"To what do we owe the pleasure of this baby-daddy alert?" Eli asked, as he and Maria got into his car.
"I've been ignoring him for a month or so now; so I guess that's what he's pissed about. Haven't seen him or spoken to him since our last fight, and normally by now I would be back over at his place riding him into his bed."
"That sounds like such a lovely mental image. Why don't you tell me, you know your current boyfriend, about your sex life with your former boyfriend."
"Maybe if you would just plow me you could get some of this!" Maria said grabbing a hold of her crotch in a raunchy fashion, complete with a foul look on her face, "Come on you know you want it."
"Not as badly as Francis probably wants your ex out of the hallway."
"Right so I'll go fuck him up, then fuck you right?" she laughed.
"Do you have to be so vulgar , you're going to be a mother soon."
"I thought you were a decent enough guy to not try and change me. Looks like I was wrong." Maria crossed her arms and propped her feet up on the dashboard. He gave her a quick swat on the thigh closest to him, "So what do you want to talk about then? It's a bit of a car ride and you know how I feel about silences?"
"How about we talk about this ex of yours?" Eli suggested swatting her leg again in hopes she would take the hint that he wanted her feet of the dashboard.
"I thought you didn't want to know about our sex life."
"Then I will be more specific, why have you been avoiding him?"
"I'm pregnant. Call me all sorts of foul things, and I'll own up to them, but even I know that you can't raise a baby in a toxic environment, I reckon it's part of the reason why Rue is such a fucking mess, anyways I figured I would ditch him and do the child rearing thing on my own. He doesn't even make as much money as me, and I know my dad won't let and baby and I starve or get put out on the streets. And for as much of a slut Francis is he's got real compassion in him—I've also got Antonio. So that's plenty of back up as far as I am concerned."
"And you never told your ex about the baby?"
"Course not. He likes kids and would want it. That would just fuck up my plans—" Eli slammed on the breaks rather hard causing the driver behind him to slam his fist into the horn. "FUCK IT! WHAT WAS THAT?"
He pulled over and starred over at Maria a look of horror, anger, and confusion, "HOW THE FUCK CAN YOU DO THAT TO HIM?"
"What the fuck do you mean?"
"You can't carry a man's child, know who the man is, and never inform him of that fact. It's not decent. If I were—if Rue were to… Maria a man has a right to know these things."
"And don't I have the right not to tell him. You know the whole freedom of speech shit applies to not telling people stuff too." She raised her voice uncrossing her arms and letting her feet down to turn and face him. "Whatever he's going to fucking know now."
"It's the principle of the matter Maria. I would want to know if I were to have a gotten a woman pregnant. I would want to know I was going be a father."
"Well if you care so much about the damn principle then make me walk."
Eli put the car back into drive, "I can't kick you out. With your albinism, you're already practically blind, toss in the fact that it's dark, and you'll end up wandering into traffic and die killing both you and the baby. I would feel like shit, and you'd still get off easy not ever telling the man about his child."
Maria crossed her arms, "He's going to want in no matter what. And I don't want him in."
"Well you'll have to deal with that yourself." He pulled in front of her building, "I'm going to let you out now and I'm leaving. Sort this all out with him, then call me."
"I don't want to."
Eli was silent and opened the doors of the car before looking over at her sternly. She took the hint and got out of the car, "Well if you want this to work out, between you and I…" he started right before she closed the door, "We're on hiatus until you work things out with him. Now don't forget your bag."
The moment Maria picked it up and closed the door, Eli drove off. She stood there on the street starring after him for a moment, before shouting, "OH FUCK ME!"
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"Francis~" the large man known as Ivan Braginsky half cooed, half sang through the door of the apartment where the French man was holed up. His ear was pressed to the door as he pawed at the wood, a disturbingly wide grin across his face. "I know you know where she is. I haven't seen Maria in months, and she's been ignoring me… but I know she won't ignore you."
i"I've called her mon ami!/i Francis answered back through the door, i"There is nothing else that I can possibly do!"/i
"Oh have you? Well then you will be polite and let me wait for her in there right?"
i"I think the hallway works so much better for you!"/i
"That's not very good hospitality—"
"Oi! Ivan the fuck are you doing harassing my roommate?" Maria shouted down the hallway. She was starting at the top of the stairs with her bag over her front, attempting to hide the pregnancy as best as she could. There was no reason to expose the rounded stomach to the man right away. "How about you bounce, because right now I don't want to look at your fucking face, and that big fucking ugly nose of yours."
"Oh, Maria," Ivan turned away from the door just as Francis called out a thank you to god, "Where on earth have you been. I've tried calling you. Katya said you would like it if I called you. Natasha told me not to, but Natasha has never liked any of my girlfriends."
"Lovely. Well I really don't want to talk to you now, or ever."
