"There we go," Erin, her obstetrician, said as she ran the ultrasound over her stomach. It was so cold with the gel she had spread over it. Rachel wasn't really showing, but whatever the woman had found she was approving of. "You're looking good. See this little dot here." Erin pointed, flicking her dark eyes back at her. "This is your baby."

No matter how hard she stared, it looked like a black dot in a bunch of grey, though it warmed her to know that her baby was still there after all of her stress. Erin left to flip through some charts and then rolled her chair back to her, her short, ear-length black hair pinned back. It had a few streaks of grey and she appeared to be as old as Oliver if not older.

They were related. Erin Moceri was the Moceri family doctor. She complained a bit about treating more gun wounds than anything, since she had gone to school for women's health for a few years on top of her normal education. The woman was a chatterbox, unlike Oliver.

"Everything is looking good, and I can see the vitamins I gave you. I'm glad you've been taking them. Some of these thug types think they can just tough out a pregnancy like it's a fist fight. Women..." Erin sighed as she looked past Rachel to Oliver.

Standing next to her, Oliver had his arms crossed and was staring at the ultrasound picture in front of them. It had been freeze framed on the final picture and Oliver's expression softened before he turned away from both of them.

Oliver was crying again.

After living with him for the last few weeks, Rachel had come to a much better understanding of the man. While he would shoot someone in the face without hesitance if they were a threat to his family, he also had a terribly soft side for the people he cared about. It wasn't like he broke down and cried like a child though. Oliver just shed a few tears, wiped them away, and moved on with life. The man was too strong for big displays of emotion, but he did have emotions.

"You have to take care of her, Oliver," Erin chastised him, and he spun around with a darkened stare. "I mean it. Don't let her fight anyone, or run anything, or meet with anyone sketchy. Just keep her in the house, make sure she's active, and keep her well fed."

"What am I, a hamster?" Rachel glared at Erin, but she chuckled.

"No, but I know that if you lose this child, it will destroy you. Oliver's lifestyle is not conducive to safe child bearing, and he's a man, so he thinks all women should just deal with it when it hurts. That's not how pregnancy works. If you think anything is off, you come to me first. Don't do anything strenuous, but you're fine to still be active. It's better you are for when you give birth. I've already requested a specialist to come in and work with you, so you only have to listen to my complaining once every month or so."

"Oh boy, more people to smother me," Rachel groaned as she pulled her shirt back down. "I already have Halen and Oliver living in my air space as it is. And then there is Donovan, who pretty much just organizes my whole diet. Who else could you possibly need me to listen to?"

"A woman." Erin laughed. "Some parts of pregnancy you might not what to discuss with men, so I'm bringing in a specialist who will help you out, and later on, run you through exercises before labor. I know it's a ways off, but you can never start preparing too soon."

"Of course not." Rachel went to get up and Oliver offered his hand instantly. Accepting it, she sighed as he helped her to her feet and only then released her. They left the room, and she watched the light sift in through the long hallway of arched windows that adorned this wing of Oliver's home.

Halen met them not even one hallway down and, not short after, Oliver departed for more of his business. The mob didn't just stop crime because she was pregnant. At least Halen was more pleasant than Oliver. It was nice having someone her age around. Donovan and Oliver were both at or above forty.

"It doesn't bother you?" Rachel asked.

Halen looked down to her with his innocent blue eyes, always confused on what new subject she was broaching on any given day.

"That Oliver is just into you because you're a young guy. The huge age disparity?" Rachel continued, but Halen laughed.

"You're not one to talk," Halen said with a snide smile, and she frowned.

"Dude, Oliver has seven years on Tanner. That's like twenty years older than you. You can't say that hasn't crossed your mind. He could be your dad."

"I swear, you come up with these tortuous, invasive questions to try and get me to leave you alone sometimes." Halen slid his hands in his pockets with a narrowed glare.

"Wouldn't that be nice, but no, I just don't seem to get you two apart and without Donovan as much as I want. Since he is out meeting his son under the veil of the Moceris, this is one of my few chances."

"I guess. Well, Oliver has been active and healthy his whole life, so I wouldn't say he looks almost forty. I can't say it occurs to me too much though."

"Don't you worry he'll get tired of you? You know, when you stop looking like a young guy." It was something that concerned Rachel when she thought about Oliver's proclivity.

"I'm always going to look like a young guy." Halen snickered, and Rachel elbowed him in the ribs. "No, but really, Oliver and I are quite close for reasons aside from my physical appearance. There have been many who have come and gone to cater to his desires, but from what I'm told by those closest to him, he shares a bond with me that he has never had with anyone else.

