A/N: Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.

That was only half a joke, by the way. Seriously, I feel like I'm going crazy right now. My world feels like it's in the process of being completely turned upside down. Eight days ago, my college campus was shut down for another week of Spring break. On-campus classes were shut down, and everyone is transitioning to online classes. A few days after that, one of my three roommates returned from Mexico and self-quarantined herself in our apartment. My school required her to call the CDC and ask whether there was anything else she needed to do. Due to a miscommunication, my school tried to make all four of us quarantine ourselves. I got a waiver from that so I could go to work, but right now the only two places I can really be are at home and at work.

My point is, I'm sorry for how long this update has taken, but recent world events have made it hard to avoid. I am still planning to continue this story, but with working, figuring out school, and the fact that I'm still working on my other story titled Keep Your Perspective, I can't for sure offer any definite time when another update will be available.

Wherever you all are, please stay safe. If you're quarantined, good luck. I can leave the house to go to work and this still feels like it'll kill me from boredom. I'll try to update this story and Keep Your Perspective as regularly as possible.

One quick note about the story. I'd said before that I was planning a chapter where Todd has a family emergency of his own to deal with and Jesse has a bully to deal with at school. I've decided to cut those two chapters out. While I love Todd and Jesse as characters, the focus of this story has been Kayla and her relationship with her father. So, while those two will still appear in the story in various ways, they'll be in the background. Samantha will take a more prominent role, since she's well into her teenage years and Sam's more likely to see connections between her and a teenage Kayla.

Again, you guys stay safe. Much love from me.

Kayla despised throwing up.

She could handle almost any other symptom. Headache, nausea, dizziness, all of which she had, were nothing. But throwing up? No.

Yet again, she was in the bathroom, leaning over the toilet and throwing up for the third day in a row. Todd was worried, but he wasn't panicking since Kayla was seemed to be holding food and water down and didn't have any kind of a fever. Sam was a different story. He stood in the bathroom every time Kayla vomited, rubbing a hand up and down her back to comfort her. When Kayla had thrown up for the third morning in a row, Sam put his foot down.

"You're going to the doctor."

"I'm married to a doctor." Kayla said. "Dad, I have to go to work."

"You're going to the doctor. Call work or I'll call for you."

Kayla sighed. "Okay, okay. I'll go."

"I'll go with you."

"No. You won't." Kayla said. "Anytime you go to the doctor with me you hover. No. I'll go to the urgent care next to Todd's office, they'll see me the quickest."

"I don't hover." Sam huffed, slightly offended. When Kayla glared at him, Sam relented. "Okay, fine. I hover. But I'm just worried about you."

Kayla finished packing her bag and softened a little. "I know you do. I promise I'll go, and if there's anything to be worried about, I'll tell you tonight. Okay?"

"Okay."

"I gotta go. What are you up to today?"

"Just going to spend the day with Seth."

Kayla smiled. Seth was their elderly across the street neighbor. He and Sam had become friends. When Sam found out that Seth had no family that ever really came to visit him, he'd started spending most days there while Kayla and Todd worked and the two kids were at school. He bought groceries for Seth, made meals for him, took him to medical appointments and sat there with him, and just sat talking with him for hours at a time. Kayla invited him over three to four times a week, and Todd would often check him over and tell him if he needed to seek out a doctor. Seth had almost made Kayla cry when he told her that he'd been unsure if he'd ever have a family again. Putting an arm around his neck, Kayla had kissed his cheek and told him seriously that's what we're here for.

"Tell him I said hi."

Kayla left and took her journey to the doctor's office. She called work and told them she was still coming, but would be in late. Her boss was understanding, telling her to call back if she couldn't make it. On a whim, Kayla called Tayler to come with her, who showed up just a few minutes later. When Kayla described her symptoms after handing the admission nurse her paperwork, Tayler's mouth dropped.

"Kay, what's wrong with you?" Tayler said. "I can tell you what's wrong with you right now."

"What?"

"You're pregnant!" Tayler whispered in Kayla's ear.

