The ferryman had made a firm stance against the offer despite how tantalizing it was.
Are you really going to turn down a blowjob because of this? I'll make it my best one.
He didn't want to be in the same room as him, at least not yet. It was childish, sure, and perhaps over the top, something that was abrasive in his nature, but he wasn't sure how else to feel. Charon wasn't denying what she had said, for the moment those words had left her mouth, he knew. He just didn't know how else to proceed with it. Cross sure as hell wouldn't, so why should he?
A few more boxes of ammo were rudely shoved inside a military-grade duffel bag, the disorganization of his things going unnoticed under his turmoil. He still had plenty more to pack and prepare for, never mind the last-minute security system checks and the inspection of the radio beacon tower Lydia had finished installing on the roof. There was simply too much to do and not enough time in the world for him to be satisfied with it…he really didn't have a moment to waste on-
The zip of his pants was soon undone by his thick fingers before diving them into her hair and wrapping around her scalp.
"Relax," she mused as she released his weeping erection. Her front was resting against the inside curve of the tub, carefully supporting her bump while she was on her knees in lukewarm bath water.
Charon avoided eye contact with the ghoul thrusting her from behind, solely focusing his intense stare down at her tongue licking the clear dew from his tip. He eventually closed his eyes, imagining them in the scenario she had confessed touching herself to. A firm wrap of her hot mouth made his breathing stutter.
Fuck. He should have jerked off to her back then; should've used her choppy breaths and light, fluttery moans for his own self-satisfaction. Probably would have made him less of an asshole, and more relaxed around her. Maybe she wouldn't have been so hesitant in approaching him for sexual intimacies, not forcing her to seek carnal satisfaction from someone other than himself.
He opened his eyes to a surprise revelation that Cross was already staring at him with an expression he couldn't begin to decipher. A sudden hiss made them break the contact, as they both looked down at the woman that was shaking between them.
"Get off-get off!" she belted out with panic.
They released her from both ends instantly. Charon lowered into a crouch, his mind throwing any and all former lust away as he reverted to a calculative machine to deduce what was wrong. His dick was still out of his pants as he carefully lifted her head from hanging over the lip of the tub.
"What is wrong?" he rasped with an eerie calmness.
Drips of water flooded the floor as the glowing ghoul stepped out to rip away the privacy screen and bolt in a naked splendor for the physician.
"It-ah-it hurts," she gasped, her arms shaking as she tried to turn around and recline herself.
Charon tucked his arms inside to ease her transition, looking for any sign of trauma that he could help with. He'd pried out bullets, sown up lacerations, and always ensured her he would be there when she got hurt. It made him feel entirely helpless watching her now as she shook and pitifully keened out against something he couldn't fix. He knelt behind her head, keeping one hand on her shoulder that she desperately clung to with fierce force.
"It's too early! It's too early!" she cried.
The old man arrived faster than he could have ever anticipated. Stock brought his doctor's bag and set it down beside them, rummaging around inside with one hand as he began to physically scope her with his other. Cross huddled over her on the other side, stroking her face and murmuring soothing rasps that she greedily drank.
Stock replaced his stethoscope around his neck, reaching both hands up to her face to gain her attention. "Listen to me, you're experiencing some mild contractions, but you're not dilating. You're not going into labor, Evelyn. I need you to slow your breathing, alright now? Take a deep breath- good girl. Now take another- that's it."
She screwed her eyes shut and forced the exhale slowly from her body. Charon spread his hand over her chest, an old habit from when she was injured and he needed her to keep quiet while he stitched her up so as to not draw lurking enemies nearby while she was vulnerable.
Evelyn, you need to calm down.
Her legs twitched, and her left calf muscle spasmed into a tight ball, rendering a pained whine from her lips. It felt as though her entire abdomen was seizing down to her core, adding to her fright.
A hot breath swamped the left side of her face. "You are fine. You need to relax."
"It hurts," she shuddered between clenched teeth.
"I know, but it will pass. It always does. Do not focus on the pain," Charon rasped as softly as he could manage. "You know it does not last."
