A/N: Phish Tacko beta'd this. Go check out her page, she's an awesome author!

Chapter 25

It was now February 23, and a lot was going on.

In the morning, the group had eaten breakfast together. Mort had been able to attend as well, having gotten back to his old room a few days prior. Sweeney was the only one missing.

Schnabel, Ashley and the rest of the group had secretly planned out a baby shower for Willy, set to take place later that day. Edward had had the job of keeping Willy occupied so that everyone else could set up the common room for the party. They'd also intended to give Mort a few things, but he had no idea about this, he just thought that the party was for Wonka and Wonka only.

Katrina had decided to visit Ichabod that day, so he wasn't participating in the decorations. Instead, the two of them had gone off to his room. Katrina had mentioned that she had some information to share and that it would be best to discuss it in private.

"What'd you want to discuss?" Ichabod asked, once they were alone.

"Well… remember at counseling, we sort of talked about you going on birth control?" She reached into her bag, and pulled out a few brochures. "I did some research and these three medications have the best reviews."

Ichabod sighed but took the brochures anyway, and began reviewing them.

"Did you look at the side effects for these?" He asked, a few minutes later.

"I did. And I think that the usefulness of the products would outweigh the potential side effects."

"Some of these can be pretty bad, though… I really don't know if I want to put my body through this, Katrina."

"The alternative is that you could have a vasectomy."

"Seriously?" Ichabod asked, in awe that his wife would suggest he do something so extreme. "You seriously don't care about my wellbeing whatsoever, do you." The last part was more of a statement than a question.

"Oh, Ichabod, of course I care! I just don't want you to have any more babies once this one's out," She said, resting a hand on his belly.

Ichabod closed his eyes, trying to push down the anger he was feeling.

Finally, he spoke up. "In the interest of keeping our marriage together, I will promise to try the medication after I give birth. However, if the side effects are too much, I expect you not to pressure me to continue with it."

Katrina frowned. "Well… okay."

'We'll see,' She thought to herself, but better not to argue now.

"Fine, then."

Katrina nodded.

"We're having a party for Willy and Mort today," Ichabod asked, changing the subject. "Are you going to stay for it?"

"Probably. Wait, is that bitch Angelica going to be there, too?"

"I'd assume so. Jack invited her. You know, it would be nice if you could try to get along with her."

"I don't like her, with her curvy body and whorish ways."

Ichabod tried not to laugh. "She's whorish?"

Katrina glared at him.

"Are you sure you're just not jealous?"

"Of what? Why would I be jealous of her?"

"I don't know. I'm just saying. You seem to dislike her a lot."

"I am most definitely NOT jealous," Katrina said.

"Alright, alright, calm down."

Katrina shook her head, and crossed her arms, "I can't believe you sometimes, Ichabod. Some husband you are! Suggesting that I'm jealous of that... Of that… of HER!"

It was all Ichabod could do not to roll his eyes. Yeah, HE was the terrible spouse. Right.

00

The party started around 2pm. Perfect timing. Edward had been slowly running out of ideas to keep Wonka occupied in another room, and had resorted to trying to force conversation with him, which was just awkward because Edward wasn't particularly good at talking.

Finally, at 1:55, Edward invited Wonka to get some lunch in the kitchen. They had to go through the common room to get there, and Wonka walked out to find the place covered in pink ribbons and decorations. There was even a pink chair with a sash labeled "Mom to be" with the "mom" crossed out and the word "dad" scribbled in.

Everyone was there, too. Ashley had brought Sweeney downstairs, Anthony and Johanna had come, Angelica and Katrina were there, and so were Joon and Becky and Arnie. Even Charlie was there! Wonka was amazed.

"This is for me?" He asked, shocked.

Edward nodded. "Yes, we all got together and did our parts. We wanted to give you a proper party."

"Wow…" Wonka said under his breath. Charlie came forward, gave Wonka a side hug, and led him over to the chair with the pink ribbons on it. Wonka couldn't help but blush as he sat down. It seemed like everyone was staring at him, and in his current state, the last thing he wanted was to be stared at.

"Well… What do I do?" He asked, confused.

"We're going to have food, then play games, then presents, then more food, then maybe some movies about babies," Angelica answered. She'd helped to plan a lot of the party out.

"O-okay," Wonka replied.

"First, food." Angelica pointed over to a table that was laid out, buffet style.

Being basically the hostess of the party, Angelica waited until everyone had gone up to get some food before getting some herself.

This did not please Katrina one bit. She disliked Angelica getting to be in the limelight, while no one even bothered to look at her. Katrina waited for Angelica to start walking over to the table, before getting up herself. She stood directly behind Angelica.

"Do you want to go first?" Angelica asked nicely. She didn't like Katrina but was trying to be decent for Wonka's sake.

"No," Katrina replied.

Angelica shrugged. "Okay."

There wasn't much food left by the time the two women had gotten up to the table. Everyone must've been starving.

Angelica was grabbing the last bit of baked ziti, when she felt someone nudging her.

"Taking everything, then?" Katrina asked.

Angelica sighed. This bitch was getting on her last nerve.

"I offered to let you go first," Angelica countered.

"The polite thing for a hostess to do would be to ensure that all of her guests receive an adequate amount of food."

Angelica shook her head. "All right, fuck this." She looked at Wonka, "Lo siento, Willy, but this puta is going down." She took her earrings out and handed them to Jack. "Jack, hold my hoops." Immediately after she said those words, Angelica tackled Katrina to the floor.

