A/N: Last chapter! I'm so glad to finally have completed this! :D Please let me know if, after you're done with this chapter, anyone is interested in a Turning Tables: Season Two.

Turning Tables

And Unto Us, A Daughter Is Born

"Adrian!" Ben's and Ricky's voices rang out as one indistinguishable voice.

The pain was unlike anything she'd ever experienced before. The only thing she could compare it to was her worst menstrual, if the pain was multiplied a thousand times. Adrian couldn't bring herself to focus on anything other than the pain, even – and perhaps especially – when Ricky and Ben knelt down on either side of her.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Ben breathed, his hands roaming the air but never actually touching Adrian.

Ricky suddenly pelted Ben with his keys. "Get my car!"

Ben shrank back, shaking his head. "I can't drive!" he squeaked. Then he pointed. "My driver!" he said, voice wild. "There's enough room for us to all fit in the back of the limo!"

Adrian fisted her shirt and screamed again. "Help me!" she pleaded, her eyes stinging with salt.

Ricky slid one arm under her back and the other under her knees and somehow managed to pick both her and himself up from the hallway floor. "Where's the limo?" he demanded.

Adrian shuddered at the vibrations of his voice and whimpered into his t-shirt. "D-d-on't yell. I'm sorry, don't yell!"

"Th – this way!"

"Shh, don't speak," Ricky hushed. He abruptly adjusted her, maybe even pulling her closer, and then began to run.

Adrian cringed each time one of his feet pounded against the pavement. Instinctively, she curled her arms around his neck and buried her face into his chest. There was still pain, but it was coming in choppy waves, and she knew it was only a matter of time before the next tsunami would hit.

"You're going to be okay, Adrian," Ben whispered as Ricky laid her onto the backseat of the limo.

But all Adrian could do was stare at Ricky's eyes as he shrank back to the opposite seat, listening to Ben try his best to comfort her, until the pain crashed over her body again and eyes clamped shut, as if trying to close the windows to her soul, and undeniably failing.

"Good afternoon, Adrian!" Grace chirped as she bounced into Adrian's bedroom like a rabbit on caffeine. "I brought cookies!"

Adrian peered over the rim of her laptop and quickly shut it down, pushed it aside, and motioned her hands vigorously for the cookies. "Mmm!" she groaned as soon as she had her hands on one and mouth on another.

Grace beamed as she set the plate on Adrian's bedside table and proceeded to plop down on the edge of the bed. "We miss you at school," she said sadly.

"Who's 'we'?" Adrian asked suspiciously. She dusted the crumbs from her chest and chomped into another cookie.

"Well, you know…me and, uh…"

"Mhmm," Adrian intoned, shaking her head. "I've decided that this premature labor was actually a blessing in disguise. I don't know how I would've faced the last few months going to school after Ricky saw me kissing Ben…after I told Ricky that we would give it a real shot. I think they both must hate me."

"They don't hate you."

"It's close enough. Neither of them barely say two words to me when they come by to see how the baby – not me – is. They don't talk to me unless they have to do. I might as well be disconnected from this baby already."

"You're a catch, Adrian. You can't help that both Ben and Ricky want to be with you and help raise your baby. In fact, you're incredibly lucky, most teenage girls can't even keep the one true father of their babies around. It's just unfortunate that they both decided they wanted to be with you at the same time…and that the stress from it sent you into premature labor."

Adrian cupped her hands around her swollen belly. "I hate being stuck in bed," she said, trying to divert the conversation away from her troubled love life, or, rather, lack thereof. "And I hate the monthly injections to prevent the labor."

"On the sunny side, you've been able to actually get ahead in your classes with all this free time."

"And on the gloomy side," she mocked, "being on mandatory bed rest means no tutoring and no work – even if I had a real job – which means no money."

