Author's Note: Thank you kittyspike08536, Spriggan, JetredGirl, LovelyAmberLight, Nicholle Phantomhive and various Guest reviewers! I am always honored to receive reviews. I agree with these reviews, too. Sarah has an internal belief (mistaken) that she is somehow complicit in this. I am glad to see that most reviewers know instinctively, these days, that it isn't the girl's fault, no matter what she said or did, under the influence. Seems like times have changed since I was a little girl, people have more accurate and informed viewpoints on this subject now. : ) This is great!

Labyrinth – Lessons Learned

Chapter 6: Unrealistic Expectations

The way he kissed was sweetly devouring. Gentle and hungry all at once. She had been the one to pull away first, but that didn't mean she wanted it to stop. Her hopeful expression must have made it obvious.

"If there is to be another kiss," the man told her, sweetly, "You must give it to me."

"Ah?" Sarah murmured, incoherently. It wasn't a word, just a sound of confusion.

Her mind was still on the way that he tasted. Like chocolate and almond, sweet with maybe a touch of something bitter. An unknown spice. She licked her bottom lip, trying to analyze it, and he stared at her mouth, transfixed.

The colors seemed brighter in the room, now, almost heavy against her skin. The music was there, but it was also gone, because while she could hear it, she couldn't listen to it. If that made any sense. The music surrounded her, like heat on her skin, so she knew it was still playing, but music was meant to be heard by the ears, not by the skin, right? Something was wrong.

"There is a form for these things, you know," the blond man continued eventually, when she did not respond.

Sarah didn't understand his words. Humming with agreement, she burrowed her face against his jacket, scratching her cheek against the beadwork there. "Sarah . . . " her partner drawled, impatient yet also amused. He lifted her chin, brushing a thumb over the edge of her cheek, to ensure that she focused on him. How could she do otherwise? The breath caught in her throat.

"What?" she asks, her voice almost a moan. Belatedly, she finally could comprehend the request he made earlier. Sort of. It didn't make much sense. But kissing him seemed like a very good idea. So, she slid her hands over his shoulders to drag herself higher, noting as she did that his hair was softer than it looked, like down-feathers instead of mere strands of hair. It was a challenge to find his lips again, since he was so tall, but she succeeded. Maybe he helped, a little bit, too.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"You won't be able to do anything worthwhile for your child, you're only fifteen!" Karen was raging at her. School had ended for the day, and after she finished her homework, her stepmother had arrived home, Toby in tow. Like before, the woman seemed to care less about raising her voice in front of the baby than about yelling at Sarah. "This house cannot afford two children! I am not going to take care of your baby."

"I wouldn't expect . . . " Sarah inserted, only to be shouted over.

"You used to help me take care of Toby," Karen insisted, "You should already know what to expect. This is not going to be some easy, pleasure-trip."

All of this, because Karen had asked whether she decided upon an abortion, yet. Sarah had replied that she didn't know, she needed more time to think. And then, the yelling had started. When Toby cried, hearing his mother's angry voice, Karen simply picked up the boy and deposited him in the crib, only to return to her argument. Perhaps yelling at Sarah had a theraputic effect on her.

"I know that!" exclaimed Sarah. "And what do you mean, I 'used' to help with Toby. I look after him all the time. That is exactly why I know . . ."

"No, you don't know!" shrieked Karen. "You have NEVER woken up in the middle of the night to feed your child, you have NEVER changed a dirty diaper . . ."

Sarah put up her hands. "If you want me to do more. . ."

"I want you to make the responsible decision! We have a very small house. We need the space," Karen asserted. "I was anticipating that Toby would take your room, once you left for college, and that was fine. But now, you'll be a high-school drop-out and stay in your room forever!"

Clearly, fury had been simmering in both of them, for days. By now, Sarah was screaming too. "You don't want me in this house? You think MY room belongs to your son, not to me?"

"I'm saying that I will care for Toby," Karen protested, "You will care for your own baby, and neither one of us will have time to help each other at all."

"I don't want your help!" Sarah said fiercely. At the moment, she couldn't imagine anything that she wanted less.

"Fine! " Karen replied, still mad, although trying to contain it. The blonde woman turned her back, facing the sink, while she scrubbed at one of the pots in it. The brillow pad scritched back and forth, harder and harder.

