The week passed with little difficulty, to my surprise. I had managed to keep things under control, and I had even learned some cooking from Rita. I was also thankful to Mom for teaching me how to knit when I was a kid, since it helped to pass the time, and on top of that, the baby would have some clothing. I had almost finished a pair of socks when I realized that knitting could potentially be a dangerous activity.

"Why are you making the socks blue?" Leif asked suddenly. I jumped, not only because I had previously thought he was asleep on the couch, but also because of my stupidity. The color would give away that the baby was a boy! I had to think of an excuse, and I had to think of it fast.

"I don't know," I replied. "I just like the color."

"I thought you liked pink," he said.

"But what if it's a boy?" I asked. "Boys don't usually wear pink."

"But what if it's a girl?" he asked in reply. "I thought boys usually wear blue."

"Girls can wear blue," I replied. "But if you're so offended by the idea of a baby girl wearing blue, I'll scrap the socks and make pink ones instead."

"Hmph," Leif muttered. "I guess it doesn't matter. We'll find out today, anyway."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"We have to go see Lara today," he replied. "And she just got some weird machine that she ordered from the hospital in Palermo. Apparently, it can show what babies look like before they're born."

"That's ridiculous," I protested. "And it doesn't sound very safe."

"I don't know," Leif said. "Apparently, Luna used it just yesterday, and she and Rex found out they're having a boy."

"How do you know all of this?" I asked.

"I went over to the Clock Tower yesterday," Leif replied. "I had to talk to Kevin about something, and Doriane and Irwen were talking about it. It must really be something, because Irwen actually smiled for once." I narrowed my eyes.

"Don't you talk about my friend like that," I told him. "She's had a pretty tough life."

"Is that why she's such a downer?" he asked.

"Shut up!" I shouted, much louder than I expected. Leif looked shocked. "Her father is trapped in another world, and even if he wasn't, he was too demented and power-obsessed to even be a decent parent. He tried to kill my father once." I paused, my eyes filling with tears. "Iris was the only surviving member of the vampire tribe, and even that didn't save her from being raped. And having Irwen somehow changed her into a human. It took away her immortality, and Irwen knows it. All her life, she's felt guilty for making her mother suffer, even though it wasn't her fault."

With those words, I broke down. I had always felt sadness when I heard that story, but I had never cried that hard about it.

"Whoa, hey," Leif said, his voice both surprised and coaxing. He quickly rushed over, and sat down next to me. "I'm sorry, Leona. I didn't know any of that I guess I always just thought…I don't know what I thought, actually, but-"

"I'm being ridiculous," I whimpered. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"No," he replied. "You're not. It's normal for you to feel like that. One of those books said so."

"I thought you said you don't read," I said, rubbing my eyes.

Leif sighed heavily.

"You know how I said I went to see Kevin yesterday?" he asked. "His mom was also there, and I had one of the books with me. So after I talked to Kevin, I asked Anette to read the book to me. I tried to read it before, but some of the words didn't make sense to me. So I learned some things."

I was absolutely astonished. It had been a long time since Leif had cared about anything, let alone something involving me. Without thinking, my mind replayed a scene from about four months ago.

"Leona! You're bleeding!"

"Yeah…I know."

"Oh God, I'm not hurting you, am I?"

"It…It's not your fault. This is normal. Just don't move yet."

"Honey, you're crying…do you want to stop?"

"No. I want to do this. I love you, Leif."

"I love you too."

"Leona, are you okay?" Leif asked suddenly. I shook my head, trying to clear the memory away.

"Yeah," I replied. "I'm fine. We should probably go soon, anyway. We're supposed to be there in about ten minutes."

"All right," Leif said.

We got our coats on, and went outside to start the walk to the clinic. I was surprised at how cold the weather had become in just a week, and I shivered uncontrollably.

"Here," Leif said. He pulled me close to him, took his left arm out of the sleeve of his coat, and wrapped it around me. "Better?"

I bit my lip, as I remembered the winters before. He had always done that when we were dating. He had said before that the warmth of his coat combined with his own body heat would keep me from freezing.

"What's gotten into you today?" I asked.

"I don't want you risking your health," he replied. "Or the health of the baby. You never acted so surprised when we did this before." I quickly pulled away from him, scowling.

"No," I replied. "I never did, because we were in a relationship."

"Leona," he said. "Come on, think of-"

"I'll do what I want," I protested.

