Thanks for the lovely reviews everyone! Enjoy chapter 7!

I set to work getting prepared for the bombshell I was about to drop on them. Wearing Fang's sweatpants, I stayed in the kitchen for the most of the day cooking. Yes, folks, you heard it right. I, Maximum Ride, was cooking. Of all the things in the world to deal with tough, awkward situations, food always helped cushion the blow around here. All day, I received weary, frightened looks from my flock as they saw me cooking. I printed out recipes I had found online, went grocery shopping, and attempted to whip up a decent meal of surf and turf, mashed potatoes, salad, homemade mac and cheese, French croissants, bought sparkling cider by the bucketful, and topped it all off with chocolate chip cookies, three different kinds of pie, and a cake with ice cream for dessert. With lots of whipped cream.

All day, they asked what was wrong with me. "Why can't I just cook my family a nice dinner?" I would snap to doge having to answer questions. Once in a while Fang had to intervene to let me take a break and Iggy almost kicked me out of the kitchen, claiming that I was going to burn down the house. Angel, figuring out what was going on, fluttered about happily and offered to help. Dylan, on the other hand, barely spoke to me and just gave me confused looks.

Finally, the time came and I placed all the food, which I have to say actually looked good, on the dining room table. Everyone gathered around, drooling at the sight of the meal. Gazzy whispered in Iggy's ear exactly what was on the table, what it looked like, and what was in it as the blind chef took in all the information, processing whether it was safe to eat or not. My heart was pounding out of my chest as I observed the table, hoping that I'd hit everyone's favorite food group. "Alright everyone, listen up." I clapped my hands together as I got their attention. "Before we dig in, Fang and I would like to say something." Fang moved closer to me and I heard Angel's voice in my head, you can do this Max. Go ahead, she reassured me. All sets of eyes were glued to me in curiosity. I tried to find my voice as I practically spit out, "I'm pregnant." For a moment, the room fell into complete silence. Then, suddenly, they all started speaking at once.

"What?"

"Whoah."

"When did this happen?"

"How did this happen?"

"Oh my God they had sex!"

"This is so exciting."

"This is insane!"

"How long have you been keeping this?"

"Holy crap!"

"When's the baby coming?"

So many other comments all came at once, but there was one person who did not say a word and just stared at me. Dylan. Then, in one quick movement, he whirled around, stormed out the door and flew away in rage, slamming the door behind him. I stiffened up as Fang gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. Then, Angel came up and gave me a huge hug. "It's okay Max, we're here for you! This is great! We're going to have another flock member."

Next, Nudge came over and hugged me too. "OMG! I can't wait to go clothes shopping! This is going to be the cutest baby ever!" I laughed as I hugged the girls back.

Then Gazzy and Iggy came over and congratulated us too. The six of us all joined in one big group hug and I don't think I'd ever felt happier in my life. I pushed the sight of Dylan's face aside and relished in the moment of my family together. Even the unborn member. My stupid hormones were acting up again and tears of happiness began to stream down my face. "Max, what's wrong?" Nudge asked.

I had to laugh, "Sorry, just my stupid hormones." I explained between tears. "Alright everyone, let's eat!" I announced. So, we dove in and to everyone's surprise, it was actually good. As we ate, I explained to them everything. Well not everything just the basics like I was about four months along, I had found out I was pregnant when Jeb told me at the school and what he'd said to me, when I'd told Fang, and that we'd decided to tell them now because I had run out of clothes that fit, much to Nudge's happiness because that meant that we'd have to go shopping for all new clothes. But of course, Iggy had to take it to the next level.

"Oh my God" He said, "So you guys hooked up in Paris! We thought you hated each other, not that you were secretly going off and messing around every night! I knew it when I came into your room that day. The room was a mess! You lied to me!"

I literally wanted to crawl in a hole and die of embarrassment. Iggy was so annoying and now I had to explain my sex life to the whole flock. I could have beaten him right there and then. "First of all, we did hate each other in Paris. Second of all we were not going off messing around every night. It was just one time! Third of all, of course I lied to you and the room wasn't even a mess!"

He snorted, "Yeah right. I was stepping on clothes, pillows, and I knew there was a broken lamp because I stepped on that, too!"

"A broken lamp!" Nudge butted in, "What were you guys doing?" She asked. I literally prayed for death in that moment.

"It was way too close to the bed!" I spat out uncontrollably, "You know what? Why am I even trying to explain myself right now? This conversation is over!" I snapped. But was met with chuckles all around.

"Okay, one more question," Iggy said and I was actually afraid, "You got her pregnant on the first time?"

Fang laughed, "Yeah. Oops." Oh. My. Freaking. God. I felt like I was going to throw up from embarrassment.

I rolled my eyes at them dramatically. "And so you guys have been hooking up secretly the whole time since we've been together again?" He asked again. I thought he already used up his last question.

