I wish one thing OLTL would have done is involve Darren when Destiny was pregnant. There aren't many changes in this story from what really happened, but more of a "What If?" fill in. "Destiny, I'm sorry I've been out for so long. I can't make up for everything I missed, but I will spend the rest of my life trying to," Matthew said.

Destiny looked upon her best friend, the father of her child, the love of her life. She had been waiting to hear those words come out of Matthew's mouth for the longest time. She stared at him, tears trickling from her eyes onto her cheeks. Matthew wiped them away gently with his thumb, looking down on her, his eyes filled with love. He leaned in and kissed her so passionately it made Destiny feel as if no one else in the world existed. "EH! EH! EH! EH! EH! EH! EH! EH!" Destiny rolled over in her bed and slammed her hand on the alarm clock, turning it off very abruptly. "Of course it was only a dream. It's always just a dream."

Destiny looked through her closet trying to find something to wear. Her pregnant belly was starting to show and she couldn't find anything that would fit around it. Phylicia, Destiny's mother/grandmother had insisted on taking Destiny back-to-school shopping for maternity clothing, but Destiny wasn't showing yet and didn't see the point. Even though her entire family knew she was pregnant, it still seemed unreal, like it was all a big joke and was waiting for someone to jump out and yell "Surprise!" In truth, she didn't want maternity clothing because it seemed like that would make everything more final and Des wasn't sure if she was ready for that. Now, destiny wished she would have just sucked it up and allow her mother to buy her new clothes.

Destiny grabbed a pair of pants that she had from before she shed her baby fat, hoping that she could button them around her waist. "Damn it!" thought Destiny: even her "fat" pants couldn't fit her anymore. She opted for a long baby-doll purple shirt and leggings.

"The stretchier, the better" Destiny thought to herself. After running a brush through her hair, Destiny put on a small amount of eyeliner, light lip gloss, and a few pieces of jewelry before grabbing her school bag and heading out the door.

This was the day Destiny had been dreading the most since she decided to keep her unborn child: the first day of her senior year in high school. Destiny imagined what this day would be like since she was a freshmen. She imagined it as something grand; she would be the top grade there, no older kids superior to herself. After 3 years in high school, she would have blossomed into a person everyone liked and wanted to be. She would have some arm candy, excellent grades, and everything else would be perfect in her life.

Alas, that was certainly not the case. She was starting her senior year almost 4 and a half months pregnant by herself, seeing Matthew was in a coma and her best friend Dani was mourning her father's/uncle's death. Destiny still felt terrible for Dani though and reminded herself to go and bring Dani some brownies later. As Destiny grabbed the handle of the door to enter her school, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Not many people outside of her family knew she was pregnant and Destiny was afraid of what everyone would have to say. "No, you are stronger than these people. Their opinions don't mean crap to you. Keep your head held high." Destiny opened the door and walked in with her chin up and didn't take a second glance at anyone who looked her way.

"Hey Destiny!"

Destiny looked over her shoulder to see Shane Morasco walking her way. Ever since she had tried to reach out to him last year, she and Shane had become good friends. Destiny turned and greeted him with a smile and almost instantaneously Shane's eyes darted toward her stomach. Destiny discreetly placed her bag in front of her belly and Shane's eyes returned to hers. He was shocked, which was no surprise since he didn't even know she had a boyfriend, but Shane felt guilty. He had heard some rumors flying around about it in the past 10 minutes since he arrived at school, but he didn't believe it for a second until now. He still had no idea who the father was, but he was in no hurry to ask. Shane gave Destiny his cute, crooked smile. "Hey Des, how was your summer?" Destiny could tell he was trying to act casual, so she decided to tackle the elephant in the room head on. "Well, it was good. Worked at the country club, hung out with Dani, you know, the usual. Oh, and I found out I am going to have a baby."

Shane instinctively gave out a loud sort, but regretted it immediately. Nothing about this was funny, but the way Destiny said it so nonchalantly made him crack up. Shane looked down, afraid he had made Destiny angry at him.

"Shane, it's ok, I was trying to break the ice. You can laugh: I'm hilarious." Shane looked up at Destiny, relieved she wasn't angry with him and was able to speak to him as good friends.

"Thanks Destiny. Well, it's none of my business anyways, but if you need anything, you know where to find me" said Shane. "Thanks Shane, I really appreciate it."

