Author's Note: Rose, Syl was referring to the X5 heat cycles when she said "those times." Because of her surroundings growing up, Jondy's body hasn't really completed puberty and she hasn't had a heat cycle yet, and because she hasn't been around any of the others, she doesn't even know that she will have them. I only lightly touched on this in the first chapter. Syl assumed that Jondy had already been through heat cycles because of her age so she thought that Jondy would understand when she said "those times", but poor Jondy is clueless. Some of Jondy's problems will be dealt with in this chapter. Hope that helped. J

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing.

Family Relations

By Be Boring

Chapter 5: Uncomfortable Developments

The last few weeks had been the best times of Jondy's life. After Zack had set her up with a contact number and passed it out to the other X5s he was in contact with, she slowly received congratulatory messages from all of them. Zack, however, warned her not to call them back right away and start having hour-long conversations with each of them every day. She simply rolled her eyes when his back was turned and peeked at the list of addresses. She would have to start visiting them if Zack was going to be a pain in the ass, just to piss him off. Her eyes landed on a name halfway down the list that made her brighten up immediately: Brin. At her relentless pestering, Zack finally agreed to take her to Austin, Texas to visit her big sister. A couple days later, they were in Tinga's house, making by far one of the best meals of Jondy's life and playing with Case, who she immediately thought was the cutest little boy she'd ever seen. Then on to Syl, Zane, Krit, Kiera, and Cade, each of whom greeted her with open arms. Slowly but surely she was learning how to make her way around Zack's defenses and persuade him to do pretty much anything.

Jondy lay on her bed, half-smiling up at the ceiling as she thought of each visit and how it had been to see each of their faces again for the first time in years. They all looked so different, yet she would have been able to pick them out of a crowd any day. Zane's smile still stretched from ear to ear, showing two perfect rows of teeth that were almost blinding. Syl still had that happiness that rarely ever left her, Krit still did everything he could to defy Zack's authority, Cade was as mature as ever, and Kiera still had those nearly black eyes that continued to give Jondy the creeps, except for when she smiled, which was when they lit up and changed her entire demeanor. She was already so happy now, and there was still two left to see: Blake and Shayna. The other two were cut off, a situation that Jondy hoped would be turned around in the near future. She especially wanted to see Max, whom she hadn't even known was alive until Zack told her. She could hold off on Ben, though.

Finally, she knew there was no way she'd be able to get any more sleep, so she grabbed her bag off the floor and made her way to the bathroom, trying not to wake Zack as she went. She was sure he had cracked an eye open, but he didn't make any other movements so she went on as if she hadn't noticed. The moment the door was shut she pulled off her nightshirt, which desperately needed to be washed. Suddenly, she winced and threw the shirt aside. Had there been something rough inside the cloth? The skin just below her armpits ached, although it didn't appear to have been rubbed in any way. She turned and looked into the mirror, but she couldn't see anything wrong with the skin. Prodding it gently still sent sharp needles of pain rushing around the area, so she pulled out a bra from her bag with some hesitation. This isn't going to be fun, she thought with a sigh of resignation. These pains had been growing worse over the last week, but they'd never been this strong.

She was so tiny that she really didn't need a bra, but she felt so strange without one that she started to put it on despite the aching that plagued her. It wasn't until she had fastened it that she realized something was different. Stepping back to look at herself better in the mirror, a new realization hit her that made her mouth drop open. Aren't I too old to still be growing? I haven't grown an inch since I was thirteen. Well, whether she was too old or not didn't really matter, her own eyes were telling her that her chest was bigger. Not a lot, but it was bigger nevertheless. It made sense that her skin was sensitive right now; she was having growing pains. This was happening fast, too, there was already a visible difference from a week ago. Not sure what to make of this new situation, she quickly finished getting dressed and slipped out of the hotel room. She just hoped that Zack didn't decide to follow her, she couldn't imagine having a conversation with him about her breasts. The idea was simply laughable.

