Lenora's pregnancy progressed well, and several months later, she was near her due date when, to alleviate her sore back, she ran a bath and hauled herself into the tub. She soaked in the warm water for a bit, then suddenly felt a lingering, stabbing pain in the area of her stomach. Her eyes widened as she suddenly realized what was happening.

"James!" She called. "James, get in here!"

James ran into the bathroom. "What?" He asked. "What is it?"

She winced and shut her eyes tight. "It's time," she said. "I think it just happened. Not that I can know for sure if my water broke, cause I'm in a fucking bathtub, but-oh, fuck!" She gritted her teeth against the pain and tried to think happy thoughts.

"Would you like me to come in there?" James asked her. "Because I will."

"Why not?" Lenora asked. "Go ahead."

"Should I call for Max?" James asked her as he undressed.

"You could if you wanted," Lenora said. "But really, you and I know how to do this by ourselves and someone has to occupy Henry."

"That's right!" James exclaimed. He put his pants back on for a moment and then ran out to tell Max that Lenora was in labor and he needed to occupy Henry. Then, he went back to the bathroom and got on his knees next to the bathtub, reaching for Lenora's hand.

"You're doing wonderfully," he said.

"You think?" Lenora asked, gritting her teeth as another wave of pain hit.

"I'm guessing you don't want to try and get to the bedroom or something?" James asked. "You're just gonna have the baby right here?"

Lenora nodded, her breathing quickening. "I think so," she replied. "I don't think I'll have time to move anywhere else."

It wasn't as much of an emergency as Lenora first thought, however, and by the time the little girl finally came into the world, several hours had passed and Lenora was shivering in the cold bathwater.

James had hold of the little girl and now he finally called Max into the bathroom.

"Oh, my god!" Max replied when he entered. "You had the baby already? So that's what all the yelling was! I figured it could only be one of two things and I'm glad this was it!"

"Max, take the baby, please," Lenora said through her teeth, which were chattering. "And James, you help me out of this damn tub and give me a towel!"

Max nodded and took the towel-wrapped baby. After James had helped Lenora out of the tub and they'd drained the water and cleaned up the bathroom, Lenora went to get dressed and got hold of Astrid.

"I was wondering when you were going to call me and tell me you had your baby," Astrid remarked after arriving.

"Yeah, well," Lenora replied, "It's about time. Now, we only have six more months until James can go and catch those criminals like you want. Were you mad at him when he told you that he wanted to wait?"

"No," Astrid shook her head. "I would be an idiot to hate him for the reason he gave. It was a pleasant surprise, honestly. Before the two of you got together and his personality changed, I would have thought his reaction to a situation like this would have been similar to the one your father had when Felicity was born."

"I was surprised too," Lenora remarked. "I told him he could go and send me postcards, you know, since the reason he had to leave was related to work, and he just...wouldn't. No matter what I said, he was firm about staying here."

"It's because he loves you," Astrid told her. "There's no other way to look at it. You're very lucky."

"Yeah," Lenora nodded thoughtfully. "I am."

They went to Lenora and James' bedroom. "We have a little girl," James told her. "I bet she'll be pretty like you."

"Awww, stop, you flatterer!" Lenora replied, blushing. She took the little girl from James and Astrid sat on her other side. "What are you gonna call her?" She asked.

"I don't know," Lenora replied. "She looked at James. "Any ideas?"

"I named Henry," James told her. "It's your turn."

Lenora looked into her daughter's eyes and tried to think. Finally, she had one idea. "Susanna," she suggested. "Is that good?"

"Sounds all right to me," James agreed. "Susanna it is. Susanna Astrid."

They heard a knock on the bedroom door and James opened it to see a somewhat perturbed-looking Henry on the other side. "Max said you had the baby," he said. "Does that mean we can go on the trip now like Daddy promised?"

"Not yet," Lenora told him. "We still have to wait six months, and then we'll go. I promise."

Henry stomped his foot. "But that's so long!" He whined. "I wanna go now!"

"Well, you can't," James told him. "You'll have to wait. Why don't you come and greet your new sister in the meantime?"