"How can you be so selfish?" he asked angrily. "Right now, you're not just taking care of yourself. Your own pride could potentially be harming someone else." He took off his coat, and handed it to me. "If you're so bothered by the idea of even getting close to me, here's an alternative."

I didn't know what to say. Even though it wasn't much of a sacrifice, Leif had still done something selfless. For whatever reason, he really did care. But I wasn't about to admit that I had done something stupid. We soon reached the clinic after walking for a short time in silence. Leif opened the door for me, and we stepped inside. The clinic was nice and warm, and even so, I sat down by the fire.

Luna walked into the room, and I was shocked at how pregnant she was.

"Oh, you're here!" Luna exclaimed. "Mom's still checking up on Helena, so she'll be out in just a minute."

"Is she sick?" I asked.

"No," Luna replied, sitting down next to me. "But we think she might have a little ear infection. She's been tugging on her right ear and fussing a little more than usual, but other than that, she's fine."

"That's good," I said. "I guess the last thing you need right now is for her to be sick. When's your little boy due?"

"Around the middle of Spring," she replied. "It's going to be a lot of work to have Helena and Sebastian both so young, but Rex and I are up for the challenge."

"You've already decided on a name?" Leif asked, his eyes wide.

"Yes," Luna said. "Rex had said he liked the name when I was pregnant with Helena, but then, we found out that we were having a girl. So I guess we saved it for this time around."

I heard a door open, and Lara came into the waiting room with Helena in her arms.

"Just a little infection," Lara told Luna. "Some of these ear drops will have her better in a week."

"Thanks, Mom," Luna replied, taking Helena out of her arms.

"Wow!" I exclaimed, getting out of my chair and running up to Luna. "She's gotten even more beautiful since the last time I saw her!"

"She looks a lot like Dad," Luna said with a laugh. Helena smiled up at me.

"What a sweet little baby," I cooed.

"Speaking of which," Lara said. "Let's check up on how yours is doing. Leif, you can come in if you want to."

"Sure," Leif replied. He got up from his chair, and we followed Lara into a dimly-lit room.

"All right," Lara said. "Leona, I need you to sit down in this chair. Have you heard about this machine?"

"Sort of," I replied, sitting in the chair.

"Well," Lara said. "There's absolutely nothing to be afraid of, first of all. And I'll let you know of everything you have to do. And just relax. Everything's going to be fine."

"Okay," I said.

"The first thing I need you to do," Lara said. "Is lift up your shirt, just until your stomach is completely uncovered." I nodded, and although it was kind of embarrassing, I did as she said. "Good, dear. Now, I'm going to put this gel on your stomach. It's cold, so be ready for that."

"All right," I said. She took a little tube from one of the drawers, and squeezed it over my stomach. I let out a little cry of surprise, as it was really cold. Lara proceeded to cover the rest of my belly with it, and then she took something off the machine.

"This is going to be able to show what the baby looks like," she told me. "I'm going to move it around on your stomach until we find the baby. The image will look almost like a silhouette, so it won't show everything, but we'll be able to hear the baby's heartbeat, and I'll also be able to tell you if it's a boy or a girl. Are you ready?" I nodded, and she put the small device on my belly and moved it all over.

Suddenly, I heard a steady sound, like the pounding of a drum.

"Is that the heartbeat?" I asked.

"Yes," Lara replied. "Now, let's see if I can find…ah, there he is!"

"He?" Leif exclaimed. Lara nodded.

"Look up there," she said, pointing at a screen with her free hand.

I gasped as I looked up. There was a black-and-white image that had a bunch of chaotic-looking moving lines, but I could clearly see the outline of a baby, all curled up, with his thumb just barely touching his mouth. He started to move a little, and I felt it. But what he did next, I couldn't even believe. As I continued to stare at him, I saw him stick his hand out away from his mouth, like he was reaching for something, and I suddenly felt something pressing against the inside of my belly. I looked over in the direction I could tell my little boy was pressing his hand, and my eyes stopped right where Leif, sitting there with his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open, was sitting.

The baby was reaching for him.

I started to cry immediately, and they were tears of both happiness and sadness. On one hand, the baby was healthy, but on the other hand, he wanted his father to love him. And for some odd reason, I felt the same way.

And the plot thickens! XD

I wrote this chapter while avoiding homework, so I hope it's still good. HEAVILY IMPLIED BUT NOT EXPLICITLY MENTIONED SEX SCENES FTW! I feel violated now. Lulz.

Reviews are awesome! Also, if you haven't checked out my new drawing of Tristan and Aria on deviantArt, please do so! It's super cute!