Allison had never felt so vulnerable in her entire life. And she'd had some pretty damn vulnerable moments.

She felt so small and helpless sitting on her bed in her room, which suddenly seemed about 300 times bigger than it usually was. It was almost like she was Alice in Wonderland after eating the "Eat Me" cookies. But Allison was no Alice. Her deadly cramps and killer nausea had temporarily subsided thanks to some pills the emergency room crammed down her throat. But no pill could cure what she really had inside her right now. Okay…so a pill COULD cure it…but it was too late for it now. Allison toyed with her box of birth control pills that were meant for the month of September. She repeatedly opened and closed the box. Every time she'd opened it, she couldn't believe her stupidity and had to shut the lid again. Only 4 pills were missing from the box. Ever since she'd had sex with Andy, so much shit had come and gone…and after that had passed, she'd been so preoccupied with picking up the pieces, she had forgotten to take her pills.

How could she be so stupid? So irresponsible? Allison wanted to crawl into her closet, sit on the floor and push a button. Then she'd open the door and find herself in her bedroom on the fateful Sunday morning before she went over to Andy's how. The thing was…it shouldn't have happened to her. It just wasn't her gig. It happened to rich girls who went out getting drunk and partying like there was no tomorrow. It happened to rowdy seniors who hadn't been to school in 7 months. It didn't happen to basketcases. How could it? How should it?

Allison's parents' screaming voices rung in her ear as they were uttered in the living room. It had been the first time in nearly 10 years they'd fully acknowledged their daughter's existence. Of all times for it to happen, too.

"You don't discipline her enough, Marty! I swear if you had only taken 30 seconds of time to TALK to the girl about sex—"

"YOU should talk, Danny! You don't even know her middle name!"

"I do too! It's Mary!"

"WRONG! It's Karen!"

"Mary!"

"Karen!"

It's Portia, you assholes, Allison thought to herself.

"Regardless, Danny, what can we do about it NOW? Who's could it be?"

"If I had to guess…it would have to be that jock boy she's always being seen with. I think my ex-boss knows his father somehow…"

What a close bond you two have! Almost like family!

"I see…what about an abortion?"

"NO! Marty, are you insane? I'd rather she have it and give it up for adoption!"

"Danny, if I know my daughter—"

Allison almost laughed at that comment.

"—she would NOT want to give it up to anyone. She barely lets herself be seen in daylight! Why would she let a kid of hers go with some strange family?"

I wouldn't.

"She's NOT keeping a baby in this apartment, Marty! We barely have enough room for ourselves! I had to sacrifice my work and study room to put Amanda's—"

"—Allison's!"

"Allison's crib in there when SHE was born! What, are we gonna put the kid in the refrigerator at night?"

"But are we just going to throw her out on the streets?"

"She'd like the streets! I see her dancing around on them all the time!"

"We are NOT kicking her out! She needs us now more than ever!"

Then why aren't you up here WITH me asking how I feel for once?

"If the congregation hears about this—"

"—screw the congregation, Danny! You're the only one who PRAYS in this family! What about the landlord? He'll throw us ALL out if she has the kid and he cries all night! These are thin walls, Danny! We can practically hear the newlywed couple next door fucking around every other night! I think she should abort it now and be free!"

Allison couldn't stand the yells for another minute. She ran into the bathroom and locked herself in. She stripped completely naked and turned the shower water on hot and stepped in, closing the shower door behind her. Instead of remaining standing like one would do in a normal shower, she sat on the floor of the shower, right under the stream of comforting warm water and curled up into a fetal position. The water cascaded over her aching body, making her feel 100 better physically. But mentally and emotionally, she was about ready to drive herself up a tree.

It was a pretty big shock, being at the hospital. She'd had a few tests done on her throughout the afternoon, and then was given a prescription to dull the pain in her abdomen. Her father had actually taken her there…and stayed with her, which surprised Allison quite a bit. But the biggest shock, of course, came when Allison's gynecologist (the one who gave her the birth control pills) had walked into the room. Allison's gynecologist, Dr. Wilson, didn't work at the hospital. It was then it hit Allison. Something was truly wrong with her. Did Andy give her some kind of STD? Was she sterile? Why was she so sick?

"Allison, your urine test was clear as day," said Dr. Wilson. "I'm here because the lab called with some interesting news."

"What?" asked Allison.

"Did you forget to take your birth control, Allison? You're pregnant. About two months in, I estimate," said Dr. Wilson with very little emotion.

It took an extremely strong will on her part not to faint right there in the ER. Allison saw emotion in Danny's face for the first time ever. He looked afraid.

"What? She's SICK!"

"She's 17, Mr. Reynolds. She's also only 98 pounds. The typical female body can't handle such a biological burden unless she's over 100 pounds, and even then the ideal minimum weight is 110. Her body's starting to show signs, and the physical shock is taking its' toll on her body. This only happens in the first trimester, she'll be over it, but I highly recommend she gain a bit of weight if she wants to get through this without severe physical consequences—"

"—but she can't be knocked up!" Danny seemed to be in denial. Allison's face had gone white, but she remained silent.

