A/N: This chapter was sad to write, because it got me thinking about the fact that Jen didn't have long to live after this story takes place. I think that on some unconscious level, she realizes that fact, and so some of her reflections and emotions are deeper and stronger than they might be otherwise. Thank you for the reviews! Kel, you're so sweet, and your faithful reviews mean so much to me. I always felt like I related to Jen more than the rest; she and I are a lot alike in some ways, and I enjoy writing from her perspective because I think I share a lot of aspects with her. Notlikeyou, thanks for sticking with me from "Life After." Your reviews are much appreciated, too. Katieshaz and Kilika, I'm so glad you like this. I hope you keep reading and reviewing!

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Jen made sure to wipe away all traces of tear tracks from her cheeks before going into the house. No need for Jack to see her in such a state. Tears were the most visible sign of weakness, and she hated weakness. She glanced over at the cell phone that was lying innocently in a patch of sunlight in the passenger seat. Impulsively, she grabbed it and shoved it into the glove compartment, slamming the little hinged door harder than was necessary. Taking a deep breath, she smoothed her wind-blown hair with her hands and went inside.

"Honey, I'm home," she called from the foyer.

"Well it's about time!" Jack yelled back, coming noisily down the stairs. "I hope you—" he froze as he got a good look at her face. "What's the matter?"

Damn. She should have done a better cleanup job. "What? Nothing." She forced her lips into a smile that felt plastic and fragile.

"Yeah, right. Seriously, Jen..."

"Seriously, Jack, I'm fine," she said firmly. "Please...?" She left her unspoken request dangling in the air between them. Drop it, her silence begged.

He hesitated, frowning, and then seemed to think better of pursuing the subject any further. "All right, whatever you say." He caught her hand. "Come with me. Close your eyes," he commanded. "On second thought..." He pulled her to him and covered her eyes with his hand, guiding her toward the living room with his other hand on her back.

"Jack, what's up?" she asked, smiling for real this time. "What's going on?"

"You'll see, just come on."

"Don't bump me into anything."

"I'm not going to bump you into anything."

"Really? Because I'm in a fragile state, you know."

"Jen, trust me."

"I mean, you bump me into the wall and it could set off a domino effect of all kinds of prenatal complications," Jen babbled. "...She could end up stunted, or slow, or maybe even a cheerleader, all because her Uncle Jacky bumped her mommy into the wall trying to pull off some surprise she told him she didn't want in the first place. You just never know what's going to hurt the..."

"Surprise." Jack said softly, taking his hand away from her eyes.

Jen let her gaze wander around the room, over the faces she'd seen so often in her New York dreams and tried so hard to fade from her New York life. Andie, Pacey, Joey, Dawson. Together again like the photograph up in the guest bedroom, smiling easily, just as if they all still belonged here and a lifetime hadn't passed in the gaping hole that marked the interim between high school graduation and now.

She closed her mouth, which had fallen open as the sight before her seeped slowly into reality like a Polaroid photograph. "Hi," she finally managed, and there was a chorus of laughter as they all surged in on her at once.

"Jack called last night and told me your news," Andie said, squeezing Jen tightly and speaking in her characteristic exuberant tone that was infinitely comforting in its familiarity. "I just had to drive out and see you, and I had no idea until I got here that Joey and Dawson were in town. It's like it was meant to be, for us all to be here at the same time. It's been way too long." She stepped away and smiled around at the group, then turned back to Jen. "I can't believe one of us is going to be a parent! I mean, that's so weird...isn't that weird, guys? But exciting weird, not bad weird. Congratulations, Jen!"

"Thanks, Andie." Jen smiled and turned to hug Joey. "Hey, you. What are you doing here?"

Joey shrugged. "Same as you, I think. I just needed to get out of the city, clear my head." A shadow of sadness touched her eyes very briefly, but it was not lost on Jen even as Joey hurried on brightly. "What great timing, huh? Anyway, how are you; are you okay?"

Jen hesitated. "Well...I'm going to be okay." She lowered her voice before adding, "How about you, Jo? Are you all right?"

"Don't be silly, I'm not the one who's pregnant," Joey said lightly, with a valiant attempt at a smile that fell just short of convincing. She hadn't answered the question, and they both knew it. Jen made a mental note to take Joey aside later and find out what was going on with her.

Pacey edged his way between the girls then and swept Jen up in his arms, planting a noisy kiss on her cheek.

"Careful, Pace," Joey warned. "I don't think you're supposed to manhandle pregnant women."

"Come on, she wouldn't be pregnant if it weren't for a little manhandling, right?" Pacey shot back cheerfully. "You've been gone too long, Lindley."

"I'm beginning to realize that," she said, laughing, as he set her back down on her feet. "It's good to see you, Pace."

"Of course it is. They just don't grow them like this up in the Big Apple...right Jo?" He smiled charmingly, and Joey rolled her eyes but couldn't hide her amusement.

Dawson cleared his throat. "And we meet again," he said, his blue eyes twinkling as he winked at Jen. "It's been almost an hour; I thought you might miss me by now."

