A/N: Enjoy the fluff, because after this... DRAMA ;3 And good riddance! I'm so sick of writing all these damn kiss scenes lol! It's a lot of work and all this fluff is giving me hives! LOL fluff is literally the hardest thing to write.

Awww thank you for all the encouragement. You guys are honestly too good to me! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you for the kind reviews and being patient with me! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own GMW, but Lucaya is bae.

"Maya, I don't know if anyone has told you this, but you are such a cute little pregnant girl." Missy said, leaning on a desk and watching Maya as she painted.

"Stop it. Shouldn't you be in Yearbook Club right now?"

"Cancelled."

"So shouldn't you be at work then?"

"My shift doesn't start for another hour." Missy waved off her diversions. "Besides, we're talking about how cute you are. I mean you're just small, and you've got this round belly and you're just so tiny. It is the cutest thing. No wonder Lucas can't keep his hands off of you. Every time I see you in the hall, he's always hugging you or touching you."

Maya rolled her eyes. Missy wasn't the only one who was obsessed with telling her how apparently cute she was while pregnant. Riley would squeal all the time about how adorable she was. Then Topanga and Cory had joined in on the fun. And even Shawn, who had been the most reserved about the pregnancy, couldn't help but gush over her sometimes. And don't even get her started on Lucas and Lila. She had thought Lucas' behaviour was annoying, but Lila took it to a whole new level.

But it was nice that she was pulling all the stops to make sure Maya was comfortable and felt welcomed in her home. Lila said it was because she'd never had a chance to have a daughter to pamper and her pregnancy with Lucas was so high risk that she'd been too terrified to even try for another child. Maya was like the daughter she'd never had. And that did manage to bring a smile to Maya's face, so she just let her do as she wished.

"So what did you and Lucas do for Valentine's Day? You never actually told me."

Maya snorted. "That was two weeks ago, Missy. It's almost March."

"All you told me is that you enjoyed the date. And I was away on college visits for a while. So tell me now. Where did he even take you?"

"We went to the fair. That's all."

"Nope." Missy shook her head, a sly smile in place. "That's not good enough. Details please."

Maya sighed, setting her brush down and absentmindedly fiddling with the locket around her neck. She knew Missy wouldn't let it go no matter what she said.

"That's literally it. We went to the fair. He won me a bear at the dunk tank and then he took me to his place and made me dinner. What more do you want to know?"

"Ooooh made you a dinner?! Was it good?"

"Amazing." Maya said, smiling to herself.

"Damn. Your husband can do everything."

Maya rolled her eyes. People had taken to calling them husband and wife recently thanks to Missy. It didn't bother Maya totally, but she did get a little flustered from the implication. Sure, they spent a lot of time together, and she basically was living with him by that point, but they were far from that. And Maya still had her reservations on letting Lucas in on occasion. He respected her when she needed her space, but she could see that he was slowly wedging himself in past her guard. And she knew slowly she was letting him.

"So then what?"

"What nothing." Maya said, averting her gaze slightly from Missy's shrewd look.

"You said you were at his place. Did you spend the night? And by spend the night, I mean spend the night." She said, waggling her eyebrows.

Maya said nothing, pretending she was suddenly interested in a smudge on her canvas.

"You're avoiding answering me."

"I'm not."

"Oh I see… Missy grinned widely, her eyes shining in mirth. "He took good care of you, didn't he?"

Maya fought the blush that threatened to take over her face. That night had been pretty crazy. She still was plagued by memories of the way Lucas had absolutely made her lose her mind in pleasure. The date itself was memorable, but damn, the end of it had left Maya a total mess for a couple days.

Lila hadn't been kidding about the intense sex drive.

Great.

And now she was horny.

"C'mon. Details. I know you want someone to talk to about this. Did he go down on you?"

"…yes."

Missy laughed. "What else?"

"I'm not disclosing any more details you nasty, pervy girl."

Because the things he'd done to her were pretty nondisclosable. She'd take them with her to the grave.

