Chapter two
Not another me
Lincoln remembered the last time he was at one of these appointments, and the last time he was hating every minute of it because he wasn't ready to be a dad. Now he was not sure what he was feeling.
The silence made the atmosphere feel intense, Lily felt exposed as she was happy for an external scan. It was just the sonogram tech to turn up. "So, how's it going with Gary?" Lily asked trying to kill the silence that was making everything feel awkward.
"I told him that I was needed at this appointment," Lincoln kept his eyes on the monitor, it was blank, but it seemed technology had vastly improved since LJ. "He told me that I should put you and the baby first."
"That is what we all love to hear..." The tech said walking into the room, "Sorry I was running a little late." She glanced from Lily to Lincoln. "But we've been told that you're having your first baby." Her voice was way too cheery.
"My first." Lily pointed out, "But just excited to see how it's going on in there." Lily was already belly exposed, and she knew that she was growing quicker than Sara, but then again she was happy with how she was looking.
Lincoln didn't know what to say, he kept next to Lily just trying to stop himself getting annoyed with himself. He wanted to be excited, but with the nagging it was getting harder for him to get out of his misery. "I'm hoping all healthy." He tapped Lily's arm.
The Tech nodded, "We'll I'm sure with your blood works, everything is going to be fine..." She picked up the gel squirting it on Lily's exposed stomach. "But I know it's not so scary at this point, you're past the risky part..." Her attention now onto the monitor, she was taking notes of the size. "I see you're about around twenty weeks, everything is looking very good." Her hand moved the wand around.
Lincoln wasn't quite sure what he was looking at, part of him knew what the face was, then seeing little feet, a hand. "So how do you know... I mean how can you tell..."
"If we have a girl or a boy?" The tech smiled, "It's just hoping to see a penis or not." Her attention turned to Lily's face. She could tell that it was nervous for her, but then she was used to nervous mothers. "Your baby is pretty shy." She added trying to move the baby around to get a better look. "What are you hoping for?"
"I'm not really fused, I mean he's already dealt with a son," Lily pointed out, but she kept focused on the sound of the beating heart coming from the monitor.
Staring at a screen Lincoln hadn't been paying attention to the conversation, no his attention was on the details of the scan, then baby's fingers and toes moving, he couldn't believe this was happening. "This baby is really moving." He tried to make sense of what was being shown to them.
Lily felt her hand reaching for Lincoln, she didn't know what to expect, but in the moment she wanted to know he was with her. "I think I can see."
"I can tell you, that you two are expecting." The tech moved the wand, she finally got what she was looking for. "You're having a girl." She smiled turning to watch Lily and Lincoln's reaction.
"Well that's the name Bradley out the window..." Lily laughed, but stopped seeing the expression on Lincoln's face, tears in his eyes just brimming to break the surface of his eyelid. "Are you crying?"
Brushing the back of his hand against his cheek Lincoln snorted, "This room..." He huffed, "It's so dark." He lied, but he felt his attention really watching the screen. "A little girl." He felt breathless. "We're going to have a daughter."
"Yes," Lily turned her attention more on Lincoln's face, "She's going to be amazing." Her voice was hushed, but she couldn't believe it.
Lincoln sat in his new car, he had the sonogram photo in his hands looking over the clear details of his daughter. He wanted to tell himself this was his daughter. Lincoln was trying to push the pain of doubt, he couldn't think that Michael's child was with Sara, and not with Lily too.
He knew he had to keep an eye out, the engine of the car was gently purring. Lincoln wasn't sure if he was going to be able to keep this from Lily, but he knew she'd kill him if she found him back to the only life he knew before Fox River.
Rushing into the car Gary gave Lincoln the nod, and Lincoln was quick to place the photo on the dashboard before driving away at high speed, he didn't really speak much to Gary as he drove, but then when they finally got to the dock's he felt himself looking back to where they came from.
Gary turned to Lincoln, he knew that Lincoln wasn't a big talker. "So thanks," He reached into his pocket taking out some notes. "Keep this up and the Abruzzi family will be very happy to help you out more often." He then shifted his eyes to the photo on the dashboard. "So how far along is she?"
Lincoln stopped, he see Gary reaching for the photo, he snatched it up quickly. "She's about half way." He placed the photo into his pocket. "I didn't think the Abruzzi family was about since John's death?"
"He's got family, he's son is too young to take over just yet," Gary shrugged, "But he'll take to his father's business like a duck to water." He placed the money in Lincoln's hand. "But keep yourself available." He got out of the car leaving Lincoln alone.
