Elektra freezes when she sees him. Arm in arm with a pretty blonde, (Marci, she thinks her name is) and his shaggy haired friend, Foggy.
Her hand instinctively moves towards her growing belly. The place where Matthew and her child resides.
It’s been several months since the disaster at Roscoe’s, but Matt had unknowningly given her one final gift.
According to the OBGYN, her little boy is strong and healthy, and seemingly conceived shortly before Matt refused to kill his father’s murderer.
She hadn’t planned to return to New York, but she had been invited by a relative of her father’s for a wedding, and said wedding took place near Columbia.
She was just leaving the reception when she saw them on the sidewalk.
Foggy is the first of the group to spy her. Fancy Louboutins in hand. Her swelling feet unable to take wearing them any longer.
Elektra knows it’s Matt that truly noticed her presence first. She can tell by the way his breath hitched as she rounded the corner.
She wonders how long it’ll be until he notices his son inside her.
Foggy starts to tell Matt that he’s spotted Elektra, conveniently missing out the part about her obvious pregnancy but it doesn’t matter. Matt had already noticed her, would recognise the smell of her skin in a crowd of thousands. He never expected to hear from her again, not after the frankly traumatising night at Roscoe’s but there is a tiny part of him that is happy to know she’s alive at least.
Then he hears a second, smaller heartbeat. His stomach drops.
“I’ll be right back,” He barely manages to say before butting past both Foggy ad Marci and heading in Elektra’s direction, cane tapping rapidly against the sidewalk. When he does finally approach Elektra, his mind goes completely blank. What is there to say? He swallows, doing his best to ignore how his hands are trembling as they grip tightly to his cane.
“Matthew.” She breathes as she swallows. “It’s nice to see you.” She tries to push down her nerves. She’s doesn’t succeed.
“It’s a little chilly isn’t it?” She stalls with small talk. Unsure what to say.
Elektra assumes Foggy and Marci, (who are not so discreetly easedropping), will expect her to tell him about the pregnancy.
She doesn’t have too. She can tell by his face he already knows. That he’s aware of the child growing in her belly.
Their child.
Matt opens his mouth to respond but nothing comes out, he simply stands there with his mouth open and his mind racing. He thinks maybe he’s wrong, maybe he’s finally losing his mind and this is actually all in his head. Maybe this heartbeat belongs to someone else’s child but no, it’s right in front of him along with Elektra’s and there’s no denying it.
“Can— can we talk, please?” He eventually manages to say, practically forcing the words out from his throat. “In private?” When she agrees, he decides to take her to his dorm room. By the sound of the gossiping going on from behind him, Foggy was fully aware of what was going on and would know to keep out until Matt called him.
His hands are shaking as he fishes for his keys from his coat pocket, far too distracted by the noise coming from her stomach. The thought that it’s his child hasn’t even probably sank in yet, it’s easier to convince himself there’s someone else she was seeing and everything that happened between them was an elaborate plan to make Matt break up with Elektra. He opens the door and lets her walk in first, closing the door behind them before leaning back against it.
“Your dorm looks cleaner then I remember. Foggy’s girl must be keeping you guys on your toes.” She comments as she sits down on his futon. The same futon they had broken in months earlier.
“I’d like to say I know what you’re feeling, but I don’t. I’m sure this is different for you then it was for me.” She places a gentle hand on her bump.
“I know you must have a thousand questions, and I swear I’ll answer every one of them honestly.” Elektra knows how to get around Matt’s built in lie detector. Stick taught her how before she was sent here, but she’s going to be honest no matter what.
He deserves the truth.
Matt thinks about going and sitting beside Elektra, but instead chooses to sit on his bed, slowly taking his shoes and coat off as to give him time to think of where on earth to start. She was right, there were so many questions racing around his head he didn’t know which one to pick first. It felt strange enough being in the same room as Elektra considering how things ended, he had already convinced himself that he’d never know what they could have been together.
“Did you know?” He settles on eventually, his hands clasped together in front of him and his back hunched over. “That night…did you already know that you were…” Matt swallows, unable to say it out loud quite yet.
“No. I didn’t know. The morning sickness didn’t hit until a few weeks later, and by then we were already over.” She plays with her bracelets like she did the night they met. The sound fills the room, easing the stifling silence.
“I would’ve told you beforehand if I knew. When we talked about children, it was all a hypothesis. Something in the future. I never knew it would come to fruition so soon.” She mindlessly caresses her belly as she talks. Soothing her own nerves.
The pain from that night was nowhere near to healing. Every day since Matt had gotten up and pretended to be okay, like his heart hadn’t been completely broken and he hadn’t once again been abandoned. He’s relieved to hear that she hadn’t been keeping this secret from him at the time, but it’s not enough to settle the growing discomfort coming over him.
“Is it…” Matt’s face twists as he wonders if he even wants to know the answer to his own question, it’ll change everything no matter what Elektra responses with. He sighs and swallows the lump in his throat before trying again.
“Is it mine?”
Elektra is hurt by his words. They sting like a slap, but she understands. He must think everything was a lie. Her love among it. Who’s to say a murderer isn’t also an adulteress?
“Of course it’s yours.” Her hurt bleeds through, and she bites back tears. Her pregnancy hormones have made it a lot harder to stay cool and calculated.
“I haven’t slept with another man in almost a year.” She needs him to know she was faithful. That she never even thought about another man while they were together.
“Can you blame me for asking?” Matt snaps back, overwhelmed and frankly, angry at the thought of Elektra trying to hide this from him. “Were you ever going to tell me? If you hadn’t come back here for whatever reason, would you have told me you were pregnant?”
Saying the words out loud make it all the more real. There’s a child growing within Elektra right now that he helped create. He’s going to be a father, something he’d thought about becoming years and years down the line but never now, when he barely took care of himself.
She swallows. “I wanted to tell you. I really did.” Stick had wanted her to tell him after he found her hunched over a toilet. He hates attachments, but he thought this attachment would bring Matt into The Chaste.
She refused and left Morocco on the first flight she could get.
“I never thought to myself, ‘I’m going to hide this from Matthew’, but can you honestly tell me you would’ve answered my call? I knew what kind of greeting I would get, and I feared your response, so I didn’t call.”
