Chapter 5

Author's Note: First off, I want to begin with a huge huge huge apology to everyone who has PM'd me and wrote me reviews begging me to update. They did not go unread nor unnoticed. I read them all (smiled at them) and made a note to do just that, but sadly, I relied on my crappy memory to remember to update later on that day, and ended up forgetting. Not that that's a good excuse! LOL! But that's what happened, and I'm really sorry! Because I feel so bad, I'm going to post this chapter as well as the next one, being as I already have it ready to go! I hope this makes up for the long wait I've put you all through! And I hope you guys like these next two chapters!

The car ride there was uncomfortably quiet as they drove to the old train station that was now both Andy's and Dr. Abbott's office. Ephram hoped Amy's dad wasn't there yet, or at least, he hoped Dr. Abbott didn't spot them and ask questions. The last thing he needed was for Amy to hear about it from her father. He still wasn't sure how he was going to tell Amy about this.

Ephram's gaze remained focused out the window where it seemed like an ordinary day. He wished he was one of those people outside, going about their normal routine and not on his way to get a paternity test to find out whether or not he was now an eighteen year old father.

"Are you okay?" Andy asked, glancing over at Ephram, who remained silent in the passenger seat.

"I'm on my way to take a paternity test to find out if the baby currently in the back seat is mine. What do you think?" he asked. "I-I mean, what am I going to do about Julliard if the tests say he's mine?"

Andy had thought about that already. What would it do to Ephram's future if this child was his? "I think that until we do this test, and get the results in, we shouldn't make any decisions on things like that."

"Easy for you to say," Ephram said. "Your not the man in question here." His gaze returned to outside the window.

"Ephram, if it turns out this child is in fact, yours, all our lives are going to change; not just yours. And until we find out for sure, nothing's concrete here." He paused as he looked over at Ephram, who he could tell was very worried and on edge. "But I want you to know something; If you did father this child, I'll be there for you. If you should decide to keep the baby, I'll help you out financially and any other way you need." He turned a corner. "And should you choose to put him up for adoption, I'll be there for you all the same."

Ephram gave him a strained smile as they pulled up to the doctor's office. "Thanks." The two got out of the car; Andy got the baby out of the back of the car, and the two headed inside.

"Heya Doc; Ephram," Edna Harper, Andy's nurse and Amy's grandmother said, sounding fairly upbeat. Oh no, Ephram thought. That was the bad part about having your girlfriend's family working with your father. Edna looked down and noticed the baby in the car seat Andy carried inside with him.

"Who's baby is-"

"Not now. In my office," Andy said nodding in the direction of his office. He didn't want to stand out in the lobby, carrying his possibly grandson for the entire town to see. He wanted to do this in his office; one of the bad things about a small town like Everwood was the gossip circuit. Edna nodded and followed Andy and Ephram into his office, even though she was now very confused.

"Where's the paternity test kit I asked about over the phone?" he asked as he set the carrier down on his desk.

Edna looked from Andy to Ephram. "Now wait just a sec here. What's going on?"

Andy turned back around. "This morning, we found this baby on our front porch. Along with a diaper bag filled with baby things was a note."

"That's terrible! Who would do such a thing; leave a poor baby on someone's porch," Edna said angrily.

"The note was written by Madison," he said. "Apparently the baby could either have been father by Ephram or an ex boyfriend of hers." He glanced over at Ephram, still unable to believe what was going on.

Edna's gaze found Ephram as well, who's gaze was to the floor, suddenly feeling sorry for the teenager. She looked back at Andy. "I can't believe this! You mean you didn't hear a hide nor hair from her until-"

"Until I found the baby on the porch," Ephram finished, his hands in his pocket. He looked over at the baby, who was kicking his feet once more and again, quickly averted his gaze from him.

"Edna? The kit?" Andy asked, wanting to get the test done as soon as possible so he could get it to the lab.

"I'll go get it," she said, before disappearing back out the door. The two weren't left alone very long; Edna came back with the paternity testing kit a few moments later.

"So uh, what exactly do I have to do?" Ephram asked.

"Well we could do it by taking a cheek swab from the both of you, but I think I want to submit a blood sample." Andy produced a needle as he set everything up that he needed for this.

Uneasily, Ephram said, "Okay." For as long as he could remember, he hated needles. When he was little, he had so sit in his mother's lap; as he got older, his fear of needles decreased some, but he still preferred someone in the room with him.

Ten minutes later, Andy was finished drawing blood from both Ephram and the baby, and was more than ready to return back home to plot his next move with all of this. Edna promised to send the samples out to the lab that day, and made sure to put a rush on it -although that didn't guarantee faster results.

Ephram stopped on his way out the door, turning towards Edna. "I... Amy has no idea about this," he began. "I-I don't want to hurt her. So…until we know for sure…"

Edna nodded, understanding what Ephram meant and more importantly, where he was coming from. "I won't say anything."

Ephram forced a smile onto his face. "Thank you." Edna nodded once more and with that, Ephram exited the building.

In the car, Ephram sat, staring once more out the window. He wasn't exactly up for making small talk with his father; not while a baby that could be his sat in the back, making cooing noises every few moments.

"We should get the results in within the next two weeks or so. Assuming they aren't backed up at he laps," Andy explained as he kept his eyes on the road.

"So what are we going to do until then?" he asked.

Andy paused before answering. "Until we find out the paternity of the baby, there's nothing we can do besides take care of him. I'm needed at the office, so when I can't watch him, your going to have to take care of him-"

"But-"

"No buts, Ephram. Whether you like it or not, he may in fact be your son. If he is, you gotta learn how to take care of him." He turned a corner. "That is, of coarse, if you plan on keeping him." He looked over at Ephram, meeting his son's gaze. Before Ephram could respond, his cell phone rang. He reached into his pocket and retrieved it, reading the ID. It was Amy calling. He sighed, shutting his phone off and putting it back in his pocket, not able to talk to her just yet. He glanced over at his father as they pulled up in front of their house before getting out and heading in.