"Glad we understand that," Sarah added, unable to prevent herself from trying to grab the last word in the argument.

"Maybe you should go live with your mother!" Karen snarled. Apparently, she also wanted the last word.

"Fine!" Sarah agreed, before storming away to slam the door of her room.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Toby had cried, Karen had comforted the baby, and eventually her father came home and comforted them both. Sarah simply remained in her room, trying to ignore how miserable she felt. She shouldn't need to feel guilty and miserable just for yelling back, after someone started an unreasonable shouting match.

Still, it took hours for her to become calm. No one came to check on her, so she knew that her side of the story had not been told, and that was okay. She didn't want to be around the family, right now.

Entering the hallway bathroom, which attached to her bedroom, Sarah lifted the hem of her shirt and stared at her stomach in the mirror. It was flat. That is to say, it didn't look different than usual. She was always a bit pudgy on that spot right below her belly button.

Turning to one side, she imagined it, huge and round. She tried to imagine her back hurting, her breasts sagging, getting ugly stretch marks, and being unable to lose the weight which she gained during the pregnancy. All these bad things would probably happen. Everyone talked about them.

But the situation seemed impossibly unreal. She couldn't fully imagine it. She couldn't picture herself like that, except in a hypothetical fashion.

Next, she tried to forsee the bad things that would occur in her relationships with other people. That was easier. Her parents were already disappointed in her. And like Karen said, her schoolwork would suffer, she might suffer a lack of job-opportunities, she might not finish high-school at all. Plus, the fact was – most guys did not want to date a woman who already had a child (by another man).

Hmm. Those negative aspects were easier to imagine than being fat with a child, at least. Sarah snorted, slightly amused with herself.

Was she being too pessimistic ? In school, the teachers often advised making a list of both benefits and costs, pro and con. She had to balance the scales, mentally. Without imagining both the good and the bad, her decision would be based on imcomplete data.

So, she tried to imagine good things. Instinctively, one hand rested upon her stomach. What would it feel like to have a tiny child inside her? Toby was cute, even Sarah had to admit it, but she knew from stories that a woman's child was always the most precious babe in the world. Hormones dictated this; her own child would be number one, Toby would be a distant second. Right?

Without meaning to, a sense of hopeless romanticism overtook her. She began to envision a walk through a park, with a child in the stroller. Maybe she would have a little girl, instead of another boy like Toby. A girl would be even cuter, wearing an adorable, lacy, little dress. Or a cute-looking baby boy. There was nothing wrong with boys! She imagined cuddling the baby on her chest, while they both lay on a bed, and the amazed expression on his face when Jareth saw . . .

Flinching away from the idea, Sarah stopped her train of thought. Damn it. She did NOT just think about him. The idea that her stepmother might be correct – maybe part of her brain was hoping this would make him 'love' her – it sent shivers down her spine. Not a good thought, even a momentary one. The other half of the fantasy immediately became apparent. It seemed far more likely that he would not want a child. He had wanted Toby, but only to turn her little brother into a goblin.

Furthermore, all of her thoughts were ridiculous. A little baby girl wearing a cute dress? She wouldn't give birth to a doll, she would have a baby! It wasn't like she could put the doll away on a shelf, when she was done playing. She would never be able to return to her own life and her own business, because her life would be shared with another. Permanently.

Was that a good thing, or not? Once again, Sarah could not decide. Somehow, the more she contemplated the possibility of having a child, the more empty she felt inside. She didn't feel emotional at all, rather she felt cold. Almost numb. Like the baby was draining all the energy out of her. It is probably just an aftershock of the fight with Karen, she rationalized.

She understood Karen's point. It wasn't nice when she yelled, but the lady was correct. A baby was a huge time commitment. Their house was small, already too cramped for Toby. Their finances were relatively low.

But somehow, the more that Karen insisted that she should get an abortion, the less she wanted to do it.

Still, she couldn't simply base her decision on that. Doing the opposite of what her stepmother demanded was a terrible plan. A childish scheme of revenge upon the wrong person.

Sarah was at least ten weeks pregnant, now. It had only been a few days since the doctor's visit. Yet time was flying by. Because Karen knew there was no law against abortion in New York, at this time, her stepmother was pushing her to change her mind before the weeks ran out. Yet it didn't seem like a "good" idea. Every time she thought about the future, she imagined 'when' she would have a child, not 'if' . . . Was this just hormones at work? Maybe her body was making her brain go crazy?

