Hannibal held her hand tightly as she shivered when the cold gel slipped onto her stomach.
"Sorry about how cold it is," Dr. Sheppard told her as she smile softly at the couple.
Elizabeth glanced down at her stomach when Dr. Sheppard spread the gel over her stomach as she tried to find the baby's heartbeat. Hannibal kissed her temple and whispered, "Maybe we'll get a gender today."
"Not until I'm between sixteen and twenty weeks, Hannibal. I think you can wait about five months possibly."
Dr. Sheppard laughed and added, "Don't worry, you two. I think that you're closer to five months than you think actually…and here is your baby's heartbeat."
They watched the screen intensely as they heard a heartbeat from a blob on the screen. The doctor pointed out to them the head and heart. Hannibal genuinely smiled at the screen and chuckled a little bit to himself.
"You look to be at fifteen weeks now," she told them. "You'll start to show soon, but it's okay if you don't because some women's pregnancy are different from each other's. Right now the limbs are developing more and it looks like he's sucking his thumb."
"He?" Hannibal questioned. "It's a boy."
"Wait a couple of more weeks and come back in. I would say that this is only sixty-seven percent accurate. There's still a wide chance that it's a girl," Dr. Sheppard told them, smiling in amusement.
"Is it bad that he's too small especially at this stage in the pregnancy," Hannibal asked. "Are there side effects of this?"
Dr. Sheppard gave them a couple of pamphlets. "Here. These will tell you everything you need know about the next two trimesters in your pregnancy. They'll tell you the risks, when to call a doctor, the signs, and the symptoms too. Also tips for a healthy pregnancy and a baby as well. You have my number, okay? Call me at anytime if you have any questions or concerns."
Elizabeth nodded firmly. "Thank you so much, Dr. Sheppard."
"And here's some pictures of your baby," she said happily and gave them the pictures.
Hannibal took them as Elizabeth cleaned her stomach with a paper towel once the doctor left them alone.
"I'm going throw a dinner party tomorrow night, alright," Hannibal confirmed which stopped Elizabeth from cleaning her stomach.
"What?" she said breathlessly.
Hannibal smiled and kissed her cheek. "I said, I'm going to throw a dinner party and I'm hoping that you could come."
"Oh, okay. I'm going to see Will tonight," Elizabeth told him as she pulled her shirt down.
"Are you sure you want to be putting yourself in that situation especially in your condition?"
She nodded confidently. "Yes because he's still my brother and I have to know, Hannibal. He's our child's uncle and he's family now. I can't just leave him behind like that."
"I know that," Hannibal replied. "I've known that since the moment I had met you. You're too kind and compassionate to give up on someone you love"
Elizabeth smiled and said, "Besides, in six months or so, we'll be adding a mini us to our family, Hannibal."
"And you can be sure that I'm planning to teach him many things."
"I heard about Meredith."
Elizabeth shook her head. "I can't…I can't talk about it. There's another killer out there and he's being following me since The Butcher…maybe even before that. I don't know who he is and he knows who The Ripper is."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that this killer butchered my friend the way that The Butcher would have and the fact that my two necklaces were found in her uterus. The necklace that The Ripper stole and the necklace that Hannibal gave me," Elizabeth explained, trying not to look into his eyes.
"You know about the other murders, don't you? The recent ones involving The Ripper."
After a moment of silence between the siblings, Elizabeth said softly, "He's throwing a dinner party…well, a party with snacks actually."
"Snacks that are people," Will reminded her. "You know that though…you're starting to see and you can't help, but wonder if my words are true."
Elizabeth slowly turned back to him and watched him carefully. "I'm questioning whether or not the man I love is two different people. If it's all a lie and a game between the two of us…if it's a mask he's being wearing in front of me this entire time. I told him things that I wouldn't have even shared in my darkest dreams, Will."
Will knitted his brows in confusion. "What exactly did you tell him?"
Elizabeth came closer. "I turned off the microphones in here for the duration of my stay."
"What is it?"
"I killed someone," she whispered very quietly. "I thought that he was someone else…I thought that he was The Butcher, Will. Am I a monster now because I don't feel guilty about his death?"
"There is only one monster out there."
"I'm a different kind of monster," Elizabeth thought aloud.
"Was Hannibal giving you white pills at the time?"
She nodded slowly. "Yes, he was, but then he stopped. I was going out of my mind at the time. I didn't know that I killed him until after it happened and I called Hannibal, he helped me bury the body six feet deep into the ground."
