A/N: So, in this chapter, I reveal the main plot device. I hope you like it, and if you are able to figure it out before the end, then I applaud you. I tried to make it so it would come as a little bit of a shocker, and not like a total slap in the face. But let me know what you think!

Brought out of her restful slumber by the sudden feeling of bile force its way up her throat, she shot out of bed, and ran down the attic stairs and into the bathroom, falling to her knees on the floor and spilling the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl. The hot and sour taste stung her mouth as she coughed. "Everything okay, beautiful?" A groggy voice came from behind her. She turned her head to look at the doorway, to see her fiance standing at the door way, looking very concerned, but still sleepy, his hair more tousled than normal, his eyes squinted against the white light of the bathroom.

"Yeah, it's probably just the carousal Olga tried to make last night," She said in a strained voice, while pushing herself up off the floor, using the toilet bowl for support, pushing down the handle just as she got to her feet. "Emphasis on tried."

"You sure you're okay?" He soothed, coming up to her and running his palm up the dip of her spine.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's just get back to bed." He kept his hand on her back as he ushered her back up the stairs and fell back into bed, wasting no time in resuming their very comfortable spooning position they were lying in previously. He snuggled himself into her hair again and they both feel back to sleep.

It has been six weeks since him and Olga returned from LA, and with the stress of going back to school, and planning a wedding, Helga was trying her best to take it in stride, and handle it all. But she had the best support system she could ever hope for. With her beloved future husband by her side the entire time, along with her older sister just starting up at Dr. Bliss's old office as her new position of youth councilor for the Hillwood School System began to take over her life.

Not to mention Phoebe, who had returned to Hillwood to attend graduate school, along with Gerald returning by her side, who got a job at an accounting firm for the time being. And while she was running around to her classes, writing papers, and reading lengthy assignments, she still somehow found time to stay on top of Rhonda's wedding planning, to make sure she didn't go overboard with any of it.

Helga woke up the next morning early enough to put on her work out clothes, and head out, sticking to her strict work out schedule of running two and a half miles at least four times a week. It wasn't that much, but she didn't have that big of an appetite, never consuming more than a thousand calories a day, simply because she was never that hungry.

She returned from her run twenty minutes later, after deciding to throw in an extra mile, and found Arnold in the kitchen with Olga, reading the paper. "Hey beautiful, Rhonda called again this morning. She said that she needs you for another fitting."

"Again? Geez, it's almost like she wants to get married more than I do." Arnold chuckled as he stood up from his chair and planted a kiss on her cheek as she passed over to the fridge to get a bottle of water.

"Hey Helga, there's something I wanted to ask you." Olga asked from the table, closing her section of the newspaper. Helga spun around and leaned against the far counter and took a drink of water. "You've been engaged for a few months now, and you have yet to name your maid of honor."

"Uh..." Helga's eyes went wide as she tightly clutched her water, the plastic wrinkling under her grasp. "Well, I uh..."

"Baby sister, Phoebe and I sat down, and we talked it over."

"You did?" Helga's fear now turned to confusion, while she watched Olga get up from her chair and walk over to her.

"Yes, and we decided that Phoebe should be your maid of honor. After all, she's been there more often than I have, and she has already taken over most of the responsibilities of the maid of honor anyway. And my job keeps me pretty busy, so she happily accepted the title of your maid of honor."

"You mean... you decided my maid of honor for me?" She wasn't insulted, she was just shocked to hear that the decision had been made for her.

"We both knew that you were having trouble picking your maid of honor. So, I called her and we talked about it. We even decided to both give a speech at your rehearsal dinner."

"Uh... I don't know what to say." She wasn't exactly flattered, she was being literal. She had no idea what to say. Olga simply extended her arms, and Helga stepped into them, still very confused about what had just happened. Olga skipped out of the kitchen and up to her room to get ready for work, leaving just her and Arnold in the kitchen. "That was weird. Did you know about this?"

