Paige was at her locker, arranging her books in her bag. Things had been going pretty well lately, she thought to herself, not just with her girlfriend, but her friends as well. Paige was still relieved that Ellie wouldn't expect her to ditch Emma after everything.

"Hey Paige, I need your advice." Someone behind her said, as she turned around to see who was speaking she saw it was Sean.

"What is it?" Paige asked, somewhat annoyed. Even she was surprised how annoyed she was at seeing him.

"Last night Emma got mad at me. I don't understand what happened. I thought I was sensitive" Sean said, confused about what he did to upset Emma.

"Typical man." She thought to herself. "What exactly happened?" Paige asked. She was still annoyed at him, but if it helped Emma it was worth it, she reasoned.

"She's been going through this thing where she gets angry and then immediately starts crying over it." Sean explained.

"Well in case you haven't noticed yet, she is pregnant, her hormones are probably all over the place, especially since she is expecting two babies, they're turned up even higher." She told him.

Sean could sense the sarcasm in her voice, he was somewhat taken aback.

"Okay, that makes sense, I told her to talk to me to vent any issues she was having but everytime I told her what we could do about it she again just got mad at me." Sean said simply

Paige sighed, annoyed "Hun I'm going to let you in on a little secret, most of the time when a woman is complaining, she doesn't want you to fix the problem she wants you to listen to her! Next time don't try to fix it, just listen to her no matter how simple a solution there may be."

Again, Sean could hear the sarcasm mixed with annoyance.

"When I got there she was still asleep, but she was still crying." Sean said, not sure what to make of that.

"That's because..." Paige started but then Sean noticed her face went from the annoyed face she showed and replaced with a concerned look as she pulled him closer to the lockers to keep others from overhearing.

Paige took a deep breath before she resumed talking. "She called me last night, she's been having nightmares about what happened."

"How long does this last?" Sean asked, nervous about what the answer would be.

"It's different from person to person. Sometimes a person can move on in months, others it takes years...some cases...it's a lifelong battle. The last 2 years since it happened, I've been to one party just because of how uncomfortable I feel." Paige said, tensing up over the memories.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize that." Sean stated, he could tell this was difficult for her to talk about.

"It's okay, just try and be more understanding of what she's dealing with. Assault survivor and pregnant teen, she's dealing with a lot more than what we can imagine." Paige said sadly but also firmly.

"Thanks for talking to me. I know this isn't easy, especially since I know why you're not a fan of me." Sean said, somewhat relieved.

Paige froze. "What do you mean?"

"I dated Ellie, but you don't have to worry about that, she likes you and I'm crazy for Emma. That's not changing ever." Sean said, turning to walk away.

As good as things were going, the fact that Sean was both Ellie's ex boyfriend and Emma's current boyfriend did annoy her. Paige repressed an annoyed sigh.

It was the end of the school day and Emma was in a hurry to get home and crash. It wasn't simple at all, but she somehow made it through all her classes without falling asleep. She arranged her backpack with the bare minimum she would need at home. She had enough extra weight to haul around without pushing her limits even more.

As she shut her locker and turned she saw Liberty waiting for her. Emma felt a pang of shame.

"Liberty...hi..." she said awkwardly.

"Hey Emma, how are you? Getting better?" Liberty asked softly.

"Mostly good, incredibly tired though." Emma said tiredly. She hoped this chat wouldn't take long, her energy was already strained.

"Not surprising. That is a classic symptom of the third trimester." Liberty said, trying to be helpful

"Yeah, one of the joys of being a woman." Emma said, both sarcastic and fatigued. Liberty cringed

They stood there in awkward silence for a while. Liberty then remembered the reason she came in the first place.

"I want you to know the student council took a vote and this summer they will be doing some work at the school to open Degrassi's first in school daycare." Liberty said, mildly eager to see what Emma thought.

"Really? That's...oh my God! That's amazing! How did you get them to agree?"

Emma said, amazed, the news seemed to have awakened some energy.

"On the record, they all want to do the right thing and help you... but off the record, Paige threatened to sic Jay on them if they voted no." Liberty told her rather shyfully.

They both laughed, not entirely sure if she was serious about that.

"This means so much though thank you." Emma told Liberty.

"You're welcome." Liberty said

Liberty started to move closer, waiting to see if Emma wanted a hug. Emma did and went forward, pulling Liberty into a hug.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for everything that happened." Liberty told her.

Emma could tell she sounded upset about something. She remembered her behavior about Chris.

"About the Chris thing?" Emma said remorseful.

"About everything that's happened this year." Liberty said wistfully.

"Just glad to have you back. Thanks so much again for your help" Emma said to Liberty. Maybe this was a sign that things might be looking up.

After school, Emma and Sean were sitting in Emma's room, she sat with her feet on Sean's lap as he massaged them, occasionally she let out a relaxed moan.

"Sooo...how you all feel today." He hesitantly asked, remembering Paige's advice.

"My feet got too fat for my shoes, gotta get a bigger size now, yet another expense." Emma stated, annoyed at the problem, she liked her shoes she got on her birthday.

That sucks." Sean told her. Don't offer a solution unless she asks for one, Sean told himself.

"I've been using the skin cream mom told me about but I still got stretch marks that look like I got in a fight with a velociraptor. They look worse than Heather Sinclair's skin when she forgot to wear sunscreen last year" Emma said.

"Sounds horrible." Sean said gently.

"I know I should be thankful after watching a friend go through a miscarriage and consider myself lucky, but I feel like a stranger and a prisoner in my own body." Emma said, tensing a bit.

"I'm sorry." Sean said trying to contain his shock, he didn't know that it was that bad.

"But I guess it's not all bad, I ran into Liberty. She said the student council is installing the daycare at the school this summer so it'll be ready in the fall." Emma said, recalling the bright spot in her day

"Hey that's awesome!" Sean said, surprised that they actually agreed to it.

"Yeah, at least we know they'll be taken care of. And it saves a bit of money" Emma said.

"See? What did I tell you?" Sean asked.

"Still, I am worried about how we're going to support them. Do you think I should get a job too? Or maybe try a home business?" Emma asked.

"Hey, the garage pays plenty and if not, they're always looking for people for the military." Sean said. It was not the comforting words he thought it would be.

Emma immediately went from laying down to sitting up. "Don't even joke about that!" Emma said, tense once more.

It was clear his comment upset her. Sean thought fast.

"Hey calm down, you're not getting rid of me that easily. Maybe I could be a radio reporter instead" Sean said hastily. He moved closer pulling her in for an embrace. Emma was still upset but returned the embrace, starting to relax a little.

author note: thanks again as usual comments are appreciated