She did not want to do something permanent, like abortion. So, she was letting something else permanent happen to her, instead. Ugh. What was she hoping to achieve here? Was Karen right about this too? Was she hoping to make the Goblin King notice her, pay attention to her, by using a child as leverage? As if that would happen. She knew it was unlikely. But she had the thought, at least once. She had pictured it, in her mind. Imagined what it would be like to form a family with exactly the wrong guy.

There were probably other girls in the world, who did this. Somehow, being pregnant screwed up the brain, until the girl believed no one could desire to NOT have a baby, while the guy was horrified about becoming a dad. Hmph.

Leaving the bathroom, she sat on the bed in her room, starting to feel weak. It really was cold, in here. How odd. She didn't feel hungry, just sick to her stomach, and empty. If fighting with Karen caused her to go into shock, like this, then she shouldn't allow herself to get angry and yell at the woman. It wasn't worth it.

Flopping over on to the pillow, Sarah couldn't even muster up the energy to remove her day-time clothing. She simply pulled the covers over her body, shoes and all. Maybe she would have that dream again. Maybe it would show her something the others hadn't yet.

She didn't want to think about the Goblin King, though. Burrowing her head into the pillow, Sarah forced all thoughts of the Labyrinth away. If she didn't think about it, right before bed, then she was less likely to dream about it. So, she used the old tried-and-true sleep routine. Counting sheep. There! That was suitably boring.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Schoolwork seemed especially hard all day. Sarah's energy level was dangerously low. She needed to eat something, or drink a lot of soda, or something . . . Why was it so hard to stay awake, today? It really did seem like the baby was sucking her energy away.

Denise hadn't noticed anything wrong. The other girl hadn't even bothered talking to Sarah. Once again, Sarah watched a friend pull away and didn't bother to do anything about it. Maybe they hadn't been as close as she thought.

By the time she reached home, just the thought of looking after Toby that afternoon made her feel like crying. Toby was almost always dumped in her lap (not literally) while Karen enjoyed an hour or two of free time. The older woman said it was important, since she got so little time to herself, and it was only right for Sarah to help the family in this way. As a high school student, Sarah had more free time than a hardworking lawyer, yes. But that didn't mean she felt excited about helping her stepmother, this afternoon.

She finished some homework, then laid her head on the desk. Before she knew it, she was asleep. The sound of the front door woke her, when her parents arrived at home with Toby.

There was a line on her forehead that showed where she pressed her skin against her notebook. Gah! Tidying her appearance slightly, Sarah went downstairs to greet her family. Toby seemed cranky and tired, in his mother's arms, and she wondered how much of that was from seeing his mother behave the same way.

It seemed her anger hadn't burned off yet. Karen was still not making eye-contact with Sarah. Was it really that upsetting to know that she was pregnant?

With a shrug, the brunette decided to grab a few of Toby's toys and roll them around on the kitchen floor. It enticed her sibling to crawl over and copy her actions. The baby boy could stand, but he was awful at walking. He was stuck on a plateau in terms of development, where he didn't want to crawl, but walking was too hard. That was what frustrated her baby brother the most.

"Have you told the boy or his family, yet?" a voice emerged from the kitchen. Karen was willing to speak with her, but not to look at her. Meanwhile, her father had gone upstairs to remove his suit and tie, finding more comfortable clothing for the evening.

"No," Sarah answered. "He's gone." She had told her parents that a few days ago, but obviously her stepmother didn't recall.

"It's the right thing to do!" Karen continued brusquely. "He deserves to know. Also, he should support you. Maybe his family has room for a new baby, and you could move in with them."

Sarah blinked, stunned. It was the second time she had been told to 'move out' in just a few days. How insulting. "Um. . . he's not interested?"

Perhaps the lady was hard of hearing. When she mentioned that the 'boy' was gone, what did normal people believe it meant? Or perhaps Karen hoped to squeeze more information out of her, concerning the father of her child.

Sarah looked around, to see if anyone was nearby, then muttered under her breath, "I suppose I actually should go live with my mother." It had been spoken in a fit of anger the other day, but now she was actually considering it.