"Honestly, no. I knew that they knew you were having trouble deciding, but I just thought they would corner you one day and make you decide. I had no idea they would decide for you." Helga pursed her lips, and took another drink of water.

Her grip on her water bottle suddenly tightened, as a sharp pain hit her stomach. She groaned and shook her head. "Do we have any antacids around here?" She asked over the pain, already searching the cupboards.

"Yeah, over here." He jumped over to one of the cupboards and handed her a large plastic bottle. She grabbed it, twisted off the top and popped a few tablets into her mouth, the chalky taste not at all pleasing. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She straightened her back, took another gulp from her water bottle, and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, just remind me never to eat another one of Olga's experiments." He laughed uneasily as he took back to bottle of antacids he had handed her. "Well, we're going to be late for class if we don't get ready soon." She kissed his check as she was walking out of the kitchen and up the stairs. He was concerned, and although it didn't take much, he still had a feeling that something was very wrong.

After climbing into the Packard, Helga and Arnold drove off to Hillwood University for her first class. His first class wasn't until ten this morning, but her's was at nine. And this semester, they didn't have a single class together, which didn't surprise him. Since he changed his major to psychology, while her's remained on English, he was glad they were engaged, and were living together, not having to sneak into each others dorm rooms and wait until the weekend to spend the day together in bed.

It wasn't until noon that he would see her again, and when that time finally arrived, he was eagerly awaiting her in the campus' cafe. She pushed open the door five minutes past noon, kissed him briefly, but didn't sit down. "I need to go over to Rhonda's for that fitting, so I won't see you until I get back home."

He sighed, honestly disappointed, and pulled her in by the waist. "I hate Rhonda."

She giggled and entwined her fingers behind his neck, "Me too, but I don't want to get stuck with planning the entire wedding."

"She's been bugging you almost everyday the last six weeks. If she's suppose to be planning this wedding, why do you have to do so much?"

"Because if she was left autonomous, you and I would both regret it. It will all die out soon, once she gets everything in place in a couple more months, then all that's left to do is for us to walk down the isle, and live happily ever after." He smiled warmly and pressed his lips to hers. He pulled back after a long moment, leaving her eyes a bit hazy. "I'll see you this evening, I love you, love."

"I love you too."

She drifted out of the cafe and down the path towards the bus stop. She sat down on the bench and waited for the bus to pull up, receiving another pain in her abdomen. It was the fourth one since this morning, and they were getting worse. She groaned loudly and pressed her arm into her stomach, pulling out the bottle of antacids she had swiped from the cupboard on their way out this morning, popping a few more into her mouth, hoping to a deity that they would work this time.

After being yanked into her studio by the forearm, Helga was shoved into Rhonda's bathroom and was told to try on the dress again. She pulled it on, and walked out for Rhonda to zip it up and get the measurements she needed. Helga stepped into the center of the room as Rhonda buzzed around her and went behind her to pull the zipper up. After a moment of feeling her work behind her, Rhonda spoke. "Um, sweetie, what have you been eating?"

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" Helga spat.

"Well, honey, I'm having a bit of trouble zipping it up."

"That's impossible, I been running three miles four times a week."

"I don't know what to say, Helga, but... here, suck it real quick, maybe it's just the humidity or something." Helga sucked in her stomach, ignoring the slight pain she was feeling, and felt the dress hug against her midsection. "Alright, now let it out." She slowly released her breath, and the material tightly hugged against her.

"That's impossible..."

"Well, I would suggest you start running three miles five times a week, instead of just four. Now just, take off the dress and I'll make some minor adjustments. Don't worry your pretty little head over anything, okay?" Rhonda ripped the zipper down and Helga let out the rest of her breath, finally being able to breath again.

After taking off the dress, and returning to campus for her last class of the day, Helga was and wasn't eager to return home. She stepped off the bus just a little ways from the boarding house, and walked the rest of the way. She unlocked the front door and stepped inside. It was fairly late in the afternoon, and Olga wouldn't be back until six. Helga let her backpack fall to the floor, and made her way into the kitchen, finding her fiance at the stove. "Hey beautiful," He greeted her in her usual pet name, stepping away from the stove and kissing her chastely.