Matt can’t deny that she was right, he knows that if Elektra had called he probably would have blocked the number and continued trying to move on. Maybe that’s the worst part, knowing that if they hadn’t met again by pure chance, he’d have a child out there he’d never know about.
He sighs for what feels like the hundredth time since noticing Elektra and straightens up, itching to go sit beside Elektra but not yet able to quite make himself take that step.
“Is the baby okay?” It feels like the only thing to say that isn’t an attack, no matter how frustrated he is, the last thing he wants is to upset Elektra. “Are you okay? Is everything…alright?” His knowledge of pregnancy is slim, he knows the basics but being raised Catholic leads to a lot of things being left out. He does his best to not think about how he’s having a child out of wedlock, something he’d vowed never to do.
“My doctor says he’s perfectly healthy, and I am too.” She smiles softly. Touched by his concern for her, though her pragmatic side tells her it’s because of the baby. Ie. not genuine.
Elektra can sense he doesn’t know what to do with himself, and she doesn’t either. A reminder that their two young adults with an unplanned baby on the way, moving through life aimlessly.
“Do you-” She swallows. “Do you want to touch my belly?”
“He?” Matt’s expression softens, his voice small and filled with a wonder like a child’s. He blinks away the tears readying themselves to gather in the corners of his eyes. He’s glad to hear that everything was okay, even if part of him wishes he had been there for the entire time.
Matt’s restless hands fiddle with each other as he stands from the bed, slowly walking across to Elektra and sitting down beside her. It feels strange to be beside her again, though even he has to admit that looking past the sadness and pain on the service, he was happy to be by her side. He waits until Elektra reaches out and places his hand on her stomach.
The sound of a second heartbeat fills Matt’s senses once more, so much stronger than the first time he caught it. A lump rises in his throat at the realisation that it’s the heartbeat of their son, his son.
She smiles as she looks at his hand on her belly. Her own resting on top.
Tears prick at her eyes as she takes in the look of wonder on his face. “It’s hard to believe there’s a little baby in there, isn’t it?”
They sit for a few moments before Elektra feels a sharp kick, and lets out a surprised laugh. “He’s kicking. He’s never done that before.”
“Wow,” Matt says softly, still stuck in wonderment. In that moment, all the anxiety and confusion and fear melted away, at least for a short amount of time. There was a baby in there that they’d made together, alive and thriving, being looked after by his mother. Whatever he thought about Elektra after their break up, he has to admit that she’s incredible for taking this on.
He lets out a short laugh before reaching up to wipe the wetness from the corner of his eye, thinking to himself that perhaps their baby knows who he is, maybe he can already feel the intense love growing within Matt for this tiny thing he didn’t know existed mere minutes ago.
“How are we going to do this?” She asks, her voice wet with emotion. Her fingers slowly intertwining with his.
Their boy gives another kick as she speaks. Maybe he recognizes her voice. Knows it from when she’s sang quietly to him in the night, or whispered reassurances that they’re going to be okay.
“I still haven’t forgiven you for that night,” He begins, voice shaky, “I don’t know if I ever will but… I think this is much bigger than how I feel towards you.” What he feels is a mixture of pretty much very emotion, shoved deep down inside to try and make it possible to function every day. It still hurts, what she almost made him do but he can’t run away scared, he won’t be the one to do that.
“Look, whatever you want to do, I’ll support you.” Matt gives her hand a gentle, comforting squeeze, “We can work something out, if you even want me involved in the first place.”
“Of course I want you involved. You’re his father.” It hurts when he mentions that night. She had been so sure that he’d kill Roscoe, and that the spilt blood would bind them together forever.
The thought that he might never forgive her, frightens her to her core, but she doesn’t dare say it aloud.
“I still have my flat in Midtown. I can move back in so you’re close by. If that’s what you want.” Elektra looks down at their intertwined fingers as a tear runs down her cheek.
Matt’s hand hesitate before reaching out and wiping away the tear from Elektra’s cheek, his hand lingering for a moment before coming back to rest on his knee. Their new reality hadn’t quite settled in yet but Matt knew his life had already changed drastically, from the second he caught sound of Elektra on the sidewalk, he was different.
“That’d be nice,” he admits with the smallest hint of a smile, rubbing his thumb across the growing curve of her stomach.
She sighs at the feel of his hand brushing away her tear. The feel of his skin sending warmth through her body.
“I better go, but maybe we can meet again soon.” She suggests with a smile. “I’ve been busy planning the nursery, and I’ll probably set it up once I’m back in my flat. You can come along and help me design it, if you want. Or even come with me when I get baby clothes.”
“I don’t know how helpful I’ll be,” Matt smiles and resists the urge to get up as Elektra does. He listens to the way she moves, the differences in how she holds herself when she walks, it’s beautiful in the most terrifying of ways. He knows nothing about taking care of a child, he can’t even recall if he’s ever held one but he trusts Elektra in her planning, she has to know more than him.
When she does leave, Matt sits deathly still and in silence, trying to process everything that just happened. His grandmother’s words play over and over in his head; “Be careful of the Murdock boys, they’ve got the devil in ‘em.” He only hopes that he doesn’t pass down his own misery to his son.
Elektra makes several phone calls and is back in her flat in three days. She hadn’t taken many things with her after she fled following the disaster at Roscoe’s, so clothes are the only thing she brings from her Parisian flat.
She has the nursery painted a pale yellow, and white curtains hung before she arrives. Other then that, the room is bare.
She pulls out her phone and calls Matt. Not truly caring if he’s busy or in class. Some things don’t change. “The baby shopping offer is still open.”
“Right now?” He asks, standing outside the lecture hall with his backpack filled with school equipment and bundled up in warm clothing for the next two freezing hours in class. “I have class, I can’t just—” He stops himself and rubs his temples in annoyance, keeping to the side of the hallway as fellow students walked by.
“Okay, fine,” Matt gives in quickly for the sake of putting forth a good impression, he wants to show her that he is serious about the whole thing and wants to be involved, as clueless and scared as he is. “I have a study group at five though so I need to be back for that.”
“Perfect!” She says cheerily. “I’ll send a car for you.” She hangs up and giggles. Finding amusement in his annoyance.
Elektra pulls her jacket closer to her body as Matt slides in the seat beside her. “I’m thinking we can furniture for the nursery first, then clothes.”