Ok, who's the closest to my age? She sat quietly and pondered it for a moment. Shayna was actually closer to her age, but seeing as how Jondy actually hadn't gotten the chance to have a conversation with her yet other than basic greetings and congratulations, she didn't want this to be their first topic of discussion. Kiera, she's not that much older than I am. Besides, she's the one doing all the research on the special things that go on in our bodies as opposed to everyone else's. Without giving it another thought, she hurried to the nearest empty room, pulled out her cell phone, and dialed her number.

"Yo," was the greeting she received upon hearing her sister pick up the phone. Butch as ever, she thought with a smile.

"Hey, it's me," she replied. She knew perfectly well that Kiera would recognize her voice. "I have this kind of weird thing going on, and I think you're the only one young enough to talk to about this."

"Ok, shoot. I'm listening."

"Well, I think I've, um, started growing again."

"As in puberty growing? Curves and all that?"

"Yeah, I think so, especially my chest. Is it really normal for me to still be growing at sixteen? I thought all that stuff should have been done at about thirteen, especially with how fast we're supposed to grow."

"Yeah, we were programmed to finish growing earlier than other people, but I suppose if something happened to stunt your growth, then maybe it just started up again now."

"But I thought once your growth was stunted, it just kind of stayed that way?"

"For other people, yes, but not for us. If it's in our genetic code to reach, oh, we'll say 5'5", then by God we're going to reach it. Same thing goes for everything else. You said that foster family didn't feed you so well, so your body realized that it didn't have enough nutrients to keep growing and focused on simply maintaining what it had. Now that you're away from there, and I'm sure Zack's feeding you everything you need whether you like it or not, your body's picking up where it left off. I expect you'll look your age within a few months, seeing as how your body will probably be working overtime to make up for lost time. It might be in your best interest to sneak off and buy some bigger clothes that you'll be needing pretty soon. I doubt Zack will want to go bra shopping with you." They both laughed. Jondy at least felt a little better about this. She just hated the feeling that her body was doing something it wasn't supposed to, but if Kiera was right, then this was just some delayed growing that had been stopped by her lifestyle with the Casteau's. Now she just felt embarrassed about calling Kiera about something so trivial.

As if she sensed her sister's embarrassment, Kiera said, "I'm glad you called me, and it's not just because I know Zack would freeze if you tried to ask him anything about this stuff. I'm a little worried about Shayna. She's been feeling kind of funny lately."

"I didn't know you had her number."

Kiera chuckled. "Neither does Zack, so let's just keep this between you and me. Anyway, she's been really having some bad stomach cramps, and she's always sick. If you so much as show her a sandwich, she runs for the bathroom."

"How did you find that out if you only talk to her over the phone? Shayna always had a lot of pride, I don't think she would just complain to you about not feeling well."

There was a pause, then her voice came hesitantly. "Well, she didn't actually tell me. Her boyfriend did."

"Boyfriend? How long has she been with him?"

"About three months. He's really nice, which I suppose he'd have to be in order to date her. She's very sensitive when it comes to ordinary people and hasn't really done much dating. Even the relationships she has had have been short and ended badly. I think she has some very high standards when it comes to people she'll allow to be close to her, and there's just not many people out there who can live up to them. To get back to the story, I called there about a week ago and he answered the phone. He knows a little bit about her correspondence with me, so he told me about how she was feeling and that the reason she hadn't answered the phone was because she hadn't even been out of bed all day. I already have my theories about what's going on, but I don't want to say anything in case I'm wrong."

Jondy bit down on her lip nervously. If Kiera had the same idea that she did, and it was true, Zack was definitely not going to be very happy. "You think she's pregnant, don't you?"

"Yeah, that's all I can come up with. She could be anywhere in her first trimester right now, but I don't know if she has any idea. I figured you might want to see her, since you're working with Zack now. I'm afraid to talk to her about it, but maybe you could find out if she has any thoughts about what is going on."

Ten minutes later, Jondy was pleading with Zack to let her go see Shayna. "Come on, there's only two left that I haven't seen. You may as well let me make the full rounds. Besides, she only lives about five hours away, it's not like we'd be going out of the way. Zack, if you want me to be any help at all, then you're going to have to let me talk to them all face to face. Nobody's ever going to confide in me if they hardly know me."

