The Brotherhood boys burst through the door like they usually did – loud, obnoxious, and cutting up.
"I can't believe the X-geeks were at the grocery store at the same time!" Lance exclaimed, slamming the front door.
"Yeah, we couldn't even swipe a few sodas!" Todd added, hopping passed the stairs.
"I was looking forward to that," Blob said, lumbering into the kitchen to deposit what they could afford from the store. "Hi Wanda," he greeted at the sight of Wanda sitting at the table, head in her hands.
Todd suddenly appeared beside her. "You rang, snookums?"
"We need to talk." She eyed Blob then Lance, who just walked by. "Alone."
Todd looked at her, a little scared and worried. "Okay."
"What's up, baby cakes?" Todd asked when the bedroom door was finally closed. "Did you get bad news from that Agatha lady?"
Wanda plopped down on her bed, eyes focused on the floor. "I can't say that it's bad news, but it's not good news either."
Todd stepped up slowly to her until he was standing in front of her. He was surprised and thrilled that she was confiding in him. "You can tell me anything, Wanda."
Wanda finally looked up at him. "I'm pregnant."
It took a whole minute for it to sink in, but when it did, Todd's eyes bulged. "You mean you have a bun in the oven?"
"What?" Wanda stared at him, confused. She pushed off the bed, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm going to have a baby, Todd. You're the father"
With a splat, Todd fell to the floor. It was one thing to hear that Wanda was pregnant, but was shocking to hear it was his. Of course, it shouldn't have been shocking since he knew he was the only one Wanda had ever been with. A baby came with major responsibilities. The door was so close. He could just hop out and never look back…
"Go ahead." Her emotion-filled voice brought him back to reality. She had her back to him, arms still folded. "Just leave right now so I won't have to see someone else abandon me."
A long, painful moment passed with no movement in the room. Wanda could feel the tears pricking the corners of her eyes, but she fought to hold them back. She flinched when two clammy hands cupped her forearms. "I won't leave you, Wanda. Not ever."
Before she could think about what she was doing, Wanda jerked away from his grasp. He looked dejectedly at her back. "Everyone else leaves me. Why should you be any different?"
"Because I'm not everyone else," Todd pleaded. He wanted to hold her and say it'd be all right, but he knew that'd result to another hole in the wall. He didn't know how to convince her that he wasn't going anywhere, so he said something that Wanda hadn't heard since she was a little girl. "I love you, Wanda. I'm not going anywhere."
She turned and stared at him, worry and frustration rising in her eyes. "I'm scared," she admitted in a small voice.
"I'm scared too," Todd spilled. "When you told me about the baby, I wanted to bolt out of here and not look back. But for once, I want to do something right in my life and if that's taking care of you and our kid then okay."
Wanda moved to sit on the bed again. Hesitantly, Todd joined her. "What do you want to do about the baby?"
"I don't know," Wanda replied, sounded defeated. "I've never held a baby before or even touched one. There's no way I'll be getting rid of it, and I don't want to abandon this child like my father did me. I can't have it living with the anger I've felt."
"I don't want to do that either," Todd said, sadly. "My parents weren't the best examples. They didn't treat me all that good, but I know I can do better than them."
Wanda turned to face him, grabbing his arm desperately. "Prove to me you won't leave."
Todd blinked then asked, "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"