Okay, so if you read the first chapter before 9/10/18, there is a change - I changed their location to the Pacific Northwest. The reason for this was I originally had the characters living on the East Coast, but I've never lived there and rarely visited. This change just seemed natural for me as I can write with much more first hand experience as far as as location. Eventually I will be updating and changing Twice in a Lifetime to reflect this. Being that Earning her Stripes is now a stand alone, spin off of this series, I am NOT changing that one.

Also, I am gearing up for conventions in October. I have four chapters of this written and am slowly working on the fifth one, but it will be slow-going as I need to turn my attention to cosplay. But never fear, once November hits I'll be able to do a lot more writing.

Chapter 2 - Debates

August 2005

Amethyst

"I need to get something for the first day of school that makes a statement. I mean, we're going into tenth grade, so I need to shake up my image a little." Amethyst walked through the mall with Peridot, looking around at the shops. "What are you wearing?"

Peridot shuffled next to Amethyst, her hair wild and her flannel shirt about two sizes too big. "I'd like to wear what I normally do, but Mom found this old blue dress of Pearl's…"

"You can't wear your sister's hand-me-down. I wouldn't be caught dead in something Jasper wore." She recalled seeing Jasper leaving the house in attire that challenged the school's dress code. She remembered her mother's shocked expression as she chased her sister down the driveway holding a long coat. Her mom had probably burned those clothes the second Jasper left for boot camp four years ago.

"Well, Mom isn't going to let me wear flannel and jeans. She was more than a little…" her voice dropped so Amethyst could hardly hear her. "Ticked…that I wore it for my school picture last year."

A corset top in a store window caught her attention and Amethyst grabbed Peridot's hand, pulling her inside the store that was playing rock music from somewhere above them. She found the rack with the beautiful purple and black lace tops on it. It laced in front and conjured up images of maidens from long ago, but she could easily make it look more modern with a short skirt and maybe fingerless gloves made from fishnet tights. "I should dye my hair purple!"

Peridot shifted uncomfortably and shoved her hands in her pockets. "Your mom is not going to like it."

"Fffft, I'll just tell her I do what I want."

Her best friend scoffed. "Yeah, that'll go over well."

Amethyst frowned as she held the top to her body. It was obvious without trying it on that it would not fit, but the next size up might. She searched the rack, but couldn't find an XXL. She took the shirt up to the counter. "Um, do you have this in a bigger size?"

The salesgirl surveyed Amethyst with heavily made up eyes and popped a bubble with her gum. "No. We run small through XL."

"What about special order?"

The older teenager sighed and tossed her head to move the dark hair from her eyes. "I said: our clothes run small through XL. You could try Lane Bryant."

"Dude, my mom shops there. I want to wear something cool."

"We have some lipsticks – some socks and other accessories, but none of our clothes are gonna fit you, honey." She gave a half-hearted shrug. "Sorry."

"Um…" Anger burned in her, but she attempted to keep her cool. The decision not to carry larger sizes came from up above, not from this girl who simply worked the register. Amethyst looked at the glass case, spying some purple hair dye and pointed at it. "Could I get two bottles?"

Before they left the store, she also bought some black lipstick, a dark eye shadow palette and talked Peridot into getting a green dress studded with spikes, chains and a leather belt from the clearance rack. At least one of them was able to fit into their clothes. Peridot bounced her black shopping bag with its red lettering. "I don't know if this is really me."

"You need to shake up your image a little. You know, I can't wear what I want, but you have a figure…well, sort of. Anyway, you're skinny enough to wear awesome things, so you should."

Peridot pushed her green-rimmed glasses up her nose. "I like being comfortable."

"Come on. I need to get home and hide this hair dye before my mom sees it."

"Me too – I mean, I should get home. Pearl leaves tomorrow, so my mom is making this fancy dinner."

"It's hard when your sister leaves…"

"But Jasper will be back soon, right?"

"Yeah – next month I think. Not sure exactly when though."

"See, we both understand."

"Um, Per – Pearl going to college three hours away and Jasper being halfway around the world getting shot at are two completely different things."

The bus ride and walk back to their neighborhood was uneventful, unless stopping at a convenience store to buy soda counted as an event…no, it didn't. Amethyst sighed as she said good-bye to Peridot and trudged three houses down to her own home where she opened the door. Her mom was on the phone in the kitchen. Perfect, she could slip on up the stairs and hide the hair dye before…

"Thank you for letting me know," her mother said before the familiar beep of her hanging up the cordless phone found her ears. "Amethyst, is that you?"