"What?" Kayla asked incredulously. Her mind started to turn as she thought back over the last few days, and she slowly started to smile. "You think?"

"It makes perfect sense! Throwing up at the same time every day. Feeling sick all the time. Yeah, girl. You're pregnant."

Kayla smiled again. She took a look at the admissions desk and turned back to Tayler. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"To get a pregnancy test and take it at your house."

An hour later, Kayla and Tayler were waiting for the test results. Sitting on Tayler's bed, Kayla's heart was fluttering and her brain was spinning. Was it really possible for her to be pregnant again? Samantha was fourteen and Jessie had just turned thirteen. If she was, would Todd and her father be happy about it? Would they be scared or worried? She wasn't even completely sure how she felt about it. The egg timer Tayler had set went off with a loud screech.

"I can't do it." Kayla said. "You read it and tell me what it says."

Tayler sighed dramatically. "Fine. Coward."

Tayler picked up the test, read the instructions that came with it, then read it over again. An anxious Kayla tapped her knee up and down over and over, until finally she couldn't take it anymore.

"Well? What does it say?"

Tayler turned over the test and showed it to Kayla. "Congratulations, Mommy."

Kayla was in shock. Everything stopped. Only in the last few minutes had the possibility of her being pregnant seemed real. Tayler was hugging her, but Kayla barely felt anything. She had a hand on her stomach, thinking of the baby that was inside.

"Hello!?" Tayler was shaking Kayla's shoulder.

Kayla jumped. "What?"

"I was saying what do you think about this? You're gonna be a mommy again!"

"I don't know how I feel about it to be honest." Kayla said. "I have wanted another baby for a while. But I never talked to Todd about it."

"Well, better get on that." Tayler said with another grin. "Might want to let your dad know too."

Kayla was suddenly struck with an idea. "You want to go with me to tell my dad and Todd?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about calling my dad and telling him to come meet me at Todd's office."

"You don't want to get checked out first?" Tayler asked. "Confirm it at the doctor's office."

"It's real." Kayla said. "I can feel it. Come on."

Despite Tayler's insistence that she get checked out first, Kayla called Sam over to Todd's office. Both of them were waiting outside when Sam pulled up, and an excited Kayla ran out towards him to give him a hug.

"What is going on?"

"Come in. I'll tell you in a minute. Promise."

Kayla dragged Sam inside by the hand. As happened so often lately, Kayla's exuberance brought back a flashback.

Eighteen Years Earlier

Sam approached the church, shaking his head at how late he was. Jess's car was there, as was Kayla's, Todd's, Dean's, and Todd's parents. He turned off the car and walked inside, where the minister was almost done explaining the procedure for the next day. The minister went over the procedures for the following day in a condensed form for Sam, and a half hour later, the rehearsal was wrapping up.

"Any more questions?"

"I have one." Kayla said. "Could my dad and I go to the reception hall for a few minutes?"

"Sure. I'll be in my office another half hour or so. Just come get me when you guys leave and I'll lock up."

"Okay. Thank you."

"Kay?" Jess asked from next to Sam. "What are you doing? We have dinner plans."

"We'll be there before you guys are done, Mom. Promise. I just want a few minutes alone with Dad."

"Okay. Don't take too long."

Kayla said goodbye to everyone, then pulled Sam aside. "Come with me."

"Where are we going?"

"Just come on." Kayla said. "Come with me."

Kayla grabbed Sam's hand and led him to the door of the reception hall of the church. She turned around, grinning.

"Close your eyes."

"What are you? Two years old?"

"Just do it. Please." Kayla begged. "I can beg like I'm two if you want."

"No way."

"Okay then. Close your eyes please."

Sam closed his eyes and waited. He heard Kayla open the door and felt her take his hand, leading him inside and making him stand in what felt like the middle of the room. He heard Kayla turn off the lights inside the room, then walk over and grab his hand.

"Okay. Open up, Dad."

When Sam opened his eyes, he gasped. "Oh, Bug. What is this?"

