Author's Note: Uh-oh, Derek and Casey, you should have been more careful... Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing, I really appreciate it oodles and oodles:-D And wow, I'm surprised to hear that so many people are interested in the mature version of this fic! I'll see what I can do ;-) Thank you all for reading, please keep on sending me your input! It really helps! Okay, on with the story!

I made Derek come with me. It's not that I didn't want to go alone; it's just that I couldn't. It was hard enough walking in to the building, feeling like everyone was judging me, feeling like everyone had known I was there with my stepbrother.

"Name, please?" asked the woman at the check-in desk. I stared at the poster behind her of a young fetus.

"Casey MacDonald," Derek responded for me, giving me a sideways glance.

I watched the woman check off my name. "Have a seat."

Derek pressed a hand against the small of my back and steered me over to an empty seat. I sat down quietly, and he sat down next to me. There was an awkward silence. Neither of us knew what to say to one another.

My eyes skimmed the room. All of the girls there seemed to be around my age. Some were with parents, their eyes red and aged. A few were with guys, looking nervous and jittery. But most of them were alone.

I was suddenly very grateful that Derek had agreed to come with me. I was surprised at his willingness to join. I guess he was antsy, too. We both wanted to be sure everything was okay.

"MacDonald?" a woman came out with a clipboard.

I cleared my throat. "Here." I stood up and Derek followed suit.

"Right this way." She led us down a long hall and took us into an empty room. The room was filled with posters of babies and ads for birth control. My head spun.

I got overwhelmingly dizzy, and was glad to sit down. The woman took a blood test.

"When was the last time you had intercourse?" she looked up at me. I took it as an accusing look and shifted my gaze.

"Two days ago."

Derek stood behind her, shuffling his feet and not making eye contact with me.

The woman finished and left us alone. The tension was thick in the room; stifling.

Derek looked nervous, a far off expression on his face. I stared down at my arm where they had drawn my blood. So many thoughts ran through my head.

It didn't take long for the woman to return. Or maybe it had but I was so busy with my thoughts that I hadn't notice the time had gone by. Derek and I both looked up at the woman in apprehension.

"MacDonald, right?" the woman gestured to me.

I nodded slowly. What, had she forgotten? Was I really just another one of "those girls" here for the test?

"I have your result. I'm sorry, but the test came back positive. You're pregnant."

My whole world crashed around me right at that moment. "Oh God," I gasped out and instantly buried my face in my hands. Now what was I going to do?

This can't be happening.

This cannot be happening.

"Are you the father?" the woman asked Derek.

I glanced over at him and saw him twitch. "Uh, yeah."

She nodded. "Well, I can go over the options you two have if you'd like."

I stared up at her, my eyes glossed over. I knew the options. I felt myself beginning to suffocate in the tiny room. I had to get out of there right away. "No." I stood up quickly. "I'll, uh, be in touch." And with that I took off.

"Case!" Derek chased after me. I kept running, my cheeks dripping with tears and my whole body shaking. I ran out of the building like I was escaping a prison. As soon as I was outside in the cool air, I threw myself onto the bus stop bench and sobbed.

Derek caught up with me. Somewhat awkwardly, he put his arm around me. "Case…" I could tell he didn't know what to say. It didn't matter, though. Nothing he could say would comfort me. Not now that my whole life was about to change.

"Wh-what am I going to do?" I asked myself aloud. I wiped my nose and shook my head in disdain. I can't believe I had been so careless.

"We," Derek corrected. My eyes met his in confusion. "What are we going to do. This isn't just about you, Case. It's…it's my baby, too." His voice sounded strange as he said that last part. Like he couldn't believe what he was saying himself.

"How are we going to tell Mom and George?" I sniffled.

Derek stared out blankly into the street. "I don't know," he said in a very lost, little-boy voice.

I glanced at him. He was biting his lower lip, staring at nothing, completely fogged out. I think he was processing everything.

"Are you going to keep it?" his voice was soft, his eyes not moving. His expression stayed the same.

"I don't know," I answered honestly, sitting back. I hadn't thought that far ahead. My mind was still a mess. Just as my make-up was.

"I'll be the father," he suddenly looked at me. "I mean, if you decide to keep it. I'll be there for the baby."

My eyes widened. I never thought he would say something like that. He was completely serious, too.

"I mean, I know I'm probably not who you would want as the father, but, I mean, he or she does have some of my genes. And I really think I could be a good dad," he sort of rambled as I stared open-mouthed at him. His eyes shone as he spoke.

He wanted to keep it.

"You want to keep it," I stated flatly.

Derek paused, realizing that I was right. He looked back at me, searching my eyes. "I want whatever you want to do, Case. It's your body. Whatever you do, I'm behind you."

