Chapter Eighteen: No Tomorrow

I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take
When people run in circles its a very very
Mad world, mad world

"I'll get her," Oliver offered. He stood up and put his boxers on before heading into the living room to get Danica. While he was gone, I threw my underwear and tank top back on. I jumped onto the bed just as he was coming back in the room with a bowl of warm oatmeal. I took her from him and held her in a sitting position while he fed her.

"Maybe we should get dressed and go over my house when she's done," I suggested, breaking the silence.

"Why?" he asked me, pausing with the spoon in midair.

"So I can break the news to my parents that I'm moving in. And start packing my stuff up," I said.

"We have all day to do that. Let's go later okay? I want to spend the day with you two," he said, finally putting the spoon in Dani's mouth.

"Fine," I sighed. "What are we going to do until then?" I asked him.

"I was planning on doing what we were doing earlier…" he trailed off.

"What?" I practically yelled. Then I changed my voice into a whisper as if Danica couldn't hear me. "You mean you planned for us to have sex?"

"Of course not Emma! Come on, that just happened. I meant hanging around the apartment," he said, shocked that I would even accuse him of that.

"Sorry. Yeah I guess we can just hang out," I said, a little disappointed. I thought we'd at least do something fun. Not that I don't love just being with Oliver, because I do.

So that's all we did. Mainly, I watched him play with Danica. She never got tired enough to take another nap and leave us alone for awhile. But I never got tired of watching her and Oliver either. They were perfect together.

Jay was perfect with her too…why am I thinking about Jay all of a sudden? I didn't realize he had that big of an impression on me. I wonder what he's doing now…

"Hey!" I nearly shouted as an idea struck me. Oliver jumped a little and Danica looked like she was going to cry.

"What?" he asked.

"Why don't we bring Dani to visit her Uncle Jay," I suggested. "I know he'd love to see her." Oliver had a blank look on his face. Then he looked at his watch.

"We can't," he said, standing off the bed.

"Why not?" I asked, pouting.

"Because we have dinner reservations in an hour," he announced.

"Oh that's so sweet. What's the occasion?" I asked him, but all he did was smile.

"Anyway," he said, we need to get Danica dressed and then head over to your house to get something for you to wear," he said.

"Okay. I know just what she can wear," I said, jumping off the bed and rushing to the baby bag in the living room. I pulled out the purple dress that Jay bought for her. Maybe I could take a picture of her in it and send it to him. I brought the dress back into my room, along with a diaper and some wipes. I changed Dani's diaper and put the dress on her while Oliver got dressed. When I was done, I looked up and he was standing there in dark jeans, with a black, long sleeved, button down shirt on. "You look great," I told him, smiling. I picked my daughter up and stood up, walking up to him and kissing him lightly on the lips. He put his arm around me and we left the apartment. Getting in his car, we made our way to my house.

"I don't think anyone's home," I commented as we walked up the steps. Oliver was holding Danica. I told him I'd quickly change and come right back out, but he insisted on coming in with me. I opened the door and someone flipped the light on.

"SURPRISE!" a bunch of people yelled. I stared in disbelief at the party in front of me. I looked at everyone's smiling faces, and then at the banner hanging from the ceiling. With everything that's happened lately, I had forgotten that today was my birthday. My 18th birthday. I looked over at Oliver and hugged him.

"Happy Birthday sweetheart," my mom and dad said, coming over to me and hugging me. Tears stung my cheeks but I quickly wiped them away.

"Thank you guys so much," I said.

"Don't thank us, thank Oliver. He planned all of this," Dad said, shaking Oliver's hand.

"Thank you," I whispered to him. I kissed him and then turned back to the party. Everyone I knew was there. I could see a few teachers from Degrassi that my dad had probably invited. Then I saw Joey, Craig, Angela, and Manny sitting on the couch, talking. My stomach flopped, but I gained the courage to stay. I saw Brooklyn leaning against the wall.

All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for the daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrows
No tomorrow, no tomorrow

"I'll be right back," I told Oliver. "I need to go talk to her." I took Danica from him and walked over to Brooklyn.

"Happy Birthday," she said quietly before looking away.

"Can we talk?" I asked her.

"I guess so." She looked down at the ground.

"Brooke, you are one of my best friends. I don't want this to ruin our friendship," I said, sighing. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

"You stole my boyfriend!" she whispered. "He was cheating on me with you!"

