Month 6

He didn't call. Not even once.

Month 7

Rouge finally got back to me with her investigation. What she told me changed everything.

Yet nothing.

Month 7.5

I received an invitation to Shadow and Mina's wedding.

Month 8

I left a gift on their porch.

You could call it my blessing.

Month 9

My winter coat was the only thing that properly hid my protruding belly. However, the November chill was as refreshing as it was devastating. A small part of me enjoyed this pregnancy illusion—the courageous few asking me when I was due, had I painted the nursery and was my husband excited.

Ha, husband.

Clarissa was practically living with Parker now, which made this game all the more easier to play. Blaze had decided to forgo a baby shower, which was also as convenient as it was depressing. It would be her only one, even if it was fake, and I was due next week. She was running out of time too.

My phone vibrated as I walked aimlessly through Merriment Plaza. It was Saturday, and my friends had better friends, so I guess this was what I was reduced to. Ms. Ferret cut me down to size when I lost my case, agreeing that my moment of compassion (Or insanity. Her words) was pregnancy related, and put me on paper work until I was "free of the burden". Phoebe and Tabitha, however, had no problem laughing at my in-office demotion. When my phone started ringing, I finally gave in.

"Hello?"

"Amy?" said Cream. "Hey, are you busy?"

I was trying this new thing called "not lying" so I said no.

"Great! Sally, Rouge, and Clarissa have a moment this afternoon and we wanted to trick Blaze into coming to her baby shower. We'll go to a restaurant…Exchange a few gifts. It won't kill her."

But it could kill this genius operation. Yet, I couldn't bring myself to reject the idea. It would be stupid and risky, but tell me what wasn't.

"Sure," I said. "What do you want me to do?"

She sent me a list of supplies. However, I mostly just had to pick out a gift for Blaze (as well as one from Rouge because yeah). I delved further into the mall, into a baby store, feeling a rush of excitement. Blaze and Silver had opted against learning the genders, so I could essentially pick out anything.

"Can I help you?" an older puma woman asked me. I pursed my lips—I was beginning to waste time looking through everything.

"What would you get for a baby shower gift?" I asked.

"Is it for a boy or girl?"

I shrugged. "My friend doesn't know the genders yet. But they're twins."

Her eyes lit up. "I know just the thing."

She fetched a pair of yin and yang blankets.

"It's gender neutral without being impersonal," she said, showing off the intricate fleece design. I nodded; Blaze's tastes were anything refined and practical.

"I'll take it." I paid for the blankets and went on my merry way. I even felt a kick, possibly affirming I made the right decision. I smiled as I rubbed my stomach.

"Just a little longer."

I was almost to my car when I realized I had forgotten to get Rouge's present. The urge to ignore the urge to go back was beyond real. I knew that Ty was only a few months old, and that Rouge was on a busy workout regimen to resume her spy thing, but this was annoying. All this effort on top of the ultimate effort of carrying not one, but two babies that weren't even mine…

As I walked back to the upscale baby store, I didn't know why this thought bothered me so much. Truthfully, it had been bothering me for months. I mean, I couldn't have a baby right now—I wasn't even sort of with anyone. I knew that if I was pregnant on my terms that my friends would pitch in, but it wouldn't be the same thing as having a real family. A husband. A home. Unwavering love and support.

I pushed the thought of never finding someone away as I leaned against the wall of the store for support. Shit. I couldn't even walk three blocks without exhausting myself? With a grunt, I pushed myself inside the building, ignoring that thought too.

When I waved to the sales associate from earlier, her expression was hardly optimistic. Before I could ask why, her glance fell downward. Before my gaze could follow, I felt it. The wetness.

The searing pain.

She called the dispatch. They called Blaze. She called Parker.

But it was hard to think through the pain. It was almost blinding—I didn't know why I wasn't blind. But I knew that I was making everyone around me deaf with all of my screaming.

"Give me the damn drugs!" I yelled. It felt like my insides were ripping open—like my body was being struck by a million needles. Repeatedly.

"You said shots terrified you," Blaze said as I was rushed to a delivery room.

"FUCK THAT." I didn't know how it was possible for my breathing to be so heavy, yet shallow.

"There's no time," Parker said, dawned in scrubs, entering the room. "They're coming out now."

I think I screamed more out of surprise than pain.

He and a nurse loaded me on the hospital bed, and I felt like a dying whale. I tried not to think too much about what I was feeling, what was happening, or what would happen later. So I closed my eyes in a hard squint, listened to his commands like it would make the excruciating pain subside.

With time, everything felt worse.

I wanted release, but the world was endless and agonizing. Blaze was holding onto my hand—I would have felt guilty for squeezing the life out of it, but I was suffering.

"You can do this!" she encouraged. "You're strong, Amy!"

I could only grunt louder.

