"Oh my gosh, Beth! He's adorable!" Ruby cried as she bent over Marcus's crib. She squeezed Stan's hand and whispered, "I want one."

Her husband chuckled nervously. "Ugh...not yet. I don't think we can afford a baby."

Ruby sighed longingly and stroked the baby's cheek. "He's so precious and his skin is so soft. I just want to eat you up."

Beth beamed, proud of her handiwork. "You can hold him if you want."

"Really? I won't wake him?"

Beth shook her head. "He sleeps like the dead."

Ruby scooped Marcus into her arms and took a seat in the rocking chair next to Beth's hospital bed. Stan motioned to both of them and asked, "Y'all want anything from the vending machine?"

"I wouldn't mind some peanut M&Ms," Beth admitted.

"I'll take some Doritos and a Dr. Pepper, but if they don't have Cooler Ranch get me Cheetos instead."

"Your wish is my command," Stan nodded before exiting the room.

"Still blissfully in love I see."

Ruby laughed. "Today. Yesterday wasn't so great."

Beth propped herself up and took a sip of her orange juice. "What happened?"

Ruby shrugged. "Nothing huge. I just discovered I was married to the Dishwasher Nazi. Who knew what a failure I was at putting dishes in the dishwasher? Apparently there's a right way and a wrong way. And according to Stan, I put them in the wrong way."

"You do have a bad habit of putting Tupperware on the bottom rack. And don't get me started on how you choose to organize your cups and bowls..."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Do you two want to be together? I can divorce him right now if that's what you want..."

Beth laughed. "No. No. Your method of loading the dishwasher is probably just as effective. Did you two make up?"

"Yes, he eventually apologized for his insane comments and we're all good now, but yesterday things were...tense. But enough about me. How are you?"

Beth caught Ruby on the decision she'd made, how awful it had been breaking the Caldwells' hearts, and how they had come up with the name for the baby.

"Awww, you're a mom."

"It's so weird. I can't believe it."

"Where's Rio?" Ruby asked, looking around for signs of him.

"He went home to shower and change. Then, he's going to go get some stuff for the baby and a car seat."

Ruby nodded. "Have you guys decided what you're going to do?"

Beth scratched her head. "Not really. Clearly I can't go to MSU."

"Are you going to move in with Rio?"

Sighing, Beth replied, "I don't know. I don't like the thought of leaving Annie, but I know my mom is gonna be ticked off that I decided to keep the baby. She was less than thrilled when I said I was giving the baby up for adoption. She's gonna be livid when she finds out I'm keeping him."

"You haven't told your mom yet?"

Beth shook her head, worry and fear in her eyes. "Why does she have to be the way she is? Why can't she just love me? Why does it have to be so conditional on doing what she wants me to do?"

"I don't know, girl. I don't know. But you'll get to do things differently with this little guy."

Annie rushed into the room an hour after Ruby and Stan had left. Susan Marks trailed dispiritedly behind her.

"So you've decided to keep your little brat?"

Inwardly, Beth winced, but she resolved not to let her mother know how much her words hurt her. She kept her expression blank even as she unconsciously hugged Marcus closer to herself.

"This is awesome! I have a nephew. Can I hold him?" Annie asked, jumping up and down.

Beth smiled and nodded. "Sit in the chair over there and I'll hand him to you. Be careful with him Make sure you support his head."

Once settled, Annie looked up and asked, "What's his name?"

"Marcus."

"Hello, Marcus. I am your Aunt Annie. We're gonna have lots of fun and I'm gonna teach you lots of cool things."

Beth decided she'd have to watch out for this one. She had a feeling Annie was going to be more of a bad than a good influence on her son.

Her eyes flitted to her mom who was shaking her head in disgust. "This is just what I feared. You're going to have to schlep this kid around with you everywhere you go and now we have another mouth we can't afford to feed."

"What do you mean by 'we' mom? You haven't had a job in months. I've been the one scrounging up cash to pay the bills."

Susan shrugged. "You're eighteen. You should be helping out."

Annie, oblivious to just how fraught things were between her mother and sister, looked up and said, "Do you want to hold him, mom? You're a grandma now. That's so crazy. Are we gonna call you grandma or nana?"

Susan scowled. "Neither. I'm gonna go take a smoke break," she said before turning on her heel.

Beth tamped down all the negative emotions she was feeling. All the hurt, all the frustration, all the anger. Her mom wasn't worth it. She just wasn't. Her son was her main priority now. Her son...and Annie.

"I want to talk to you about something," Beth said as she turned to Annie.

"Okay...what about?"

"What are things like at home when I'm not around?"

Annie shrugged, gently stroking Marcus's downy black hair.

"Annie, I need you to tell me the truth," Beth pleaded. "How are things really between you and mom?"

Annie shrugged. "Look, I know you're thinking about moving out and going to live with gang friend. You don't have to worry about us. It's going to be OK. I'll be fine. I can make myself dinner. I can do laundry. It's all good."

Beth shook her head, knowing her sister was lying through her teeth. "She leaves you by yourself while she goes out, doesn't she?"

