Chapter Text
Rose stood in front of the mirror in the clinic. She never liked to look at her reflections, but now she couldn’t not look at herself – especially at her stomach. She had her shirt pulled up slightly and looked at it intently in hopes that she would see something different.
“You won’t notice anything, for now, might as well pull your shirt back down,” Cade said as he walked into the clinic.
Startled, she let out a small squeal as she jumped around to face him, “S-sorry…” she apologized. “Cade, if I tell you something is it still confidential?” she asked.
“It depends,” Cade answered truthfully as he sat down on a bar stool and stared at her. “Are you going to tell me who the father is? If it’s a Maxson, we should know,” he commented.
“Aren’t I allowed to have some things confidential?” Rose feigned an angry expression as she forced herself to not get worked up over his suspicion.
“It’s more so to help the baby better. It’s always better to have both parent’s medical history for this type of stuff,” Cade explained as he crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at her.
“Okay, fuck you,” Rose laughed lightly as she physically relaxed and leaned back against the wall, “Fine, you want to know? The baby’s dad is – do I have a yes for my first question?” she asked rather than finishing the sentence and revealing the father of her unborn child.
Cade nodded, “Of course,” he replied, eager to hear the name of her unborn baby’s father.
Rose leaned back on the wall and looked down at the ground, “Maxson. I’m expecting Arthur’s kid,” she finally admitted weakly. She felt her cheeks tint red after she had spoken, she didn’t think it would be that hard to admit.
“Shit,” Cade gasped out as he leaned forward to get a better look at her, “You’re planning on leaving, aren’t you?” he asked.
“I was told by Elder Lyons when I first became a Squire that I was allowed to leave at any time. I’ve even seen people walk out of here before. The Brotherhood can’t stop me,” Rose declared as she pushed herself off of the wall.
“That was different. They had nothing to offer the Brotherhood. Most importantly, they weren’t expecting a kid. A Maxson at that,” Cade tried to make her see reason but she shook her head at him.
“He’s still young; he can find someone else,” Rose spat at him. She let out a small sigh, “Look, I just need to get out of here. This isn’t the Brotherhood that I was first introduced to. And if I stay? What will they do to me once they find out that there’s a future Maxson in here?” she asked as she pointed to her stomach. “There’ll most likely make us get married or whatever equivalent the Brotherhood has and I can’t be married to someone when they don’t love me,” she answered her own question. She could feel the hot tears pooling at the corners of her eyes, but she made no move to wipe them away.
“That’s not-”
“Oh, yes, it is! It’s always been Sarah and besides, I’ve done my research. There have been a few cases where something like this happened and the couple was forced to be married,” Rose shook slightly once she finished and bit her lip to prevent herself from becoming an emotional mess in front of Cade.
“Let me,” Cade paused for a second, “Let me just get this all straight for a second. You want to leave because 1) you think the Brotherhood has changed for the worse and 2) because you’re pregnant and want to avoid a marriage that’s not built on love. Is that all true?” he asked as he looked her over a couple of times.
She gave him a feeble nod, “Can you please just tell me if I can make a long journey? I need to get out of here, and fast,” she said as she wrapped her arms around herself. She found it hard to believe that not that long ago she loved being in the Citadel, now she felt that if she stayed here for a moment longer she would suffocate.
“Well, you’re not that far in your pregnancy,” Cade said as he got up from the chair and walked towards the cabinet that held her information. “You’re actually really healthy, physically that is. Mentally, you are… Well, let’s just say that there was a reason why I didn’t let you go out onto the field for so long,” he said as he reread her information. “Yes, I think you’re safe to make a journey far from here,” he finally answered his question once he finished reading her folder.
“And you won’t tell anyone about me being pregnant?” Rose asked as she took a tentative step towards him.
“I won’t,” Cade admitted finally after he thought it over for a good couple of seconds.
“God, thank you so much-”
“I’ll give you until Arthur becomes the Elder,” Cade interrupted her as he closed her folder.
“Shit, at the rate this is going, it could be any day he’s made Elder,” Rose groaned as she buried her face in her left hand and clutched her shirt with the other.
“Look, you can’t tell me something like this and expect me to not tell anyone. But, because I like you, Rose, I’m going to wait. If he becomes Elder, I’ll tell him and if he doesn’t then I won’t tell him. The information will also be in your folder so if anyone decides to pull it out and look at it, they’ll see that you were pregnant before you disappeared,” Cade told her as he slipped the folder in its rightful place in the cabinet.
“If you like me so much, you’d burn that folder now,” Rose grumbled quietly. Louder, she told him, “Thanks for everything Cade.”
“Just,” Cade said, which caused Rose to pause in the doorway, “Just stay safe.”