Henry came and looked down at his sister with distaste. "It's your fault we can't go on our trip," he said. "I don't like you." Then he turned and left the room.

"Well, that wasn't necessarily the reaction I wanted him to have, but I'm sure his attitude will improve when we finally are able to leave," Lenora shrugged.

"I'm sure it will too," Astrid assured her, putting a hand on her arm. "Not every child gets on with their new sibling as well as you did with Felicity."

"Yeah," Lenora nodded. "I was lucky. Of course I don't see her as much as I'd like to now, but at least we talk."

"Give it six months," Astrid told her. "Henry's attitude ought to have improved by then. I'll be very surprised if it doesn't."


And not surprisingly, she was correct. Once Susanna started showing her powers and James told Henry that meant they could leave, Henry was in much better spirits, holding onto his sister tightly as he took her around the boat they would be traveling on, showing her the rooms and the machinery.

"This is the helm," he told her as they stood in front of it. "It steers the boat. See?" Susanna watched it intently and reached out for it. Henry stepped closer so she could touch it with her tiny fingers, her soft blonde hair blowing in the breeze.

A few minutes later, James and Lenora came on board the boat clutching the bags. "You showing your sister the ways of the ship?" James asked Henry. "That's a good lad."

"Yeah," Henry told him. He tried to step away from the helm and Susanna let out a whimper and reached out again. "Apparently she likes it," Henry told his father. "I think we'll be staying here."

James grinned and put the bags down, taking her from Henry. "You're a smart girl," he told his daughter. "They who steer the ship own the world." Once the bags were firmly in place, James asked Lenora, "Ready to go?"

"Not yet," Lenora told him. "I told Aunt Lucy that we were leaving today. She and Damon wanted to come and say goodbye and then they're going to castle sit while we're gone. They should be here any minute."

And true to her word, Lucy and Damon came strolling into the yard a few minutes later. "Wow!" Damon told James. "That inter-dimensional travel business is something else. A big rush!"

"It is, isn't it?" James asked. "Wonderful to see you, my friend." He and Damon embraced briefly and then stepped back. Damon surveyed the boat and let out a whistle. "This thing's impressive," he remarked. "But will it actually work? It's not all flash and no substance, is it?"

"No," James assured him. "It'll travel well."

"It better," Lucy told him, cuddling Susanna. "You have a lot of precious cargo traveling with you."

"Yeah," James told her. "Don't think I don't know how lucky I am. Because I do. I'm extremely lucky."

"I trust you to take good care of Lenora," Lucy told him. "Will you do that for me?"

James nodded. "Always, Lucy. Don't you worry. She means as much to me as she does to you, which is a lot, I know."

"Thank you," Lucy replied, a catch in her voice. "Thank you very much."

"You're welcome," James replied. Just then, Lucy held out her hand. James gripped it and for awhile, Lucy just held on, until Damon pulled her away. "They probably have to get going," he told her. "You can let go of him now."

"It's all right," James told him. "I don't mind."

Lucy handed Susanna back to Lenora and told her, take care of yourself. And if it's possible to write me from wherever you're going, please do it. I know you're in good hands, but-"

"Don't worry," Lenora replied, hugging her with her free arm. "I'll keep in touch. I promise."

Lucy nodded and hugged back, then Lenora and Susanna got on the ship and, waving and shouting goodbyes to Damon and Lucy, took off for untold dimensions, in pursuit of adventures that Damon and Lucy could only dream about.

Once they were gone, Damon and Lucy looked at one another. "That was easier than I thought it would be," Lucy said.

"You handled yourself well," Damon told her. "I'm proud of you." He turned her toward the castle. "Now, look what we get to live in for the next who knows how many months?"

"It looks a lot better than it did the first time we came here," Lucy replied. "I'll give it that." They went inside and Max met them at the door. "Hi," he said. "I've been instructed to tell you to make yourselves comfortable and that I'll bring you whatever you need."

"You don't have to do that, Max!" Lucy replied. "And why are you still here? Why didn't you go with them?"

"I would have," Max replied. "But inter-dimensional travel has never agreed with me, so I opted to stay here. That doesn't bother you, does it?"