"Uhhh…no – it's a ghost. Wooooo."

"Let me see what you bought for school."

"Hold on a sec…I, uh, I really need to take a dump!" She sprinted up the stairs as best she could and heard her mother following behind her.

"What do you have in that bag?!"

"Nothing!" Amethyst opened her bedroom door, skidded inside and threw the bag in her closet.

Her mother, Penina, came in right after her, huffing at the energy exerted. She still wore her pink scrubs from the hospital, but her hair was down, hanging in dark waves down her back with only a touch of gray. "What did you buy?"

Amethyst's heart thudded…would her mom be more upset about the hair dye or the Dr Pepper in her bag? She thought about how her mom was always on her about her weight and since she couldn't wear what she wanted, maybe she should just surrender the soda. But…it would taste so good after walking in that heat.

"Show me right now or I'll sasa you with my hairbrush."

"I'm fifteen and I don't think spanking is legal anymore."

"It's legal in this house!"

She gave an exasperated sigh and turned to her closet, digging in her bag. Oh, the makeup – perfect. "I just bought some makeup."

Penina took it and examined it. "This is for Halloween, not every day at school. Besides you don't need makeup. What else?"

"Now, this shirt I might need a strapless bra for…"

"What kind of shirt you need a strapless…" her mom held up the dark purple stretchy shirt with black mesh at the top. "What? No – we're taking this back."

"I can't! Final markdowns!"

"Well, you're not wearing it." Penina huffed and put it over her arm. "Come on, what else?"

Crap. Amethyst begrudgingly took one bottle of hair dye out of the bag and gave it to her. "I thought maybe…"

"What is this?! No – you're not coloring your hair purple."

"Jasper dyes her hair!" Amethyst protested.

"It's brown – that looks natural and Jasper is an adult. You are not going to school looking like a Halloween hooligan." She turned and walked off, muttering something about Amethyst spending her hard-earned money on junk.

Amethyst huffed and slammed the door once her mother was gone, eliciting Penina to yell down the hall: "You slam that door one more time I'll take it off!"

Yeah, how often had she heard that? She dug in her bag, pulling out the bottle of Dr Pepper, twisting the cap off and chugging some of it. A large belch followed. "I'm just not allowed to be myself, I guess." Soda wasn't enough, so she opened her desk drawer, extracting a candy bar and ripping open the wrapper. She spent the next half hour mindlessly munching on it and flipping through a fashion magazine while her headphones played rock music into her ears so loudly it drowned out all other sound. She didn't even realize her father was home until he came into her room and his lips moved without words.

Amethyst removed her headphones. "What?"

"Too loud. Come on, you don't want to ruin your hearing." He moved her CD player and headphones off to the side and the bed sagged and let out a groan of protest as he sat down. "Your mother says you two had a fight today."

"She doesn't get me. I want to find my own…look, you know." Amethyst turned the magazine over. "I want to look like her."

Her father raised an eyebrow. "You're not piercing the inside of your nose. She looks like a bull."

"No, Dad – her clothes. I want to wear something dark and mysterious and cool." She sighed. "But I guess I don't really have the body to show off my belly like that." She recalled the clothes Jasper used to wear and how her stomach was perfect and flat, her abs clearly visible. "I wish I was prettier."

"You stop that talk right now." He put a hand under her chin and lifted her head. "You are beautiful, Peanut."

Oh sure, Jasper got to be his 'Baby Girl' whereas Amethyst was likened to a peanut. "I'm fat. Why didn't I come out looking like Jasper?"

Her father gave her a kind smile. "Because you aren't her. You're you. You look like your mother and I think she's beautiful just the way she is."

"Yeah, but she was probably skinny when you met her?"

"No, she was about the same size actually." He pressed his forehead against hers lovingly. "You know, we like our bigger girls, too."

Of course he would see her as beautiful. He was her dad – it was required or something. "Chyeah…maybe that works in our community, but high school boys don't think the same way."

Her dad pulled away. "Boys? What boys?"

"Just guys in school I might want to date." She noticed his eyes narrowing. "What you want me to date girls?"

"Girls wouldn't get you pregnant."

Amethyst laughed. "What do you think I'm gonna do? Go wild? I'd be happy just going to the movies with a boy."

