Chapter 1: Stupid

Thanks lots to my reviewers! You guys gave me confidence as a new writer. Thanks again, here you go.

Max POV:

I danced around the kitchen while I helped Ella make cookies. We were listening to Stuck Like Glue by Sugarland. I loved this song. Ella stuck the last of the cookies in the oven as I cleaned up the last little bit of mess. Now, I know Me plus Kitchen usually equals disaster, but Ella was supervising. I felt kind of silly needing to be watched by my little sister, but in the kitchen it was probably safer.

The Flock was at the mall shopping for wedding attire. I got to stay home because I got sick this morning (hooray!). Fang had volunteered to stay with me, but Mom obviously didn't trust me and Fang to be home alone together all day, so she assigned Ella to stay with me. Ella wasn't particularly happy about staying, but she got over it. We already had dresses. Mom had taken us for some "family time", but I wasn't particularly thrilled with her activity choice like Ella was.

"Whoa." My head spun and I leaned against the counter. This had to be the fourth time I had gotten all light-headed in as many days. It was weird because we super-strong mutants and our beefed-up immune systems never got sick.

"You okay?" Ella asked, turning down the music. I nodded wordlessly. "Well, don't get sick or die. Total and Akila's wedding is tomorrow night!" I nodded again and headed upstairs to lie down. I felt totally fine now.

I pulled Fang's laptop over from where he had left it beside my bed. I randomly surfed the web for a little while, watched some videos on YouTube, random crap like that. A wave of nausea rolled against my stomach. I ran to the bathroom, but it passed without me getting sick. I had gotten sick these past couple of days too, but only in the mornings. I had felt fine the rest of the day.

Put two and two together Maximum. Oh, hello Voice. I'd say I missed you, but I didn't.

I believe the official term for your ailment is "Morning Sickness".

What? I thought back. No way, that's only when…you're…Oh no.

Exactly. Pregnancy. This is your problem Maximum. You don't think things through. You follow you're emotions too much. I advised you against having sexual intercourse with Fang. He isn't right for you. Now look what happened.

Shut the f*** up! I generally try to avoid swearing, but this was an extreme situation. Besides, Fang and I always kept our minds blocked in case our thoughts turned back to that night. Angel wasn't even here.

I felt panic rising in my chest. No way I could be pregnant. But Fang and I had neglected to use protection.

I grabbed twenty bucks and scribbled a note about going for a fly before launching myself out the window. I stopped at the nearest convenience store and bought two of the cheapest pregnancy tests on the shelf. Then I shot home.

I shut myself in the bathroom and peed on the little sticks. I hyperventilated against the wall of the bathroom for two minutes while I waited for the test. Here is a slightly-less-terrifying-than-normal view into my head. No no no oh God don't let me be pregnant Mom will kill me then kill Fang then revive us and kill us again…Ok, maybe more terrifying than normal.

Two minutes was up. I took a deep breath and peeked into the sink. Forgetting that I wasn't alone, I screamed.

Ella POV:

After I took the last batch of cookies out of the oven, I sat down to watch TV. House Hunters International was on HGTV. I liked to look at all the different kinds of houses all around the world. I wonder how many of these places Max has been. I wonder if Iggy and I could honeymoon in any of these places. You know, if we ever got together.

Yes, I was totally crushing on Iggy. Like, how could I not? He's totally hot, and funny to boot. I told Max, but she said he was just a sexist pig, and it was good thing he was blind or he would probably start groping every chick they passed. Whatever. At least I would never have to worry that he only liked me for my looks.

Max said she didn't really have any relationship advice since she didn't even know she loved Fang until he admitted it first, but she suggested I just tell Iggy. Max said he liked it when things were straightforward. Um, no. What if he, like, rejected me? I couldn't take it.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I jumped about twenty feet in the air when I heard Max shriek from upstairs, "NO NO NO! THIS ISN'T POSSIBLE!"

I rushed upstairs, but she wasn't in her room. Only a leftover note about her going flying was on her bed. I turned around and saw that the light was on in the bathroom. I opened the door. (It was unlocked, weird.) My sister was hunched over the sink, and I could see the utter shock on her face in her reflection.

