Chapter Three - 20 Weeks

It was the sheer scope and magnitude of the sky that gave Beth an idea of how best to ease Rio into Kensley's… request that, at least until it became too obvious to deny, they keep their pregnancy a secret. But Beth waited until the end of the show before pulling out her phone and running a quick search. Once she confirmed that an unplanned detour that afternoon to Target could secure what she needed, Beth and Marcus exited the Planetarium, lunch on the agenda before shopping.

She left her car parked on campus, and then they walked. Once more, Marcus took her hand without prompting. He'd swing their arms, and sometimes he would skip or hop rather than necessarily walk, but he chatted away happily, recounting everything she had just witnessed for herself sitting beside him during the show. But Beth didn't mind. In fact, it was nice to know that something so simple could bring Marcus so much joy. She used to think that a morning at the Planetarium with her Mom was what Kensley liked as well, but there was absolutely no mistaking Marcus' appreciation and merriment.

They took a right onto Cass Avenue, then the first left onto West Hancock Street until they reached Woodward Avenue where they made their final turn, right again, of the jaunt. Even with the early Saturday afternoon traffic in Midtown, the weather was perfect, and the walk only took a few minutes. Beth wanted to take Marcus to HopCat, capping off the astronomy theme for their outing with some Cosmik Fries. For his age, Marcus was an adventurous eater, and Rio was not shy about taking his son to new restaurants. Beth looked forward to continuing that tradition with her stepson, and when better to start than after their inaugural visit to the Planetarium? HopCat certainly wasn't daring dining - just slightly creative pub fare, but it wasn't the first place someone would think of for an eight year old either.

After a full lunch, complete with dessert, they made their way back up Woodward until they came to the tiny, little Warren Avenue green space. It was too small to call it a park, but there were a few benches, and there was enough grass for Marcus to run around and get out some of his energy before they climbed into the car for the trip out to Dearborn and back.

Of course, Beth could never go to Target and just get one thing, especially not when a precocious eight year old was with her. By the time they made it back into Downtown Detroit and the loft, it was late afternoon and they were both exhausted, but she was no longer upset about her confrontation with Kensley. Beth was nervous for her daughter and worried about their relationship, but Kensley wasn't a kid anymore. Beth couldn't make Kensley's decisions for her. She just had to hope that, despite what their recent history showed, she had done enough in raising her daughter to prepare her for motherhood, adversity, and change. As soon as Kensley reached out to Beth, she would be there, but in the meantime, all fretting would do was put Beth's own pregnancy at risk, and she wasn't going to sacrifice the wellbeing of one of her children for another.

Marcus was sitting at the island with her and helping to prepare dinner when Rio came home. Although he had worked that day, it was obvious that he was now coming from the gym. He wore shorts, a t-shirt, and he had a bag slung over his shoulder. He was still sweaty, too. Beth paused in her cooking to stare appreciatively at him, especially when Marcus leapt from his stool, darted across the open apartment, and jumped into his father's arms. Rio lifted him effortlessly, his lean muscles flexing and swelling attractively. "Daddy!"

"Hey, Pop," Rio returned the greeting a little less loudly but still with enthusiasm. After tucking the wiggling eight year old against his side and carrying him over towards Beth with one arm, Rio asked, "and how're my three astronauts?"

"Kensley didn't stay for the show," was Marcus' response.

"What, you mean she's too cool for school on a Saturday mornin'… unlike you nerds?" Marcus giggled at his father's teasing. Sidling up to Beth, Rio wrapped his free arm around her shoulders, pulling her in against him and nuzzling at her temple. "Besides," he added, "I was talkin' about you, Elizabeth, and Avocado."

"Daddy," Marcus said in exasperation. He was so good at the put-upon indignation that it made Beth snort out a laugh. "The baby is the size of a pear now."

"Ooh, excuse me." Putting Marcus back down on two feet, Rio playfully ordered, "now, back to work for you, sous chef." As soon as he knew his son would listen to him, Rio turned to Beth, "need any help, Mama?"

"You touch our food right now, and I won't need to add any salt. Go shower. There will be plenty more to do once you're not all sweaty and gross."

Whispering so only she could hear him, Rio accused, "you don't think it's gross when you're the reason I'm so hot and bothered."

She lowered her voice to match his. "Maybe not. But I'm usually in a similar state. So, unless you plan on helping me work up a lather right now, I'm going to need you to clean up."

Nipping at her collarbone, Rio taunted, "like you ain't already dewy and damp for me, Baby," before letting go of her completely and sauntering off towards the bathroom.

"What's next," Marcus asked, recapturing Beth's attention and pulling it back to both him and the task at hand.

She mentally went over her recipe, searching for eight year old appropriate jobs. There were some recipes that Marcus could help with almost everything, and then there were others, such as the crazy Szechuan beef and messy corn with shishito that she was making that night, which limited his involvement. Generally speaking, she tried to keep him away from knives. There were some softer fruits and vegetables that she would allow him to cut, but he used nothing sharper than a paring knife, and she liked to focus on him while he was doing it, not be off searing their sirloin steak strips or cleaning seeds out of peppers. He had already peeled and grated both the ginger and turmeric roots, chopped the garlic using the little dicer she had specifically for it, picked the cilantro, and retrieved all of the measuring spoons and cups she would need. Having demonstrated how to shuck and clean corn, Beth was out of things for him to do… at least with the food prep.

"Would you set the table, please?"