She knows he thinks he can’t contribute to the nursery, but she’s sure he can. Run his fingers over the fabrics and designs, see what he thinks is comfortable.
“I haven’t really bought anything yet myself, so we’ll have a clean slate.”
Matt gives a shrug of his shoulders and agrees, not really certain as to what they needed to get but knowing Elektra, it would be plentiful and expensive. It’s a nice way to grow up, better that what he and his father made do with in their tiny one bedroom apartment.
When they arrive at the first store, Matt feels completely out of place. Soon to be parents walk around them, looking at cribs and high chairs, talking excitedly with their partners while the women cradle their stomachs. They all seem so thrilled while the shock had yet to lift from Matt, it still didn’t feel quite real.
“Look at this one Matthew.” She ushers home over to a sturdy cream coloured crib. Inside lays a pair of light grey silky sheets. Elektra isn’t a fan of the colour, but she’s sure she can get them in another one.
A matching dresser and end table are sit beside it. Making a uniform bedroom set. There also a lamp that stands in the corner, but she’s not a fan of the design.
“If you’re worried about how it’ll all look together, don’t worry. I won’t let you make a total mess.” She teases.
Matt reaches out and rubs the sheets between his fingers, he makes some soft noise of appreciation before running his hand along the actual crib, feeling for the sturdiness.
“I’m sure it’ll look fine,” he smiles, feeling more at ease when he concentrates on Elektra only and not the world going on around them. “Can you describe it to me? Does it look like something you think…” he pauses, unsure what to call their child, “…the baby would like?”
“I think so. It’s white and has high rails. There’s a section in the back that’s raised up higher, and the sheets are a light grey. Though I’d probably change them to fit with the colour of the room.” She spots a matching rocking chair and sits down. She gently rocks herself back and forth. Enjoying the feel of the soft cushion against her back.
“There’s a matching bedroom set that comes with it. A dresser, end table, rocking chair, and a really ugly lamp.” Elektra grins. “We still need a changing table, as well as hampers and baskets, but other then that, the basic essentials come with the crib. Decorations come after that.”
She stops rocking and picks up a rug that lays beside the crib. She rubs it against her fingers. Loving the feel.
“Sounds…nice.” Matt says, clearly out of his comfort zone and unsure of what else he could add. It all sounded so idealistic and pure, like they were preparing for a dream that would never actually come true. Suddenly, a thought crosses his mind and his stomach drops.
“How much is all of this gonna cost?” Matt asks while trying to hide the slight sense of horror in his voice, gripping tightly to his cane as he spoke. “I mean, I have some savings left over from my dad… I want to contribute in some way.”
“Don’t worry about that Matthew. You need your money for school and I can afford everything on my own. All I want is you there in his life.”
Elektra can tell this is stressful for him, and lays a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Just let me do this. Don’t give yourself unnecessary stress.”
She steps back and waves over an employee. Ordering the crib set they looked over.
“Now what kind of mobile do you think we should get? I’m leaning towards a sun and moon one, but we could get any other type.”
Matt’s mouth hangs open for a few seconds before he starts to laugh, amused by his own ignorance. “I didn’t know there were multiple kinds of mobile?” He admits with a wave of his hands, overwhelmed but trying his best to be even the slightest bit helpful.
“You should just go with your gut, after all you are the pregnant one. There’s not anyone who knows him as well as you.” Matt’s voice softens, still completely bewildered at admitting Elektra’s pregnancy out loud but also remarkably touched at the thought of her with a little boy in her arms, their little boy.
“Oh Matthew.” She too laughs at his ignorance. “Fine, I’ll take over the room decor, but you’re helping with the clothes. You can tell me which feels the best.”
She takes a chance and loops their arms. Elektra guides him around the store. Picking out the rest of the furniture they need. Once everything is ordered, they head to the clothing section.
Rows and rows of baby and toddler clothes stand before them. Even she finds it a little overwhelming at first, with all the various colours and shapes. Then she remembers how often a baby is changed, and knows it not excess.
“Go along Matthew. Feel around. I’ll tell you if the design is ugly.”
Not knowing where to start, Matt takes a step forward and decides to reach forward and choose the first thing he touched. It’s a kind of tiny cashmere sweater, probably for the Winter months. He continues to stroke his fingers across the rack, flipping through various cotton blend shirts that aren’t his favourite to feel but would probably be fine for someone without his sensitivity.
As he walks down the aisle carefully, trying to find the softest thing on show, he comes across the end of the display where the baby shoes sat. Matt runs his fingers over one of the tiny sneakers before picking it up, balancing one in the palm of his hand.
“Are his feet really going to be this small?” He asks, knowing the answer already but still equally amazed by the discovery.
“Yes.” She smiles at the thought of her son in those little red shoes. “It’s amazing that something could be that small.” She runs a hand down her belly. “Do you want to buy these? They’re awfully cute. As are several things you’ve looked at so far.”
Elektra looks once more at the shoes with a smile. Picturing slipping them on to her little boy’s tiny feet.
“I’m secretly a talent,” Matt says with a smile, distracting himself from the tears once again threatening to spill down his cheeks. He blinks them away and instead walks back down the aisle, searching for the few items he had enjoyed the feel of. He carefully picks them out, delicately holding them within his arms.
“I— I don’t know if these are any good, or what else we need but…” he shrugs once more, “you were always the fashionable one.”
“They’re perfect. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you could actually see them Matthew.” She teases as she takes them from his arms and places him in the cart.
She then goes through the aisle herself, picking what she likes and thinks will look good with Matt’s picks. “We’ll obviously have to buy more clothes as he gets older, but it’s a start.”
She pulls out her phone and checks the time. Wanting to keep her promise of getting him back in time for his group.
“We better go if you don’t want to be late. We could stay longer, but we’d be cutting it pretty close.”
For a few moments, Matt stands puzzled as to what Elektra meant. He had become so caught up that as she talks about having to return him soon, it takes him a moment to remember that he had been the one who’d insisted he back it back to college in time.
He thinks about telling her to forget it, that he’ll have plenty of other opportunities to study but moments like this only have a certain time span. He doesn’t though, instead just nods and like the majority of their recent time together, follows in her lead as they get ready to pay and leave.
Elektra swipes her card with ease at the counter, and several workers trail after them on their way to the car.
Several of their bought items go in the trunk, while the clothing bags are placed around their feet.
