A/N: HELLO HELLO HELLO, PEOPLE! I AM BACK! THOUGH NOT OFFICIALLY, I AM BACK! (If that makes any sense). First of all, didn't actually read through this chapter before posting it, so sorry if there are some weird things in there. Second of all, I'm afraid the Emotions aren't exactly in this chapter. *sighs* But I think you'll like the ending . . . and no, it is NOT the end of the book, either. More things are to come. *evil laughter*

So I would like to thank SarkasticPapoy, Hellman76, BlackButlerFan13, Starburst768, and Thenextbigthing1 for favoriting. :) Next, I would like to thank SarkasticPapoy, Hellman76, Lilljo, BlackButlerFan13, and booklover30001 for following. :) And finally, here's a grand old thanks to Lord Darth Yoda, TheOneAndOnly1993, gamby004, Roflol (guest), InsideLove, Harmony Avery (guest), Beep's B, Starburst768, and Thenextbigthing1 for reviewing! :D You guys are awesome! :D :D Also, in reply to Thenextbigthing1's review, I will make a note to fix that. Thanks for pointing that out. :)

Anyways, enough of my blabbling. ENJOY! :D

By the way… my birthday was three days ago. MUWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Chapter Nine

The Sleepover at Meg's

As Riley stared at her bruised and red face in the mirror, she heard footsteps from behind her. She turned around quickly, hands on the counter behind her, and saw Jemma coming through the bathroom door.

Jemma cocked her head, looking at Riley. "Sorry about that again," she said. Riley wasn't sure if she was telling the truth or not. She stood there, staring at her. Riley was frozen, fear bubbling up inside her.

"Might want to put some ice on that," Jemma continued. "Before it swells up." She then stepped over to the sink. "Excuse me. Meg was passing out fruit snacks; my hands are all sticky." She gave Riley an odd look, almost smirking.

"Oh, uh, sure," said Riley, and stepped aside. She started walking towards the bathroom door.

"Wait," said Jemma.

Riley stopped, her hand hovering above the door handle.

"Just so you know, Riley . . ." Jemma said slowly. "Don't get in my way."

Riley turned around. "What?"

"Don't get in my way," Jemma repeated. She gave a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Excuse me again, I need to get back to the team. Good luck being able to come on Thursday, Riley."

With that, she'd walked past Riley, opened the door, and stepped outside of the bathroom, leaving Riley alone, fear and uncertainty threatening to burst out of her.


Riley was silent as she stepped out of the bathroom a minute later, as other girls came into it, also feeling the need to wash the stickiness of the fruit snacks off of their hands. She was silent as she gathered up her hockey things, trying to cover the bruise forming over her eye with her hair. She seemed even quieter in the car on the way home, Meg chattering away to Mrs. Anderson about what she and her teammates had done at hockey practice.

"And everybody liked the fruit snacks, too, you too, right, Riley?"

Riley started. She turned away from watching the city zoom by through the window, lighting up the dark night sky.

"What?" she asked.

"The fruit snacks! I asked Jemma to give you one," said Meg.

Riley shook her head. "She didn't give me any fruit snacks."

Meg's brow furrowed. "That's weird. Maybe she forgot."

Riley nodded slightly. "Maybe."

Meg's expression turned back to excitement. "Anyway, so Coach Ashley said that apparently since the team is too big now, no one else is gonna be allowed to join. A couple other kids want to try out for the opening spot. She didn't say anything more, though."

Meg then turned to Riley. "So, what's up with you? You've been hiding your eye all evening."

Riley blushed. "Oh . . ." she stuttered, scratching the back of her neck. She turned away from Meg. "It's nothing. . . ."

"Nothing is always something," said Meg promptly. "Let me see it."

"No, I—"

"How is your eye, Riley?" came Mrs. Anderson's voice from the front seat. "We probably should have put some ice on it earlier. . . ."

"It's—it's fine—" said Riley.

Meg leaned over on her. "No—it—is—not!" she grunted. She promptly pulled aside Riley's blond hair and just as promptly gasped. "Riley! What happened? You've got a black eye!"

Riley turned away from her. "I got hit with a hockey puck," she said.

Meg gasped again. "During tryouts? Oh, Riley!"

"It's not that bad," muttered Riley.

"You'll have to get ice on that for sure," said Meg. She slumped back in her seat, staring at Riley for a while. There was silence. Then she said suddenly, "Hey, Mrs. Anderson? Can Riley and I have a sleepover?"

There was a pause. "Maybe. I'll have to talk to your mom, since it's such short notice. Plus, it's a school night, so you'd have to get to bed early."

"We're next door neighbors! We're practically family! I'm positive my mom'll let us!" said Meg.

"All right," said Riley's mother. She sounded like she was smiling. "I'm fine with it, as long as your mother is. I'll have to get you some ice, Riley. I knew I should have done it at the rink."

"Yippee!" exclaimed Meg. "We can do our astronomy project together, Riley!"

Riley nodded, giving a small smile. "Yeah, we can."

