A/N: Ah, look at all the lovely reviews! You peops are awesome, thank you! :) Okay, so here comes a long chapter for you all, with a lot going on, but the most important thing? We need to fix the Eliot/Parker relationship, right? So lets do this! ;)
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 28
Eliot finally had Parker sat here with him, willing to listen to him, or at least not bolting to get away right now, and yet he hardly knew where to begin. Words were not a strong point for the hitter, he was much better with actions, but all he proved himself capable of doing today was cheating on the woman he loved. He knew he hadn't really done that, but he also knew that was exactly what it looked like it Parker. With her so fragile already when it came to trust and relationships, and then pregnancy and hormones and all on top of that, this was not going to be an easy hole for Eliot to dig himself out of. Nevertheless, he had to try. He could not lose Parker, he just couldn't.
"First off, I wanna tell you again how sorry I am, Parker" he told her from the other side of the booth, hoping at some point she could look at him, but so far no joy, "I should've explained about Crystal instead of sneaking around, that was dumb"
"You are dumb" she snapped in response, folding her arms atop her pregnant belly.
"Yeah, I'll agree with that" Eliot conceded, "but I'm also sorry, like I said, and you oughta believe it, 'cause it's true"
Parker sighed at that and made a particular point about fixing her eyes out of the window. Eliot was getting frustrated again, more and more so by the minute, and he fought to stay calm as he continued.
"Look, I know you got issues with guys and with trusting people" he started, only to have her interrupt again.
"Yeah, because you'd take it so well if you caught me kissing some other man!" she argued, "I know I have trust issues, Eliot, but it's people screwing me over that made me this way!" she reminded him, way too loudly for a public place, and with tears forming in her eyes that made the hitter's heart break.
This was the most awful situation he had ever been in, and that was really saying something, but it was true. Knowing he had hurt Parker, knowing that she might never look at him the same way again, it tore him up inside in a way nothing else ever had.
"Parker" he reached for her hand that was momentarily on the table, but she pulled it away before his fingers ever made contact with her own, "Darlin', please," he begged her, "Would you at least look at me?"
With a condescending sort of an expression that he swore she must've learnt from Sophie, Parker turned her head and gazed at him, no less hurt and angry than before.
"What difference does it make if I'm looking at you or not?" she asked, genuinely not seeing that it made any at all.
"Because I know these days you read people almost as good as I do" Eliot told her, "and even if other folks aren't so easy to figure, you know me. You'll know if I'm lying, 'cause you'd see it in my eyes, right?"
Parker had to admit he had a point. She had made a study of the man in her life, the man she actually thought she'd fallen in love with. If he lied to her face she was sure she would know it, and the more she thought about it, the more it didn't make sense that Eliot would be having an affair anyway. Even when he was sleeping with a new girl every week, long before they ever got together, she knew it was only one woman at a time. He didn't cheat. For a thief and a hitter, he was kind of a gentleman in that way, that much Parker always knew.
"Okay" she nodded then, "Tell me about the woman I saw you kissing. I want to know everything" she said though there was a shake in her voice that made a liar of her.
The truth was, she didn't want to know, but she needed to. She was never going to get all these thoughts out of her head, all this worry and pain, if she didn't hear the whole truth and find a way to believe it. She did want to believe, she wanted Eliot to be innocent of this crime she accused him of, and she wanted everything to be back the way it was, but he had to prove it could be first.
"Okay" Eliot agreed, clearing his throat before he began his tale, "Er, I met Crystal in a bar, when I was out with Hardison. It was a couple of weeks before you and me slept together" he explained, "She was... well, she liked me and I kinda liked her" he said at length, deciding waxing lyrical on the other woman's hotness was maybe not the best of ideas right now.
"Did you have sex with her too?" asked Parker, staring Eliot right in the eyes.
"Yes" he answered honestly, staring right on back at her, "but, sweetheart, believe me when I tell you, I wish I hadn't" he swore, "The chick wouldn't leave me alone, and you know I never led girls on. I told 'em straight that I was in it for the good time, no strings"
Parker nodded that she did understand, and waited for him to go on.
"Anyway, it was around a week before you showed up at my place to tell me you were pregnant" he explained, "Crystal was calling me every day, she was... she was crazy. Making plans for me to meet her parents and marry her, all kinds of crap, I just couldn't get rid of her!" he said, anger and frustration seeping in as he talked of the woman that had done more damage to his life than she could ever conceive, "Hardison figured out what was happening, and he helped me out. He faked me some plane tickets and a reason to leave for Yemen for, like, five years or somethin'. It was supposed to get rid of Crystal"
"But it didn't" said Parker when he paused and looked away.
