The next morning greeted Elaine with her usual sickness, but today, she felt worse than usual. Wetting a cloth with water from the sink and pressing it to her forehead, she was surprised to find Hornet up and reading the same book she'd been reading the previous night.

"Have you been reading that all night?" she asked, the first thought to come to mind.

Hornet laughed. "No, silly, I haven't. I've been awake for about half an hour, but you didn't notice me when you went into the bathroom."

Elaine nodded, feeling more tired than usual; she laid down on her bed and said, "God, I feel like crap." This was true: she was dizzy, nauseated, and had an awful headache.

Hornet looked over at her with concern. "Are you going to be okay?"

Elaine managed to smile faintly. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Sometimes I just feel really bad, and sometimes I don't. It changes up a bit."

Her braided friend nodded, still looking a bit worried. "Well, tell me if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay," Elaine mumbled, exhausted by now. She curled up under her sheets and closed her eyes.

The next thing she knew, she had woken up to find herself alone in the room. Hornet's angry voice was in the hallway: "Fine then, Riccio. Do whatever you want to friggin' do, but when you end up injuring yourself, don't come crying to me!" Hornet opened the door, her facial expression furious, and looked ready to kill when she spotted Elaine. She slapped herself on the forehead and said, "Oh, God, I'm sorry. I forgot you were asleep. Did I wake you up?"

"No," Elaine lied, sitting up. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," said Hornet, settling her firmly onto her bed and glaring at the closed door. "It's just that Riccio can be so...ugh! I can't stand him!"

Elaine doubted that 'nothing' led to an argument between Hornet and Riccio, but she knew how horribly annoying he could be at times. She nodded sympathetically and looked at the clock. It was now 1:02 in the afternoon.

"Do you want some lunch?" asked Hornet. "Bo demanded that we make macaroni, but besides that we've got sandwiches and grapes."

"Sure," responded Elaine. "I'm starving."

After combing her hair and changing her clothes, Elaine went down into the kitchen. Once she'd gotten herself some food, she went into the theatre to eat it. Mosca and Riccio were busy doing something or other to Mosca's radio, and Prosper and Bo were throwing a rubber ball to each other. Elaine was going to read a book when she'd finished her lunch, but when she was washing the dishes, Hornet pulled her aside.

"So?" she asked. "Are you going to tell Scipio? When he comes here tonight? He usually comes at about 10-ish, as you know..."

Elaine could have slapped herself. Of course! Now she knew what she'd forgotten. Scipio was coming tonight, and this night, he would tell them about his father and the house they would be buying. Elaine would also be telling them all about the baby. She looked at Hornet now, and imagined her reaction to Scipio's secret...

No, she didn't want to think about that yet.

"Yes, Hornet."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Really sure?"

"Yes."

"Positive?"

Elaine gave her a look. "Hornet.

"Okay, okay, just checking."

Elaine spent the rest of the day cleaning the Stella. She knew it wasn't much use, because it had been dirty for so long and they would be moving out soon, but she just felt like cleaning. She tackled two of the bathrooms and Riccio and Mosca's room, and was working on the kitchen when she heard a knock at the door.

Oh, God.

Knowing exactly who it was, with a sense of dread rising in her stomach, Elaine wiped her hands off with a towel and saw Mosca go to answer the door. Her insides were squirming as she saw Scipio and Mosca walk into the theatre; Scipio was saying something.

When he saw her, Scipio walked over to her and said quietly, so only she could hear, "I'm about to tell them. Can you go get Prosper, Hornet, and Riccio? I don't think Bo should be in on this."

Elaine nodded and went up the stairs. "Hornet? Prosper? Riccio? Come on downstairs; Scipio's here and he needs to tell you something."

The three teenagers came out of their rooms and followed Elaine down the stairs. Scipio was sitting on the stage and Mosca was sitting on the floor below him. Elaine joined Scipio on the stage as the other three sat on the floor and looked over at him. She could see the fear in his face, and she smiled at him and gave his hand a squeeze, at the same time knowing a disaster would soon strike.

"Well, you all," Scipio began. "You're going to hate me, but..."


"I can't believe you!" shouted Riccio, hurt and betrayal etched onto his face. "Thief Lord - nothing but a lie! You're such a phony!"

Around the room, general replies along the same lines were being echoed. Elaine looked over at Scipio again, seeing the sadness in his face, and scooted closer to him. After a few minutes of waiting for the chaos to die down, she began loudly, "Well, we're planning to move to London, because--"

"London! London! You're moving to London and just leaving us behind?" Elaine was not surprised to hear the tears in Prosper's voice and guilt settled over her.

"No, we're not leaving you behind. Actually, we were planning to bring you all along and live in a house together."

Riccio, who was just about to say another nasty remark, stopped in mid-thought. He hadn't been expecting that. "Why?" he asked.

"Because I'm pregnant, Riccio. Are you happy now?"

Everyone besides Hornet's mouths fell open and their eyes opened. "Oh my -- are you serious?!" exclaimed Mosca. Elaine smiled at him and nodded.

"But...you...it's Scipio's, isn't it?" asked Riccio.

Elaine replied, rather angrily, "Yes, Riccio, do you really think that---?"

"No, I don't, but...I just..."

They all let Riccio stammer himself into silence. There was no sound for a while, besides everyone's breathing. Prosper finally said, "Well, I guess things are going to change now, aren't they?"

Elaine looked down at them all. Even if they were angry at Scipio, she knew it would fade eventually. They were her friends, and always would be. "Yes, Prosper, they are."