"You know that's not how it all happened. Before I even knew you, I fell in love with Oliver back in L.A. He never told me about you or about Maddox." I then noticed that her son was standing next to her, holding onto her hand. "You even told me yourself that you weren't really in love with him. He's not even Mad's father!"

"I know!" she cried. "But I need him Emma. You don't understand. I know that he's in love with you, I can tell. But I can't support my baby without him."

"This isn't the way to get what you want," I said. "He needs to know the truth. And I have a feeling that he'll still want to help you out; no matter what. He does love you. I know that he'd do the right thing. Now matter who his real father is, Oliver will always be Maddox's dad," I finished. I felt like I was going to cry.

"I guess you're right," Brooklyn whispered. She wiped the tears from her eyes. "Thanks Emma, you really are a good friend. But let me tell him okay?" she asked.

"Of course. He's right over there. This is a good a time as any," I suggested. Brooklyn started to go towards Oliver. He looked a little confused when he saw that I was following her and smiling.

"Can I talk to you?" Brooke asked. He looked over her head at me, as if asking for permission. I nodded my head, signaling that he needed to.

"You guys can talk in my room," I suggested. They walked off. I turned around, finding myself face to face with Jay and Alex. "Hey guys!" I said. My face instantly brightened.

"Happy Birthday Emma," Jay said, hugging me. I hugged him back.

"Yeah, Happy Birthday," Alex echoed. She hugged me too, and it was a little weird. "So this is the little one that you told me about?" Alex asked Jay. He nodded. Danica wiggled in my arms. I handed her over to Jay.

"She's missed you," I told him quietly. He'd only been gone for two days, but I could tell he had missed her too. I also noticed that Alex had tears in her eyes, obviously thinking about the baby she lost.

"Nice dress," Jay commented. We both laughed a little.

"I thought you'd like it." I turned my head to see Craig standing a few feet away. He was motioning for me to come over. I couldn't see Manny anywhere. "Hey, do you want to play with her for a little while?" I asked Jay and Alex. They both nodded their heads and smiled. "Okay, I'll come back for her in a bit," I said and walked past them, over towards Craig.

"Emma, we need to talk," he said.

"Where's Manny?" I asked him.

"She went to the bathroom. Come on, we only have a few minutes," he dragged me into the kitchen. I pulled my hand away from his and crossed my arms over my chest.

"What do you want?" I asked him coldly. "I already told you that I didn't want you to have anything to do with my daughter."

"Please reconsider Em," he begged. "She's my daughter too!" he raised his voice a little. Then I noticed that he was staring, his mouth hanging open, looking at something behind me. Or should I say someone. I turned around and there was Manny, looking at us the same way.

"Manny," I whispered. She had tears in her eyes.

"Is that true Emma?" she asked. I didn't say anything. I couldn't. Of course it was true. Manny turned around and ran to the door, opening it and slamming it behind her as she left the house. The noise distracted everyone at the party, but only for a second. Then they were all talking and laughing. I turned back to Craig who was still staring at the door. Then, as if he woke up, he looked at me.

"I have to go. Think about it Emma. She's my daughter too." He left the house to find Manny. Just then I heard the basement door open and close. Brooklyn was standing there, her makeup mixed with tears running down her face. She held Maddox in her arms.

"Happy Birthday Emma," she said, and ran past me, leaving as well. This is a disaster. How could all this stuff happen to me on my birthday? Now my two best friends probably hate me. Come to think of it, Oliver will probably be mad at me too. It's my fault that he just found out Maddox wasn't really his son.

I walked over to the kitchen table and plopped down in a seat. Resting my head in my hands, I started to cry. It was the only thing that I could do. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder. A familiar voice repeated the phrase I was sick of hearing. "Happy Birthday Emma." I looked up to the voice.

"Sean?"

Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
And they feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me

A/N: I'm gonna end it there! Hope it wasn't too boring or too short. A few things happened that will remain unresolved for the moment. What do you guys think is going to happen next? Anyone surprised at Sean's sudden appearance? The song is "Mad World" by Gary Jules and he owns it…it's from Donnie Darko. The song is out of order as most of them tend to be now…some parts are better suited for the middle of the chapter…anywho…tell me what you think! And I'm only updating for my4 faithful reviewers because it seems that everyone else just take forever or something...the four are: EmmaJay2gether4ever8, Qtpye, TemporaryxInsanity, and of course, Jackie (I loved the long review girl)! You guys rock, thanks for reviewing.