Marcus flashed her a twinkling grin. "Can we eat outside?"

"I don't see why not." Rio had space heaters for his rooftop deck, but even with them, they would be limited as to how late into the fall they would be able to dine al fresco. It was going to be a gorgeous evening, though - clear and warm.

"What about the floor table? I'll get out all of the pillows, too? And put them away later?"

"Oh, why not," Beth agreed, indulging her stepson. Laughing, she added, "we might as well use it while I can still get up and down on my own."

His gaze dropped to her still relatively flat stomach. "You'll really get that big?"

"I won't be able to see my feet or tie my own shoes," Beth told him succinctly.

Marcus' eyes grew even wider. "Whoa."

"You or your Dad will have to help me paint my toenails."

Marcus chewed on his bottom lip. "But what if I paint outside of the lines?"

"Well, I won't be able to see it, so I'll never know." Laughing, he jumped off of his stool and bounded over to the large pantry and laundry room where they also kept the outdoor supplies. "When you're done setting up the table," Beth raised her voice slightly so that Marcus could hear her through the only partially opened doors. "Why don't you read then until dinner's ready? That way, after we eat, we can show your Dad what we bought today, try it out."

Loaded down with an armful of colorful pillows stacked almost as high as he was tall - they were one of the few things from Beth's apartment that she didn't leave behind or put into storage when she moved in with Rio and Marcus, he told her, "be right back."

It took him several trips to carry out the pillows and place settings. By the time he finished and Beth saw him disappear into his room to grab Space Case, his current free read book for school - Marcus was supposed to read at least twenty minutes a night and track his progress, she could hear the water shutting off in the bathroom. A few minutes later, Rio emerged in just a pair of low slung track pants, and he made a beeline for her. His arms went around her waist, hands clasping against her low, while his face went directly into her neck. "Smells good, Ma."

"What, me or dinner?"

"I'm gonna eat both tonight, so I'm not seein' much of a difference."

"No, you are not!," she elbowed him slightly to both emphasize her point and get him to let her go, so she could continue whisking her sauce. They still had sex when Marcus was staying with them. Whether it was just a weekend or a week as it had been during the summer, that was too long for Beth to go without having Rio's hands touch her, his taste on her tongue, his cock inside of her. But the curtain to Marcus' room had to be securely pulled, and they often utilized the only other enclosed spaces within the loft: the closet, the bathroom, or the pantry/laundry room. If they had sex in bed, then it was under the covers, and Rio had to keep Beth's mouth occupied the entire time. Otherwise, she was too loud. He knew the rules as well. He just liked to wind her up and get her going… more than just sexually.

With the handle of her whisk, she pointed to the three cutting stations she had set up for him: carrots, scallions, corn. "Matchsticks, one inch on the bias, and two inch chunks, please."

Rio immediately started chopping as requested, but he also managed to look around the loft as well. "Where's Pop?"

"Oh, I sent him out to get me some dry sherry for the sauce."

Just as sarcastically, Rio questioned, "he remember to take his ID?"

Rolling her eyes, she told him, "he's getting his reading done for the night. We took his book with us today, but you know how Marcus is in the car." Or anywhere, really.

"Yeah, that ol' Subaru of yours ain't the only thing motorin'."

"My Forester is not old!" The topic was starting to become a… debate for them. He wanted her to trade the small SUV in for something bigger, something more… European. But Beth liked her car. It was the first new vehicle she ever bought for herself, always needing to go with used options because of her budget. Plus, her Subaru was paid for - Beth paying extra every month to get the loan balance down quicker, it had relatively low miles, and it was still under warranty, because she had elected to get the extended coverage. "You are not wrong, however, about your son."

"Never am, Mami." Beth opened her mouth to protest, but Rio was already talking again, asking her, "you two have fun today on your dork date?"

"We did - so much so, in fact... and speaking of dates, we decided you're going with us next time. There's a Friday night show for the general public, not just kids, and you will be escorting us to one of those events some weekend very soon, so clear your schedule, Mr. Garza."

"Oh yeah," Rio challenged, handing Beth over the ready carrots. "And what do I get out of it?"

Despite his teasing, Rio was actually very supportive of Marcus' fascination with space and glad that an interest in science was something that Beth could share with him. He bought Marcus as many sci-fi books as he could read, only mildly grumbled when they wanted to watch Dr. Who or Stranger Things, and he even tracked the night skies for them, always on the lookout for meteor showers or lunar eclipses that Marcus would like to see. In return, Beth and Marcus indulged his interests, too. "I thought we could make it a whole night of culture - pick Marcus up from school and drive straight to MOCAD for a few hours before the Planetarium show, make reservations at Chartreuse."

Rio flashed her a wide, adoring smile. "Sounds real dope, Sweetheart."

While Beth stirfried the vegetables and blistered the corn, Rio started on clean-up. They'd hold off on washing the dishes until after they ate, but he gathered all of her equipment for her, putting it in piles next to the sink, and he soaked the skillet she used for the steak and vegetables once she was finished with it and onto cooking the corn and peppers. Passing behind her, Rio soothed a hand over the small of her back, kissed the crown of her head. Tilting her face back, she requested, "light the citronella candles and put on some music?"

