(I own only plot.)

"YOU'RE DOING WHAT?!" Trudy screamed, horrified.

Mara winced. "Mum, calm down, just a bit."

"Calm! Calm down! Mara, you've just dropped the bombshell that you're engaged to be married, that you're going to leave as soon as you can! After we just got you back as our daughter! You can't get married!" Trudy screamed, putting her on the floor while she screamed. "Next, you'll tell me you're pregnant!"

"Whoa, no! We've already said we're not doing that until after our wedding." Mara tried to reassure her mother.

Trudy screamed "That wedding cannot happen! Not until you're twenty five! I can't have you doing what I did! You need a career, you need money, a house!"

Mara sighed. "Fine. I'll ask Jerome if we can postpone it for eight years."

Jasper ran in, concerned. "Trudy? Oh, darling squishy, what's wrong?"

"She just told me that she's going to marry Jerome!" Trudy sobbed, crushed. "She can't follow in our footsteps, honey. I don't want her to have to struggle like we did, to miss out on her child's life like we missed out on hers!"

Jasper looked at his daughter. "Mara, sweetheart, I agree with your mum. We can't let you, not until you two can support yourselves."

"But Dad, things have changed. Jerome and I could move in with his parents if we have no money. They've said as much. And if you two don't want to keep us, you don't have to." Mara told him.

"No, sweetheart. You'll have to be twenty five." Jasper stated calmly, but he made it clear that she wasn't allowed to argue, he wouldn't budge.

She sighed, resigning herself to the fact that she wouldn't get her own way. "Fine. I'm going downstairs to start the food."

An hour later, Mara had dished up and vanished to her room. Trudy worried senselessly, eventually just running to Mara's room. "Honey? Open up!"

Mara sighed. "Come in, Mum."

Trudy seized her daughter, sobbing. "Baby, I'm sorry I was so unfair, screaming at you like that. I'm happy for you, but I don't want you to rush into marriage and children. I don't want you to have to give up your baby because you don't have enough money to care for it, I don't want to have to see you and Jerome break up to get more money to raise the little one. You're so young, so clever. You're not like me. You could have a career, money, a home, a family. Just give yourself a few years, then get married, have children. Please, my darling, wait until you're older."

"We're in no rush, Mum."

"I'm so glad to hear that, dear. Now, you must be famished, you need some food down you. Look at you, all skin and bone, like your daddy."

"Dad's perfectly healthy. He's not too skinny or fat."

"Well, he's slimmer than me. And you're a little stick insect. You and your brother."

The next evening, while Trudy was taking a nap with the baby, Mara looked at her dad. "Daddy?" She asked timidly. She knew he'd had a rough day at work and that his friends had been incredibly rude about his family.

"What is it, princess?" He asked, looking at her with paternal love.

She asked "What was it like for you when Mum told you she was pregnant?"

"Terrifying. The poor thing was smaller than even you. She had nothing to her. Scarcely any muscle or flesh. She was just skin and bone. She ate like she had nothing else to do. But she came up to me one day, her little face positively glowing and she just dropped it that she was pregnant and the baby was mine."

Mara sighed. "What did you do?"

"Waited for a second while it hit. Then panicked. She was too little to manage it. It was so scary. We were only eighteen, unmarried, unemployed. Her mum and dad threw her out, my parents were furious because we were too young and we weren't married. They told her that she had to destroy her baby if she wanted to live with them. So we did a runner, not wanting to destroy the little kicker. But when she started throwing up, getting cravings, we realised how bad it would be for you. She started getting really ill, losing more weight, weight she didn't even have. And she started looking like Bella in the first half of the two-part movie Breaking Dawn. With you growing so much and her only scraping food, she was only managing to get you fed. It went on like that until the poor little woman went into labour. The doctors actually thought she'd die, especially with her weakened condition. She powered through, making herself live. It was agony, hearing her pained cries. She told me that she would deliver you and live, even if it tortured her almost to death."

Mara whispered "What about you? How was it when she told you that?"

"I was scared, I thought I'd lose her. We'd got married in private and we'd only been married a few months. We were so deeply in love and we only wanted to get you safely into the world and your mum perfectly healthy. But I was proud of her. She was so focused, so determined, so strong. She was in so much pain, it was obvious, but she only screamed on occasion, when the pain got too much. Eventually, she delivered a healthy baby girl, a small, beautiful child who weighed exactly five pounds. The doctors checked you out for deformation, but you were perfect. Your mum bled herself into unconsciousness, but she was still able to have babies. She hadn't gained very much weight from being pregnant, but she looked a little healthier when they'd fed her up a bit. It was her they really worried over, despite her telling them it was you and me they should fuss over."

Mara whispered "I can't believe it. Both of you were abandoned."

"Yeah. But they visited us in the hospital after your birth. Her parents offered to take us all in, but Trudy was too headstrong for that and she told them to stick their offer where the sun doesn't shine. My parents offered us enough money to take care of you, which Trudy wouldn't take from them saying that they'd wanted to get rid of you, so she wouldn't accept their money to raise you on. She regretted it, when we were out of the hospital. She gave you all she had, scraping by on half a piece of bread and a small capful of water while she forced me to eat and drink, saying that if I didn't eat, I couldn't work. And she certainly couldn't, not with a baby. I got a job that paid the rent for a small flat and enough food for us to look after you and ourselves."