"Nope." I replied at the same time Fang said "yup."

My eyes practically bugged out of my head at his response. I couldn't believe he was actually telling them all this. This was private stuff! So what? Maybe we did do it again like three or four or more times…it was none of their business! At his response I turned and slapped him repeatedly on the shoulder. "Fang!" I hissed, "This is none of their business, there are children here!"

"Not anymore." Gazzy laughed, "You've just ruined any last shed of innocence we might have had left with these mental images."

I moaned and banged my forehead on the table. "I'm going to be sick." I mumbled as I jumped up and fled to the bathroom. And that was how my dinner party ended.

The next morning, I hid in my room for as long as possible, not believing what had happened at dinner the night before. It was about 9 o'clock when I heard a knock at my door. Wrapped up in my blankets and not wanting to get up I mumbled, "What do you want?" Assuming it was just some argument that needed to be solved or that Iggy and Gazzy needed permission to blow something up.

"Max, its Dylan. Can we talk?" came an unsure voice from the other side of the door and I bolted upright, dizzying myself in the process.

"Dylan?" I asked, wondering what there even was to say at this point. I stumbled over to the door and opened it a crack to see the perfect boy standing there. "Hi." I said awkwardly.

"Can I come in?" He asked quietly and seriously.

"Sure." I opened the door and motioned for him to sit on the bed with me. He stared at it as if I was asking him to sit on a bed full of snakes. Suddenly I felt awkward and jumped up off my bed, realizing why Dylan didn't exactly want to lounge around on it. "So…" I began, not knowing what to say but wanting to avoid the silence.

"Listen Max, I am just so lost and confused. You're all I know and I know that I was created to love you and I don't know whether it's my heart or just my DNA speaking but I really do love you and I try so hard to think of ways to win you over but as soon as I think I'm getting close he just strolls in and drags any chance I have with you away. We do have a connection, I know it, but I'm just afraid it's not strong enough. And I don't know how to deal with it. I need you Max. And now you've just announced you're pregnant with his child? How long have you been keeping this from me? How long have you been letting me think that I stood a chance?" He pleaded sadly.

"Dylan…" I began, "I…I don't know, okay? I'm confused too right now. I'm sorry. I can't handle all this change and these emotions…" I was beginning to break down. Why was I the one freaking crying over here? When Dylan walked in, he looked like a hurt puppy and now he was the one wrapping his arms around me.

"Max you know I love you. Sure, you made a mistake but can't we still be together? I can protect you. They're after Fang, he shouldn't even be here!" Dylan said.

I shouldered out of his grasp, wiping my eyes dry. I was going to start having to stand up for myself around here. "No. I can take care of myself." I said unconvincingly but regaining my voice, "I don't need you or Fang or anyone to protect me. I've been the one protecting people all my life and I'm not going to give that up now. You and Fang can do whatever you want, but if either of you dare to get in my way or start a fight around here then I will have no hesitation in kicking you out." I finished forcefully and Dylan took a step back. Good. I just needed a break from all these emotions. It interfered with my job as a leader and was stopping me from the mission at hand. I figured that my little "situation" was going to be physically challenging trying to get around flying and fighting, but it was just draining me emotionally. Sure I was glad Fang was back so I wouldn't have to explain this to them alone, but also his presence sparked tension in the flock.

I was starting to feel unequipped to deal with this, but I was the Maximum Ride. I would push through this and put my mind over my heart to do my job. And in case you didn't get it the first 100 times, my job was to save the world.

After our time of peace and silence in the woods of Maine was over, trouble erupted once again when I was shopping with Nudge. We were just at the grocery store shopping for dinner when we got to the cash register. I paid with the debit card Nino Pierpont had given us. He was so filthy rich that he allowed us to take money out of his bank account anytime we wanted. Well, everything had gone smoothly until I handed the cashier the card and he told me the account had been closed. No more money.

As he handed me the card back, I exchanged a panicked look with Nudge. What did he mean we had no more money?

"No," I said, pushing it back at him, "That can't be right." We had used it yesterday and it was fine!

"I'm sorry, Miss." The older boy replied, "But it says that the card has been declined. I don't know what to tell you. Maybe you should try calling the bank." He shrugged, "You going to buy that or what?"

I just stared at him and it took everything in me not to kick him in the head out of frustration. What was going on with Nino? Why had he just cut us off like that? We had no money of our own and relied on him for everything lately. I felt my stomach sink. Were we going to have to go back to sleeping in the woods and dumpster diving? I mean, we'd done it before but that was a long time ago. But that was back when life was actually much simpler. It was just the six of us and I was the fierce leader and Fang was my strong silent right wing man. Iggy was just a goofy blind kid who had an uncanny ability to cook and blow things up. And Nudge was my sweet little chatterbox who didn't know how normal people lived, never mind wanted to be like them. Gazzy was so innocent and farted all the time much to our dismay and amusement and I could always count on him to smile. And Angel. She was a little baby who carried stuffed animals around and let me help dress her. But now everything was different. Dylan never knew that life and I couldn't keep this baby alive if we had to do that.