He rolled his eyes and took another bite out of the cold strawberry pop tart he'd taken out of his bag. "Jondy, they all know you already. You've talked to them over the phone, even if you haven't seen them all yet. Just because it's been a few years doesn't mean that you have to start all over again."

"That shows how much you know," she snapped. "I happen to know I've changed quite a bit since the escape, and I'm sure everyone else has changed as well. At Manticore, we were all very similar because we all had the same past experiences, but we've led separate lives since we got out that developed us in different ways. Whether you want to believe it or not, we've all become very different from the kids we used to be, even you."

Although he had only taken a few bites out of it, Zack set his pop tart to the side and reached out to take her arm, which she guessed was an attempt to calm her down. "Listen, I know you're just using this as an excuse because I distinctly remember having an argument about this a while back and our positions were completely reversed, but our changes aren't why I'm against going to see Shayna. If you wanted to go see Blake, I wouldn't have a problem with it, but with Shayna it's a different story. She's, well, I think she's changed more than the rest of us. I really don't think it's a good idea for you to see her so soon."

Now he had her thoroughly confused. "Zack, she's known that I'm working with you for about a week now, and we've talked over the phone once. I didn't get anything out of that conversation that would turn me against going to see her. Why do I get the feeling that something's going on that you don't want me to know about?"

He glanced at the address list, which was sitting on the tiny bedside table. "If you want to go see her yourself, that's fine. There's enough gas in the truck we have now to get you there. I just won't go with you." He put a finger quickly against her lips just as she started to open her mouth. "Don't ask questions, all you have to know is that I won't go with you. Got it?"

She nodded and stepped out of reach, effectively removing his hands from her arm and lips. "I still don't understand, but I won't ask. I do plan to go see her, though. That's still okay with you?"