"Oh c'mon! We could totally swap sex stories."

Maya rose a brow. "Wow. Really?"

"I'm sure they swap sex stories during their baseball practice."

"Maybe later. And by later, I mean thirty years from now when I'm no longer anywhere near you."

Missy laughed, picking up her school bag from the floor. "I read online that some pregnant women are horn dogs. Are you? How much sex do you actually have on a regular basis?"

A lot.

She kind of tended to attack Lucas when she saw him. But she couldn't help it. Every time his lips curved into that sexy smirk as he saw her, Maya lost it. She'd forced him to skip bio quite a handful of times for that very reason. She blamed the hormones. (Although she couldn't deny that her psycho, raging sex hormones were a blessing in disguise). She felt a little bad for him. On evenings she spent the night at the Friar's, Lucas was almost always yawning all day the next day. She knew some of the team teased him and gave him shit for being "whipped" but joke was on them, because Lucas was getting laid pretty often. And they weren't.

Maya stepped away from her canvas, deciding it was just better to finish out this painting another day. Her thoughts were all on Lucas now and there was no way she'd be able to focus.

"Not telling." She finally said, gathering her books to put in her school bag. Riley would be coming soon and they would walk home together. She'd started to reduce her work schedule, only going a few times a week since she was growing larger now and overworking herself wasn't recommended.

"Aww you're no fun." Missy stuck out her tongue, waving as she made her way out of the room. "I'm off to work. Bye."

Maya chuckled to herself as she gathered her stuff and made sure to clean up her area. She put all her materials back in her cubby and washed off dried paint from the paintbrushes. Then she made sure all of the paint was closed properly and all the paper put back away. Ms. Kossal was all for letting students use the facilities after school to their heart's content, but recently, people had been leaving the room a mess and not cleaning up after themselves. Maya didn't want the priviledge taken away, because she needed the classroom to paint.

"Knock, knock."

Maya turned with a smile as Lucas walked into the room.

"Thought you had to get to baseball practice?"

"I do." Lucas said with a smirk, sliding his arms around her torso and pulling her to him. "I just wanted to say goodbye to my girlfriend before I left."

"Aww Huckleberry. Can't live without me?" Maya said playfully, craning her neck up and smirking, "I'm staying at your place this weekend, you know? You'll have all weekend to see me."

"I know…" He said softly, gently rubbing her back. He glanced up at the wall behind her and his brows lifted in surprise. "Hey. Is that me?"

Maya knew what he was talking about. Ms. Kossal had put the seniors' last semester oil pastel projects up on the wall to show the underclassman what kind of work she expected in the future. Maya had used as many colours as possible to recreate the shadows of the silhouette of Lucas throwing a football. The colours weren't necessarily right. But the one thing that she'd definitely made sure to remain the same was his beautiful sea-foam coloured eyes.

"When did you draw that?"

"Last semester. It was my final project." Maya said, a little embarrassed he had seen it. "I was going to give it to you as a Christmas gift, but I chickened out."

"Any chance I could have it now? I love it."

"What?" she snorted. "Didn't think you were that vain, Sundance."

He leaned down, grasping Maya's chin and tilting it up. "I want it because everything you make is special to me, Maya."

Fuck.

"Good answer…" she murmured.

He closed the distance between their lips. Maya sighed into the kiss, lost in the sensation of his mouth moving with hers. It was perfection every time he would kiss her. A kind of nirvana that she knew only Lucas could help her reach.

She pushed against his chest, putting a bit of distance between them, face flushed as she tried to catch her breath.

"Lucas, if you keep kissing me, I won't let you leave for practice."

He said nothing, only covering her mouth with his again, engaging her in a sensual kiss that made her knees buckle. She climbed up on the table behind her, gripping the top of Lucas' uniform and tugging him forward so their kiss wouldn't get broken. She leaned into him, that familiar surge of arousal coursing through her veins once again, only made stronger by the fact that Lucas was in his uniform. She didn't know what it was about him in his baseball uniform, but it always had been a turn on for her.