Beth had a small herb garden on the rooftop deck and terracotta pots of lemongrass and lavender, but better safe than sorry, and Rio had the outdoor space wired for sound, so they often liked to play one of his many, many records while sitting out there… whether dining or just relaxing. His taste was eclectic, and Beth felt like she learned something new about him every time he played her someone with whom she was unfamiliar… which wasn't a high standard, she could easily admit. Unlike Rio, Beth wasn't a music aficionado, but she enjoyed it that much more hearing it through the filter of his interpretation. And Rio liked sharing his love of vinyl with her. He claimed he was teaching her about all types of art, not just sculpture.

It amazed Beth sometimes that Marcus actually found moments to eat between the stories he told her and Rio during meals. He wasn't rude. Rio wouldn't tolerate that, and Marcus was naturally polite as well. If they had company or were having dinner at someone else's house, he allowed the adults to do most of the talking and would just listen. But at home? At home, Rio and Beth indulged his fondness for anecdotes, his willingness to share with them. After all, someday… and in all likelihood sooner than they would like or be ready for… he'd be a sullen, moody teenager too cool and too hellbent on showing the world that he was emotionally detached and refused to hold a conversation during dinner with his Dad and Stepmom. They would take advantage of his loquaciousness for as long as it lasted… and then hope that it came back around again once he was grown and an adult.

After dinner, while Rio finished cleaning, Beth dished out dessert - a mango cream crisp with vanilla frozen yogurt for Marcus and a dollop of crème fraiche for her and Rio - and Marcus gathered up both of their Target purchases, the iPad, and Beth's favorite throw blanket. He was waiting for them out on the rooftop deck when Rio and Beth rejoined him, the three of them curling up together on the pile of pillows. "What's all this?," Rio wanted to know, using his spoon to gesture towards their little spread.

Frozen yogurt at both corners of his mouth, Marcus gleefully announced, "we bought a doppler… but not one like the weatherpeople use. It's to listen to the baby's heartbeat!"

Rio turned his gaze on Beth, but he didn't say anything. He didn't need to. She could read his suspicion in his raised brows, in the tilt of his head. "I thought it would be nice to listen to him or her whenever we want."

"Uh huh."

Marcus then held up the second box. "And we got belly buds, too!"

Smirking, Rio asked, "do I even wanna know?"

His sarcasm was lost on his son. "Now, we can hear the baby, and the baby can hear us! We can play the baby music, and I can call and talk to the baby when I'm at Mommy's house."

"I see how it is," Rio sighed, feigning hurt. "You give the kid a sibling, and all of a sudden, it's Dad and Elizabeth who?"

Marcus wasn't fooled. Shrugging in disinterest, he teased back, "I guess you can listen, too, if you really want."

"You're both ridiculous," Beth announced, setting her empty bowl off to the side. "And it's my belly," she reminded them, laying back and already pulling up her shirt. She settled it just under her breasts and picked up the sound enhancing gel. "So, if either of you want to talk or listen to the baby, you have to go through me." Too bad they both knew her threat was empty. After spreading the gel around, Beth handed the doppler to Rio and closed her eyes, waving for him to do the honors.

They listened to the heartbeat for at least a half an hour. Beth kept thinking that the gravity of the sound would wane or that Marcus would get bored. He was only eight, after all. But it didn't, and he didn't, and they just remained there, rapt. Eventually, Beth started to feel the chill against her bare skin, the sun having set, and she couldn't exactly cover up to ward it off. So, they put the doppler away, and Marcus went to put on his pajamas and brush his teeth, retrieving a wet washcloth for her to wipe clean her stomach in the process.

He was only gone for a moment, but it was long enough for Rio to ask, "you wanna tell me what's really goin' on?"

"Later," she promised him. Not only was Beth enjoying their evening too much to ruin it any sooner than necessary, but there wasn't enough time. It would be difficult enough to relate her confrontation with Kensley to Rio; she absolutely refused to allow Marcus to be any more aware of her daughter's feelings towards him and his father, towards the baby, than he already was.

Returning from the bathroom at top speed, Marcus slid to a stop and then plopped down beside Beth, wrapping himself around her like a koala bear. "Since I already read tonight, and I'm set for bed, can we please watch another episode of Firefly?!"

So that's why the little schemer brought the iPad out earlier. "You know I'm always up for a trip aboard Serenity, but it's up to your Dad. We can't always make him watch our cool shows. Sometimes, we'll have to let him choose… even if his picks are lame."

"This is you convincin' me to do what you want?"

Propping his head on Beth's shoulder, Marcus implored sweetly, "please, Daddy?"

"Aw, go ahead," Rio said with put upon resignation. "The sooner you watch it, the sooner it's over."

"And then we can start Battlestar Galactica!"

Rio groaned, and Marcus fistpumped, "yes!"

He was asleep within ten minutes. But Beth was comfortable, and she knew that, as soon as Rio realized his son was zonked out, he'd pick him up and carry him to bed. And then he'd take Beth to bed, too, and her reprieve would be over. Despite his complaints, Rio usually got sucked into the sci-fi shows Beth was introducing to Marcus, and that was the case that night as well. It took another fifteen minutes before Marcus started to snore - an initial sharp, loud bray followed by adorable, little snuffles.

Without teasing him, Beth offered, "if you want to finish the episode, he's fine," she nodded her chin towards her stepson, "where he is."

"Nah, Mami. He'll just make us watch it again next weekend anyway."

