AN: Thank you for your patience! I wanna shout out the Bear app which helped me crank out this chapter and my other series. It's a lot easier for me to write as inspiration strikes rather than setting aside a time to write and hoping I still remember my ideas. Please be sure to let me know what you think about the chapter, what you think will happen, and what you want to see. Your reviews inspire me.

They were seated across the room from each other, putting some much needed distance between them. Ada needed to have her mind clear of Erik and having him close, his touch, his smell, sent her into a tailspin. She wasn't that woman he left behind and she wasn't willing to fall back into old habits. Half truths and omissions wouldn't do anymore. At best she'd get her answers and they could move forward as co-parents. At worst, Erik would be on his bullshit. Ada expected a mixture of the two.

She could tell the distance between them irritated Erik. He was seated in the armchair, his legs spread, hands clenched on his thighs. His eyes roamed the room, looking at the person effects he recognized from their old place mingled with new pieces. He looked uncomfortable at the signs of a continued life, one without him.

"You owe me an explanation Erik," Ada started after a few moments of awkward silence. She expected push back but Erik just nodded. It was true and he couldn't deny it.

So he started with Klaue and the robbery of the museum, killing Klaue and heading to Wakanda. He talked about how he was king for all of forty-eight hours before T'Challa's return. When he spoke of wanting to die on the mountain, more tears welled up in Ada's eyes and he crossed the room to kneel at her feet.

"T'Challa offered to save me," Erik said annoyance in his voice, "but I thought it would be more heroic to just die there. My mission was complete, I didn't think I had anything to live for." Ada sobbed and closed her eyes. "But then I kept thinking about you, and how I promised I would come back. I ain't never broken a promise to you so I let them heal me." He caressed her cheek and she nuzzled into his hand. "I've been there this entire time, getting my head right and trying to get people to trust me." Erik scoffed. "They still don't trust me but T'Challa does and they trust him. I'm the protector of Wakanda now, the Golden Jaguar. I'm like an advisor because I know shit about how the world works that none of them do. They want to do things the peaceful way and I'm there to make sure they don't get screwed in the end. But as soon as I was allowed to leave Wakanda, I wanted to see you first. Ada, you're the only thing that kept me going. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you for this," he gestured to her belly, "but I'm gonna be there from here on out."

He pressed a tentative hand to her stomach, his thumb stroking. "Why didn't you let me know when you'd made it?" Ada asked. She was still unsure. Yes his story made sense but Erik was a man of action, not words. She was waiting for him to prove his words.

Erik swallowed roughly. "I was in a rough place when I got there. Nothing made sense to me but making sure I got revenge on the people that made our lives hell. But I would've come once I had full control of Wakanda. People were resistant even though I'd killed their king. My two days as king was a pain in the ass," he joked. But Ada wasn't in a laughing mood.

"So…what now?"

"Well I have an obligation to Wakanda. My freedom in the U.S. is based on my commitment as advisor. So I was hoping that you would want to come home with me."

"Erik…I don't know." His face fell and Ada hated the power he still seemed to have over her. "I can't just move to another country. My life is here, my job is here."

Erik stood up and began pacing back and forth. "What kind of life is it?" he spat at her. "You don't have anyone and you wouldn't have to work if you came with me."

Ada rose to her feet to block his path. "It's a life I created. It doesn't have to make sense to you but I'm not ready to jump back into our shit with you!" Erik went to interrupt but she held up a hand. "You had your chance and it's my turn now." She swallowed, wanting to get her point across without hurting him.

"When you left, I thought my world was collapsing. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep. You're right that I have no one because I dedicated my entire being to catering to you when you were home and wondering when you would come back when you were gone." Erik averted his eyes from hers. "You were selfish with me and you kept me to yourself and I allowed you to. You lied a lot and left shit out and I let you. But when I found out I was pregnant I had more to live for besides you and someone else who needed me to dedicate my time to. So I figured this shit out. And you don't get to come back and make demands of me. I'm not that person. I can't be that person. I have someone else I have to put first and you need to earn my trust again."

Ada was out of breath at the end of her monologue and Erik was standing there clenching his fists again. Abruptly, he turned and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

"Of course you fucking leave when you don't get your way, asshole," Ada muttered under her breath.

—

Two hours later, Erik walked back into the apartment wearing regular clothes and carrying a duffle. Ada stood in the kitchen washing her dinner dishes.

"What's with the bag?"

He slowly met her eyes. "You said you weren't coming with me and I can't earn your trust halfway around the world. So I'm gonna crash here, if that's alright with you?" He arched an eyebrow at her. She nodded, shocked at him acting like an adult. He crossed to the couch–the same one from their last apartment–and began pulling equipment from the bag. Ada watched in disbelief; he was really there in her apartment, setting up what looked to be his home office, wanting to get to know this new version of her and earn her trust. She was already impressed at his nerve but she tried to beat it back. And her hormones.

Erik looked just as good, if not better than when he left. Him being back in Ada's space, suffocating her with his presence had her ready to lay on her back and spread her legs open for him. His dominating aura and smell was setting her body off . She thought pregnancy had gotten rid of any libido she'd had but all she had to do was get her baby daddy in the room again.

"Plus I figured you look about ready to have that baby," he continued, interrupting her thoughts. "It's not safe for you to be alone here."

"What about your job?" She came around to perch on the arm of the couch, watching him type codes into the laptop.

"It's fine. I let T know what was going on. I can advise from here."

"Okay…I'll uh get you some sheets for the couch."

"Cool," he said meeting her eyes. Ada felt like he could see through her, to where she was suppressing her desires for him. They were bubbling up to the surface and ready to explode. Ada jumped up from her seat to gather the linens for him, breaking eye contact in the process.

When she returned with blankets, he'd stripped down to just his boxers, his ring on his chain glinting in the light of table lamp. Ada swallowed roughly before setting the blankets the chair farthest from him working on the computer and turning to escape to the relative privacy of her bedroom.

"Hey," Erik called out. Ada turned back to him in question. "What are we having?"

She smiled. "It's a girl."

His face softened before he cleared his throat and ducked his head back into his work.

"Cool," he resumed typing. "Goodnight, Ada."

"Goodnight, Erik."