Despite the tender moments between Bender and Allison the previous night, Bender got up early to get home while his mom and dad were still to hungover to function properly. He didn't have a lot, but he wanted to pack up and get out as soon as he could. Moving in with Allison suddenly made him wake up and feel like a new man. For once, he felt ready to wake up and face the day. He quietly snuck out of bed and put on his shirt so that Allison wouldn't wake up. Last night's confessions were like a good bag of doobage to him. He felt high and pumped.

After leaving a note explaining that he'd be back by lunchtime, Bender slowly went downstairs and started off down the street for home. The truck was gone…Ernie probably took it home with him. Allison's boxes were piled up inside his office. The air was cold and crisp, and the sun was glaring on the fresh dusting of snow on the ground. It was so bright and chilly outside Bender's eyes hurt and watered at the same time, but he sure as hell didn't care. He kept his 'poker face' as he walked, but his heart was finally smiling again like he never thought it would.

"Heeey!"

On second thought…

Bender groaned loudly as he saw Liz leaning on a telephone pole wearing a furry parka. "What's a big guy like you doing up so early?"

"It's the Abominable Snow Breast!" Bender wailed. "Get lost!"

Liz started following him, unfazed. "You know, John, you don't scare me….gosh, I mean you'd scare me more if you were shirtless and hard—"

"—Jesus Christ! I said GET LOST!" Bender shouted.

"I know what she's trying to get you to believe, John," said Liz. "But I just want to let you know that girls like Allison, they'll dump you after the birth. She's one of those 'independent spirits' who work better alone!" Liz sighed loudly, her breath freezing in midair and curling up in it's vapor form around Bender nose. He snorted as if a cold was coming on.

"Lemme rephrase my sentence…GO GET KILLED!" Bender felt himself shoving her out of his path before continuing along his way. Liz fell into a snow bank. She watched helplessly as Bender, standing tall, passed her on his way home. Liz sunk her head back into the snow bank and cried softly, and genuinely, to herself.

Two long, miserable weeks passed, and the end of the semester brought little relief. Between trying to finish the apartment and going to school looking like a whale and a half, not to mention still more teasing, the baby was kicking more and getting heavier, and Vernon's dirty looks following her around at school, Allison was exhausted. On the last Saturday in January, she and Bender were wallpapering the living room. Allison had the heat turned up on max, and Bender felt like he was in a sauna. But if it was the way Allison wanted it, he'd even turn it up higher for her.

"Phew! It's so cold in here!" Allison wailed at one point, to which Bender gave Allison his jacket. It was funny how even his huge trench coat wasn't big enough for her anymore. But Allison made do with it. "John, I need to sit," Allison whined, collapsing into the love seat. "I feel so useless."

"I can get Rudy up here in ten to help," said Bender, going for the phone, only to realize it wasn't even hooked up yet. "We really need to kick Tad in the nuts. He was supposed to hook us up last week! The guy is useless!"

"It's okay, he had a lot of work just like I did this semester!" Allison said.

"Well then, just sit down for a minute!" Bender advised. Allison looked around her.

"John, I'm already sitting!"

Bender blushed. Allison loved when he did that. Bender sat down on the arm of the sofa and sighed out through his nose. Allison loved when he did that too.

"I can't believe it's not even time yet for this baby!" Allison moaned. "I'm tired! My back is murder, I can't even tell if I'm wearing shoes anymore! My feet are gone!" Laying her head back on the sofa, Allison blew a few tufts of hair out of her fact. "And as soon as I have the child, I need to get a job…"

"Al, we've been through this a zillion times! Ern's letting you stay here rent-free!"

"Yeah, well, the kid needs to eat and shit, right? Not to mention he's not going to be raised a nudist!" Allison said back. Bender put his hand on Allison's shoulder as he moved next to her on the sofa.

"Why not? I think it'd be liberating!" Bender said, smirking. Allison laughed a little in her throat.

"He'd get cold in the winter!" Allison said. She then sighed again. "I still need a job. I'm looking at a record store about 4 miles from here, it just opened up. I think it's called TRAX or something. John, I need this job. I'm not having you waste your salary solely on me just because we're living together now!"

Bender smiled and licked the corner of his lip. "Say it again!"

"Huh?"

"The part about us living together!" Bender said.

Allison rolled her eyes. "We're living together!" Allison said, sneezing afterwards. Bender let out a chuckle. Allison's sneezed sounded like a singing Munchkin on crack. Allison pouted her lip.

"John, you are such a—"

"—oh baby! Your sneezes turn me on faster than a porno and a bowl of green M&Ms!" Bender started kissing the crook of Allison's neck.

"John, how can we…um…DO anything?" Bender ignored her and kept going, now running his kisses down her shoulder. "John, JOHN! I don't think I'm anatomically fit to….JOHN!" Allison moaned. She rolled her eyes and kicked his thigh enough so she could get up. "Seriously, how much fun would I be in bed with my load right now?"

"I heard the added stress makes it hotter, if you wanna try!"