"No, it didn't" Eliot confirmed, glancing back at her, "She saw me, apparently, I'm not even sure where, but she knew I was 'back in the country' and she started calling me again"
"She was the ex-girlfriend?" Parker frowned some as she recalled a phone call from months ago, "That day you asked me to move in with you, you got a call from a girl and you said she was an ex"
"Yeah" nodded Eliot, remembering the same day himself now, "Yeah, that was her. I was trying to buy some time, figure out another way to get her the hell outta my life. I couldn't just go pissing her off too much, she was so out of her mind" he shook his head, "I just didn't know what to do for the best, okay? I thought if she found out about you, she might... she might wanna hurt you or get rid of you" he explained, "Believe it or not, I never told you about her because I was trying to protect you, not just your feelings, but physically protect you"
Parker kept on staring at him, eyes locked onto his own baby blues. He meant what he said, she ought to know if he was lying by now, and Eliot also knew he had nothing to fear because every word out of his mouth was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
"Never, since the day I found out you were pregnant, have I touched another woman that way" he promised then, "No dates, no sex, not even so much as a drunken fumble, not at all" he swore, counting points off on his fingers for her to see, "I have never and would never cheat on you Parker, I swear it on our baby's life"
The blonde's arms went instinctively over her belly then, about to yell at him for risking their unborn child that way, until she realised he never would. Eliot wouldn't risk their baby, she was pretty sure he wouldn't even risk her, though he'd made her doubt it just a little today. If he was willing to swear on their unborn son or daughter, he had to be serious. Besides, Parker had seen no flicker of a lie in his eyes this entire time, nothing but pure truth.
"I believe you" she said at length, though her voice came out much wobblier than she meant as tears streaked down her cheeks unchecked .
"Thank you, darlin'" replied Eliot with audible sigh of relief as she finally allowed him to reach for her hands across the table and squeeze them tight, "I gotta admit, not much scares me that easy, but thinking you were gone and..."
"I'm not gone" she interrupted when he faltered some, "I'm here, we're all here" she smiled through a veil of tears, "but I don't wanna be" she admitted, worrying Eliot again all but momentarily, "I just wanna go home" she cried.
He was around the table in second, beside her in the booth, hugging her close. With their arms around each other, the world went away, and then she was kissing him, and Eliot knew that everything was going to be okay. This was the first and only time he would let something so awful and stupid as this happen to them. From now on, he tried harder to be the man Parker deserved, the kind of man his son or daughter would be proud to call Daddy.
"Hang on a second" said Parker as she pulled away a moment with a frown on her face, "I though Hardison was with you?" she checked, knowing she had heard him on the CB in the truck.
"He's out in the car" Eliot smiled widely, "I think he was afraid that if things went bad, he was gonna end up injured, and if they went good, well..." he sighed, running his fingers through her hair and across her cheek, "then he was gonna have to see this" he smiled as he pulled her head towards him and kissed her again, long and deep and full of the love he had only for her.
It was a while before it occurred to either of them to get up and move, but Hardison was only too happy to see them when they emerged from the truck stop with their arms around each other.
"And all is right with the world" he grinned as he hopped out of the car and met them, "You okay there, mama?" he checked with Parker, who nodded her head.
"Yeah, I'm good" she promised, "but can we go home already?"
"Your chariot awaits, ma'am" he bowed in some over the top way as he opened the door to the back seat and helped Parker get in.
Eliot didn't see as he was running around to the other side, but his girlfriend winced a little as she sat down, and Hardison couldn't fail to notice.
"Hey, that ain't good" he noted, but Parker shook her head.
"It's fine" she assured him, as Eliot appeared at her other side, "My back's been hurting off and on since I ran out of the bar" she admitted, "Actually, it might've started before that" she admitted.
Eliot and Hardison shared a pointed look at that comment.
"Parker" her boyfriend said worriedly, "These pains you've been getting, are they regular, like every few minutes?" he checked.
"Hmm, yeah, I guess" she shrugged, "I think they're getting closer together though, and worse" she winced as she seemed to feel another right in that moment.
"Oh, man, that really ain't good" said Hardison, with genuine panic written on his face, "You still got five weeks to go, don't you?"
"Hardison, don't talk, just drive" Eliot advised his friend, waiting for him to scramble into the driver's seat before turning full attention to Parker, "Sweetheart, I don't think this kid of ours wants to wait any longer to be born"
"You okay?" asked Sophie as she cuddled into Nate's side and stared up at him, "You're very quiet" she noted, biting her bottom lip out of worry though she would never admit it.
"No" he sighed as she pulled her closer, and found a smile the like of which she rarely saw on his lips, "No, I'm much better than just okay" he promised her, leaning down to kiss Sophie's lips.
Making love together had been so much more special for the knowing that it was forever this time. Before, the both of them worried about the consequences, about where they went from here and how. This time around they actually bothered to figure out the status of their long undefined relationship before they jumped into bed together, and it felt that much better to lay here after, in the glow of their passion, knowing they never had to worry again in that regard.
"I could stay here all day" said Sophie, stretching her body out like a cat against Nate's own, "I don't think there's anywhere else I'd rather be"
"Not even Paris?" he teased her, eliciting a chuckle from her lips.
"Not even Paris" she promised him, moving in for another kiss.
They were caught up in passion before long, the world going away for both of them, even when the phone started ringing in the next room. There was a machine to pick it up, it wouldn't matter, at least that was what they both thought until they heard the voice on the other end speaking loudly and frantically.