"Whoo!" said Meg. "I feel like—like I can fly! We should watch 'Peter Pan' tonight!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Mrs. Anderson. "No Peter Pan, no movies, no staying up past nine. You have school tomorrow. I don't want either of you to be crabs in the morning," she added jokingly.

Meg made her hands look like claws. "Oh, I'm such a crabby crab," she said exasperatedly (though it was obviously only pretend). "I think I'm going to pinch someone!" She leaned over and did just that to Riley's nose.

Riley laughed. "And I shall pinch you!" She did so.

"I shall pinch you again!" said Meg.

"No, I shall pinch you again!" countered Riley.

"You!" exclaimed Meg.

"You!" said Riley.

"Yoooooooooooooooooooooooooooou!" Meg nearly shouted, in one extremely long "you" before promptly pinching Riley's nose once again.

Riley laughed. She snorted. And then she couldn't stop laughing and snorting. And then Meg did the same. And that was pretty much how it was like for the rest of the ride home.


"All right, girls, go see if Amy is all right with you having a sleepover tonight," said Mrs. Anderson once she had parked in the Andersons' driveway. (She had been referring to Mrs. Harper. Amy was her first name.)

Meg and Riley hopped out of the car (completely forgetting their hockey things in the trunk), and ran up to Meg's house. They rang a few times before an answering call of, "I'll get it, hold your horses," came from inside.

The door opened to reveal Mr. Harper. "Well, hello there. How was hockey practice? Meg, bring your stuff inside, where is it, anyway?"

"Hi," said Meg and Riley at the same time.

"Where's Mom?" Meg asked, pushing her way inside. Riley followed suit.

"In the nursery with the baby," replied her father.

"Great. Come on, Riley." Meg proceeded to grab her friend's arm and pull her down the hall and into the nursery (where they had visited the other day).

She opened the door slowly, so as not to startle baby Ethan. Mrs. Harper greeted them with a smile.

"Hello, girls. How was practice?" she said.

"Great," said Meg. "Riley got a black eye."

"Oh, my goodness! Have you put ice on that yet? Here, Megan, take the baby," said Mrs. Harper, standing up from her rocking chair and handing Ethan over to Meg. "Riley, come with me."

Riley followed Mrs. Harper into the kitchen as she put together a bag of ice with a paper towel wrapped around it. Meg followed them, Ethan nestled carefully into her arms.

"Thanks," Riley said gratefully as she sat down at the kitchen table.

"Of course!" said Mrs. Harper.

"Hey, Mom?" said Meg.

"Yes, Meg?" said Mrs. Harper.

"Can Riley and I have a sleepover? Pleeeease?" asked Meg.

"Well—"

"Pretty please?" Meg continued.

"Pretty pretty please with a cherry on top?" Meg and Riley said together. They giggled.

Mrs. Harper smiled. "Perhaps. But no movies. No staying up past nine."

They both nodded.

Mrs. Harper turned to Riley. "Did you ask your mom yet?"

Riley nodded. "She said yes if you said yes."

"Then it's settled," said Mrs. Harper decidedly. "Meg, go put your hockey things away. Riley, grab some pajamas and a toothbrush. You girls can sleep on the couch tonight."

Riley and Meg's faces lit up. "Yay!" they exclaimed together, and ran off to do exactly that.


The Harpers' sofa was a large one, with a material like leather and cushions like clouds. It had two plump things that Riley could never remember the name of, like couch-material coffee tables. Meg had gathered up some blankets and pillows, they had already headed outside and written down the current phase of the moon, and were now snuggled next to each other, whispering.

"I'm sooooo glad you're back in Minnesota," said Meg happily.

"Me, too." Riley giggled.

"Otherwise, you might never have met Ethan!" Meg added.

Riley felt her stomach drop. "Yeah, maybe . . . though I probably would have at some point. . . ." She suddenly felt sick. Maybe it was the pizza they had had that night—along with the forbidden candy—but she suspected that was only part of it.

"I mean . . . yeah, that's true, but I don't think I would have stood it if you saw him when he was, like, two, or something! You know?" Meg joked.

"Yeah. . . ." Riley couldn't trust herself to say anything more. She felt like she was going to throw up.

"Yeah. . . ." Meg sighed. "You wouldn't have been able to see your little baby brother, would you?"

Though this had probably meant to cheer Riley up (because Meg could see that her face was getting green), because their families were like—well, family to each other, it did the opposite.

"I need to use the bathroom . . ." Riley said desperately. And then she puked on the floor.

"Riley!" Meg cried out. She jumped up. "I'll go get my mom."

Riley threw up a bit more of her dinner, panting, before she knelt on the ground in front of the red, yellow, and brown pile. It looked disgusting. She heard Meg yelling out to her mother in the distance.

A minute later, Mrs. Harper and Meg had reappeared in the room.

"Oh, dear," said the former. The sound of a baby's crying had filled the house. "He'll wake up everybody. Meg, could you go get him please?"

"Sure," said Meg. She ran off into the hallway.

"You're not feeling well, are you?" asked Mrs. Harper gently. She placed a hand on Riley's forehead. "Hmm. No fever. Maybe this sleepover wasn't the best idea. You've both had a long day. Let's clean you up and then I'll take you back to your own house, okay?"

