Hey y'all, sorry about taking so long to update! I wasn't doing it on purpose, I just had some school/work/friends drama for the past couple of weeks. Anyway, I'll try to stay on top of writing chapters, but no promises. MUCHO thanks to all who reviewed!! Five cookies for each of you! And I'll have to say that some characters are going to have OOC moments. And because it's taken me so long to update b/c of some friend drama, it's a bigger chapter!! ENJOY!!!


"Mom?" I asked, "mom, what are you doing?"

She ignored me, and continued to toss my things out on the front lawn.

She was kicking me out.

She was actually kicking me out. She had been so supportive in the beginning, and now, this? Just an hour ago, I was her perfect daughter who made a mistake, and now, I'm the slut that got myself into trouble.

"Mom, you can't be serious," I said picking up my things. "Dad?" I asked as he appeared in the doorway.

"Your mother told me everything." He said, for the first time in a month, speaking directly to me and looking into my eyes. And when he looked at me, and spoke to me, I could see the tears that were already there, and more were forming.

"We both agree that you can't live here anymore."

"So you're kicking me out because I was honest with the two of you?" I said spitefully.

"No, Savannah, do you know how disappointed we are in you?" there. He used it, 'disappointment,' that worse than saying 'we're angry with you,' it's worse than getting in trouble.

"You've been lying to us for months. Your mother tired to be supportive of you. I wanted to be there for you, but deep down I knew I couldn't. You're our daughter, and we love you, but you can't live here. Not around Austin, not around Jenny."

"What? Are you afraid I'm going to corrupt them? Teach Austin how to smoke weed and teach Jenny the joy's of sex?" I said sarcastically. "With any luck by the time she's my age, she'll already have one, and another on the way!"

I was slapped.

Hard.

At first, I didn't know who was the one that did it. But when I opened my eyes, I saw mom standing in front of me. Tear's running down her face.

I'd never been hit before. There was the occasional spanking when I was little. But even that was nothing. I'd seen girls get hit in fights before. But there was no way that those hurt more than this. I couldn't stand down. I knew that I couldn't give her the satisfaction of knowing that hurt me more than it looked. I looked her straight in the eye.

"Did that make you feel better?"

She looked ahead. More and more tears streaming down her face.

"What about you?" I turned to dad. I don't know why, but I felt the need to provoke the two of them. "Do you want a turn? Want to do whatever it take's to make sure I never do anything like this to you again."

"Savannah, don't do this to us." He said firmly.

"Oh, yes, everything that I've done was to you two. None of it was to myself. Heck! At least this way I've gotten a little bit of attention out of it." I don't know why I was saying this. I couldn't help it. It all came spilling out of my mouth.

"God forbid you come and have a conversation with me, when Austin is sitting on the couch doing nothing but let his brain cells melt away! Or you miss a single one of Jenny's ballet lessons, and come to one of my choir concerts or volleyball games! Hell, maybe if you two had been better parents to all three of us, all of this could have been avoided! Cause, like you said, my being pregnant only effects you too and your picture perfect image!"

I was slapped again.

"Having this baby has nothing to do with me! I'm only the mother, I'm the one who has to carry it!"

Every resentful thought that I had about or towards my parents was said.

"Do you honestly think that's what this is about?" mom said.

"Please, if it's not, enlighten me."

"We decided that we were going to support you, and then you lied to us about everything! How could you have had your first kiss and I didn't know about it. You haven't been honest with us in ages!"

"Did you want me to tell you that I was having sex? That I was hooking up with any boy that gave me the time of day. He could be 15, 16, 20, or 30, I didn't care. At least then for a brief time, I felt that someone loved me."

"You think that we don't love you? You're our oldest child…"

"You two don't give a damn about me. I'm not perfect! I'm not even close. But if I'm not perfect, I might as well not even exist."

"Savannah, you know that's not true!"

"Isn't it though? If I'm not the best at what I do, then I'm practically invisible. Neither of you are perfect!" I turned towards dad. "You got married because you thought your girlfriend was pregnant. And then you might as well had an affair with that woman cop friend. You spent more time with her then you did us!"