He patted her hand as her mom called up the stairs that dinner was ready. "You will – someday, someone will realize how pretty you are. Come on, let's eat."

They prayed before digging into their dinner of chicken casserole, which Amethyst took a huge helping of. Despite there being some canned vegetables added, there was also copious amounts of sour cream, cream cheese and the whole thing was topped with flakey dough usually reserved for crescent rolls. She reflected on how her mom would say something about the soda she'd had…half of which was still sitting in the bottle…but then cooked something like this for dinner. Amethyst noticed how much she did, in fact, look like her mother, right down to their curvy frames and round faces. Being a nurse, Penina should have known better, but she had high blood pressure and was pre-diabetic. Her father had once been in shape as she'd seen in photos, but in recent years, his belly had expanded and he was on medication for blood pressure and cholesterol. And Amethyst knew with this family history, she should probably be careful sooner rather than later, but man, was her mom's casserole good! She took a second helping as the phone rang and her father turned to pluck it off the wall.

"Fetuao, not during dinner," her mother said.

"It could be important." He checked the caller ID. "US Government." He answered and stood, walking out into the living room.

Amethyst put down her fork and tried to listen, fearing the worst. "Mom…is it Jasper?"

"I don't know."

"What if…" She couldn't finish that thought. But no, she'd been told someone would come to their door and break that news in person.

It was a few tense moments before her father returned to the kitchen, hung up the phone and sat down. "First of all, Jasper is alive and not severely injured. They wanted to let us know her unit was attacked and suffered some casualties before it hit the news."

"How many died?" Penina asked.

Fetuao took a breath before answering. "Nine soldiers, seven Marines. Jasper has a concussion, but they expect her to recover in a few days, so they're not sending her home and she'll call when she can."

Amethyst's mother made the sign of the cross. "I'm thankful she's okay, but all those families…"

"It is sad," her father agreed with a nod. "But they knew the sacrifice they might have to make."

Amethyst stirred the food on her plate and wondered if Jasper really felt that way. Still, she sat there feeling the same relief her parents must've that at least – for now – she was safe.

September 2005

Jasper

Ruby was gone. It was a fact that didn't really sink in until Jasper had been released from the medic a week after the attack and returned to her living quarters to see her fellow soldier's bed empty and her side of the room looking very sparse. She imagined they must be having the funeral soon – back home – maybe even today. She thought of the others who had gone home in flag-covered caskets…Brenner, Logan, DuPree. She'd talked to them, laughed and joked together just that morning. Chips was gone too…she hadn't even known his first name. But not her…no, she'd gotten lucky. Stuck in a position where she'd been on the brink of unconsciousness, her diaphragm paralyzed so she couldn't breathe for a moment – that's when the terrorists had decided to shoot her. And they might have…if she hadn't been covered in blood…if someone else's innards hadn't landed on her making her look as though she'd been ripped open.

It had been a devastating loss…both the battle…and her fellow servicemen. Why had she been spared? Why was she still sitting here alive? Why did she get to go home at the end of the month, her deployment complete, without any scars to show for it? She zipped up her jacket and put her cover on her head. There was no time to grieve – once she stepped out in her uniform she'd have to be in soldier mode and that meant putting her human side in the backseat. It meant forgetting for the next several hours that such a horrible thing had happened…to move forward and not think about seeing so many young people gunned down…blown up…things no one should ever see. It was ingrained in her mind, but she pushed it down…down to that place where she kept memories of that horrible dream.

The dream seemed secondary, but that too had to remain locked away…a dream, that's all. If it wasn't – if she somehow believed it had really happened, she couldn't even look at Sergeant McCoy without feeling sick. Of the two people from her squad who had survived…why did one of them have to be him?

It was halfway through the day that Moritz approached her. One of her fuckbuddies…or was…she wasn't sure she'd be doing that anymore. "Hey, Tiger. You okay?"

"Yeah. My head feels better, but my dad always said I had a hard head." She laughed nervously. "Anyway, if you're looking for…well, I don't think that's a good idea anymore."

"Shut up, Tiger – I'm not after that. I mean, the sex is good, but believe it or not I do consider you my friend. I was concerned when I found out you were injured."

Jasper gave Moritz a half smile. "Thank you."

"I'd hug you, but we're out in the open. It sucks about Brenner – he was a good guy."

She nodded in agreement. "He knew it was a possibility."

