The next morning Maxon and I are lying in our bed, having our breakfast on trays. It's Sunday, the only day I get Maxon all to myself as he doesn't have to unless there's a crisis. Last night I kept my promise to him, and I'm hoping that I do become pregnant again. Well, at least he's in a good mood.

"Happy Anniversary!" He grins, passing me a small box with a big purple ribbon wrapped around it.

Chapter 36

"Ooh! Oh, um, listen-" I fretted, "I'm really sorry, I didn't realise we were exchanging gi-"

Maxon interrupts, pressing a soft finger to my lips. "America, my dear, it doesn't matter. You love me and that's a gift enough. This is just a token of my love for you, thougb you know it goes my deeper than anything I could buy you."

"I know. Still, I wish I'd got you something." I sigh. "Even a card, I - oh, well. It doesn't matter now. Can I open it?" I ask, looking down at the box with anticipation.

He gestures with his hand, as if to say, Go ahead.

For some strange reason, my fingers fumble slightly as the un-tie the bow. With the box in hand, I lift open the lid, and gasp in surprise when I see what's inside.

A pendant, a huge emerald, shaped like a music note. I pick it up gently, the silver chain falling through my fingers. The light streaming through our bedroom's French windows scatters off it, sending the rays bouncing at the room. Turning it over in my hand I catch my reflection, bright eyed and glowing.

Maxon points to the edge of the metal. "There's a clip - undo it."

Nodding, I unhook the little clip and the back of the pendant swings open. Inside is a little photo, one taken of me, Maxon and Summer just a few months ago. We took her to the seaside and went into one of those booths, you know where you strike silly poses and it takes multiple photos? Maxon's picked the best one, for sure. We all look so happy, smiling and laughing. Summers head is rested on Maxon's shoulder and her little hand is placed on my arm.

"Do you like it?" Maxon asks, almost shyly.

I nod, tears threatening to come.

"It's so you can wear it and know that wherever we might be, different places or not, Hope and I will always be close to your heart." He explains.

I throw my arms around and kiss him, I can feel his smile beneath my lips. He turns over so I am beneath him, his hands caught in my hair as we kiss and kiss and kiss. I turn this time, so I am above him. I pull away - albeit a little reluctantly - and Maxon pouts a little.

"Oh, you!" I hit his chest playfully. "You look like a lost puppy."

He grins and sits up, pulling a tray onto his knees. "You like the pendant then?"

I nod my head profusely. "I love it." I pause, suddenly noticing the tray. "Ooh, do we have breakfast in bed?"

"Yeah, there should be a tray on the floor."

I look over my side of the bed, and sure enough the tray is there, complete with a glass of (freshly squeezed) orange juice, a fried egg, hash browns and crispy bacon.

"Looks great."

_Page Break_

"What does it say?" Maxon says, his face alight with trepidation.

"I don't know yet, alright?" I say, perhaps a little too aggressively. Maxon looks a little wounded and presses into the wall.

"I have to wait a minute, and then we'll know."

He nods. "Okay. And America?" He asks, curling his arms around my waist from behind.

"Uh-huh."

"I'll love you no matter what it says, okay. I will never leave you or Hopey." He says, with so much sincerity it makes my heart want to break.

"I know, Maxon. And I will love you no matter what it says. We can always try again, right?"

He laughs. "Right."

We are waiting for the pregnancy results, both of us desperate for the results. As much as Maxon loves having a daughter, I know that he is being pressured to produce a male heir to the throne of Illéa.

"Does it say now?" He asks, and it reminds me for some reason of when you are in a long car journey and everyone is shouting, 'Are we there yet?'.

"No, wait, yes." I squeal, shutting my eyes and holding the stick out to Maxon. "What does it say? I can't look."

He takes the stick and there is a moment of silence. The air around us stills and I brace myself for the bad news when Maxon's lips press on to mine.

"It's positive!" He mumbles. "Positive! We're having a baby!" He jumps for joy and hops around in a circle. It's so uncharacteristic of him that I stifle a laugh. I take the stick from him and look at it, the blue plus sign in the middle.

"Wait a minute..." I murmur under my breath, searching through the bin for the box the test came in.

"What? What is it? Is something wrong?" Maxon asks, panic stricken.

"No, no, not at all. I just wanted to check something." I answer absentmindedly. Ha! Got it. I hold up the box and peer at the small print on the side.

The stick will glow pink for a girl and blue for a boy. Remember that this isn't 100% accurate, but it is correct in 98% of circumstances.

I shove it under Maxon's nose and he takes it, reading what I just did. I love watching the comprehension dawn on him, his delight when he realises the gender.

"We're having a boy?" He asks.

I nod. "We're having a boy."

A/N Ah! I feel so evil for that delay! It's just things got so busy, last week was the last week before holidays and I had so much going on! And this week I was at a rowing camp (so tiring - I am awful at sports) so that took up my time! I also read some great books, including Anna Dressed in Blood - which was awesome! I'd never read a ghost story before, but it was fantastic. Also, I am going to Russia for ten days on Saturday so that might present some updating problems.

A few points about the story. (1) If you haven't read the last few chapters very recently, Hope and Summer are the same person - Maxon and America's daughter. Hope is her middle name. Summer is her first name. (2) I know pregnancy tests can't tell you the gender, but remember, it is the future! So it is quite feasible that they may have been invented!

I super sad to say that THIS WAS THE LAST CHAPTER! :( But there WILL BE AN EPILOGUE! About that, would you rather it be formatted like: This happened to this person, and this happened to this person, they went on to do this (like if you've read the ending to Scorched Earth in Henderson's Boys) OR be like 19 Years Later in Harry Potter and show a future scene? I don't know!

Thank you so so so so so much to the following people for reviewing:

peeta1234567, Lady Kalee (Ah! Please don't think I've abandoned The Truth, I'll PM you soon :D), babysister1997, surroundmewithroses, TeamSethLover, Mockingjay04, musicismylife2, S, Guest, KarenDuchannes, Chocovian, miyame-chan (I saw the cover - so awesome! Wish it was real :D), Idk, Michaelson9, Reader the Fish, BestFan00, Cute Irish gal and YoYoYo.

I LOVE YOU ALL SO SO SO SO MUCH! Please don't stop reviewing, even if it's just a :) or a :D it would make my day. If you like this story, please do!

And one last thing, I was wondering, when I write the epilogue, if everyone has ever read and enjoyed this story could drop a line saying you liked it, it would be fantastic to go out with a bang, maybe get 500 reviews? We are on 459 at the moment! Because I know some people are silent readers, and if you are that's okay, but on the next chapter, could you let me know you liked it? I would be so happy!

Thank you! :D

PS I might write a sequel!

EDIT FOR BESTFAN00: SO HAPPY YOU'RE GETTING AN ACCOUNT! Yay! If you ever need someone to proof read your FanFic, I would be very happy to! :D