It was a sobering thought - that Marcus would be returning to his Mom's the next afternoon. It felt like he had just come back home, and he was already leaving again. Every time they made the switch, it was harder and harder to say goodbye. Rhea was great. She kept Rio… and now Beth… involved in Marcus' life throughout the school week, too, whether that was with their nightly phone calls or not only allowing but also wanting them to participate in his extracurriculars as well. But she missed him when he wasn't there, and she knew it was the same for Rio. At least they had each other when Marcus was with his Mom. Beth could distinctly remember how awful it was when Kensley had gone to stay with Dean, leaving her all alone. That's what Rhea had to contend with when Marcus was with them. But, now, there was a new element added to the mix, one that was going to make their friendly custody dynamic extremely complicated.

While Rio carried Marcus to bed, Beth blew out the citronella candles, put away the pillows, and carried their things inside. Once the rooftop deck was back to its normal condition, she went inside, changing into just a cami and a pair of panties. Just as Rio was finishing in the bathroom, Beth slipped inside, the two of them switching places, so he could strip down to just boxer-briefs, and she could wash her face and brush her teeth. As she crawled into bed beside him, Rio reached over and flicked off the only illuminated lamp. With the curtains pulled shut, they were plunged into complete and total darkness.

Beth decided to start with the easiest topic they needed to discuss. "We're going to have a problem with Marcus."

"I know," Rio groaned. As her eyes adjusted to the shadows, Beth saw him scrub tiredly at his face. "Rhea's already mentioned that he wants to be here more than there, and now with the baby…? I'm pretty sure he thinks it's his kid."

"In a way it is," Beth told him. "It's his brother or sister. I know that we should just be glad that he's so excited," especially in comparison to her daughter's reaction to Beth's pregnancy, "but going back and forth when his sibling stays with us full-time is going to be hard on him."

Rio sighed. "I'll talk to Rhea, see if she'd be open to amendin' our custody arrangement." Beth moved into Rio's embrace, feeling him wrap his arms around her and pull her even closer, while she braided their legs together. "But that ain't what's been botherin' you all night, Mami."

Taking a deep breath, Beth just dove in. "Kensley thinks you're dangerous."

"Good."

Sputtering, she tried to sit up in protest, in incredulity, but Rio wouldn't let her go. "What?!"

"Means I still got it, Baby."

Impatiently, she snapped, "be serious, Rio!"

"I am!," he contended. "I haven't said shit to her. If she's thinkin' I'm dangerous, you know she's gettin' that from someone else - either that waste of space father of hers or that pussy ass husband. It won't hurt either one of 'em to have a li'l fear when it comes to me and mine."

"Except now she's using that fear to justify her aloofness towards you and Marcus, towards her future half-sibling."

"That ain't aloofness, Darlin'. That's being a spoiled fuckin' brat. I won't say nothin' to her as long as she don't upset you, because she's your kid, not mine, but she's pissed she didn't get her way, and now she's poutin'."

Exhaling her emotional exhaustion, Beth contended, "it's also more complicated than that."

"Somethin' else goin' on with Kensley, Ma?"

"Apparently, her pregnancy has been… extremely difficult. She almost lost the baby."

The annoyance on her behalf rang out loud and clear in Rio's voice. "And she's just tellin' you this now? You're her mother and that baby's abuela. You have a right to know what the hell is goin' on with her and her pregnancy!"

Knowing there was no easy way to tell him the rest, Beth just plowed through. "She needs to avoid stress at all costs."

"Then she should pull her head out of her own ass. The only person who's stressin' Kensley out is Kensley."

"That's not how she sees it. In fact, she told me today that being confronted with judgment and questions about our baby is too much for her to handle."

Reading between the lines and already knowing the Boland family better than he ever wanted to, Rio snarked, "then she should tell Judith to mind her own fuckin' business."

Kensley, however, would never do that, and Beth wasn't even sure if Judith was capable of listening to such advice at this point in her life. She'd been allowed to get away with too much for too long to change her ways now. "So, she has asked that we not tell anyone else that I'm pregnant."

"No. No fuckin' way. Ain't happenin', Mami. Don't even ask me to keep our baby a secret."

"She doesn't care if your family knows, your friends."

"How magnanimous of her," he sarcastically replied. "I'm glad I have her permission to claim and share the good news about my own kid."

"But she doesn't want anyone else we have in common finding out."

"So, you mean like your sister and best friend," Rio asked darkly.

"And the people at Wayne State and the parents of her friends."

Shocked, he wondered, "and you're okay with this?"

"Of course not," Beth finally lost her cool slightly - not with Rio but with the situation itself. "I hate it. But I couldn't live with myself if something I did or didn't do caused my daughter to lose her baby."

Shaking his head in disagreement, Rio argued, "that shit ain't on you, Darlin'. What's so complicated about you allowin' yourself to have a life outside of your grown ass kid? How's it stressful to her that you got more love to give and you're finally gettin' back the love you deserve?"

"I don't know," she soothed him by rubbing her hands along his bare, toned chest, tracing the cool, metal links of his gold necklace. She felt his lungs expanding and contracting beneath her touch with every breath he took, and the closeness grounded Beth as well. "But if this is what she needs from me, I can do this for her. You know, Marcus knows, and it won't be forever." Gesturing down to where her slight bump was pressing into his side, Beth added, "obviously."

Even under the circumstances, Rio couldn't prevent the small grin that lit up his face at the visible and tactile reminder of their growing child. "Your ladies are gonna be pissed, though!"

Beth bit her bottom lip tentatively. "I have to hope that, as a mother herself, Ruby will understand, and Annie will just blame…," she almost said Dean's name, forgetting the rule they instituted early in their relationship that it belonged absolutely nowhere near their bed. But catching herself, she amended, "Annie thinks everything is Kensley's father's fault."