The engine turned off Lincoln placed his face into the steering wheel. He was trying to think how he was falling back on bad habits, but he didn't want to live with Sara, LJ was back to high school and thinking of college prices in the future.
They already put a down deposit on a three bedroom house, and Lincoln was surprised they got approved for a mortgage. The whole move, and Lily wanting to go back to nursing. He couldn't stop Lily going back to work, but he didn't want her to feel she had to rush back into a job.
He reached for the key turning the engine back on, he had a feeling Lily was moving boxes, he didn't want her to be pushing herself, but he had to convince himself to act as if he'd got a job. The job was a dock worker, but he couldn't tell her he was doing criminal work.
Lily stood in the kitchen, it wasn't the best, but then it was going to be redecorated. She placed a vase on the windowsill looking out to a big yard, she smiled to see that winter was finally calming down. The start of February was bringing the midway of her pregnancy, and she was happy to not having to see Sara everyday.
Cooking wasn't her strongest point, but with a roast chicken in the oven. Lily inhaled, she knew that LJ was going to be having his new girlfriend over for dinner, and she just hoped that Lincoln would be home to help her finish unpacking the living room.
Stopping at a box Lily reached down to lift, her bump getting in the way making it awkward to lift in one go. She wished she really thought about what she was getting herself into with this pregnancy. Her hand running over her stomach. "V, you're being a real bitch!" She took a deep breath. "I need to finish unpacking." She went again to lift the box.
"Woah!" Lincoln rushed into the kitchen seeing Lily and the box. "What did I tell you?" He picked the box up onto the table. "The doctor said no heavy lifting!" He opened it to see that it was more kitchen gadgets. "How much stuff did you have in storage?" He asked thinking about the ride to Chicago with a truck to collect all of Lily's stuff.
"You're lucky I invested in a storage." Lily sat down brushing a hand against her stomach, "also Veronica, she is trying to kill me." Her hands over her stomach to show how big she had gotten.
Lincoln gave Lily a side glance putting things away, "You're trying out Veronica again?" He asked not sure how to feel about their daughter being named after Veronica. It just brought the pain of hearing her death all over again. "Are you sure?" He moved to place a hand on Lily's stomach. "I still think about Brandy."
"Brandy isn't going to be linked with Bradley." Lily sighed, "I don't think we're going to name her after your mother..." She stopped, "I mean the psycho woman who tried to kill you." She folded her arms over her chest.
Lincoln put the last thing away before sitting beside her, his hand brushed the baby bump. "We don't need to rush this." He tried to kept cool. "I mean she could be named after your mother..." He tried not to laugh as she made a swipe for his face. "I'm joking."
"You better," Lily got to her feet going to the oven, "Because this is a pain in the ass." She opened the oven to get the chicken out. "I am just hoping that when this is over with I can get my body back."
"You look amazing," Lincoln stood behind Lily, his hands holding onto her hips, leaning his chin on her shoulder. "And you'll always be beautiful to me." Kissing her cheek, he could feel her relaxing. "So no more stressing over a name."
Lily rested into his body, "What about Francine..."
"No." Lincoln stared to the chicken that Lily had cooked for dinner. "Like I said, no rush..." He kissed her neck. "I need to go sort something in the garage." He rubbed her shoulders quickly. "Knock if you need anything." He walked out. He started to head towards the linking door from the kitchen to the garage, Lily reaching for a box. "And no more lifting!"
Lily felt nervous, she stepped away from the box going over to her laptop, she opened it up. She couldn't be more happier to have a house of her own, it was mainly to not give up on finding the truth. She was trying to find an answer to the feeling that Michael wasn't dead.
LJ felt weird sitting at the family dinner table, he hadn't been with Louise for that long, but he knew he had to introduce her to his family.
"Need anymore potato?" Lily asked holding out the bowl of mash, she kept smiling over to Louise, she didn't know how she came to be in LJ's life, but she had to be nice.
Louise nodded taking the bowl, "LJ never told me his mom looked so young." She sounded awkward.
"Well I'm not his mother," Lily's words were rushed, her eyes going to LJ, and then seeing the place where Lincoln was meant to be before he rushed off. "But thank you for thinking I could be."
"Yea, I never mentioned about..." He grabbed a bowl of string beans, "She died." He pointed out, but then it was hard to believe she didn't notice the big story all over the news about him when he was framed for killing his mother and step father.
Louise shifted in her chair, "I," She stopped talking. "The chicken is good." Her voice dropped trying to not feed into the awkwardness of it all. "It's really nice."
"Yea..." LJ tried to ignore his dad not being here. "How have you been?" He smiled to Lily.
