Thanks for your reviews Kelly & EC Brenway! So appreciated!

Kelly - I hope Elly doesn't need much convincing either!

EC - Glad you read through Elly's part enough to get that she's not completely sure she's the baby's other parent! Even when saying she believed it! Abby's got her ways of explaining things!

The Chemistry In Darkness

Chapter Seventy-Two

Thursday 27th February 2025

"Good morning!" a loud sing-songy voice greeted them when she unzipped the tent Elly and Aster were curled up in with Chloe.

Elly awoke with a shock, then looked over at the intruder whom had entered their tent unexpectedly, "Raven, what the fuc-fudge are you doing here? And so...chirpy?"

Raven giggled when she saw Aster had awoken too, leading to Elly's rage to soften, "Just came to see the happy couple for myself, Elly."

"Happy..." Elly trailed off as she quickly remembered Chloe had returned to her the previous night and was currently curled up on the same bed next to her, with Aster in between them. Elly smiled brightly as she remembered Chloe telling her the baby that she was carrying was hers. It felt like everything was right in that moment and Elly prayed that feeling would last a long time.

"Lex told me, hence why I kept the lil one in my tent for as long as I could but she woke up before I did. Hope you and your girl made use of the alone time you did have," Raven smiled as she sat on the edge of Aster's bed.

"There was no use made, thank you, we were too damn tired," Elly told her honestly, then leaned up to ruffle Aster's hair, grinning when Aster swatted her hand away.

"That's too bad," Raven chirped, then when she saw Chloe rustle awake too, offered up another, "Good morning!"

Chloe immediately frowned as she lifted her head a bit and noticed the brunette woman sitting on the other bed, then over at Elly and Aster whom were also awake, worried she'd been asleep for long enough that the three of them were talking about her, "Uh...morning. And you are...?"

Before Raven could answer, Elly reached over for the pillow all three of them had been sleeping their heads on, throwing it at Raven's head, "Don't mind her, that's just Raven. The ever-chirpy, ever-happy-go-lucky, ever-shut-the-hell-up-it's-too-early-in-the-morning...sister wolf."

Raven chuckled as she caught the pillow in front of her face, declaring proudly, "That's me, always in the happiest of moods. Annoys Elly to pieces, especially when she's been moping around here like a...moper. You must be Chloe, Elly's mate, nice to finally meet you. You three look so cute together, snuggling up on this tiny bed. So, are you two back together?"

Chloe crinkled her eyebrow at been called 'Elly's mate.'

What is that about? I feel like I've heard that word thrown about before...

"Raven, go away," Elly instructed, then taking Chloe's hand gently, "We haven't had a chance to talk about anything like that and we need to do that first...before you go...saying anything more about us to anyone else...and we also need to talk to Abby about...something. Is Abby awake yet?"

"You three slept through breakfast. Abby's setting off for her shift at the hospital in five minutes. Better get a move on as she's on an all-nighter and won't be back until the morning tomorrow if you need to talk to her," Raven explained.

Elly immediately clutched Chloe's hand, "We gotta catch her. This can't wait."

Chloe mumbled, "Okay," then followed Elly who was out of the bed within seconds, feeling somewhat embarrassed she was still wearing her pajamas from two nights ago, called back to the uniquely happy-go-lucky brunette, "Uh...nice to meet you."

"We'll catch up again soon to get to know each other better," Raven promised to the retreating Chloe, then as soon as Chloe and Elly had left the tent, Raven smiled at Aster whom was still curled up in bed, "Your Mum and her mate are so back together, aren't they?"

Aster giggled as she nodded, "They so are even if they say they aren't."

Raven rushed over to the bed Aster was lying in, swinging the youngster into her arms, "Oh they so are!"

Chloe was relieved to find no one else was around when she and Elly wandered from the tent of the campfire-style area The Pack had set up for themselves on the Island, "Elly, do we really need to do this right now?"

Elly took Chloe's hand in hers as they strode in a direction Chloe had no idea where it would lead, "I believe you, Chlo, when you explained the baby that you're carrying is mine. But I just want to hear it from someone else, Abby, whom has nearly a century of experience with werewolves and our lore. I know Romulus has more than a millennium of experience too but I think this is more up Abby's alley as she's a surgeon too and I don't want to wait until she gets back to the Island tomorrow morning to ask her."

Chloe was gob smacked, stuck on two details Elly had just said, "Century? Millennium? How old are you peop-werewolves?"

"Werewolves can live forever as immortals if we are careful...I might have a few things to explain to you about what can hurt us and what can't," Elly revealed.

Chloe's eyes widened even more, "Forever?"

Forever is so...really? Elly could live forever...with Aster if she turns out to be a werewolf too...and I'll just...leave them to the rest of their immortal lives after my Huntington's takes over...Elly really does have a few things to explain to me...is two decades with me enough for Elly to go on with the rest of her life?

"We'll talk about all this later, there is a lot for us to discuss and make decisions about," Elly promised, clutching Chloe's hand.

Chloe nodded, knowing she too had several things to discuss with Elly.

Namely that she didn't know the fate of their baby with the Huntington's gene, how toxic her marriage to Pierce had become over the years, that she had abandoned Pierce leaving him to pay for his sins and that Elly needed to hear what he had done in case he ever tracked her down. There was also the discussion about whether or not Elly and herself, were back together yet or whether they were simply on the journey of been back together as a couple.

And what their future could look like as a couple.

Then as Chloe spotted that they were headed towards the shore and a woman was walking ahead of them about a hundred meters away, "Is that Abby? Are you sure she's the right perso-werewolf we should be talking to about our baby?"