"Yeah, hotter for you! It'd be hard trying to make love with a watermelon on my gut!" Allison said, rubbing her stomach.

"Awww, you're mean!" Bender said, pouting and crossing his arms. Allison smiled at John and picked up a roll of wallpaper, studying the light purple pattern. "Al?"

"Yes, John?"

"You wanna go out tonight?"

"John, you know we can't! So much to do right now! Do I have to be the only one taking responsibility around here?"

Bender got up and took Allison in his arms. "Well, better you than me. I'd end up setting the place on fire!" Allison smiled and kissed him on the nose lightly. "We need a night out. It might be the last time we go out for awhile, you know!"

Allison considered this. "I suppose ONE night would be fun! Where do you want to go?"

Club Jupiter was located in the basement of a rundown coffee house long since out of use. It was loud and adventurous, and for that reason many people preferred the sensible country club to the bright, stupefying world of deafening garage bands and drinks served to minors. It had a stage, a dance floor, a café, a bar, and sometimes a karaoke night. The general crowd was usually college-aged or under, and the music was ALWAYS metal and rock. Bender had taken Allison there along with Claire and Brian during the week over the summer Andy was in the hospital, to help settle Allison's clouded mind. None of them had been back since, well, at least until now. Bender actually called his band last minute, and the Club eagerly allowed Jesus and the Pirates to play. Bender played at Club Jupiter several times over the past year, and were a smash hit almost every time they played. So when Bender took Allison down there, he brought his guitar and met with the guys backstage, but not before sitting Allison at the best table in the house.

The band played a few new songs for the Club, which was on it's feet dancing like mad. Allison felt Bender getting better with ever gig, ever note he played. At one point, Bender spoke into the mic between songs. "This one I wrote just this week, and it's for a very unique and amazing person, you k now who you are!" he said, winking at Allison. Bender then, along with the band, proceeded to play a song called "Out of My Skull." The melody was hot and face-paced. It seemed to be the best song of the night so far. Allison loved the chorus the best…

My little reclusive one,

You not alone no more,

Ignore the past,

Ignore the pain,

And see what livin's for!

Come out of shadows

My sanity's gone

Darling, can't you see?

You drive me up a tree,

I'm out of my skull for you,

Damn, girl, I'm out of my skull for you!

Allison loved it.

After Bender's set, Allison got out of her seat and had to kiss Bender. "That song was so intense!"

"Yeah, just a little something I picked up at the Intense Song Store!" Bender smiled.

"Very funny!" Allison said. Bender sat down in the seat where Allison had just been sitting. "Do you mind if I dance a little bit?"

"Why would I stop you? Go for it!" Allison spiraled out to the floor. It was quite the sight to see…a pregnant girl dressed in black from head to toe, doing very strange moves in the middle of the floor. Her dark brown hair whirled around her like a hurricane whirling around the eye. The people around didn't seem to care that she wasn't exactly Ginger Rogers. A few people even began dancing like her after awhile. Allison seemed to beam brighter than before at the attention she was getting. Her smile set Bender's heart on fire, although he wouldn't really show it. Bender admired the fact that Allison didn't care how foolish she looked. Maybe if HE were a little more like that…

Allison winked at him from the dance floor, and he winked back with a slight wave. His little reclusive one…

He was so concentrated on Allison; Bender didn't notice someone sitting down next to him at the table. He usually didn't mind, either. All he heard was the shuffle of the chair as the man sat down.

"Look at her, eh?" said the man beside Bender. Bender didn't bother to turn his head. He just kept looking at Allison.

"Who?" he asked.

"The pregnant one. She's got some unique moves!" said the man. Bender nodded.

"Yeah, well, she and I just moved in together, so we figured we needed one last night of rock before the little bundle of joy came."

The man bit his lip and was confused. "Oh?" was all the man muttered.

"Yeah," Bender said. Allison was attempting a sad moonwalk on the floor. She bumped into a few people, who laughed along with her and started showing her how to really do it right. "Yeah, she and I—" Bender looked down at his feet and the feet of the man randomly sitting next to him. Those sneaker, those WHITE sneakers, he'd SEEN them before. Suddenly, it came to him. He couldn't believe who he was sitting next to. Still, Bender didn't turn his head toward the man. Not yet…

"I'm not the father," said Bender. "The father was a dickweed and left her before she even found out she'd gotten knocked up!"

"Dickweed?" asked the man. "Maybe he was then, but hasn't he come…um…come back since?"

Bender sighed. "No. But it's for the best. I think the guy was such a moron for what he did, Allison deserves so much more than the asshole that left her behind."

"Maybe he wasn't a moron! Maybe he just felt…um…bad about what he did to her!"

Bender bit his lip. "Did you hear me say that he left BEFORE she found out she was pregnant?"

The man sighed loudly and tapped his foot up and down nervously. "Well, I—"

Bender whipped his head around and grabbed Andy by his shirt, lifting him out of his seat, giving him a punch that sent him sprawling over the table and onto the floor.