Grace moved across the room to run her fingers over the sleek black crib, fully stocked with pink sheets, a matching bumper, and a mobile. Then she moved to the bassinet and fingered the lacy fabric. Lastly, she moved to the corner of the room, where a new changing table had been placed with a few packages of diapers and baby wipes. "You've got the bassinet from D.A. Enriquez, the crib from Ben and Mr. Boykewich, the refurbished changing table from the church at the shower…and of course the diapers supply from me." Grace clasped her hands together. "I think you'll be able to manage for a little while after the birth."

Adrian pressed her palm to her face. "Grace, you know nothing about the expense – monetary and emotional – of raising a kid. I was that kid, okay? I lived it. A couple packages of Huggies and a place to put a baby at night – or change it – does not constitute the ability to raise a child. Do you know that at this point, as a single mother, it's likely going to cost me two-hundred-thirty-thousand-seven-hundred-twenty dollars to raise this baby?"

"But you're not a single mother. You'll have Ricky. Or Ben. And if it's Ben-"

"I can't count of anything or anyone, Grace. I can only count on myself. You never know what could happen? Ricky could be hit by a bus tomorrow. Ben and I could have a bigger falling out than we already do. I have to be able to provide for myself and this kid by myself and anything else from Ben or Ricky needs to be gravy."

Grace bowed her head and returned to the bed. "I guess I see your point," she conceded. "But I still have faith that everything will work out for you. God works in mysterious ways and I wholeheartedly believe that He has a plan for us all. Everything happens for a reason, Adrian."

"You keep telling yourself that, Gracie."

A mischievous look suddenly crossed Grace's face. "So!" she blurted out, rubbing her hands together. "Changing the subject: have you settled on a name yet? You said last week you're narrowed it down to two and you were going to tell me when you decided?"

Adrian's eyes sparkled as she propped herself up against her headboard and wiggled her finger, beckoning the cheerleader closer. "I've decided!"

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"Are you family?"

Ricky and Ben looked at one another and then turned their gaze back to the nurse behind the counter. "It's complicated-"

"I'm sorry, family only."

Ben's chest deflated, though he noted something in Ricky's eyes that chilled him, but he couldn't quite find the words to name it. Eventually, however, he watched the older boy collect himself and thank the woman for her help. Quietly, he tried to slip off while Ricky was distracted, but soon he heard the sixteen-year-old's footsteps charging after him.

"We need to talk."

"I'm going to call Cindy-" He felt Ricky's hand on his shoulder and before he knew it he was staring eye-to-eye with the drummer. A flame of anger swelled in him and he pushed Ricky's hand off. "Don't touch me."

"Cindy's not home tonight, she on a roundtrip flight to New York."

"I want to leave her a message. She deserves to know what's going on with her daughter."

Ricky curled his fist. "I already tried, she didn't answer-"

"Did you leave a voicemail?"

"No-"

"Then I will."

"That's not the kind of thing you leave on a voicemail!"

"Says who?" Ben barked.

"What were you doing with Adrian?"

Ben grit his teeth. "So now it really comes out? You don't care about Cindy at all, you just want to put your nose where it has no business being!"

"Don't you dare act all high and mighty, Boykewich. You're not stupid enough to think I don't realize what you're doing here, are you?"

"And what would that be, Underwood?"

Ricky scoffed. "You only want to call Cindy as an excuse to get out of confronting me about what you were doing with my girlfriend!"

"You're girlfriend?" Ben spat. "She's not yours!"

"Didn't she tell you? Though, on second thought, maybe she didn't, because you know why? You're a blip on the radar! I'm the one she wants. And I want her. We're in a relationship. Me and her. Not you!"

"Relationship! Since when? Since the beginning of school when you were sleeping with Adrian and trying to sleep with Grace or since you've distanced yourself from her when you found out her baby might be mine?"

"Since we had sex in her apartment Thursday night and we agreed to start over!"

"Excuse me!" The nurse from the check-in counter was suddenly behind them, hands on her hips and face an angry red. "This is a hospital, not Fight Club. You'll have to continue this conversation elsewhere."

Ben noticed several pairs of eyes were one them and his senses shot into hyper drive. "I'm sorry! I'm going." He was pretty sure he left skid marks on his way out, he was so embarrassed. Plus, he needed time to digest what Ricky just had told him.