As I stood there, swamped in thoughts of despair, the boy at
the register was getting impatient. Nudge tapped me on the shoulder. "Come on, Max. We have to go. We don't have any money and we're holding up the line."

"Just leave the carriage here if you're not going to buy anything." The cashier said in annoyance.

I glared at him, pushed the carriage full of food off to the side, and then walked out followed by Nudge, getting weird glances from the other customers. I could tell Nudge was feeling self-conscious behind me. When we were out in the parking lot, I said to her, "Don't worry about them. Who cares what those normal people think. They're boring anyway." She bit her lip. "How many humans can do this?" I asked with a smirk. I got a running start, then unfurled my wings and launched myself into the air. I waved her up in an attempt to cheer her up, but I was worried about the fact we had no money. So was she.

She joined me in the air and spread her beautiful fawn-colored wings in the clear air. "What are we going to do about the money, Max?" She asked. "Like, how could Nino just cut us off like that without warning? I thought he was on our side."

I shook my head, "I really have no idea. Honestly, I don't think anyone is truly on our side. We do need to figure this out, though. Without him, we have absolutely nothing." I was silently angry at myself for allowing myself to let my guard down and not have a backup plan. I let myself rely on him and stopped worrying for a minute. I should have known better than this.

"I can't believe this is happening! We don't have any money! Are we going to die? We are going to die! Nobody's going to help us! And what about you Max? What about the baby? This is bad. This is really bad. What are we going to tell the others? What are we going to do next? NO! The newest Seventeen Magazine came out yesterday! I'm not going to be able to buy it!" Nudge rattled on and on, freaking out about every little thing.

"NUDGE! STOP!" I finally snapped and couldn't take it anymore. She silenced immediately.

I looked over to see her smiling sheepishly at me. "Sorry." There was a silence, "But-"

"Nope." I responded.

"But Max-"

"Don't want to hear it." I replied.

"How-"

"Shut it."

"I-"

"Nudge…" I said threateningly with one good, old-fashioned Max Death Glare. Her eyes widened and she knew the conversation was over. Worked every time. I was so good at this mom stuff.

We landed outside of the house, but the moment our feet touched the ground, I sensed something was wrong. Our home was secluded in the middle of the woods and there was a long dirt path leading to the main road, but other than that no sign of civilization existed. The air was unsettling, though and I exchanged a look with Nudge. Our fight disappeared and we knew what the other was thinking. Something was wrong. Proceed with caution. I slowly walked over to the front porch, adrenaline pumping through my veins. Nudge's eyes darted all around as she walked beside me, silently and stealthily. As I approached the porch, the forest around me was still silent, but before I could even put a foot on the first creaky, wooden step, the heavy front door swung open.

I flinched from surprise as Nudge audibly gasped next to me. In the doorway stood a massive, furry beast with ugly yellow eyes that went by the name of Ari. His lips curled up into a ferocious smile, revealing sharp disgusting teeth. I could feel my jaw involuntarily drop. Nudge stiffened up next to me into an attack stance. I couldn't move, though. I was caught in Ari's menacing glare, our eyes locked. "Well, look who decided to come home." He sneered, "I mean, when I heard the news, I was shocked. I almost didn't believe it that I was going to be an uncle. But look at you, sis, you're practically glowing. Congrats, really." He laughed condescendingly. My jaw tightened and I clenched my fists by my side. "But, unfortunately, you messed up. You had one simple task. Go ahead, say its Dylan's. Nobody is going to believe you. We all know who the father is. And that's why you have to die now." Speechless, I slipped into attack stance as well and was a millisecond from springing onto Ari when behind him appeared someone I thought I'd never see again, and, quite frankly, had forgotten about.

Standing in the doorway was the face of Anne Walker, FBI agent and Jeb's boss. She was sporting a blonde haircut that came down to her shoulders. Her hair was in loose curls and her pursed lips were pink. She wore a gray blazer and pants with black heels. Always looking professional. Strapped around her waist was a belt that I'm assuming held more than one gun and other official FBI paraphernalia. Looking into her cold and calculating eyes now made me wonder how I ever let my flock live under her roof and support us like family. Well, I'd just like to say now that I never trusted her. I was completely frozen in shock now. She was probably the last person I'd expect to show up. Or at least on the same level as, say, the president of Russia. No, at this point I probably wouldn't be too shocked to see him appear and try to murder me for no apparent reason. Seems like everyone else is having a whack at it, so why not?

