Kay, so I got a good question by one of my reviewers. And I know that if one of you ask, then at least ten of you had the same question on your minds. (I know I would)

Question: How is Lux trying to get emancipated if she's 14 in this fic?

Answer: California is the only state in the U.S. that has 14 as the minimum age to become an emancipated minor. In Life Unexpected, Lux was 16 years old and in Oregon, so I had to change the age because I didn't want to make her and Brandon twins. (That would've been too much in my opinion) so I changed her age to fit with the legal emancipation age in California…

Stef's POV

I panic and yell after her, "That's not up to you… Neither of us have signed away our rights. So technically, legally, you're still under our care."

Lux stops walking down the steps, but doesn't turn around.

Mike continues for me, "So either, you come home with me, or you go with your mother, but wherever you think you're going, you're not... So make your decision."

She whips around to stare at us. "You can't do this," she argues.

"Yes, we can," I answer just as sternly.

Lux's POV

Are these people kidding me? The must be high if they think that I'm going with either one of them.

"This isn't fair." I glare at Stefanie, "You promised to sign the paper if you found out that I was your daughter. That was the only reason I chose to go with you to the stupid hospital in the first place."

"You did what?" Mike looks over at Stefanie in disbelief.

She lets out a sigh and looks over to Mike, "Mike, that was before I found out everything that happened at the hospital. Do you really think I would have offered to sign it if I had any idea that she was our daughter?"

"I can't believe you, Stef… No wonder she's so mad."

"So, this is my fault?" she yells.

"Yes," Mike and I answer in unison.

Stefanie shakes her head slightly as she stares at Mike blankly.

"Exactly how long have you known about this, Stef?"

"Since yesterday," I answer after I see Stefanie hesitate. "Which is why I don't see what the big deal is about signing the paper."

Mike doesn't even bother to glance in my direction and keeps his eyes focused on Stefanie, "And why is it that I found out about all of this less than ten minutes ago?" He crosses his arms and waits for Stefanie's explanation.

"Because I wanted to be sure, Mike! I didn't want to bring this to you, and then have you find out that she wasn't our kid!"

"Uh, Hello! I still might not be your kid!" I yell and I can tell that they both heard me, but they act as if they haven't.

Stefanie continues, "What if the tables were turned, Mike? What if she went to you first, huh? Would you have told me right away, if you weren't a hundred percent sure?"

"Gee, I don't know, Stef. But I know that I would've never agreed to sign the papers, if I knew there was a chance that she actually be our daughter."

This people are freaking ridiculous. I think to myself as I slowly grab my bag from the steps. They're both wrong here. And I really hope that neither of them are my parents. I glance at them once more before I continue walking down the steps. And even when I get all the way to the bottom, I can still hear them arguing away.

Mike's POV

"But I didn't know that. How could I have known that the doctor would do something like this? We both saw her; Mike, and neither of us had any idea that she could be alive. So how can you blame me for assuming, that when she showed up at my house, she wasn't really…"

I can tell that Stef was trying hard not to cry, by the sudden cracking in her voice. "I'm sorry, Stef."

She shakes her head, "It's fine."

"It's not fine. I shouldn't have said that. I'm just so mad…"

"Yeah, I am too." I watch as Stef glances around, "You've got to be kidding me," she mutters.

"What?" I ask I look around too and don't see Lux anywhere in sight.

"And she took her bag!" Stef grunts in frustration as she glances back toward the courthouse, "I'll check inside," Stef says as she runs toward the entrance.

"I'll look out here."

I quickly make my way down the steps and spot Lux sitting on the bench by the bus stop. I breathe a sigh of relief, and I can't help but wonder why I got so panicked in the first place.

I just found out that I had a daughter, so why did her leaving upset me so much?

And why did I feel so happy when I found her?

I consider what I want to do and what I should do.

I want to grab her by the arm and never let her out of my sight again.

I want to hold her, which was my biggest regret I made when she was born, and I know that Stef must feel the same.

But I know that's not what I should do.

As awkward as it is for Stef and I to have her back into our lives, it must feel ten times that to her. And I don't want either of us to scare her into trying to leave again.

I walk over and take a seat on the bench beside her and take a deep breath, "Look, I'm sorry for the way your mother and I acted back there. We didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't." She looks over at me and I'm finding it difficult to read her face. I can take one look at Brandon and know exactly when something is wrong and his temperament, but Lux has this poker-face on, and I have no idea whether she's lying or not. She turns her attention to the street directly across from us, "This wasn't supposed to happen, ya know? You two were supposed to sign the paper without a second thought, and I was supposed to already be emancipated by now. But instead…" she shakes her head and looks down. "Instead everything's ruined."

"Ruined? Really?" I laugh and watch as she looks over at me with this look of disbelief.

"I'm glad you're finding the worst day of my life hysterical," she answers sarcastically.

"I am. I'm not going to lie... Because the worst day in your life has suddenly become the best day of mine." She furrows her eyebrows in confusion and I can't blame her. "Look, I know that your mother and I seem a little…"

"Insane," she finishes for me. "Yeah, I got that."

"…We were just worried. We already lost you once, Lux. We didn't want it to happen again."

Lux's POV

"I guess I never thought of it like that," I respond. That was the first time I realized, that they didn't ask for any of this either. I had assumed that they gave me up for adoption, so signing away their rights a second time wouldn't seem like a big deal.

