a/n: This is one of the many stories I am thinking about deleting, if this chapter doesn't get at least one review, then I am deleting it. The same goes for all my other stories. Now I would really like to continue all my stories, so please actually look into them and if you like them, review.

D: I do not own any Giver copyrights.

"When Inger was a three, we already knew she preferred comfort to work," She smiled down at me sweetly, "Of course we all remember the day she convinced the rest of her year mates that generosity meant giving their snacks to her." The audience laughed politely and I shifted a little where I stood, Where was she going with this?

"As she grew up though, Inger proved quite adept to work, if only unwilling to do it," more polite laughter, "So that is why we elders decided that this girl would join those others that serve our community in such an unique way," She turned to me and gave me a comforting smile. "Inger, you have been given the task of a birthmother," She shoved a folder into my chest and lead me back to the seats, I was too frozen to move properly on my own.

"Thank you for your childhood."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

As I sat at my desk, staring at my unopened assignment folder but not daring to open it, I thought of all that had happened today. This morning I had felt apprehensive going into that stadium, but I had calmed myself with the thought that the elders always chose right. Was it wrong to disagree with them? What had my parents thought, I wondered silently. Had they been disappointed of their older child's career?

Jessie, my brother, was riding on his shiny new bike like a pro, shooting down the street around our dwelling with his friends. I thought I heard one of his friends tease him of his supposed lack of skill, "Jessie!" He called, laughing, "Shouldn't we have kept those training wheels on? This is our first time after all!" They were all still laughing as they passed our dwelling by, probably heading to the river to enjoy the rest of their holiday.

I wondered what I would say when it came time for evening meal, or when it came time for Feelings? Could a new twelve feel disappointment at her career, I didn't know, I had been told it rarely ever happened. My parents were out enjoying the vacation also, though I did not know where. Normally I would have joined them, or joined Jessie in a game of 'Good Guys Bad Guys'; today however I deemed it best to remain here, making this the first time I had ever been in the dwelling alone.

My hands shook in the slightest amount as I flipped back the pale folder cover. It felt like I was unveiling something; something that would change who I was. There wasn't much inside, only two crisp papers, one a list of rules and the other one of directions.

The rules, which I read first; looked much like this:

Birthmother Rules and Regulations:

You are allowed to lie about all work related topics.

You are forbidden from taking medical aid against the stirrings.

You will lay no physical claim on any child you produce.

You will be forbidden from creating a family unit.

You may lie about all dreams related to stirrings.

You will never be allowed to apply for a child.

Were all rules this confusing, I wondered as I reread them twice, for a third time, and again for a forth. They just didn't make sense, some were just confusing, but there were a few in there that were terrifying to me. What did they mean by 'you may lie'? Of course they were specific with what may be lied about, but it scared me nonetheless. All my life I had been scolded for any sentence I uttered that may or may not have been taken as a lie. Was this common amongst the rules for twelves? Was 'you may lie' written in every one of those folders I had seen today.

I shivered, it was not pleasant to think of the results of such a rule.

The other rules however were not frightening so much as they were odd. Why would I be forbidden from a family, or a child, or even from the stirrings pill? And why would I want to keep the child that was part of my very job to produce? From our science classes at school we had learned how children were born, from there existence in the womb to the actual labor process. It had seemed very distant from me then, just reading about it; not nearly as real as it felt now that I would experience it. At that moment I realized that it had never been explained how the birthmothers became pregnant, only that it involved males because birthfathers were also needed. Would whatever this process be help me to understand these rules?

Sighing and shaking my head to be rid of the confusion, I slowly turned to the next and final page; silently willing it to be of more sense.

It was, I sighed with relief as I realized that all it detailed was the location of the birthing how and when exactly to arrive each day. There was also specific instructions to how long my apprenticeship would take, who my mentor was assigned to be, and when my first birth-making session was scheduled to be. The last one I gave a strange look, now that was a term I had never heard before. Birth-making session? I gave the date beside it a quick look, pleased to see that I would discover its meaning quite a long time from today; the day after my apprenticeship ended to be specific.

And even though birthmothers had the shortest of apprenticeships, four years was still quite a longways away.

From the front entrance I heard the door open and my family march through, Jessie apparently chatting adamantly about his new bike.

"It's so fast," He bragged, causing me to grin as our mother chided him for the act. Getting up from my position, I swung the folder shut and slid it in neatly between the rule books on my shelf. As I entered the main living area I found my father already setting up the evening meal and mother still half way through her gentle scoldings.

". . . know your bike is made exactly the same as my bicycle, your fathers bicycle and all the others." It is not faster, bigger, or better. To say it is is a lie."

Jessie nodded solemnly, "I apologize for lying."

She nodded, "I accept your apology Jessie."

It was then that she noticed that I had entered the room. "Hello Inger!" I winced, mother had never called me the nickname I preferred, Ina. "I congratulate you on you assignment, Birthmother is a valuable career in our community."

"It was the logical choice," Father added in from the eating area. "You never seemed to be one for hard work."

Only Jessie seemed to notice the irony in my parent's words, as he gave me an understanding smile. We both knew that only last week my parent's had called being a birthmother a lower profession. Of course now that I was one they could no longer say such things to my face, if they did it would be rude, adults must never allow themselves to be rude.

"After your births are done you will become a laborer," Father said pleasantly, though I got the sense he was pointing something out.

"Another valuable profession," My mother chimed, her voice carrying the same tune as father's.

"Ina has always been valuable," Jessie said almost rebelliously, like he didn't care what my profession may be.

I suddenly felt glad that this boy had become my brother.