Maternity Leave Part III

An R.L. Mathewson Chronicle

He was up to something, Charlie thought, nibbling on a fresh jelly donut as she watched Devin through the office windows overlooking the shop. He’d given up a little too easily there at the end and…

He was definitely up to something, she decided with a firm nod as she watched him work. All morning he’d been on her about going on maternity leave and then he sent a text and…nothing. Not another word, glare, or threats to tie her to the bed until the baby was born. He just smiled in a manner that left her mildly concerned before kissing her and promising her more jelly donuts.

He should have glared at her at least one more time by now, Charlie told herself as she finished off her donut and reached for another one only to find the bag empty. Really wishing that she’d savored that last donut, she released a sad little sigh as she stared longingly at the bottom of the empty bakery bag, hoping beyond hope that a donut would magically appear only to give up with a disappointed sigh and focus back on the iPad that she’d placed on her large belly.

She’d get more donuts later, Charlie promised herself, shifting to get comfortable on the oversized beanbag that she had to admit really wasn’t that comfortable anymore. Maybe Devin would consider putting an oversized couch in here and perhaps a few pillows and some blankets? It couldn’t hurt to ask, she thought, which for some reason led her to wonder if there were any donuts in the breakroom upstairs.

“Focus,” Charlie told herself with a firm nod, reminding herself that she needed to get this done before the baby came since she planned on cutting back her hours soon.

She was just trying to buy herself a little time by setting everything up so that it was automated for her clients and what she couldn’t schedule, she was helping them set up to buy herself a little more while she looked for an assistant. She hadn’t planned on hiring anyone this soon, but with the baby on the way and more clients than she could handle, she really didn’t have a choice. She just…

Needed to stop wondering if there were any donuts upstairs.

Maybe she could ask Devin to go upstairs and look, Charlie thought, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she sent her husband a hopeful look only to frown when she didn’t see him. Maybe he went upstairs to get her another donut? For several minutes, Charlie sat there with a hopeful look on her face as she waited for her husband to walk through the office door with a lovely selection of jelly donuts for her to peruse only to feel her shoulders sag in defeat when that didn’t happen.

She was wasting time, Charlie reminded herself as she was once again forced to shift her attention back to her iPad and-

Maybe he needed help selecting her donuts? Charlie thought, already moving to go find out. It took a few wiggles, a couple of groans, grumbles, and sighs, but she eventually managed to roll over onto her side with a disappointed sigh. She really needed to inquire about that couch. She also needed to find someone to help her up, Charlie thought as she reached back to grab her phone only to have to rock back and forth a bit in order to reach it.

Once she had her phone, Charlie debated her options. Text Ben and deal with her best friend mocking her or text T.J. since he was in the shop and could be in here within thirty seconds to fix this. It also didn’t hurt that he was afraid to make her cry, something that could work in her favor for those donuts. Decision made, she quickly scrolled through her contacts until she came to his name and-

“This isn’t going to work for me,” came the familiar words that never failed to terrify her as she watched a large tan hand pluck the phone out of her hand as she slowly looked up and found herself swallowing hard when she saw Lucifer Bradford kneeling in front of her.

“W-What are you doing here?” Charlie asked hollowly as she watched Lucifer slide her phone into his back pocket.

 “Wondering why you didn’t call me before,” Lucifer murmured with a long-suffering sigh as he slowly took in her office, mumbling, “This isn’t going to work for me.”

“What’s not going to work for you?” Charlie asked, following his gaze as he took in the section of the play area that Devin turned into a small nursery for the baby.

“All of it,” Lucifer said with a firm nod that didn’t bode well for her.

Not. At. All.

She still didn’t like to think about what happened when he came over to the house for the twin’s birthday party. One minute, he was grabbing a Coke from the fridge and the next, he took everything out of the cabinets, removed the shelves, and took over the dining room. It had taken him a week to get the kitchen the way that he liked it and then…

He noticed the pantry.

“I’ll take care of it later. Right now, we have other things to worry about,” Lucifer said as he reached over and carefully scooped her up into his arms.

“Wait. What other things?” Charlie asked, trying not to panic when he stood up and headed for the door. “Lucifer? Please tell me that you’re not taking me to a secondary location.”

“We have work to do,” Lucifer said as he headed for the exit, leaving her no choice but to panic when she realized that her husband was gone.