I had never really thought of them as victims in this situation too.

"Yeah, well, I guess we could've explained ourselves a little better, rather than start fighting."

"Ya think?" I joke causing him to laugh.

But I couldn't get too close to these people.

Come tomorrow, we could all find out that I'm not related to either one of them. And then, I'm back at square one… trying to find Jacqueline and Thomas Jenkins to get their signatures.

It would push back the hearing for another month, but I know I'd be okay to stay at Bug's apartment until then.

"Is everything alright?" I hear Stefanie ask from behind me. I quickly turn around and see her standing there and it appears as if she was out of breath.

"Uh, yeah," I answer her, but I wasn't entirely sure whether she was talking to Mike or I.

"We were just talking," Mike pipes in.

"That's good," Stef says as she tries to offer me a smile, but rather than return it I look toward Mike.

He takes it as his cue to talk, "So, I was thinking that maybe Lux should come stay with me, for awhile."

"With you?" Stef asks hesitantly.

"I mean, yeah. Why not?" he continues casually. "There's a heck of a lot more room at my place than at yours," he laughs and glances toward me. "I live alone, and I have a whole other bedroom that no one uses, where you could stay… I mean…Is that alright with you, Stef?"

"I just figured that she could stay with me and meet Lena and the kids…"

"Yeah, but with everything that's going on, do you really want to overwhelm her with all of that?"

"What do you mean?" Stef asks as she crosses her arms and looks down at Mike.

"I'm just saying that maybe we should give her some time before we throw your entire family at her."

"Excuse me?" Stef asks, and I can tell by the tone in her voice that she's angry with him.

"It's fine," I answer quickly, to avoid any more conflict. "Maybe it's better that I stay at Mike's…For now, anyways.,, It just makes the most sense. I mean, does your family even know about me?"

I wait for her to answer, but her silence answers my question. "... You see? It's probably better if they didn't, since we're still not sure about all of this anyway, right?" I try to smile even though I don't actually find any of this very amusing.

"I'm going to tell them, Lux. I promise," Stef tells me. She seems sincere and I want to believe her, but I know better not to.

"Sure."

I can tell that she wants to say something, but Mike interrupts, "Well, that's settled. You're staying with me, alright?"

"Yeah."

Stef doesn't respond.

"Well, I'm starved. Are you hungry? There's a burger place right down the block we could go to. What do you say?" Mike asks as he stares at me.

Normally, I would say no to him, but the awkwardness was too much for me, "Sure."

"Great. What about you Stef? Feel like grabbing something to eat?" Mike asks her.

"No…I'm good," Stef tries to smile, but I could tell that it was as forced as mine. "You want a ride?"

"No, we're good. Thanks."

Lena's POV

"And then, he said 'maybe we should give her some time before we throw your entire family at her.' Like if we were really going to overwhelm her. Classic Mike," Stef tells me as she rinses off her hands in the sink.

I open the fridge and grab a beer for her, popping open the tab and handing it over, "Maybe he's right." Stef lifts her eyebrows, and I can tell that I worded myself wrong. "That's not what I mean, Stef. I'm just saying, that to us, a house full of 5 kids is normal. But to Lux, it might be a little overwhelming."

"Lena, I get that. But did he really have to throw me under the bus like that. He basically told her, that there isn't any room in this house for her, so she'd be better off with him."

"There isn't a lot of room here, Stef—"

"For my daughter?" Stef asks angrily.

"I know that if we have to make room, we will. But if Mike wants her to stay with him and Lux wants to stay with him, and there's more room at his place, then maybe it's not such a bad idea."

"I can't believe you're agreeing with Mike on this, of all people."

"Stef, I know that you just found out about this, and I know that it might seems as if we're all ganging up on you, but I'm just trying to look at it from Mike's perspective and Lux's. You had a little more time to deal with this than Mike has—"

"A day," Stef snaps.

"That's a whole other day more than Mike had. And now he finds out that he has a daughter… And we have Brandon here with us, so maybe—"

"He thought he could just take Lux from me?"

"He's not taking her away from you, Stef." Stef shakes her head and takes another swig of her beer, "…Is that what this is about? …Stef, she's Mike's kid too."

"I know that."

"So, you and Mike are going to have to try to work this out. If you want Lux to be able to trust either of you, you can't keep behaving this way in front of her."

"What way?" she asks innocently.

"Jealous."

"I'm not…" Stef stops, and I could tell that she's starting to realize it herself.

"Mike's not Dr. Greene… He was in your very position fourteen years ago, and he's in the same position you're in right now. He went through all of it with you."

"Oh, please," Stef rolls her eyes.

"Stef."

"What?" she gives me an attitude, but I know better than to get offended by it.

"It's okay to feel a little jealous when it comes to Lux. But you have to remember that she is both of your kid." I can tell by her unwillingness to look at my face, that she doesn't want to hear it, but she has to. I raise my voice a little louder so she's forced to hear me, "The problem here is that neither of you know how to handle it just yet. But if Mike is being immature about it, then you have to be the better person and be the parent here."

"Am I the better person though?"

"What do you mean?" I ask in confusion. Where is this coming from?

"She asked me today, if I told the kids about her… And I basically said no… I've done nothing but let her down, since she got here, Lena. What kind of mother does that?"

"Don't do that to yourself. You're a good mother, Stef."

"Really? Because it seems as if all I'm doing here is messing up..."

"Then, fix it."