Matt and her sit in a comfortable silence on their way back to the university. Not talking, but feeling relaxed.
When they arrive, she places a hand on his arm, stopping him from getting out just yet. “I’m planning to decorate the nursery tomorrow, and I’d like you to be there. If you want to of course.” She tries to stop herself from sounding clingy or needy. She’s not sure she succeeds.
“Of course,” He lays a hand over Elektra’s, giving it a gentle squeeze, “I’ll be there.” He doesn’t admit it out loud, despite it being perfectly expected but Matt was starting to feel growingly protective over Elektra. He had done so when they were dating, defending her from Foggy when he questioned Matt on how he was starting to miss a lot of class, but this was different.
When he falls asleep that night, he has a dream about sitting with his dad, a newborn baby swaddled in blankets and tucked neatly into his arms. He dreams about having his dad meet Elektra, listening as they share embarrassing stories while Matt tends to their child with ease. It’s a dream that will never come true but when he wakes up, he isn’t sad.
Elektra wakes in the morning to the feel of tiny kicks across her stomach. “Is this how you’re going to wake me up now? Hmm?” She speaks to her belly as she caresses it.
She climbs out of bed and wraps a red silk robe around her body. She heads downstairs to prepares her and the baby a healthy breakfast.
She listens to Bernstein as she putters around the kitchen, preparing breakfast.
A half hour later she’s eaten and dressed in her most comfortable clothes, and waiting for Matt’s arrival.
Matt arrives a little after 10am, butterflies fluttering around his stomach as he made his way up to Elektra’s apartment. It was only a few days since her confession but slowly, he was starting to adjust to the idea. There were stranger things that had happened to him after all. If he could survive being blinded at nine years old, he could handle becoming a father while still in college.
He knocks on the door and takes a step back, picturing the sight inside as he listened to the music playing, the smell of fresh food still lingering and making his stomach growl. It all feels so domestic and natural, like Elektra was thriving. Maybe this was what they were always meant to be together.
She opens the door and smiles when she sees him. “Come in Matthew.” Elektra rests her head against the doorframe and watches him walk in. Taking in the glorious way his jeans hug his ass.
She bites her lower lip as lust fills her, but regretfully pushes it away. He’s not here for sex. Get it together.
“Do you want anything to eat?”
Matt doesn’t miss the rise in Elektra’s heartbeat as he walks inside, a slight hint of pride comes over him at knowing he still has some effect over her. It’s not like they broke up because of an issue in the bedroom though, in fact things were more than great. He would never admit it out loud but there were times after her leaving that he still thought of her late at night, his hand shoved down his pyjama pants as he—
He clears his throat and awkwardly scratches at his scruffy cheek, too preoccupied for the last few days to have shaved.
“Uh, sure. If it’s not a bother.”
“It’s no bother.” She reassures him before she scurries into the kitchen.
She grabs a bowl and pours in Greek yogurt and strawberries. She sprinkles oats on top, and grabs a spoon.
She returns with the food in hand and passes it to him. “Hope you like. I’ve been on a bit of a health kick since I found out about the baby. All I have is healthy food options now.”
Elektra takes a seat in the chair farthest from him. Hoping more distance will reign in her hormones.
“No that’s wonderful, thank you,” Matt says sincerely as he takes the bowl, he navigates himself over to the kitchen table and sits down. As he begins to eat, he catches the sound of movement coming from a Elektra’s stomach, it takes a few seconds for him to realising it’s their son kicking.
“Does it feel weird?” He asks between bites, “Feeling him kick? It doesn’t hurt, right?” His concern for the two of them drips from his words, growing with each passing second.
“It doesn’t hurt, and it’s not weird. Not really. It’s… nice. Soothing.” She brushes a piece of hair from her face. “Wherever I am, he’s with me. Him kicking is just another reassurance he’s healthy.”
Matt’s concern for them both warms her heart, and she smiles softly. “The first time he kicked was the day we ran into each other. He hadn’t before then.”
The thought of almost missing out on this makes his heart sink, things might not be perfect yet but they’re somehow a hell of a lot better than the months that followed their break up. Matt finds himself slowly starting to see Elektra in another light, after she left it was easy to think of her as crazy, someone who didn’t care at all for the well being of others but now, he couldn’t convince himself that any of it was true.
“It’s kind of beautiful,” Matt says as he stirs his spoon around the bowl, pride filling him as he thought back to the first time he laid his hand over her belly. “I think he knew who I was.” He admits, unable to stop himself from smiling at the memory.
“I think he did too.” She smiles back. Heart warmed at the thought.
She swallows the tears that are threatening to burst. Damn hormones.
“We better get to work soon. I don’t want to hold you back if you have any plans for later.”
Elektra sips from her glass of water and takes in Matt, filled with happiness and love. She’s never seen him so content before, and it makes her own heart skip with joy.
“I’ve done the hard job already. Hanging up the baby clothes. So you get all the easy stuff.” She teases with a cheeky grin.
“I, uh, cleared the rest of my day. I’m here as long as you need me,” Matt admits with a sheepish smile. There is a class he has later on but he’d convinced Foggy to record the lecture for him, so he’s all Elektra’s for the rest of the day.
“You’re so generous,” Matt laughs, hearing the smile in Elektra’s voice brings a sense of calmness over him, it’s as though he was never nervous in the first place. He quickly finishes eating before insisting that he be the one to clean up, not wanting Elektra to do anything that he could do for her.
She guides him up to the nursery. The closet is still wide open from earlier, and a pile of clothes and shoes that are going in the dresser, sit on the floor.
“Do you think we should put the crib by the window? I’ve heard that when some babies get older they can get tangled up in the lift cord if it’s near their bed.” Fear bleeds through her words.
Elektra doesn’t want to think of her little boy in any danger ever, and she’ll do anything to protect him. She’s already bought all the things to baby proof the flat for when he starts crawling.
She’s never been so concerned with precautions in her life.
“Or maybe I’m paranoid.” She says with a weak laugh. Uneasy with her own vulnerability.
“You’re his mom, it’s your job to worry about these things,” Matt gives her a comforting smile before reaching out to rub her arm. It’s nice to know he isn’t the only one struck with anxiety, he thought that Elektra had everything under control but learning she still had her worries was oddly comforting. It makes him feel less crazy.
