A couple weeks passed, and the family did agree to use the name that Julie chose. They figured that was the least they could do for her. Julie was thankful that had agreed. That way she was able to leave her child something. She would always have apart in his life. Even if it was just being the one who gave him the name he would carry throughout his life.

Her eight month passed by much quicker than the previous seven. Now that she was in her ninth month things seemed to have slowed down. Her due date was just a couple of weeks away. And it felt like it would never come. She had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a few weeks now and if they were any indication of what lay ahead she defiantly wanted drugs.

Staying caught up in school was getting more difficult, but she was still going to get to graduate on time and she still had a chance to graduate in the top ten percent of her class.

Julie was now in the same class she had been in when the whole started. The only difference now was she in Biology II rather than Biology I. She was listening intently to the lecture until she felt this sharp pain. She closed her eyes and winced. "Oh man…that hurt." She let out a breath and tried to go back to listening to the lecture. Fifteen minutes passed without any more pain. "Hmm…must have been just another false contraction."

The next class she had was study hall. A perfect opportunity to get some work done. She dropped her books off at her locker and pulled out the ones she needed to study. She passed Portman in the hall. She smiled and said hello, but he never even gave her indication that he even saw her. She sighed and continued on her way. She found a nice table in the corner of the library where she could study alone. She sat down and opened her biology book. She hadn't been there five minutes when another pain it her. This one hurt more and lasted several seconds longer. "Okay that really hurt."

Julie took a few breaths and shrugged the pain off. Another fifteen minutes passed and she felt it again. She squeezed her eyes shut. "Not now…I'm not ready." she thought. She bit her lip and stood up. She couldn't sit still, but she didn't know where she planned on walking to she was still in school. She walked around the library and just tried to look like she was looking for a book. She stopped in the poetry section and pulled down a book. Here she found a book of quotes and poems. In the book she found a quote by author and poet Carl Sandburg. "Babies are God's opinion that the world should go on." A smile tugged her lips as she read those words, but the smile soon faded as she was hit by another intense pain. This one was followed by a warm feeling. Julie closed her eyes again and shook her. "This can't be happening now." Sure enough, her water had broke.

Julie knew she had no choice but to go find a teacher or someone. She walked down the hall as quickly as her body would allow her. Which by now she really did resemble a duck with her nice little pregnant waddle. She found Ms. Fields class and knocked on the door. Good thing this was her off period. "Julie come in. What's wrong?" Julie took a breath and let it out. "Ms. Fields. My water broke. I need someone …" Julie didn't even get a chance to finish the sentence. Ms. Fields had her purse and keys and was ushering Julie down the hall towards the exit before she knew what was happening.

"How far along the contractions Julie?" Julie bit her lip and thought a moment. "About ten to fifteen minutes." Ms. Fields sighed with relief. "Okay, that's good. You'll still have a little while before the baby is ready to deliver." That wasn't much comfort to Julie. She wanted to have this baby, but yet she was not ready to go through this. But if she had to she wanted to be quick.

They reached the hospital and Julie was admitted. They examined her and she was only between two to three centimeters. "Has anyone called my parents, and the agency?" Ms. Fields shook her head. "I'll go call everyone now who needs to be notified. Do you want me to call…?" Julie shook her head no. "No, there's no point in calling him."

School let and the news was already out. It was spreading like wild fire. Julie was having her baby. The ducks were gathered in the locker r oom changing for practice even though the season was at end. They still had a few games left. Mostly championship games. "Hey guys! Have you heard the news?" Goldberg shouted as he walked into the locker room. "What news Goldberg?" Dwayne asked. "Julie's at the hospital. She's having the baby." The room went silent and everyone looked at each other then at Portman. "What?" He threw his stuff in his locker and pulled his jersey on. "What?" he snapped again. "If you think I'm going over there , just forget it. I have nothing to do with this." He slammed his locker and grabbed his helmet and walked out of the room. "Jerk!" Connie muttered under her breath.