Adrian hadn't been at school on Friday and when Ben had asked Grace about her but the cheerleader had been vague, and he'd felt uncomfortable pushing the subject. And that Monday, he'd skipped school to go to the cemetery so he could have a chance to sort out his feelings. In the course of those four days, how could he have missed so much?

"Stop it!" he seethed under his breath. There were some memories that he just couldn't not think about. They seemed as if they were their own entities at times, flicking him in the back of the head like elementary school bullies. "Stop thinking, just stop," he told himself, not paying attention to where he was pushing his shopping cart.

The corner caught the edge of a lemon display and a cascade of lemons began to roll off the stand like Niagara Falls. Ben cursed himself quietly as he dropped to his knees and scrambled to grab the egg shaped fruits as they rolled around on the waxy floor. "You idiot," he sighed to himself. "You can't do anything right."

A skinny hand dipped in front of his face, holding a lemon. "That's not true."

Ben tilted his head back, staring upside down at Amy's face. He couldn't bring himself to smile, so he simply accepted the lemon. "Never thought I'd hear that from you, considering you were one of my screw-ups."

Amy knelt down beside him and aided Ben in the collection of the lemons. "You never screwed me or our relationship up. Things just happened and we can't help the way we feel."

It seemed an ironic choice of words, considering he hadn't spoken to Amy in months. He'd seen her in the halls a few times since he'd kissed Adrian and, out of those few times, they'd acknowledged each other only once. "What are you doing here?"

"Shopping, what else would I be doing in a grocery store?" Amy sat back on her heels. "What are you doing here? I didn't really think-" she bit her lip, as if realizing her choice of words might not be the best "-doesn't your dad do the shopping?"

"Don't you mean: 'You're rich, doesn't someone do your shopping for you?'"

"Ben-"

"It's alright," he interrupted. "It's a reasonable assumption; most people make it. Actually, my dad does his own shopping. Sometimes I go with him. Today he needed my help because we're throwing surprise party for Camille."

"Camille?"

"My dad's personal assistant. Well, 'personal assistant' is an understatement. She's my dad's longest employee. I'm pretty sure the Boykewich Butcher franchise couldn't survive without her, she's been with the company for something like twenty-two years."

"Wow, long time."

"Yeah."

Amy stood up with an armful of lemons and glanced around, not really sure where to place them.

"Just set them in the basket," Ben sighed. "Can't put them back on display now."

"So," Amy began as she leaned over the edge of Ben's basket, "has, um, Adrian had the baby yet?"

"Wouldn't it be all over school if she had?" he asked without looking at her.

Amy shrugged and began to grab a few more lemons around her feet. "Maybe."

"She's friends with Grace," Ben said flatly. As he stood and faced her, he shook his head. "Amy, I know you're just trying to be cordial, but please: don't. Not about Adrian, not about the baby. It started problems the first time, didn't it? So what good could possibly come out of it now?"

Amy nodded. "I'm sorry I brought it up. In fact, I'm sorry I even came over here. I didn't mean to upset you, Ben. You just looked like you could use some help."

"I guess I'm just having one of those days."

Amy smiled a little. "You were having one when we met, too."

"Huh?"

"When we first met," Amy repeated with a bit of a laugh. "We ran right into each other and you said, 'Guess I'm just having one of those days.'"

Ben cracked a tiny smile. "I remember you looked so lost," he said, picking up a bruised lemon as he spoke. "Guess I'm the one who's lost now."

Amy took the lemon from his hand, their fingers lightly brushing as it happened. "I'll see ya around, Ben."

Ben watched her set the lemon into her basket and walk off. His heart ached a little as he looked back into his pocket, now covered in a sheet of pimpled yellow rind. He picked one up and examined it in the fluorescent light. "When life gives you lemons…" he sighed bitterly.

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"Why did you kiss her?" Ricky's tone was low, even. He slowly shut the door to Adrian's hospital room behind his back.

