One Day at a Time - (Season One)

Chapter Nineteen: Understanding

The morning arrived like an unwelcome guest.

Needy and prevalent.

And with it came not only a powerful headache from all the crying she'd done the previous night, but the acute realization that Nick was gone.

He'd been taken last night.

She'd almost been taken and left her baby brother alone.

That's been real.

Madison, Nick's mother, also now knew that Marty was pregnant.

It had all gone to hell so unbelievably fast.

Lukas, still asleep, snuggled into her chest and his little fingers continued to grip at her shirt- still seeking comfort from her subconsciously. Marty gently ran her hand through his hair, getting into a rhythm as the wavy locks slipped through her fingers; occasionally, she'd press kisses onto his forehead.

She'd almost lost this.

Marty had almost been separated from her baby brother. Lukas had become the light of her life from the second he'd been born--the last living proof of their deceased father and brother... and eventually even that of their mother. The little boy had the same messy, dirty blonde hair Marcos had sported, and her brothers even shared the same sheepish grin and serious-looking resting face when they weren't feeling anything or simply just thinking. Lukas had papí's beautiful chocolate brown eyes, eyebrows, lip shape, and the same gentle demeanor.

Her mamá hadn't been able to handle looking at Lukas for very long because of that very reason. When Lukas's baby face began transforming into its more defined features, the similarities between him and their deceased family became very clear. In the privacy of her mind, Marty knew that it was Lukas's innocent chocolate-brown eyes that their mamá had hated looking at the most. They were the same freaking shade their father's had been, and even crinkled at the edges when he was happy like papí's had...

In the end, it mattered very little to Marty how similar Lukas looked to her twin or papí--if anything, she loved seeing those features on his tiny face because she simply loved Lukas. She would never regret dropping out of high school to take care of him or working long hours so that Marty could make enough money to support the two of them after mamá died. She didn't even mind the nerve-wracking and sporadic visits CPS had made that only proved that, despite her young age, Marty was, in fact, the best caretaker and guardian for her brother.

Marty had loved Lukas from the moment he'd blinked his sleepy brown eyes at her and griped Martt's finger with a strength she'd have never guessed for an infant to possess. His innocence and freely given love was a balm to her broken heart, and seeing the world through his eyes as he grew had been one of the greatest gifts she'd ever been given. There was nothing she wouldn't do to protect him.

So, really, outing her concealed pregnancy was nothing in the grand scheme of things... even if it was making her stomach turn at the thought of speaking to Madison.

The bedroom door softly creaked open, making Martina's gaze move from the cherubic sleeping expression Lukas was sporting to the more cautious one Madison was carrying as she stared at them from the doorway.

Think of it, and it shall appear.

"Can you come out and talk to me for a moment." the blonde whispered.

Marty nodded once as she carefully extracted herself from Lukas's clinging limbs and quietly slipped out of the bedroom. Nick's mother had moved to sit at the dining room table while sipping on her ever-present mug of coffee.