Life After High School. Is It Scary? You Bet.

By Risty Maskell and Silver15

Disclaimer: to J. R. R. Tolkien: That is sooo unfair! I hate you! (audience: Think Kevin and Perry Go Large)

Summary: Geez. do I have to?

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(Emma's POV)

I thought a lot about what Jaime had said in the next two or three days. Abortion seemed the logical choice; after all I'd barely survived giving birth to Kane. I'd be endangering myself again if I went ahead with the pregnancy. And yet it did not seem right somehow. I had never believed in abortion and neither had my family. If my mother had believed in it, I wouldn't be alive and that is a scary thought. It was not an option.

I told only Elrond and Legolas that I was pregnant. I did not tell them that the child wasn't Boromir's; that was between me, Jaime and Billee. I did however ask them not to say anything to anyone else until I had decided what I wanted to do. They agreed.

Although she didn't push me on the topic, I got the feeling that Jaime wanted me to have an abortion. It was logical I suppose, to go into a marriage I was unsure about with a baby that wasn't my husbands, would cause all sorts of problems.

Billee, Legolas and Elrond were not so keen to force their opinions forward. They all said that I should do whatever I thought was best, but Elrond did stress that I should listen to the doctor's warnings.

In the end, I made my decision. I would go through with the pregnancy. I dreaded telling Boromir, Billee and I had decided that it would be best to tell him after the wedding and that day was drawing nearer and nearer. I couldn't face getting married, but I didn't want to hurt Boromir or Kane. I was trapped and there was little I could do about it. Almost everything was organised now and there was no turning back. I kept Kane close to me at all times, just to remind me that I was not doing this for myself, I was doing it for my son. And what I had said to Benny was the truth; I would live anywhere as long as I had him with me.

(Benny's POV)

It was late when I finished working in the bar and when Bernard told me that there was a phone call for me, I was tempted to ignore it. However, I don't generally get many calls and I figured that it was probably important. It was. I didn't know the caller, all I could say was it was a young male and from the information he gave me, was probably working in medicine. It's possible that he was disguising his voice, I don't know. What he said shocked me to the core. If he was speaking the truth, a lot of things could change, perhaps for the better.

When he hung up, I said goodnight to Bernard and hurried home. Damon was as I had left him, unwashed, unshaven, with a beer bottle in his hand. He had been like that since we had arrived back at Silverwood and no amount of coaxing could get him to talk. I was very worried about him, I'd seen him in some pretty bad states of depression in the past, but this one was the worst yet by far. For half a second, I wondered if I should tell him what I had been told, then decided that if it was the truth he had a right to know.

"Damon" I said quietly. "Somebody called me when I was at work. They…they told me something."

"What?"

"The operation we performed on Emma after the birth of Kane. It…it failed, Damon."

"You mean…" he looked at me and I saw a faint glimmer of hope in his eyes. I nodded.

"If she was speaking the truth when she said she had not had sex with Boromir since the birth of Kane" I said quietly. "Then that means she is carrying your child. And you know what that means?"

"Go on."

"If she chooses to go through with it, despite the risks" I told him. "Then for the baby's sake, there is no reason why she could not choose you over Boromir. After all, the child has a right to know it's real father."

"I…I never thought of that," he admitted. "But how do we know that it is the truth?"

"Call Emma" I urged him. "Ask her. She can be the only one who knows for certain."

He took my advice. Despite it being late, he called them. It was only a few seconds before someone picked up the phone.

"Hello" he said clearly. "Jaime, its Damon. Can I speak to Emma…" His voice trailed off and I knew without asking that she had hung up on him. He narrowed his eyes and hurled the receiver at the wall.

"How can I find out if they won't let me talk to her?" he asked angrily. "All she has ever wanted to do is keep us apart and it appears that she has finally succeeded."

"No she hasn't," I said, a plan beginning to form in my mind. "Go to bed now and get some sleep. When you wake up tomorrow, tidy yourself up, all right? You need to look smart."

"What are you planning?" he asked suspiciously. I laughed.

"Just leave it to me" I said, patting him on the back. "Just leave it to me."

Where were we going? To the person we always went to when things got bad. To see Lucas and to ask for his help.