"I know it might be naïve of me to be absorbed in something like love, but Oliver and I care for each other in a way that's mutual. I don't think he's going to up and drop me for a younger version. We uniquely connect with each other, and a bond like that isn't easily broken."

"By uniquely, you mean you like it when he practically abuses you," Rachel grumbled as they found her room and she slid onto her bed. Rolling over, she stared at Halen as he sat himself in his usually chair against the wall.

"Oliver doesn't abuse me," Halen insisted, as he always did. They'd had this aspect of the conversation before.

"I saw the whip scars on your back, Halen, and don't think I don't notice the bruises now and then on your neck or wrists. You don't call that abuse? I don't see any bruises on Oliver."

"That's just not how it works." Halen didn't bother explaining it again, as he did often enough.

"When are you guys hauling Donovan back?" Rachel changed the subject with a sigh.

She liked spending time with him, though they didn't do as much basketball anymore. Her being pregnant made him too nervous, so they played videogames, board games, and did boring tame things. They had a fitness court and Donovan had okayed Badminton. Woohoo. This being pregnant thing was going to kill her. All she wanted to do was punch something, repeatedly, until it bled.

"I don't know. Depends how long he spends with his son." There was empty silence between them.

"No word on Tanner?" Rachel was always afraid to ask.

"Oliver is doing his best to get you in to see him, but you have to keep in mind Tanner sabotaged that himself. Apparently ripped his handcuffs off their chains and dented one of those metal tables beyond repair. Shit, that must have left a bruise. Unless you're a lawyer, it's going to take a bit of time and a lot of bribery."

"So, if I do get in, I'll be in debt to Oliver forever," Rachel groaned, but Halen just smiled gently.

"Oliver isn't that kind of man. Now that you're here, he's certainly not going to let you go, but he also doesn't spend his time tallying everything he does for you and every dollar he has spent on you. Tanner and he respected each other, and I believe Oliver is trying to get you in to see him for Tanner as much as you. In that way, I don't think you should imagine you're in debt to him."

"How did they even start to respect each other anyway? I never got told how you guys got so tight." Rachel was genuinely curious about anything concerning Tanner, but it had been hard to even say his name for a while. At first, it had caused her pain, but now, speaking about him calmed her in a way she had not expected it to, considering.

"Well, back when LCP started, Oliver was already at odds with the woman running it. Apparently, she had been the property of some nasty sex trafficker and hitman named Josef."

"Maggie was?" Rachel only remembered how unfriendly she had been, and how coldly she had turned away from Donovan as she went to the police station with the other inmates.

"Yes, Maggie, as she calls herself, took out Josef and his whole operation. They were small, maybe two dozen or so? But she ran through them like butter, not even giving a second thought to killing them."

The thought of that woman emotionlessly killing people was startling, but at the same time, Rachel could see her doing it. There was just something empty about the way she had operated with her around.

"In the process of taking out Josef's operation, she stumbled upon a few of them dealing with some of the Moceri men, since we bordered territory back then. Maggie didn't discriminate, so that drew a huge rift between them."

"She killed some of Oliver's men?"

"Yes. For a time, Oliver tried to end her, but the woman is crafty and Oliver doesn't like to draw attention to himself. Instead, he decided he would take out her pet project. The LC Project was funded by some real shady people, politicians, company executives, and the likes. It was put up with the guise of rehabilitation, but it was more of just a sick toy to them, like everything is. They had expected it to fail, horribly, and they wanted it to burn, bright enough to fuel their agendas."

"Well it did." Rachel flopped onto her back and curled into a pillow. These people had just toyed with Tanner's life for what? Numbers? Influence? Some bill they wanted to pass, or prisons they wanted to fund? Rachel had no idea what could pull people to play with the lives of others like they were lifeless puppets.

"It actually didn't." Halen chucked despite the circumstances. "Allen, as the man in charge of pretty much all law enforcement in the city, organized for someone to run it that wouldn't run it into the ground. The man was frustrated because he knew the backlash that it would throw at this town and anyone who could have potentially gotten injured regarding it. So, he gave it to Maggie."

"Did he know she was a crazy assassin?" Rachel turned back to him.

"Yes. This was after everything with Oliver, and she is Allen's adopted daughter. That being said, when it didn't run into the ground after a few months, they started to get antsy. No one expected her to keep those men nonviolent and together. The convicts were smart enough to stay indoors, and careful enough to remain amiable at visits. So, the people pulling the strings paid Oliver."

"Wait, they paid him to take down the pen?" Rachel scooched over on the bed interested.

"Yeah, it went down like this." Halen opened his mouth, and Rachel couldn't tear herself away from his story.

Word count: 2012 -- Edited July 15th, 2020