"Why not?" He stood up straight his hands folded across his front in a relaxed manner, "I thought we were together?"
"Just that, we iwere/i together. It's past tense moron." She closed the space between them.
"Oh let me try that again. You know sometimes I mess up my English… then the right way to say it would be 'we iare/i together'."
"OK there is a flaw in that logic, because I just stated that I we iwere/i and for us to be together in the present tense I have to want to be with you and I don't. I'm with someone else now… or well I was with him and will be with him again once this bullshit with you is over."
Ivan just stared at her silent, as if he was trying to digest all that she said. It was a signature look for him, an innocent blank stare. It drove Maria absolutely mad sometimes and she wanted nothing more than to knock it off of his face with her fist. The same with that stupid grin he would get across his face… the one he was currently wearing.
"Fuck it," Maria dropped her bag on the floor smiling over at Ivan, "Here's the big reveal. I'm pregnant Ivan."
He just watched her quietly saying nothing, that look of confusion across in his eyes and that stupid smile across his face. She fought back the urge to deck him. And then came his answer and that desired grew: "How?"
"Are you fucking kidding? Shit Ivan you put your dick in my pussy, came and then bam fucking conception and shit. Didn't your dick of a dad ever explain babies to you?"
"Katya always told me that babies were delivered by fairies in the night. And if you were bad the fairies would take you back—but that would just be silly what would fairies want with bad children?"
"You've got to be kidding me." Maria muttered under her breath.
"Of course I am." He laughed, "I'm a grown man Maria I know where babies come from—"
"Thank God I was terrified you were completely fucking hopeless there for a moment?"
"But I'm glad I've always wanted a child. It's mine right? Well how far along are you? What will we name it? Oh! Are we having a boy or a girl? When will you move back in?"
"OK so where to start… how about I just give you answers from the top. Number one: yes; number two: about 5 months; number three: no idea; the fourth one is, a boy; and the last one's never. I am finished with you Ivan."
"How can you be? You're having my baby."
"Just because I am having a child doesn't mean that I want to be with you. I just figured you needed to know that shit and all. And don't start shit with me, you make like no money, and are crazy; plus you know women have a shit ton more rights when it comes to babies and junk then men do."
Ivan walked up to her closing the few feet of distance between the two of them before looking down at her right in her eyes. She stared right back into his eyes. She was nervous but fuck all if she was going to let him know that. "Don't think this is over Maria. I can and will—"
"—What fucking crush me? If you say that then as a Russian you must know how fucking typical and expected that line is from you. And I for one would be most ashamed."
"No," Ivan smiled at her, "Get you back. You always come back to me Maria. You're too much of a mess for anyone else to ever want you. And you need someone just as messed up as you. You'll come around, I know it." He stepped around her and made his way down the hall, "Bye bye, when I see you again, I would like for you to have a few names picked out. Personally I've always wanted a son named Boris." And with that he made his leave.
Maria stood silent and unmoving until the door to the front of the building had shut behind him. She let out a shaky breath she had been holding in her lungs before picking up her bag and making her way to the door of her apartment.
"Is he gone?" Francis said, opening it for her before she even had a chance to try fishing out her key. She nodded still quiet letting Ivan's words sink into her good, and deep, "thank goodness. Sorry I had to interrupt your night with Eli." He shut the door as Maria made herself to the couch and lowered herself on to it. "I didn't know he knew where we lived…" he fell quiet rounding the couch and getting a good look at his roommate and best friend, "… Maria are you all right?"
"Of course I am." She said, attempting to keep the fight in her voice.
"Are you quite certain, because right now I am looking at you… and well… you're crying?"
"Am I?" she sniffled pressing her finger tips to just below her eyes, "Oh, fucking a! You're right I am. Fuck this." She stood up to leave and was stopped by Francis having caught a hold of her hand.
"What is it?" he settled into the couch next to her crossing his legs. She resisted the urge to make a comment about how gay that was, "Tell me."
"I'll have to cut it off with Eli," she started crying even harder, "He told me he didn't want me until I settled matters with Ivan!" she was sobbing now, "and Ivan's right Francis! I am a fuck up. He's a fuck up too so we're meant for each other, two fucked up fuck ups we can have a fucked up baby and be the fucked up family!"
The Frenchman wrapped his arms around her body holding her tight in a hug. It was the sort of hug he'd given her only three times before, when she had had her first break up in high school, when she had told him she was pregnant, and when Rue had rubbed it in her face that she and Eli were going to be getting married.
"Just let it all out" he whispered holding her tight, "I'm here for you, now just let it all out."
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bAN/b I hope I have written something to make up for how long I was gone for! And look some emotion from Maria and a bit of affection from Francis. Really thank you for your comments they were lovely motivators! I only hope that the hiatus due to my terrible writer's block didn't leave you all too disappointed to come back, and that well this was worth the wait. Lots of love guys!