"Leave." My dad said. "Don't expect to come crawling back to us, when you have no where else to go."

I had never been spoken to so cruelly. Then again, I've never said such mean things to my parents.

"Fine. I don't need your help." I turned away from them. "I'll just whore myself out until I'm too far long! And when I die on the streets," I turned back around to face them, and with all sarcasm but with a serious voice continued. "After selling the baby for drugs, you'll remember that was the last thing you said to me, and the last thing you did was slap me." I turned around again grabbed a duffel bag, and left.

They didn't know it, but I was crying. But nothing was going to make me turn around. They didn't want me there, and I understood that. But to suggest that I would try to manipulate Austin and Jenny, this would be the last thing I would want for either of them.

I heard crying, and some yelling, "why did you slap her?" came from dad. "You didn't have to yell at her," came from mom. "She doesn't have anywhere to go, besides your sisters, she'll be back." He said loudly.

"AND YOU TOLD HER NOT TO COME BACK!" she yelled back at him.

After this, I could no longer hear them. I didn't want to. I didn't care. I picked up my phone and called Ruthie's once again.

I spoke to the same receptionist. And she put me through to Aunt Ruthie.

"Savannah…" she said softly, "what's wrong honey?"

"She kicked me out. They both did. They said that they didn't want me around Austin and Jenny. And that I'm doing all of this to spite them."

"So I'm taking that you told them everything that you told me?"

"Yes. I didn't mean too. I just all came out. Once I started I couldn't stop. And they said I had to leave and I couldn't come back." I said trying to hold back the tears.

"Oh, sweet heart, I'm sorry. Where are you now?"

"About two blocks away from the house. I just took one of the bags she threw out on the lawn and walked away." I said, slowing starting to cry.

"First you need to calm down, okay? I'm done here for the day. I'll come and pick you up. We'll stop at your parent's and I'll try to talk some sense into them"

"They don't need sense! They don't want me anymore!" I realized how irrational I was sounding.

"Of course they want you, they're just upset with you. I want you to stay where you are, and I'll be there in about ten minutes or so, okay?" she said calmly.

She hung up. And I thought about what she said. But what if she was wrong? What if they weren't just mad, and wanted nothing more to do with me?

My cell phone brought me back to earth.

Tim: Miss u.

I thought about it. There was no way he could miss me. I just saw each other.

Me: Wat? U just saw me.

Tim: I kno. But I do.

Me: Thanx.

I didn't know what else to say to him, 'yeah, I miss you too?' I didn't want him to think that now I was his girlfriend. We have much bigger things to discuss than dating. I stared at the screen that was blank except for the 'thanx.'

I could tell him yet. This didn't involve him. Not really though. He didn't need this on his conscious. It was bad enough that I've brought Aunt Ruthie into it. Without sending the text, I closed the phone. Just moments later I got another text from him.

Tim: Srry if that was weird.

I laughed. He was right. It was weird. I didn't know how to respond to it.

Me: its ok, im just thinkin bout other stuff.

Tim: n e thing I can do? ;)

Me: no, its fam stuff. Thanx though.

Aunt Ruthie, I've discovered, has impeccable timing. As soon as I sent the message, I saw her driving towards me. She drove a small SUV, which she and Peter bought a few months before Jacob was born. Jacob was the spitting image of Peter. Even at the tender age of one, there were so many similarities.

She stopped the car directly in front of me. I got in silently. I didn't need to be the patient right now. I just needed someone who understood and supported my decisions.

"Hey," she said turning the car around and heading back for my house, "have you heard from either of your parents?"

I shook my head. "No." I said softly. "But it hasn't been that long. Just 30 minutes or so."

My ten-minute walk was about a 5-second drive. She pulled into the driveway, and all of my things were still on the front lawn.

"I want you to stay in here, okay?"

"But-"

"Please, just stay in the car. I don't want you to hear anything that might hurt you."