"It's not like I'm a little kid. I'm gonna be in fourth grade."

Yeah, Annie was a little kid. And her mom had no business leaving her by herself at night.

"Seriously Beth. Don't worry." Annie's nose crinkled. "I think he pooped."

"You want to change his diaper?" Beth teased, trying her best to keep worry out of her voice.

"No thanks."

"Here. Give him to me," Beth replied, holding out her arms.

Her mom came back twenty minutes later. "Let's go, Annie," she said, again not bothering to look at her grandson.

"Mom, I want to talk to you for a minute. Annie, could you wait outside?"

Annie left and Susan glanced at her watch, looking bored. "I'm so over this. What the hell do you even want?"

I am strong. I am someone's mother now. I can do this. Beth repeated to herself doing her best to bolster her courage.

Steadying her nerves, she bore her eyes into her mother's. "I am going to live at home. Correction my son and I are going to live at home. Not because I'm a freeloader or mooch or whatever it is that you think I am but because Annie deserves someone to watch out for her, to make sure she's fed and does her homework, to not leave her freaking alone at night while you're out drinking."

Beth clinched her fists as her mom rolled her eyes. "And another thing. For the past two years, I have been the one keeping the lights on. I have been the one getting groceries and making sure you and Annie are fed. I am the reason you're able to go out every night and not have the landlord on your behind or CPS knocking down your door. Me. And if you don't like the fact that I'm bringing my son home with me, then you can be the one to leave."

Susan sighed loudly. "Fine. Whatever. Bring your kid to the house. I don't care."

You should, Beth thought to herself, because you're his grandmother, but considered this enough of a win that she was done arguing.

As the door slammed as Susan made her way out, Beth smiled down at her son. "Your mom's learned how to put on her big girl panties. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you."

Beth stared in shock at the insanely large pile of baby clothes on the bed. "Did you buy the whole store?" She asked Rio.

"I didn't know what size he was so I bought some of everything."

Beth picked up a pant and shirt set that was a size 2T. "You think our son is this large? I wouldn't have made it through the birth. He would have split me in two. Eight pounds two ounces was more than big enough. The doctor said he'd have been over nine pounds if he hadn't been a couple of weeks early."

Finding an outfit that had Newborn on the tag, she attempted to change Marcus into it, but it was a little too snug. "You are a big boy," she whispered, reaching for a slightly larger outfit.

Marcus began to fuss just as the nurse walked in. After she did some preliminary checks on the baby, she asked, "Would you like me to make him up a bottle?"

Blushing, Beth hemmed and hawed for a moment. "I was actually thinking that um I'd like to try breastfeeding. We covered it a bit in my lamaze class but he arrived before I could finish the classes and I'm not sure what to do."

"Sure, sweetie. Make yourself comfortable on the bed or the chair and I'll guide you through it."

Beth eyed Rio warily, not sure if she wanted him in here for this moment. As the older woman helped situate Marcus in Beth's arms, she mentioned, "A lot of nursing moms wear button down shirts. It makes it much easier when you have to breastfeed out in public. You only have to undo the top buttons and it makes it less likely that you'll accidentally flash somebody. Trust me. There are also special bras that make nursing easier too. OK. Looks like he's in a good position. Now, take your breast and rub your nipple against his bottom lip."

Beth did as she was instructed. Her baby's mouth opened but didn't latch.

"Try again, dear. It might take a few tries, but he'll eventually get it."

On her fourth attempt, Beth breathed a sigh of relief as Marcus finally started sucking.

"He's a quick learner this one is!" The nurse cried. "Well, I think you're all set. If you need anything, just buzz the nurses' station."

After the nurse left, Rio stalked over to her side a smirk upon his face.

"What?" Beth asked, suddenly feeling the need to cover herself up.

"Nothing. Just looks like me and my son already got something in common. We both like some t—"

Beth glowered, covering Marcus's ears. "Don't even say it. Do you know how embarrassed I would be if that was his first word? You're going to have to start cleaning up your language around him."

"Yes, Sister Elizabeth," he replied sheepishly, but with a wicked gleam in his eye.

He sat down on the bed next to her watching their son as he suckled at her breast. His hand reached up to gently stroke the back of Marcus's head.

Minutes passed as they enjoyed the joy and peacefulness of being a new family. Beth didn't think it was possible to be happier than she was right now. However, there was the little problem of not knowing exactly who would live where.

"So..." they both said at the same time. Beth laughed and said, "You go first."

He scratches his cheek. "I've been thinking. About you and the baby. About us living together. At my place or whatever."

"Are you asking me to come live with you?"

Rio shrugged. "Kid should be with both parents, y'know."

She'd love nothing more than to start a brand new life with just her, Rio, and the baby. But she had obligations. "Rio, I would love to but I can't. Someone has to keep an eye out on Annie."

Rio stood up from the bed and walked towards the window. He rarely outright said how he was feeling, but Beth could tell by the rigidity in his stance that he wasn't happy with her response.

Biting her bottom lip, she said, "I can't move in with you, but maybe you could move in with me?"