Chapter 9: Linger

I apologize x 1000 for the lateness of this chapter. As it is no surprise when working and going to college, there isn't a lot of free time, especially not in nursing school. I've been exhausted these past few months, but after studying for a pediatrics exam I finally decided to delve back into my favorite hobby, writing fanfictions. This chapter is a lot of fluff I must admit, and a bit fun to write. I have a lot more planned for this story so stick with me, and please forgive me for the time between my updates, I am a very broke nursing student and doesn't pay me to write lol. Anyway please read and review and sorry again for the delay. Enjoy

Laurent woke up feeling warm. He stretched surprised to find himself sleeping in a bed. His hand rubbed against Ellie while stretching and he smiled. It wasn't a dream. He felt a very odd feeling in his chest. He wasn't sure what had come over him the night before. He felt less like L and more like what he was pretending to be, whoever that was. The person he was before would never have let himself get distracted by sexual intercourse. Still this wasn't all that unpleasant living a life like that.

While having time away from the Kira case, he had been looking into Ellie. He tried to hide it but the more he found the more she fascinated him. She had turned down an opportunity to fill his position twice. He and she were being chosen at the same time. The more he researched the more he began to hope that one day he could go back into detective work, and that he could logically have a partner to assist him. He had planned on finishing the Kira case someday, after recovering from the heart attack and keeping his children out of the crossfire. He felt a very strange feeling in the pit of his stomach every time he thought about the fact that he was having children. It seemed so unreal, so illogical to him that he could possibly father children. He was the L, the detective, mastermind, or at least that's who he used to be. He rubbed Ellie's stomach seeing it really for the first time. Every time he had seen the bump before she had been clothed but now she was naked and he could make out the curvature.

He looked on Ellie's nightstand and saw a folder. He opened it and saw it there, their children. This must have been the first ultrasound and by the date on the film it wasn't taken very long ago, it was actually during a stretch of time when he was gone often. He instantly felt a new and strange emotion. He had left her alone, to deal with this all on her own. He was a terrible father and an even worse husband. He looked at Ellie whose eyes fluttered open as if she knew he had been looking at her.

Ellie smiled at Laurent happy to see he was still there, but he looked distressed. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Were you ever going to show me these?" he asked holding the ultrasound film.

"I figured if you wanted to see them you would have asked. They have been sitting on the dining room table for a couple weeks," Ellie explained.

"I didn't know, I don't know anything about pregnancy, how did you get to your first appointment with the doctor?" Laurent asked obviously upset.

"I took the train," Ellie said.

"I can't believe I missed…." L began saying.

"You were busy," Ellie defended him.

"Am I a good husband?" Laurent asked. He had never felt so vulnerable.

Ellie was taken aback. Since when did he care? She looked at him strangely and said, "Yes, I believe you are."

Laurent couldn't help but suppress a smile. "I want to be there, for the next one," Laurent said.

"Well, the next ultrasound will determine the gender of the babies and the position they will be in." Ellie said.

Laurent's face lit up. He wanted to see these children that were currently inside of his wife.

"What are you looking at?" Ellie asked smiling at him.

"You," Laurent said without thinking.

Ellie blushed and tried covering herself with a blanket.

"No," Laurent said pushing the covers back. Ellie met his eyes. He looked at her for the first time in the daylight. Every time they seemed to catch one another undressed it was always very dark. He took a good look at the woman he had married.

"I guess we finally consummated the marriage," Ellie said laughing uncomfortably. She wasn't really sure what to say. Things still felt a little awkward between her and Laurent. She wasn't sure how long that would last, or if this was the way thing would be. Still, she had to admit that what they had done last night still made her toes curl.

"I suppose so," Laurent said unable to take his eyes of his wife. He noted the uncomfortable tenseness between them. He supposed it was to be expected, he barely knew Ellie. What he knew about her he had found out through investigation, not by talking to her about any of it. He had been doing his own research on the side, but now that they were having relations, he almost felt a little strange about it. She was his. He couldn't get enough of that, something belonged to him, not to L the detective, not to whatever other alter ego he was using, he was just L, a 25 year old man whose wife would be delivering twins in September.