"I want to see her," Ben demanded.

"She's sleeping," Ricky rebuffed. "Cindy needs a drink," he added, pushing Ben away from the door. "We're going to the cafeteria."

"Cindy's here?"

"She said she got the voicemails and took the first flight back last night. She just got here an hour ago."

Ben glanced back at the door, but continued walking just ahead of the drummer. "What does she want?" he asked, retrieving his wallet from his pocket.

"I said I'd get it," Ricky glared. When they reached the elevator, he pressed the down arrow and then positioned himself in such a way that Ben's only choice was to back up onto the elevator to get away from him, which hadn't opened yet. "Why'd you kiss her?" he asked again.

There was a long silence as the elevator flashed between floors. "We have history."

"One night at a majorette retreat? That's not history, that's a one night stand."

"You would know, wouldn't you?"

Ricky grit his teeth. "She wants to be with me. You have no right to interfere in that."

"Maybe she doesn't know what she wants? She's pregnant and scared and confused. You don't know what happened between us that night! We shared something-"

"Special," Ricky mocked. "Yeah, that's what everyone says after their first time. Almost everyone." He scoffed. "That's why you never forget your first, Ben. But your first is rarely your last. And don't you dare tell me she's confused because of the hormones. Adrian is wholly capable of making her own decisions!"

"Oh yeah?" Ben bit back. "Then why are you scared of me being around her? Are you afraid she'll choose me?"

"Of course not."

"Then why don't you let her make her own choice, huh?"

"She already chose."

Ben shook his head. "No. What I'm saying is: let's wait for the paternity test. Let's wait for confirmation so we can all finally know where we stand, legally. And then we can lay our cards out on the table and let Adrian decide who she wants to be with."

"Even if you are the father," Ricky relented, "it doesn't give you claim to Adrian."

"You're right. She's not a piece of property. But if the baby's mine – or, or if it's yours – one of us is going to be in her life regardless, because being a father does give you rights to your child. And if she were to choose the one, the father will just have to figure out how to deal with that. So, can you deal with that?"

Ricky folded his arms. "She'll make the right choice."

"I hope so."

The timer on the automated pitcher binged and a ball came hurdling towards Ricky, who poised at the end of the batting cage with a baseball in hand. The ball cracked against the bat and shot into the wire wall of the cage, producing a clanking echo. Another ball sprang out and again, Ricky smacked it away. The process continued monotonously until the money ran out and the machine turned off with a mechanical grunt.

Ricky pulled off his blue batting helmet and wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead. His gaze fell upon the spot he'd been standing. The cement was worn from where so many people had stood before him. He tried to envision a little girl in the spot, feet spread out in a typical batting stance, with a pink helmet and soiled white tennis shoes. For a moment, he allowed himself to think of how it might be to take her by the hands, guide her arms back, and show her how to properly strike a ball.

"Hey! You done yet?"

Ricky looked to the left and found a man standing with two children, one girl and one boy, and a woman who reached over to punch him in the arm. He allowed himself to laugh at the man's mumbled protests.

"Don't mind us," she said. "My husband doesn't have any manners sometimes. Don't feel rushed on our account."

Ricky dug into his duffle bag and pulled out a white towel which he slung over his neck. "Don't worry about it, I'm out of quarters anyway." He pushed open the batting cage and lugged his bag and bat out. "Have at it!"

The children blew inside, followed by the man who'd asked about the cage to begin with, but the woman stopped and gave a cheerful nod. "Thanks."

"Have fun," Ricky nodded, his eyes on the kids as the man – their father, he guessed, but as he knew firsthand, it might not be what it seemed – began to illustrate the proper batting positions. He headed for the drinking fountain, which was empty, and bent over for a long cold sip. His lips had barely met the frigid stream when his duffle bag began to ring to the non-lyrical version of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Grunting, he pushed off the fountain lever and dropped to a nearby bench. A few moments later he was digging around in his suck for his cell phone, knowing he had a text message from someone, but he wasn't sure who until he saw the name plastered across his phone: "Grace?"

