I need your help. Is Parker's and Eliot's baby a boy or a girl?
It was almost morning when the app on his cellphone told him the bomb had been activated; Hardison got up from the place where he had been sitting on Sophie's couch and walked through the hallway entering the only room whose door was partially open. Inside a ball of sheets and blackest Eleanor slept, her uncle silently closed the window; he knew the girl would be asleep for an extra couple of hours. He was the only uncle whose authority she truly respected, probably because he said "No" so rarely she knew he meant business when he did, tonight had been one of those times.
He sat at his laptop and watched with his hearth pumping through his ears, he was still not sure he wanted to do this; watch Ronald Brow die.
He had installed a video camera on the bomb so he could watch the last few seconds of the man's death. He clicked the button. The man was sitting on a chair and he could tell his team mates had done a good job because he didn't look like a man; he looked like a ghost, a skeleton... At the end of the night when the numbers got to zero and the man's face showed nothing but pure terror at the idea of being burned alive Hardison grinned with pleasure at the idea of his pain and he found out he wasn't so innocent after all...
Parker had problems when Eleanor became five and she found out Nathan would often go to his daughter's room during the night, she asked Sophie if she worried about that and when she said no the thief didn't speak with her for two weeks. She probably slept in the vents of Eleanor's room for a couple of nights to make sure Nate wasn't hurting the child, Sophie never figured what upset Parker so much until this night.
Once Parker told Sophie she didn't want to go after the man that had molested since she was sure he wouldn't hurt other children. Sophie never understood how Parker could be so sure until this night. Now, she knew; the man wouldn't dare to touch other girls because they had parents that protected them; it was too risky...
The grifter never truly understood Parker's nightmares, how could she be so scared that the person that loved her the most, the father of her own baby would ever hurt his own child? She understood the nightmares that night, that night alone and she felt bad for Parker, so bad she summoned Annie. Except she didn't really summon her, she never did, she realizes now she never had any control over Ms. Kroy, the woman just triggered her into thinking she did...
She realized everything the moment the man made that commentary on Parker's name, how could he know that was Parker's mother's maiden name? Simple, he had been married to her...
The thief never really said he was his foster faster, the entire team just assumed it was because being her real father; that was just too bad...
Eliot curved his hands into fists as he looked down.
"It all makes sense now, her nightmares..."
"You know about the nightmares?" Eliot nodded.
"She told me last night, said she wanted to be clean since I was doing this for her... I felt betrayed that she would think I could ever hurt the baby, but now..."
"This was never about her trust in you, but when your own father does something like that..."
"You are always expecting the worst, even if you don't want to..." Eliot completed and finally looked at her; Sophie seemed sad, really sad.
"It's all beyond our back now" He started. "We can finally move one" Sophie's mouth twisted on a smile of disbelief. "Thank you, Soph!" He finally said because he knew whatever that was going inside her head she wasn't going to speak with him.
They entered the room to find Parker curled on the couch sleeping with her head on Nate's lap. The TV was on.
"It's already on the news. Hardison was so efficient there aren't any traces of both: body and bomb!" He eyes Sophie who was wearing one of his shirts; it was the look on her face that caught his attention though. "Something wrong?" She nodded quietly and he got from the couch without waking Parker up.
The couple left holding hands, as they were about to leave Sophie turned around.
"Don't be too harsh on her."
The next two chapter will be parallel to one another, happening at the same time we will see Parker/ Eliot and Nathan/Sophie solving their problems. Which one do you want to see first?