"Yes, that's Abby, and yes, she's exactly who we should be talking to," Elly squeezed Chloe's hand, "I believe you, I do, I just…I need to hear it from someone with more experience than I have of the werewolf lore that two women can actually make the impossible possible by creating a baby together with their love. That's all…that the impossible is possible…"

"Of course the impossible is possible, Elly, have you not learnt a single thing in the last four and a bit years that you've been with us?" Abby stared at the pair incredulously, having been pulled back from getting in her dingy heading to her job at the local hospital, in order to sit down and have a chat with them a moment ago.

Chloe felt mildly awkward standing there with Elly as she had introduced her to Abby then immediately asked her to stay behind for a couple of minutes as they needed to talk to her about Chloe's pregnancy. Chloe had barely said two words to the woman, whom in the minute that Chloe had known her, was clearly a mother figure to Elly.

I need to get used to this family dynamic…a bunch of werewolves …Aster…and me…

Elly hadn't taken a breath when she'd blurted out that Chloe was positive that the baby that she was pregnant with was conceived by the pair of them when they'd slept together. Chloe couldn't help but feel worried people would judge her for cheating on her husband, yet she also felt proud that her baby was Elly's child.

Abby's reassurance in Elly's words that the "impossible is possible" as soon as Elly had blurted it out gave Chloe belief that Elly's doubts would subside.

Elly squeezed Chloe's hands as they stood there opposite Abby, trying to process that the woman she looked up to was telling her the baby could impossibly be hers, "But that doesn't make any sense. We're two women, how can we conceive a baby together? I'm not doubting my ability to care and love this baby like she or he is my own…I just…I want to believe this baby is mine…I'm just at a loss that this could be possible."

Abby shrugged gently, "We live in a world where the supernatural exists…of course this makes perfect sense that you two are having a baby together."

"Yeah, but…" Elly still struggled to process Abby's assertion.

"But what, Elly?" Chloe smiled up at the woman next to her, "Isn't this what you were after? Abby telling us that this is really happening so you can believe it completely."

Elly blushed, knowing Chloe was right, "I might still need that paternity test in nine days to be sure."

"You don't need a paternity test, Elly," Abby reassured her, "As you said to me, the timing of when the pair of you were together fits, and Chloe hasn't been with her husband…is he your former husband?"

"Unofficially," Chloe answered quickly, not wanting to discuss how things had ended with Abby when she still hadn't explained it to Elly yet.

"All of it makes sense to me that this baby is yours, Elly," Abby continued on, sensing Chloe didn't want to talk to her about her husband, "This isn't the first time two women have created a child together when it comes to us been werewolves. Though if I'm honest, it's the first time I've heard of it happening between mates when one was human, it's usually two werewolves but the connection is still there for you and it looks like your baby was created out of your love despite Chloe not been one of us…"

There's that 'mate' thing again…Why do I feel like Abby wanted to end that sentence with the word 'yet'…? I'm not one of them…'yet'…I don't even begin to know what to think about the mere prospect of me becoming…one of them…do I need to be? I need to talk to Elly about this…

"It's not the first time that two females have created a baby together?" Elly was shocked.

"It's rare and like I said, it's the first time I've heard of it happening when one is human, but it's absolutely happened before when the connection between you is so strong," Abby reiterated.

"If that's the case, why haven't Clarke and Lexa had a baby together yet? They love each other way more than Chloe and I do," Elly pointed out, then turning to Chloe, to reassure her, "I love you, I know you love me too, but we haven't been together long enough to have what those two have. Trust me, it's almost unbearable how utterly in love with one another Clarke and Lexa are…though maybe it was only unbearable for me because I didn't have you with me and we can one day be as unbearable as they are."

Chloe couldn't help but smile shyly at Elly's mention of them not been together long enough, feeling like that meant they would be together as a couple soon enough.

Just as soon as the pair of us can actually have a moment to talk about everything…we should do that soon…Abby needs to go to work, Elly and I need to talk…and confirm where we stand with each other…

Abby couldn't help but smile at Elly's persistence of not been ready to believe, "Because Clarke and Lexa aren't ready to have a baby together. When they are, magic will happen for them too and they'll conceive a werewolf child out of their love. You and Chloe are ready for this, that's why Chloe fell pregnant to you."

Chloe raised her eyebrows at been told that, "Okay, I know we just met and Elly and I feel very deeply for one another but you can't actually tell me that I fell pregnant to Elly the first time that we…slept together since Elly became a werewolf…when I was cheating on my husband and Elly and I weren't even together then…we weren't ready to have a baby together…we haven't even discussed yet if the pair of us are ready to have this baby together now."

"You were ready then and you're ready now," Abby replied confidently, "Which is why you're pregnant with your baby. Now, it sounds like the pair of you have some talking to do. So, I'm heading off to work at the hospital, I'll see you both tomorrow morning. We should throw some kind of dinner for the pair of you tomorrow evening," then when Elly looked at her anxiously, "Elly, this baby is yours, believe it. Go talk, then celebrate that you two will be parents together later this year."

Without another word, Abby turned back to her dingy, dragging it across the sand, sliding it into the water and jumping into it as she began oaring the dingy away from the Island, towards the mainland.

Chloe and Elly stood there alone, holding hands. Elly wanted to sweep Chloe into her arms, kiss her deeply and celebrate their impending parenthood, that she was finally able to believe in her heart and mind.

But Elly was interrupted, when Chloe turned to her, "Abby's right, we should talk. We need to work out what this pregnancy means for us and I need to tell you a few things…it's not stuff that you're gonna like...I don't want you to wolf out on me accidentally."

That sounds…more than ominous…

Next time - How does Elly react to the truth behind Pierce and Chloe's marriage? Chloe has a massive question for Elly...