They agreed not to talk about "The Sea Monkey" until they were completely alone. That meant not discussing it in the car on the way to the show because they had a driver and it was a sedan so there was
no partition. At first Chris tried talking around the situation without actually saying it but Issey had dealt with these drivers before. They were adept at reading between the lines and made their real money selling secrets to the tabloids.

The cast didn't really read the tabloids, they avoided seeing anything about themselves in the press but Issey always kept up with what people were saying about her clients. The rumors had already begun that the famously out and proud Chris Colfer was seen getting close with a (gasp) girl. Had she and Darren been less careful it would probably be an even more disturbing headline. They absolutely did not need to turn the headline into Chris Colfer to father baby with vocal coach only to find that Darren was the dad. She had never wanted her own life in the press and had always been very careful to keep her name out of stories about her clients.

Once at the arena they ran into Naya who wanted a few minutes with Issey to go over breathing techniques that might help her get through some of the choreography changes that were being made so Issey worked with her while Chris went to make up. Ryan was waiting for her and after asking about her health he started in with a list of concerns he had about the show's vocals. He wanted her to work on group numbers that night after the show the same way Zach and Adam had worked over the choreo the night before. She agreed because she didn't know what else to do. They truly did need to group rehearsal time and she couldn't sleep forever. Plus it would put off the inevitable conversation with Chris.

Darren texted her while she was with Ryan.

Darren: How did it go?

Issey: Did different test. No results yet. Talk later w/Ryan now.

Darren: k. backstage when show starts?

Issey: B board. Will let u kno when

She couldn't talk to Darren before a serious conversation with Chris and she couldn't even think about that now. Issey was relieved when the show began, she could focus on work and not on the future. It was working for a short while. She and Ryan wrote notes back and forth on his iPad during the opening about things they'd like to work on or maybe change for the DVD, mostly dialog, not so much with the vocals here. Everything was fine until Chris came out for his solo.

His voice broke from the very first note. Instead of focusing on the crowd, shaking hands and connecting with people in the pits on either side of the ramp he walked to the front of the stage and just looked
right out at where he knew Issey sat. She knew he couldn't see her with all the lights in his face but still it felt like he were looking directly in her eyes as he sang "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and tears ran
down his face.

Sure the fans would think he was acting, they all knew the scene where he'd done the song originally was one of the most heart wrenching of the show's history, but she felt the emotions pouring over all of their heads, reaching across the arena and honing in on just her. Watching him, knowing he was singing to the baby, as much if not more than he was to her was breaking her heart. She couldn't stop her own tears, she tried to focus on anything but what was happening. She listened for things she could pick apart about his voice but all she could hear was the softness with which he always told her he loved her.

Issey got up and ran past the fans, past security and disappeared into the hallway used for moving the cast between the main and auxiliary stages. She made it as far as the ladies room door before she started to wretch. The sound was loud and raw and when she paired it with the running water of three faucets it finally drowned out Chris's voice. She threw up until there was nothing but bitter tasting bile choking her, getting stuck in her throat. She cried loudly, wailing like a child, coughing, choking, spitting, her eyes watering. She hated herself more than she ever thought possible. Chris was out there pouring his heart out to her and to a child that he assumed was his.

Issey sat on the counter and let her head rest against the cool mirror. Her face was covered in red blotches, swollen with tears, heat radiating from her. Closing her eyes she thought back to that night, lying on her sofa, home at last from a tour that had sucked the life out of her. She hadn't wanted to do this tour, knew that she was in no shape to get back on the road and go back to work. If she'd been her own client she'd have advised herself to take some time off, that she wasn't going to be able to help anyone until she took time to recharge her own batteries. Problem was she was much better at giving advice than taking it.

Now she had fucked up 4 people's lives by allowing her legendary control to slip. She had no idea what she'd do with a baby. A baby in no way figured into her vision of her life. She'd never considered the whole marriage, children, house in the burbs thing. Ever. When most little girls were marrying their Barbie's off to Ken and setting up nurseries in Barbie's Dream House Issey was lining up her Teddy Bears and Cabbage Patch Dolls to get into Barbie's one woman show. She stayed on the move and that was no life for a kid.