"Sophie?" yelled Hardison through the answering machine, "Seriously, woman, I don't know where you and Nate got to, but you better be abducted by aliens or somethin' 'cause ain't no other excuse gonna cut it!" he told them harshly.
The pair pulled apart, twin looks of confusion on their faces as they gazed at each other and then simultaneously turned their heads towards the sound of their friends angry voice.
"Seriously? You know how hard it was for me to find your home phone number on the fly? Well, actually not that hard, but it ain't the point!" he said crossly, "Fact is, I down here at the hospital with Eliot and Parker..."
He was barely past the word hospital when Sophie was there at the phone, grabbing up the receiver.
"Hardison, what's wrong?" she asked, all of a panic, as Nate gave chase and appeared behind her, dropping her robe around her naked form as he leaned in close to hear the hacker's reply.
"Man, we had all kindsa drama whilst y'all been sleepin' or whatever the hell it is you been doin'!" he confirmed, "Fun ain't over yet either, 'cause Parker went into labour already"
"She isn't due for another five weeks" said Nate, loud enough that the hacker heard him over Sophie's shoulder.
"Well, baby don't care about that, it's already coming" he confirmed, "and we could use a little more support down here"
A minute later, Sophie and Nate were throwing on clothes and bolting out of the front door to rush to the hospital. Their relationship mattered, of course it did, but this was their family that needed them now. Nothing was more important than that.
Hardison was pacing. He knew it wasn't helping but he couldn't settle to anything else but a steady walk up and down the waiting area. Folk were staring at him, but he paid no mind, and he was sure more than one thought he was the expectant father in all this. As it was, he was just Uncle Hardison to whatever gender child that was about to pop out of Parker, but that didn't mean he was any the less freaked out right now. Kids survived being born at thirty five weeks, he knew that. Hell, technology these days meant some survived from twenty five, but right now Hardison wasn't exactly thinking straight. This was Parker, and Eliot, and their precious bundle. Sure he hadn't backed the relationship from the start, but if anything went wrong now, he just couldn't stand it.
"Hardison!" Nate called out to him from half way down the corridor, as he and Sophie rushed through to meet him.
"What's happening?" she asked, hugging the hacker tight.
"I dunno exactly" he shook his head, "Parker started having contractions, so we headed for the hospital, and by the time we got here things had kicked up at least six notches" he admitted, "They whisked her off to a room, Eliot went with her. I just gotta stand here and wait til somebody tells me somethin'"
"They'll be okay" Nate nodded, putting a reassuring hand on Hardison's shoulder, "Parker's tough and she has Eliot's support. They'll be okay" he intoned.
Sophie knew the moment she looked at him that he was trying to convince himself as much as anyone else. Just being in a hospital had him pale and shaking in a heartbeat. Add in the fact he was probably reliving both Sam's birth and death in the same moment, this had to be killing him inside.
"Maybe we should wait in the car" the grifter advised, getting Nate's attention onto her for a moment.
"No" he snapped, then softened as he met her yes and forced a smile, "No, I'll be fine" he assured her, "It's important that we're here for them right now. They're family" he said, gripping her hand tight in his own.
The family they spoke of were just down the hall, Parker laid back on a bed, screaming the place down, as Eliot hovered beside her feeling as useless as he ever had the whole course of his life.
"Oh God, why does it have to hurt like this?" his girlfriend complained as she flopped back against the pillows and cried.
"I dunno, darlin'" he tried to sympathise, "I wish I could take the pain for you, but I can't"
The doctor and the nurses were talking but Parker barely heard them. It wasn't even a doctor she knew but the first one on hand at the hospital given the emergency situation and the fact her own OB-GYN was out of town this weekend.
Everything hurt, absolutely everything, even breathing. Parker couldn't understand why anyone chose to do this. She got pregnant on accident, but there were woman that did this on purpose, she knew, and several times. It was agony and horrible, and she honestly wasn't sure how much longer she could keep pushing on demand.
"Hey, c'mon" said Eliot then, his voice coming clear through everything as his hand cupped her cheek, "Babe, you're stronger than this, I know you are" he told her straight, "You can do this" he said definitely, his eyes locked onto her own, "We can do this, together" he promised with one of those rarely seen smiles she was sure he kept especially for her.
Parker felt another wave of pressure building and knew she was going to have to push again. She grabbed instictively onto Eliot's hand, and squeezed it as she pushed one more time.
"C'mon, darlin'! That's my girl!" he was telling her, over and over, and Parker heard nothing else as she gave everything she had, and then it was over.
"Congratulations" said the nurse, as a baby's cry filled the room, "You have a daughter" she announced.
If Parker had been paying attention she would have seen tears glistening in Eliot's eyes as he looked from her to their baby and back. She just made him a father, to the most beautiful baby girl. The look on his face might've been worth the effort, but somehow Parker still didn't feel right.
"Okay, now you take a few minutes, get your breath back" the doctor told her, close enough to her ear that Parker had to pay attention, "I don't think it'll be long before baby number two needs Mommy's help getting out of there"
"What?" Parker and Eliot's exclamations came out as one loud sound, that even drowned out their wailing daughter.
There was another baby?
To Be Continued...
