Ephram walked casually down the hallway after his Math class. It was kind of sad; actually, the class he took was with the Juniors, and he still did better then all of them. Genetic traits. He found Jig, Desi, and Amy standing against a set of lockers opposite the girl's locker room, each in their uniforms. Ephram walked up to them and removed his earplugs and turned off his CD player.

"What's going on?" he asked them. Amy sighed and looked toward the girl's bathroom.

"They kicked us out."

"What?" Ephram asked, confused by all right.

"They kidnapped Isaac and kicked us out, the goddamn…" Jig explained.

"Ha! That's eleven!" Desi said jotting something down on the notebook she seemed to always carry with her recently.

"Eleven what?" Ephram asked her.

"Desi has a new project," Amy answered. Desi prepared herself to elaborate.

"I'm doing a study for the school news paper. I'm tallying how many times a Christian and an Atheist make a reference to God or that sort within a 24-hour period. So I'm following Jig around and I'm going to spend the night at her house," Desi explained.

"Okay, that's, weird…. But why Jig?" Ephram asked, still a little confused.

"Because she's an Atheist…." Desi explained. Ephram's eyebrows lifted in surprise and he looked at Jig.

"You are?"

"Yeah."

"Wait a minute, you guys have been best friends for almost six months, and you didn't know Jig's beliefs?" Amy asked them, a little amused. Ephram shrugged.

"It never came up," Ephram said and Jig shrugged. Suddenly Isaac burst out of the girl's locker room and over to them, pen marks formed into words almost covering his arms. He grabbed Jig's arm.

"Come on!" he yelled and ran with her down the hallway as a mob of girls emerged from the locker room and followed them. Desi joined the mob, needing to be near Jig for her study. Ephram sighed and turned to Amy.

"Small town life?" he asked her. She nodded grinning.

"On steroids," she replied. He chuckled slightly, replaced his earplugs, and continued walking down the hallway, listening to his music.

Nina had taken the day off and waited rather impatiently in her kitchen, warming milk for Meredith and making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for Sam. If he was eating he was quiet. The reason for her impatience was, to be expected, her husband returning for a stay, and an introduction to his niece. Nina had given Meredith a bath that morning, after breakfast to clean all of the sludge off. If Carl didn't arrive soon, Nina would have to feed Meredith again, and that meant another bath, which could lead to Meredith's hair being wet when Carl got home. Meredith's hair was straight when it was wet, but when it was dry it was so surly she looked like a mini Snow White. With a bow in her hair, she'd make Edna smile. Nina kind of really needed Carl to love Meredith as much as she did. Despite all of the complications, Nina needed him to love her. She really had no doubt that he would, he was known to speak of wanting a daughter to protect, but, still, she was worried.

"Mooooooooommmmmm!" Sam whined. Nina looked over to see Meredith numbing Sam's sandwich in her hands. Nina sighed.

"Why'd you give that to her?" Nina asked.

"I didn't! She grabbed it out of my hands!" Sam whined again. Nina smiled and walked over to the baby. She removed the sandwich and threw it out. She cleaned some of the peanut butter and jelly off of the girl's face but lifted her out of the highchair to take her into the bathroom.

"I'll make you another sandwich after I clean her up," Nina told him.

"Nina? Sam?" a voice called to them from the front room. Sam's pouting face brightened into a thousand smiles as he bolted from his chair and into the arms of his father, who hugged him with the strength of a thousand wishes. Nina smiled and walked into the room to find her husband smiling and hugging their child. He set Sam down, smiled at her, the sight of her warming him in his place.

"Nina…" he said and walked over to her and the baby. Despite his focus being completely on the woman he loved since he was ten, he did take the baby in her arms into account and hugged his wife carefully.

"I missed you," Nina told him.

"Ditto," he said and they both giggled slightly in their joy. Carl leaned away from her and looked at the goo-covered baby in her arms. He chuckled slightly.

"This must be Meredith. Oh Nina, she's beautiful. She looks just like you, only with, peanut butter and jam on her face," Carl said and Nina laughed.

"She stole Sam's sandwich," Nina said and Carl laughed. Sam now stood at his father's side, but did not share in the revelry.

"May I hold her?" Carl asked. Nina nodded and handed the baby to him. He held the darling girl in his arms for a few moments, and she seemed perfectly fine there, not making a noise, just looking up at him with large, baby eyes. Then she spit up on him.

"Aww! That brings back memories…" Carl said looking down at Sam as Nina took the baby and brought Carl some paper towels. She frowned watching her husband wiping the front of his shirt.

"Welcome home," she said and Carl chuckled slightly.