Derek had changed so much in the past few days. He seemed older. Wiser. More serious. Gentle. Kind. Just overall more mature. I really liked the person he was becoming. Either that, or he had always been this way, but the real Derek was just covered by this layer of immaturity. Maybe I had broken the barrier. Maybe I was beginning to worm my way into Derek Venturi's itty bitty heart.

I took his arm and stood up. He stood up with me.

"Whatever we do decide to do, we still need to tell Mom and George. The longer we wait, the harder it will be."

Derek gave a heavy sigh and a nod, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets.

We walked home slowly and silently, each dreading breaking the news to our parents.

"There you are," my Mom said as we walked in. "Where were you two? It's almost time for dinner." She was setting the table. George and Marti were already sitting down. My stomach felt queasy at the thought of dinner, mixed with the fear of telling them the news.

Derek looked like he was going to be sick.

George seemed to notice that. "Derek, you okay there?" He seemed concerned.

"Fine, Dad," Derek said, uncharacteristically serious.

George knew instantly that something was the matter. "Okay, what's going on?" He looked from Derek to me.

Mom stopped tossing the salad and looked up at me.

It was now or never.

"Marti, could you please go upstairs for a few minutes? We need to talk to Mom and George," I looked down at her.

She frowned up at me. "No!"

"Smarti, please," Derek said.

"Okay, Smerek!" Marti jumped out of her chair and ran upstairs.

Wow.

"What's going on?" George repeated.

My Mom now sat down next to him, knowing that this was serious. "Casey?" she asked.

I took a deep breathe. "Mom, George…Derek and I were late because I had him come with me to the Planned Parenthood Clinic in town."

My Mom's eyes grew wide. "Casey, what were you there for?"

I knew she was going to ask that. I closed my eyes, knowing I couldn't look at her expression as the words came out of my mouth. "I'm pregnant."

There was a silence and I waited a few seconds before opening my eyes. George looked floored and my Mom looked faint. She had a hand pressed against her head and I could practically see the million thoughts racing through her head.

"Derek, go to your room. We need to talk with Casey," George said quickly.

I looked over at Derek.

"Actually," his eyes met mine before looking over at his Dad, "I kinda need to stay for this."

George looked even more confused. Mom looked up at me, her eyes revealing a mix of at least 20 different emotions.

"I know you have a boyfriend, Casey, but couldn't you and Sam at least be careful?" she snapped at me. "For goodness sake," she added in.

I bit my lip. "It's not Sam's."

I was surprised when they both slowly looked over at Derek, realization dawning on them.

"Oh my God," my Mom breathed.

"Derek!" George exclaimed.

Derek gave a nervous half-smile, confirming their conclusion.

"Oh my God," my Mom simply breathed again.

"I want to keep it," I spoke again, my voice firm.

Derek looked over at me, surprised. "You do?"

I nodded, staring into his bewildered brown eyes. "As long as you help me."

He gave me a slow smile.

"This is insane!" my Mom yelled, jumping up.

We both snapped our heads quickly to look at her. She started pacing.

"You do realize that you're brother and sister," George said to us, shaking his head in disapproval. "You're family."

"We're not related," Derek said. "And we're teenagers, Dad."

"Exactly, you are teenagers! You're too young for the responsibility of a child!" Mom threw her hands up in the air. "Didn't you think of that before you….Ohhh…" she sat down with her head in her hands, not even wanting to think about us…creating the baby.

"I want this baby," I said. "I know it's going to be a lot of work--"

"But I'm going to help her," Derek interrupted me. He looked into my eyes as he said, "I want this baby, too. A lot."

I gave him a soft smile. And I knew I was making the right decision.

My Mom gave a heavy sigh. "What about your sisters and brother? Edwin, Lizzie, Marti, they all look up to you. What are you going to tell them when Casey starts showing?"

"Edwin and Lizzie are old enough to know. Lizzie and I are a lot closer than you think, Mom. And Marti? We could tell her the stork paid us an early visit or something. She's too young to even question it," I sounded like I had it all planned out, when actually I was making it up as I went. I've learned I'm pretty good at BSing when it comes down to it.

My Mom was silent.

George looked at us. "Why don't you two go upstairs so Nora and I have time to talk."

Without another word, Derek and I quickly went upstairs. As we walked down the hall, Derek stopped me.

"What you said downstairs…about keeping it," his eyes searched my face. "Did you mean it?"

I asked myself that same question. And I knew the right answer. "Yeah," I answered him. "We're going to be parents, Derek," I gave him a nervous smile.

He grinned and wrapped me into a hug, surprising me. But I hugged him back, grateful to be in his warm arms. I felt…safe in his arms. Secure. Like everything was going to be alright.

