Neither Kit nor Cray said much as they walked back into town. They both were lost in their own thoughts. Kit absentmindedly rubbed her stomach thinking of how she was going to tell Buddha the news that he was going to be a father. It had happened all so suddenly. It had been the last night at the farm and Kit couldn't sleep so she had gone out to the yard and was swinging on an old rope swing. Buddha had heard her get up and followed her out. They had talked for a while but soon talking had lead to kissing and one thing led to another. Kit felt her face flush as she remembered that night. They hadn't done anything like that since then, and Kit couldn't believe that it only had taken on night. She wondered what Buddha's reaction was going to be, would he be happy or would he be angry?

Cray's thoughts were focused on Lincoln also, he was worried about telling Swan they weren't allowed to go home at the end of the summer. Kit would probably stay with Karen and Joel but where were they going to stay? Staying on the college campus would be out of the question when classes started, and there wasn't room at the Jacobson's house. Maybe a room at a boarding house would be open, but what was Swan going to do for a job? Jobs weren't the most plentiful thing in town at the moment, even Cray wasn't sure how long his job would be there. Maybe going to Omaha or even Chicago would be a good idea, there had to be jobs there especially for guys like him and Swan.

"Cray, um I am wondering you never said how Buddha was besides the fact he was awake." Kit finally spoke nervously playing with the hem of her shirt.

"Well I said the doctor was happy he was as healthy as he was for being asleep for so long. But Kit the doctor doesn't think he is going to be able to walk again. Something happened to his back and Doc thinks it is permanent. It might not be but Kit he can't feel anything below his knees."

Kit's mouth was caught in a small "oh" as she took it all in. Cray felt bad "Sorry I just blurted it out like that. Why do you wanna know?"

Kit swallowed a bit thinking about her baby. There was no way she could raise a baby on her own, but if Buddha couldn't work what was going to happen. "Nothing I was just wondering, so why does he wanna talk to me?"

Cray closed his eyes before responding, "I can't say Kit. He asked me not to." That was a lie, Buddha had actually asked him to tell Kit for him, but there was no way Kit was going to be told through her cousin that her boyfriend was going to break up with her.

"Oh okay, is Josh doing any better, is he still mad at me?" Kit wrapped her arms around her waist waiting to hear the answer, dreading it.

"Um he isn't as mad but Kit you don't want to cross him." Cray put an arm around her shoulder, "Just remember that Swan and me are here for you okay?"

Kit just nodded as she felt a tear make its way down her face. She quickly wiped it away not wanting Cray to see it and wonder.

They finished the walk in silence and all too soon they were at the house. Kit stood outside looking up at the window where she knew Buddha was behind, in a bed paralyzed. Cray gave her shoulder one last squeeze as he led her into the house. Karen greeted them with hugs. "Kit I can't believe you are finally here, come on we'll go put your bag back in your room. We were so worried when you left. And when Cray came back saying you were staying at the farm I knew something wasn't right. Come on we'll go up to your room and talk about it."

"Karen, I really want to go say hello to Buddha then go lay down for a nap." Kit said struggling to keep her eyes open.

Karen nodded as she took Kit's bag, "Here hun I'll go take this to your room and you go see Buddha. Josh is still out selling papers so you have some time with him alone. We'll talk after" A toddler's crying stopped Karen mid sentence. "Oh the children, Kit wait a long time after you get married to have children you never have a moments peace till afterwards." Karen spoke as she went up the stairs to check on the babies.

"Too late for that." Kit mumbled under breath.

"Too late for what?" Cray asked coming out of the kitchen with some bread smothered in butter.

"Too late for me to take a nap, if I do I'll never sleep tonight." Kit said the first thing that came to mind.

"Yeah probably, so you going to just stand in the hallway or are you going to go say hello to Buddha, I brought you back here for a reason didn't I?" Cray said around a mouthful of food.

"Fine, fine I'm going." Kit slowly trudged up the stairs her feet feeling as if they weighed eighty pounds each. Time to face the music, hopefully no one would interrupt them before she was done telling him everything.

She knocked on the door and waited until Buddha called out "Come in." Her first thought when she saw him was this had to be a joke. The haggard skeleton in the bed couldn't be her boyfriend. He had huge circles under his brown eyes, and his blonde hair looked as if it hadn't been combed in months. His eyes softened a bit when he saw who his visitor was and he motioned her to sit down. "I didn't think you would get here so fast." He sucked in a deep breath as if trying to gain strength to fight a huge fight. "How are things at the farm?"

Kit shrugged, "Okay I guess. So how are you doing?"

"I've been better. Kit we have to talk."

"About what?" Kit answered hesitantly.

"Kit the doctor says I am never gonna walk again."

"Yeah Cray said that, but the doctor can be wrong."

"I don't think he is wrong. Kit you can't live in a limbo hoping that I will be able to walk someday. You need a guy who can work and support you, not one who is going to be stuck in bed for the rest of his life."

"What are you talking about Buddha, I love you and we can work through this." Kit went to kiss him but he turned his head away.

"No Kit I have been thinking about this and you don't need to live with a cripple. You deserve better."

"But I want you not someone else." Kit protested.

"Well I don't want you any more Kit. I don't love you anymore." Buddha closed his eyes as he said that he didn't love Kit, and didn't see her face fall or the tears fill her eyes.

"Why not? What did I do that made you stop loving me?" Kit pleaded, wanting Buddha to take it back and comfort her.

