I do not own the Penderwicks. I wish I did, though.

Jane

I darted down the hall, ready to boldly find out why this separation was happening. I stopped outside Daddy's study and put my ear to the door. "…Mrs. Aaronson, I'm sorry. Iantha said that she doesn't want to talk about it. I didn't know, and… please don't hang up…" Then he started muttering some unhappy words to himself.

I winced at the slam of the phone. "I tried, I really tried…" He moaned.

Before I could stop myself, I knocked on the door. "Come in," my father called warily.

I poked my head inside the very messy study. "Daddy, I have a question."

"What's that?" My father smiled.

I steeled myself and pushed the words out. "Is Iantha pregnant?"

The smile dropped from his lips. After a long pause, he said, "Not any more. There was a miscarriage."

My jaw dropped. "Why didn't we know?" I pulled up the chair in front of his desk.

He sighed. "It was the week Iantha and I went to the hospital to visit your great aunt Macy."

I winced. Great Aunt Macy had breast cancer, and Iantha and Daddy had gone to see her off three weeks ago before she died. "Daddy…" I touched the sleeve of his sweater.

He smiled sadly. "You've noticed Iantha and I haven't been spending much time together? Well, I just feel like I've failed two people." His eyes flitted to a picture of Rosalind, Skye, Mommy holding baby Batty in her arms, and me. Her last photo.

Three, I thought, imagining the half-sibling I had lost. "You didn't fail Mom, and you haven't failed Iantha."

"Yes, I have, and you know it." He looked at me pointedly. "Don't try to tell me different, you little scribe." I grinned a bit at my childhood nickname. "Now go and tell the others. I'm feeling like a coward today." He winced. "You understand, don't you?"

I stared at my father's pleading face. For some reason, Alec flashed into my mind. The fear, the pain, the touch of self-loathing…they were both two men who had failed a child.

I nodded firmly. "Of course." I turned and stepped quietly to the door. I stopped and turned on one heel. "What was the baby going to be?"

He glanced up at me. "A boy." He muttered.

I couldn't take any more sadness at that moment, so I stumbled out of the room.

I didn't want to make Sabrina Starr funny anymore.

After I had gathered my wayward siblings and Jeffrey, there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Rosalind was quietly sobbing, holding on to Batty tightly. Even Skye and Jeffrey got a little teary.

Jeffrey wiped his eyes. "I can't help but think of the whole mess up at Point Mouette with me and Dad."

Surprisingly, it was four-year-old Ben who said, "But what about Mommy and Daddy?"

This brought everyone back on track. Skye jumped up and said, "You're right, Ben. We need to forget about the baby and focus on getting Iantha and Daddy back together."

"We must reignite the passion that brought them together, shoot them once more with Cupid's arrow!" I smiled.

"And I have an idea," Jeffrey crowed. Everyone turned to him. "Is there a restaurant here in town that's kind of a social area for kids our age?"

Ooh, so Jeffrey has plans! I do too, and you'll find them out a lot faster if you review! To those with accounts who read this who haven't posted, could you please review, so I can thank you properly?