Dinner was an interesting event in the Venturi-MacDonald household. Lizzie and Edwin could tell something was wrong because it was so quiet. My Mom and George both still looked dumbfounded. Derek's eyes stayed on his plate the entire time. I pushed around the food on my plate, not at all hungry. Marti hummed to herself and remained in her own little Marti-World. But Edwin and Lizzie knew something was up.

Edwin looked like he was going to ask, but Derek caught his eye and shook his head, letting him know not to say anything. As always, Edwin obeyed his older brother. Lizzie kept eyeing me, knowing the awkward silence had something to do with me. But I avoided her glances. Sure, Lizzie and I were close. But it was going to be very…uncomfortable telling her about Derek and my unexpected news.

That night, before I went to bed, Derek came into my room. I was on a website for teen parents, and it was making me feel a lot better. But I looked up at him when he walked in through the open door.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," I replied.

There was a pause.

"I just…wanted to see how you were feeling," Derek said with a shrug.

I smiled. That was sweet. "Derek, I'm only what… a week along? I'm fine."

"Yeah, but he's half-Venturi. We men are fighters," he gave a faux mighty pose.

I wanted to roll my eyes but ended up laughing instead.

"What are you doing?" he asked, getting serious again. He walked in closer and looked at my computer.

"Reading stories by young mothers. They all thought about abortion, but in the end they were glad that they had their babies," I explained to him. "They're just amazing stories. There's one girl on here who was thirteen when she had her daughter."

"Slut," Derek tried to mask with a cough.

"Derek!" I slapped his arm, but gently. "They're all inspirational stories. They're making me feel much better about our decision." I turned back to my computer.

"There's a section on here for teen dads, too," I told him. "There's a message board and everything. It's like a support group. It's really interesting."

"I know," Derek said.

I swung my head around and looked up at him. "You know?"

He grinned sheepishly. "I did a teen dad search and found it a little while ago."

My mouth widened into an 'O'. He just kept on surprising me.

"It's making me kind of looking forward to being a dad," he admitted, looking somewhat embarrassed about it.

It was so endearing that I smiled. He met my eyes and gave a slight smile back.

"Well, it's getting late," I said, shutting down my computer and getting out of my seat. I yawned. "I think I'm going to get to bed."

Derek nodded. "Alright."

Then he did something that completely stunned me. He leaned over and pressed his lips against my forehead, giving me a tender kiss. "Goodnight," he said and walked out of the room.

I stood there for a minute, still caught up in the surprise. Oh, Derek.

I smiled to myself and crawled into bed, burrowing myself under the blankets as I always liked to do. I closed my eyes and dreamt of how things were going to dramatically change in just nine months. I hoped that I was up to for the challenge.

The next day, I groggily took a shower and got ready for school. When I headed downstairs, I noticed that my Mom was the only one at the kitchen table. She was finishing making breakfast. I guess I was running a little early.

"Casey," she said when I walked in.

I swallowed. "Mom, I'm sorry, I didn't—"

"I know, Casey," she cut me off. She gave me a solemn smile. "I'm not going to say I'm happy about this. But no matter what, I want you to know that I love you and nothing you do could ever change that."

I felt my eyes well up. "Mom…" I walked over and she took me into her arms. I wept like a little girl, tears mixed with doubt, uncertainty, and relief.

"I'm still your mother," she sniffled, and I realized that she was crying too. "So you know that I will support your decision."

I nodded, wiping my tears as we parted. She took my hands and squeezed them.

"I wish you hadn't gotten into this predicament. But what's done is done, and we can't change that. All we can do is grow and live with the consequences," she spoke wisely.

Her words actually comforted me for some strange reason. "Thanks, Mom."

She smiled. "I'm here for you, Casey."

Derek came down then. He looked over at us.

"What's going on?" he looked slightly concerned, seeing my teary eyes.

"Nothing," I smiled. "Just girl chat."

"Oh," he said simply. He looked tentatively at my Mom, probably thinking that she hated him or something for getting me pregnant.

"I'm not mad anymore, Derek," Mom told him, a knowing smile on her face. "Still a bit disappointed, but not mad. Your father and I are here for you two. Alright?"

Derek looked a bit surprised. "Uh… yeah. Sure. Thanks."

I felt much better knowing that my Mom wasn't mad at me. I was even able to eat breakfast. Derek and I walked to school together, talking about baby names.

"Derek Junior. Definitely," he said.

I wrinkled my nose. "Ew. Definitely not."

"What?" he looked offended. "It's perfect."

"And what about if it's a girl?" I asked. Then I leered at him, "Dereka?"

He winced at the name. "Ugh. No. Besides, it's not going to be a girl."

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh, it's not? How would you know?"

