Michael's POV...

Holly thinks she's having a break down; she's stressing over not being a good mother. It's too early in the morning to be doing this!

"Seriosuly, Michael, I'm going to be a horrible mother! My own child is going to hate me!"

"That's not tue. He'll love you. And you might not know everything about parenthood yet, but we'll learn. We'll get through it together."

"No. I won't be a good mother, I just know it. I don't know anything about children or babies! I always hated my cousins and I was glad to have been an only child!"

"You'll feel differently once the baby is here, Holl. It'll be ok, believe me."

"Nuh uh. If you think I'm having this baby, you're mad! I want it out now! Gone! I'm huge, I'm uncomfortable, I can't sleep, I can barely move. I always need to pee, you'd think this kid was using my bladder as a punching bag! And he kicks like you wouldn't believe. I know you've felt him kicking, but that's nothing compared to what it's like when it's inside you! Oh God, just get it out already!"

Whoa, she's scaring me. Pregnant women with raging hormones are definitely dangerous.

"Hey," I said calmly. "Calm down. It's not good to get stressed out, for you or for the baby. You've still got a few weeks to go before it's ready to come out, there's nothing I can do."

"It's not fair," she moaned. "It's easy enough for you to say, you're not the pregnant one."

"You think this has been easy for me?"

"You know what I mean."

"I know what'll make you feel better. How about we get out that book of baby names and pick out our favourites?"

"Ok," she nodded and sat back down on the couch.

"Ok, let's turn to the boys section," I said, flipping to the middle part of the book.

"What about Michael?" Holly asked, before I'd even gotten to the boys section.

"Hmm, I dunno... Maybe as a middle name?"

"Ok, write it down so we don't forget it. We can pick a middle name from the list too."

I wrote 'Michael' down at the top of the list.

"I like William," she said.

William? That's such an old fashioned name. But I wrote it down anyway, I don't want to anger her anymore by refusing to even consider her suggestions.

"Noah," I said. "And Julian. I like those names."

"Fergus."

Seriously, does she hate our child?

We flipped through the book for quite a while; eventually we had a whole page of possible names. Although a lot of them were horrible suggestions of Holly's. Who would want to name their kid Cletus?

"There," I said, closing the book and putting it down. "We'll narrow it down from there. But now, I'm really late for class. And I have work after that, so I won't be home until late."

"Ok," she said, pouting her lip.

It's not my choice to have to work straight after school. Believe me, if I didn't have to, I wouldn't. But if I don't show up they won't hold the position for me after I graduate.

And I'm not even going to Book Club. Although, even if I didn't have to work, after last week, I don't think I'd be going anyway.

"I'll wait up for you."

"It might be really late, you'll probably fall asleep."

"Well then wake me up."

"Ok." Not. Once she finally gets asleep I'm not waking her! She'd only complain about not being able to get back to sleep! "And don't stress out, ok? It's really not good."

"Yes, sir!" Holly mocked, kissing me good bye as I left.

I arrived on campus more than half an hour late for my first class. Just as I was entering the building I ran into Lars.

"Oh, hey, Lars," I said as I continued to walk. Then it hit me. "Wait, what are you doing by yourself? Shouldn't you be in a lecture with Mia?"

"You haven't heard?"

"Heard what?" I'll admit, whenever I hear those words I start to panic. They're generally don't have good connotations.

"She hasn't gotten out of bed since Monday night..."

"What? But today's Monday! You mean in a whole week she hasn't left her room?"

"Yes. But not just her room, she hasn't gotten out of bed. She's not eating, she's not even talking."

"But... Is she sick? What's wrong with her?"

"I think she's had a break down, Michael," he told me.

"A break down?" I asked, thinking of Holly and her 'break down'. "So this is my fault then." It was more like a statement than a question.

Lars hesitated to answer me, which cemented the guilt further in my mind.

"I think it's been coming for a while now. She's been pretending that everything is fine, but it's not. She hasn't been ok in a long time."

What have I done?

"Do you think she'll be ok? Should we get a doctor?"

"Her mother came by to see her, I spoke to her about it. She's going to take her to see a doctor if she can get her out of bed. Or else she'll send one to see her in her dorm room. And Prince Phillippe and the Dowager Princess are arriving later today, they'll no doubt do something."

"Do you think it would help if I spoke to her?"

"I don't know, Michael. She isn't speaking to anyone, you might just make things worse... Sorry."

"Can you just ask her if she want to see me? Please? I won't go in the room unless she tells you she wants to see me."

Lars thought about it for a minute. "Don't you have class?"

Who can think about class at a time like this?

"This is important. Just ask her Lars."

"Ok, come on. But if she doesn't want to see you then I think you should just stay away."

"I will. Thanks."

We walked around to Mia's building and climbed the stairs. Then Lars told me to wait outside the door as he went in.

But he didn't close the door properly and I could still hear and see what was going on.

"Princess?" Lars said softly as he entered the room. I can tell by the tone in his voice that he really does care about her. I guess it would be hard not to after being joined at the hip for as long as they have been.

Mia didn't answer. I can see a lump under the covers of the bed, but she isn't even moving.

"Princess, there's someone here to see you. Do you feel up to seeing anyone?"

"No," I heard her mutter.

"Not even Michael?"

She didn't answer him, she didn't move.

"Princess?"

No answer.

After a minute, Lars gave up and came back to the hallway. "I'm sorry, Michael," he said, closing the door behind him.

I nodded in reply.

"But I'll keep you posted on her progress."

"Please do."

I left for class with a heavy weight on my shoulders. How can I not feel guilty? What if Mia never recovers from this? I've robbed her of her personality. More than that, I've robbed her of her life!