Andy walked into Everwood's library and up to the main desk. It appeared as though the desk had been abandoned, but there were signs that there was an intention of returning. He placed Winnie the Pooh on the counter and waited for the librarian. His wait was not long.

"Andy Brown, I was wondering when you were going to return that book," Penny Laderer said walking behind the desk. Andy shrugged.

"I almost thought of keeping it," he replied, handing the book back to her. She marked it in as returned and then looked up at Andy, who evidently had other issues to discuss.

"Now how may I help you?" Penny asked.

"I'd like another book… And, no Milne, please," he said. She nodded, rolled her chair over to the other side of the desk, and pushed herself back.

"I thought you would, so I think you'll like this one," she said checking it out and handing it to him, no mystery behind it.

"The Great God Brown?" he asked her. She nodded.

"It's a play by Eugene O'Neill, it's about masks and finding out who you really are, and who the people around you really are," Penny explained. Andy nodded.

"Does it tell me why the dead can't die?" he asked her. She smiled.

"You'd have to check out Mourning Becomes Electra," Penny told him. He nodded and tucked the book into the crook of his arm.

"Maybe next time," he replied. She nodded.

"Enjoy," she told him as he turned around and walked out of the library.

Ephram walked into his kitchen Saturday evening to find Delia, in a dress and without baseball cap, setting the table. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out the bottle of milk. Milk actually came in glass bottles in Everwood… He filled a cup with it and replaced it, still keeping an ever-watchful eye on his little sister.

"What are you doing?" he finally asked her.

"Setting the table."

"Yeah, but why?" he asked taking a sip of his milk.

"Jig and Isaac de la Vega are coming over for supper," Delia answered him. At that point Ephram did what would most commonly be called a 'spit take.' Delia laughed slightly at his reaction and Ephram dampened a paper towel and cleaned the kitchen counter, which had received the front of the blast. Andy walked into the room and gave his children a questioning stare but decided against voicing his curiosity.

"Why didn't you tell me Jig and Isaac were coming over?" Ephram demanded from him sharply. Andy unintentionally gave Ephram his blank, almost puppy dog look.

"I thought Jig would have told you. Jig didn't tell you?" Andy asked surprised.

"She probably figured you would have asked Ephram if it was okay," Delia suggested. Andy turned to her.

"Why wouldn't it be okay?" he asked her, once again confused. She looked at Ephram so Andy followed her gaze. Ephram sighed and set his cup in the sink.

"There are just, rough spots, when it comes to Isaac. Can you uninvite them?" Ephram asked. Andy put his puppy face on again.

"Well uh…" he said but was saved from finishing by the doorbell ringing. Ephram sighed and walked over to the table and sat down.

When everyone was settled in and eating the food that Nina had be kind enough to make for them, the seating arrangement was as such: Andy at the head, as usual, with Ephram at his right and Delia at his left. Isaac sat next to Delia, which placed him across the table from Jig, who sat next to Ephram. Delia, surprisingly, ate nothing. She spent so much of her time trying to look like she wasn't looking at Isaac de la Vega, that she never ate a morsel. Jig and Ephram were both quiet unless spoken too. They spent their time glancing at each other, both being hurled into this spot. Ephram hadn't known of the event until it was upon him, and Jig was pressured by Isaac to accept.

Even Isaac de la Vega wanted to meet Dr. Andrew Brown. Actually, the main reason was that, once upon a time, Isaac wanted to be a doctor. His mother was a part time nurse so as a small child Isaac had spent a lot of time in the hospital daycare. He loved all of the organized busyness. But then he got a spot in a commercial and that became his goal. Now his mother was no longer a part time nurse, she had her own mansion in Hawaii, but spent most of her time with him, except to Everwood, she knew Jig was something Isaac would want to be alone for. Actually, with the wealth his film career had brought him, Isaac was set for life financially, and, if he wished, he could afford to go to school and become a doctor. The idea of doing that always brought a smile to his lips.

"So Isaac, any new film projects you could tell us about?" Andy asked, the only one comfortable enough to talk to him. Isaac nodded, swallowing a bite of food and mechanically wiping the side of his mouth with his napkin.

"Yes, actually. I'll be starring in a modernized version of Don Juan," Isaac said with a still common boyish enthusiasm about a new project.

"If it's modern how can he be Don Juan?" Ephram grumbled. Isaac frowned slightly but cleared it and put his smile back.

"They haven't figured that out yet. But it's still a few months until we start shooting."

"So you signed up for a movie that you haven't even seen the script for?"

"Well I-"

"It's not going to be another gang war movie is it? Most 'modernized' classics are usually about street gangs."

"I'm not sur-"

"Have you ever read Don Juan? Ow!" Ephram yelled and leaned down to rub his newly sore shinbone. Jig just sat quietly, eating casually from her plate.