A/N: Thanks for all the support! I don't think I've had a story with so many reviews asking me to update like this one. Not even DJ!

H2oPll, I think the reason why I never brought up Lana's birthday (partially because I forgot lol) was because when Lana is on her own in DJ, she doesn't care to make a big deal about her birthday (I like to think she's one of those people who avoid it at all costs) but here in The Cosmos, she's not alone so she has to suck it up.

Also, next month I have a brand new baby nephew coming into the world and I kid you not, I swear on all that I love that his parents were this freaking close to naming him Johnny Benjamin. Johnny freakin' Benjamin! As soon as I heard the name I spit my drink and almost cried, "HOW DID YOU KNOW?" (Because what kind of coincidence is that?!) But I didn't. I kept my cool and cried inside at how freaking cute that coincidence was. You guys, I'm not even making this up. Sadly, that's not the name they chose after all ): but I almost died at the fact that my nephew's name was going to be Johnny.

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ELEVEN

You Wouldn't Like Me

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"Lana, hold him up." Wendy directed as she held up the camera.

Lana sat by the Christmas tree with the boy in arms. She didn't look too thrilled with Wendy's overly excited attitude. It was as if she had become one of those overbearing mother's that wanted to take a photo of her children every five minutes.

"Wendy, that's enough, you'll blind him." Lana scolded her. Setting the boy on her lap.

Wendy exhaled, lowering the camera from her face, "Lana, cooperate for once, will you?"

"You've already taken a million. How much more do you need?" Lana questioned with much annoyance.

"Just a few more." Wendy snapped another photo of mother and child.

Lana was the next to exhale. "Can we just open these and get it over with?"

"Stop being so selfish." Wendy scolded her. "This is Johnny's first Christmas, let him enjoy it."

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't even know what's going on."

Wendy frowned at her, "Stop stealing Christmas, you Grinch."

Lana opened her mouth to speak but had no counter argument so she let Wendy go on about her business. For the rest of the morning she put no complaints what so ever. Posing for a few photos was far better than spending the holiday locked away in Briarcliff.

There were worse things to endure.

1966

The fact that he always made a fuss when Lana walked into the room made her feel even more guilt over the manuscript hidden in her desk. The baby squealed, cooed and squirmed every single time he spotted Lana. The fact made Wendy absolutely giddy. She always dotted over the boy, making excuses for his fussing and crying; picking him up every chance she got.

"You'll spoil him." Lana scolded her.

"I don't see a problem in that."

"I do," Lana stated. She sat at the vanity fixing her hair, "Two years from now when we have a rotten toddler on our hands."

Wendy lifted Johnny before her; the fact that Lana spoke of their future excited her for what lay ahead. It made her nervous too, however. There was a sense of doubt in Wendy when it came to facing the world. Not for what would happen to them, but what would happen to the boy.

It was Monday morning and Lana was going back to work for the first time in months. Wendy as well was returning back to her students after Christmas and New Years.

"Oh, he won't be rotten. He'll be a perfect little gentleman, won't you Johnny B.?"

Johnny cooed, a little bit of drool running down his lip.

Wendy cradled him and wiped his lip. "I hope Mrs. Denning takes good care of him."

"I'm sure she will." Lana stated, keeping her eyes on the mirror. She came off nonchalant but deep down she was filled with nerves and anxiety at leaving the boy behind in the care of someone else.

Wendy noticed Lana's distracted expression and worried, "Are you all right?"

Lana cleared her throat and turned around slightly, "Guess I'm just excited to go back to work after so long." She looked at Johnny's little chubby cheeked face and smiled, "Yes, that's it…"

.

Lana struggled somewhat on her first day back. She had been the one to drop Johnny off at the neighbors. Now, Mrs. Denning was a very kind woman in her early forties with children of her own and no husband. Lana knew Johnny would be fine in her care but she couldn't help but to feel anxious. She found that she missed the boy and when she heard him cry after handing him over, a wide range of emotions set themselves loose.

She couldn't concentrate the entire day and continued to think of him. The night before she had dreamt of him as a boy again, sitting by himself in a playground with no one around. She woke up but made no sound or effort to cry out. It took her half the night to fall back asleep.

At the school, Wendy went about her day with a smile upon her face. On her desk she placed a framed photograph of Johnny on Christmas morning. Lana was not in the picture and Wendy felt a bit of sadness. She had sworn she wouldn't be afraid but she still wasn't ready for people to prod into her little family. As far as anyone was concerned, the baby in the photo was her nephew. Not her adopted son.

If Lana knew how Wendy was hiding the truth, she was sure to lose it. Wendy grew distracted from her students to think of the consequences. Lana was sure to leave her and take the boy. She wouldn't dare risk losing everything she ever wanted.

.

The days returned to normal with the exception of their new little member that caused havoc day and night. Lana continued to bury herself in her work when she wasn't busy with her son. She went out on the field for hours at a time to distract herself and clear her mind. She came home late, past dinner and straight to tend to the boy. Wendy was left to care for the baby while Lana was at work. Between Lana's journalism and Johnny, she had left the housework unattended. It caused friction between the two women but Wendy kept calm on the matter and took Lana's chores as well as her own.

Wendy often tried to see things Lana's way. She had been gone from work for so long that she had to fight her way back up from the pedestal from where she had fallen. Of course, her work on opening light upon Briarcliff and closing the place down had gotten her a lot of popularity and now that she was back on the field, she wanted to maintain her good name.