"A little late for that…" I said under my breath.

"Get what you can into the back, and I'll be back in a little while okay?"

"Okay…" I was being as polite as I could. I don't know why, but I was having the urge to be short with people. I didn't like it. It wasn't my normal self.

I saw her walk up the driveway and knock on the door. After a moment, someone answered the door. It must've been Jenny; I could barely see her there in the doorway. Shortly mom appeared, looking around, as though she expected me to be right there.

They went inside. I walked around to gather my things. Though I didn't really get the point. In just a few weeks they would all be too small. After a minute I heard the door open. I started to run back to the car, but then I saw it was Austin and Jenny. And for the brief second that door was open, I heard lots of yelling.

"This has nothing to do with you!"

"She's just 15!"

"She's already made her decision!"

"This is about her!"

I knew it was all three of them yelling. Ruthie though, was the calmest of the three of them.

"Vannah?" asked Austin, "why is everyone yelling?"

"Remember you asked me this morning why I've been so sick?"

"Uh-huh…" they both said softly. I was going to have to gently break it to my younger siblings that I was pregnant.

"Well, I'm going to be a mommy," I said, "like how Aunt Ruthie had Jake? I'm going to have a baby."

"Then why is everyone fighting?" asked Jenny, "no one fought when aunt Ruthie said she was going to have a baby." (Okay, I'm not very good at dialogue for little kids, so just imagine it that a 6-year-old is saying it.)

This was going to be harder than I thought.

"Because," I tried to think of way to sugar coat this, "the stork usually brings babies to married people, right?" they both nodded, "well, sometimes, the stork decides that people who aren't married are going to get a baby. And sometimes they're really young, even though most people don't think that the stork should bring young people like me, a baby. You understand?"

They muttered 'yes's.'

"Now, you both need to go back inside, okay?" Austin turned immediately, but Jenny was less willing.

"Are you coming too?" she asked, looking up at me.

"No, not now. But I'll see you soon okay? I promise." I gave her a smile and she turned towards the house.

Austin got to the door first and opened it, only to release more yelling.

"She's just a little slut!"

"Kevin, you know that's not true!"

"Then how do you explain this situation we're all in?!" I heard mom yell.

"She made a mistake, for God's sake Lucy, she's 15! She's allowed to make a judgement error!"

"Now you're calling it a 'judgement error'?!" scoffed dad.

The door shut and the screaming was muted.

I did that thing, were I half-laughed and half-cried at the same time. "So the truth comes out…" I said quietly to myself.

After ten more minutes of muted screaming, Ruthie appeared outside. I was in the car, and she said something I couldn't quite make out, but it was followed by an inappropriate hand gesture. She got into the car, obviously flustered. I wanted to make a silly comment to try to break the ice, but I was too afraid that she would end up kicking me out of the car.

"Your parents---" she said not directly to me, but though she was just thinking out loud. "Are the most hard-headed, ridiculous, selfish people I've ever met!"

"Oh, it went that well, huh?" I asked.

"They kept on saying that you were a disgrace, and that the baby has no right to be with you. And if it was up to them it would be put straight up for adoption. I couldn't believe some of the stuff that was coming out of their mouths about you…"

"I know, I heard…"

"Oh, you did?" she asked. I nodded. "I'm sorry for that,"

"No, you were sticking up for me, you have nothing to be sorry for."

"Thanks, but I still feel bad. You are going to come live with Peter and me. But you have to know, no sneaking out."

"Believe me, I won't be doing that again."

We made small talk for the rest of the drive back to her house.

"I've already talked to Peter about this. We've got a spare bedroom that you can stay in for now. But hopefully, like my mom did with our old house, we can convert the garage into a little apartment or something for you. There's plumbing already out there. And you can stay there as long as you need to. But you need to think about maybe getting emancipated from your parents. I know it might seem like a long shot, but you at least need to consider it, okay?"

"Okay," I said grateful that Ruthie was going to allow me to live with them.

The next five months are going to be really interesting.