Chapter Nineteen: Understanding

The morning was an unwelcomed event. With it, it brought not only a powerful headache from all the crying she'd done the previous night but the realization that Nick was gone. He'd been taken last night. She'd almost been taken and left her baby brother alone. Madison, Nick's mother, now knew that she was pregnant. It had all gone to hell so fast. Lukas, still asleep, snuggled into her chest subconsciously still seeking comfort from her.

Martina gently pets his hair and pressed kisses onto his forehead. She'd almost lost this. She had almost been separated from her baby brother. Lukas had been the light of her life from the moment he'd been born, the last living proof of her deceased father and brother. Lukas had the same messy dirty blonde hair Marcos had sported her brother's shared the same sheepish grin and serious-looking resting face when they weren't feeling anything or simply just thinking. Lukas had papi's beautiful chocolate brown eyes, eyebrows, lip shape, and the same gentle demeanor.

Her mama hadn't been able to handle at looking at Lukas for very long because of that very reason. When Lukas's baby face began transforming into it's more defined features, the similarities between him and their deceased family became very clear. In the privacy of her mind, Martina knew that it was Lukas's innocent chocolate brown eyes that their mama had hated looking at the most. They were the same freaking shade their fathers had been and even crinkled at the edges when he was happy like papi's had...

In the end, it mattered little to Martina how similar Lukas looked like her twin or papi, if anything she loved seeing those features on his tiny face because she simply loved Lukas. She would never regret dropping out of high school to take care of him or working long hours so that Martina could make enough money to support the two them after mama died. She didn't even mind the nerve-wracking and sporadic visits CPS had made that only proved Martina was the best caretaker and guardian for her brother despite her young age. Martina had loved Lukas from the moment he'd blinked his brown eyes sleepily at her and griped Martina's finger with a strength she'd have never guessed for an infant to possess.

The bedroom door creaking open made Martina's gaze move from the cherubic sleeping expression Lukas was sporting to the more cautious one of Madison as she stared at them from the doorway. "Can you come out and talk to me for a moment." the blonde whispered. Martina nodded as she carefully extracted herself from Lukas' clinging limbs and slipped out of the bedroom. Nick's mother had moved to sit at the dining room table while sipping on the ever-present mug of coffee.

Fortifying herself, Martina as across from the blonde and waited. Pingu appeared from wherever he'd been hiding and placed his surprisingly heavy head onto her lap for pets. Martina absentmindedly ran her fingers through his short fur in a comforting manner as she let her thoughts run wild. The Clark Matriarch was probably going to question Martina on the pregnancy that'd been sprung upon her last night. Crap, the woman was probably pissed as well. Martina had been keeping this very important information from her. What if she figured out that Nick was the father? That probably wouldn't be good either, the blonde was a total momma bear when it came to her son... even if the woman had smacked Nick around yesterday. What if she decided to kick Martina and Lukas out because of this? That was a troubling thought, especially since they literally didn't have anywhere to go.

"How far along are you?" the woman asked in a soft gentle manner that had never been directed at Martina before.

"Oh, um, eleven and a half weeks now." she mumbled after a moment, "I had an OB/GYN appointment early that afternoon when, well, society collapsed."

The blonde nodded, "Healthy?"

"What?"

"You're both healthy?" the woman reiterated patiently.

"Um, y-yeah. The doc said that she wanted me to gain a little more weight, but otherwise, we're fine." Martina whispered before awkwardly shifting in her seat. Pingu whined at the movement put simply pressed his big head onto her lap once more, Martina inwardly thanked the dog for the tiny distraction it was providing her as continued to run her fingers through his fur.

"That's good." the blonde commented almost offhandedly, "Do you know who the father is?"

Fuck. Here it comes.

"Yeah," Martina admitted, "The father knows too."

Inquisitive blue eyes zeroed in on her face, "I see." before she took another sip of coffee, "Why didn't you tell us?"

Martina hid a wince, "Well, um, you don't really l-like or necessarily trust me Mrs. Clark... and, well, um- it wasn't really important to tell you all just yet. There's been a lot more pressing things happening right now, that m-me bein' pregnant just wasn't as important."

"Hmm, I disagree. But I can see how you may have felt that way." the woman hummed before chiding her, "Madison, Marty. I told you, you can call me Madison."

"Right." Martina mumbled, "M-Madison, sorry."

Of course, that was when Travis walked into the room and announced as he brought Mrs- Madison a fresh cup of coffee, "I got to go. I just got to talk to Moyers, you know. If we can just- Hey." the man greeted Chris. Martina didn't get off her chair, though everything inside of her was screaming that she should escape while she still could, though she did angle her body to watch the newcomer hovering in the room. "Get any sleep?" the man asked.

"So what's the plan?" the teenager asked moodily after rolling his eyes.

"Oh, we were just talking about it-"

"Shouldn't I be a part of the discussion?" Chris interrupted. "I think that someone should be looking out for mom's best interests."

What did his mother have to do with any of this?

"We're looking out for everyone," Madison spoke up tiredly.

"Are we?" Chris shot back angrily.

Madison sighed, "We know you're upset, Chris. We all are."

"Madison, would you please not interrupt me while I'm talking to my father about family matters, okay?" the teen retorted, Travis didn't stay idly by his girlfriend's side anymore before grabbing Chris' arm and dragging him to the side, "Dad, get off me. Get off me. Get off me!" the younger Manawa protested in a futile manner. "Bet if that was her, you'd be chewing through the chain-link fence right now." Martina could still hear despite Chris hissing it out in a lower tone.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Travis accused in the same whisper. "Chris, look at me."

"Mom- she just got on the truck, dad." Chris admitted. That's when Martina realized that she hadn't seen Liza since she confronted Dr. Exner last night.

"Look, Jesus, we don't know what happened-"

"They didn't take her." Chris insisted, "No one forced her. She just went willingly."

"Because she wants to help people." Mr. Manawa explained, "She knows they need her. Like Nick, Griselda- That's who your mom is."

Martina exchanged an awkward glance with the blonde woman sitting in a defeated position in from of her, "I-I think, I'm gonna go." she whispered softly.

"What if she dies dad?" Chris sniffled.

The woman only nodded in understanding, it was probably a bit uncomfortable for the blonde to overhear this conversation as well, "We'll talk later." Martina didn't wait any longer before finally making her escape.

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