He broke the kiss with a sharp intake of breath when she brushed her fingers against the front of his pants.

"Maya… I have to go…or we won't be able to stop."

But he didn't let go of her. He nuzzled her neck, breathing slowly to control himself, his hands rubbing languid circles on the skin under her top (and when had his hands gotten there anyway?) Maya sucked in a few shallow breaths of air, feeling flushed and revived and suddenly wanting it more than she ever had before.

"Get your pants off." Maya said.

Lucas raised his head and met her gaze, looking a little surprised, though not looking like he was about to object.

"In here?"

Talking about Valentine's Day with Missy had made her super horny. And kissing Lucas had brought her over the edge of her self-control.

"Yes here. So get your pants off."

With almost no hesitation, Lucas started unbuckling his belt, unlatching it while Maya kissed him heavily, scooting forward and wrapping her legs around his waist. She laced her fingers in his hair, pulling him closer as he undid the snap of his pants. He pushed her skirt up her thighs, leaning her back onto the table as he hovered over her, one hand braced beside her. Maya slipped her tongue in his mouth, moaning when he cupped her with his hand.

She knew it was potentially risky getting her Lucas fix in a classroom where the door wasn't even closed, but the school day had ended a little while ago, and the thrill of it was actually turning Maya on more.

"Maya?"

And then there was an embarrassed squeak of surprise as the voice of Riley suddenly disappeared.

"Oh! Sorry guys!" she said from the hallway.

Maya could just imagine her covering her eyes, her cheeks burning red at the indecent display. They hadn't actually done anything yet, but Lucas' back was facing the door, and Maya could only imagine what it looked like from Riley's angle with him leaning over Maya and her legs wrapped around him.

Maya snorted and pushed Lucas to get up. He lifted himself off of her, his face the slightest bit red at almost getting caught as he rearranged his pants.

"It's all good, Riley." Maya called out, though she did note that Lucas looked very put off. She leaned up and pressed her lips to his cheek apologetically. "Lucas has practice to go to anyway."

She couldn't imagine how unpleasant it would be for him to have to go through practice with a boner though.

"Maya… why do you do this to me?" He said in faux despair.

"Don't sweat it, Huckleberry…" She grinned, climbing off the table with a soft pat to his cheek. "I'll make it up to you later."

"You'd better." He whispered in her ear. "Or I won't let you sleep tonight."

With a final kiss to her lips, he left the room with an amused smile as Riley walked in, peeking cautiously through her fingers.

"She's all yours, Riley."

Maya picked up her bag from the floor, slinging it over her shoulder.

"I'm sorry I interrupted your… moment."

"It's no problem. I'm sure someone else would have walked in on us eventually. I think it's better that you did."

Riley's face wrinkled in slight disgust with a tinge of mortification at the memory of what she'd seen, and Maya laughed, walking with her out of the classroom. She was only going home with Riley to pack for her weekend stay at the Friars. She was actually looking forward to spending time watching Lucas and his dysfunctional, but very heartwarming relationship with his mother.

It never ceased to amaze Maya how lucky she was that she'd ended up becoming close to two families who treated her as a daughter as well. Although, one downside to staying at the Friars was that Lila forced her to do stretches, weight training, and yoga, claiming that it was to boost the lethargic endorphins in her body. But Maya had a feeling it was because Lila was appalled by all the sweets (and ketchup) that had become Maya's sole dietary cravings, and she was trying to even it out with some healthiness.

They continued their walk down the sidewalk towards Riley's complex. Riley was skipping beside Maya, humming to herself, her face extra bubbly.

"So, have you had any movement from Jellybean yet? You're twenty-five weeks in. Shouldn't you be worried?"

"Still no." Maya smiled, resting her hand on her abdomen and rubbing it lightly. "Dr. Torres told Lucas and me a while ago that it's because I have an anterior placenta."

"What does that mean? Is it bad?"