"Oh, no!" Lucy shook her head. "Of course not. Carry on."

Damon grinned and put an arm around Lucy. "Yep," He replied. "I really think I'm gonna enjoy living here. No doubt about that."


"Thanks for agreeing to come on this hike with me," Felicity told Stefan as the two of the them made their way up a steep hill. "I've been wanting to come up here for ages. I bet the view from the top will be fantastic."

"No problem," Stefan replied, doing his best not to stare at her butt. It was very difficult, cause she was climbing above him and all he could do was look up. But that wasn't as bad as having to look at her from the front. She was fourteen now and well-developed. It was getting harder and harder to control himself and pretend that he had absolutely no desire to be closer to her now than they'd ever been before.

"Careful where you step!" He called after her. "The rocks can move at any time. And if you fall, there's a stream underneath us that will just wash you away. I'll have a tough time explaining that to your father."

"What?" Felicity called. And just as she turned, she lost her footing and began tumbling down the hill at high speed.

"Help!" She called as she tried to step herself. "Stefan, help!" But Stefan was already on it. He sped toward her and managed to finally break her momentum just before she hit the water. Breathing hard, he looked down at her bruised, bleeding face. "I don't think I need to ask if you're all right," he observed, clutching her to himself. "You don't look like it."

"I feel sick," Felicity replied. "Not good at all. Take me somewhere where I can lie down, please."

"I definitely will," Stefan told her. "And we are definitely not gonna try climbing that again. At least not for a few days."

"Why not?" Felicity asked. "Give me an hour or so to heal and I'll be fine."

"Yeah, well, it's gonna take longer than that for me to recover from the sight of you rolling bleeding and bruised down toward the ocean," Stefan told her. "Have some consideration for me for a change, would you?"

"The only reason why you were so worried about me and are relieved I'm better now is because you don't want to have to tell my father that anything bad happened to me!" Felicity said. "Are you that scared of him?!"

"No!" Stefan yelled back. "For once, my worry about you has absolutely nothing to do with your father. Can't I just be scared as hell about you falling down a hill, being hurt and almost being washed away by fast-moving rapids without it having it have anything to do with your father?"

"Wait," Felicity said. "You were worried about me?"

"Yeah," Stefan nodded. "I was. Happy?"

"Well, yeah, I am," Felicity replied, grinning widely. "You're so sweet!"

"Yeah, well, don't go telling anyone about this," he said. "This is just between you and me."

"All right," Felicity agreed, kissing him on the cheek. "Whatever you say." He picked her up and took her to his car, laying her in the backseat. "Are you gonna be all right?" He asked her. "At least until we get back to the hotel?"

"I think so," Felicity replied.

Even so, Stefan drove back as quickly as possible, and helped Felicity through the hotel and to their room.

"Get in your bed and rest," he ordered.

"Okay," Felicity nodded, even though she was sure she didn't really need it, and when there was a knock on the door, she was out of bed like a shot to answer it. There was no one on the other side, however. Just a note with her name on the front of it. She picked it up, looking down either side of the hallway. Seeing no one, she shut the door, went to sit at the table and opened the note. It was short, in spiky, impatient script:

You're not who you think you are. People have been lying to you all along. It's time you learned the truth.

Felicity read it over a couple more times, trying to figure out what it meant.

"What does it say?" Stefan asked.

"I don't think it says anything," she said, giving it to him. "See if you can figure out what I can't." Stefan read it over, crumpled it up, and threw it into the garbage. "It's nothing," he told her. "Just a prank someone's playing on you. Not a thing to worry about."

"Really?" Felicity asked.

"Yeah," Stefan nodded. "I think it would be best if you just forgot about it and didn't say a word to your father. I won't either, I promise."

"Well, all right," Felicity agreed. But something didn't feel right and when Stefan wasn't looking, she picked the crumpled note up out of the trash and put it in her purse. Someone had taken the time to send this to her and she didn't think it was a joke. It had to mean something and she would find out what, no matter how long it took her.

The End

Next up: The Young and the Restless