"So where does this leave us?" Ellie asked looking him directly in the eyes.

Laurent gave her a strange look. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean L," she said her eyes never moving from his.

The words echoed in his ears. His heart sank, and he was aware of this feeling quite well. This was how it felt when you were about to lose everything. His logical mind kept him from going into complete panic as he stared back at her trying to keep a calm and collected face. "It means, that you are mine," he said with strength in his words.

Ellie's eyes widened with shock as if that were not the response she had been expecting. She closed her eyes as if thinking and then reopened them with a smile of contentment.

"Yes," she said softly. "I am yours."

Laurent held her against him running his hands through her hair. He felt guilt building in the pit of his stomach. He hadn't told her that he was still investigating. He pushed those thoughts aside for now. He would enjoy the time he had with his wife, even if he was deceiving her.

Ellie sighed as she pulled herself out of bed a half an hour later. She trotted into the bathroom blushing as Laurent watched her. She was tempted to turn around and motion for him to join her, as she was getting ready to take a shower, but she decided against it. She didn't want to rush things, she was very pleased with having this much from Laurent, and she was afraid that if she seemed like she was pushing for more he may withdraw completely.

Laurent watched Ellie curiously as she got up to follow a normal morning routine. He couldn't even remember the last time he had had to stick to a regular routine. He had somewhat rebelled against the idea, he hated getting stuck in those sort of ruts. They were bad for the process, and the process was his life. He needed to do things methodically, but not routinely, which was a concept that really only made sense to him. He heard the water start for the shower and brought himself back to the memory of her on the rooftop of the investigation building during that rainstorm when she had told him that she was pregnant. It seemed like ages ago, a lifetime ago when he heard those words, and now he could clearly see them growing inside of her.

He waited until he heard the water stop, still not moving from her bed. She came out of the bathroom a few minutes later wrapped in the blue bathrobe, her hair still covered in droplets of water. She squeaked lightly when she realized Laurent was still in her bed, naked. "Taking a personal day?" she asked as she dried her hair.

"Your bed is very comfortable," Laurent said.

"We have the same bed," Ellie said laughing as she pulled together a decent pair of clothes. It was getting warmer, especially in Japan so she felt like she could wear a short sleeved shirt with a thin jacket and be fine.

"I suppose it's just you then," he thought out loud. Ellie blushed at his comment. "You smell good," he commented.

"Strawberries," Ellie commented. "The shampoo in the shower smells like strawberries."

"You always smell good," he admitted his eyes meeting hers. She blushed, but did not want to look away. Ellie looked at the clock on the wall. Luckily, she and Laurent had woken up earlier than she needed to be awake so she still had a bit of time to spare, and that was perfect for what she had in mind. She let her bathrobe drop and Laurent took a look at her full figure, seeing the small drops of water still clinging to her skin. He reached out to touch her skin and wrapped his arms around her waist. He pulled her down onto the bed with him her body on top of his. Their foreheads touched and he could feel her breath against his lips. He pushed his lips up to meet hers. She sighed softly moving her lips in motion with his. He moved his kisses down her neck, tasting the droplets of water on her skin. She smiled at him when their eyes met again. Her hair fell in a curtain around them catching the rays of the rising sun on the horizon.

"Perfect," Laurent whispered.

Lemon (you've been warned)

Ellie moved her hips so she slid herself over him and he gasped. She moved her hips to reposition causing him to move in deeper inside of her. She gasped and moaned and Laurent hit that spot again. Ellie's eyes fluttered with pleasure. He smiled and made the same motion again and again loving the reactions he got, loving the control. He would get her so close to the brink feeling her about to spill over and then back off. He enjoyed the game of cat and mouse, both of them wanting so badly to release, but both not wanting the moment to end.

Ellie began to feel the pressure building in her abdomen again, but she knew as soon as she felt it he would back off again. It got closer and closer until she could barely hold back from screaming. She pleaded with him, "Don't stop," she moaned. "Don't you dare stop," she added breathlessly.

He grinned and picked up his pace. She moaned loudly until finally they both released.