A cat fight ensued. Angelica had Katrina pinned down for a while, and had been repeatedly bashing her head into the carpeted floor, but Katrina eventually got out of Angelica's grasp and turned the tables. She was pulling the decorative feathers out of Angelica's hair, while screaming 'YOU FUCKING BITCH!' when Angelica reached for Katrina's head. In one strong tug, she managed to lock her fingers into Katrina's weave and pull it out, revealing her to actually have short frizzy hair.

Katrina stood, shocked for a moment, before deciding to retaliate.

"I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!" She yelled, throwing herself at Angelica.

"Give it a try, you skinny puta!" Angelica yelled back, shoving Katrina to the floor. "You're bantha fodder!"

Then a voice came from the group of men, who were standing across the room, just staring.

"STOP FIGHTING!"

Both Katrina and Angelica looked up to see Anthony yelling at them.

"Don't you make me use pepper spray!"

"Fuck off," Katrina answered before kneeing Angelica in the stomach. The Latina doubled over in pain, but recovered quickly, and once again pinned Katrina to the ground.

Anthony shook his head. "I wish it hadn't come to this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a can of pepper spray. It wasn't hard to spray both women in the eyes; they'd been paying more attention to their own fight than to anything else.

The pepper spray caused both ladies to immediately stop fighting. Both were shrieking in pain, the pepper spray having irritated their eyes tremendously.

"You bitches ought to be ashamed of yourselves, fighting at a fucking BABY SHOWER, of all places! Act your age, damn it!" Anthony placed his hands on his hips and turned back to Johanna. "These women are crazy. I'm callin' 1-800-choke-dat-ho."

Angelica wandered back over to Jack, who went to get her a napkin and a glass of water to clear her eyes, and Katrina eventually found Ichabod.

"I can't believe you didn't' stand up for me!" She spat at her husband.

"You started the fight yourself!" He replied. "You did this! What would I stand up for you for?"

"Ugh, you're a terrible husband, do you know that?"

Ichabod shook his head. "Can we not do this while everyone is watching?"

Indeed, most of the crowd had turned towards Ichabod and Katrina.

"Whatever. I'm done here. I'll see you tomorrow," Katrina said, wiping her eyes with her shirt. She bent down and picked up the pieces of her weave before stalking off.

"Wow," was all Wonka said. He was still sitting in his pink-covered chair.

No one really knew what to say.

Finally, Jack spoke up. "I don't think anyone's in the mood to party anymore… So… Willy, there's some gifts for you under the table, and Mort, we all got you some gifts for Anakin, too. It was supposed to be a surprise, but… uh… yeah."

Wonka nodded, and started looking through the pile of gifts. Mort joined him shortly thereafter. The both of them opened the boxes silently, after everyone else had left.

A few hours later, Edward, Sam, and Joon all sat in the dining room, just talking.

Edward rarely opened up to people, but for some reason he felt comfortable around Sam and Joon and didn't feel afraid to voice his concerns.

"I dunno what I'm going to do when the twins are born," He said sadly. "Maybe Dr. Schnabel will let me stay here, I guess. But how will I raise them?"

"Will the other parent help you at all?" Sam asked, taking hold of Joon's hand under the table. They'd discussed asking Edward if he wanted to stay with them, but wanted to fully understand his situation first.

Edward suddenly looked like he was about to cry. "He… doesn't… He didn't… I mean… I didn't want to… With him… And that's why I'm here…"

It took Sam and Joon a moment to decipher what Edward was trying to say, but they got it.

"You mean someone raped you?" Joon asked.

Edward nodded. "Don't tell anyone, please."

"Who did it? Oh, Edward, I can't believe you've kept this to yourself for six months…"

"Someone who doesn't like me. I didn't want to bother anyone with it… It was easier not to mention it… And the doctor never asked."

"So you know the person?"

"I know him. Please don't tell anyone," He pleaded again.

"It's not our place to tell anyone," Sam said. "But, um, we were actually discussing something…" He looked at Joon, who nodded in confirmation. "We have an extra two rooms in our house, and we wanted to know if you'd like to come live with us. You and your kids, of course."

Edward was completely caught off guard and his mouth hung open. "…Really?" he asked, surprised that anyone, even Sam, would be so kind to him as to offer him a place to live.

"Yes. Plus, we could help you with your babies, too, since you might have some… problems," Sam chose his wording carefully, "And, we live in a different town so… With what you just told us… You may be safer farther away from the person who… did this to you."

"You'd actually do that for me…?" Edward asked, still in shock.

Sam and Joon both nodded 'yes'.

For the first time in a while, Edward smiled. "I'd like that."

"Great. The only problem is, you're due before Sam is… I'd prefer if you came after he had his baby, so it's not just the two of us and your kids in the house," Joon said. "No offense, just, I'd prefer if my husband was there. Not that I don't trust you." She stumbled over her words.

Edward considered this for a moment. "I understand. Maybe the doctor will let me stay here for a few more months, until Sam delivers his baby?"

"I'm sure he will. Dr. Schnabel's a good man. He wouldn't let you live in the streets."

"Okay. Thank you," Edward said, smiling again. "I promise I'll be quiet…I won't bother you…"

Joon smiled at him. "We have no doubts that you will be easy to live with. And hey, our kids can all play together!"

"Yeah! That's great! My kids will have a friend!" Edward said. He realized how awkward that probably sounded by the weird looks Joon and Sam were giving him. "I mean. I don't have many friends, so I want them to have friends."

"I'm sure they'll all get along," Sam replied.

"Do you know if you're having a boy or a girl?"

Once again, Sam and Joon looked at each other.

"It's a girl," Sam answered. "But please don't tell the other residents. We're trying to keep it quiet."

Edward nodded in understanding, "My lips are sealed."