After a few more agonizing minutes of labored breathing and pinched brows, she felt relief as the tension tightening her body began to ebb away. The shiny sheen of light sweat across her forehead was gently wiped away by a rugged hand, and she laid in the lukewarm water for a few moments to gather her strength.
Stock indicated for the bigger ghoul to help her out. "When she's ready, bring her to my clinic. She'll be staying there for the time being."
Charon dutifully picked her up and carried her with ease to be deposited on the makeshift hospital bed that had been specially prepped for her. He helped position her pillows and tucked a blanket over her body as she began to shiver from the cold air, finally taking a seat on the edge as he watched her drink some water.
Cross looked more haggard than he ever had been in his entire life, his arms crossed and brows thick with worry. "Was that somethin' to be concerned over?"
Stock was wheeling on his chair to her side, wrapping a blood pressure cuff around her arm. "Each pregnancy is different. I wouldn't say it was normal for the severity, but this isn't a normal case." He timed her pulse. "I'm not going to lie and say this doesn't concern me, but there's no need to make mountains out of molehills just yet."
Evelyn began to worm her fingers underneath the crimson ghoul's giant palm that rested at her side. "Is the baby okay?" she asked faintly. A few solid kicks against her belly button provided an answer.
Stock scribbled some notes as he looked at her over his water-stained spectacles. "I'll check the heartbeat, but yes, I imagine so."
She blew out a breath and wiped at her face, sinking further back into the pillows while waiting for confirmation. She eyed the glowing ghoul still lurking at the foot of her bed and felt a wry smile tease her lips. "Are you just not going to put on any clothes?"
He shrugged, trying to appear completely casual in light of his distress.
Stock drew back her sheet and dosed her belly with a clear gel, rubbing a fetal doppler monitor around in search. A loud, rapid, thumping sound filled the room, and he gave her a reassuring nod. "Strong, steady, and sure to be asleep." Stock removed the device and wiped the mess from her skin before laying his instruments aside. "I'm going to have you moved down here until you're due. I'm not going to risk another episode and having you fall down the stairs."
Evelyn leaned her head back and closed her eyes- the entire world felt heavy. "…just bring me some books," she murmured as she began to drift off, the late-night hours coming to take their toll.
Charon held her hand and rubbed his thumb around the inside of her palm, quietly watching her face slowly ebb into serenity. He listened to the sound of Stock's footsteps walking away; heard the sad sigh of the seat that Cross sat in.
"…how'd you two come together?"
Charon turned his head. The merc was sitting beside the foot of the bed, his broad form drooped forward with his arms resting over his knees, his eyes downcast and mood quiet. He looked back to the woman softly sleeping.
"She did not tell you?" Charon rumbled.
"Nope."
"In Megaton, at Craterside Supply, where I had you get supplies before we left."
"That fuckin' kooky smoothskin was your employer?" he grunted.
"She was," Charon mused. He began to trace the lines in her hand with the softest of ministrations. "It was…not ideal."
"How'd you end up there? Someone sell your contract?"
"No." Charon paused a brief moment, observing her clipped fingernails. "I was put there. Most were afraid of me."
"What? You give someone that look you got?"
A brief tug of a smirk cracked at the edge of his mouth. "I had a previous employer. He died. We…I was contracted to him, for a short time, compared to others. He was…a good kid."
He felt the merc's eyes finally rove over to look at him. "What was she like? When you two-?"
A light snort escaped the ferryman. "She was much the same as she is now. Evelyn has been...one of my most difficult employers."
"Bet she has the nicest ass, though."
This time, a low chuckle was breathed from his chest. "Yes. She does."
Cross stood from his seat, leaning over her sleeping body to deliver a kiss on her lips. "I'm goin' to bring her shit down here…don't let her go too far."
When she awoke, she felt a heavy presence at her side. Evelyn yawned and peered through bleary eyes at the ghoul still sitting in his spot beside her, his eyes snapping from the floor to her waking expression.