A projector was set up, alternating between various pictures of Sam and Kayla. They started from before Kayla was born, with a picture of Sam kissing Jess's very pregnant belly, all the way to a week earlier, with Sam and Kayla standing outside the doors of the very church they were standing in.

"It'll be playing during our dance tomorrow." Kayla explained. "I thought you'd want to see it first."

"Why?"

"Because you'll be dancing with me." Kayla said. "I hope your attention'll be on me."

"My goodness." Sam said, unable to take his eyes off the projector. "You're so beautiful."

"Dad…" Kayla said, blushing.

"You are. You always have been."

For a few precious, uninterrupted moments that Sam would hold onto for the rest of his life, he and Kayla stood silently, looking at all the photos and taking them in. Sam felt his heart weigh down heavily, both in joy and pain. Kayla was no longer his baby.

"Stop it."

Sam stopped and sniffed. "Stop what?"

"You're not supposed to cry until tomorrow." Kayla said.

"I'm not." Sam protested.

"You're close enough. Stop it." Kayla said.

Sam laughed. "Okay. Come on, let's go meet your mom."

"I have another idea. Let's practice."

"Practice?"

"For tomorrow. Our dance." Kayla suggested.

Sam smiled. "Okay. Let's do that."

"Alright, Kayla. Come on. What did you drag your dad and me down here for?"

Kayla turned to Tayler and smiled. Todd had agreed to meet her in the cafeteria of the hospital, which was across the street from his office. Sam took a seat, and Kayla stood, unable to get rid of the nervous energy she had.

"So, I went to the doctor this morning." Kayla said.

"And?" Sam asked. "Are you okay?"

"Were you feeling worse?" Todd asked. "Why didn't you call me?"

"Shh. Calm down you guys. It's good news." Kayla said. She took another deep breath. Tayler took her hand and the both of them laughed. "I wanted to tell you both together. I was just too excited."

"Tell us what?"

"I'm pre…Ow!"

Kayla suddenly doubled over, overcome by a sharp pain in her stomach. At first, it just felt like a cramp, and it seemed to go away. A concerned Sam and Todd were both next to her, but before Kayla could say she was okay, she had fallen to the floor, nothing but black all around her.

When Kayla woke, she knew right away that hours had passed. It was dark outside. She felt groggy, and when she tried to move, her sore stomach caused her to stop.

"Whoa, babe. Calm down."

"Todd?" Kayla asked. "What happened?"

"Kayla?"

"Dad?" Kayla looked on her other side, where Sam had apparently been sleeping. "What are you doing here?"

"How you feeling?" Sam asked.

"Sore." Kayla gritted her teeth. "What happened?"

"Babe. Look at me." Todd said.

Kayla turned to Todd and his somber expression caused her fog to immediately clear. "Todd? What is it? Just tell me what happened."

"When we were in the cafeteria earlier, were you going to tell your dad and me you were pregnant?"

Kayla frowned. "How'd you know?"

"You weren't pregnant, honey." Todd said.

"What? I took a pregnancy test."

Todd nodded. "Yeah. We don't really know why it registered as positive. But I'm sorry, babe. You weren't pregnant."

Even though Kayla had only thought she was pregnant for a few minutes, the disappointment was bitter. In the time it had taken her to call her father and get him down to the hospital, she had already started to make plans. How would she deal with having another baby? Would she quit her job? Was it a boy or a girl? Did she care? The spare bedroom they had would obviously be turned into the baby's room, but how much work would that entail? All those questions were now void.

"So what was wrong with me?"

"You had some sort of mass in your uterus. They don't know right now if it was a tumor or a cyst or what. But it was attached and growing against the wall of your uterus, and for some reason it detached and caused a lot of bleeding."

"Is that why I passed out?"

"Probably." Todd said.

Despite her disappointment, Kayla smiled. "Well, we could always try again." Sam and Todd shared a look amongst themselves, one that, despite the still heavy grogginess that was over her, Kayla didn't miss. "What? What are you not telling me?"

Todd nodded, and Sam leaned back in his chair, preparing himself for the bad news. "Kayla, you can't have any more kids."