He shrugged. "I just know," he gave his trademark Derek smirk. I had missed that smirk.

Emily ran up to me as soon as we got into the school. "Where have you been?" she demanded. "I called you like five times yesterday." She looked over, noticing Derek. "Oh, hey Derek," she gave him a flirty smile.

I felt this sort of possessiveness come over me and had to push it away. Derek gave her a half-smile back and then looked at me. "Catch ya later, Case," he said, and with a wink, he took off.

"So hot," Emily licked her lips as she watched Derek leave.

I narrowed my eyes at her, but had to push the feeling away again. Geez, it wasn't like Derek and I were together or anything! I mean, we were just having a baby together.

Err…

"So, where were you?" Emily asked once she was done ogling my step-brother.

I sighed. "Um… I had to baby-sit Marti again," I lied. "And I was really busy with that French assignment." Another lie.

Emily didn't look happy, but she did look like she bought it. She went on to tell me about a huge sale going on at the mall today and tomorrow as we walked to homeroom.

School dragged by. I didn't see Sam again. Should I just assume that we were broken up? I mean, I was going to break up with him anyway, but at least give me the chance to!

After school, Derek met me at my locker. He seemed to have this new protectiveness over me since I was carrying his baby. It wasn't annoying, though. I kind of liked it.

"I'm going shopping with Emily," I announced to him, gathering up my books.

Derek nodded. "All right. I'll see you for dinner then," he gave me a kiss on the cheek, surprising me yet again. "Take it easy," he motioned to my stomach. To our baby.

I nodded and watched him go. Did Derek…nah. Well, maybe. Did he…have more feelings for me than I thought? Like did he want to…be together?

I shook my head to myself. He wasn't the committed type. But he did seem awfully excited about the baby. He made me more excited about it, too. It was nice.

"Ready?" Emily jogged over to me out of nowhere.

"Ready," I grinned and slammed my locker shut. The two of us headed towards the mall, one of our most favorite places in the entire world.

While shopping, though, instead of browsing through shoes and jeans, I found my eyes lingering on the baby clothes and accessories. The clothes were so tiny! Mothers were shopping in the baby sections with their tiny infants, usually cooing away or sleeping angelically. I wondered what my baby would look like.

"What's with you, today?" Emily asked, seeing me staring at the baby booties. Before I thought up some answer, she grabbed my arm and pulled me into Express.

For one of the first times in my shopping history, I returned home without one bag. I hadn't bought a thing. I guess my head was on more important things than shopping. I made it home long before dinner, and so went up to my room to do a little bit of homework.

As I passed by Derek's door, I heard him on the phone in his bedroom. "No…no, sorry, Amy, I can't go out with you tonight….because I'm kind of seeing someone… yeah…yeah, okay…alright…bye," he hung up. I quickly slipped into my room.

Did he mean me when he said that he was "kind of seeing someone?" Or was he just saying that to get out of a date? …why would he want to get out of a date, though? This is Derek we're talking about.

But maybe…just maybe…?

Derek appeared at my doorway. "How was shopping?" he asked.

I arched one eyebrow. He was never one for small talk. When did he suddenly care about my shopping trips? "Fine."

He nodded, and I sat down on my bed, unexpectedly tired.

"I think I'm going to take a nap," I told him, lying back on the pillow. My eyes were already getting heavy.

He nodded again, and turned out the lights for me. He shut the door but left it open about an inch so a sliver of light shone through. I fell asleep instantly.

"Casey, dinner!" my mother's voice calling up to me woke me up. I groaned and rolled onto my side, not wanting to get up. But I should eat. For the baby, at least.

On that note, I dragged myself out of bed and groggily made my way down the stairs. Still rubbing my eyes, I took a seat next to Lizzie. She gave me a strange look.

"Were you napping?" she questioned, her eyebrows furrowing. I was never one for taking a nap. She knew something was up.

I just nodded, not bothering to lie. I'm sure it was obvious by the pillow marks on my face that I had been.

Marti took over dinner talk by telling us about her entire day, starting from the time she woke and rubbed the "crusties out of her eyes." She elaborated on every little detail so that by the end of dinner, I pretty much wanted to throw myself off a bridge.

After dinner, I helped my Mom clean up.

"I made an appointment with Dr. Graves for the end of the month," Mom told me.

"Thanks, Mom," I said, relieved that I had her to help me out. I was so lucky to have her.

I gave her a sideways hug before going back to my room. She gave me a surprised smile.

"I love you, Mom," I said. I decided I didn't say that nearly enough, and should start saying it more often to her.

"I love you too, Casey," she patted my back. "Everything's going to be fine, honey."

I gave her a slightly anxious smile. I really hoped she would be right.