"What happened?" Max spun around, using her wings to block the sink. I didn't believe her when she said nothing was wrong. I grabbed her shoulders, and she was too shocked from whatever had happened to her that she didn't resist. It must be terrible. She slumped against the wall as I looked into the sink. Two white sticks with pink pluses on them stared up at me.

Oh my God. Two pregnancy tests. They were positive. My big sister was pregnant. I spun around to stare at Max. Her brown eyes met mine, then she burst into tears. I put her arm around my shoulders and guided her back to her bed.

Max sobbed into my shoulder as I rubbed her back. "Is it Fang's?" Max nodded.

"H-h-how could we have been so stu-stupid Ella? I can't save the wo-world and take care of a newborn b-b-baby!"

My eyes widened as I thought of something. "Screw that. What are you going to do about Mom?"

Her sobs turned to wails. "I d-don't know! She's going to k-k-kill us, then kick us out, and-and-and…" I went back to soothing her. When she finally stopped crying I told her to get rid of the tests then relax before she had a heart attack. She nodded and said she was going to take a nap.

As I walked out of her room she called, "Ella?" I turned. "Don't tell anyone. I-I want to be the one to tell Fang, and I'm not sure I want anyone else to know yet." I nodded.

Max POV:

I did what Ella asked then crawled under my sheets. What was I going to do? How would Fang react? What was I going to do about Mom? I buried my face in my pillow, grateful that the Voice was quiet. I fell into an uneasy sleep.

Fang POV:

When we got back from buying me a freaking tuxedo, the first thing I smelled was chocolate-chip cookies. Mmmm…. "Hey Ells." Iggy said. He totally had the hots for her, but wouldn't take my advice and just tell her how he felt. Wimp.

Ella was sitting alone on the couch. Dr. Martinez went and hung our new dress clothes in the hall closet. "Where's Max?" I asked Ella, who was over on the couch.

"Upstairs." Her eyes were watching Iggy's ass as he walked into the kitchen. I nodded and headed up to Max's room as Angel and Nudge started babbling to Nudge about the dresses they bought and Gazzy changed the TV show to Mythbusters.

I opened Max's door and peeked in, only to find her asleep. I tried to quietly creep away, but Max softly said, "Yeah?" I looked back to see her yawning and stretching out her wings.

"It's me."

She grinned. "Oh, hey sweetie." I sat down on her bed and ran one finger down her cheek. It was red and puffy, like she had been crying. She responded to the question in my eyes. "Stress. Just keeping the Flock safe, making sure no one finds out about what we did, keeping you and Dylan from murdering each other, etc. I got a little overwhelmed. I guess crying was unnecessary, but-" My mouth smashed against hers. Her fingers tangled in my hair.

After about five minutes, I pulled back and murmured, "I had no idea. Tell me next time. I'll try to be more civil towards Dylan." Grinning, I pulled suggestively on her belt loops. "Of course if you really need to release some tension…" She violently smacked my hand away with a firm No! "Geez, Max! I was joking!"

Max took a deep breath "Sorry, it's just-" Before she could finish, Ella tapped on the door.

"Dinner." Ella and Max shared some sort of look, and Ella left. I turned to Max, but she was covering her mouth with her hand. Then she sprinted to the bathroom and started projectile vomiting.

I followed her. I pulled her hair out of her face and rubbed her back. When she was done, she flushed the toilet and brushed her teeth. I looked at the wallpaper as I waited, studying the floral design. When I looked back, Max was staring at the sink like she was seeing something there. Her mind was a million miles away.

I put my arms around her. "You sure you want to eat?"

She turned to me. "What kind of question is that? I believe I said that food was my true love." Max pecked my lips before heading downstairs. I looked in the sink, but I didn't see anything. What had Max been thinking about?

Max POV:

Ella crept into my room after dinner. "You didn't tell him."

I sighed and pushed my hands through my still-damp hair. "I know…I just freaked, okay?"

"You better hurry. Fang probably won't be mad at you unless you keep it a secret. There's also the possibility that he'll suspect it's someone else's."

"But it isn't!"

"I know, but he's paranoid about Dylan enough as is. If you keep it secret, he'll think you have something to hide."

I studied the pattern on my covers. "I'll tell him tomorrow." Ella hugged me and left. I fell back on my pillow. What was I going to do?


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