"I heard the higher-ups aren't happy with the way Sergeant McCoy lead the squad that night. He might end up getting court marshaled."

"Great." She rolled her eyes. "Now I'll have to deal with his ass being in a bad mood all afternoon."

"Not just his ass, the rest of him too." Moritz laughed.

Jasper chuckled sincerely for what seemed like the first time in a long time. She had less than a month left…she could do this. She could finish out her time in this hot, barren wasteland and then return home…go back to base at Snowy Mountain just in time to feel the air get crisp and smell that heavenly aroma of the ground before it started to rain. As she went about her day she imagined the winter and the first time she'd walk outside into the chill to hear the snow crunching under her boots. Well, hopefully they'd get snow. There was always plenty on the mountain, but not so much in the lowlands. She thought about what she'd eat when she arrived…rocky road ice cream…her mother's corned beef and potato hash…oh, jalapeño poppers…

"Good afternoon, Corporal."

God in heaven…not him. She saluted quickly. "Sergeant McCoy…good afternoon."

"I saw you talking with Moritz." His mouth twisted up in a smile. "Visit the storage area again?"

Not every guy is an insufferable pig, she wanted to say. "No, sir. He was glad to see I had recovered."

"I have something to discuss with you in private."

Her stomach flip-flopped inside her and her heart pounded. "I think we can talk about it…"

"In private, Corporal."

Jasper's hands shook the entire way as she followed him to an office space. Once inside the room, the door clicked shut and her only thought was to unlock it and flee. "May I ask what this is regarding?"

Sergeant McCoy looked at her up and down. "They're investigating the way I led the siege that night. They may ask you some questions…now listen, I cannot be court marshaled. I need you to have my back."

"Why would I do that, sir?" It wasn't as if she had been paying too much attention to the orders he'd given the other soldiers, only what he'd told her to do.

"We're in this together."

"If asked, my duty is to be truthful."

He nodded and circled her. "You disobeyed a direct order I gave you that night. I told you not to shoot at the enemy – the one holding Private Diaz."

"That's not how I remember it. You told me I was crazy for trying, you never said…"

"Ah, but then you suffered a concussion. So, I'm not sure your memory of that night is very good and that's what you'll say if anyone comes asking. As for your insubordination, I don't have to tell anyone about that…" Sergeant McCoy stood in front of her and began unbuckling his belt. "If you do me a favor."

Rage boiled in her and it took everything to keep her voice level. "Sir, I will go higher up than you and report this…"

"Go ahead; I'll go to them too and report you. Believe me, they'll go a lot harder on you than they will on me. Insubordination could mean dishonorable discharge. Is that what you want?" He'd undone his pants and eased his cock out. "Or do you want to get on your knees and we can forget this whole mess?"

This was a dream…some insanity brought on in the aftermath of her concussion…it had to be. Jasper shut her eyes and turned her head. "I've met some pricks in my day, but you, sir, are a fucking cactus."

She made a move to leave, but he grabbed her arms and pushed her up against a wall. McCoy leaned in, hissing in her ear. "You walk out that door and just see how fast I can ruin your career."

The Army was all she knew…it was routine and regulation…she'd be completely lost outside of it now. A dishonorable discharge would mean no help from the government. She'd be on her own to figure things out, to get health insurance…to get a job…to pay for school.

He was kissing her neck, bringing back all the horrible thoughts of the previous dream. He could be bluffing; he may not go up the chain of command…may not report her at all. She couldn't take that chance. His lips found hers and she felt complete disgust rise in her as she returned his kisses. She wanted to push him away…to yell at him…to drive her steel-toed boot right into his expanded dick, breaking it and forcing his balls up into his body.

McCoy pulled away, his breath against her face. "Knees, now," he hissed.

She had no choice. She kept her eyes on the locked door as she sank to the floor and wondered when she'd wake up from this nightmare.

Amethyst

The halls were crowded as Amethyst and Peridot made their way through toward their homeroom, which was also their English class. "I can't wait until next year when I can choose an elective English class," Amethyst said. "I want to do creative writing."

"I wonder if they'll let me write Camp Pining Hearts fanfiction."

Amethyst laughed. "All of yours are about Percy and Pierre boinking each other and using maple syrup for lube or some shit. I don't think they'll allow it."

"What's lube?" Peridot pushed her glasses up on her face.

"Uhhh…yeah, we're gonna have a talk later." Her best friend was far too sheltered for her own good. "Why didn't you wear that dress I got you?"