"How long have you been here?" she mused as she rolled onto her side closer to him.
Charon traced his rough fingertips across her lips. "Almost twelve hours."
She furrowed her brows and began to sit up. "I've been asleep that long?" A creak in the corner made her peer her head around, catching sight of the merc leaning back in his chair with his ledger open in his hand. "I thought you were leaving."
Cross raised his eyes with a frown. "After that? Fuck you thinkin'?" He snorted and lowered his focus back down to his scribbled numbers and footnotes. "…we'll give it a few more days."
"Are you hungry?" Charon diverted her attention before an argument could arise.
She snuggled her head into his lap. "Only if you're cooking." She ignored the grumbled mutterings from the glowing ghoul in the corner and tapped at his leg. "Help me up before I sneeze and soak this bed."
"Wouldn't be the first time," Cross muttered as he turned a page. A brunt smack was delivered to his arm. "Ow!"
"Asshole," she grumped as she slowly made her way out the door with the ferryman's hand settled on her lower back.
Cross snapped his ledger shut and irritably sighed. A few days was a complete and bullshit lie. He didn't know when he would ever leave, or if he even had the mental fortitude to at this point. His anxiety-inducing paranoia over her and the baby's wellbeing had snapped a chain around his neck and anchored it around herself.
"I'm going to be just fine," her voice coolly murmured close to his face.
He whipped his eyes into focus, not realizing he had been so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't even hear her reenter the room. She wiggled herself into his lap, pulling his arms around her and nuzzling his jaw with her forehead.
How many times he had imagined this in the years past- how many instances he had dreamed she would walk through whatever door he was on the other side of, returning from some bullshit errand in whatever town he was traveling through, returning to his side with a chatter of a story on her lips and her fingers groping around inside his pants. It made the reality that much more bitter, made him that much more terrified that it could just as easily be ripped away from him again.
He somehow managed to finesse himself in her bed that night due to her insistence, and he awoke with a sharp inhale and a trembling of his hands that he couldn't stop. Charon hadn't left her side, much like himself, and he caught his glowing eyes from his seat in the corner.
The ghoul didn't say anything- he'd witnessed his nightly terrors before…too much, in fact.
Cross wanted to get up, to distract himself lest he return to that awful state of horrible things, but she rolled over and tucked him close.
"They're just dreams," she whispered sleepily.
He eventually fell back asleep, lost in the scent of her hair with the promise she would be there when he woke up.
Stock decided to keep her on bedrest for the remainder of her pregnancy- only further adding to Cross's caged worriment about her health. The ghouls kept her company while she read her books and complained of the new daily triggers her body was facing the closer she came to term. Lydia threw a casual question about their delayed departure, and Cross had simply thrown a cold 'we'll take care of it' that pulled her off his back. Charon hadn't spoken a single word to him since her episode, and he didn't care to offer any.
By the sixth day of crowding the medical clinic, Evelyn finally snapped her book shut and sighed loudly enough to draw their attention at rapid speed.
She held a hand up before they could bombard her with questions. "I'm fine." She crossed her arms and leveled a look at them. "Are you just not going anymore?"
Cross's fist involuntarily curled. "We ain't-"
"Going to find him if you stay here for nothing!" she interrupted with a snappish attitude. "Once the baby is here, which he will be soon, you won't be able to go anywhere. Look, I obviously want you here and to forget about that prick altogether, but you're not going to until he's rotting in the dirt. So what are you still doing here? Worrying about me? You're wasting time."
Cross stood from his seat so forcefully it tilted back to slam against the wall. "We'll find him. Don't worry about it."
"Are you the world's fastest bounty hunter now?" she snarked. "You already said it was going to be a few weeks, and you're running out of it."
Charon growled low in his chest and rose from his own seat to turn to his employer. "She is right…we should leave now."
"Hang on," Cross started, but the ferryman just strode past him. His cold demeanor cracked as he faced her with broken uncertainties. "We'll leave tomorrow," he said thickly.