"If you ever tell her I said this, I'll divorce your fine ass, but she ain't exactly wrong about that."

She had to snort back her laughter, always cognizant of just how close Marcus was to them at all times in the loft. He was a heavy sleeper, dreamt deeply and vividly, but she was always careful nevertheless. Thinking of her stepson cemented an earlier wisp of a suggestion that had been forming in Beth's mind, and she decided to voice it, wanting their conversation about Kensley to be over with for now. Maybe her daughter was resistant to Beth becoming a mother again, but Marcus was fully embracing the idea of a sibling, and Beth believed they should do everything they could to encourage his attachment. "So, I have an idea," she revealed.

"Yeah," Rio returned, already sounding intrigued. "You thinkin', too, that you should roll over onto your other side, so I can fuck you long, and slow, and deep from behind, Baby - get my hands on those big ass titties of yours, pettin' 'em just the way you like; my mouth suckin' on your neck, your shoulders, your back; you suckin' on and rubbin' your own clit with all those li'l fingers, Mama, 'cause your mouth and pussy are greedy like that?"

She swallowed thickly, immediately achy and inflamed. "No, that, um, wasn't what I had, uh, in mind, but now that you mention it…?"

From under the covers, Beth felt Rio push his boxer-briefs off in one go, his cock springing free and ready as soon as the fabric was out of the way. Unerringly, his hands found the edge of her thong, but he just toyed with it, with her, running his fingers along the very top of her mound, the lines where her hips met her thighs. Rio wanted Beth to take that last step herself, invite him all the way in with the most blatant of summons. "Give me that pretty, pink cunt, Elizabeth, and I'll send you into fuckin' orbit." Teasing her, he added, "you ain't the only one in this family capable of showin' someone the stars."

'Well, beam me up Rio, indeed,' Beth thought to herself before slipping out of her lace thong. Her camisole somehow disappeared at the exact same time. Rio then proceeded to wipe every last thought from her mind, leaving her totally fucked and blissed out, and she fell deeply asleep afterwards, all exquisitely tender and tantalized, satisfied and serene, full and fulfilled.

!

It was the first time that Beth had Rio in her bed, and the distinction gave her a little thrill. She wanted to keep him there as long as she could, but realistically, she knew he would need to leave soon. All of their previous hookups had taken place at his loft, but when she texted him earlier, he had been at his grandmother's, and Beth's apartment was closer for them to meet up at. It was like, once one of them acknowledged that they were in the mood for sex, Rio needed to be inside of her as soon as possible.

They were between rounds, and, yes, Beth pretty much took it for granted that, with Rio, she'd cum at least twice before they'd part ways again. When he knocked on her door, she greeted him in nothing but a short, floral robe. Rio left a trail of his own clothes on the way back to Beth's bedroom, and they barely made it on top of the mattress before he had her on all fours - 'hands and knees, Mami' - and was plowing into her from behind. Sated… for the moment, at least, Rio was lying beneath her, Beth sitting on his stomach with her knees bent on either side of his torso.

Almost feeling like she was in a trance, Beth traced the dark and menacing yet still somehow delicate lines of his neck tattoo. It was an eagle, she believed, with a fierce stare and dangerous talons - wild and savage, yet its feathers would be soft and gentle, warm and welcoming. Rio was that way, too. Although there was an edge to him, once you saw beneath it, once he allowed you in, you realized he was more complicated than just the ink on his skin and his guttural words, more complex. And he fascinated her.

"Where's Marcus today," Beth wondered out loud. His son and Rio as a father were perhaps the biggest contrasts to his appearance. She knew that, with school out for the summer, Marcus was one week on and then one week off with his Dad. It was part of the reason why she had been desperate enough to text him. Usually, Rio pursued her. But he took being a parent seriously, which wasn't a bad thing, of course, but it did make him a little less available to her. With how quickly he dropped what he was doing and came to her, Beth was pleased to discover that her frenzied need was reciprocated."He took over for me, helpin' his abuelita plant flowers, so I could come here and hit it real good." To emphasize his point, Rio brought the palm of his right hand down on the rounded top of Beth's bare ass. "But that actually means he's playin' with the sprinkler and makin' mud pies. Kid's gonna be filthy by the time I pick him up, and Grandma won't let him shower there either as punishment for me runnin' out on 'em."

Beth bit her bottom lip, coy but certainly not regretful of her request to see him. "And where does she think you ran off to?"

"I don't lie to my Grandma, Darlin'. I told her there was this Boss Bitch Queen who wanted fucked, but only I can give her what she needs."

Gasping, Beth sat up straight. "You didn't!" The movement brushed her still oversensitive clit against the grooves of his abs, sending a pleasant shock through her center. "Ooh," she moaned, clenching on nothing and starting a slow but steady undulation of her hips. She wanted more of that spark. Of him.

"'Course not, Sweetheart. Grandma'd box my fuckin' ears if she ever heard me talk about my girl like that." Wrapping both of his hands around her waist, Rio helped guide her grinding. Beth was starting to feel her own moisture gather on his skin beneath her. "I said I had to run a few errands. I'll pick up some take out on the way back to her place, and we'll have dinner with her to make up for me leavin' on a booty call."

