A/N: I AM NOT DEAD! YOU MAY HAVE THOUGHT I WAS DEAD OR SOMETHING REALLY, REALLY BAD LIKE THAT, BUT REST ASSURED, PEOPLE, THAT I AM NOT DEAD!

Sorry about that, I just had to do that. :P Anyways . . . I'm back, people! Sorry about the long, long wait. I was doing a NaNoWriMo story, and things got busy. But I had the chance to write this, so here I am! :D Yeah, this is a really short chapter, but I didn't want it to drag . . . like some of my other chapters may have . . . ehe. . . .

So I'd like to thank Degama for favoriting, Degama and Me Llamo Berry for following, and InsideLove, gamby004, Something funny (guest), and Harmony Avery for reviewing. You guys are awesome! :D

Anyways, this chappie ends with a cliffhanger. MUWAHAHAHA! Hopefully I'll be able to post more soon. But until then. . . .

READ ON!

Chapter Twelve

Girl or Boy?

Today was a big, big day. Today, Riley would find something out, something she had seemed to be waiting for her entire life.

Today, she was going to find out whether she was going to be the big sister to a baby sister or brother.

A few weeks ago, Riley had had a sort of certainty that it would be a girl, but now she wasn't so sure. They had gone by in a blur. She'd done hockey tryouts again without interference by Jemma or anyone else, had lots of practices, gone to school and realized just how hard it was getting, and all the while, her excitement about the fact that she was going to be an older sister was growing inside her.

However, doubts had nipped her every so often, as doubts always do. What if Riley wasn't a good enough sister? What if she couldn't handle being one? What if her baby brother or sister was very, very rude and not sweet at all?

She tried to tell herself that it would be fine, that she was being just plain silly.

But there was still the question that bothered her the most of all, that which asked whether or not she would ever actually get the brother or sister she craved so much.

What if something went wrong? What if . . . what if it was like last time? What if it didn't actually happen?

Riley tried to console herself. It had been earlier in her mother's pregnancy the first time that she had lost the baby . . . this time would be different . . . right?

She shook her head. She needed to get going with the task at hand—which was to finish a history book on World War II by tomorrow. Riley had been assigned the book this Monday. However, it was already Thursday, and she'd been so busy with hockey and her other school assignments and reading the third series in the cat story (there were multiple series) that she was only halfway through. So she'd decided to bring this book in the car with her instead of her cat book.

But Riley couldn't concentrate. Today she'd find out the gender of her little sibling.

She sighed, placing her blue strip of paper, which she used as a bookmark, into the book. She shut it and set it in her lap, staring out of the window. What would it be like? She'd never been to one of these. Riley and her parents were going together, since her father still hadn't been able to get a permanent job and neither had her mother—of course, her mother had to go. She was the one carrying the baby, after all.

Riley's heart skipped a beat. The doctor's office was just in sight—they were driving into the parking lot—and they had come to a stop right in front of the large glass doors.

She wrenched the door of the car open and leaped outside. A beam had spread across her face as she stared at the large building in front of her.

Everything seemed to be going right today. School hadn't been dreadful, Riley had hockey practice later tonight, she was back in Minnesota, and she was going to be a big sister very soon—well, in several months, at least. She sighed contentedly. Nothing could go wrong today.

But Jemma was still acting strange.

Riley's smile faded as she thought of the blond girl. Jemma hadn't physically hurt her at all the past several weeks, but she had thrown dark, meaningful looks at her. She'd made comments about babies and boys and hockey that unnerved Riley. She was confused as to what Jemma had meant when she mentioned boys in particular—what was wrong with them? Nothing boy-related had occurred between the two girls.

Riley shook her head. She couldn't let that girl from school bother her now.

In just minutes, she knew that she would be the happiest girl in the world.

Riley held her breath as she watched the alien-like figure lying curled-up on the gray and white screen. It was just so . . . tiny. It seemed impossible that that thing was growing inside of her mother.

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson," said the doctor that had helped them in the room from behind her clipboard, "it looks like you have a healthily growing baby despite your age, Mrs. Anderson." She smiled at them and their daughter.

Riley's parents' expressions both turned to relief, though Riley knew that they had been trying their hardest not to look worried.

"Oh, thank you," said her mother. She was smiling.

"No problem," said the dark-skinned doctor. "Now, you wanted the gender. Well. . . ." She gave an even larger smile. "It looks like you'll be having another girl."

Riley looked up from the screen. She was going to have a little sister?!

Her parents both looked the happiest they had been in days—Mrs. Anderson especially; she'd gotten rather sick as of late, and had not been happy about it.

"Really?!" Riley choked out. She found it was very hard to speak. Her throat seemed constricted.

The doctor nodded, still smiling. "Yes, a healthy little girl. Now, Mrs. Anderson, as long as you just keep yourself healthy and rest a lot, you and the baby should be just fine."

Riley's mother's eyes sparkled. "Thank you so much."

"It's no problem," said the doctor.

They began discussing things that did not interest Riley very much. Then it was time to leave.

It seemed that Riley was floating as she followed her parents back to the car. She was going to have a little sister. It just seemed so perfect.

"So, any new ideas for names?"

Riley looked over at her father, who was currently driving, from her gaze out the window. She hadn't even noticed the silence.

"Well, no we know exactly what kind of them to look for," said her mother from her seat next to him up front.

"Yep," said Mr. Anderson. "Narrowed it down by fifty percent."

"Now we just have to narrow it down to about point zero one percent," said his wife. They both chuckled, and Riley gave a small laugh.

"You haven't said much in the last few minutes, Riley. Something on your mind?" said her father.

"Nothing," said Riley. She sighed.

"Okay," said her father. "So, any ideas for names? You know, I've always liked Beatrice."

"We are not naming our child after your grandmother, Jack," said Mrs. Anderson. "I love her, but I really just don't care for the name Beatrice."

"Fine, then," said Mr. Anderson. "How about . . . Lea?"

"Not me, either," said his wife. Riley could tell that she was smiling.

"Any suggestions, Monkey?" said her father.

"Well . . ." said Riley. She hadn't yet told them the name she'd decided on back at Meg's house weeks ago. "What about . . . Daisy?"

There was a pause. The car stopped at a red light, and Riley's parents exchanged brief looks.

"What?" asked Riley curiously.

"That—" Lea took a breath. She sounded like she was choking up. "We were thinking of naming your other little brother or sister that."

Riley felt like something had hit her. She had never known this.

"Oh," she said.

"Oh, it's an absolutely wonderful name!" said her mother hurriedly. "It just brings back memories that I. . . ." She stopped, not able to finish.

"That you didn't want to come back?" Riley suggested.

Her mother turned around to look at her and nodded.

"But . . ." she said hesitantly. "We'll . . . think about it, okay?"

Riley nodded. "Okay."

There was silence. The car started moving again.

Riley turned to look out of the window. Maybe she shouldn't have suggested the name at all. . . . But she hadn't known it would bring such pain to her mother, such tears to her eyes, or that sinking feeling in the pit of Riley's stomach.

A split second later, she heard the sound of tires sliding along the ground to a sharp stop, a loud thump, and felt an unimaginable pain on her head—

And then everything went black.

Hey, guys. Guess what? The more you review, the sooner I'll post again.

-MagicFireTiger

P.S. Just saying.