Thank you for all the reviews! Sorry if people weren't happy about the direction the plot went in the last episode, you, er, probably won't like this one either. (I have to admit I was always more interested in the character storylines than the mysteries, which tended to get in the way a bit.)

Anyone worried about this story going on hiatus will probably be relieved to know I finished writing it last night. Given that we're near the end, I think I'll stick to posting an episode each weekend.

EPISODE NINE: Decent Proposal

CHAPTER ONE

"I don't know if I'm pregnant,"Emma admitted. She and Sutton were sat in her room back at the house. Emma sat on the bed with Mads and Laurel on either side of her, Sutton reclining on a chair in front of them.

"But you might be?"Mads asked.

Emma nodded then glanced at Laurel. "And before you ask, it's definitely not Thayer's."

Laurel held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. "Hey, I wasn't even thinking it."

"So what makes you think you're pregnant?"Sutton asked.

Emma shrugged. "I'm late."

"And that's it?"

"Well, isn't that enough?"

Sutton seemed to mull the question over. "It's an indication but might be sensible for you to do a test. I mean, that is what they're there for. Could just be stress, you've been having a lot of that lately."

"And whatever happens,"Mads put in, gripping Emma's hand firmly,"we're here for you."

"Are you gonna tell Mum and Dad?"Laurel asked. "Or Ethan?"

"Tell them what?"Emma replied. "I mean, we don't know until we've done the test, right?" She gave Laurel a hopeful look and Laurel nodded obligingly. "Maybe we should just keep it between us until we know for sure."

Sutton punched the air in an ironic fashion. "Go, sisterhood."

Sutton and Laurel walked down the drive from the front of the house. "Are you sure it's smart for you to be buying the test?"Sutton asked.

Laurel shrugged. "What's the worst that can happen, people think it's for me?"

"Well, dur, yeah."

"Better than them thinking it's for Emma." She noticed Sutton's bewildered look and sighed. "You know what I mean. I'm not pregnant so it doesn't matter if they think I am. If they think Emma's pregnant, then they might be right."

Sutton's eyebrows had been getting higher and higher on her forehead during the speech. "And you know the crazy thing? That actually did make a sort of sense."

"You could always come with me, really confuse them."

Sutton shook her head. "No, there's something else I need to sort out."

Ethan was emerging from the trailer when Sutton drove up outside. He looked at her in confusion. "Dan's not here."

"That's okay, it was you I came to see."

"Oh. Okay." Ethan stood still for a few moments, not sure how to react, before attempting "Why?"

Sutton took a deep breath. "Because Emma might be pregnant. And if she is, then it's yours."

Ethan stared at her long and hard, unsure how to react. "Might be?"he repeated, picking up on the detail.

Sutton nodded. "She's going to take a test. And…she'd probably want you to be there."

"Right,"Ethan answered. But he was still too shell-shocked to say anything else.

Sutton sighed. "I just thought you should know, that's all." She got back in the car and drove away.

When Emma heard someone outside her bedroom, she was expecting it to be Laurel or Sutton. Maybe Mads coming to check on her or even Kristin if she'd come home. She wasn't expecting it to be Ethan.

"Sutton came to see me,"he explained. "She said you might be pregnant."

Emma nodded slowly. "It's not definite yet but…"

Ethan shook his head, still struggling to deal with the situation. "How can you be pregnant? I mean…I know what we did but…"

"We haven't always been careful,"Emma reminded him.

Ethan looked at her in shock. "You mean you weren't taking any precautions?"

Emma was equally shocked. "Why would I? You know I haven't had this sort of relationship before."

"Well, we both know that's not true."

Emma was stung by the comment. She knew she'd made a mistake with Thayer but Ethan had made far bigger mistakes. She wasn't expecting him to throw it back at her. "Why don't you go the whole way and ask me if it's yours or not?"

Ethan didn't take the bait but his response wasn't any more encouraging. He shook his head and turned towards the door. "I can't handle this right now."

"Neither can I!"Emma retorted. "But I don't have a choice!"

Ethan paused at the door but didn't look back. "I'll call you later,"he said at last before leaving her alone.

Emma sat down on the bed and put her head in her hands.