Empire One Shots (Book Two)

Maybe Baby ➝ Cookie & Lucious

"How long is this supposed to take?"

Cookie Lyon took a deep breath, trying to remember this small detail. There was a lot going through her mind, at the same time, nothing at all. Her stomach did nervous cartwheels as she suddenly remembered how much time she had to wait and think. "Five minutes."

Five minutes, in five minutes her life could or could not change entirely and that wasn't comforting at all. And now of all moments, just when she swore her life was getting back on track, just when everything seemed like it was going back to normal. This happened, why did this happen?

"What are we going to do?" Lucious asked after a brief moment of silence.

"What do you mean we?" Cookie questioned as she rubbed at her temples. "You know I'm the one that has to carry this child for nine months, right? I'm the one that's gonna be sick every morning, with a swollen everything, and—"

"Calm down, Cook! You know stress is bad for babies."

"Stop talking about the damn baby, Lucious! We don't even know if there is a baby! I don't even know if I want.." Her voice trailed off into quietness. She wasn't quite ready to deal with the fact that maybe she didn't want another baby. Maybe she was completely fine with having Andre, Jamal and Hakeem alone.

He tried his best to hide the obvious disappointment though it was difficult. "What you're saying is.. you don't want another baby?"

Cookie shook her head, unable to answer verbally. She didn't even bother to look at Lucious, she heard the sadness in his voice, the look was bound to be evident in his eyes. She just couldn't see that right now.

"Why not?"

"Many reasons, Lucious. For one, health concerns."

Lucious Lyon was talented in multiple ways. One being how well he could read people, more specifically, how well he could read his ex-wife. "Health concerns? Cookie, who are you trying to fool here? Health should be one of our main concerns here but that's definitely not what's bothering you, so please be honest with me. Just tell me what's really wrong."

A sigh escaped her as she mentally debated whether or not to be completely honest. Lucious was asking for complete honesty though, so that's what she was going to give him. "You wanna know what's really bothering me? It's.. it's you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

The sadness immediately washed away, making the man feel offended. What had he done wrong? He had changed so much lately, he had done everything right. What was the problem this time?

"Cookie, I haven't even done anything."

"You're right, you haven't, but you could. I know you, you always change your mind about being with me or you change back to the same cruel person you used to be. I don't want to have a baby with you then wake up the next day to find out that you decided I'm not enough and the baby will never live up to your standards. I'm not looking to get walked out on."

It finally all made sense.

Lucious took Cookie's hand in his, squeezing it gently. "I could be that person you're afraid of. I could up and leave you and the child that might be growing in you. I could, everything you're saying is correct. You know what though? I won't. I would never. The old me is gone, the new me is here to stay and wouldn't dream of being with any other woman besides you. I'm not leaving you or this family ever again. We're in this together this time, for good."

Calming down as best as she could, Cookie allowed herself to smile. She gently squeezed Lucious' hand back and sighed. "Thank you, I needed to hear that."

Lucious grinned back, rising to his feet and giving the woman he loved a kiss on the top of her head. "You're welcome. Has it been five minutes yet?"

Despite her not being entirely ready to see the outcome, five minutes had come and gone. She did what she had been fearing to do and reached for the pregnancy test on the table. Here goes nothing.

"Whatever the test says, remember that I love you, Cookie."

"I love you too, Lucious."

With the test now in her hands, the woman was now staring down at it like it was treasure. Tears were forming in her eyes and a grin was forming on her face. "It's negative."