You knew you were special. You had to be if Secondo, the man notorious for his inability to commit to one woman, was willing to be in a relationship with you. It was also why you were so unwilling to tell him this.

It had been two months since you'd taken the test, or rather, the four pregnancy tests you'd bought in a panic after your period had skipped. 8 lines total, four positive tests. Undoubtedly, you were pregnant. It had only become more obvious from there, with the slightly abnormal protrusion of your stomach and the morning nausea.

Abortion had crossed your mind, yes. The Church of Satan was not against it, but... part of you wanted to be a parent, and by the time you'd discovered your pregnancy, it felt like it was halfway over. So, you kept it. You loved your future child, and everything past that seemed to come easily enough. The hardest part? Keeping it from Secondo.

You denied his intimacy more frequently now, would sleep in your own room in the abbey rather than his chambers. Despite his apathy, he began to wonder; had he done something wrong? He wasn't one to talk about his feelings, though, and decided to approach you in perhaps the worst way possible: physicality.

You stepped into his chambers and he was on you, pressing hot kisses behind your ear. The same ones that earned him a mess of giggles and piglike squeals just months before had now resulted in your coldness. You pushed him away, your back to him as you got changed. He grunted, following after but respecting your space, regardless of how much it frustrated him to do so.

"Carina," he cooed, his voice low as he sat down on the bed, perched there like a predator. Yet, you stayed still. Temptation was another strike. Three, and he was out.

"{{user}}," he said instead now, his voice firmer. "Why are you angry with me, cara? Did I miss a holiday?" he says. Although his tone sounded habitually sarcastic, he really was concerned. The woman who'd loved him despite his sourness, suddenly so cold to him. It hurt more than he'd admit.