Lily shifted her eyes to her plate, "Good," She inhaled, "I've been trying to find a hospital that will be happy for me to start when I can." Lily kept watching the door, she wished that Lincoln would of come back.
LJ placed a hand on the table, "Where is dad?" He asked picking his knife and fork again, he kept looking at the door. "I have good news to share."
"He had something come up at work," Lily smiled, "But then he is sad that he's missing this." She knew that it was hard for her to make excuses for Lincoln. "What's your good news?"
"Well I've been accepted into a summer internship, and if I do good. I could be set with a pretty sweet job, plus it's not too bad." LJ felt weird sharing this kind of news. "Feels weird doing all this stuff." He laughed.
"Well being that you're sixteen..." Lily thought about it, "Wait seventeen soon." She tried to laugh about it, but then LJ had done so well getting back into high school. "Did you not think of college?"
"Well I was thinking with the internship, they said if I do well they would help towards my college education." He moved some carrots around on his plate, "Will make it easier on you and Dad." He pointed out.
Lily shook her head, "I told you, you don't have to worry about college," She shifted her attention to Louise, "LJ worries too much." She wanted to lighten the conversation. "So have you started to plan what you're doing after high school?"
Louise shrugged, "I've been told by my dad that I should focus on my applications, and that my mind should be focused on Yale." Her hands kept playing with her plate. "Guess it's just a waiting game."
Lily nodded, "I know the feeling, when I applied for college I thought I was going to be rejected by all of them." She inhaled, "But I got into my pre med course, and I am sure you'll be accepted into Yale."
Sitting watching the conversation get lighter was a relief for LJ, he ate, and felt good that it seemed Lily and Louise were getting on great. The meal lost awkwardness when everyone was finished eating LJ was quick to show Louise his room.
Lincoln opened the front door, it was strange for him to remember this was his home now. The porch light on, and he could see the strange car in the driveway. "Lil..." He called watching Lily's head poking from the kitchen. "Who's car is that?"
"Louise's." She said watching Lincoln going to the stairs hearing the music playing loudly from LJ's bedroom.
Lily watched Lincoln standing at the bottom of the stairs, "Why are they up there?" He pointed to Lily before keeping still.
"Privacy..." Lily went back into the kitchen. "I'll reheat your dinner for you." She called hoping Lincoln would follow her.
Getting into the kitchen Lincoln could see that Lily was fixing him a plate, "And why do they need privacy for?" He closed the door, he could see that Lily had already cleaned up. "I should..."
"No, you're going to eat your dinner, leave LJ upstairs, and tell me what was so important that you had to leave in the first place." Lily placed Lincoln's dinner on the kitchen table watching Lincoln sitting down.
Lily placed a beer in front of Lincoln, he looked down to his dinner remembering that LJ wanted him to meet his new girlfriend. "How long have they been up there for?" He asked taking a sip from the beer.
"Not too long, maybe half an hour..." Lily started to clean the counters, "Don't pull that face."
"What face?" Lincoln started to tuck into his dinner, finally realising how hungry he was. "I think I'm too young to be a grandpa."
Lily laughed, "I think LJ is smarter than that." She finally sat with him, "Plus he's got condoms." Lily watch as Lincoln nearly choked on a piece of chicken.
"What!" His eyes went to the kitchen door, then back to Lily, "How do you know?"
Lily let out a light sigh, "Because I brought them for him."
"Lil!" Lincoln stopped eating for a second, "I mean, you two talked..."
Lily laughed, she wished she could record this moment to relive later, for a second thinking how Michael would react to this moment, then feeling her face fall. "I had a talk with LJ, back when we was in hiding and..." She stopped forgetting the few weeks her and LJ got to know each other better. "We'll I think I taught him enough."
Lincoln brushed a hand over his head, he felt his eyes going to the door again, "What kind of things did you tell my teenage son?"
Lily taken back tried to not laugh about the conversation, "Linc, if you remember what you was like at that age, you be glade I told him about what women want." Getting to her feet she headed to the fridge getting out a can of Pepsi. "You was no saint."
"I want my son to be better than me," He pointed out, he drank more of his beer thinking how the conversation had turned.
Lily sat closer to Lincoln, her free hand on his thigh, "No one can be better than you..." She gave him a flirtatious wink.
Lincoln felt her fingertips running up his inner thigh, and his eyes watching her carefully. "I mean to say is, I want him to be a better person." His hand stopping her hand going further. "And you're really frisky tonight." He brought her hand to his lips to kiss her fingertips.