"Is anyone with her Goldberg?" Charlie asked concerned. "I don't know. I think Ms. Fields took her." Charlie nodded. "We should check on her after practice."

The hours passed and the pain intensified. "Drugs, can I have drugs?" Julie begged the nurse who came in to examine her. "Not just yet…it's still too early. You're only four to five centimeters now. Just another hour or so and we can give you something. They would wear off now before you gave birth." Julie screamed in pain and frustration. "Someone just shoot me now and get me out of my misery."

"It hurts! I don't want to do this anymore! I can't do it. Not without something for the pain." she pleaded. "Let's me check you again." The nurse examined Julie again and found that she was between seven and eight centimeters. "Okay Julie you can have something now." The nurse called and Julie was given some pain medication. "Oh thank you…thank you so much…"

After Julie had gotten her medication things went much smoother. In no time at all she was being told to push. "No, I can't. I'm too tired." The doctor looked Julie in the eyes. "Yes you can. I see the head. Now push Julie." Julie pushed with all her might and all her remaining strength. "Alright Julie the head is out. Now I want you to give me one small push." She don't know where she found the strength to even give a small push, but she did.

After twelve hours of labor Coby Michael enter the world. He came in at 6:25 a.m. on April 15, he weighed in at a whapping 8lb. 10 oz. And he was 21 inches long. Julie feel back on the bed tears streaming down her face. A combination of pain, joy, and heartache. She listened to the sounds of Coby's cries as he took his first breaths. That sound would forever be etched onto Julie's memory.

The nurse took him and cleaned him up and wrapped him up in the blankets and put a blue cap on his head. She walked back over to the bed that Julie was laying in. "Julie you have a choice? Would like to hold him for a minute or would you prefer we take him start to the nursery?" That was the simplest question she'd answered in a very long time. May be it was the best answer, but she couldn't let him go without holding him and seeing just once. "I want to hold him please." The nurse brought over this bundle of blankest and laid it in Julie's arms. She looked down and all she could see was this tiny little face peaking out and looking up at her.

She felt even more tears well up in her eyes as she starred down into this perfect little face. He was so beautiful. Julie couldn't believe she had made something so perfect. That she and Portman together had made something so perfect. He looked just like Portman. "Hi Coby! You are beautiful. You're a carbon copy of Dean." She just couldn't take her eyes off of him. She wanted to remember every detail of what he looked. That would be her only memory of him and what he would look like. The nurse came back over and reached for Coby. "It's time we took him now." Julie frowned and kissed his forehead. "I love you." With a heavy heart she handed Coby over and looked at him for the last time.

Charlie did call to see how Julie was doing the next morning. "Hey Julie, how are you doing?" Julie curled up as much as she could. "I'm doing as good as I can Charlie. I'm a little sore, and…." she paused. "Never mind." Charlie could tell that she wasn't doing as well as she would like everyone to think. "Julie are sure you're okay." She brushed a tear from her eye. "I'm fine Charlie." She paused again. "Oh Charlie you should have seen him. He was so beautiful." She went on to describe every detail of what Coby had looked like to Charlie.

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Julie went back to school a couple days later. Her body was still sore. She had to wear these pads in her bra to absorb any milk that might leak out since her body was still lactating. Her breast where so tender and sore. But she was told that would be something she'd have to deal with until the milk began to try up. Despite those few uncomfortable conditions Julie tried to return to a normal teenage life.

She busied herself with school. She had to work hard to catch up and to ensure that she would still graduate with honors at least. The busy days went okay, but the nights were rough. Julie would wake up in the middle of the night swearing that she heard a baby crying. But there was nothing but an old empty dorm room when she opened her eyes. Then she would cry herself back to sleep. This happened almost every night. She'd wake up and cry herself to sleep. Before she even feel asleep most nights she would lay awake with her hands on her stomach. She could still vividly recall how it felt whenever Coby would move or kick.