She looked down at her standard jeans and flannel. "My mom saw me in it and freaked out. It's going back to the store."

"Bummer, man. My mom says I can't dye my hair, so I might shave my head, you know…really stick it to her."

Peridot opened the door to their classroom. "You would cry and probably be grounded, which would make you cry more."

"Chyeah…" Amethyst took a seat near the back, the chair of the desk creaking a bit. She had a perfect view of Seth Reuben from where she sat. God, he was perfect…olive skin, tousled black hair with a hint of a curl…hazel eyes. He was a football player – strong, athletic. Maybe she'd write a story about the two of them…about where her fantasies would like to go.

"Amethyst Paloma," the teacher called as she took attendance.

"Here."

Peridot gave her an incredulous look. "She got your name wrong."

Amethyst's eyes flickered over to Seth as his name was called. "Uh-huh…"

By the end of class, their assignment was to write a report about a controversial topic and turn it in by Friday. They would also have to make an oral presentation about it in class the following week. "I want to see how you write and how you present your argument – for or against – to the class. I also run the debate team and I will speak to those of you I think will be a good fit," Ms. Goodwin told them.

"What class do you have next?" Peridot asked.

Amethyst checked her schedule and wrinkled her nose. "Algebra. You?"

"Biology." Her friend must've memorized it because she didn't need to check her schedule. "What are you thinking about writing for your report?"

"I don't know. Maybe abortion. I mean, I could ask my mom about it since she works in OB."

"For or against?"

She scoffed. "My mom would kill me if I wrote arguing for abortion. What about you?"

"I was considering gay marriage."

Was Peridot for real? "You know if you do everyone will think you're a lesbo."

"You don't have to be gay to support gay rights."

"It's high school. If I were you I'd pick a different topic like sexual harassment or homelessness."

"It's something I feel strongly about." Peridot stopped at the door of her science class. "See you at lunch?"

Amethyst thought about her assignment all day and that night at dinner didn't beat around the bush. "Mom, does your hospital ever perform abortions?"

"Why do you ask? Are you pregnant?"

She scoffed again. What did her parents think she was? Some kind of slut? "If I am then I'm carrying God's child or something and I don't think He'd pick me to be the mother. No, I'm doing an assignment for school and I just wondered if you might be able to help."

"I'm not sure that's an appropriate topic for dinner…or for your report," Penina remarked.

"I could always write in favor of gay marriage like Peridot."

Her mother crossed her herself, shaking her head. "You kids these days. One man – one woman – as it should be."

"Hey, I'm not the one writing that report, Jesus…"

"Excuse me?" Her father asked.

"Geez, I meant 'geez'."

"I don't like that word either," her mother pointed a finger at her. "Now, yes, we sometimes do abortions. I try not to assist on them. If I counsel a young woman I ask her if she's really sure and urge her to take time to think about it. I think I have saved a few babies this way. Sometimes I think it's acceptable if the mother's life is in danger. It's sad to lose the baby, but it would be worse to lose both of them."

Amethyst nodded. So, being against it really didn't mean being totally against it. "What about rape? I mean…if it wasn't her decision to have sex then shouldn't she…"

"The baby doesn't choose how it's conceived."

"Right, but if the mother…"

"I don't like thinking about things like that."

"But things like that happen every day. What if it happened to me and I was pregnant? Would you seriously make me keep it?" Amethyst asked, her voice tinged with disbelief.

Penina closed her eyes and set her fork down, sighing. "I don't want to think about that happening to you…or your sister…ever." Her hand shook as her husband covered it. "I don't like thinking about it."

"Perhaps you should choose a different topic for your report, Peanut," Fetuao suggested.

All Amethyst knew as she quietly did her other homework that night was she had never seen her mother react like that to anything. Had something happened to her? What if she'd had an abortion herself years ago and the guilt was eating away at her? Maybe she should change her report. She sighed. But it was an important topic and one not likely to go away anytime soon. A memory stirred of a few years ago when it was much a heated debate between Jasper and her mother…

November 2000

"Eh, Jasper where are you going dressed like that?" Penina demanded to know.

Jasper looked down at her orange tank top paired with a denim mini-skirt. "Lacy and I are doing this march in Emerald City for women's rights."

"What's this sign." Her mom read it when Jasper held it up. "'My body, my choice' – what choice?"

"The choice to choose."