"Hey, love." She smiled and went into the cupboard for a glass, then to the fridge to pour herself a glass of orange juice, hoping it would calm her stomach. "You wouldn't believe what happened at..." Helga paused as a throbbing pain shot into her abdomen, "... at Rhonda's this..." the pain continued unmercifully, this is more than Olga's bad cooking, she thought as she fruitlessly tried to bite back the pain, which wasn't cutting it this time. Her already feeble grip on her glass fell, and it fell to the floor, exploding across the kitchen floor into shards.

Arnold watched in horror, as Helga dropped her glass, and doubled over, her arms clutching her stomach, her eyes squinted and squeezed shut. He was at her side in a flash, placing his arm around her tense back, and placing his other hand on her cheek to try and sooth her. "Helga, what's wrong?"

"My... my stomach..." She groaned.

"Come on, I'm taking you to the emergency room." He ordered, and she didn't fight him. She took his hand, squeezing it relentlessly as he ushered her out the door, and into the passenger seat of the Packard. Arnold sped off in the direction of the hospital, and pulled into the ER, keeping her hugged into his side. A few minutes later, he was filling out the paperwork, and ten long minutes after that, she was being called in. Once she disappeared behind the doors of the hospital, escorted by two nurses, still having no clue what's wrong, he pulled out his cell phone to call Olga.

"Hello?" Her usual friendly voice greeted.

"Olga, it's Arnold. Something's wrong with Helga."

"What is it? What's wrong?" She asked, concern very evident in her voice.

"I don't know. I brought her into the ER about fifteen minutes ago after she was having some problems with her stomach. She was complaining about it this morning, but I thought it was nothing more than a stomach ache. Olga, if I had-"

"Arnold, you didn't know. Now listen, is Helga with the doctors now?"

"Yeah, they took her just a second ago." His voice was becoming very shaky, and she could obviously tell.

"Okay, I just pulled up to the boarding house. I'm going to run inside for a few things, and I'll be down as soon as I can, alright?"

"Yeah, okay." He hung up and slid his phone back into his pocket. He ran his shaking hand through his hair, and sat down heavily in one of the hard, plastic chairs in the waiting room. He took a few deep breaths, as his mind conjured up all sorts of scenarios. Not knowing what was wrong with his fiance, it was crippling.

A few minutes later, Olga came running through the doors of the waiting room, frantically looking around for him. "Arnold! Have they said anything yet?"

Arnold looked up, and leaned forward against his elbows. "No, I've been sitting here for only ten minutes, but it feels like I've been here for hours. I fought for this country, and they won't tell me a damn thing." He waved a hand over to the nurse at the desk, who gave him a pointed look. Olga simply leaned back with him and sighed, agreeing with him. They sat in silence for a very long twenty minutes before Olga decided to speak.

"I'm going to go find us some coffee, who knows how long we could be here." Olga patted his knee and walked down the hall.

A doctor came out into the waiting room, looking down at a clip board. "Helga Pataki?" The older doctor asked. Arnold shot out of his seat and up to the doctor, her name sounding like music to his ears. "Hi, and you are?" The doctor asked, looking up from his clip board.

"I'm Arnold Shortman, I'm her fiance. How is she?"

"She's doing just fine, nothing you need to worry about, son." The doctor smiled.

"What happened?" Arnold asked, crossing his arms tightly across his chest.

"It was nothing more than a burst appendix. It's a very common, and very minor procedure. Both her, and the baby are doing just fine."

"The what?" He quickly asked, literally not believing what he had just heard.

The doctor's expression went blank as he averted his eyes down to the floor, taking a small step back. "Oh... judging by how far along she is, I just assumed that you knew."

"Knew... what?" Arnold asked, his mind going a million miles an hour as he took a step towards the doctor.

"Mr. Shortman... your fiance is pregnant."