The day after the unexpected surprise made itself known, Tilda, who'd heard all of my yelling through the thin wall that separated our apartments, came over to offer her support. I shoved her away though; I didn't want anyone around me at the moment. I needed this time to be alone, to think.

A kid. I loved kids, but had I ever wanted one of my own? Like I'd told Mackie and Pops a week or so earlier, I'd be lucky if I could take care of a dog. But damn, this wasn't some dream that I could wake up from. And ironically enough, my morning sickness seemed to ease up after I found out the news.

What the hell do I do? A pregnant Knight Saber can't do shit…but…

But…at the same time, I didn't think I'd ever be able to drag myself to a clinic and abort the kid. He, she, it…whatever it was deserved a chance. I ran my fingertip around the mouth of an empty beer bottle that was sitting on the living room table, deep in thought. I stared at the label on the bottle, not really reading the words on it, and then, something clicked.

What kind of chance would I be giving this kid if I kept boozing like I'd been doing the past three months? Had I already done too much damage by boozing so damn much? Had I done ANY damage? I cursed myself, then stood up and grabbed a large black trash bag from the cabinet underneath the sink. Walking around the kitchen, I snatched up any empty bottles that I'd left sitting out, then dropped them into the bag. Same with the ones in the living room and my bedroom, and any that still had anything left in 'em, I dumped out the remains in the sink and tossed them with the rest. Out of my jacket pocket, I fetched the pack of cigarettes I 'borrowed' from Sylia and dropped that into the bag as well.

If I was going to give the kid a chance at life…then I couldn't be doing the things I'd buried myself in lately. I couldn't cry in any more bottles, not now. I couldn't worry about myself anymore, couldn't feel sorry for myself; I had a kid to worry about now. Had to do what was best for the kid.

Damn, I'm turning maternal already.

I tossed the bag over my shoulder and hauled it down to the ground floor of the apartment building, tossing it into a nearby dumpster. Once I got back up to my apartment, I was surprised by how different the place looked without all those bottles decorating the countertops and the floors. They'd kept me company in my misery, and…it was actually a little lonely without them already. I cursed myself again and smacked myself upside the head.

Stop thinkin' like that, you bitch! The bottle ain't no friend of yours! That's partly how you got into this mess to begin with!

"Damn it!!" I yelled to myself. That little voice inside of me was right; if I hadn't taken my eyes off of that margarita I was drinking at Hot Legs, the bastard wouldn't have had a chance to slip GHB into it. Carelessness on my part, and it bit me in the ass before I knew it. Didn't seem to matter what I did with the kid or not; I'd be paying for that for the rest of my life.

It was my fault. My fault that I'd been…violated. I cursed again and buried my face in my hands, starting to cry. I started to reach out for a beer bottle, but quickly remembered there were none. It was just me and my tears, no bottle to drown them in. Damn, it was hard to do without it, and that in turn made this mental agony all the more, well, agonizing. I just had to keep reminding myself it was for the best, even if it didn't feel like it right away.


A few days later, Linna came by and reminded me that we would have to tell Sylia and Nene about my situation sooner or later, noting that with how much my stomach would be due to grow, it couldn't stay a secret much longer. I reluctantly agreed, and so we both headed down to the Lady 633 building, where Sylia's penthouse as well as her Silky Doll shop was. Although I'd been planning to spill the beans myself, when it came down to it, I lost my nerve and just let Linna tell them.

"Well…Priss is three months pregnant."

Nene, who'd thought we thought somebody had died judging from the looks on our faces, suddenly brightened. "She's WHAT?! Oh wow, that's great!!" she exclaimed. "I thought you were gonna say something just awful!! Don't scare me like that!"

"Um, Nene…" Linna started to say, but Nene breezed right past her and ran up to me, grabbing one of my hands.

"I can't believe you're pregnant, Priss!!" I swore she looked absolutely giddy. "That's wonderful! I bet Leon's going to make a great dad!"

Assuming Leon was the dad didn't surprise me one bit. He'd been asking me out for years now, and I admit I'd dangled that carrot in front of him a few times, and that I even started to think of him as a decent guy, but him and me sharing the same bed? Not in this lifetime.

"Leon's not the dad," I mumbled.

"He…he's not?" She blinked in confusion, then turned to Linna. "Is that true?"

She nodded and said, "You wish he was."

"But who else would Priss sleep with?"

"WHAT?!" I snapped. "I've never—"

"But how else could you be pregnant?"

I was tempted to spit the words, "Immaculate conception," at her, but held my tongue. At best, I could've called it a forced one-night stand, but again, I didn't say anything.

"Nene…Priss was raped," Linna sighed.

The redhead turned to look at me, the light visibly disappearing from her eyes. She went from joyful to sullen in two seconds flat. "You…you were?" she asked, her face having gone pale. She cast her head down, trying to hide her tears as she fumbled for the right words to say. "I didn't know… I'm sorry…"

Nene was so damn naïve…but at the same time, so childishly sweet. "C'mere," I said, grabbing her arm. I pulled her close and started crying. Nene mumbled her apologies again and started crying right along with me.

"Well…I wasn't expecting that," Sylia admitted, her expression unreadable. She didn't hesitate in firing off her first question though. "So, Priss, what do you plan to do?"

I let go of Nene and looked up at her. "I…I don't know… It's not like this was very well thought-out…"

"Well, you need to think of something soon."

"I know…" I folded my arms over my chest, leaning against the wall like I'd been doing when Linna made the announcement. "If the Boomers start coming out again, I won't be able to help if I'm like this…I don't want to endanger any of you, but…"

"But?"

"But…it's not like it's the kid's fault for what happened. I can't abort it."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I…don't know!" I wiped away the tears from my eyes. I KNEW she was going to ask that!! "What do you think I should do, Sylia? I can't…"

"It's not my decision to make, Priss." She walked towards me, stopping next to Linna. "This is your child. Whatever you decide to do is fine by the Knight Sabers."

Had I heard that right? Whatever my course of action was would be ok?! I blinked in surprise; I'd practically expected her to steer me one way or the other. "R…really?" I finally said.

"Of course." She smiled. "I can't tell you what to do. This is your decision and yours alone to make."

The tears started to roll freely down my cheeks, and I didn't bother to wipe them away. "S-Sylia…thank you…"

"Priss, I'll help out any way I can!" Nene reminded me. "We'll help you with the baby!"

"It's not the end of the world," Linna said. "For your baby, I'd say it's more like the beginning, actually!"

"But…the Boomers…" I started to say.

"I'm prepared for whatever situation can come up, Priss," Sylia said coolly. "You don't need to worry about that. Just take care of yourself and the baby."

It was more than a load off of my mind! I should've known Sylia would have contingency plans for something like that! Personally, I woulda bet on Linna getting pregnant first, not me. Oh well…one crisis averted, I suppose. I knew the months to come wouldn't be smooth sailing, though.