“I say we avoid the window, somehow I feel he’ll get into plenty of mischief without added opportunities.” Carefully, Matt walks around the room, he runs his hand across the wall and the smell of freshly dried paint drifts off from it.
“True, he’ll be a Murdock after all.” She teases. Relaxing under Matt’s reassurances.
“That paint is yellow. Nice light shade. I thought about a grey, but I didn’t want him too broody straight out the gate.”
“No, the broodiness will come later,” Matt smiles as he imagines the room, all bright and warm and safe. He doesn’t remember much about his childhood but it was certainly void of any of those things, it only makes him more determined that he push his own feelings aside and do what’s best for his son, and in turn, Elektra.
“Okay, so, tell me what you want me to do.” He leans up against the wall, waiting expectantly for Elektra’s directions. If you’d have asked him a week ago how he would have felt to have her bossing him around, the simple thought of her would have made his blood boil but now? He was almost excited to help out.
“Hmm. Maybe drag the crib by the back wall, but in the middle. And we’ll put the end table and dresser on either side. The changing table can be on the other side of the room.” She directs Matt around the room. Telling what goes where, and making sure everything is centered.
“I was thinking of buying some big letters, and putting them over his crib once we pick a name.” She tells him as she hangs the moon and stars mobile over the crib.
Elektra does have a name in mind already. She just needs Matt to agree to it.
Matt simply nods before reaching down and pulling his sweater off, revealing a dark grey t-shirt. It wasn’t like moving a bunch of baby furniture was particularly hard work but he had gotten a little warm doing so.
“Have you thought of one yet?” Matt asks, assuming that Elektra had already picked one. He wasn’t about to argue with whatever she said, the baby’s name was the least of his concerns.
She takes in the sight of him taking off his sweater, and bites her lip. Her hormones start swirling up a lusty storm, and her cheeks flush.
Get a hold of yourself.
“I have actually.” She clears her throat. “Jack. For your dad.”
Out of all the names Matt was expecting to hear, that wasn’t one of them.
He teeters a little before reaching out to gently grab the edge of the crib, steadying himself. It was both incredibly thoughtful and overwhelming, both a reminder that his dad will never get hold his son but also that he’s a man worth remembering, still as important as he was all those years ago.
“Elektra, I…” Matt says before the words fall flat, there is nothing he can say that would express how he’s feeling so instead he reaches down and takes her hand, intertwining their fingers together.
She looks down at their intertwined fingers and smiles softly. It moves her how touched he is, and she soothingly rubs her thumb on the back of his hand.
“I take it you like it.” She teases. Attempting to keep her own tears at bay. “I actually have a whole name in mind. Jack Matthew Murdock.”
Matt resists the urge to ask whether or not she’d have kept the name if she hadn’t returned to the city. It doesn’t matter, not really. Instead, Matt pulls Elektra close and presses a gentle kiss to the crown of her head.
“I love it.” He mumbles into her hair, taking in the sweet smell of her shampoo while wondering how he’d lived those months without her. “Thank you.”
She nestles into his side. Finding his warmth comforting. Her hand caresses his back as she looks up at him.
She lifts her head and places a gentle kiss to his mouth.
After convincing himself that he was to never hear from Elektra again after that night, to have her back in his arms is a kind of miracle Matt isn’t sure he is deserving of. Life seems to be filled with those as of recently.
When she kisses him, it’s like taking a gulp of air after being underwater for so long, he feels alive and relieved, grateful to be out of the dark. As she pulls away, Matt’s mouth chases after her and presses another soft kiss to her lips. They might have a lot to talk about but in this moment, Matt doesn’t care. He’s simply happy to be together again, the three of them.
She wraps her arms around his neck as she pulls away. “I missed this. Us.” Elektra rests her forehead against his. Her round belly pressing against his abdomen.
“I can’t believe I went almost seven months without you.”
“You don’t need to think about that now,” Matt brushes her hair out from her face before kissing her forehead, “I’m not going anywhere, we’re gonna make this work.”
He reaches down and lays his hand across the curve of Elektra’s stomach, still in wonderment at how much it had grown, how with each passing second they were closer to becoming parents.
“I’m going to take care of both of you, I promise.”
They decorate the room for the rest of the day. They arrange the furniture, hang up various paintings, and place little stuff animals around the room.
“What do you think?” Elektra asks as she takes a seat in the rocking chair. Taking in the sight of the now furnished room.
“I think Jack’s a very lucky boy,” Matt says after a moment of picturing the room, the room in which in a few short months would have their child in. He rests his arm across the back of the rocking chair and lingers in the peaceful moment.
Maybe things would never be the same as they once were, but perhaps they can be even better. Matt believed everything happened for a reason and this was no different, if anything it simply confirmed his believe they belonged together.
“He is. We’ll make sure of that.” She takes his hand and places a kiss on the back.
Elektra’s stomach growls, signalling it’s time to eat. “Would you like to stay for dinner?” She asks as she has Matt help her out of the rocking chair.
“I’d like that,” he says while carefully pulling Elektra up. As Matt follows her into the kitchen, he thinks about how this is the life they’d both talked about having, the kids and domestic bliss. Sure, it was more planned for after college but Matt was learning to take happiness where he got it.
“This suits you,” Matt comments, leaning up against the kitchen counter, helping out with dinner where he could, “the whole mom thing.”
“You think so?” She takes a seat at her dining table. “I know we talked about kids, but I was never really sure I’d be a good mom.”
Stick had trained her to be emotionless, and her adoptive parents are nice, but not loving. She’s built such an icy facade that sometimes she thinks it’s real. That she's that cold.
“I’m sure you’ll be a great dad Matthew.”
“You care, that’s more than some moms do.” The only mother figures Matt had growing up were the nuns at the orphanage he grew up at, and they were less than tender. “Besides, we’ll work it out somehow. Together.”
They eat together mostly in silence, Matt brushes his foot up against Elektra’s ankle every now and then just to get her to smile but other than that, it’s a blissful, peaceful kind of silence.
The next few days feel like a dream. Matt is by her side almost all the time. Helping her prepare and take care of even the smallest thing.
In thanks, she decides to surprise him with his favorite cookies.
As Elektra walks down the dorm hallway, she hears raised voices coming from Matt’s room. She recognizes them instantly. It’s Matt and his shaggy haired friend.