Lily placed the can down, she tried to take a calming breath, her eyes focused on Lincoln. "Louise is a nice girl." Her hand going to her drink having a sip. "So if they want to be at it, I'd rather they do it in his room, than in the back seat of her car." She shrugged, "I mean the most criminal activity on my name is the times we got busted for indecent exposure."
Lincoln let out a chuckle, "Okay I guess you're right." He stopped to really look at Lily, he could remember the girl she once was. The girl who grow up into an angry teen, to a confident woman. Remembering the moment he feel in love with her. "We were the dumbest teenagers."
"Correction, you was the dumb, I was the dummy who followed you around." Lily relaxed. "Wish we knew then what we know now..." squeezing onto his hand she lent over kissing him.
"I think we're better off not knowing." Lincoln wrapped his arms around Lily, pulling her onto his lap.
Lily closed her eyes resting on her forehead on his, "You wouldn't have LJ, I might be a doctor..." She opened her eyes seeing him watching her.
"I wouldn't of been on death row," He brushed her hair out of her eyes. "But then I love my son."
Lily nodded, "He is a great kid." Her eyes watching his, "And we get to be parents together." Her hand taking his placing it on her stomach. "So it can't be too bad."
"Well I did such a great job the first time around." Lincoln felt his hand over Lily's stomach. "I want to be the best dad I can be to our daughter."
"You are the best dad..." Lily covered her hand over his. "She'll have the best." Lincoln brought her face to his kissing her softly.
A cough broke then up, Lincoln turned to see LJ and his girlfriend standing at the door. "Hey dad."
"You must be Louise." Lincoln felt Lily getting off of his lap.
LJ laughed, "Louise this is my dad Lincoln," He turned to his girlfriend, "Dad, Louise."
"It's nice to meet you..." Louise held a hand out. She could see that Lincoln was his father, but part of her felt nervous around him. "LJ as told me nice things about you."
"That's good," Lily glance to LJ, "Well I am going to..." she pointed to the door walking out.
LJ side glanced to Louise, "So dad. Louise's parents are going up to her cabin, and I was invited..."
"You can go," Lincoln nodded, he picked up a beer taking a sip. "So how long have you too been seeing each other?" He asked.
"About two weeks," Louise turned to LJ, "But then I've been helping him with Spanish." She spoke softly. Her hand played on LJ's arm for a moment. "I think I need to get back before my curfew."
"Yea I'll see you to the car..." LJ placed his arm around Louise. "Dad..." He walked them both out of the kitchen.
Lily entered the bedroom, she smiled seeing Lincoln reading a magazine. She carefully got into bed trying to be subtle looking over his shoulder. With a smirk Lincoln placed the magazine down. "So what do you think of Louise?" She asked him as she got comfortable.
"She's nice." Lincoln moved her closer to him on the bed, "I mean she seems really polite." His eyes going to Lily. "You know I can't believe he got something nice."
Lily closed her eyes feeling Lincoln moving on the bed to be behind her, his hand moving around her stomach kissing her neck. "Why do I have a feeling you've got something on your mind..."
"I have nothing to share..." Lily felt Lincoln holding her still. "I have nothing to share." Her voice squeaked a little.
Lincoln raised an eyebrow at her, "I got a feeling you are worried about something." He brushed her hair out of his face.
"Not worried," Lily turned her face to watch Lincoln, "Just weird that we've been here for just over two months and LJ seems to act like the last ten months were nothing." She shrugged. "He didn't even tell Louise about what happened to Lisa."
Lincoln thought for a second, "He just wants to have a normal life. It's hard to have that when you tell people the crap you went through." He stopped talking for a moment. "But I'm happy for him."
"Guess you're right." Lily finally relaxed, she rested her head back onto his chest. "Do you think we could ever move on from what happened?" Her eyes closed trying to not think about everything.
Lincoln kept brushing his fingers against her stomach, he thought about Michael, then felt hurt. "I don't know." His hands froze for a second. The thought of Michael wasn't easy for him, and part of him wished for anything to have him back.
Sat at a table Lily could tell that this was going to be a long wait, she'd promise to spend more time with Sara, but then Lily only did this because a promise they all made to each other after Michael was gone. She stared where she could see Sara coming over.
"This is the best place for lunch," Sara sat down, even in a summer dress Lily hated that she was rocking the heavy pregnant look, and Lily was just hoping it to be over soon.
The sun was shining, Lily felt better in her shorts and shirt. "So how's everything?" She asked feeling her eyes switching from the menu that seemed to be covered in food she couldn't pronouns let alone pay for, back to Sara who'd looked like she'd already knew what she was going to eat.