"Of course, Dawson, I'm not sure how I survived the heartbreaking drive here from your place." Jen turned to look at Jack. "You have a big mouth, McPhee. I mean, I have seven more months of nausea and swollen ankles and a rapidly expanding midsection to suffer through, and you don't even let me share the news with my best friends?"

"Sorry, but this is the closest I'll probably ever get to having a kid myself, and I was excited."

"You never know, Jackers. My brother just might surprise you with an illegitimate child from one of the many conquests of his pre-gay days."

"Ha ha, Pace, very funny."

"Come now, surely you know what a stud Dougie was before he jumped the fence."

"What makes you think he's not one now?"

"Ah, good point, man. Let's not delve any deeper there."

"All right, boys," Jen intervened. "Are we going to argue over stud status, or are we going to have fun?"

"Why can't we do both?" Jack asked.

"Well, carry on, then." Jen stepped toward Joey and whispered, "Come with me."

Joey glanced over at the others to see if anyone had heard, then turned to follow Jen out the back door. Jen sat on the porch swing and drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. Joey stood facing her expectantly.

"Well?" she asked.

"Why are you here, Joey?"

Joey looked taken aback. "I told you, I just..."

Jen rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yeah, I know, you wanted to leave the city for a while, et cetera, et cetera. Now look at me, and tell me the real reason. Did something happen with Chris?"

"I don't know. Why are we talking about this? It's irrelevant. We're here to celebrate you and your baby and old times."

"But if this is my party, then I get to call the shots. What's up in New York, Jo?"

"I'll tell you if you tell me."

"Ah, what a clever move." Jen rocked back and forth to set the swing in motion. "Well, since you asked, David and I broke up."

"Oh, Jen..."

"No, please, if you offer me sympathy I'm going to scream."

"Do you want to talk about it? Was it—did it have to do with—"

"With Little Jen here?" she patted her abdomen. "In a word, yes."

"Jen, I'm so sorry."

"Hey, what did I just say? Now, I told you my sob story. Are you going to hold up your end?" Jen was fighting to keep her voice even, and had to admit she was doing a pretty good job for someone who, twenty minutes ago, had been weeping in her car on the side of the road.

"Chris wants to marry me."

Jen's eyes widened. "Wow," she said. "And you, being you..."

"What do you think? I'm running away." Joey sniffed. "That's my specialty, right?"

The two looked at each other across the breezy porch in silence.

"It's funny to see you here," Jen finally said. "I mean, it's so different than seeing you in New York. It's like we're—"

"Two different people there," Joey finished. "We are. Sometimes when I'm there I can't even remember who little Joey Potter used to be."

"She's a great girl, you should meet her sometime."

Joey smiled sadly.

The screen door banged shut and they turned to see Andie. "Too much testosterone is flying around in there," she said brightly. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Love and life, what else?" Jen said. "Come, join us."

Andie came to sit next to Jen on the swing.

"So how's yours?" Jen asked.

"My love and life?" Andie asked. "Well, the love part is slow-going, but the life...I guess I'd have to say it's pretty good."

"Remember our ten-year pact?" Joey said suddenly.

Andie and Jen looked at each other, amused. "Yeah, but I'm surprised you do," Jen said.

"Oh come on, I wasn't that drunk," Joey protested.

"Yeah, right." Jen laughed at the memory. "You told me you loved me."

"Well, I do, Jen. But anyway, how are we doing in terms of our predictions?"

"Um, we've still got a couple of years to go," Andie said. "I don't think my life is turning out much like I thought it would when I was seventeen. But that's okay, because there have been some good surprises. What about you?"

Joey shook her head. "I don't know. I'm doing what I wanted to do. Editing books, living in New York. But then, I've always been predictable."

Jen smiled wistfully. "Care to pass some of that trait my way? Nothing in my life has ever been predictable. I can't even imagine what it's going to be like for me in two years. I'll have a toddler, for God's sake. A human life will be completely in my hands." She took a deep breath, feeling the weight of sadness threatening to settle on her once more. Stop it, Jen. This is neither the time nor the place to panic over something that's going to happen whether you like it or not.

Joey came over to sit on Jen's other side on the bench swing. "That's incredible," she said gently, seeming somehow to understand the inner struggle Jen was going through at the moment. "That's bigger than anything I'll accomplish in the publishing world."

"Yeah," Andie agreed. "Or me. And if I never find the right guy to settle down with, I might just have to live vicariously through you like Jack is going to do..." She paused. "It's finally occurred to me that there is only one Pacey."

The others looked at her with unmasked surprise. She smiled at their twin expressions. "Come on, guys," she said. "It's true that no one compares to your first love."

Joey turned away then, gazing out toward the creek. "No," she said in a near-whisper. "No one does."

The three of them sat on the swing for a long time, the girls they were and the women they had become melding together for the first time in years as they breathed life back into the past they shared. It was a strange sensation, Jen thought, but not an unpleasant one. Looking at Joey, she saw the same feelings mirrored in her deep brown eyes. And when the guys finally came out and joined them on the porch, it seemed that a piece of the puzzle linking childhood to adulthood slid into place.

As they talked and laughed together, Jen looked around at her friends that were more like family and studied the scene as if she weren't even a part of it, freezing the moment in her mind, wishing she could hold on to it, to them, forever.