“Matt, you’re just going to get back with her?!” Foggy sounds exasperated.
“Shush!” Matt tries to quiet him. Knowing Elektra can hear.
“I won’t be shushed Matt! You need to listen to reason!” She takes this moment to throw the door open.
“Hello Franklin.”
With Foggy there, Matt has to act surprised when Elektra enters with expected dramatics. He acts startled while Foggy practically jumps out from his skin— the phrase “speak of the devil” comes to mind.
“Elektra!” Matt stands up from his bed and walks over to her, putting on the whole blind act for Foggy. He wraps an arm around her shoulder and gives her a quick peck on the cheek, “everything okay?”
Foggy eyes Elektra suspiciously. Matt never told him what had happened all those months ago but what followed was weeks upon weeks of depression, days stuck in bed and meals sat uneaten. He wants his best friend to be happy, not just getting back with his ex because she was pregnant.
“Everything is fine. Just wanted to give you these. A thank you for all the help with the nursery.” She passes him the carton of cookies. “Double fudge. Your favorite.”
She gives Foggy a razor sharp smile as she takes a seat on the futon. “You two seem to be having a pleasant conversation. I hope I’m not interrupting.”
Elektra glowers at Foggy for daring to try to get between Matt and her, as she unzips her jacket. Revealing more of her pregnant belly.
Matt feels the tension begin to build in the room and wonders whether or not he should stand between the two of them. It’s not like Foggy would lunge at Elektra or anything, he’s more worried about the opposite. He instead perches on the end of his bed, cradling the cookies on his lap.
“It was nothing really, you didn’t miss anything important,” Matt says and Foggy’s shoulders visibly drop in relief. He might not have been happy with their relationship, but he wasn’t about to call it out in front of Elektra. He has some brains and they tell him that picking a fight with a pregnant lady probably isn’t his best move.
“Well, I know when I’m not wanted. You two love birds can have the room, I’ll catch you later Matt.” Foggy says as he quickly slips his shoes and bag on, shooting a quick glance over his shoulder at Elektra as he left, booking it down the hallway as soon as the door was shut.
“I see he’s taking us getting back together well.” She slips her swollen feet out of her shoes. Giving herself some relief.
“I hope you don’t mind I snagged a cookie on my way over. They just smelt so good.”
“He’ll get there,” Matt says through a mouth full of cookie. He leans back on his elbows, listening as Foggy made his way down the flight of stairs leading up to their floor and then vanished outside. “He’s just trying to look out for me, I guess.”
Even despite Foggy’s insistence that Elektra had almost broken him, Matt still insisted that things were different now, he wasn’t going to let himself be hurt like that again. Being with Elektra involved the highest highs and the lowest lows, he’d grown to accept that.
“I guess that’s good.” She’s never had a friend look out for her. The few she made were fake other socialites that didn’t truly care for her. Then again, she didn’t care for them either.
“I know your birthday is coming up soon, and I thought we could have a party to celebrate. We can have it at the flat, and you can invite your friends. I don’t think we’ll be having any parties for awhile once Jack is here.”
“I, uh, don’t think a party of three will be all that fun,” Matt says through an awkward laugh. He wasn’t exactly the best at making friends, he thankfully had Foggy but apart from that, Elektra was really the only other person in his life. There were casual acquaintances, most of who knew Matt as Foggy’s “blind roommate” but no one he cared that much about.
“Besides, I don’t really celebrate my birthday anymore.” With so many kids at the orphanage, many of whom birthdays weren’t known, celebrations fizzled out of existence. He saw the point for other people but for himself, Matt never recovered the excitement of his birthday soon approaching.
Elektra lets out a huff of air. “Fine, but we’re doing something special for your birthday. Just say the word and we’ll do it.”
Jack kicks as she speaks. “And Jack agrees with me. We should celebrate your birthday. You only turn twenty-two once.”
Matt gets up from the bed and sits down beside Elektra, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek before leaning down to leave one also on her stomach.
“I want to spend it with the two of you, that’s all I’ll ask for.” It’s more than enough, Matt feels as though he has to make up for the time they lost through all those months apart. So many moments and memories, milestones with Jack he wasn’t there for and can’t get back. If the only thing he gets for his birthday is to wake up by Elektra’s side, Matt will be the happiest man on earth.
“You’re a sap, you know that?” She teases. Her cheeks hurting from smiling. “But okay.”
She runs her hands through his hair. “I love you.” Elektra lays a kiss on top his head.
“Yeah, guess I am,” Matt’s expression softens at the sound of Elektra’s smile, even after everything they’d done and been through together, the smallest things still managed to make him feel totally smitten.
“I love you too,” It felt strange to say, not because he doesn’t mean it but after Elektra left, he vowed to himself not to let anyone close like that again. He believes she’s different now, that this child will help both of them in ways they couldn’t alone. He believes in it because he has to, what’s the other option?
Matt’s birthday comes in what feels like a blink of an eye. It falls just after she enters her seventh month of pregnancy, and that makes it feel more special.
She wakes up that morning to Matt at her side. Snuggled beneath the blankets.
She resists the urge to kiss him awake, and instead creeps out of bed as quiet as a mouse, and tiptoes down the stairs.
Elektra sneaks into the kitchen and pulls out everything she needs for a birthday breakfast. He should hopefully sleep through it all, seeing as he hadn’t sleep well the night before. Tossing and turning. Unable to get comfortable.
As she pours the pancake batter into the pan, there’s a quiet knock on the front door.
She pads over to it. Her belly leading the way. She looks through the peephole and her mouth drops in shock.
Stick stands on the other side. Cane in hand.
An alarm from a few floors down wakes Matt, he groans and tries to bury his head deeper into the pillow. The bed feels empty without Elektra by his side but he can smell pancakes cooking in the kitchen and hear her footsteps pitter-patter across the tilted floor, almost waddling from the weight of her belly.
It’s perfect, and he’s in no rush to burst the bubble of this moment.
Then, he catches the familiar sound of a cane tapping against the floor. Sure, there’s plenty of visual impaired people in Hell’s Kitchen, but like second nature Matt knows who it is right away.
Fearing that Stick might be there to harm either of them, (why else would he turn up out of the blue after all these years?) Matt untangles himself from the sheets and immediately pulls his clothes from the night before on. He enters just in time to hear Elektra opening the front door.
