Chapter Three: Ever Changing

And now, amidst the waves and the cloudless skies
That'd blanket the year before
I watch my life wash ashore

"We're here," I said, changing the subject. Hopefully Brooklyn would forget that she even asked the question. I waited in the car while Brooke went inside to get her son. I expected her to come out with a little baby, but instead, she emerged holding her son by the hand while he stumbled alongside her. "How old is he?" I asked her as she put his car seat into the back.

"He's one and a half years old. He'll be two in February," she told me.

"Oh, I didn't realize he was that old," I commented.

"Yep. Emma, meet Maddox," she said as she buckled him into the car seat. "Mad, this is mommy's friend Emma," she told him. "Can you say hi?"

"Hi!" he squealed, laughter filling the little car.

"Hi Maddox," I said to him. He hid his face behind his hands. "He's so cute," I told her.

"Thanks." Brooke got back in the car and we made our way back to my house. When we finally got there, Brooklyn got Maddox out of his car seat and we went inside.

"Mom! I'm home!" I called. She appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. "Mom, this is Brooklyn and her son Maddox. She went to my school in L.A. and she's just moved here," I explained.

"It's nice to meet you Brooklyn," my mom said, shaking her hand.

"It's nice to meet you too Mrs. Nelson."

"You can call me Spike," she said.

"Where's Dani?" I asked. I was anxious to see her. It was the first time I'd been away for her for more than two hours. Back at school in L.A., I was able to bring her with me.

"I just put her down for a nap."

"Well, we'll be down in my room," I told my mom.

"Emma, don't wake her up, you'll regret it later."

"Okay mom!" I said, not really paying attention. I just wanted to see my daughter.

"Spike?" Brooklyn questioned as we went downstairs.

"Yeah, it's an old nickname from high school. My dad's is Snake." We both giggled as we entered my room, and instantly Danica woke up. She started to cry so I picked her up and brought her over to my bed. Brooklyn set Maddox down to explore the room and sat down next to me. "This is my daughter Danica," I told her.

"She's beautiful. Can I hold her?" Brooke asked. I nodded my head and handed her over. I noticed that Maddox was opening up my refrigerator so I walked over to him. He had one of Danica's bottles in his hand.

"Can I have that?" I asked him. He handed it to me and walked back over to his mom. I popped the bottle in the microwave to heat it up.

"So, where's her dad?" Brooke asked suddenly. I wasn't really prepared for that question.

"Well, he lives here but…" I trailed off. I wasn't ready to tell anyone. My parents didn't even know.

"Let me guess; he doesn't know about her does he?" she asked.

"Nope," I replied. "My parents don't even know who her father is," I explained. "I'm not ready for anyone to know. And it's not like I wish he was her dad either. I made a stupid mistake."

"Yeah, I know what you mean I've made a mistake that I can't really take back," Brooklyn told me.

"What do you mean?" Danica's bottle was done heating so I got it out of the microwave. Brooke handed my daughter to me and put Maddox up on her lap before she explained.

"Well, Mad's father was this stupid guy who I cheated on my boyfriend with. The day that I went to end it with this guy, he raped me," she said, tears filling her eyes. "I never told anyone this before. My boyfriend thinks he's the father. I thought I could get away from him too by moving here, but he convinced his parents to let him move too. They have a lot of money, so they're paying for his apartment," she explained, starting to cry.

"Why don't you just tell him?" I asked.

"I can't. He'll hate me. I've let him believe it for so long that he'd probably go crazy."

"But what are you going to do if the truth comes out?" I asked her.

"I don't know. I haven't thought that far ahead yet. I'm hoping we'll be married before that happens," Brooklyn said.

"I'm not so sure that's the right thing to do…" I didn't want to lecture her on her mistakes, but I felt sorry for this boyfriend of hers; whoever he is.

"Look, you don't know what it's like okay? At least you haven't had to lie to anyone about Danica's father. You're just choosing not to tell. There's a big difference. I better get going." She picked Maddox up and headed for the stairs.

"At least let me finish feeding Danica and bring you home. You can't possibly walk home carrying him and his car seat," I pointed out.

"Fine. We'll just wait in the car," Brooklyn replied, going up the stairs and closing the door behind her. I burped Dani halfway through her bottle like I was supposed to and then finished feeding her.

"Mom, I'm gonna bring Brooklyn home; we'll be right back!" I called before leaving the house. I drove Brooke home in silence. When we got there; it hit me: she's Craig's new neighbor. This is really bad. Brooke got out of the car and took Maddox out, then took his car seat out and closed the door without saying a word. "Hey maybe I'll see you in school tomorrow," I said as she walked up to her house.

"Yeah, maybe," she said, turning around. I waved as I drove away. What am I going to do about Craig being her neighbor? He knows now about my job. What if they end up being friends or something? I don't want her finding out. That would be another person to be disappointed in me.

By the time I got home, Danica had fallen asleep in the car and it was already four o'clock. Dinner was in two hours and I needed to try and get my homework done before then. I knew that if I waited until after dinner, Dani would have to be fed and changed again, and I wouldn't get it done. I don't work during the school week because I know I won't have time for school. And school is the most important thing to me right now. I have to get an education so I can have a career to support myself and my daughter.

I brought Dani down and put her in her crib. Then I grabbed my books and spread everything out on my bed. I had to write a two page essay on my summer vacation for Ms. Kwan's class. That would have to be completely made up since I didn't want anyone to know about my daughter. After that, I have to do three pages worth of problems for Mr. Armstrong, and read the first two chapters of my science book. Luckily for me, I didn't have any homework in Media Immersions, Music, or Theatre. I could have gotten some of the other homework done during my study period, but I accidentally fell asleep.

Just when I was about to start working on my essay, I saw something move near my window. I went to go check it out and nearly died. There was someone out there. It was Jay.

There's nothing simple when it comes to you and I
There's always something in this ever-changing life
And it probably always will
Now that time is getting harder to come by
The same arguments are always on our minds
We've killed this slowly fading light

A/N: I just made up that Emma has Music, Theatre, and a study period. I wasn't sure what other classes they have at Degrassi. The song is "Everchanging" by Rise Against and they own it. Let me know what you think and don't worry, there are twists in the story, like who the father is, and other things. Hope it's not boring right now. I'm glad that you guys are actually guessing things when I ask you to lol. And of course I can't tell you if you're right or not because that would ruin the story but you'll find out. Okay, I'm also updating each chapter after every ten reviews I get, so the quicker people review, the quicker I'll update!