A/N: Sorry I took so long. I had schoolwork I needed to tend to and my computer's hard drive failed on me, so my dad had to make several phone calls and have it shipped to Fed-Ex just so we could get the damn thing fixed. I digress. I hope you enjoy!

The day has finally come for me to check out of the hospital and to part ways with my mother. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget this day because I know this might be the last time we cross paths with one another. Hell, just thinking about it makes me feel like my heart is going to tear itself in half. My mother has no choice but to live out there, all alone and struggling to stay alive, all because of me. It's my own damn fault she might die out on the streets.

She looks so pasty and gaunt that I can't even begin to imagine how much more she'll have to lose before she dies, her weight or spirit or God knows what. How long might it be until I can no longer recognize her face? How long might it take until her long, silky black hair turns to ash? How long might she see until her dark almond-shaped eyes cloud up and she can't see anymore? I feel like I'm losing my mind.

"Mom, you still have a choice," I tell her. "You could live with me until you get back on your feet. Are you sure you want to do this?"

She solemnly nods her head. "It's for the best, sweetie. You have your whole life ahead of you and I'm afraid I might just hold you back. Besides, you and Ruby are going to be wonderful parents."

"Y-You really think so?"

"I know so." She tries to hold back some tears but she can't. "Goodbye, my Laffy Sapphy. I love you..."

"I love you too, Mom... I'm going to miss you so much."

"Me too, but I'll always be with you. Good luck."

She turns her back on me and starts walking off to her new destination, wherever it may be. Once I'm certain she's out of my line of sight, tears begin to form in my eyes and there's no way I can stop them. Now what? If my aunt Maya finds out about Ruby and the baby, she'll see to it that my singing career never takes off and nobody at her record company will want anything to do with me. My life is over.

No, my life isn't over. It's just getting started. So what if my dreams are about to be crushed because of who I am? I've still got the rest of my life to look forward to. I've got to be strong for the two most important people in my life, not just myself.


The first thing I do when I arrive at Ruby's doorstep is knock loudly enough that she can hear me. A few seconds go by, and nothing seems to happen. Where could she be? God, I hope she opens up. Soon, my worries go away when her face comes into view.

"Hey, Sapphire," she says with a cute little smile.

"Hey," I reply.

"I thought you were at home. What are you doing here?"

"Well, my dad kicked me and Mom out when he found out about you guys. I don't really know where else to go, so here I am."

Ruby's eyes widen at this. "Oh my God... that's terrible. You can stay with me until you get back on your feet."

"Thanks, Rube."

"Did you just call me Rube?"

"Yeah... is that alright with you?"

She falls silent for a minute or two before replying, "I-I guess. Why don't you come inside and meet my roommate?"

"Your roommate?"

"Yeah, she moved in with me a couple weeks ago. I guess I should've told you about her earlier, but she tends to travel around a lot with her job and all, so it's not like it'd even matter."

"Don't worry. I totally understand."

I follow her inside to her place, and almost immediately I'm met with flamboyance and chattiness. Ruby's roommate moves so dramatically and bombastically that she completely defies what I might've expected out of her. She has brown skin like her, only it has more of a maroon hue to it. Plus, she has strawberry blonde hair like Pearl's, but it's so tightly curled that it more or less resembles an afro that's been shaped into a triangle. Her nose is upturned and pointy, her eyes are a deep dark brown, and her thick lips are accompanied by a small gap in her teeth.

"Hi, you must be Ruby's roommate," I start off.

"I sure am!" she replies in a sing-song voice.

"So... she just told me you travel a lot. What do you think that makes you?"

"Worldly?" Her laughter sounds like a machine gun firing every bullet it has at once, but she soon calms down. She bows with a subdued smile and extends her hand at my direction. "Sarah Donovan-Nixon, at your service."

I reach my hand out to touch hers, but she quickly grips it before I can and boy is her grip strong. "Sapphire Dahl, nice to meet you."

"Same here, Sapphire. What brings you here?"

"Well, my dad found out that I'm gay and he threw me and Mom out of the house, so here I am."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry to hear that. It must've been rough having to hide in the closet like that."

I let out a nervous chuckle at this. "Yeah, it sure was. I'm sure your parents are much nicer than mine are."

"Well..." She trails off for a minute or two. "I wish I could agree with you, but unfortunately it wasn't like that."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, let's just say my mom forced me to exist so I could be the reason my parents stayed together. Of course, I'm going by what my dad told me so it's possible they could be more to it than that."

"You mean...?"

"Yes, according to him, I was a Band-Aid baby."

"Oh my God... how the hell can you even live with that?"

"A positive attitude and lots of denial?"

I freeze up, trying to figure out what to say next before I glance over to see Ruby wildly gesturing towards the kitchen. I think she can tell what I'm thinking, but I can't be too sure so I have to come with her. I follow her into the kitchen and we start talking sotto voce.

"Look, I know it's hard," Ruby begins to say. "But I think we'll be okay."

"You think or you know?" I ask while raising an eyebrow.

Ruby sighs heavily at this. "Sapphire, if we're going to make this relationship work, we'll have to do a lot of growing up not just for ourselves, but for our baby. I mean, have you seen how scary the world is? Black people are being murdered for no good reason, rape culture won't die, people are driven to suicide over stupid shit on the Internet, and worst of all, we LGBT folk have to pretend to be somebody we're not just so we won't be shunned by our families. If we're going to bring a kid into this kind of world, we have to be ready for anything."

"I know, Ruby, I know. It is a scary place out there, but at least we'll have each other."