“What are you doing?” She hisses. Teeth bared. “You’re not welcome here.”
Matthew can’t know he’s here. Matthew can’t know he’s here. Runs through her head at lightening speed.
“Can’t I stop in and say hi?”
“No.” She grabs his arm and stops him as he tries to enter. Stick takes his arm back and cocks his head to the side.
“Hello Matty.” His words chill her to the bone.
A million questions run through Matt’s head in that moment: Why is Stick here? How did he find us? What does he want after all these years? And most importantly, how does Elektra know who he is?
Matt’s first response is to march over and tug Elektra away, putting her behind him just in case Stick tried anything. His questions are unimportant right now, his main concern is keeping Elektra and Jack safe and that means as far away from Stick as possible.
“Why are you here?” Matt asks, listening to the frantic heartbeat of Elektra from behind him, clearly indicating her panic. She knows something, and whatever it is, Matt doubts its any good.
“Wanted to wish you happy birthday Matty, and give you a gift.” Stick stands in the doorway. An imposing figure
“He doesn’t need anything from you.” Elektra spats from behind Matt. Protectively wrapping an arm around her middle.
“I’m sure he wants to know how you know me, Ellie.”
No, no, no, no. It’s all going to end. Matthew will learn the truth and leave me. Leave us.
“I don’t want anything from you,” Matt practically hisses, filled with venom at the memories flooding back of being a young boy once again abandoned. Maybe Stick did save his life in many ways but he also ruined it, he isn’t about to let him do it again. “You need to leave right now, forget this address and go back to whatever hole you crawled out from.”
He wants to question Elektra about Stick but he wants her alone for that, Stick has a way of dominating a conversation, manipulating you to agree with what he’s saying. Matt has plenty of questions but none of them are for Stick, he can go rot for all Matt cares.
“Fine, but find me when you’re done.” Stick looks ready to fight but he accepts Matt’s order with a smug smile.
He thinks after this is over, Matthew will go running to him.
“Get out.” She snarls. Stick smirks at her as he leaves.
“Bye Ellie.”
Elektra waddles forward and slams the door in his face.
For a few long moments, Matt stands still, his face unreadable. His blood feels like it’s boiling, both from Stick’s utter arrogance and attempt to wiggle his way back into his life, and Elektra once again keeping secrets and bringing trouble wherever they went.
“You need to tell me everything, Elektra.” Matt says when he finally doesn’t feel like finding the nearest wall and punching it, “and don’t you dare lie, cause I will know.”
Elektra takes a seat as she begins to get choked up. “Stick sent me to you. To seduce you and bring you into The Chaste. That’s why I brought you to Roscoe’s that night. You were supposed to kill him, then I’d lure you to come fight with us.”
She can’t look at his face. Not able to take his distraught. “He raised me since I was a little girl. He’s who arranged my adoption with the Natchioses. Which happened because-” She gulps. “Because I had killed a fellow member of The Chaste at age twelve. Then he went and trained you.”
“Jesus Christ,” Matt mutters and covers his face with his hands, feeling both so stupid and manipulated once again.
It’s too much to process all at once. The fact that not only has Elektra killed a man but probably more than she wants to admit, that Stick had multiple kids he was using and training and he in the grand scheme of things probably meant nothing to him, Elektra having been lying to him for the entirety of their relationship.
“Is that what this whole thing is? Some ploy to get me to run back to you and Stick? You get me to knock you up and then I’m stuck here? You hold this baby over my head and make me do whatever you want—” Matt’s hands shake as he makes himself back away from Elektra, “Everything you said that night, about getting married and having kids, that was all a lie? Is this baby even really mine or is that just another lie you’ve been spewing.”
“No! Jack is yours. He wasn’t a backup plan. When Stick found out about the baby he wanted me to use him to get you back, but I refused. I was disgusted by it, and I left The Chaste permanently. I realized it wasn’t the life I wanted for my child.”
Elektra reaches forward to still his shaking hands, but he pulls back as if burned. “I meant everything I said about getting married and having kids. About loving you. None of that was a lie.”
Elektra’s heartbeat tells Matt that she’s telling the truth but it doesn’t fix anything, it doesn’t change the fact that everything he thought they’d built together was built on a complete lie. Their child was made amongst a string of lies Elektra had woven and that alone made Matt feel sick.
“None of that changes the fact you were lying to me from the start. You used me and then when I couldn’t do what you wanted, you threw me out like I was garbage. That’s not love! What you feel towards me now or back then isn’t love if you were willing to try and destroy me like that!”
“I wasn’t trying to destroy you! I didn’t view it like that! I thought I was letting you be your true self. I thought I was doing was the best for both of us!” She reaches for his face like she did in Roscoe’s, and once more he moves away.
Elektra tries to stifle a sob as she realizes everything is ruined. There will be no more second chances. Their son will be born in a world where his father hates his mother.
Matt has more to say, plenty in fact and he can spend the rest of the day screaming if he wants but he goes silent. Despite being disgusted and betrayed beyond belief, he still cares about his child and in turn, he’s forced into caring about Elektra in that moment. Despite wanting to run, Matt decides to be better than she was that night and stay.
“We can’t do this right now,” he sighs and rubs his hands over his face once more, “we both need to calm down, you especially.” Matt makes some gesture towards her stomach before turning away again, he starts to pace while trying to think of some solution to what was a mountain of a issue.
She wipes away her tears before placing a hand on her belly. Her son begins to kick up a storm, and she wants desperately to tell Matt. To have him place his hands on her belly and feel their son move, but she can’t.
He can’t stand her, so why would he want to touch her?
“I’m sorry.” She whispers. “I’m sorry.”
Instead of replying, Matt simply gives a nod as it’s all he can manage before turning and walking out. He blinks away the tears threatening to spill as he vanishes behind a closed door, the door leading to the nursery they’d loving decorated together.
He sits against the crib, his knees up to his chest and arms tucked around his legs. It’s only at the sound of Elektra crying does he drop his head down against his knees and sniffle weakly. He had been so certain that things were going to end happily for them, that God had put them together again for a reason. Maybe that reason was to keep Matt suffering, because that was all life seemed to be for him; tiny specks of light amongst the dark that would eventually be snuffed out.