She'd also gone from being a virtual virgin to a slut who had no idea who the father of her unborn child was in a matter of months. She felt like she should have a scarlet letter on her shirt, branding her for the whore that she felt like.

She beat herself up mentally as her breathing returned to normal and jumped when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Zach had texted a question mark. She quickly texted back "tell ya later on my way out". She was going to have a whole lot of uncomfortable "later's" in her future.

Coming off stage Chris's vision was blurry and he ran directly into Darren. "Hey, sorry."

"S'alright. You okay?"

"Yeah. Fine."

"She said you guys didn't get any answers today. Did that change?" Darren was trying to tread lightly, he knew Chris was still angry with him, especially where Issey was concerned but he had to know.

"Not about that, no." Chris started to walk away for his costume change but Darren grabbed his arm.

"Look I'm sorry about the flowers; I just wanted her to know she could talk to me. I wasn't trying to get her back or anything."

Chris nodded. "Let me ask you something, man to man. Did you ever really love her?"

Darren's eyes were wide, he knew he'd been an ass in a lot of ways but it never even occurred to him that Chris didn't believe he loved her.

"I still do. I won't lie to you about that. I'm not trying to get her back, that wouldn't work anyway, but yeah, I love her, I don't know when it happened, when the attraction turned to something more, it
felt like right away."

"Then you know how it feels to be afraid to lose her. Be her friend if she needs you to but don't expect me to be comfortable with it. I'm struggling with the testing from today, I don't just want her to be
okay, I need her to be."

"I know. I'm your friend too, even if it doesn't feel that way. We're both invested in her health and happiness; maybe we should try being supportive together."

"Yeah. I guess. I gotta go change."

After the show Issey went to the stage to work with everyone. The first order of business was to stop in Ryan's words, "Whatever it is that Cory's doing that sounds like he's constipated and mad about it."

She parked herself on a stool and called Cory and Lea to the stage everyone else sitting in the pit audience seats. Rolling playback on their rehearsal tape she had Cory sing alone and it was okay, not fantastic, but it would work. Issey added in Lea and suddenly Cory was straining, pushing for all he was worth to get the notes out.

"Okay, Cory, stop. Tell me what's going on in your head when you do this."

"I'm just trying to y'know hit the notes and get it out there so they can hear me."

"Over Lea?"

"Um, no? I don't know. With Lea I guess, I just, she's got a really powerful voice and we're supposed to be in harmony so it should be the same right?"

"Sometimes that's true, here it isn't. Think of it as using your voice to underline hers."

She had them try it together again but Cory just went lower not understanding the metaphor.

"Darren, Chris, c'mere a minute?" she called.

Darren popped on stage and grabbed a mic. Chris took a little more time, unsure of what she had in mind.

"Sing the chorus of Candles, Chris, you do what you always do, Darren, sing it with him, like Cory is already doing with Lea."

They sang it and their voices clashed creating a noise instead of anything pleasing.

"You can stop, thank you. One more time now, Chris again, just like you did before, Darren, make it shine."

They started up again, this time Darren's voice hitting the same notes but complimenting Chris's letting Chris's voice ring out beautifully and giving it a place to bounce from, to land on, to soar off of. The difference was a world away.

"Woah." Cory was blown away. "I can't do that."

"You can. Thank you Love, that was gorgeous, you can sit. Darren, do me a favor, sing this with Cory and Lea. Cory try to pay attention to what Darren is doing and try to emulate it."

At 2:00 they took a break. Chris got Issey alone for a minute and she fell into his arms dramatically. "You smell good."

Chris made a face, "Gross, I'm sweaty."

She inhaled deeply. "Irresistible."

"Okay, okay, crazy lady. How're you holding up?"

"I'm beat. How are you doing this? Aren't you exhausted? You didn't sleep at all last night,"

"I'm worried about you." He sat them both into a corner on the floor because there wasn't anywhere else to sit. "How do you feel?"