"Yeah."

~~~~~

A few hours later, Jondy was approaching a tiny house that sat five miles out of the nearest town. At least she has some privacy, Jondy thought with some approval. She had always wanted to live in a house in the country. There was a beat up little car sitting in the driveway, which she guessed belonged to Shayna's boyfriend. In the backyard she could hear a dog barking, which turned out to be the cutest little Golden Retriever puppy she'd ever seen. Even as she approached the front door, Zack's words kept coming back to her. "She's, well, I think she's changed more than the rest of us. I really don't think it's a good idea for you to see her so soon." What reasons did he have to not want to see one of his own siblings?

She didn't have to wait very long after she knocked for someone to come to the door. The man who opened the door wasn't extremely good-looking, but his warm eyes made her like him immediately. She could already see why Shayna liked him so much. "Hi. I know we haven't met before, but I used to be a very close friend of Shayna's. I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop in."

"Are you Kiera?"

She smiled and shook her head. "No, but I know her. Could I come in?" After he stepped aside to give her room, she studied the small front hallway. The house appeared to be even tinier on the inside, but it had a comfortable feeling to it. "By the way, I'm Amanda," she added, turning to face him again.

"I'm Brandon. Shayna's in the bedroom if you wanted to see her." Jondy followed along behind him as they made two short turns and wound up in another tiny but homey room. On the bed was a very beautiful redhead, with bright green eyes that almost didn't look natural. Shayna looked up and smiled at Brandon, then looked curiously at Jondy.

"Hello," she said quietly, staring intently at Jondy as she tried to figure out who she was. Jondy could see some spark of recognition in her eyes, but it was obvious Shayna hadn't placed her yet. She glanced up at Brandon and smiled again. "Could you give us a few minutes alone?"

"Are you sure you feel up to it?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." As soon he had shut the door behind himself, Shayna lost some of the kindness in her eyes. "Ok, who are you? I know you're an X5, but I can't remember which one."

"I'm hurt," Jondy pouted playfully. "You don't recognize me? I'm Jondy!"

Shayna's smile popped back into place as though it was an automatic response. "Jondy?! God, it's been so long! I take it you're here just to make sure I've been a good girl?"

"Well, I've been stopping in to see everybody just to get reacquainted. I don't really think that can be done properly over the phone. How are you feeling? I wouldn't have expected to find you in bed during the middle of the day."

"I'm okay, I guess I'm just feeling a little flu-ish. I'm not really used to it, so I might be overreacting a little bit. How are you getting around on your own? I would have thought that a social worker somewhere would have tried to put you in a foster home by now."

"Zack is letting me stay with him until I'm old enough to live on my own, although I was taking kind of a risk coming out here on my own. Zack had other stuff to take care of, so I had to talk him into letting me come here." How in the world could she be expected to say that he didn't want to see her?

Shayna stared at her in disbelief. "Are you serious? Zack's letting you live with him? But you're only sixteen, right? That means you'll be living with him for two years!"

Jondy blushed at the astonishment in her sister's eyes. "Yeah, but I might be able to leave a little earlier than that. It wouldn't surprise me if he found a way to get his hands on a really good fake ID for me so that I can live on my own. He's not extremely comfortable with the situation."

"Uh, Jondy?" she began nervously. "Be careful living with him, okay? He might be a lot more comfortable with the situation than you think."

"What do you mean by that?" Jondy asked suspiciously.

"I just mean that every now and then he gets in these moods, and there's just no reasoning with him. It's more than the usual control freak thing he has going on, it's more like when he decides he wants something. There's no holding him back then." To Jondy's surprise, Shayna's eyes welled up with tears. Before she could ask what was wrong, she got her answer. "I wasn't really telling the truth before. I know for a fact I don't have the flu, but I really don't want Brandon to know." Jondy knew what was coming out before Shayna even opened her mouth again. "I think I'm pregnant."

Jondy tried to look at least a little surprised. "Why don't you want Brandon to know? I'm sure he'd be thrilled to find out."

Shayna's eyes widened as if Jondy was insane. "What? He'd be furious! You don't understand, I haven't slept with Brandon! We've been together for only a few months, I would never sleep with someone that early. I've had some bad times since we escaped from Manticore, and I really have a hard time letting people get close to me. Brandon respects me, that's why we haven't done anything."

"Then who's the father?" Jondy asked softy. Suddenly, Shayna became very quiet, and Jondy could easily see the deer-in-the-headlights expression that she was trying desperately to hide. "You can't be that far along, so it must have happened while you were dating Brandon. You two seem to get along so well, why would you cheat on him?"

Now the tears slowly flowed out from her sister's eyes. "I didn't have any choice. It was about a month ago when it happened. I had been trying to keep Zack from finding out that I was living with a man, but somehow he heard about it. Brandon was at work when he came over to give me one of those famous lectures of his about exposure. I really don't know how it started, but you can see how it turned out."

No, that's impossible. Zack wouldn't do that, not to one of us. She didn't have time to think about it anymore, because Brandon chose that moment to return to see how things were going. "Is everything okay? Hey, why are you crying?" He moved quickly to the bed to sit down next to Shayna, who quickly wiped the tears off her cheeks.

"It's all right, we were just talking about some old memories."

Jondy glanced back and forth between the two for a moment, then commented quickly, "I was just leaving anyway. It was nice seeing you again, Shayna." Without even looking at them again, she turned and headed back to the front door. She pulled her light jacket closer against her body, but she knew the chill she felt wasn't due to the weather. "Be careful living with him, okay? He might be a lot more comfortable with the situation than you think."

The ringing of her cell phone surprised her, but the chill only grew worse when she saw the number that was calling her. It was Zack's number. "Hello?"

"How soon can you be back here? We have a problem with Krit."

Even as she was saying she could be at Krit's place by the end of the day, she couldn't help but wonder about what she'd just found out from Shayna. Now she could see why he hadn't wanted to come here. You're getting ahead of yourself. Just wait until you've talked to him face to face, maybe he can explain everything better. There has to be a reason other than 'he was angry'. After she hung up the phone, she took off as quickly as possible. If things were worked out quickly enough with Krit, then hopefully she would have her answer by midnight.

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A/N 2: Please review! It's good therapy for me. :P