"And then the body came back up, yes? That is what he does. He makes you think that he's the only person that you can trust with anything-the only person that you can depend on-"
"The only person that you need…"
"Jack told me that you're pregnant."
"Yeah…I'm fifteen weeks now," Elizabeth informed in as she put the sonogram photo into the box where Will pulled it out and looked over the photo. "But you already knew that and still tried to kill the father of my child."
"Boy or girl?" Will questioned, changing the subject.
"She said that it was sixty-seven percent chance that it was a boy…I found a stray tricolor Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. We named it Peanut Butter because she loves peanut butter, but we call it Peanuts for shorts," Elizabeth explained with a soft smile.
Will returned her smile and replied, "All that matters to me is that I'm finally gonna be an Uncle…I'm scared that he'll get our genetics though."
"Me too."
"And Hannibal's too," Will boldly said and looked up from the photo. "You have to be careful around everyone."
"I am cautious with every decision that I make now," Elizabeth responded. "I know that there is someone else out there more sinister than The Ripper himself. I think that there is more than one reason why The Ripper is killing more people all of the sudden and that is the fact that he knows there is someone else out there circling his prey and becoming the predator."
"Three predators," Will mused. "You just know how to attract them, don't ya, sis?"
Elizabeth sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Yup…that's me. The Lover of Psychopaths…Persephone to a bunch of Hades when you think about it."
"Are you going to the party?"
"It's tomorrow night. I told him that I would go."
"I sent Katz after Hannibal, told her some things about him, and she found something that led to her death," Will explained. "She found The Ripper. The phone records said that she sent a text message to you before her time of death."
"My phone was stolen," She said. "I haven't been able to find it. I don't remember where I left it actually."
"Can I keep this?" Will asked, holding up the photo.
"Of course. I had it printed out for you. Why did you try to kill Hannibal?"
"You know why and great way of changing the subject."
"You didn't answer it the first time I asked."
"He…I know it in my gut that he killed her, Lizzie. She knew who he was and he knew who she was. She knew The Ripper. The way he killed her and…did you have meat after her death?"
Elizabeth gulped nervously. "I think so, but I vomited later that night. It was the meat in my puke."
"The baby didn't like it," he chuckled.
"Hannibal isn't…he would never try to hurt me."
"You are all he has left of something. You are carrying his child-his progeny. Trust me when I say that once the baby is more developed, he will cut all ties and tie up loose ends."
"STOP IT!" She shouted madly at him, breathing heavily. "HANNIBAL IS NOT THE FUCKING RIPPER!"
Will looked shocked at her outburst for a moment then he was silent as Elizabeth started to sob hysterically as she plopped down into the chair.
"I-I can't have t-that much bad luck with men," she sobbed into her hands. "Can I?"
Will sighed as he sat on the bed. "I'm sorry for upsetting you, Lizzie."
She shook her head, sniffling. "It's the fucking hormones I tell you."
"I can't wait to meet my little nephew or niece and Peanuts. You've picked up my bad habit of strays," he mused. "You probably have a name for them in your head, am I right?"
Elizabeth laughed as she wiped her eyes with a tissue. "I may have thought of a name."
"Tell me," he softly told her. "What the boy's name?"
"Phillip."
"And the girl's?"
"Prudence. Prue for short. We still haven't talked about it yet though."
"Don't worry…you'll be nothing like her, you know?" Will confidently reminded her. "You'll be a great mother and a very protective one too."
"So will you except you'll be their Uncle."
Will chuckled. "Of course. I'll give them sweets when you won't."
Elizabeth stood up saying, "I'll get you out of here. You didn't do it. I know that in my gut that you didn't. You couldn't have because it's you."
Will smiled thankfully at her. "You're the only person who's actually believed me this entire time, never even doubted me, did you know that?"
She shrugged. "You're my brother. We're family and in this family, Grahams don't leave each other behind, Will. We're a bunch of wolves to people who threaten our pack."
Will laughed and nodded. "You got that right."
Elizabeth turned around, waving goodbye to him as she walked away. She touched her stomach as she could've sworn that she felt that it was bigger. She quickly walked to the restrooms and pulled up her shirt, pushing out her stomach a little.
Oh, I am totally gonna get really, very fat, she thought. I probably won't be able to have this body be used for sex again. Oh, my sweet little Phillip…why are you so small now? I just hope there's nothing wrong with you…
TBC…
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