Erik knew he'd been gone for a while, but he was surprised at the self sufficiency Ada had. The Monday after he'd moved into her apartment, he woke up to Ada's fumbling. It was still dark out; usually Erik would've already been awake but Ada's couch,while cute, was not meant hit sleeping. Especially with his size and build.

"Fuck." He heard Ada mutter and he immediately sat up to peer at her through the darkness.

"What are you doing awake?" His voice was gravelly and he reached over to turn the side table lamp on.

Ada jumped a little. "Erik! You scared the hell out of me!"

"What are you doing awake?" He asked again. He eyed her attire, converse, jeans, a basic shirt. And that bump.

Erik swallowed. He didn't think he'd ever get used to the idea that Ada was having a baby. His baby.

"I'm going to work," Ada said moving around the kitchen. She pulled containers out the fridge before stretching to reach the top of the fridge. Erik rushed to step behind her and reach the lunch box. The scent of her hair wafted from her and Erik's head spun. Unconsciously, he rested his hand on her hip and pressed his bare front to her back. He wished he was wearing more than just his boxers because he was hard and straining at just a little touch. He heard a whimper escape her, and his dick twitched before he pulled away. They weren't there yet and he didn't want to take advantage of the situation. Ada calling him on his bullshit bothered him; he didn't realize wear their relationship had been like for her. He wanted to earn her trust the way she wanted him to, take the time to be the person she'd thought he was before he'd left, but better.

"Here you go," he said, handing her the lunch box. Her whispered 'thanks' and dilated pupils let him know she was just as affected as he was.

Erik cleared his throat. "So you're going to work at," he glanced at his watch, "4:20 in the morning?"

She continued to hustle around the kitchen grabbing snacks. "I have to catch the 4:30 bus to be at work at 6."

Erik would be damned if the mother of his child would take public transport, especially at eight months pregnant. He kissed his teeth. "Go back to bed, Ada." He went to go back to his bed-the couch. He missed the look on her face but heard in the tone of her voice.

"Excuse me? What do you mean 'go back to bed'? I have to go to work, Erik." She tilted her head. He could tell she was going to be difficult for no reason. "You know, work? Where I go make money to pay my bills?"

Erik kissed his teeth again, flopping back on the couch. "I told you you didn't have to worry about bills. I got you."

His statement was met with the door slamming. Erik cursed before hopping up and grabbing his sweats, keys, and a shirt.

For a pregnant woman, Ada moved fast as hell because she was no where to be found in the hallway. He ran pressing the button on the elevator, before realizing he could run down the stairs faster than the elevator would come. He took the six flights of stairs two at a time, coming out the side door to the building. He saw Ada walking at a quick pace in the direction of the bus stop.

"Ada!" He called to her but either she couldn't hear him or she was ignoring him. She kept walking.

Erik pulled up to the bus stop and rolled the window down. "Ada." He was at his wits end with this woman. She looked away from him, an attitude across her face. Erik took deep breaths–something his therapist told him to start doing when his temper flared up–before putting the car in park. The nosey ass woman standing under the awning with Ada eyed him with suspicion as he exited the car.

"Ada," he tried again. Finally she looked at him, apprehension in her eyes. Erik wondered how he would've reacted in the past, if this was something he would've raised his voice about before Wakanda. The look in her eyes made the still lingering frustration dissipate.

"I'll take you to work," he said opening the passenger door for her.

Ada turned to the woman next to her who waved her forward. She gave him a small smile before getting into the car. Erik closed the door after her, got into the car, and pulled off.

Of course they got to the daycare early so Erik swung through the McDonalds drive thru. He got his big breakfast meal with hotcakes and coffee, before putting in Ada's usual order of a sausage, egg, and cheese McGriddle, a hashbrown, and orange juice. He peeked over at her while placing the order and saw the pleased look on her face at his remembrance. They sat in the parking lot and ate their food in silence until six.

"Thank you," Ada said as she exited the vehicle. Erik waited until she entered the building before slamming his head against the headrest. He was in over his head with her.

That evening, he showed up at six to the daycare. When she took a little longer to come out, Erik stepped into the daycare. He took note of the lack of security and sent a prayer up to Bast that he could convince Ada to quit.

Soon.

He stepped into place, it was quiet, eerily so. Erik wished he had a gun on him. Peering around the corner, he saw Ada standing at a crib, her back to the door, swaying side to side. She danced her way to face him, smiling down at the baby in her arms. Erik swallowed hard. Seeing her with that baby made it pretty hard to ignore his future. He cleared his throat as gently as possible to avoid startling her.

Ada looked at him. "Oh. I didn't realize you were coming. His mother hasn't come yet. She works late so I just stay so she doesn't have to rush." Erik nodded, still avoiding looking at the baby. Her eyes searched his face. "You can wait in the car if you'd like."

