate. Slipping her hand down across her belly she sighed again. The house was quiet. Too quiet. Clarke had gone out with Raven for the night and said she'd probably sleep over. Any other Friday she'd go and stay with Marcus, but knowing Octavia was with Luna for the night, she had other ideas. Reaching over the side of the tube, she took her phone from the floor, brought up his name and pressed send.

His voice answered on the third ring and sounded mid-yawn. "Hey, there, babe."

She grinned and let her head fall back against the smooth porcelain. "Hi. What are you doing?"

"Finishing up the schedules for the next two weeks."

"Ah, fun."

"Hardly. What are you up to?"

"Nothing just taking a bath." She sank further under the water. "Thinking of you."

She heard him groan softly. "Well, now all I'm going to be able to think of is you in the bath, but what exactly were you thinking about?"

"Well, Clarke is out tonight. I remember you saying Octavia was staying with Luna... I thought maybe you could come over here tonight. I made vegetarian enchiladas we could share and watch one of your bad sci-fi movies."

He hummed. "Sounds like a good way to spend the night to me. Let me finish these up and let Octavia know I'll be out for the night and I'll be right over. Is there anything I need to bring?"

"Just yourself."

He chuckled. "I can do that."

Later that night, after meals had been eaten and a movie put in, Abby laid back against the couch with Marcus beside her.

She really loved kissing Marcus Kane. Really really loved it. Maybe it was how equally passionate and gentle he could be, maybe it was his grown out beard and how she loved rubbing her thumbs across it and the way it felt on her skin, or maybe it was just they were just really really good at it.

Whatever it was, he could kiss her for the rest of the night as far as she was concerned.

"I thought we were watching a movie?" he mumbled against her lips.

"We are," she breathed, "it's on isn't it?"

He chuckled against her lips, and she giggled. She wasn't a giggler. This was ridiculous. They had sex all the time. Her only thought shouldn't be how soon she could get him inside her, but it was. She blamed her pregnancy. Her hormones. The way he looked in his jeans and the way his shirt fit oh so nicely around his arms and chest. And that Goddamn beard of his that prickled against her skin and fingertips. If he wasn't so irresistible, maybe she could watch a movie or do her homework… or control herself for ten minutes.

His hand slid up her side and around to cup her breast… God, to hell with it all. She hummed and arched into his touch, and he, in turn, groaned.

The only light in the room came from the television, and the only sounds came from the movie, their soft groans and the slide of hands against skin. So it was a complete surprise when the next thing they knew they heard the sounds of voices and then gasps of surprise when Clarke came stumbling into the living room wrapped around a girl Abby had never seen.

"Oh, hey… Mom!" Clarke looked between her and the girl beside her to the television. "I thought… I thought you were going to his place tonight."

She and Marcus sat up, quickly. Mortified. Absolutely mortified. She was going to have to move in with Marcus now because not only did her daughter just catch her with her boyfriends hand up her shirt but she just caught her daughter making out with someone too.

Straightening her shirt as surreptitiously as she could, she said, "I decided to invite Marcus to stay here."

Abby's gaze slid over to him. He was looking down, his lips pressed together tightly threatening to pull their way up. Traitor.

The room filled with a heavy, awkward silence and then finally, Clarke said, "Mom, Marcus, this is Lexa."

Lexa looked from her to Marcus and back. "Clarke's told me much about you both. It's nice to meet you."

So this was Lexa, Abby thought. "You too, Lexa."

Clarke smiled, though it came out rather strained. "We're just... gonna go up to my room." There was another awkward pause then Clarke took Lexa by the hand and led her from the room calling, "Good night," over her shoulder.

"Good night," she and Marcus chimed simultaneously.

He sat back and she followed. Neither of them spoke for long moments until Marcus broke the silence. "Didn't you tell me they weren't getting along?"

Abby covered her face with her hands. "I thought so… She said things between them were better. I just didn't know they were that much better." Dropping her hands, she turned, inclining her body towards Marcus. "My God, Marcus did that really just happen?"

He nodded. That smile of his finally breaking through. "It did. And I'd say they're getting along fine now."

"Clearly," she mumbled.

His eyes narrowed perceptively. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a surprise is all." Understatement, she thought. "Do you think this thing with Lexa could be why she broke up with Finn?"

"Could be," he began then called out the elephant left in the room, "Did you ever suspect she was attracted to women?"

"No, I…" she paused and thought about that. There were those occasional comments that came when they watched a movie or when Clarke saw someone on her Instagram, but for every, I'm gay for her, even she would look at the picture and well… agree. She always thought Clarke was kidding, and she told him as much. "Am I a bad mother for never realizing this about my daughter? For dismissing these little comments all this time?"

He shook his head. "No, of course, you're not."

"She's always been with Finn and… don't get me wrong, I'm happy for her, and I would have been had I known…" She dropped her head against the back of the couch. "Do you think she was keeping it from me because she was scared of my reaction?"

Angling himself toward her, he put his elbow near her head dropped his head in hand. "I don't think so, no. I know I haven't been with you both long, but I can't see her keeping such an important part of her life from you. If it's something that's new for her perhaps she hadn't got around to telling you about it yet, kind of like we did."

"Maybe so."

"She'll talk to you about it. Definitely, now that we've seen what we have." She groaned and he chuckled. "It'll be okay. Hey, at least we all caught in the act."

She rolled her eyes. That was of little comfort. "From now on we watch the movies upstairs."

"But it's so comfy here." Leaning forward he pressed his lips sweetly against hers, and then another and another. She made no protest when the last one lingered, or when his tongue found hers, or when they continued to once again ignore the movie.