That made her pause and stare at him until he lifted his gaze from where it was intently focused on the puffy lips of her cunt parted and pressed open against him. "Is that what this is?" Beth had not been intending to have

that talk with Rio - not yet, but then he would be so open with her and call her 'his girl.' and she would start to wonder… maybe? Maybe they weren't just regularly hooking up; maybe, like she had told Ruby and Annie, they were starting something more together."I mean, today was definitely a booty call, Ma." She tried to squirm away from him, but Rio held on tight. He wouldn't let her go, and he wouldn't let her look away from him either. "It's Saturday, so you probably went to yoga this mornin' - got yourself all stretched and sweaty, a li'l horny. Then you came home, showered, tried to get yourself off with your fingers, maybe some toys, but they ain't workin' for you no more, not after you finally got yourself some good dick. So, you told me to come over, so I could cum in you."

God, it was almost scary how accurate he was. But there was one part of the scenario Rio had spun that was wrong. "It's not that I finally got some good… dick," Beth felt heat and color suffuse her face, her neck, her chest, especially because that particular part of Rio's anatomy was hard and bobbing between the two globes of her ass. "It's that I had

your dick.""Exactly, Mama," he agreed with her, stilling Beth's nerves. "And if I just wanted some pussy, I could go down to my bar, pick someone up, and fuck 'em out back in the alley. But I want your pussy, and I want it in my bed. Or your bed works, too," he told her with a vainglorious smirk. "So, yeah, this might've been a booty call, but I think you and me could really be somethin'. I don't invite just anyone back to my place; I don't tell anybody about Marcus, period; and I sure as shit don't clean up after somebody else's kid's wedding, but I did all of those things for you, Elizabeth.""And I don't do… any of this. Ever." She was pretty sure he already knew that, but it still needed to be said.

Beth was just starting to rub herself on him again when Rio tightened his hold on her hips, subduing her once more. "But that's why there's some shit I need to tell you before this goes any further." The only thing Beth could think of that would make her not want to be with him was if he was a cheater. They'd already covered that, though. Even if they hadn't, Beth might not know Rio well yet, but she knew that he wouldn't do that. Perhaps that meant her standards were too low, but that was to be expected after having been married to Dean Boland. "My past…? Let's just say that I ain't exactly been a boy scout, Darlin'."

"Really," Beth feigned shock. "And here I thought, instead of a patch, when a man made eagle scout, he had the animal inked onto his neck.""Oh, you got jokes now, Ma?"

Tossing her hair as best as she could given that it was a little sweaty and a lot messy after their first round, Beth sassed back, "I've always been funny, Rio. Your sense of humor just isn't fully developed yet. But we'll work on that."

He moved his hands up to palm at her breasts. "Not all of us can be as well developed as you, Sweetheart." She felt her flushed skin practically burn. "Damn, your blush is fuckin' fantastic," Rio complimented. "It makes all of you nearly as rosy as these nipples." To emphasize his point, he thumbed at the peaks of her breasts - scraping his nails downward and then flicking them back up. One hand then dropped to brush against her center. His touch? It

tickled. "As this pussy."

At some point, Beth started breathing heavily, because when she told Rio, "I stole my Mom's car to drive to the grocery store to buy Annie some food," she was panting. "What did you do?"

The look he sent her was so soft, so warm, just so… much that Beth had to begin rocking her hips again. "I ran Detroit.""I'm being serious, Rio!""So am I, Elizabeth."

Biting her lip and blinking rapidly as she thought through his admission, Beth queried, "what exactly does that even mean?" She never stopped riding his abs, though.

"Mom died young, Dad took off even before that, and Grandma did her best with me, but I joined a crew when I was a teenager, got busted, and spent some time in juvie. When I got out, though, I wasn't satisfied with takin' orders anymore; I was gonna give 'em. And I did. Drugs, cash, protection rackets, some weapons, never people, though. I was good at it, and I liked it. Even after Marcus came along, I didn't stop - thought I was too smart to get caught, too invincible."

Despite the serious turn their afternoon had taken, Rio was still kneading at the hard bead of her clit, and Beth was still wantonly rubbing herself against him. "Then what happened?"

"I got shot," he solemnly told her, letting go of her left breast to lift one of her hands off of his chest where she was leaning on him and holding herself up. He brought her fingers to his left shoulder where he brushed both of their tangled digits over the tattoo there. Underneath the ink, Beth could feel the puckered, hard flesh of a scar. "I didn't see it comin' or nothin', just got lucky, turned at the crack of the gun goin' off and got hit in the arm instead of the chest where they was aimin'. It scared me straight. I cashed out, went legit. There was no way I was leavin' my kid the way my Moms left me."

Beth wasn't naive. Despite the relatively sheltered life that she had led, she knew that Rio wouldn't have gotten to such a powerful and perilous place in life without getting his hands dirty. If he dealt guns at one point, he'd certainly used one as well. If his rivals only managed to shoot him once, that just meant that, up until that point, he'd always been the one to shoot first, his aim true, which meant that Rio had probably killed people before. Yet, Beth didn't care about… any of that. She cared about how he made her feel, and she cared about his future, not his past.

"I have just two questions for you." By the resigned look on his face, Beth could tell that Rio was already pulling away from her emotionally, that be believed he'd scared her off. The fact that she was just a few thrusts away from cumming all over his belly, apparently, not registering with him. But that was his insecurity taking over and blinding him to reality. "Could your past come back to hurt you now?""Nah, Mami. I made good, settled my debts." She nodded, whimpered, bit her lip to stave off her orgasm. "And your second question?""Do you miss it?"