End of Lemon

Ellie looked at the clock again and laughed breathlessly. "All that time we saved by getting up early has now put me behind."

Laurent couldn't help laughing himself and the feeling felt strange to him. He watched Ellie dress herself and then leave. Before leaving however, she kissed him. Not a short peck, but a long passionate kiss. He felt himself getting aroused again and cursed her for doing that to him. Still he couldn't say he didn't enjoy her company, on the contrary, he was beginning to grow very fond of her. He supposed he always had been, but now at least he could admit it. He was in love; it was a very strange new feeling. He suppose most people did things the conventional way, falling in love, getting married and then having children, but of course being L, he would do things completely backward, impregnating her first, then marrying her, then falling in love with her. He supposed there was nothing traditional about the two anyway. They were both destined for something; he knew one day she would help him bring down Kira. He was just having trouble waiting for that time to come.

Ellie had a large smile plastered on her face as she walked out of her apartment. She wasn't watching where she was going and ran into Matsuda almost knocking him completely over.

"I'm so sorry," Ellie said helping him pick up the mail he had dropped. Matsuda took a good look at Ellie. She looked different he guessed. There was color in her cheeks and she almost seemed flushed. He wasn't a rocket scientist but he guessed what had taken place in the apartment next to his that morning. He gauged Ellie's expression and decided to be happy for her. He should expect that they would have sex; they were already having a baby so it wasn't as if they were both virgins, and they were married completely entitled to have sex whenever they wished. He began to see the baby bump under her shirt and decided he would call her out on it now and congratulate her.

"Ellie," Matsuda said coyly. "You look different."

Ellie blushed. She was terribly transparent. "Oh?" she said pretending as if she had no idea what he was going to say.

"Ellie, are you pregnant?" he asked.

Ellie blushed brightly. She supposed she would be asked eventually by someone so she might as well make it known. "Yes," Ellie said.

"Congratulations Ellie!" Matsuda exclaimed. "You look lovely, not that you don't always look lovely, but… pregnancy suits you," he said stumbling over his words.

Ellie watched him awkwardly trying to gather his words and couldn't help but laugh. "Thank you Matsuda, you are the first person I've told, besides Laurent of course."

"You know who would like to hear about this?" Matsuda asked. "Misa!" he said.

"Oh no, Matsuda, I don't think that would be such a good idea," Ellie said nervously. She knew how Misa was, she would be happy yes, but Ellie didn't want that much attention and she definitely knew that once it got to Misa, everyone would know.

"Why not Ellie-chan?" he asked. "Misa would be ecstatic, and you know she would want to plan your baby shower," he said.

"There isn't going to be a baby shower," Ellie said horrified at the idea of a bunch of people she didn't know touching her stomach and prodding her.

"She's not stupid Ellie; eventually she's going to notice too, it's not as if you can avoid her forever, especially while you are both living in Japan. Best to just get it over with," he said.

"You already told her didn't you?" she said now understanding why he looked guilty while he was trying to explain why she should tell Misa.

"I didn't say you were pregnant, exactly," he said.

"What did you say exactly?" she asked.

"Well I thought you might be pregnant, you just, not to be insulting, but you look pretty big for only being a couple months in," he said slyly, letting it slip that he knew that she had gotten pregnant before she got married.

"Well, erm, I'm having twins," Ellie said. "That might explain the, increased girth," Ellie said motioning to her stomach.

"Oh," Matsuda said. "Twins?" he questioned and then smiled. "How lucky Ellie!" he said. "When are you due?"

"September," Ellie said truthfully. She didn't care what people thought about her, she got married so soon after finding out she was pregnant that a few weeks of difference wasn't much, and she honestly didn't care if people talked. She didn't have many friends, and she and Laurent were happy and that's all that mattered to her.

"I am sorry about letting it slip to Misa, but you might want to tell her soon before she tries to track you down," Matsuda said.

Ellie cringed. "Well I had better get to class, it was nice seeing you Matsuda," Ellie said.

"Likewise," Matsuda said shaking his head as he watched the one that got away walk down the stairwell carrying another man's children. He couldn't help but smile as he walked back into his apartment and gave Sayu a call. Life went on.