Hearing the softly spoken words from the kitchen doorway, Karen finally looked at her. With a sigh, her stepmother tried to soften the earlier statement. "I'm sorry that I yelled at you," the lady backpedaled, attempting to sound nice, even though it rang slightly false. "I didn't mean it when I said you should go live with someone else. We all want to be a family, here."

A tiny part of her brain recalled the advice that baby rabbit, Thumper, received, in the movie 'Bambi' – Karen needed to hear that advice too. She shouldn't suggest how small their house was, and how Sarah should move out, if she didn't actually mean it. It wasn't a nice thing to say, and it wasn't productive.

"At least Linda sounded excited about this baby," Sarah countered.

"I know that you think your mother will be all smiles and roses," Karen declared, "But it won't be any easier there. It would be a costly decision. You might have less support than you think."

No one had ever suggested that living with Linda would be fun. In fact, no matter how much Sarah loved her mother, she recognized that the lady was manic and overly emotional, a difficult person to deal with. Then, the middle of her stepmother's phrase caught her attention. "A 'costly' decision?" Sarah asked, catching the emphasis on the strange word. "What do you mean?"

Karen frowned. From the staircase, her father frowned also, but his dark expression was aimed at his new wife. Before Karen could say anything, he explained. "While you live with us, full-time," he said, while walking down the steps, "Then your mother pays child support to me. If you live with her, then I'll pay child-support instead."

Staring at her husband, Karen looked appalled, as if she wanted to take back the words. "What?" Mr. Williams looked back. "It isn't like she doesn't know. She sees me pick up the check every month."

Surprised, Sarah watched the pair of them. At least one of them was being honest. The more she listened to the woman, the more ridiculous her stepmother seemed, almost like a fairy-tale character. "I'd never really thought about it before," the teenager laughed faintly. "Is that what you are doing?"

"Yes," said Mr. Williams, as he joined her beside Toby. Then, pleased to see his son, the older man greeted the baby. "Hello, there, little guy!" Toby smiled.

While the blonde woman put plates of food on the table, she snuck little glances at Sarah, as if to read her mind, to check whether Sarah was going to suddenly move-out and deny them the child-support checks they had been receiving for so long. A 'costly' decision, indeed. How ironic that the woman would say such a thing, right after telling Sarah to move out and live with her boyfriend's family instead. Where would the child-support money go, then? Into her pocket?

It was odd, but Sarah didn't feel happy or sad or angry or anything at the moment. Just numb. It seemed like the situation was escalating out of her control, and she didn't even care. In the back of her mind, she knew that she should be furious with Karen. In fact, she recalled being angry and yelling at Karen the other day. But right now, she didn't feel like it anymore. She was just . . . too tired.

Most of the dinnertime, she spent staring vacantly into space. Her father chalked it up to nausea and excused her from the table. Trudging up the stairs to her room, she sat on the edge of her bed and tried to force herself to stay awake. It was only 7:00 in the evening. It wasn't time for bed, yet.

A scuffling noise from the corner of the room drew her attention. There was a tiny goblin crouched beside the pile of clothing on the floor, looking lost. When it saw her, the goblin ran forward eagerly. "For youuuuu," it crooned in a squeaky voice.

Mystified, Sarah leaned over and lifted the object from the goblin's hand. It was a strawberry. Frowning, she turned the berry over in her hand.

Should she eat this? The goblins served their King, and she did not like him at all. But they were friendly little creatures, too. Sometimes. Maybe this wasn't from the Goblin King.

She looked around to ask the creature where and when and why he had obtained this fruit, only to discover the goblin was gone. Staring at the berry, she pondered it.

Finally, she popped the strawberry in her mouth. Why not? Even if it was from the Goblin King, that would be okay. Another poisoned fruit and she would have a dream, and when she would see him again, she would give him an earful, letting him know exactly how very, very unhappy she was with him.

Maybe he didn't know about the pregnancy, but that didn't mean his actions could be overlooked. She was still a young, impressionable, underage girl, and he deserved to suffer consequences for what he did. The police couldn't find him, so if they met again, then she should scream at him. That seemed the least she could do.

The strawberry did not make her sleepy, however. A trickle of energy began to enter her limbs, like she had consumed a caffeinated drink. The emotional apathy from which she had been suffering began to dissapate. Sarah felt better, just by thinking about how she would yell at the Goblin King and imagining what she'd say.

But she didn't see him or dream about him at all, that night.