Adelaide walked down the docks and saw him sitting on an upturned crate at the end, staring across the East River. She walked down the docks and kicked a crate until it came to rest next to him.

"Welcome back."

"Yeah."

"You okay?"

Spot glanced at her before looking back at the water. "Yeah. Fine."

"You want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

Adelaide nodded and looked out over the river with him.

"Skitts must be pretty trusting," he says. "You come over here as soon as I send for you, spend all this time with me. One might think you have eyes for me."

"If that's what you want to tell yourself," Adelaide shrugged. "But Skitts knows he's my one and only. He knows the friendship you and I have - with all its downsides."

"There is no downside to friendship with me," he forced a smirk.

Adelaide raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I could name a few." He chuckled. "Look, Charlotte needs to spend some time away from you. She's still not fully recovered. She needs to get her head back on straight."

He looked over at her, scowling - his way of showing he was hurt, whether to not he knew it.

"I don't mean that in a bad way, but she needs to get her life back on track. She needs space to deal with things without some handsome newsie makin' eyes at her all the time."

He smirked over at her. "Handsome, eh?" He wiggled his eyebrows.

Adelaide shrugged. "I guess some girls go in for…" She gestured at his face, "that sort of thing."

He chuckled.

Adelaide stood up and turned to leave. "I'll let you know if she asks for you."

Spot reached up and grabbed her wrist.

"Aide." She looked down at him. "Charlotte's not the thing that's botherin' me." Adelaide sat back down. He looked out over the East River once more and rubbed his hands together nervously. "It's Violet."

Adelaide nodded. That explained Violet's often absences from her life. She didn't need Adelaide's help getting her man back anymore, so she stayed on her side of the bridge.

"I didn't know you were...seein' her again."

"I wasn't, really," he says. "Well, yeah I was."

"You need to be careful, Spot. You're playin' around with the hearts of two girls, and -"

"Vi is pregnant."

Adelaide blinked at him. "Are you sure?"

Spot nodded. "She is."

Adelaide let out a low whistle and looked out over the water. "Oh boy."

"Yeah."

They sat in silence for a while. Spot, thinking how in the world he was going to take care of Violet and still be with Charlotte. A task, he was realizing, that would bring nothing but ruin to three - four - lives.

Adelaide didn't know how he was going to talk his way out of this one - and she certainly didn't know what sort of help he wanted from her.

"Does Charlotte know?"

Spot shook his head.

"Spot, she deserves to know."

"I know," he sighed. "But I don't think the Jacobs are gonna let me near her anytime soon."

"Can you blame them?"

Spot hesitated and then shook his head.

"I'll do my best to keep a lid on things until you can get a chance to talk to her."

"I appreciate that."

There was a silence as Adelaide furrowed her brow, counting back in her mind.

"Hold on." She turned completely on the crate to face him. "When did she get pregnant?"

Spot didn't say anything - just looked down between his feet.

Adelaide gasped, looking at him with her mouth in an O. "Patrick Conlon, you should be ashamed of yourself."

"You don't think I am?" he snapped.

"Was it when Char was living in Brooklyn with you?"

"No. It was maybe a week after we all went to Coney."

"This is a new low, even for you."

"I didn't ask for a lecture, okay?"

"Is there any woman in your life you're not gonna cheat on? TWICE?!"

Spot stood up. "You know what? Save it. I don't need to be lectured by Sister Mary Adelaide right now, okay? I have enough to deal with as it is." With that, he turned and walked down the docks.

"Oh no." Adelaide stood up and followed him. "You are not going to walk way from this. You sent for me and had me haul myself all the way over here so you could talk. You can't expect me to not talk back."

"I wanted your help, not your sass," he whipped around and faced her once more.

"Help? Help with what? There is nothing I can do to make this situation go away."

"Forget it." He rolled his eyes and walked away.

"No. Tell me." She followed him again.

That time he whipped around so fast, she almost smacked into him.

"I need you to tell me what to do!" he said angrily. He clenched his jaw and sighed, looking at the ground. "Jeezus, Aide, you know I ain't good at askin' for help, and you ain't makin' it easy."

She watched him for a few beats. In her shock at the news, she didn't notice how panicky he looked. The more scowl-y Spot got, the more scared he was.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I know you care about both of them, but—" She stopped herself, realizing it was not the time. "What do you need help with?"

Spot sighed. "When do I tell Charlotte? How do I tell Charlotte? Do I marry Vi? I'm gonna need to get another job to support them. Where are we gonna live?"

"Come on." She looped her arm through his and lead him off the docks.