Seconds turned into an eternity, which each one passing sending even more intense shockwaves of pain. I heaved in the air around me as I compelled my pelvic muscles to push. But it seemed impossible. Each thrust seemed like it was getting both me and the baby nowhere. Blaze wiped my sweaty temple with her free hand before turning to the man between my legs.

"How much longer?" she said on my mouth's behalf. I grunted again.

"Just one more inch to go!" Parker then said. "Push!"

By now, I was screaming so loud that I couldn't hear anything. But then there was a quick break of silence in the air, and my hearing was restored. Crying?

A baby was…crying?

Through tired, lidded eyes, I watched Parker hand him to the nurse. He mouthed something. Boy? He was a boy?

"One more to go." All relief subsided when I felt another stir in my lower regions, and it was more agonizing than the first. But I had already lost my voice, and probably in a few more moments, my will to live.

"Push." Parker was only motivating the walls at this point. "Just one more push!"

The strength came from Blaze, the hopeful tears in her eyes. She pinched my hand harder as and it was like her strength manifested in me. She was wrong. I wasn't stronger than her. But with her by my side, I knew that I could literally deliver the impossible. So I took a deep breath. Pushed.

And a girl was born.

But I was pretty much dead.

I knew this was true when I saw a stampede of familiar friends rush past my hospital room to Blaze's like I was some ghost. It was probably sick—her lying in a hospital bed, like me, pretending to have just given birth. But the important thing was that the twins were here. That they were healthy.

And that they weren't mine.

Which was why I was here. Alone. In a dim room. Losing what I never actually had in the first place. I turned to my glowing phone; saw the missed calls and texts from the others. Why aren't you here? Blaze just gave birth. Come on! Are you okay?

I was still deciding that for myself.

Most of the pain had subsided, but instead of relief, I just felt dazed. I had finally accomplished something bigger than myself, and as much as I understood the sisterhood of secrecy I had sworn myself to, I couldn't help but feel slightly dismayed. I had known no true sacrifices until this day…and it felt as gratifying as it was unsettling. I blamed the hormones. Something that resembled sadness swelled inside my heart, but somehow I ultimately felt unaffected. It was like sleeping.

And I didn't know when I would wake up.

When I actually woke up, my room was bathed in darkness. It took a while to register where I was—why I felt numb. I closed my eyes in a hard squint; the color of the inside of my eyelids was practically the same as the world when they were open. I sighed, rising slowly to my feet, and clicking on an invisible light switch next to the door.

I itched the tag around my wrist, tugged at the collar of my hospital gown. That's right. I was still at the hospital. I had just given birth hours ago, and was high on pain meds. I wrinkled my nose as the sterile air made contact with it, before finding a bag of my clothes on the seat next to my bed. I slipped them on against better judgment even though I was pretty sure I wasn't supposed to be leaving. But I wanted to see them.

My feet guided me to the room with little input from my brain. The hospital was quiet, and I welcomed it. When I saw a balloon with the words "It's twins!" poking from one of the doors, I knew I wasn't the only one welcoming things. I stood by it, watching the new family.

Blaze was sleeping, looking as perfect as a new mom could be, with her husband's hand in hers as he slept with her in the hospital bed.

Further in the room were the twins, also sleeping, in separate cribs. I opened the door as quietly as I could. My heart swelled with each step I took. They were periwinkle bundles of joy. Secured over one of their wrists—the boy's—was an ID band with his name. Silas Vincent Hedgehog.

I turned to the sleeping girl. Tears began to shed when I read hers.

Aimee Violet Hedgehog.

Wiping them with the back of my hand, I knew I had to leave before I literally started crying like a baby. With a small wave, I left them like I was never there in the first place. After all, despite my involvement and prior protest, I was realizing everyone would be happier with this obscurity. I had always wanted happiness, but I was also discovering that it took on many forms. And I was so fortunate to have this one.

By the time I returned to my room, it felt more like a jail. So I pulled my purse over my shoulder, even though I was pretty sure I hadn't driven here, and started for the door again. However, something caught my eye before I could open it. Resting on my pillow was a single rose. My eyes widened. But when I thought about the gesture, I couldn't help but smile.

How accurate.

This chapter has always been incredibly bittersweet to me. What Amy does for Blaze is so beautiful, yet saddening. Like you all guessed, Amy ends up alone. Only the next chapter, however, can prove if this is long term. But in this final moment, it is so fulfilling to see her come this far - to finally find peace in being independent and selfless.

The AN is at the end, which might be a little weird, but I just wanted to thank all of you for your reviews. I'd like to make it to 200 reviews before the story ends, but I'm not forcing you...Yet. Lol.

Anyway, please share your thoughts. We have one more chapter until the epilogue (which I will be posting it sometime between this weekend or next Thursday - I'd put your money on Wednesday/Thursday), so please have all of you questions in by Friday. But I've wasted enough of your time; on to the last chapter!

~KB