"No it's alright. My placenta is just kind of towards the front. But it also is kind of lying low, I think a bit of it is still partially covering my cervix. It's like a pillow, so that might be why I haven't felt any fluttering. But she thinks I'll definitely feel kicking when the baby wants to start hitting me. In any case, I'm not worried about it. Jellybean will start fighting me when she's ready."

Riley laughed. "Something tells me she's going to be super feisty. Like you."

"Probably. And I'm probably going to feel it pretty harshly." Maya prodded her swell curiously, "She's pretty big. She's measuring in at about the size of a twenty-nine week old fetus."

"Do you think she'll take after you or Lucas in height?"

"Probably Lucas…" Maya grumbled in annoyance, "Lila told me her pregnancy with Lucas was the same way. Apparently, he was a pretty big baby. And then he grew tall pretty quickly. Damn. Now I'll probably know how Topanga felt with you shooting up taller than her at twelve."

"It's alright! I'm sure your second baby will take after you."

"Second baby?"

"Because you and Lucas are married. Of course you're going to have more kids."

Maya shot her an annoyed look but Riley only grinned, ignoring her.

When they finally reached her room, Riley helped Maya pack her overnight bag, that same contented smile on her lips as she giggled slightly to herself.

"Riley, what is up with you?" Maya asked curiously. Riley was by nature usually cheerful, but she was just outright sparkles and sunshine right then.

"So you know how I went on that mini college weekend at Yale two weeks ago?"

"Yeah?"

Riley squealed slightly. "I attended this interesting course about names and the meaning of names and what names can mean and the importance of names in some cultures. And then I figured out Jellybean's."

Maya's brows lifted as she paused in folding a dress. "What did you come up with?"

"Mia as a first name. Because she's your beloved. Your darling Jellybean. Rebecca as a middle name. Mia Rebecca Hart. Or Mia Rebecca Friar too, I guess. She's your beloved who tied two very clueless, dense, and ridiculously bullheaded people who were in denial together." She smiled sheepishly. "Do you like it? Because I can change it if you don't. This name just feels right."

"Riley. I love it." Maya said, hugging Riley with a happy laugh. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Riley laughed.

~.~.~

"Okay…" Maya muttered to herself, staring at the batch of misshapen cookies on the tray in the kitchen. "These look a little better than the last batch."

Maya didn't know why, but recently, she'd wanted to try to get better at domestic duties. Lucas already had that skill on lock, but Maya sure as hell didn't want to be that mother who couldn't cook and would always order take out. Katy had been right all those months ago when she'd mentioned Maya couldn't cook. It wasn't a necessity, she knew, but Maya also knew that if she was going to be raising a baby and then a toddler and then a young child and then a teen, she would need to learn eventually. Lila had offered to give her lessons on her downtime, but Maya wanted to get better on her own. To have this accomplishment herself.

And though she did have a tendency to fuck up some stuff, she was getting a lot better. These cookies had turned out fairly well if she did say so herself.

Lucas came out of the hallway, rubbing his wet hair with a towel as he walked to the fridge and pulled it open.

"You made cookies?"

"Yeah…" Maya said, scrutinizing the bottom of one with a frown. It looked a little charred. Maybe it wouldn't taste burned though.

"Low cal? Sugar free?"

"No, they're regular." She sighed. At least she hoped they were. And not an absolute mess.

"How? My mom doesn't buy things like that."

"She does now." Maya said, walking over to him and tugging on his t-shirt to bring him forward. "I convinced her to ease up on the super healthy food so I can be comfortable. And since she absolutely adores me, she agreed. Enjoy it while it lasts Huckleberry. After Jellybean comes, it's back to the healthy stuff."

"I knew there had to be at least one good thing to you living here since you take up all the room in my bed and eat everything."

Maya scoffed and rolled her eyes, pulling away from him, but he caught her wrist before she could get very far and tugged her back into him, snaking his arm around her and holding her tightly against him. Maya's face erupted in a small blush, a little taken aback by his heady green gaze.

"Where do you think you're going?" he murmured darkly, his hands slowly creeping down to her ass.