Although I was at a loss for words, Nudge could never be. "What the heck is going on?" She blurted out. "What are you doing here?!" She asked Anne wildly. That was the question of the century. Although it had probably not even been two years since we'd seen her, it felt like a thousand. So much had happened since we'd escaped from her at the school.

It seemed she was thinking the same thing. She ignored Nudge's comments and looked directly at me. There was no more fake laughter or fun and games. We didn't need to dance around the point anymore. We were grown now and this was serious. Time was running out and we all knew it. "It's been so long." She mused, "My how you've all grown." My body twitched in frustration. I couldn't tell if she was making a general statement or a direct attack at me. Her eyes narrowed as she continued to stare at me, though. I was actually kind of glad that I was pregnant with Fang's child. I had pissed off a lot of people and really messed with their plans. It was their goal to ruin my life so I guess I had to return the favor and do everything I could to ruin theirs. This probably topped the cake, though, in their list of Things Maximum Ride Could Do To Ruin Our Plans For World Domination. A small part of me was proud of me and Fang. Although I would have gladly done it multiple times if getting me pregnant was our actual plan, it only took us once. Go Fax.

"What do you want, Anne?" I asked once I had regained my voice. "And where's my flock?" They must have had them captured in there although I was praying they had somehow already escaped.

"You know why we're here." She said coolly, "I'm disappointed in you, Max."

I rolled my eyes dramatically. This must be how normal teenagers feel when their parents scold them for being fifteen and pregnant. But in my defense, for all I know I could be seventeen or eighteen for crying out loud. I most certainly had the mentality and the ability to take care of myself as an adult. "Yeah, well get in line." I growled, "You know, everyone is saying that this is all my fault and I messed up, but it takes two as all you supposedly genius scientists should know. It's basic biology. Even I know that." As soon as my sassy mouth had finished running, I instantly wished I could take it back. I kept forgetting that it was no longer just me I had to take care of anymore.

"I'd be careful talking like that." Anne replied, un-phased by my uncooperative attitude she had already gotten used to from before. As we'd been talking, other Erasers had begun to surround us, emerging from the woods. I had just become aware of them and had to force myself from jumping when I realized how close one was to my left. "Now, if you would just come inside we would be able to talk this over." She said sweetly.

I glanced over at Nudge who looked nervous but gave her a reassuring nod to follow my lead. I walked up the steps, past a snarling, drooling Ari and followed Anne into the living room where, much to my dismay, my flock was locked in dog crates. I nearly groaned out loud at the sight of them lined up side by side like animals. My eyes flickered over to Fang who looked like he was about to explode when he saw me. I longed to at least touch him for some comfort, it almost hurt to see him but not be able to feel him. I quickly scanned the line of cages to be sure everyone was accounted for. I felt some relief in that they all were here and at least alive and in one piece. I was trapped, though. There was no way out of this and I tried to come up with escape plans as I stood in the middle of the room. I was surrounded by Erasers, though and it was just me and Nudge against all of them.

"Have a seat." Anne gestured to the couch as she sat on a plush chair. We did as we were told. Beside me was Angel's cage and I quickly glanced down into her large blue eyes, hoping she would somehow communicate with me as to what was going on. Angel gave me an understanding look as Anne spoke, "We know that you trust Nino Pierpont for some reason and that he has been providing you with money." She looked around, a judgmental look on her face. Like she had the right to judge us. "And by the looks of it, I'm sure you've noticed that the money's been cut off. Nino Pierpont is dead." She announced as we all held our breaths. She had to be lying. How could he have died? She must have killed him.

It's true Max. I heard Angel's voice in my head. She's telling the truth. She didn't kill him, either.

"Mr. Pierpont killed himself in the middle of the night. He was found on the floor of his study by a housekeeper this morning with a bullet in his head." She explained.

"What?" I leapt up of my seat suddenly, causing the nearest Eraser to lunge at me. On edge, I easily flung him at the wall, but then others attacked as well. As I was kicking Erasers, Nudge jumped in and helped me. Anne stood up and started shouting as the others cheered. Even Ari forced his way into the fight. Before I could take a swing at him, though we heard a shout coming from what seemed like nowhere.

"Stop!" Suddenly all fighting ceased at the authoritative tone of none other than our father, Jeb. Ari and I looked at each other before backing away. All the other Erasers retreated to their corners as well. Nudge stood up straight and lightly dusted herself off. I, on the other hand, was breathing heavily and had my hands on my knees. My back also hurt from the little dispute and I was dizzy from all the whiplash of the fight. It was a simple spat and I was acting like I had got hit by a truck. I almost passed out when I saw him emerge from the kitchen. He was followed by another shocking guest and I was completely beside myself. This might possibly qualify as the weirdest night ever. And I've had a lot of strange experiences. Beside him stood my mother- Dr. Valencia Martinez.

Dun dun dun. What is Dr. Martinez doing there? Review please to find out! :)