Her father looked up from his newspaper. "I was unaware you didn't have the choice to make choices…for instance – you chose to wear that…in November. And when you're freezing your butt off and come down with pneumonia, then you remember – that's your choice."

Amethyst looked up from her cereal. "I chose Cinnamon Toast Crunch."

Jasper rolled her eyes. "This is way beyond your understanding, Ames, but I'm doing this for you – understand – for your future." She turned back to their mom. "Some states are trying to keep women from being able to have safe access to…" Jasper's eyes flickered to Amethyst, "…certain methods of birth control."

"That is not birth control." Penina dropped her voice. "That is murder."

"Not everyone thinks so. Just be thankful I'm safe."

Penina turned slowly. "Eh? Are you saying you've…done it? You know, it?"

"I don't think that's really your business."

"You're my daughter…"

"I'm eighteen!" Jasper protested. "I'm an adult and as such, I…"

"You still live under this roof!"

Jasper was silent for a moment, hands on her hips then nodded before speaking. "Fine – I'll move in with Lacy then I'll be on my own and I can have all the sex I want…"

"Jasper!"

"All the hot, steamy, LOUD SEX I want to have!"

"Jasper, your sister can hear you…"

Amethyst continued munching on her cereal, unsure yet what sex even was or what they were talking about.

"With women even!"

"Oh my…" Penina crossed herself. "And is that what you would do? If you got pregnant you would…"

"I'm not saying that, but I want to have the choice. And should that be my decision, I want to be able to have it done safely."

"You ever make that choice then you choose to deal with it on your own because I do not support it." Her mother began heading for the kitchen.

Jasper took her sign and headed toward the door. Fetuao folded his newspaper and walked the short distance to the door. "Baby Girl, wait." He grabbed a jacket from the closet and wrapped it around her shoulders. "It's cold out there."

"Thanks, Dad." A car honked from outside and Jasper took off through the door to try and change the world.

September 2005

It was only now, years later that Amethyst realized what her sister was trying to do. Jasper wasn't necessarily pro-abortion, she was pro-choice and there was a difference. Amethyst took out a pen and paper and began writing.

"So…there have been multiple studies showing that children raised by two parents of the same sex are as well adjusted as children who have…uh…two parents that aren't…" Peridot's voice faltered and weakened. Already many members of the class had made their disgust known and Amethyst felt sorry for her friend.

"Okay, but if the kid sees his two dads kissing he's gonna think that's normal and end up gay himself, then we'll have a bunch of gay babies running around," Seth interjected.

"Seth, I've warned you four times," Ms. Goodwin's voice sounded tired of his comments. "Peridot, please continue."

"Actually, multiple studies indicate…" Peridot dropped her cards and her face flushed with embarrassment. "Um…that…uh…most humans have some kind of homosexual tendencies…even if they identify…"

"Not me!" Seth protested. "I ain't no fag, alright!"

"N-not everyone…"

"Seth, go to the principal's office, now," Ms. Goodwin ordered. "I won't tolerate that word in my classroom. Peridot, why don't you sit down? I think this is too much a heated topic." She looked at her list. "Amethyst, you're up next."

Amethyst took her place up at the front of the classroom. For some reason, public speaking had never made her nervous. Rather, she felt calm and collected as she presented what she'd learned to the class and answered their questions. "In conclusion, pro-choice does not mean you are necessarily for abortion. I, as a Catholic individual, would not consider this for myself should I ever find myself with an unwanted pregnancy, but it is not my place to tell any other woman what her choice should be. It's not my place, your place, the place of a church or of the government. It comes down to her individual decision and as long as we keep that in mind then we owe it to those women to give them the opportunity for safe and understanding place to have this done. Thank you."

After class, her teacher asked a few individuals to stay after for a moment and discussed the benefits of the debate club with Amethyst and the other three students. "You all have not only great writing skills, but also public speaking abilities. This will give you the opportunity to perfect these traits and will look good on college applications."

Amethyst rolled her eyes. Yeah, more school after school…plus, with her math and science grades, it was unlikely she was headed for anywhere besides community college or tech school anyway. Peridot had not been asked to stay behind and as soon as Amethyst met her by the door, she told her all about debate club. "I don't think that's for me."

"I'm doing Mathletes."

"Because you are a neeeerrrrd." Amethyst tousled Peridot's already messy hair. "Since Kindergarten I've been in the 'Go Home Right After School Club' and I'm not sure I want to break my streak." She laughed, but inwardly wondered if she should go for it.