As the two were about to part ways, a group of the "popular" kids approached Destiny, being lead by their King and Queen Bees: Justin and Becca. "Crap. Here we go," thought Destiny.

Becca started chuckling, finding what she was about to say very hilarious. "Wow Destiny, did you gain weight? I thought you gave up Twinkies last year? I guess you found the key to your parents' food cabinet. They had to have put locks and chains on it to keep you out of it, I bet." Justin started to chime in, saying, "No Becca, didn't you hear? She's not eating everything in sight, she's just knocked up!" Becca gave a villainous laugh: "What? You mean to tell me that somebody actually had sex with her?" Becca looked Destiny straight in the eye. "You know, it's not nice to use blind people to your advantage."

"Stop being so mean Becca. You know damn well Destiny wouldn't do that. It's none of your business anyways," Shane said.

"Why? Don't tell me you and Wheezy hooked up!" Justin yelled out. Shane started to blush and began to speak, but Destiny interrupted him. "Not that it's any of your business, but no, me and Shane are just friends, so leave him out of this!" Destiny exclaimed.

"Ok, if its not Wheezy, then who is?" asked Justin. Becca continued, saying, "Well let's see, do you think it could be Darren Price?" Justin answered, "No no no. He dumped her ass months ago. Becca said, "Well if its not Shane or Darren, who else in their right mind would have a baby with her?"

The two pondered, and Justin snapped his fingers. "I go it! It's Buchanan, isn't it?" Destiny continued to stare at him with the look of death, remaining silent. Becca said "That's it, isn't it? It's Matthew! Eww. Eh, I guess it makes since. I figured you two losers would end up together. Yeah, poor Matthew. The guy regretted you so much that he decided to be in a coma than be with you or your kid!"

The popular kids started cracking up. A few years ago, this may have bothered Destiny, "But it isn't going to today, tomorrow, or ever again" Destiny silently promised herself.

"Oh no Becca, don't tell me your being insecure about this?" Destiny blurted out. Becca stopped laughing, looking confused. "About what? I have nothing to be insecure about."

"Oh really? You mean, you're not bothered by the fact that I got everything you ever wanted? Say what you want about Matthew, but he and his family are more rich and successful than you will ever be. Yeah, I'm having a child with a billionaire and the future CEO of a major international company. Yep, you're right, we're nothing but two losers. I also had a boy like me enough to want to make love with me. You probably don't know what that's like, do you Miss Virgin?" Destiny knew there was nothing wrong with being a virgin: she had planned to be one until she was married. Well, at least up to the point in her life when, in the heat of the moment, she threw all of her morals out the window and hopped into bed with Matthew. However, she knew that girls like Becca wanted someone to like them enough to be willing to have sex with them, and the fact that no one had hit right at Becca's heart. The bell rang, and Becca looked really hurt. Then, her eyes grew very angry. "You will regret that, Density." Becca walked away.

Destiny turned around and looked at Shane, smiling and looking very impressed. He started to slow clap and said, "Wow, that was amazing Destiny. I have never seen you stand up to Becca like that before." "Becca deserved everything Destiny said." Destiny looked to where the voice came from and saw her ex-boyfriend Darren. Even though Darren broke up with her, she hadn't stopped feeling guilty about it. Darren dumped her because he was convinced that she loved Matthew more than him. Destiny denied it at the time, but her being pregnant with Matthew's child just confirmed all of Darren's suspicions.

Darren stood there, only a few inches taller than Destiny, wearing a green plaid shirt and denim shorts. He looked into her eyes with a very shy look. Looking at him sent pain throughout Destiny's body: she hurt Darren so badly, the same way Matthew had hurt her 2 and a half years ago.

"Well, we probably should get to class." Destiny said. "What do you have for first period?" Darren asked. "Umm, Bio with Hansen."

"No way, me too!" Darren said. "Cool! We should probably get going then. See ya later Shane!" Destiny said.

"Ok. Bye, Des." Shane walked in one direction and Destiny and Darren headed the other way. While walking to class, the two learned they had all but 2 classes together and would be seeing each other for most of the day. As much as Destiny had wished she had been with Dani or Matthew, she was grateful to Darren: she wouldn't have to spend her first day alone.