"Well my doctor is happy with everything, and I am just getting to the point of," She stopped talking. "I feel like we talk a lot about me..." her hand going to her chin, Sara didn't know why Lily didn't open up to her more.
Lily's eyes snapped up from the menu, "It's cool, I'm not much of a talker." She then turned her attention back down to the menu, as much as she was being nice, in another life, if she didn't help Michael in his prison escape plans, her and Sara would never be friends.
"Just thinking that I can't wait to see my son." Her hands touching her stomach, her attention to Lily. "I mean what has your doctor said about you?"
Lily looked down a second, "Dilating, normal, head in my pelvic area. So everything going right." She then searched for a waiter. "But me and Lincoln are still stuck on a name." She could see the waiter ignoring her stares.
"Did you at some point say Michelle?" Sara waved the same waiter over to the table that was ignoring Lily.
Lily grunted, "Michelle, is a little on the nose. Michelle and Michael." Her voice dropped as the waiter stood between them, she could tell he was looking down his nose at her.
Sara was quick to place her order, and Lily knew it was because Sara came here with other friends she'd made quickly. Lily on the other hand struggled to order, and as the waiter walked away she felt a regret to agreeing to coming to this place.
"So I think it's best I get a private birthing suite, but then I was thinking to have the one with the tub, or not." Sara was unusually happy. "But then do you know what your birth plan is."
"I push and baby comes out," Lily watched the waiter put a glass of ice tea in front of Sara, and a water in front of herself. "But then I didn't think much of it." Lily felt her eyes seeing the waiter linger, "Do you mind?" Her voice snapped at him making him rush off.
A second flashed to Sara as her attention shifted from her drink to Lily. "To be honest I never thought of doing this alone." Sara tried to calm herself, she didn't think she'd be doing this without Michael.
Feeling that Sara was about to cry, Lily knew Sara would get emotional very quickly. She tapped a hand on Sara's shoulder. "You have me..." Her eyes focused, "And hey if we go into labour the same time, maybe I can join you. Wait private suite..."
"There is room for two beds," Sara broke into a smile, "I mean that's if we have the same..."
Lily exhaled, "Well I can only say I would like that day soon." She could see the waiter bringing the food over, he gave her a rotten look.
"How's Lincoln doing?" Sara knew that Lily didn't speak much about Lincoln with their weekly catch up lunches. "I mean he's all work lately."
Lily took a big sip of her water, "Yea, work..." Her eyes going to the many women lunching, and she felt like a sore thumb. Everyone here was dressed up, and Lily knew they knew her clothes were from a target. "Just trying to get as much ready for when the baby comes." She pointed out, then tried to be relaxed. "But then you must have everything ready."
"Going back to work wasn't easy, but then I was there for five minutes before I went onto maternity leave." She smiled, she was lucky that Presbyterian hospital hiring, and that they looked passed her past.
Lily nodded, "Yea, well I'm waiting till I am not a whale to go back to work." She picked her glass up taking a drink. "Linc isn't really wanting me to rush myself back to work, even if I don't want to be at home all the time." She brushed a hand down her stomach feeling a kick to the rib. "It seems all Lincoln does it work."
Sara was eating, but she didn't know what was going on, she didn't even know what Lincoln was doing for a living. "Do you know if he's going to take off time when the baby is born?"
Lily bit the corner of her lip seeing herself in the window of the restaurant, her hands playing with her food trying to ignore the nagging feeling in her chest. "I haven't spoke about it..."
"Do you two even talk?" Sara felt nervous, but then part of her didn't know how to react to the Lincoln Lily drama anymore.
Lily pushed her plate away from herself, "Hard to have a conversation with someone, when that someone is always working." She pushed her hair behind her ear. "He's worried we won't have enough money by the time the baby comes."
"I can try and talk to him." Sara felt herself catching onto the mood that Lily was in, "I guess you've been really busy yourself."
Lily raised an eyebrow, "I don't think that would work out." Her eyes focused on Sara, "Plus I've had a lot of help from LJ, and I've got everything I need ready." Getting to her feet Lily smiled to Sara. "Just don't say anything to Linc, he gets pretty defensive lately." Placing a few bills on the table Lily exhaled. "I'll call when I get home." She turned leaving the table.
A/N: Hello, I don't know if this would have much of a following as this is series of now six, one of this stories of Lily still incomplete. But then since Prison Break had it's soft reboot in 2017... Well I just wanted to show what happened in the lost years.
I have written quite a few chapters, and I am proof reading them before I publish, so hopefully easier to read.
Much love...