She unfolded her arms and beckoned him over, kissing his cheek as he smothered his head on her shoulder. "You big baby. If you keep saying that, there's not going to be another tomorrow."
"Will you be okay?" he rasped emotionally as he hugged her tightly.
"We'll be better when you come back safe," she promised, a knock at the open doorframe pulling them apart.
Lydia scratched at the stubble on her head. "Sorry…Charon told me you guys were finally heading out. I got the radio set up." A handheld radio transmitter was held out for him, to which the ghoul pocketed away in his jacket. "Got the frequencies dialed in, both here and at the Castle, fully tested and ready to broadcast."
"The Castle?" Evelyn questioned with a blink. "The Minutemen?"
"Guy owes me a favor," Cross grunted, and he offered nothing more on the subject. "Good work kid."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't go anywhere." Lydia winked at her.
"Ain't that the part that scares me," Cross muttered under his breath. He waited till she left before he plopped down on the edge of the bed. "You better not fuckin' go nowhere."
Evelyn gasped, clutching a hand to her chest. "Do you honestly believe I would?! Like this?!"
"Yes," Charon rasped as he came inside. He gave a jut of his head to the other ghoul. "Everything is ready…for when you are."
"Yeah, yeah, alright." Cross waved him off and grabbed the sides of her face. "Not. One. Fuckin'. Step. From anywhere not here, the shitter, or the kitchen. You fuckin' understand?"
She blew a rude sound from her lips. "Not even the roof?!"
"Nope. No steppin' in that elevator."
"Since when is that a concern?!"
"Since now."
"You are so paranoid!"
"I don't care." He smushed her lips. "If you so much as think 'bout steppin' through that front door-"
"I won't be layin' pipe for the rest of your days," she hideously mocked in a gravelly voice. "Oh, please."
Charon kicked the frame of the bed to shake it. "Do not leave."
They eyed each other for a moment, until she finally looked away and sighed tersely through her nose. "…I won't."
Charon rudely shoved the other ghoul to the side so as to bring her ear to his mouth, lowly murmuring some things that Cross couldn't make heads or tails of. Her face grew exceptionally red, and her fingers squirmed in the sheets as he continued to speak to her. She bit her lower lip and shyly nodded when he eventually pulled back.
"I won't," she promised with a bashful tone.
"I know," Charon replied smugly, kissing her lips with a teasing bite of his teeth. He blatantly ignored the snarling as he addressed his employer with cool indifference. "Shall we leave?"
"Fuck you," Cross growled, taking his place back beside her with a sulk. "…give me a minute."
"Very well." The ghoul gave her one last look, his expression entirely unreadable, and he closed the door behind himself.
"Whatever that cunt said, I can do it ten times better," the merc rasped seriously.
Evelyn laughed. "It wasn't like that. So jealous."
The ghoul raised a brow muscle. "Then what did he say?"
"Oh, shush, ask him yourself. You're going to need something to talk about." She tugged at his belt. "…stay with me, until I fall asleep? I'm so tired."
Charon came back to a sleeping pair closely snuggled together on the small hospital bed, and he simply returned to his workshop to perform mindless busywork until he awoke. The hour grew late, and just as he debated on waking the ghoul himself, he heard a familiar stomping of boots come in from behind.
Cross had already changed into his combat gear (something he had always kept stowed but had never worn) and was dragging on a smoke from the corner of his mouth. His duffel bag of assorted weaponry was slung over one shoulder, and he popped his spine with a stretch.
"We ready?" he drawled. "She's still sleepin'."
Charon grabbed his shotgun from its mantle on the wall, his packed bags already by the door. "I am."
When Evelyn awoke to an empty medical room, she found a new assortment of books at her side with a note nestled on top. She unfurled it and read it with a sad smile.
Charon says you fart louder than I snore. Honest to God. Lucky we still love ya. :)
She rose, clutching the message to her chest as she went to stand by the front door for a few moments, secretly wishing they would come back through and tell her everything was fine. But it wasn't…and they never would come back through that door again.