Recap: Congratulation on your baby!

At sixteen weeks your baby is the size of an avocado or a gerbil and is a…

Lucas' POV

Boy!

I looked at Maya. She had tears shining in her eyes, her hands clasped together in happiness.

"It's a boy!" she whispered.

"I know, Shortstack, I know. I'm so proud of you for growing this baby," I told her, pushing her hair away from her face to kiss her temple.

"It's not a tumor," she remarked, rolling her eyes playfully. She sunk back into her seat and clipped on her seatbelt. "Where to?"

"Don't know. Wanna go get something to eat?" I asked her as I pulled out of the parking spot and veered into the lanes of traffic.

"Nah, let's go to the onsie place," SHe insisted.

"That would have been helpful to know before I started driving in the other direction." I rolled my eyes but merged through the lanes to the left hand lane where I could make a u-turn. A old and green car halted and I swung the car into the other side of the road.

I drove to the strip of shops where the onsie place was and snagged a street side parking space. We walked into the shop and were greeted by scent of baby powder and laundry detergent. I looked at some walking shoes that were supposed to help balance the baby while watching maya wander around the store out of the corner of my mind. She was rubbing her bump, which hadn't necessarily grown but had rounded, with one hand and touching clothes with the other.

"Hee Haw, c'mere,"she called out. I walked over to where she was holding a onesie just out of my view with an evil grin on her face. "Look."

The onesie had a blue bow tie printed on it and underneath the words PERFECT SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN in all caps. I sighed and accepted the dig at me. "How much do you want it?"

"I want him to wear it the first time he meets all his family in my arms." She was smirking but looking up through her eyelashes in a way that I couldn't resist.

"Okay, okay, buy it." I handed her twenty five dollars and she practically sprinted towards the checkout desk.

I caught up with her and out a hand on her shoulder. "Did you pay yet?"

"Can we buy one of those due date onesies now that we know it a boy?" she asked.

"We don't know it's name yet," I told her, handing the lady the money for the other onesie.

"Holden," she said, crossing her arms and turning to face me.

"Why do you get to decide it just like that?" I asked her, a little confused but mostly joking. The name didn't matter to me as long as Maya thought it would suit our son.

"Because it's my baby." She turned around to grab the receipt and bag from the employee.

"It's my baby too," I told her.

"What do you want to name it then, Huckleberry? Rick Finn? Brooks? Atticus? Beau?" she teased.

"That's mean Maya. I was thinking Mason or James. Something a little less… 1920s Georgian," I remarked, signaling the older woman working the shop over. "Ma'am, we'll take one of those announcement onesies."

Maya beamed triumphantly next to me while the woman nodded. "What date do you want circled in the heart.?"

"July 22nd, please," Maya told her. The woman nodded and typed something into a computer.

"Name and what color?"

"Holden Ryder and blue," Maya said, resting her hands on her bump. The woman nodded and told us we could pick it up next week, she sent us off with a receipt and wishes for a good day.

/||\\/||\\/||\\

"What do you want to do now?" I asked Maya once we were driving again.

"Let's go see my mom. Invite her to the next appointment then maybe go get lunch with Riles," she said, twirling a strand of her hair and looking out the window.

"That sounds good. It's good you're making amends with your mom," I said, making a left and turning out of the good side of town.

Everything about here was darker, like the influence of the town had dimmed the sun over here. The shadows made it cooler and the streets covered in trash and suspicious looking lumps covered in blankets could make anyone shiver. Maya shrunk into her seat, inching away from the window and closer to me. I took one hand of the wheel and took her hand in it.

"Do I have to move back in with my mom if we get back on good terms? I like it with you and your mom. And and…" she trailed. Her tone was suspicious, hopeful and maybe a little scared.

"Any other reasons Maya? Your mom won't permanently give you away because you like it better with us," I told her, but I think I knew what it was. This isn't a good area, after so long away she doesn't remember how to navigate it or fend for herself. She's pregnant now and won't be able to fight soon and here isn't a good place to raise a baby.

"I'm scared Lucas. I don't want my baby to be here for even a second," she whispered and I agreed instantly.

"We'll tell your mom, and grab more of your stuff. That way you can stop doing laundry every two days,"I joked squeezing her hand and then pulling mine back so I could maneuver into a narrow parking spot in front of Maya's family apartment.