Staring her directly in the eye so that his meaning could not be lost on her, Rio emphatically stated, "less and less every fuckin' day, Elizabeth."

Using her hold on his chest, on his shoulder, and lifting onto her knees, Beth pushed back, raised her hips, and then dropped down onto Rio's cock, taking him completely in one go. Her climax hit

just as his head slipped through her labia, and with every inch of him that her center greedily swallowed, she clenched, and clenched, and clenched until all she could feel was the fire of her release.

Moments later, Rio was flipping her onto her back, sliding out of her just long enough to put on a condom, pushing her knees up and out, and then driving back inside of her. He came after just a few surges of his hips, his orgasm igniting some aftershocks deep within her. Completely drained of all his energy, Rio collapsed on top of Beth, settling heavily against her. He was so lithe but also so solid, and she savored his total relaxation, how at ease he was with her. With a hand gliding over his closely shorn hair and another running up and down the spine of his back, Beth whispered a little uncertainly, "thank you for telling me about your past," making him at first tense up but then chuckle when she finished with, "but maybe we just keep it between us for now?"

"Whatever you think's best, Mama."

!

"Well, isn't this a handsome family!," Dr. Smythe greeted them as she came into the exam room.

"Thank you," Marcus responded politely. "But only Daddy and I are handsome; Beth's pretty."

Beth watched as, just like that, her OB-GYN melted a little for the eight year old. God, they were going to be in so much trouble when Marcus started dating. The kid was far too charming for his parents' good. "She is," Dr. Smythe agreed, smiling softly.

"I like her eyes," Marcus just kept on going, apparently completely at ease in the new experience of attending a prenatal appointment. After suggesting the idea to Rio, he checked with Rhea who had no objections, and they took Marcus out of school for the afternoon. Talk about a unique field trip! Lowering his voice and leaning towards Beth's physician, Marcus whispered, "Daddy likes her butt."

Dr. Smythe released a loud, surprised laugh. "I'm sure he does. In fact, I'm pretty sure there are a lot of things he loves about her."

"But that doesn't mean we need to share with the Doc all the stuff I... appreciate about Elizabeth, yeah, Pop?"

"Okay," Marcus shrugged, unconcerned about the censure. His attention was quickly captured by the various posters hanging on the walls. While Beth went through the usual routine: height, weight, blood pressure, he just sat in his chair quietly, swinging his little legs back and forth. Rio was seated beside him, but he was more focused on the measurements.

It was actually Dr. Smythe who engaged Marcus in conversation again. While she made notes and retrieved the tape measure, she asked him, "so, what do you think about all of this Marcus? I know you're excited about becoming a big brother, but do you have any questions for me?"

"We're getting pictures from inside Beth's belly today, right?"

The physician nodded. "Video, too."

"Do you have any photos from before Banana was in there?"

Dr. Smythe nearly choked and then coughed to cover it. "Um… Banana?"

"He likes to refer to the baby by its weekly produce size comparison. This week, it's Banana; next week, it's Carrot," Beth explained. Sometimes, she forgot that Dr. Smythe, though she cared for and delivered babies every day, was not a mother herself. Otherwise, she would have known better than to ask a child like Marcus if he had any questions for an OB-GYN. But Pandora's Box had now been opened. They just had to wait and see what came out of it.

"Oh, right. Yes. That makes sense… I guess." Shaking off her bewilderment, Dr. Smythe questioned Marcus, "so, if I'm understanding you correctly, you're asking if I have any ultrasound images of Beth's belly from before she was pregnant?"

With a strong nod of his head, Marcus succinctly answered, "yes."

And then Dr. Smythe was confused once again. "But there was nothing in it then?"

"Of course there was, silly!," Marcus replied, giggling. "She had all her bones, and her organs, and her muscles, and she had all of her future, potential babies, too."

It was like a trainwreck. Beth knew that she should stop him, but she was also extremely curious where Marcus was going with his request.

Dr. Smythe repeated, "future babies?"

"Future, potential babies," Marcus stressed. "Mommy told me all about it. She said that Beth has like… a bajillion maybe babies in her belly, all these teeny-tiny specs squeezed together tight. But she needed Daddy to make her belly really hot… you know, like when someone loves you so much that you feel all warm and nice in your tummy... so one of those maybe babies could grow, and grow, and grow into a real baby. It's like the big bang principle. I thought I could do my science fair project on it this year."

People threw around the hyperbolic statement 'I could have died' of mortification often, but it was in that moment when Beth truly understood how it came to be. And of course Rio was no help. He was leaning back in his chair, arms tossed over the back and hips thrust forward with the most supercilious smirk curling up the corners of his mouth. She wanted to pinch that arrogant, cocky look clean off of his features; she wanted to somehow knock his ego down a few pegs; but most of all, Beth wanted to sit on his face and cum on his tongue. The second trimester libido was no joke! "He ain't wrong," Rio announced proudly.

And then Dr. Smythe, the traitor, had to add… more to herself than anyone else but still, "no, that explanation is oddly and euphemistically accurate." Readdressing Marcus directly, she said to him, "to answer your question, though, no, I do not have an ultrasound of Beth's womb pre-Banana. Or pre-big bang." As her OB-GYN stood up to approach her, Beth glared. She earned an absolutely delighted grin for her troubles. "Now, while I measure Banana's fundal height, tell me about its movements. I bet it's just peeling around in there now." When Marcus didn't even laugh, she complained, "seriously, nothing?"

For her efforts, she received another question. "Fundal is a weird word. What's it mean?"

