Karen was relieved when the doctor told her she wasn't raped. She didn't know why someone spiked her drink. She hoped they didn't have pictures of her doing anything stupid.

"I have to go talk to Marcus about my job. You can come with me or stay here with mom and dad."

"I'll go with you."

"You know Mellie doesn't want you hanging out with Kelly." Serenity said.

"Right now I have to choose between explaining to Mom why I smelled like alcohol or being around Mellie who doesn't like me. I'm choosing Mellie."

"Fine, I'm going with you."

"You want to see the babies. Stay at the hospital."

"So I can deal with all the questions about you and Karen?"

"I wonder how long I can stay at Mellie's house before she kicks me out. Do you think she will let me stay a week Karen?"

You don't want to stay with Mellie for a week. She is nothing like Mom."

"How is she different?"

"You tell Mom where you're going, and she calls you. Mellie tells Kelly where she's going. That is the reason Kelly doesn't act like you Savannah."

"Was Mellie always so strict?"

"No, I'm not going to discuss Mellie's history with you, but she is a very different person now. Kelly made her change for the better."

"That's good. I guess so."

"I'm coming back to the hospital when I finish talking with Marcus about my job. I'm going to tell Mom and Dad everything I know about Lacey."

"I'll come back with you." Serenity said.

"I don't know what you know about Lacey, but I'm not coming back until Mellie kicks me out."

"Can you get us some food? I'm starving." Serenity said.

"You didn't get us breakfast." Savannah said.

"Yeah, let's go."

XXXX

"Hi, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I need to speak with Marcus about my job."

"Karen you're looking for me?" Marcus asked, walking out the kitchen.

Serenity stood beside Karen. Savannah walked past Mellie and ran up the stairs to find Kelly.

"You say hello before you run upstairs!" Mellie shouted at Savannah.

"Hi Mellie!"

"It was so peaceful. Thanks for bringing Savannah." Mellie said, sarcastically.

"I'll be back to get her later today. The babies are here. Mom and dad are overwhelmed right now."

"Are you having problems at the White House." Marcus asked.

"No, I might have to deal with some bad publicity. Someone spiked my drink."

Mellie interrupted Karen before she could say anything else. "Serenity go upstairs. This is not a conversation for kids."

"I already know."

"Go upstairs with Kelly and Savannah."

Karen waited until Serenity was upstairs to speak. "I hung out with some friends from school and ballet last night. The last thing I remember is ordering a glass of wine."

"That's terrible. Did you go to the hospital?" Mellie asked.

"Yeah it was drugs. I don't know if they have pictures. If they do, they are blackmailing me."

"You think this has something to do with the surrogate?" Marcus asked.

"What surrogate?"

"Olivia and Fitz surrogate."

"What am I missing here?"

"I know there surrogate. Her name is Lacey, and she was a drug addict. I don't know if she's still a pothead."

"Did you tell Olivia this?"

"No, I'm worried about my career. I am going to tell her. When I go back to the hospital."

"You don't know how they're going to react when you tell them." Mellie said.

"You don't have to worry about money. If they stop paying for your hotel, Mellie and I can pay your bill."

"Thank you. I'm going to let Savannah and Serenity know I'm leaving."

"They can stay here today. You can come get them tomorrow if that's okay with Olivia and Fitz."

"I really don't know what they're okay with right now. I know they're overwhelmed with the babies."

"I hope you learned a lesson and you quit drinking alcohol."

"I do need a break from alcohol."

Karen walked upstairs. Serenity, Savannah, and Kelly were in the game room.

"I'm about to go to the hospital."

"I want to stay here with Kelly." Serenity said.

"Okay, well if Mom and Dad don't complain about me not bringing you back to the hospital, I'll come get you tomorrow."

"Okay." Serenity said.

"Come back here and stay with us. We haven't spent any time together. It's like you don't want to be around me or something." Kelly said.

"I've been really busy Kelly. I promise we will hang out this week."

"Okay."

Karen walked back downstairs and said goodbye to Mellie and Marcus. She was not looking forward to her next conversation. When she started her car, a text message interrupted her thoughts. She didn't recognize the number. She dropped her phone when she saw the picture message. It was her sitting at a table. Her head was on the table turned to the side. There was a white powdery substance on her nose.

"That bitch!"

Karen was fighting back tears. She didn't know who took the picture. There were so many people at the bar last night. They were all drinking and then everything was dark. It had to be powder. The doctor would have found coke in her system if that was cocaine. Karen wiped her eyes and drove to the hospital. She was going to see Lacey.

XXXX

"Hi, I'm looking for Lacey Lovehart."

"That's an interesting name." The man at the front desk said, looking up her room number.

The man gave Karen the room number. The nurses stopped her on the maternity floor. There were extra security procedures. Finally, a nurse walked with her to Lacey's hospital room.

"You can go in now."

Lacey was sitting up watching TV when Karen walked in the room.

"You bitch."

"I'm surprised it took you this long to get here."

"How?"

"You are smart and so dumb. You never drink with old friends you don't know anymore."

"What do you want?"

"Keep your mouth shut and these pictures won't get out. The babies are not addicted to drugs and I'm clean. Well, somewhat, I passed my drug test. I'm not going to get my other $25,000 if you tell them I smoked during the pregnancy. The contract said I wouldn't get the full amount if I participated in any risky behavior."

"The babies are okay?"

"I get the money, and you don't get the bad publicity. Do we have a deal?"

"No."

"Olivia and Fitz are going to think you're a drug addict when they see the pictures."

"I know. I can take a drug test and prove I'm not a cokehead."

"You will never get a career in politics with these pictures."

"That's a chance I'm willing to take. They need to know the truth about you. Lacey, you don't deserve $25,000."

"You are very stupid. Go ruin your career in politics Karen."

"Goodbye Lacey."