Erik thought about how easily he'd been able to walk in a catch Ada unawares. "Nah, I'll stay." He took a seat in the rocking chair, far away from her and the baby. She clearly still needed him to watch her back.

—

A few days later, Ada asked him to take her to the doctor's office across town the next day. He looked at her belly in askance. Feat if something was wrong? What if his presence had done more harm than good?

"Everything's fine," she said breaking through his thoughts. "It's just my thirty-six week checkup." Erik let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

"Yeah, yeah. I can take you." His voice was shaky. He didn't think he cared about the baby but the idea of something being wrong with her, something wrong with Ada…

"Do you want to come with me?"

Erik thought about it and looked at Ada. She looked nervous to have asked him and he was nervous at the thought of going. But…he was curious. Did it look like a baby inside? What was she like? Was everything really ok with them both?

"Okay."

"Yeah? She looked shocked that he would agree, which annoyed him a little.

"Yeah. You cool with that?" She rolled her eyes and walked into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

The next morning, Erik followed Ada into the doctor's office and took a seat. He looked around the waiting room as she checked in. This was one of those bougie doctor's offices in the white neighborhood. Majority of the women waiting were eying him. He wanted to buck at them, give them something to fear, but he restrained himself for Ada's sake. Definitely would've been funny though.

"I know I owe you but please-" Ada's whisper reached his ear.

"I'm sorry miss but we absolutely need your payment before we can render service." The bitch at the counter wasn't even trying to be quiet, mock sympathy coating her voice, which boiled Erik's blood. He stalked up to the counter, a dark guardian angel standing over Ada.

"What's the problem, babe?" He glared at the woman, who shrunk a little under his gaze.

Ada turned to him. "They won't let me back for my appointment. I'm on a payment plan but she still won't check me in." The frustration was clear on her face.

Erik took a deep breath to calm down before he lit into the woman. "How much?" He directed his question to "Tammy".

"Well she needs to pay $250 for this visit." She looked him up and down, saw his sweatpants and t-shirt and the smirk was back.

"I mean how much is her total bill?" He grinned at her fallen face, golden slugs gleaming in fluorescent lights.

Tabitha typed some things on the computer. "Her total bill is $1,750 including today's payment." Erik handed over his debit card, shushing Ada when she tried to speak up. Talulah said nothing as she processed his payment, lips pursed in dissatisfaction. Erik felt a smug satisfaction; this was that shit T'Challa was always talking about, a subtle way to stick it to someone rather than his usual brash way of handling things.

After signing the receipt, he led Ada to a seat away from everyone. Another guy, there with his girl gave the universal head nod of solidarity. Erik returned it.

"You didn't have to do that, Erik." Ada was cradling her belly, her face sweet and her eyes hopeful.

He rubbed a hand down her back in reassurance. "You're my responsibility. Of course I did."

That was the wrong thing to say. Her eyes went guarded, her body stiff. Before he could correct himself–express how much she met to him, how scared he was about this baby, but how he didn't want to do life without her–Ada's name rang out in the waiting room. She immediately rose from the seat and waddled walked to the door, not looking to see if Erik was following. Erik sighed.

In the back, the kind nurse took Ada's weight and measurements before leading her to the room to check the baby. Erik's palms were sweating.

"Is this the daddy?" The nurse's cheerful voice rang through his ears. Ada hopped on the table, while replying yes. She raised her shirt and Erik's eyes were glued to the bump. It was his first time seeing it uncovered. Her skin was smooth and soft looking. He saw a ripple, slow moving, but a clear movement and he ripped his eyes away.

"Well daddy, you can take a seat over there," the nurse was speaking again. Erik went to sit in the chair she indicated, trying to hold back a smirk at the nickname. He watched as she spread a jelly substance across Ada's stomach. Then she turned out the lights and the machine whirled to life. Pressing the want to Ada's stomach, the screen was blank for a moment before the clear image of their baby appeared on screen.

Erik was in awe. That was his baby, at least it was her profile. He could clearly see his nose, his lips, Ada's big ass head…

"She has your big ass head," Ada whispered. He hadn't realized he'd stood and was standing next to Ada lying on the bed. Before he could counter, a whooshing sound filled the room. Erik looked around confused.

"And that's your baby's heartbeat!" He'd forgotten the nurse was in the room. The whooshing sound was her heartbeat. Erik felt himself getting choked up.

"Is it supposed to be that fast?" His own voice sounded foreign to him.

"Yes, your baby has a very healthy heartbeat. It's to regulate her temperature when she's born." The nurse moved the wand around to get a different angle while to talked about what was going on with Ada. Apparently the baby was head down, which was good. Erik tuned them out, staring at his baby girl. He couldn't believe this was his baby. He never thought he could have this, had been so focused on his life's mission that everyone was collateral. He thanked Bast for this and held back tears.

He avoided Ada's searching eyes as he moved back to the chair, eyes still glued to his baby. He would do better. He had so much more to live for and do better for.