"Well, it actually comes from the latin fundus which means bottom." Evidently, Dr. Smythe was getting to know Marcus quickly, because she didn't even give him a chance to ask the obvious rejoinder to her etymological answer. "And, no, I'm not measuring Banana's butt. Banana is inside of what is called a uterus. It's an organ that only girls have, because only girls carry babies. Anyway, I'm measuring from the top of the uterus to the bottom… or the fundus… to see how much space Banana is taking up. It will help me determine if Banana is growing at the rate he or she needs to in order to become a… what's the final produce comparison?"

"When it's all said and done," Beth replied drolly, "I'll be carrying a watermelon."

Her OB-GYN started laughing, and Marcus leaned over to whisper in that way that children did so that everyone in the room could still somehow hear them, "I don't get it, Daddy."

"And be grateful for that, Pop. You'll understand soon enough, yeah? And once you know what they're talkin' about, you can never unknow it."

"Oh, okay," Marcus took the advice seriously.

"Nineteen and half centimeters," Dr. Smythe announced, turning back to the counter to make her notes. "See," she teased Rio without looking at him. "I told you she'd pop."

"Wait! Beth's going to pop?!"

The physician chuckled. "Not literally, don't worry. It's like this," she demonstrated by turning so that her side was towards Marcus. "For weeks, a woman is pregnant, but you don't see anything. She looks normal. Her belly is still flat. Then, all of a sudden, she pops." With a snap of her fingers, Dr. Smythe inhaled deeply, taking in a belly full of air so that her stomach would briefly look like she was pregnant. She released the breath and the pose with a gasp, returning to normal and making Marcus giggle. "Speaking of popping, though, we might want to get to this ultrasound before Beth's bladder bursts. How are you doing," the OB-GYN asked her while readying the machine.

"I kind of forgot how much water I drank until you asked me about it."

"That's good," Dr. Smythe said. Beth resituated herself on the table, suddenly nervous and trying to get comfortable, while the physician turned on the ultrasound gel bottle warmer. "I guess having your little one here with you has been a good distraction." Beth liked that Dr. Smythe referred to Marcus as hers, and she liked it even more that neither Rio nor Marcus argued the point. "He's also excellent practice for my oral recertification boards that are coming up, though thankfully I don't think they'll test me on my knowledge of theoretical principles of physics and astronomy."

"If they do," Marcus offered sweetly. "I know a lot about space. I can teach you."

"I'll keep that in mind, Professor Garza." Once his chuckles tailed off, Dr. Smythe motioned for Rio and Marcus to come closer. "I realize that normally the saying is to take your seats, the show's about to start, but in this case, I think you'll want to stand." Rio came to Beth's free side, picking Marcus up and putting him on his hip, so he could both keep him contained but also make sure that Marcus could easily see the screen. "Now, just let me take the gel out of the warmer…."

"We need to get one of those for Beth," Marcus exclaimed excitedly, cutting off the doctor.

"Oh, honey," she told him, smiling up at her stepson sweetly. "We can't get an at-home ultrasound machine like we did the doppler."

"I know that," Marcus retorted with a wide roll of his eyes - like Beth was the one who was being silly. "I meant for your cake jelly." Beth nearly swallowed her own tongue, and she started to choke, coughing through her humiliation. "You know, the stuff in your nightstand."

Living in an open loft meant that Rio had strict rules about respecting privacy. "Why were you goin' through Elizabeth's nightstand, Pop?"

"Mommy said that pregnant ladies are allowed to eat cookies in bed." Marcus shrugged. "I wanted to see what kind Beth was eating."

"And get one for yourself, too, yeah?," Rio surmised.

"Only if they were different than the kind in the cookie jar!," Marcus adamantly defended himself.

That made Beth pause in horror. Locking eyes with Rio, she haltingly asked while trying to get her breathing back to normal, "you didn't… eat any of the jelly… right?"

With wide eyes, Marcus reassured her, "no! It said it was for toys? I was kind of confused." Then his gaze narrowed, became almost suspicious, "you have a lot of weird stuff in that drawer, Beth. There was something that looked like a microphone, but it was crooked. Then there was this purple cactus thingy, but it was kind of bendy, and I don't think your ear thermometer works. It just… shakes." Realization dawning, Marcus asked, "is that your junk drawer, Beth?! Because I'm pretty sure everything in there is broken. Mommy's junk drawer is in the kitchen, though."

"That junk drawer ain't in Rhea's kitchen," Rio mumbled under his breath but loud enough for Beth to hear.

"Don't worry, honey," Beth reassured her stepson. "I'm going to throw away everything inside of that drawer as soon as I get home later."

Rio emitted an arguably attractive half whimper, half moan, and Dr. Smythe mumbled, "best. Prenatal. Visit. Ever," to herself. Again, though, Beth could hear her, and the OB-GYN earned herself a glower.

Upon noticing the look on her patient's face, Dr. Smythe loudly changed the topic. "Soo, what's the decision on finding out the sex of the baby today? I know you weren't sure when you made your appointment."

"I wanna know," Rio told her, "but Elizabeth don't."

"Well, then, I think the answer is obvious," the physician said. "As the big brother, you should get a say, too, so the deciding vote is yours, Sir," she directed at Marcus. "What'll it be? Do you want to find out if you're having a baby brother or sister, or do you want to be surprised?"

Marcus looked between his Dad and Beth, and then he grinned wide, dimples dancing.