He let her sleep in that morning. Resisted the urge to wake her with kisses to her lips and caresses over her growing belly. She was such a light sleeper as it was. But he was awake and knew his restlessness would wake her so he slipped from the bed and made his way downstairs, in need of coffee.

Phone in hand, he frowned down at the newest texts from Roan. Pike had once again been by late last night, and Marcus had been given thirty days to install a separate fire alarm system from the top floor as the second floor was a dwelling and not apart of the business. Marcus cursed. That great bastard couldn't get at the pub, so he was going for his home.

With a shake of his head, he cursed again under his breath. It was a good thing he hadn't been there. He'd have told the bastard where he could stick his thirty days and most likely spent the night in jail. That'd have been wonderful. He could see himself calling Abby to come bail him out...

"Good morning."

Marcus came to a stop. In the kitchen sat Lexa. She sat straight-backed at the kitchen table with a coffee cup sitting in front of her. She had no phone, no nothing. Just coffee. "Oh, good morning," he replied and looked around. "Where's Clarke?"

"Sleeping. I didn't wish to wake her, so I came downstairs. I hope you do not mind I made coffee."

He smiled. Seemed he and Lexa had the same idea. "I came downstairs for the same reason. And don't worry, Abby and Clarke certainly won't mind."

"It's my understanding you and Abby have only been together a short time."

He stared at her. If you called almost three months short then all right. Five if you counted from the time they were first together. "I suppose that would be correct."

"But you've known Clarke a while?"

What a curious question, he thought while turning to grab a coffee cup from the cupboard nearest the coffee pot. "I have," he said pouring a cup, "Not like I think you're thinking, but I knew her before I got together with her mother and was good friends with her father."

"Has she always been happy?"

He had raised the coffee to his lips but paused before taking a drink. "As far as I know, yes." And he thought Luna was strange. Where Luna was subdued, Lexa seemed to be very formal. He wasn't sure which he found odder. But then maybe she was just nervous about meeting Clarke's family. He raised his cup and took a drink, frowning when Abby appeared, walking into the kitchen.

"Morning," she said, eyes on him making her way sleepily across the tiled floor.

"Good morning," he replied. She stopped in front of him, and he dipped his head to kiss her. "I'm sorry if I woke you."

"You didn't."

She started to raise up onto her toes intent on another kiss that he was all too happy to give her but was sure she hadn't noticed Lexa and well… "Lexa and I were just talking." Her eyes opened and his eyes slid from her and over to the table. "Clarke's still sleeping."

She pressed her lips together a brilliant rosy dust of pink tinged her cheeks right before she turned and smiled. "Good morning, Lexa."

"Good morning, Miss Griffin." She inclined her head at Abby, and Marcus busied himself with making Abby coffee. "Clarke tells me you're pregnant."

Abby chuckled and ran her hand over her stomach. The tee shirt she wore slightly stretched against the curve of her belly. "I should hope so or this should be concerning."

"One should never assume."

"That's very true."

"Are you excited?"

Marcus handed Abby her cup, and it was only then he noticed both sets of eyes were on him. The question had been for him. "Oh, me. Yes, I'm looking forward to it immensely."

"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

"We'll find out in a few weeks," Abby answered.

"Do you have a preference?"

Another question for him. All right. He cleared his throat. "No, not at all. Though, I think it's a girl. But Abby doesn't agree."

Abby's gaze turned to him. "I never said that. You assumed, but I never said I didn't agree."

He set his cup on the counter and leaned against it. A smile pulling his lips up and up. So she did think it was a girl then. "Do you agree?"

"I feel like it might be."

Warmth flooded through his chest. When he pictured their child, she was always a girl. She had her mother's nose and chin. A little defiant thing, just like her mother. "Really?"

She nodded and this time he didn't care that Lexa was watching he leaned down and took her lips with his. The kiss lingered but only until Lexa's voice filled the room again.

"Do you have a name picked out?"

They moved away from one another with guilty smiles and it was he who answered, "We haven't discussed names quite yet."

"I've always been partial to Evelyn."

Abby turned to face Lexa but leaned against him and he rested his hand on her hip. "It's a pretty name," Abby told her.

"You can use it if you want."

"I think we might think of a few more before deciding but thank you."

Another stoic nod. "You're welcome."

"Tell us about you, Lexa," he said, not necessarily wanting the attention from them but curious to know the girl dating his… girlfriend's daughter. Maybe more in the future.

"I was born and raised in Seattle. I have two younger brothers and one older sister that I don't speak to. My parents are both deceased and I, apart from working with Clarke, teach self-defense at Combat Arts Academy."

"That's…" Abby paused. "Combat Arts?"

Lexa reached for her cup and nodded. "I could teach you. Once you are no longer with child."

He really had to fight from smiling. Between imagining Abby taking a combat arts class and her, "I just might think about that," as a reply, he just about lost it.

"I could show you some moves that you can do safely while pregnant."

"You know, I think I'm okay." He felt Abby tap her hand against his before saying, "I have this guy here to protect me."

Lexa arched a brow. Her gaze giving him a once over seemingly unimpressed. He glowered at her. "A few simple moves an I can easily take him down to the floor with little effort, but if you ever change your mind."

"I'll know just where to go," Abby told the young girl then turned to him.

"So breakfast?" The corners up his lips twitched at the way her eyes shone with mirth. It was clear she was feeling the same amusement from this odd conversation as he.

Taking her cup of coffee from the counter, she hid her own smile behind it and murmured, "Yes, please."