It's time!

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"I thought the baby wasn't coming until after the school year was over?" Ben said as he sat next to Grace in the waiting room of the hospital.

The blonde nodded. "That's when the c-section was scheduled, but when she went in for her appointment today, they said she's fully dilated. I guess the baby has other ideas, huh?"

"Just like Adrian."

Grace and Ben turned their heads to see that Ricky had arrived. Grace moved a seat over so that she was sitting beside Ben and patted the spot she'd vacated, beckoning for the drummer.

"Thanks," Ricky said quietly as he took the seat.

"Where're your parents?"

"I haven't called them yet. Are you sure Adrian's having the baby this time? The last time-"

"She's in there right now refusing the epidural."

"Refusing?" Ben asked in disbelief.

"She wants a hydro birth," Grace nodded. "Water is a natural pain reducer and it eases the transition from the womb to the world."

"Why didn't she tell us this before?"

"Well you can't have a water birth and a c-section at the same time," Grace said, rolling her large gray eyes. "She didn't think it was an option."

"So where do you have a water birth?" Ben asked.

"They have birthing pools here. They were constructed a couple years ago, didn't you hear about that?" At the confused looks on the boys faces, Grace shrugged. "Hydro birthing is much more looked down on here in the states than it is in other parts of the world, so not all places have birthing pool or birthing tub facilities. But my dad was part of an advocacy group – along with a lot of other medical professionals – who wanted to get them at the local hospital. It's one of the best ways to give birth, if you can. There are virtually no side effects."

"You sound like a talking billboard," Ricky announced.

"Only when I'm passionate about something."

"You're always passionate about something," Ricky smirked.

"Ben! I got here as soon as I could! How is she?"

Ben jumped up at the sound of his father's voice. "Her mother's in with her now," he said, noting how out of breath his dad looked and assumed he likely ran all the way from the parking lot. He smiled slightly at Camille, who was by his father's side. "Hey."

"Hi, Ben."

Ben turned awkwardly towards Ricky and Grace. "Uh, Camille, this is Grace and this is-"

"Ricky," the drummer said, offering his hand.

Camille nodded graciously. "Lovely to meet you both."

"This is Camille," Ben continued. "She works for my dad."

"With," Leo corrected, coughing before and after. He patted his chest. "I wouldn't be the successful man that I am today without her help, she's invaluable!"

Camille blushed. "Thank you, but he's exaggerating. It's called Boykewich Butchers for a reason."

"Don't be so modest, you've been with us for almost as long as the company has been around."

Camille shook her head. "Leo, I think you should sit down, you look pretty haggard."

"I'm outta shape," he coughed. "Too much sausage and not enough exercise." He sat down in a chair against the wall.

"I'll go find you a water," Camille nodded.

Leo zeroed in on Ricky and nodded. "You just come from practice?" he asked, noting Ricky's baseball attire. "I didn't know you played."

"Not on a team, I just hit the batting cages every now and again."

Leo nodded. "Where're Margaret and Shakur?"

"I haven't called them yet."

Leo frowned. "They might be grandparents in just a little while, don't you think they'd like to know? I mean," he touched his chest, "I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but speaking as someone in their position, I would like to know."

Ricky slunk a little deeper into his chair. "I guess you're right. I just wanted to be sure it wasn't another false alarm."

"Alarm, shmalarm. Better safe than sorry, I always say."

"I'll be right back," Ricky nodded and quickly excused himself from the waiting room.

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"Mom, I'm scared."

Cindy was on her knees beside the birth tub with her arm in the water up to her elbow as she held her daughter's hand. "It'll be alright, Chica."

"It hurts so bad last…what if something goes wrong?"

Cindy wet a strand of Adrian's hair and pressed it against her head. "Nothing will go wrong."

"You said when I was born, I was distressed."

Cindy nodded. "Your heart rate would fall when I tried to push, which is why they eventually had to do the c-section."

"What if that happens to me?"

"Then we'll deal with it."