"Mr. Reynolds, we are in a hospital. You don't have to use street slang in here," said Dr. Wilson.

"Girl…why did you forget your birth control?" Danny muttered. Allison remained quiet.

"Mr. Reynolds, please don't be angry with her. It's becoming more and more common. It would help everything for you to be more sympathetic towards your daughter. One day without a pill can mess up rhythms, hormones, anything. Whether she forgot one pill or 20 doesn't really matter."

Allison silently went through that day in her head. She was incredibly stupid, in retrospect. She's slept in, gotten up and showered, then left before eating or drinking anything. She hadn't taken her pill that day. Every day since then she'd forgotten because of what had been going on with her, Andy, John, Claire and everything else. Stress must have altered her cycle….and….oh god. It was true.

Dr. Wilson and Danny had talked about appointments, options, and prenatal care while Allison drowned herself in thought. Allison still couldn't grasp the fact that she was carrying Andy's child, and he was somewhere in Kenosha, carrying about his normal daily life without giving her a second glance. Not to mention, being pregnant and 17 wouldn't bode well in the school and graduating department. Fate was kicking her ass…what had she DONE?

Upon arriving home, Danny had merely pointed in the direction of Allison's room, and she went and locked herself inside and grabbed her pill box. He was ashamed of her.

But it was better than not acknowledging her, wasn't it?

Two hours later, Allison got out of the shower once the water ran cold. She went back into her room and flopped herself on her bed and faced the wall, curling herself into a ball and squinting her eyes shut. The fighting was still going on in the Reynolds' living room when suddenly, a knock on the door silenced them. Marty rolled her eyes and got the door. Bender stood in the hallway, his hands in his pockets, looking indifferent.

"Allison home?"

Marty didn't say a word.

"Allison. You know…your daughter?"

More silence.

"May I see her or what?" Bender asked assertively. Marty licked the corner of her lip.

"Now's not a good time," said Marty.

"That's how I like it," Bender replied, pushing past Marty. He brushed right past Danny and stood outside's Allison's door. He didn't want to stumble in on her and surprise her more. He'd wait just a moment.

Meanwhile, he decided to eavesdrop on Gomez and Morticia Addams a bit more…

"Marty, what do YOU suggest we do about it? I'm her father and I say she's NOT aborting it and that's FINAL!"

Ah…that was it. Bender nodded solemnly. Poor little thing. That was worse than even HE anticipated.

"You'd rather the goddamn landlord evict us, then, Danny?"

Bender suddenly wanted to kill Marty and Danny Reynolds. Allison was knocked up (he was going to have to personally choke Andy with his bare hands for doing this) and all her mom and dad could think about were themselves. That was disgusting. They were, in a way, worse parents than Bender's. At least his father knew his name. It was so sad how even when their only daughter was in her room feeling like shit, they argued about losing their crappy apartment instead of trying to console their child.

Bender decided that he couldn't just hang around anymore. Jiggling the door handle for a moment, Bender let himself into Allison's room slowly and quietly, in case she was trying to get some sleep.

His first reaction was that he'd accidentally stumbled into a closet. The room had to be half the size of his room at home. He was afraid to step inside the room…he couldn't see the floor underneath all the crap everywhere. He'd never seen Allison as the neat-freak type…but so much clutter in such a little living space was too much even for him. There was barely a 2-foot space between the armoire and the bed, and the bed was no more than 6 feet from the door. Allison's walls were plastered with a few art pieces she'd done outside of class. A single trophy graced the shelf above her bed, clearly engraved "Illinois State Art Show—1st Prize: Abstract 2-D Art." A picture frame was propped up next to it with Allison looking a bit younger…middle school aged, perhaps, holding the trophy, alone in the shot (didn't parents usually want to invade those photos?). On the wall next to the shelf hung a newspaper article with Allison as the focus due to her art prize. The headline read in bold letters: "Local Preteen Surprisingly Conquers Adult-Dominated Art Show." Bender was all but sure that Allison's parents didn't even know Allison was an artist at all.

He noted all this within 2.5 seconds. Allison was curled up on her bed, motionless. Bender pouted his lip and gently nudged Allison's shoulder.

"John's here," he said to her. She didn't move. "Al?" Bender nudged her a little harder. She still didn't move.

Bender stood up straight. Allison wasn't going to budge. Bender licked his front teeth and looked at the phone (and phone number) on her nightstand. It was no doubt the dickweed Andy's phone number in Kenosha. Allison had yet to call him up at all. Bender wondered how long it would take Allison to call Andy to tell him about her 'condition' and how he was responsible. Bender truly wanted to hang Andy from the neck with his bare hands high above the town for everyone and their brother to see. He felt he would get what was coming to him soon enough. He knew Allison had to make that call. Not only was it the only right way to go, but it would be fun if she put the phone on speaker and Bender got to listen to what Andy sounded like choking without having to look at his buttface.

Bender sat down on a stool in the one vacant corner of the room and decided to wait as long as it took for Allison to wake up. He knew he had to see her make that phone call.