Before Buddha could give any answer Josh spoke out, "You are the reason he is in that bed that's what you did to kill off his love."

Kit sat back if struck, her eyes begging Buddha to say something. Buddha just nodded in acceptance of what Josh had said. Josh took this as agreement and grabbed Kit by the arm pulling her up. "I told you to leave him alone. Get out of here Amelia Oberg you are no longer welcome."

Kit looked from one brother to the other as the words sunk in. She then picked up her skirt and ran from the room, slamming the door on her way out. Swan was in the hall as Kit came running out of the door. He caught her as she tripped on one of the baby toys. "Lemme go, Let me go." Kit beat her fists into Swans chest as he held onto her tightly. He held her close as she began to cry, gently and slowly leading her down the hallway to her room. "I can't do this, I just can't do this. This wasn't supposed to happen, it should have been me." Kit sobbed as Swan lay her down on the bed and pulled the covers up to her shoulders.

She began to yawn between sobs, "How am I going to raise a baby on my own?" Kit's eyes closed as she fell asleep. Swan froze above her when she said baby, the color draining from his face. Softly he exited the room and went in search of Cray. He found Cray in the kitchen making a sandwich.

"Cray we got a bit of a problem." He said after checking to see if anyone was in listening distance.

"I take it Jeremy broke up with her?" Cray asked as he sat down.

"Well yeah, but that ain't our problem." Swan paused taking a deep breath, before speaking in a low voice. "Kit's pregnant."

"What!" Cray choked on his sandwich.

"Kit's pregnant, she was crying and stuff so I put her in bed. Right before she fell asleep she said 'How am I gonna raise a baby on my own?' If she has to raise a baby I would think that means she is pregnant."

"You think? Now what do we do? She can't stay here. The rumors that would fly as she started to get big would ruin her. And there is no way that Jeremy is gonna marry her."

"I wouldn't want him to marry her, not now."

"Yeah I got to agree with you there. But we got an even bigger problem, Pa kicked us out for bringing Kit here. We don't have anywhere to go at the end of the summer."

It was Swan's turn to be surprised. "So what are we gonna do?"

"I was thinking of going east, maybe Chicago or something. But we can't do that and leave Kit here to face the vultures that call themselves ladies."

Neither young man spoke as they thought about how to deal with this new development.

"Why not take her with us? We can say she is our widowed sister or something." Swan mused aloud.

"What do you mean?" Cray looked curious.

"Well if we take her along and say she is our sister no one is gonna question why she is pregnant and even if we can just keep going till we find some where to stay. That way no one talks and who cares what the old biddies here think." Swan's eyes lit up with anticipation.

Cray slowly nodded in agreement, as he stood up. "Well if we do this we'll have to leave soon. There is no way we can keep this secret if we don't leave soon. I am going to go check on Kit."

Cray walked up the stairs careful to avoid the room where his former friends were sleeping. He knocked softly on Kit's door and entered when he heard a soft "Come in."

"Hey Kitten how you doing?"

"Okay I guess, you knew that he was going to do that didn't you?" Kit looked at Cray accusingly. Cray hung his head but nodded. "Why didn't you warn me?"

"Because he wanted me to tell you not to come back at all, but I told him you needed to be told in person."

"Well I guess I am glad he told me, but it hurts so much. Why did he have to break up with me? It isn't like being confined to a wheelchair is the end of the world."

"No it isn't but to him it is. Kit he wanted to be able to provide for you and any of your kids and he doesn't think he can do that in a wheelchair."

Kit's head went down and Cray saw a tear escape her eye before she caught it with a swipe of her hand. "What's wrong Kit? You can tell me."

"You promise not to get too mad?" Kit looked up hesitantly.

Cray nodded and smiled reassuringly, "Well it's like this, before we came here for the summer I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk. Well Jeremy followed me and well we started kissing and one thing lead to another and," Kit's voice became very quiet "I'm pregnant."

Cray sat not saying anything, Kit looked at him expecting some sort of outburst, "Well say something Cray, I know we messed up but what am I supposed to do now?"

"Well Swan and I talked about it, and we thought maybe you could come east with us. We could say you are our sister or something and maybe we can look for a nice family that wants a baby and you can have your baby then give it up for adoption or something."

"Who says I am giving it up for adoption?" Kit sat back angrily.

"Kit you are 15, and no matter how old you act you can't raise a baby on your own. It would be easier for everyone if you found a nice family."

"I am not giving up my baby." Kit sat with her arms crossed.

"Fine we'll talk about it later. Swan is going to look into train prices, we might end up train hoping you think you can handle it?" Kit nodded. "Okay we're looking at leaving in the next week so be ready. It will be pretty quick like. We can't let anyone know we are going got it?"

"Yeah I got it. I'll be ready and everything. So where is our first stop?"

"Chicago, then further east. I think New York City would be nice."

"Yeah it would be. Well I need some sleep. Thanks for letting me go along Cray. I won't be any trouble I promise."

Cray smirked as he made his way to the door, "When are you anything but?"

Kit let out an outraged squeak as she threw the pillow as hard as possible at the closing door. She smiled for the first time that evening as she pulled the covers off her still flat stomach. "You ever act like your Uncle Cray and I will disown you." She then pulled the covers back to her shoulders and closed her eyes, to enjoy the most night's sleep she had since she realized she was pregnant.