Disclaimer…I don't own anything.

Author's Note…So this is it. The end. Ridiculously contrived plots and general silliness abound. I guess you can tell what's going to happen now that you've seen this chapter is entitled, Eight Months Later. Enjoy!

"A baby is G/d's opinion that the world should go on."

-Carl Sandburg

Johanna

Two weeks ago, when I called Hilary to wish her a happy birthday, she explained what hindsight was. She told me that it was realizing how important things were, but only after they had already happened. Hindsight, she said, is the best thing and the worst thing that has ever happened to her.

When she put Megan, who has dyed the bottom of her hair violet, on the phone, I understood in hindsight why Megan insisted on calling me 'Joey' all those years. Besides for being a nickname, it's also what baby kangaroos are called. Those joeys, I think they got it right. They hang out in their mother's pouch for half a year, and then wean their way out of there. For two to three months, they spend more and more time away from her and by the time they're one, they can survive on their own. I read a book about them, and the book said that even though they can live just fine, they still stay close to their mom for another six months.

"See, Mom," I told her when she was helping me with the report I did on kangaroos, "Joeys always come back."

It made her cry, which is her usual reaction to anything anyone says these days. It's also her usual reaction to anything anyone doesn't say. Uncle Jimmy says it's because of the pregnancy hormones that rage through her body "like kangaroos through Australian grasslands." Mom's constantly telling me that this is the happiest time of her life, bar none. It makes no absolutely sense at all (what with all the crying), and this is how I know she's telling the truth.

Right after we got home from Augusta's Bridge (which was a whole month after we left--Mom wanted to be absolutely certain the transplant had worked before we went back), Mom and Uncle Jimmy told me about the baby. Mom had to leave the conversation after about five minutes to pray to the porcelain gods, as Megan would put it, and Uncle Jimmy asked if I was ok sharing him and Mom with a brother or sister.

I told him that I was, as long as he was ok sharing me with Shawn, Hilary, and Megan. Him and Mom had already told me that we would definitely "keep in touch" with them, but this was the first time we had ever really talked about it.

When Uncle Jimmy said that he was more than ok with it, well, I think that was the best feeling in the history of the world. I couldn't believe I had gone all this time thinking I could have one family, one family only, and to be told that I could have both…it was amazing. For most of the time I've known him, Uncle Jimmy and I have always been weird, and we've touched and all, but I think that was the first time I ever really hugged him.

That was how Mom found us, hugging like it was going out of fashion. It made her start crying, and since then, it seems like she hasn't stopped, taking breaks only to eat, sleep, and have a five-minute conversation. All those tears; it almost makes me wish that we hadn't had that conversation at all.

Almost.

Mom's always asking me what I want; a brother or a sister? I won't tell her, because as soon as I say it, it'll put a curse or something on the baby that will make it a boy, but I can still think it…I want a sister. I already have one and she's awesome…maybe this new baby will follow in her footsteps. And maybe one day, she'll look at me the same way I look at Megan.

Right now, I'm at the hospital, doodling on my arm, making another list of names. The ones Mom and Uncle Jimmy have come up with on their own are horrible. Right now, their favorite for a boy is Dawson Justice, and if it's a girl, they like Vienna Rose. Why would a couple do that to their own child? It's cruel, and I won't let them pull that on my little brother or sister. When House heard those sad excuses for names, he said it sounded like they had both spent too much time listening to Billy Joel and watching 'Titanic', a joke that I did not understand at all. But still. Bad names.

Suddenly, someone grabs the pen from my hand and draws a nice, thick line through all the girl's names. "You won't be needing those," he says, and I look up to see House smiling like a Cheshire cat.

No sister, then. I have a few friends with little brothers; they all say they're the worst things that ever landed on Earth. "How do you know?" Maybe I don't have to join the club just yet.

He sits down next to me, and from the way he runs his fingers up and down the smooth surface of his cane, I can tell that there's no question, he knows. "Let's just say I have ESP."

We can say it, sure, but no way will Uncle Jimmy believe it. "Maybe we just shouldn't say anything about this, and pretend to be surprised," I suggest.

"And not get to see the look the new parents will give us when we know that it's a boy before they tell us?" House whines.

I shrug and review the list of boy names. House reads them too.

"Why isn't 'Greg' on the list?" he demands loudly.

That's when the most horrible thought comes to me; what if my little brother turns out to be like House! Suddenly, I think I'm going to be sick and a burning feeling climbs up my throat.

"I'll just add if for you," House tells me, and adds his name to the list. "So," he says as if he wasn't just graffiti-ing on somebody's arm, "is that what you wanted? A boy?"

"You're just like Mom," I say, even though him asking and her asking are totally different because she asks to know and I think House just wants to see me squirm. Even though it's a lie, seeing the expression on his face is worth it.

House gives me a look and while I don't know what emotion he's trying to show, I can tell he's acting. "Has your uncle been giving you tips in the fine art of deflecting questions? You shouldn't listen to him…next time you don't want to tell what you're thinking or where you've been, you come to me."

There's no way I'll go to House for help in lying. I'm about to tell him this when he gets up suddenly, and tosses his cane from one hand to the other, which seems like a bad idea. "So, you want to go meet him now?"

I blink. "Meet who?"

"Your brother," House says as though I should have known this.

"Well, yeah, but he hasn't been born yet." Although he's been taking his sweet time entering the world. Maybe he heard that his parents wanted to name him Dawson Justice. I can understand why he would want to put that off.

"Yes, he has. He's a whole hour old, your mom sent me to get you."

I have to open and close my mouth a few times before I can get the words out. "That's where--but how--THAT'S how you knew it was a boy!--but...why you…?"

The way House grins makes me want to break his other leg and toss his cane across the room. "Your uncle, excellent doctor that he is, passed out at the last minute and I had to sub in." With that, he gets up and walks away, without waiting to see if I'll follow.

XXXxxxXXX

When I enter my mom's hospital room, the first thing I see is Uncle Jimmy, passed out in a stiff chair. Then I see my mom, who looks so tired she might as well be passed out, sound asleep in her bed. Then I see the white hospital basinet, and the only person that's related to me that isn't sleeping…my baby brother.

I get that it's practically a rule that all babies are born with red, squashed faces, but I guess my brother's already a rebel because I wouldn't be telling the truth if I didn't say he was the single most beautiful, perfect baby in the entire world. He's got this little button nose, and really soft skin, and when he opens his eyes to start fussing, I can see they're the same color as Uncle Jimmy's.

"He probably just wants some attention," House says quietly. "You want to hold him?"

Suddenly, I feel nervous. "I don't know if I should…"

House rolls his eyes. "It'll be fine, just sit down," he orders impatiently. I don't want him to start talking louder, so I sit down on the very edge of my mom's bed. House picks the baby up and deposits him in my arms so quickly that if I had blinked, the only way I would have noticed there was a newborn in my arms would be his small body, pressing up against his blue blanket, pressing up against my clothes, pressing up against me.

"Hi, baby," I say, and I realize that I love him already. He's the first thing that I've seen from the beginning and I know that I'm going to see him in the end, too. And in between, we'll fight and we'll annoy each other and we won't talk to each other and we'll do all of this knowing that no matter what, we'll love each other all the same.

I want to protect him suddenly. There are mistakes he could make and fake guarantees he could get and people that might leave and I don't know how to save him from that.

I don't think anyone does.

"I promise…I promise I won't let them name you Dawson Justice," I vow and I can swear he's smiling at me.

F I N