Without so much as a small, mischievous smirk, he moved in, crushing his lips to hers. It wasn't particularly gentle, and Maya gripped the back of his neck with a moan. Her head was spinning and she was dizzy out of her mind. It was almost too much, and she wondered why she was reacting so strongly to him. With a sharp intake of breath, she broke the kiss, turning her face away to catch her breath. Lucas peppered kisses along her face and jaw, slowly making his way to her neck.

"Give me some space, would you?" Maya said, sighing almost breathlessly.

"I don't want to."

"Why are you so clingy?"

He tugged on her earlobe with his teeth. "Because." He sucked on a sensitive part of her neck until she let out a low moan. "I finally have you. I'm catching up on three years of unrequited feelings."

"They weren't unrequited, Sundance… I just didn't know how to address them."

"You could have just told me."

"And risk rejection? No thanks."

He sighed, smiling in that fond way that also told her he was exasperated by her. She tugged away from him, heading back over to the stove top where the cookies rested.

"By the way, did I happen to leave my blue notebook sitting around anywhere in your room, Lucas?" Maya asked, poking at a cookie, "It's the one that has the letter to my dad in it. But I can't find it anywhere."

"Maya…" he said, coming up next to her and tilting her chin up so she could meet his serious gaze, "I sent it to your father."

Maya felt a flash of shock run down her back. She briefly wondered if he was just joking but when she saw how grave his expression was, hot rage burst inside her like a volcano.

"What the fuck, you dick?! Why would you send it to him?" Maya yelled, slapping his hand off her chin, "So now you're going behind my back and doing whatever the hell you want without letting me know? How the hell am I supposed to trust you if you do stuff like this?"

"Your mother asked me to."

Maya let out a shuddering breath, her eyes narrowing in fury. "Oh so now you and my mom are the best of friends, huh? What she requests is more important than what I want, huh?"

"It's not like that, Maya." Lucas looked remorseful. "I felt bad. She doesn't know how to talk to you anymore. How to contact you. I'm the only way she can get updates on how you are."

"Well tough shit! It's not my fault she's an incompetent mother who's incapable of speaking to her only daughter. Why the hell are you telling her about me anyway? I don't want her in my life." Maya spat. "I told you I'm done with her. Every week that goes by only reminds me more and more that she's not making any efforts. Who cares if she gave me a present for my birthday? Now I want to see her try to talk to me for once. What is she planning on doing? Just never talking to me again for the rest of our lives?"

"She feels guilty, Maya."

"And you!" she shouted, jabbing him in the chest, "You just can't let shit go! You keep pressing and pressing and pressing and making things worse and worse! Just stop bringing her up! Let me keep my resolve dammit! I don't want to miss my mom anymore, okay?! Because every time I think I'm getting better, it only makes everything hurt more!"

And then she realized what had slipped from her mouth and Maya clammed up, dropping her gaze to the floor and sniffling slightly. Great. And now she was on the verge of crying again.

"You know what the problem here is?" Lucas said gently, taking her hand in his, "You're afraid. You're afraid of getting hurt, and it's understandable because you haven't had the easiest life. You're afraid of getting your hopes up because you think that the minute you do so is the minute that everything will crash and burn. It's a two way street though, Maya. Sure, Katy hasn't done the best job she could to find and talk to you again, but then again, neither have you."

Maya wiped her nose with her sleeve, chewing on her bottom lip with a frown.

"Just let me give up on her. And she needs to give up on me. We're only going to cause each other pain from now on."

"What if I told you she really is considering giving up on trying to be back in your life? What if I told you she knows deep down that you don't want to talk to her? Would that make you happy if she really did walk out of your life forever and let you be?"

A spark of fear went down Maya's back. "What? What do you mean?"

"Your letter to your dad." Lucas continued. "Remember when you told me you sent a letter to your dad that he never responded to when you were younger? That's because Katy lied to you about the address. And when the letter redirected back to the apartment, she threw it away."

"Why would she do that?"