We walked up the creaky, concrete, outside stairs to the fourth floor where the apartment was. Maya held my hand tightly, so tightly I felt the tips of my fingers beginning to tingle. She rapped on her old front door with her knuckles and retracted her hand quickly, tucking it back into her jacket pocket.

"Maya," her mom greeted us, her voice shocked but not unpleasant. "Come in, Lucas nice to see you."

I nodded to her and took a step forward as Maya took one. We followed Ms Hart-Hunter into the living room and took a seat on the worn, brown couch while she sat in a newer looking grey chair.

"What do we owe this visit to?" Katy asked, crossing her legs and angling towards us.

"We had a doctors appointment today," Maya stated.

"That's wonderful. How is the baby? Did you get an early gender screening? I got one with you," Katy said, sweetly.

"We did find out the gender Ma'am, but we have a formal gender scan in four weeks that we wanted to invite you to," I said, rubbing Maya's hand with my thumb.

"That's fantastic, I wouldn't miss it for the world," she promised.

Maya hummed pleased and told her mom about wanting to move permanently into my house because of safety concerns for the baby. Katy sympathized and agreed that no baby, that had the option, should be raised like this.

She helped Maya pack in her room while I sat on the couch staring at a picture on the cluttered coffee table. Shaun was holding Katy close to him and she was holding something. They looked so happy, Katy was beaming and Shaun had a priceless expression on his face. I picked up the picture to see what Katy was holding.

I dropped the picture almost instantly. Katy was holding a pregnancy test. I couldn't believe it. As I picked the picture up to put it back on the table Shaun entered the room. He saw what I was holding and almost dropped his coffee mug.

"Don't tell Maya, please don't tell her," he whispered.

"This must have been recently, Katy isn't showing yet," I said. Naively apparently, I did not see what Shaun next said coming.

"It was five months ago. We wanted to wait the three months out, you know miscarriage rates are high in the first three months. Katy is older, at higher risk. But Katy lost the baby about eleven days before Maya told us she was pregnant. We were hurting, we didn't want her to get hurt like that too. We know Maya's strong, she could easily conquer a baby and still get what she wants, but we didn't want her to get hurt." His voice was hoarse, like it was fighting off tears.

I felt terrible for asking, even bringing it up. I was so stupid. "I'm sorry man, I can't imagine losing our s-baby. I know this isn't my place for input, but you should tell Maya she had a sibling. She deserves to know," I said, just as Maya and Katy turned the corner.

"I deserve to know what?" Maya asked, easing the smile off her face.

"How much we love you, popsicle. And how much we regret our actions when we found about your baby. It was wrong and we should have acted like the adults we are," Shaun said so convincingly I felt bad. I nodded and walked to take the bag Maya was carrying from her.

We parted with sincere goodbyes and promises to meet again soon.

/||\\/||\\/||\\

"Are y'all ready to go?" Mama said, keys in the front door.

"Yeah," I said, appearing behind her and making her jumpa little.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Maya called and we heard her light footsteps on the stairs. "I'm here," she said, readjusting the denim overall straps resting on her shoulders over a v-neck, navy t-shirt.

"Good, we have to pick up Topanga and Riley on the way there to so we have to get a move on," Mama said, closing the door as soon as we were all outside of the house. I walked behind Maya and Mama watching their shoes -dirty,whiteish Converse and pink heels- hit the paved sidewalk.

An image, like a daydream, hit me so hard I stumbled. Almost. It was of Maya holding a little hand walking away like now. They looked the same, blonde hair in waves, jeans and grey sweatshirts. When they reached the car they turned around. 'Any day now, we have to go now,' then Maya said. Her eyes were piercing in a way I'd never noticed before. She had a bump what I imagine a just about to pop women would have. 'Yeah Daddy, Mommy is hurting,' the little boy said. He looked just like Maya but with my eyes. I took a deep breathe shaking away the vision and the feeling it brought on. I had never noticed how piercing Maya's eyes were.

Or how they made me feel.

A/N: Wow, sorry this took so long to update. School has me so, so busy. I'm trying to keep up I promise. What do you think of Maya's name choice? My sister suggested it an I felt like Maya would absolutely love it.