Adrian suddenly gripped the side of the tub and screamed. The tip of one of her nails snapped from the pressure of the way she was grasping the tub and she yelped in surprise as the contraction drew to a close. "I feel like I'm being ripped apart by some archaic torture device!"

Cindy laughed in spite of herself. "Think about what you're saying, Adrian."

Adrian rubbed her broken nail against the pad of her thumb. She hated the way it felt: rough, jagged, and sharp against her skin. It looked awful too, so out of line with her nine other nails. "I should've done the epidural."

"You're too far in at this point, Ms. Lee," her doctor stated as she entered the room. "How are you feeling?"

"Is that rhetorical?"

Cindy patted her daughter's shoulder supportively. "It'll be over before you know it. We have a history of quick labors in our family," she winked.

The doctor bent over the tub and placed a cylindrical object against Adrian's belly. Something like a mix between a growling stomach and a tube expelling bubbles as it fills up with water came from the box that it was connected to via a long white wire.

"Is that the heartbeat?" Cindy asked.

The doctor nodded. "Shouldn't be much longer now. Adrian, how fast are the contractions coming?"

Adrian gripped her mother's arm instead of answering. She thought she could almost see a physical manifestation of the pain behind her eyelids. It was all consuming and there was hardly any time to think. She hadn't had a chance to go to the Lamaze classes because of the mandatory bed rest, but she'd tried to research them online. But even if she had spent the money, she had no idea how would've been able to remember what to do during the contractions anyway.

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"What are you two doing here?"

Alice folded her arms. "Why didn't you tell us Adrian was having the baby?"

Henry slightly ribbed her. "We stopped by the butcher shop when your shift was supposed to end and Bunny said you were here."

"Ben?" Alice prodded.

"Adrian doesn't want a fanfare. She just wanted it to be family."

"Camille's here," Alice noted, nodding her head in the direction of Camille and Leo, who were huddled in chairs against the wall, whispering to one another.

"She's practically family."

"And we aren't?" Henry asked, a little rebuffed. "We've known each other since third grade!"

"You know what I mean."

Alice pulled her coat out from under her arm and peeled it back from a neatly wrapped package which she shoved at Ben. "Here."

"What's this?"

"A baby gift."

"Alice, you didn't have to."

"It's from Henry and I, since there was never really an 'official' baby shower."

"Should I give it to Adrian or-"

"You can open it now."

Henry nodded. "Open it now."

Ben carefully pulled the bow off the package and picked off the pieces of tape, one by one. When he had one end picked off, he shook it gently, and a small box fell out. Curiously, he lifted the lid and found a sterling silver picture frame inside with the engraved words: Loved since before you were born.

"What do you think?"

"I think Adrian'll love it."

"What do you think?"

Ben tilted his head and then rushed at his friends, throwing an arm around each of them and pulling them into a giant hug. "I think I have the best friends in the world."

"You bet your ass you do!" Alice grinned, pushing Ben away. "And you'd do your best not to smother us."

"Sorry," Ben laughed, fondling the photo frame in his hands. "Maybe I should get out my camera instead of my camcorder?"

Henry reached into his back pocket and pulled out a digital camera, which he dangled from the wrist swatch in front of Ben's voice. "Alice made me bring it," he said cheekily.

On the other side of the room, Grace was actively engaged in conversation with Shakur, while Ricky and Margaret sat off to the side, watching quietly. Margaret breached the space between them to lay her hand on her son's, which was rested on the arm of a waiting room chair. "How are you feeling?"

"I don't think I've felt this unsure since they told me I was coming to live with you and Dad. It's like one of those dreams when you're trip and start falling. Everything inside me is racing just like that."

Margaret squeezed Ricky's hand. "I'll tell you a secret: when we found out you were coming to live with us, I felt the same way."

"But you had kids before me."

"But never ones with such a complicated history. We knew it was the right decision though. The choice to become someone's parent is one of the biggest a person can ever make."

