Hey, guys. So I decided to do another Mediator fanfiction, since Meg Cabot just released another book in the series! (and a novella). Please, please, please don't read this story if you haven't read Proposal or Remembrance. There will be major spoilers in here. And I mean, MAJOR. I absolutely loved Remembrance. I thought it was amazing, and so of course I had to write more about Suze and Jesse. This story is set about a year after the ending of Remembrance. If you haven't read it, please do. But you should totally read the novella Proposal first. Good stuff. I couldn't believe Meg Cabot was doing more in the series after so many years. It was a very happy surprise. I don't know if she's going to do anymore, or if that's where she's officially ending the series. I kind of hope she does more, but it ended pretty well. Then again, I thought Twilight had ended pretty well. So here's my take on what might happen after Remembrance. And guys, I'm really serious about the spoilers. There were some intense things revealed in Remembrance. So don't read this unless you've read that one first.

I hated feeling sick.

The only thing that was worse than feeling sick was crying, and unfortunately, I'd been doing a lot of both of those things lately. At least I wasn't actually throwing up – for now. I just felt like I was going to nearly every minute of the day.

I poured myself a glass of ginger ale and slowly drank it. The girls had just finished their mediator lesson for the day. I was amazed at their quick learning. Then again, Paul had always been intelligent and they were genetically his daughters. I was sure that the girls were more than just your average mediator. They were probably shifters, as Paul liked to call us. It would definitely make sense. At least they hadn't seemed to have inherited any of his questionable personality traits. They were good little girls, most of the time. They tried to be, anyway. And they loved the idea of helping ghosts to find their way to the other side.

"Aunt Suze," a young voice said.

I looked down. Cottontail – my own personal nickname for one of my three stepnieces – was watching me intently. I hadn't even heard her come in to the kitchen. "What?" I asked, more harshly than I'd intended. But I really didn't feel good. It was making me more cranky than usual.

"Are you okay? You look terrible."

Kids. They're so brutally honest these days. "Thanks, Elizabeth," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes. I always made sure to call them by their actual names out loud. Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail were just what I called them in my head. Just like I used to call my stepbrothers Sleepy, Dopey, and Doc. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear, how terrible I look."

She shrugged, though she didn't really look sorry. "You do. Are you sick?"

I sighed. "Yes. I am."

"Mommy is sick a lot."

"Yes, but your mommy has a baby in her tummy, and that's what's making her sick." Unsurprisingly, Debbie had gotten pregnant again. She still didn't believe in using birth control. I was actually surprised that she hadn't gotten pregnant again sooner. I think Brad was going to have surgery, so they couldn't get pregnant a third time. Debbie may have had a thing against pharmaceutical drugs, but Brad sure didn't. Even though he loved being a dad, he said four kids was enough. He didn't want more than that.

She was about four months along, but her morning sickness was still there. I didn't really like Debbie, but I actually did feel bad for her, being sick all the time.

Cottontail nodded. "Mommy says my baby brother makes her really sick."

At least she wasn't having another girl – or another set of multiples. Don't get me wrong, I loved all three of my stepnieces. But I did want at least one stepnephew. Sure, Jake and Gina were living together in Hollywood – Gina had just recently gotten a small role in an upcoming film, and Jake had opened a second location for Pot-Ential – but they weren't having kids anytime soon. I wasn't even sure if they ever would. And David…Well, the only way he was having any kids was if he adopted. And I didn't see that happening anywhere in the near future, since he and Shahbaz broke up three months ago. He wasn't seeing anybody seriously at the moment. So really, Brad and Debbie were my only hope for a stepnephew.

"That's what happens when there's a baby in a mommy's tummy," I said to Cottontail. This was starting to get a little awkward for me. I hoped she would get distracted soon and stop talking about pregnancies. I wasn't sure what her parents had told her or her sisters about the new baby. I definitely didn't want to say anything to contradict what they'd already told the kids. I'd never hear the end of it. "It makes her really sick."

She cocked her little head to the side, looking at my stomach critically. And still, I didn't anticipate her next question. I should have, though. I really should have. "Do you have a baby in your tummy, Aunt Suze? Is that why you're sick?" she demanded.

I nearly choked on my ginger ale. I was saved from having to answer that question by Mopsy and Flopsy yelling at each other in the front parlor. Relieved, I rushed in there – that was not a conversation I wanted to have with my stepniece. Talking about the complexities of pregnancy versus the flu with a seven-year-old was not my idea of fun, and it had long passed awkward.

So I was actually really relieved to have to break up a fight between two of the girls.

"Emma, Emily. Stop."