Riley nodded, not really thinking clearly.

"I'll be right back," said Mrs. Harper. She hurried into the kitchen and came back a minute later with a plastic pitcher, paper towels, and baby wipes in hand.

"There you go, sweetie," she said, wiping Riley's face will a wipe until it was clean of barf. "Take this if you need to throw up any more, okay?" She handed her the pitcher.

Riley nodded and took it. She shakily lifted herself up onto the couch and sat there, staring into its depths. Her mother had these for when her family got sick and started hurling. They called them barf buckets. This one smelled nicely like soap. Not like the ones at home. They stank, no matter how much Mrs. Anderson cleaned them.

"There we go," said Mrs. Harper and few minutes later. Riley looked up. The spot on the ground where she had thrown up was spotless. "Come on, let's get you home."

There was silence for a moment. Riley felt too tired to move.

"Sounds like Meg's got Ethan to sleep," Mrs. Harper breathed.

Riley nodded. She stood up. "I want to say goodbye to her," she said.

"You know what, we'd better get you back home," said Mrs. Harper resignedly. "You'll see Meg tomorrow, anyways."

Riley nodded again, not in the mood for protesting. She followed her friend's mother over to her own front door before realizing she still had her barf bucket in her hands.

"Oh. I still have this," she said.

"You can keep it for now," said Mrs. Harper. "Just return it tomorrow." She rang the doorbell.

A few minutes later, Mrs. Anderson came to the door and opened it. She looked tired and surprised and had a smear of what might also have been barf on her cheek.

"Oh! Riley! Amy! What's wrong?" she asked, eyes wide.

"Riley had a little accident," said Mrs. Harper.

"Oh, sweetie, are you okay?" said Riley's mother. Riley went over to her and felt herself being enveloped in a tight, warm hug.

"Fine," she muttered, and breathed deeply.

"I'd better get back to the house," said Mrs. Harper. "See you. Let me know how Riley's doing tomorrow, Lea."

"I will," said Mrs. Anderson. Mrs. Harper left.

"So you threw up, then?" she asked as she went into the house, closing the door behind her and Riley.

Riley nodded.

"Is there something wrong? You eat something funny?" her mother continued.

Just the fact that I'm overly jealous of Meg because she has so many younger siblings and I don't . . . Riley thought.

"Come on, let's get you to bed," said Mrs. Anderson.

"I left all my stuff at Meg's," said Riley as she slipped under the covers.

"That's okay, we'll get it all tomorrow," said her mother reassuringly. "I have to babysit for Amy, anyways. Ethan."

Riley started to feel sick again. But she didn't exactly feel like barfing. More like crying. Her stomach was tight and it hurt. So did her throat.

"Hey. Heard the door open. Everything okay?" Mr. Anderson walked into the room.

"She threw up," said his wife.

"Oh, poor girl," said Riley's father.

Her mother nodded.

Riley let out a sob.

"Honey, are you okay?" Mrs. Anderson asked.

Suddenly, Riley couldn't take it anymore.

"N-no!" she cried out. They looked at her, concerned.

"I—I mean—" she stuttered. Then she took a deep breath. "It's just. . . ."

"What, Riley?" her mother asked.

"It's—I just can't take it anymore!" Riley shouted. "The fact that Meg has so many younger siblings, and I don't, and it's just killing me! Mom . . . Dad . . . why didn't you ever try for more? Why? Why is it just me? Why am I so alone?!"

Her parents were shocked. They looked at each other worriedly, and then back at Riley.

"And then—and then when Mom almost—when you got—got that thing, I just . . . I wasn't sure even that slightest hope could . . . could be of some point," Riley continued. "I just . . . I just. . . ." She couldn't say anything else.

"Oh, Riley," said Mr. Anderson. "We never knew. . . ."

"We did try," said Mrs. Anderson. "For years, we tried. It just didn't seem like our family was supposed to get any bigger."

Riley looked at them, eyes red. "I wish you had tried harder."

Her parents exchanged looks again.

"Well . . . the thing is . . ." her mother started hesitantly, "it didn't seem that our family was going to grow. . . ."

Riley stared at her. "Mom . . .?"

Her parents looked at her closely.

"Well . . . we didn't want to tell you this until we were certain things would hold out all right, considering . . . considering the last time . . ." Mr. Anderson said carefully.

"But . . . maybe it's better if we tell you now," added Mrs. Anderson.

"So . . . I guess it's time to tell you . . . Riley. . . ." Her father took a deep breath. "You're going to be a big sister."

Riley's heart skipped a beat. "I—what? I—I am?"

Her mother nodded and put a hand to her stomach. "In less than nine months, yes."

Riley looked from one parent to the other. "R-really?" She could hardly believe this to be true.

"Really," both of her parents said at the same time.

Suddenly, Riley's mouth spread into the biggest beam she had ever had. She grabbed them both into a hug.

"You guys are amazing," she said, her voice muffled, as her face was between both of her parents' shoulders.

"You're even more so," said her father.

"But my new brother or sister will be the most amazing of all of us," grinned Riley.

"I think we'll all be equally amazing," said her mother.

And Riley agreed.