"They keep asking me about him." Lana referred to Johnny one night while she made dinner. It was the first time in weeks that she had done so. And it was only because her leads had run cold and she was faced with no other option than to return home early.

Johnny sat in his baby swing sucking on his pacifier.

"Who is they?" Wendy asked as she came into the kitchen. She had just finished grading her student's History reports.

"The reporters from Daily." Lana answered, her back towards Wendy.

"What did you tell them?" Wendy asked, curious about the matter.

She knew Lana didn't want to admit that her child had a father. She had always told strangers that, even those at the grocery stores who had no idea who she was but were mildly interested in the baby boy laying peacefully in his pram. Of course those who knew her a little bit more and were aware of her brush with Bloody Face had put two and two together. Still, they did not dare bring it up to Lana.

"That he's a happy, healthy boy living a normal life." Lana turned to Wendy, "What else am I supposed to tell them?"

Wendy went up to her and glanced into the pot where Lana was making stew. "That your cooking not only tastes like shit but smells like it too?"

Lana exhaled and rolled her eyes, turning from Wendy and stirred her stew with a wooden ladle. "Oh, fuck off, Peyser."

Wendy tilted her head back and laughed, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She wrapped her arms around Lana's waist and rested her chin on Lana's shoulder. "You know I'm only teasing."

"Sure you are." Lana pouted slightly.

"I love you, Lana Winters." Wendy kissed her cheek, "And if I have to put up with your cooking than so be it."

"Tss, you say that now."

"I mean it, always." Wendy glanced over to Johnny who was watching them with big blues.

Lana looked over at him too and didn't bother to shake Wendy off her. "He's growing, isn't he?"

"I say his third month of life is fitting him quite well." Wendy released Lana and made her way to Johnny, taking him out of his swing. "It'll be quite a while before you have to endure your mother's cooking."

Lana laughed, "Yes, well, I'm sure he'll love it."

"Bet on it?"

Both women met eyes and playful smirks.

"Just don't cry when you lose." Lana warned her.

"Well, seeing as how much this boy loves you now, I doubt he'll grow up to dislike anything you make."

Lana let Wendy's words seep in. "Let's hope so…"

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It was a Sunday afternoon and it had snowed the entire morning. Wendy was doing some Sunday cleaning while Johnny stretched his legs on his blanket in the family room. He had rolled on to his stomach and was attempting to push himself up but was still too weak to do so.

Lana was on the sofa with a notepad going over her notes. She wanted to write an article of her first months as a single mother. It was such a progressive thing in their time and she wanted to make the best of it.

Wendy took the feather duster into Lana's study and began to dust the shelves with countless of books. She then noted the mess upon Lana's desk and sighed, "Lana!" She called out to her.

"What?" Lana replied without taking her eyes off her notepad.

"How do you live comfortably knowing you have all this mess in here?"

"In where?"

"Where else!"

Lana shook her head and glanced down at Johnny, "Still want to live here?"

Johnny looked at her and squealed with excitement, flashing her that gummy smile of his.

Inside Lana's study, Wendy grabbed all the loose papers and placed them in one neat stack. She opened the first drawer to place the papers inside but the drawer was filled with pens, ink and other stationary. Without thinking, Wendy pulled open the last drawer and paused before she set the stack inside. She placed the stack upon the desk and reached into the drawer to pull out a manuscript with the title "Maniac".

Wendy frowned at it, not sure what it was. "Lana?" She called out again with question.

Lana sighed heavily at being interrupted once more, "What is it now?"

"You didn't tell me you were writing a new book!" Wendy's voice sounded rather amused at the fact.

"I'm not!" Lana answered back.

"Quite the interesting tittle you got here!"

And then it dawned on Lana. Her eyes opened widely and she jumped from the sofa and hurried to her study without any hesitation what so ever.

Lana went into the room just in time to see Wendy looking through the pages. She hurried over and snatched the manuscript from her.

"Lana!" Wendy gasped, utterly surprised by her actions, "What's the matter with you? What is that?"

Lana hid the manuscript behind her back. "It's nothing. It's old—it's not ready." Her cheeks flared red and her heart began to accelerate with panic.

Wendy frowned at her. "Well, come out with it."

"It was a piece on Briarcliff. It's not very good."

"Can I read it?" Wendy reached out to her.

"No!" Lana snapped, stepping back.

Wendy grew extremely concerned and quite offended by Lana's attitude concerning the manuscript. "Why won't you let me see it?"

Lana sighed and slumped her shoulders. She gave Wendy a saddened look. "It was a surprise. I wasn't going to tell you until I was done with it." She lied straight through her teeth the way she used to as a child to get out of trouble. A habit she hoped her son didn't inherit from her.

Wendy held her gaze and then chuckled, "Lana, you goof." She smiled at her and cupped Lana's face in her hands, "You're such a perfectionist."

Lana forced a smile, "I just want you to be proud of it."

Wendy kissed her lips. "Well, don't take too long on it, all right?"

Johnny began to cry from the other room, realizing that he had been left alone.

"I got him." Wendy said and left the room without a worry or care. Not even a second thought about the manuscript.

Once she was out of the room, Lana sighed in relief. She couldn't believe Wendy had bought her terrible lie. Still, Lana took the manuscript in both hands and bit her bottom lip. She wanted nothing more than to rid herself of it but couldn't bring herself to. Instead, she hid it behind the books on the tallest shelf of her bookcase where it would be forgotten.