"Because she was scared that you would develop a good relationship with your father despite the heartache you suffered from him deserting you two. And she got paranoid and wondered if you liked the life your father had better, would you pack up everything and leave her? So she made sure he never had contact with you and you never had contact with him. But she realized in doing so, she cut off a source of support you could have had through your pregnancy that she failed to give you. So she wanted to make amends. She knows that you've been secretly writing letters to him that have never been sent. So she asked me to send them."

"You should have told me first!" Maya said, pulling her hand out of Lucas', "Who cares if my mother wanted me to send it? What if I made a conscious decision years ago that in the end, I didn't want to talk to my father? That I didn't want to share my life with him?"

"If you didn't want him to know your life, then why are your letters addressed to him? You could have easily just made it a journal."

"Regardless." Maya turned away from him, crossing her arms over her chest. "It wasn't your right to make that decision. And it hurts that you would even do that to me in the first place. I know you care… but sometimes you just do too much. And I'm not comfortable with that."

He sighed behind her. "You're right. I'm sorry. It wasn't my place."

"Lucas, if we're going to make this work, please stop with this meddling stuff. If you're talking to my mother now, that's fine. But I don't want you to make any decisions pertaining to me without my approval. Especially decisions like this."

"I understand."

"Why did you send it?"

"I don't know. I guess your mother's words resonated. I wanted someone in your family to support you. I know it upsets you that neither are in the picture right now. So I hoped that maybe your father could be there for you. Fill in that gap. Because I know even if we all try to fill the void in your heart, not having support from your own parents is always going to create a new one. I just wanted you to be happy for once."

Stupid Lucas and his stupid misguided desire to make her happy no matter what. She couldn't stay mad at him when he was so earnest in his care for her. Almost to a fault.

She turned around with a sigh, resting her forehead against his chest.

"Lucas. I'm always going to be upset because of my parents not being in my life right now. That's not going to change even years from now if they miraculously both are in my life again; I'll still feel the pain from the years without their support." She wrapped her arms around him, breathing in his calming scent, "But I am happy. I have Riley and the Matthews, Farkle, Missy, your mom… you. You guys make me happy. You don't have to try so hard to make me happy, okay? Because I am. Honest."

He smiled, embracing her and tucking her under his chin.

"Alright, Shortstack." He kissed the top of her head, rubbing soothing circles on her lower back. "So how can I get you to forgive me for overstepping boundaries? Because I'm sorry. I really am. I won't do anything again without consulting you first."

"Well the damage is already done. He's going to read it now. But…" She dragged out the word, pulling away from him and staring at the cookies on the stove. "You could try one of the cookies I made. I would do it myself, but you know. Poison wouldn't be good for the baby."

Lucas had a funny look on his face. "But you're okay with me eating the poison."

She shrugged playfully. "You wanted to be forgiven."

He sighed, nodding dejectedly and reached over, picking one of the somewhat charred cookies. He took a bite of it and Maya watched his expression attentively, trying to pick up on any signs of disgust or discomfort.

"Wow…" he said at length, chewing contemplatively.

"Is it actually good?"

"This is…" He frowned. "Quite literally the worst cookie I've ever had."

Maya's face fell. "Shut up, Huckleberry."

"Seriously, I don't know anyone else who can mess cookies up so badly."

"Ever had Riley's cooking?"

"If it's just as bad as yours then I definitely don't want to try it."

"Hey shut up!"

"I mean I just don't understand. You follow the recipe, make the batter, put it on the sheet, stick it in the oven. Take it out when it's done."

"Look you. Some of us aren't gifted with the magical ability to just do everything perfectly on our first try you know. Not to mention I didn't have the chance to watch anyone cooking growing up so this is brand new to me. It comes harder to some people you—

Her words were cut off and swallowed by Lucas' mouth pressing on hers without warning and distracting her from whatever it was she had been saying. Maya whimpered slightly when his tongue lightly brushed hers. A spark of arousal danced through her body as he broke the kiss, sucking on her lower lip before letting it go.