Jasper

It was the moment she'd been waiting for eighteen long months. Boots on the ground. She was finally home. She hadn't told her family. She really didn't want them to wait as she went through processing and the homecoming ceremony. Her room in the barracks here was likely to be nicer than the one she'd shared with Ruby back in Iraq. She'd have a day off, but even then she had to go in for a post-deployment physical and a week of meetings and briefings before her unit was on leave for a month. She figured she'd surprise them after all that.

She reported for her physical the following day. A nurse took her vitals, telling her they were all normal and she waited in a room for the doctor. The nurse looked at her chart and made a few notes. "You missed a question on your intake form. When was the date of your last period?"

Jasper had missed it because she couldn't remember. She should probably keep track of that sort of thing. It was the end of September now…had she had one this month…at all? She shrugged. "August, I think?"

"When in August?"

"I don't know…the middle sometime. I don't really keep track."

"It says here you were prescribed birth control – when did you finish your last pack?"

Her heart pounded. "It…I couldn't remember to take it every day, so I kind of stopped."

"So what are you doing for birth control?"

"Condoms."

"Every time?"

It took everything in her not to roll her eyes. "Yes. If he says no to that, I say no to sex."

"And your cycle has always been normal?"

"I guess…you know, I don't really pay attention."

"It's important to," the nurse said with a smile.

Yeah, you go over there and I guarantee you'll be paying more attention to not stepping on a bomb than whatever the fuck your uterus is doing. Jasper sighed as the nurse left and she waited again on the table. She rubbed her eyes then tilted her head back closing them for a moment just as there was a knock on the door. Jasper moved her head to the side before holding still again as the doctor entered, the nurse following behind him.

He shook her hand. "How are you feeling today?"

"Tired."

"You had a long flight yesterday so that's not surprising. Your vitals are normal and your blood work is fine." He felt the glands in her neck and listened to her heart and lungs with a cold stethoscope. "Now, I want to go over something the nurse put in her notes. It's been almost six weeks since you've had a period?"

What the fuck? "Yeah, I guess. I don't really know. Maybe I can try an IUD – I heard you don't even have periods on those."

He nodded and flipped. "Some women don't, but I can't prescribe any form of birth control right now. We got your urine test back. You're pregnant."

The room spun around her and for a moment Jasper thought she might fall right off the table, but she took a deep breath. Maybe she'd heard him wrong. "Excuse me?"

"Your pregnancy test came back positive."

"I didn't ask for one."

"It's standard for every female soldier. According to the dates here you likely conceived around the end of August putting you at about five weeks."

The end of August. She thought back. There was Brenner. The disappointing tryst with Chips. She'd had a quickie with Moritz right after her period ended, but that may have been too early for him to be the father. No, there was no possible way he could be – or any of them. "I used condoms – every time – with everyone."

"Nothing is one hundred percent effective. There may have been a small hole in one."

Great…she didn't know and two of the men were dead. Her heart pounded. What was she going to do now? This would go over great at Sunday dinner. 'Hey, Mom, Dad – I'm a total slut and now I'm pregnant…' She may be an adult, but she knew they'd still be disappointed. Maybe she could twist the story – she'd been romantically involved with one of them…Brenner, maybe…and he'd died and now she needed help. They'd help, right?

"I'll have to inform your command, of course. They'll get you on a modified physical training regimen."

Her command. God…they were going to know. Whether there were rules or not, it wasn't exactly dignified behavior to be sleeping around on deployment. "Um…okay."

"We will set up your first prenatal appointment and I'll prescribe some vitamins for you to start taking."

Slut…

That wasn't her voice in her mind and she remembered the feeling of being smothered under another body. No, that had been a dream. She'd established that. Dreams didn't get a person pregnant.

He had said no to using a condom.

So she had said no to sex.

"Do you have any questions?"

Jasper bit her lip. He had done it anyway. She remembered the stickiness and felt sick. No! It was a dream! A horrible, awful dream she never wanted to think about again!

"Corporal? Are you okay?"

Dreams didn't get someone pregnant. So either she wasn't pregnant, or it wasn't a dream. She swallowed and took a few deep breaths to keep from passing out or throwing up. Finally she heard herself speak. Her voice sounded far away and she couldn't believe the words coming out. "I need some information on…termination."