Ricky suddenly stood up and everything else in the room – noise and sight alike – faded into the background. All he could see was Cindy, with her strand of black hair stuck at strange angles to her face from sweat and water. Like a soldier making his way into battle, he approached her from one side, while Ben did from the other.

"You can see her now, but only the two of you." She looked sympathetically towards Leo, Margaret, and Shakur. "I'm sorry."

Leo shook his head. "That's how it should be. Go on."

The boys followed Cindy down the hall to a room marked Suite 101. She twisted the handle and pushed the door aside. They entered simultaneously and it felt as if time had slowed when they saw her on the bed, like the last scene of Titanic, happening in slow motion.

Adrian's eyes were on the pink wrapped bundle in her arms. She looked up slowly, her face void of its usual makeup, but more gorgeous than at any other time either Ricky or Ben had ever seen her. She pushed her hair over her shoulder, finally revealing the tiny face hidden behind it. "Say hello, Preciosista…"

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"Have you heard from Ben yet?" Henry asked as they met up in the middle of the hallway, heading for their lockers.

Alice shook her head. "I've been checking my phone all morning," she said, reflexively pulling out said object and checking it again.

"Have you seen Ricky?" Henry asked, rotating his head around to check up and down the hallway.

"Nope."

"Grace."

"Nope."

"No, I mean, Grace!" Henry pointed down the hallway, where Grace was dressed in her cheerleading uniform and appeared to be talking with Madison and Lauren.

Alice narrowed her eyes. "You don't think she-"

"No…"

Alice grabbed Henry by the arm. "Let's go make sure!" she said, dragging him towards the cheerleader. As they reached her, Madison and Lauren quickly departed, stuck closer together, whispering between themselves. "Hey, Grace…"

Henry grunted as Alice elbowed his ribs. "What's up?" he peeped.

Grace shrugged, all rainbows and smiles. "You're wondering about the test results, aren't you?"

"Do you know something?" Alice asked eagerly.

Grace shrugged. "Nothing more than you, but I'm sure we'll know pretty soon after Adrian, Ben, and Ricky do."

Down the hallway, Amy stood between Lauren and Madison, who were gossiping around her as if she didn't exist. Her eyes flicked back and forth around the crowd, hoping to see Ben pop up by his locker or walk up the stairs, but she never did.

"I think she's lying about not knowing the results," Lauren whispered.

"She's a Christian," Madison replied.

"Christians still lie! Besides, she's Adrian's friend, she's probably tainted her by now."

Amy pushed her away between the two and continued absently moving through the throng of students. She stopped as she reached the band room, clutching her French Horn case to her side. She waited until the second bell rang and the hall was clear of students and then she lifted her French Horn case and stared at the handwriting. The song of songs: it belongs to you and me. But the only thing she could hear was silence.

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In the parking lot outside the Lee apartment, Ricky sat in his car, his eyes fixated on the letter in his hands. It was addressed to Richard Underwood, from GeneCo Laboratories. With shaking hands, he pinched the metal wings on the yellow envelop and tore up the flap. The papers inside fell out when he turned it over and Ricky held his breath as he unfolded the paper. Speed reading was a specialty of his, so his eyes flew across the page until they reached the last few sentences, and then he slowed his pace, allowing his mind to process each word in its fullest and most vibrant clarity.

GeneCo Laboratories has determined with 99.999999% accuracy that you are…

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Inside her bedroom, Adrian laid asleep in bed, and beside her, equally fast asleep, laid her daughter in the bassinet. The infant, merely two weeks old, already had a head of thick onyx hair and caramel crème skin, and lay dressed in a pink onesie, dotted with tiny pink, white, and purple flowers. Two soft knocks sounded from the door, but neither girl so much as twitched in their sleep.

The sound of the door knob turning filled the air, followed by carpet muffled footsteps that stopped beside the bassinet. A pair of hands slid beneath her and the baby stirred, her large brown eyes opening as she was lifted from her bed and cradled beside a warm chest. "Hello, Mercy. Daddy's here," Ben whispered. "Ti voglio bene."