Thanks for the reviews...I still want a lot of ideas for what Maria's going to crave...I will have her crave tobasco sauce, but she needs something else...thanks!

After school, Lizzie and I drove to the Crashdown. "So, did you make Max apologize or did he do that himself cause I saw you helping him out with the apology."

"Well, I made him see the evil of his ways, but the apology was all his," she answered.

When we got there, there was a sign on the door saying they were closed. We walked around back and went inside. We heard laughter and Mr. Parker say 'congratulations, Amy'.

"Amy? As in my Amy? Amy DeLuca?" I whispered to Liz. She shrugged and we walked inside. There sat Liz's parents with my mother and sheriff Valenti. Micheal was laying down on a booth in the back, most likely because he was afraid of what he would say around my mother.

"What's going on in here? Why are we closed, dad?" Liz asked setting her backpack down and I followed suit. We started to walk over to the small party, but Micheal stayed where he was.

"What are you doing home, Mom. I thought that you were staying an extra week," I scratched my head confused. I caught my mother red handed, she didn't want me to know she was home yet; she wasn't prepared for me yet.

"Well," she started, looking at the sherriff and then at me again, "I was, WE were, but we decided to come home early."

"'WE'? What do you mean 'WE'?" my voice started to rise uncontrollably.

She stood up and took Jim's hand. "Well, sweetie, Jim and I went to Los Vegas and... we eloped!" She smile. I felt sick, all the blood rushed from my face. "Aren't you happy for us, Maria? You finally get to have two parents!"

"A little late, don't you think?" I spat at her and then started to walk away, but then turned back to have the last word. "I don't think I ever even had one parent. I always had to be the parent with you, AMY."

I was furious. How could she not tell me she was getting married? How did she do that so spontaneously without even telling me about it? Did I really just rub salt in my mom's open wound?

All these thoughts ran through my head, but the one that kept repeating itself was 'Now how can I tell my mother I'm pregnant?' I could care less if she married Valenti; he was like a father to all of us anyways. I just couldn't stop thinking about myself, and I felt terrible for that. But Liz was right, she deserves to know and the sooner, the better.

I walked back inside. My mother was crying, Jim and the Parker's were comforting her, and Micheal was walking towards me.

"I know that look in your eyes, Ria, and we can't tell her right now," he whispered, pushing me into the back room.

"Why not, Micheal? She should know. And the sooner, the better, right?"

"No, not right! You just ripped her heart out and stepped on it. I was shocked to hear you say that to her, Ria. You really hurt her," he softened.

"Maria? Is that you?" I heard my mother from the other room.

Micheal was trying to push me outside, but I managed to yell, "Yeah, mom," and ran past him into her arms where we both cried like babies.

"I didn't mean it so badly, mom. I'm happy you married Jim; he's really good for you. And the thing about raising myself, I-"

"Maria, you're right. I left you on your own so many times, but I was a kid, too. I didn't know any better," my mom reasoned. "I know that is no excuse, but its all I can give you for now."

"Mom, there's something I have to tell you," I said, giving Micheal a side glance. He knew what I wanted to say, but didn't want me to tell her just yet.

"What is it, sweetie?"

"Well, I, uh. I just wanted to say..." I looked at Micheal and couldn't bring myself to tell her. "I wanted to say congratulations to you and Jim. I'm really happy for you both."

"Oh, thank you, Maria. You know what? You even have a brother now! We're a complete family, Maria, isn't that wonderful?"

"Fantastic," I put on a smile if only for my mother's sake and we all sat to talk about the ceremony in Los Vegas.

Later that evening, Kyle, Max, and Isabel all showed up at the Crashdown. Kyle motioned to me, indicating he wanted to talk, and I pointed to a booth where we both sat down. "What's up, big brother?"

"God, it's going to take me a while to get used to that. I was wondering if you told your mom about the whole...thing, but seeing that she still has a smile on her face and you and Micheal are both living, I figured you didn't."

"Ha ha, very funny. I didn't know I would be dealing with a comedian," I said sarcastically. "I wanted to, but I couldn't. I don't want to take her happiness away just yet. I don't see her happy too often."

"Well, we don't know how long your pregnancy could last so you need to break the news soon."

"I know I do, it's just so hard! I mean, she's probably going to kick me out and she'll hate me for the rest of my life," I said, putting my head in my hands.

"You never know, she could love the fact that she'll be a gra-"

"DON'T! Don't even say the word. She can sense it. She said if I ever had kids, they would call her nana, not the g-word."

"Fine, Maria, but tell her soon," Kyle said and stormed off to go sit with Isabel and Liz.

Hope you like it...I'll have Maria tell her in the next chapter... REVIEW PLEASE!