They both froze, and looked up at me. They each had a hand on a stuffed mermaid doll. Evidently, they'd been fighting over it and were on the verge of tearing it apart, it looked like. Damn it. I knew I shouldn't have given them each a chocolate bar on the way home from school. They'd been off the walls since they'd walked in the front door.

I put my hands on my hips and looked down sternly at them. "What are you two doing?" I asked, even though I knew exactly what they were doing.

"I was playing with Molly the Mermaid, and Emma stole her from me," Mopsy said immediately.

Flopsy shook her head. "Nuh-uh. I had her first, and Emily stole her from me! And her name isn't Molly. It's Ariel, stupid!"

"You're stupid! Ariel has red hair. Molly has purple hair."

"I'm not stupid, you are!"

"No, you are!"

"Hey!" I hollered. I was not in the mood to take a more gentle approach. "That's enough. You can take turns playing with the mermaid doll, whatever her name is, on the way home. It's time for me to take you back to your mom."

The triplets groaned in unison. "We don't want to go home," Flopsy complained.

"Yeah," Mopsy added. "Mommy's cranky, because of the baby."

I didn't blame them for not wanting to be around their mother. Debbie was even more of a troll than usual. It didn't help that she was trying to get her college degree, too, so she was exhausted all the time, between her classes and her pregnancy and the triplets. Brad was getting a lot of crap from her, too, so he ended up working a lot of extra hours to escape his miserable wife. But he was a lot happier since he wasn't working for his father-in-law anymore. He actually really enjoyed being a cop. Sure, he had only been on the force for a few months now, but he loved it. It was the right career path for him, surprisingly. I never would have imagined Brad as a cop.

"Sorry, girls," I said. "But our lesson's over for today, and I have to get you back home. Your mom is expecting you. She'll be mad if I don't get you home on time. Come on. Get your backpacks. And remember –"

"Don't tell anybody about the ghosts," the girls intoned. I've taught them well. I tried not to be too proud of that fact.

I nodded. "Right. That's because a lot of people think that ghosts are just pretend. And if you try to tell them that ghosts are real, they're going to think that you're crazy."

They giggled at that.

"But, Aunt Suze, how come only some people can see ghosts?" Flopsy wanted to know. "Why can't Mommy and Daddy? Or Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Jake and Uncle David?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, Emma. That's just the way it is. Some people can see them, and some people can't. In our family, the only people who can see them are you three, and me, and Uncle Jesse. That's it."

"Is that why you love Uncle Jesse?" Mopsy asked, giggling at her own question.

Lately, the triplets were very curious – and very amused – by anything that had to do with love. I shook my head. "That's one of the things that I love about Uncle Jesse. But there's a lot of other things I love about him. Now, stop asking me silly questions and get out to the car."

I quickly got the girls loaded up in my ancient Land Rover and started driving toward Brad and Debbie's house. I couldn't help but study the girls in the rearview mirror as I did. Now that I knew the truth about their father, I was constantly noticing little things that reminded me of Paul. Their love of money was one of the biggest similarities.

But it didn't make me – or Jesse, for that matter – love them any less. We had been a part of their lives since they were born. And I wasn't planning to ever tell Brad or Debbie the truth, not really. It was good to have the paternity test as blackmail against Paul, but I honestly hoped that I would never have to actually use it. The important thing was that he knew the truth. My leverage was the threat of telling everybody. Because if Debbie knew, she could milk Paul for all he was worth. Not only would he have to support one child, but he'd have to support three. So far, that threat was keeping him at bay. I hadn't heard a peep from him since his failed attempt – again – to get in my pants. He was wisely keeping his distance.

Besides, Brad loved those girls. I couldn't tell him the truth. He thought they were his. And he was actually a decent person to be around now that he had them in his life. He'd never been happier. And he was actually a really good dad.

I never thought Brad would be the first one to have kids, or that he'd be so good at raising them. But he did, and he was.

The girls were out of my car as soon as I put it in park in front of their house. "Don't forget to start your homework!" I called after them, as they pushed each other in their race to the front door.

All three of them made a face at that. They were smart girls, and didn't usually have any trouble with their homework, but that didn't mean that they enjoyed doing it.

I didn't get out of the car. I didn't feel like forcing myself through a conversation with Debbie. More than likely, she felt the same way. We didn't often see eye-to-eye. She'd been really grateful that I'd gotten the girls into a "special program" for gifted children – code for secret mediator lessons – even though she'd had to finally give in and get them vaccinated, but we were two very different people. We tried not to associate too much unless we had to. So instead, I watched the girls run into the house – loudly, of course – and then I left. I wanted to get an early start on my weekend.

Which meant going home, and soaking in a nice bubble bath.