"Stop doing that." she groaned.

"Doing what?" He asked simply, his eyes dancing mischievously.

"Provoking the horny bear."

"I wasn't aware I was."

She stared up at him, her heart jumping in her chest in that way that felt way more intense than the flutters of the butterflies in her stomach. Lucas smiled, leaning down and slowly kissing her, stealing a groan from her lips. When he pulled away, he rested his forehead against hers, gently rocking them side to side. Maya knew her heart rate had quickened beyond what was normal. She felt light, airy. Like she could conquer anything the world threw at her.

And she knew it was because of Lucas.

"You're right…" she muttered, "Those cookies were terrible. I can taste them."

Lucas laughed, his fingers brushing against her skin as he toyed with the hem of her shirt. A jolt of pleasure ran down her back, and Maya's brain hopped willingly into the gutter.

"Where's your mom?"

"Stuck at work. She'll be back way late in the evening."

"So we're alone?" Maya said, waggling her eyebrows as she tugged at the waistband of his pants, "Because if I recall correctly, I need to make it up to you…"

"Oh yeah? What did you have in mind?"

Maya held his gaze, slowly guiding him backwards out of the kitchen and through the living room until the back of his legs met the sofa. She pushed him and he sat back, an eyebrow raised as she stared down at him. Then she slowly lowered herself until she was on her knees, crouched in between his legs. Lucas' gaze darkened as she stared up at him, inching her hand up his thighs towards his arousal before popping open the button of his pants.

"Maya…"

She bit her lower lip playfully, loving the way his breathing harshened when she brushed her knuckles against his erection.

"Just relax…" she purred.

~.~.~

"Is that actually comfortable?" Lucas asked curiously, glancing down at her as he walked around the sofa after dimming the main lights of the living room.

Maya tilted her head up from her recline on the floor, shifting the pillow under her hips a bit.

"Surprisingly, yeah." Maya said, "It feels better for my back and hips."

He settled on the floor, lying beside her and leaning on his elbow as he watched her. Maya tried to fight her blush at the dazed happiness in his expression, though she knew it was useless. There was nothing she could do to keep her face from blossoming in colour when Lucas looked at her like that.

Like he loved her.

She moved her hand across her abdomen, applying a little pressure every once in a while.

"What are you doing?" Lucas asked, yawning, "Your hands, I mean."

"Trying to see if I can get her to kick me." Maya admitted honestly, glancing up at Lucas. "I know Dr. Torres told us not to worry, but it's kind of disconcerting not to feel her moving."

She wanted to connect with Jellybean. Feel that special moment mothers raved about where their babies would respond back to them in their own way with kicks and movement. She wanted to start getting to know her Jellybean. What made her tick, what excited her, what made her react.

Lucas' gaze softened. "Maybe she just needs more encouragement."

"What do you mean?"

Lucas peeled up the bottom of her shirt and linked the fingers of his hand with one of Maya's hands, gently guiding their conjoined hands around the swell of her belly. Maya's skin prickled in excitement, her heart racing. For some reason, the feeling like they were a married couple wouldn't leave her mind.

"She just needs to know we're both here and waiting for her. Sing something."

Maya frowned. "If she hasn't responded to me talking to her, what makes you think she's going to respond to me singing?"

"It's worth a try, isn't it?" he said, shit eating grin in place despite his obvious fatigue.

"Lucas, that's ridi—"

And they both froze when they felt a bump against their conjoined hands. It felt something like a muscle spasm, and Maya hopped in surprise. Without a doubt, she knew exactly what it was.

"Holy shit! She kicked, Lucas! Jellybean kicked!" Maya gasped, giggling excitedly. "Did you feel that?!"

"It was like she was telling us to shut up or something." Lucas laughed, a similar look of peaceful bliss on his face.

"Let's try to get her to kick again!" Maya poked her belly with her free hand. "Jellybean. Mia. Mommy's here. Can you hear me?"

There was no response.