"Like I could sleep for a month and throw up for days. Plus I'm really thirsty. And whiny and I hate when I'm whiny." She poked out her bottom lip and rubbed the top of her nose against his shirt, burrowing in, wanting to stay like that for the rest of the night.

Chris watched her, amazed at the difference between the commanding, authoritative woman on stage and the sweet, needy, pliant girl who just wanted him to hold her. "Then call it a night Honey, Ryan knows what's going on, well, half of it, he'll understand."

"It's not about Ryan, it's about the show. If I stop now we won't be ready in time for the DVD shoot. We have to just keep going."

"But is it okay for…The Sea Monkey?"

"The Sea Monkey can sleep while I work, I think, I don't even know if it sleeps yet. Wow Chris, I have so much to learn."

He spoke into her hair between kisses to her head. "We'll learn. We'll figure it all out."

Her stomach did another flip as she thought about how long it would be before they'd have time to talk about this. She needed him to stop talking about this baby as if it were his, it just made everything harder. She did what she knew best, "Back to work."

Over the next few hours both Darren and Chris checked on her periodically, sometimes with just a look, sometimes with a quick question. It was either touching or annoying depending on her quickly alternating moods.

When 5:30 rolled around Issey looked at Ryan. "They have to sleep. They were up all last night, we have to get up and get on the buses at noon. They have a show tomorrow and two the next day. They won't have voices at all if we don't let them rest."

"You win, everyone off to bed."

Chris took Issey's hand as they went to the limos to ride back to the hotel. "I think we should sleep on the bus in the parking lot so you don't have to get up. I'll get the stuff from the hotel."

"Tempting but no, as much as I'd love to sleep in our own bed I think I might spend more time in the bathroom than the bed tonight and I'd rather be at the hotel for that. Sorry, I know that's gross."

"No, it isn't, it's just fact." They shared a limo with Ryan and Kevin but Issey was asleep on Chris's shoulder before they left the parking lot.

Struggling, Issey grunted her frustration from the middle of the bed. She had been tugging on a t shirt to sleep in but got stuck half way through and just didn't have the energy to fight her way out. Chris giggled and came to her rescue, "Here, hang on, I've got it."

When her face popped through there were tears in her eyes. "I can't even put on a shirt. How am I going to do this?"

"Aw Honey, it's okay. You're just tired. Lie down, give me two seconds and we'll go to sleep." He tore off his clothes leaving them in a pile on a nearby chair, then grabbed a water and a ginger ale from the mini bar and placed them on her nightstand, turned on the bathroom light, closed the door until only a crack shone through and finally turned off their lights and climbed into bed.

"Alarm." She mumbled.

"On my phone, took care of it in the car while you were sleeping in the car." He reassured her while curling around her, spooning her against him, wrapping his arm around her waist and letting his lips settle on her neck. "Stop worrying. I've got you, go to sleep."

She placed her hand over his where it rested on her tummy. "We have to talk."

"I know. There's so much to say, we'll get there, now's not the time. "

"The longer we wait the worse it will be."

"Did you tell him yet?"

Oh she was awake now. "What?"

"Darren, did you tell him he might be a father?"

He didn't move, didn't pull his lips away just spoke the words quietly against her skin.

"No. I wanted to talk to you about it first. I didn't think you'd considered it."

"I'm not stupid. I can count. Whatever happens we'll deal with it. I love you, I'm here for you," His thumb caressed her stomach, "both of you."

She rolled over to face him, crying again. "I hate that I put us in this situation. I love you."

"Stop." He kissed her softly, "We're done with that. It happened, we can't change it, I want us to try to just be happy now. Are you happy?"

"Relieved. I was so worried about how angry you'd be when I told you, how disappointed, but if you can not hate me then yes, I'm happy."

He shook his head at her, "I love you. Get that through your thick head please. If I hadn't known about the two of you it would be different but I did. Unless…it was just that one time right?"

She stroked his hair and swallowed hard, "Just the one time, I swear it."

"So okay, tomorrow after you've had a good sleep we'll get him on the bus and I'll stay in my office or upstairs or whatever and you tell him. We should find out how soon we can know which one of us it is though because the not knowing is hard."