angels sing from above

Mateo would have never figured that a night of celebrating a holiday would result in a quick 180 of his life. He didn’t hesitate in keeping Lina safe. There was no way in hell that he’d let anyone hurt her, not when he’s still trying to keep her in his life. He’s already learned his lesson. Life without Lina is something he can’t go through again and so when someone threatens that, he doesn’t even think. The gun went off, but he wasn’t fast enough for the knife wound.

And even after all of that, nothing prepares him for the news of him becoming a father. At first, he was thrown and after thinking about how his own father let him down, Mateo swore he’d never do the same. 

The groceries are put away and he decides to spend the rest of the night lazing around bed with his – well, Mateo still doesn’t know what they are. With a smile, he reaches down to press his lips against hers. He still counts himself lucky he’s able to do so. 

“I’m not going to run away,” his words hold a promise. “We’re making a family, Lina. I’m not walking from that. I love you and I swear I won’t fuck that up.”

Lina was scared out of her fucking mind. What would happen if he decided to leave? She’d be stuck raising a kid on her own? That’s the last thing she wanted.

“I’m holding you to it.” Lina took his hand and placed it on her belly. There wasn’t a bump there yet. Still, there was life growing. “I love you too. Do you really believe there’s hope for us.”

Rose: You... Lina.

Rose: Did you forget a condom? Never forget the condom.

Rose: OF COURSE I DROPPED IT WHAT DID YOU FUCKING EXPECT?!

Rose: I'm... I don't know what to tell you. Congratulations? Are you happy? Sad? Do I need to go buy pacifiers to keep at my place, or ice cream to deal with after a specific doctor appointment?

Lina: I usually don't forget!

Lina: You should get a better grip on your phone

Rose: Oh dear. Uh. Aim for turned on.

-5 minutes later-

Rose: Okay so 2 things. 1) You better fucking go with me to get a new phone because mine has a broken screen now because that was not expected news.

Rose: 2) WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE PREGNANT?! IS THIS FROM THE FUCKING HATE FUCKING? OR IS IT BEAR?

Rose: Lina what the hell.

Rose: WHAT THE HELL.

Lina: I would have been turned on had I not been stabbed and discovered I was pregnant

Lina: Did you drop it?

Lina: The hate fucking turned into I miss you fucking. Highly doubt it's Bears because we were careful. Mateo and I...not so much.

Rose: You were stabbed?! What the hell Lina????

Rose: I'm still confused to what the hell even happened that night. Just... I don't know.

Rose: What did you find out? Please don't say it's a job offer in another town because I will actually cuff you to me and keep you here.

Lina: One snuck by Mateo and got me. We were ambushed :(

Lina: They were gone soon after. I don't know whether to be terrified of him or turned on.

Lina: Me too. I don't understand how people can attack others like that. It's barbaric.

Rose: Lina????

Rose: How are you??? Did you get hurt? Did anything happen to you during the carnival???

Lina: Rose!

Lina: I'm alright. I was stabbed in the thigh. Luckily it didn't hit anything major.

Lina: I found out something else...I don't know whether I should be happy or not

location: linas place

halloween played in her mind over and over again. spending time with mateo dressed up like santa and mrs. claus. he had started being hers again. the mateo that she originally fell in love with. the night was near perfect apart from the whole everyone trying to kill them thing. mateo instantly tried to protect lina. which warmed her heart more than anything. she was scared and he stepped up and tried to protect her. except he couldn’t protect her from all of them. a girl snuck up on them. she felt the pain before seeing who did it. next thing she knew mateo shot her attacker, a spray of blood hitting lina. normally she would be fine. she knew how to defend herself. not this time. everything was so overwhelming. fast forward to the hospital. a deep ass knife wound, and unexpected news that neither saw coming.

“you’re not going to run away from this right? i’m going to keep asking you until i’m sure.” she looked up at him from her bed. he had just come back from a grocery run looking as beautiful as ever. this was the....fifth time she asked him about staying around since they found out about the baby. “i’m sorry. i’m not exactly scared just...we don’t have the best track record.”

Rose nodded her head. Friends with benefits. She’d had a few of those. Though… Most of the time it resulted in her leaving with money in her bank and them having released whatever was on their heart, while hers was heavier. “Have you thought about telling Mateo what it is you need? Like I don’t know what Bear is giving you, and you want Mateo to be more like, but you could talk to him about it. If he loves you, I’m sure he’d try to adjust at least.” So maybe she was just repeating the advice she’d heard from magazines. Her own love life was not one to take advice from after all. “Me and Derek? What’s there to tell? We met, he asked me out, I said yes, and we just…” Thinking for a moment, she smiled softly. “We clicked. He gets me, which is rather rare.”

“Is he there because you regret it or because you want it to happen again? You shouldn’t bottle it all up if you’re struggling with it Lina, talk to me I can help.” It wasn’t weird for him, maybe it should have been given the nature of his relationship with Lina, or whatever ti was, but so long as she was happy that was all he really cared about and if he needed to help her get there then he would. “You want to cook?”  He quizzed, a small laugh following his question. “Sure you can cook baby, just let me know if anything starts burning.” 

“Are you in love with him though? Do you think of him when you see Mateo? Or do you think of Mateo when you see him?” Rose reached for her glass, drinking a little while she let Lina continue on with thinking. Trying to figure out her next move. “Always set ground rules. Like, no saying you love each other until you know for sure. And no spending the night. Spending the night is confusing.” Rose pointed out, thinking out loud. Yeah, spending the night was never a good idea. “Spa? Shopping? Rub my feet and give me a good scrub? You know, make me feel like a queen, not an assistant.” Not that she’d actually made him do that, but Lina didn’t need to know that. 

“Great, I look forward to it,” she beamed, almost hoping the guy would fuck up, but not in a way that hurt Lina, just enough to warrant a fist to the dick. “I only care that he’s rocking something else,” she joked. “Sounds good to me,” she smiled. “So, what are we celebrating?” she asked, “or forgetting…” she offered.

“The sex is great. Different from Mateo of course. He’s....he’s very nice.” Lina would be lying if she denied her liking for Bear. There’s something about a grump with a soft side. He’s an amazing friend as well. “We are celebrating friendship. I miss you. Work has been hectic lately.” New clients coming in from left and right. Was this her boss getting back at her for not wanting to take on the fuckwad of a client. He swamps her down with work so a social life is nearly impossible.

“I like to directly deliver the karma,” she laughed. She rolled her eyes and shook her head at Lina’s question, “girl, when have you ever known me to have anything even closely resembling a relationship?” she asked. Chloe much preferred meaningless sex, she didn’t have to spend time worrying about their feelings or risking her own getting hurt. “I like all, you choose.”

“I’ll let you know if he acts up again. You can personally punch him in the dick.” That’s if Lina decided to talk to him again. It was best to ignore him. “Look anything can happen. I didn’t think I’d be able to move on from Mateo then I met Bear. He’s a beautiful friend and he rocks my shit.” She may have feelings for Bear too. Something she tried to ignore. “I’m thinking a good Moscato. I’m a sucker for it.”

“You just seem quiet is all, a little more reserved than normal.” He hummed softly, nothing but concern in his voice as he looked back at the girl as she settled by his side, leaning over to press a soft kiss to her temple. “Just let me know if there is anything you need me to do alright? Anything I can do to help out just say the word and I’m there.” Bear probably shouldn’t have been so open with how soft he was for Lina, but that was just the way he was with her and he couldn’t help it.