"Let me try." Lucas leaned slightly down, so his voice was projected towards her abdomen.

"Hey Jellybean. It's Daddy. We're going to name you Mia. Do you like your name?"

There was another bump against their hands and Lucas gave Maya a smug look, eyebrow raised in amusement.

"She likes me better than you." He teased.

"Urgh…" Maya rolled her eyes, knowing he was going to bring this up forever.

Why did she have a feeling their kid would really become a daddy's girl?

"Jellybean, you traitor." Maya harangued playfully. "I've been carrying you for twenty-five weeks and this is how you repay me?"

She felt another quivering-like sensation in her abdomen, and she let out a soft laugh, feeling unbelievable elation from knowing that Jellybean was responding to her. Actually moving and responding and kicking to their words. Maya had always known she was alive, especially since she could see her heartbeat during ultrasounds, but having this physical proof, feeling her motions, was absolutely surreal.

"She's really alive…" Lucas said, sounding awed. "This is so crazy…"

"I know…" she said softly, turning her head and smiling at Lucas.

He leaned in and kissed her, a slow, sweet thing that made Maya's heart feel like it was bursting out of her chest. When he pulled away, she held his affectionate gaze, knowing exactly what he was saying to her without words.

It was the same thing she was saying to him too.

She wasn't exactly sure how long they laid there, staring at each other without saying anything, just basking in each other's presence, fingers intertwined and resting on her abdomen while Jellybean occasionally took sharp whacks at her. But at some point, Lucas' breathing grew heavy and even and his eyes drooped shut. She watched him as he slept peacefully, his face relaxed and snoring softly. Maya laughed to herself. He must have been extremely tired.

She lightly raked her fingers through his boyish hair, feeling bliss like no other that she had the chance to be with him like this. Sometimes she vaguely wondered if she hadn't gotten pregnant, would she and Lucas have survived their friendship? Would they even be where they were at the moment? Could they still have made it past their odds and become friends again? Could they have made it past friendship and into this?

Or would they have remained something that never quite happened? A regret.

The thought of not being with Lucas made her heart lurch for a moment, and Maya realized with terrifying clarity just how strong her feelings were. How quickly they'd been building. She knew exactly what the feelings were.

"Huckleberry… I think I love you." She whispered before promptly blushing, because she'd never be able to say that to his face. It was terrifying. "Hell, that's a lie. I don't think. I know I love you, Lucas. I can't trace the exact moment when I fell in love with you, but here we are. And here I am: head over heels and confessing and you're sleeping."

Lucas continued to snore on, completely oblivious to her confession, and Maya let out a small laugh, snuggling beside him as Jellybean kicked once again.

The front door unlocked and Maya heard Lila trudge in and head towards the back then freeze midway in her path. She peeked over the edge of the couch, staring at Maya with a raised eyebrow.

"You two look comfortable."

Maya smiled. "It actually does feel better on the ground than on the actual bed."

"Alright." She said, lifting her hands up and shaking her head as if to say 'you crazy kids', "Don't mind me then. Let me just grab some dinner, and I'll give you guys some privacy."

Maya heard her walking away and then there was a shocked gasp.

"What the hell happened to my kitchen?!"

"Right… I tried to bake something…" Maya said sheepishly. "I'm sorry."

"I'm assuming, judging by the state of these cookies, that Lucas was not present."

"He was taking a shower."

"So Lucas let you use the stove by yourself…" Lila growled menacingly, "Oh he is so going in the shed…"

Maya chuckled softly in response, her eyes drooping slightly in fatigue. She smiled peacefully, really happy with the way things were turning out in life.

Sure, she wasn't even sure if she had parents anymore, but she hadn't been lying to Lucas. She was happy. Actually happy for the first time in a very long time. And she had hope. The future didn't look so bleak anymore. In fact, she welcomed it with open arms. She believed things would turn out great. She had so many people to care for her and take care of her and help her as she continued on with her life.

And she had Lucas and Jellybean.

A family of her own.

Things would turn out well. She was sure of it.