She leaves him alone for an hour before worry starts to set in. She walks to the nursery door and listens for a moment, before gently knocking,
“Matthew? Are you okay?” She knows he doesn’t want to see her right now, but she needs to make sure he’s alright physically. Elektra knows it would be futile to think he’s okay emotionally.
After a few long moments of debating whether or not to answer, Matt pulls himself slowly up off the floor and walks over to the door. It takes courage to open the door and face Elektra but Matt does it anyway, he’s had plenty of time to think and anymore time would simply be a waste.
The corners of his eyes and nose are tinged red from crying, his glasses were sat in the bedroom on the beside table so there was no hiding behind them. He faces Elektra for a few moments before opening the door wider and gestures for her to come in. He has a lot to say.
She walks in the room and takes a seat in the rocking chair. She looks at him expectantly, knowing he wants to talk and she has to listen.
Matt waits until the silence is unbearable before walking across to Elektra. He kneels down in front of her and takes both her hands, holding her tightly so she has to listen to what he says next.
“I will not let that man-” he begins, letting go of one of Elektra’s hands to point towards where Stick once stood, “-ruin any more lives. He will not get the satisfaction of hurting you or I more than he already has.”
“He manipulated both of us. It wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right but we can’t change that now. You can’t change what happened that night, you have to live with the choices you made, we both do.” Matt swallows the lump in his throat and blinks away the tears threatening to spill over.
“But Elektra, he doesn’t get to win. He’ll have to kill me before he comes near you or our child ever again.”
“Matthew.” His words shock her, but she welcomes them gladly.
She leans forward and rests her forehead against his. “I hope in time you can forgive me for not telling you. I was scared of how’d you would react. I know that’s no excuse, but it’s the truth.”
Jack kicks again. Knowing that the anger of before has begun to melt away. “He’s kicking.” Elektra says softly.
Matt smiles softly, still hurting and dizzy from confusion but determined more than anything. He will not let his son suffer like him, like either of his parents in fact. If that means biting his tongue and moving past the betrayal then Matt would have to learn how, the sheer fact he wanted to was a step forward.
“One day at a time, okay? No more lies, no more secrets. We get through this together.”
“Okay.” She takes a chance and places a gentle kiss on his cheek. “No more lies.”
Two months later, after working to rebuild what Stick tore down, Elektra is woken by a sharp pain.
She lets out a hiss and puts a hand on her belly. The pain comes again, sharper and quicker, and realization hits her.
I’m in labour.
She reaches over to Matt and shakes him awake. “Matthew, Jack is coming.”
Matt groans and tries to cuddle closer to his pillow, not yet processing what Elektra has said to him. It isn’t until he recognises sound of panic in her voice that he groggily sits up.
“Huh?” He questions, head tilted as he tries to understand. Then it hits him.
“Oh. Oh! Fuck, okay, uh, what do we do?”
“We get dressed, grab the hospital bag, and go to the hospital.” She kisses his cheek. Mildly amused by his panic.
She has him help her out of bed, and she waddles over to her own closet. She slips into her comfiest clothes, before another labour pain hits. “Arghh.”
Matt gets dressed the quickest he has done in his entire life, keeping an constant ear out for Elektra and rushes over whenever another contraction hits. He calls a taxi once they’re both dressed and grabs the hospital bag on the way out.
The terrifying realisation that they were about to become parents within a matter of hours was hitting Matt hard but he does his best to hide his panic, he’s far more concerned in keeping Elektra safe and helping her through the pain until they make it to the hospital.
Jack kicks as Elektra is helped into a wheelchair and brought to a private room.
Matt helps her onto the hospital bed once she’s changed into a gown. A nurse comes by and checks how far dilated she is.
“You’re dilated five already. Your boy wants to come into the world. If you keep at this rate you’ll be at ten soon, and ready to push.”
Matt hates hospitals. They’re too loud, filled with screaming babies and cries of pain, the smell of disinfectant and blood seem to drift around the place like perfume. However, Matt pushes that all aside and focuses completely on Elektra.
“You can do this,” Matt says, holding onto Elektra’s hand with both of his own. “I’ll be here the entire time, okay? I’m not going anywhere.”
“Okay.” She lets him kiss her head as the contractions become more painful.
Matt is a great comfort as she waits to dilate to ten. Feeding her ice chips and stroking her hair. Whispering words of reassurance.
When the nurse from earlier, comes in and says it’s time for her to go to the delivery room, she’s ready.
Matt doesn’t know what to expect once they’re in the delivery room. There are doctors are nurses, machines beeping and a strong smell of disinfectant clinging to everything. It’s also the room where their lives get changed forever, so he lets himself be guided by one of the nurses to the side of the bed.
When it finally comes time to push, Matt feels as though his heart is about to pound straight out from his chest. He presses one last kiss to the crown of Elektra’s head before taking her hand.
“He’s crowning.” The doctor says. “Keep pushing.”
She grabs Matt’s hand and pushes. She takes a deep breath as the doctor speaks. “Okay here he comes!”
Jack falls into the doctor’s arms and his cries fill the room.
Matt had heard babies crying hundreds of times before, back when he was a kid it was the main thing that kept him up at night, the sound of children all across Hell’s Kitchen shouting their lungs out all night. Now? He’s never heard a more beautiful sound.
The doctor and nurses start to clean Jack off and cut the cord before placing him on Elektra’s chest for skin to skin contact. Matt brushes away the tears from behind his glasses before he reaches out to feel for Jack’s tiny hand, wrinkled, smaller than belief and completely perfect.
“Oh Matthew he’s perfect. Ten fingers. Ten toes.” She cries. Tears streaming down her cheeks.
She looks down at her little boy. His has Elektra’s complexion and hair, but his eyes are all Matt.
“Hi Jack, I’m your mommy.” She speaks softly. Not wanting to overwhelm him.
“He’s so small,” Matt practically whispers as he traces his fingers up Jack’s arm, up to the wispy tufts of dark hair covering his head. He waits for him to quiet down before ever so softly, like a feather, tracing across Jack’s face. His tiny snub nose and chubby cheeks, Matt doesn’t need to see him to know he’s perfect.
Overwhelmed, Matt lets out a wet laugh and leaves a kiss against Elektra’s temple, mumbling how amazing she is against her skin. Everything they’d been through together has been completely worth it, he’d do it over and over again forever if he gets to have this moment at the end, as sweet as it is now.