"What went wrong?" Mara whispered.

"I got fired and we were living off benefits. Your mum hated it, she got out on the job market, trying to find a way to get money. She got the job as a housekeeper and we were allowed to keep you with us. But when you were one, she said that she couldn't take it, she had to quit. I'd seen her deteriorating and she was ill again. I knew we needed to give you healthier conditions to live in. You were only small and your mum loved you unrequitedly. She wanted you safe and secure. It took a lot of persuasion, but she handed you over to a couple who desperately wanted a baby. She told them where she'd be when you turned eleven and that they could send you there. She and I ended up working, video chatting all the time. We wanted to see you, but we had no choice. When she saw you again, she spent all our video chatting saying how grown up you looked and how precious it was to see you and young Jerome."

Jasper was obviously in pain remembering it. Mara noticed and hugged him. "Thanks for telling me, Daddy." She whispered plaintively, like a young child.

"Anytime, kiddo. But remember, no bringing this up with your mum. She scarcely slept after she gave you away, crying when she woke up. It really made her ill. She looked like she was death warmed up."

Mara softly whispered "I can't believe I cause all that trouble just by being created."

Jasper squeezed her gently and kissed the top of her head. "Baby, it wasn't your fault. It was ours. We knew better, we knew we should have waited until we were older. But we were young, in love. We wanted it all. We didn't think of what could have happened. But she got pregnant and we knew we needed a way to support you. You're not to blame. You're not to blame because you were born, darling."

Trudy walked in, clutching Casper, her dark curls tangled and messy, her makeup smudged and her clothes rumpled, the baby grinning at her. "What's going on, loves?" Trudy asked, sleepily.

"Hey, beautiful. Get over here. Our little girl just asked about why we gave her up."

"I hope you were honest with her, dearie. And how are you darlings?"

Jasper grinned. "We're absolutely fantastic. What about you and Casper?"

Trudy giggled. "Perfect, thank you. I needed that nap! I could do with it a thousand times more, though."

Casper gurgled loudly. Mara cooed at him, but didn't reach up for him. Jasper said "You have a lot to say for yourself, don't you, son?"

The small baby let out a gurgle. Trudy said "This little loudmouth love woke me by squirming up onto my chest, dribbling on my face and gurgling at me."

Mara grinned at her mother, biting back her comment. Jasper said it for her. "So it's not your drool on your cheek, then?"

Trudy rubbed her cheeks, then glared at him. "You!" She growled playfully.

"Yeah, babe?" He grinned innocently.

"Don't you play the innocent! You know full well!" She smiled, giving her mock anger even less edge than it originally had. None.

Mara squirmed free of her father. "You two, stop playfighting and sit down."

Trudy sat down, nudging Mara into Jasper's grip and squashing her against him. "Aw. You three are just so perfect." She smiled and gave them all a massive hug. Jasper kissed her lips lightly.

"Now, madam, you're perfect. We all love that beautiful little squishy that you are." Jasper held her hand as they had their arms around Mara, who was watching her brother with love.

She suddenly remembered why she was trying to escape. She remembered all that'd happened over the happy baby, who was chewing happily on his fist. She gave the baby to their parents and ran to her room. She hid under her bed and cried. To her shock and happiness, Jerome walked in. "Mara?"

"Here." She whispered.

Jerome pulled her out and saw her teary face. "What's the matter, bookworm?"

Since they'd met, Jerome's nickname for Mara was Bookworm, teasing her about her love of knowledge. Since dating, he'd used it as a term of endearment. She sobbed "Everything. Mum and Dad don't want us to get married for another eight years, minimum. I can't even hold my own brother without feeling immensely guilty. And to top it all off, it feels like I don't even belong with them!"

Jerome kissed her gently. "Aw, my poor little bookworm. Listen, they love you. Your mum, your dad, your brother, me. We all love you. Sure, I'd like to marry you as soon as possible, but I can see that it's more than a bit sensible of your parents to want you to wait."

"I know, I know. But that's not my real problem."

"Then tell me what is. I'll help you with it." He promised, kissing the tears off her cheeks.

Mara sobbed "The fact that I don't fit in with my own family. Not since the incident with Joy, Casper and Mum."

Jerome nodded. "But you only wanted to look after your baby brother."

"I know, but they didn't get it." Mara sobbed. "Now, I can't even look at them without feeling guilty and isolated."

He hugged her. "Beansy Bop, you're just upset over it. They love you. They've forgiven you. I'm sure that if they knew, they'd tell you the exact same thing. I know that if our child ever felt like this, they'd be welcomed back instantly with open arms. You're the most beautiful girl in the world. You don't let anyone tell you any different, OK?"

She snuggled closer, resting her head on his chest. "I love you, my big haired scammer." She whispered to him, pressing a gentle kiss on his lips.

"I love you, too, my beautiful bookworm."

Outside, Trudy stood listening, her hand on her heart, tears streaming down her cheeks. She thought "My baby girl..."