"Hello?"

"Hey Shiri luv!"

"Caleb? How did you get my number?"

"Aww c'mon luv I'm hurt, we all are what with you up and disappearing for six years. Dingo, Yogi, and I all miss you. The industry misses you luv! Come back, the world of music isn't the same without My Deliverance and their powerhouse lead singer Shiri!"

"You know I miss you guys too, but you know why I've been moving around, why I didn't give any of you guys my new number. I just…I just can't."

"Shiri baby…he's dead. Bernon's dead."

"…"

"Shiri? Shiri are you alright?!"

"Yeah…yeah I'm…I'm fine b-but how? How can he be…he just got paroled…how?"

"Car wreck. The police think he was on his way to your old flat on Fleet Street when his car got run off the road. It flipped four times and he wasn't wearing his seat belt."

"A dank dir. Thank God."

"Shiri…are you crying?"

"I just…I never thought this day would come. Finally me and my niece can live without fear…they can finally have peace now, Devon, my brother, and my parents…their souls can rest now."

"And you wouldn't have to run anymore. You could start up your old life again…the time is ripe for a My Deliverance comeback!"

"Oh Caleb I don't know…I'm happy here. I love my job and my kids are just wonderful. There are a lot of things I miss about being in the band but there a lot of things I don't miss. I'm not saying no…it's just too soon for me to know what I want."

"I understand luv. But just so you know we're going to be coming 'round your way soon. There's chap that's lent us his recording studio. Even if you don't want to come it'll be nice just to play you know? One thing will never change about you Shiri…your love affair with music."

"Ha-ha I know Caleb, I know. It was good talking to you…and thank you for telling me about Bernon. I mean it. Oh and tell Ding and Yogi I miss them."

"I will. Bye luv."

DING-DONG!

Ricky shoved his hands in his pockets as he waited at the front door of the bungalow nervously. It was Friday night and it was later than normal to show up unexpected at someone's house.

After a few nerve-wracking moments the door opened and a woman with curly burgundy hair and dark eyes looked out at him.

"Mr. Underwood…I must say this is unexpected."

"I…I'm sorry I didn't turn the assignment in class today it was just too personal," the dark haired boy said in a rush not looking at his teacher.

Lee merely arched an eyebrow and said slowly, "So you came by at nine-thirty on a Friday night to tell me this?"

"No," said Ricky holding out not one but two pieces of paper, "I came to give you these. I figured if I wrote two…straight from the heart then there might be a slim chance that you wouldn't fail me."

Lee took the papers and quickly scanned them. Ricky saw her press her lips together into a very thin line then finally she sighed.

"Come in. I just finished making a pot of tea," she said leaving the door open for him to follow her into.

The drummer blinked a few times then sighed and entered into the bungalow.

The first thing he noticed was the smell of roses seemed to fill every corner of the small house. The second thing he noticed was that on almost every available surface were filled with photographs. The ones that seemed to be most prominently displayed had the same four people in them.

There was a late middle aged couple both had dark intelligent eyes. The woman had dark reddish black hair the same color as Lee's and had feline-like features and there always seemed to be a small golden star necklace around her throat. The man had a head of thick amber colored hair a rather prominent nose but kind eyes. They were wrapped up in each other in every photograph they were in and always had the same genuine smiles on their faces.

There was also a young man maybe nine or ten years older than Ricky. He had the older man's thick amber hair and dark eyes but his features were more chiseled than the older man's. He had a cocky pose and even in picture form Ricky could see the aura arrogant self-confidence that surrounded him.

And finally there was a woman about the same age as the younger man. She was pretty in a Kate Moss heroine-chic kind of way. Her figure was extremely skinny and her blue-green eyes seemed too big for her head. Her dish-water blonde hair fell past her elbows in lanky waves.

"Who are you?"

The teenager turned to see a little girl, no older than six, staring up at him with wide blue-green eyes. She was wearing dark jeans, white tee-shirt with ballerina shoes on them, and a purple hoodie with the words Little Diva written in calligraphy. Her amber hair was pulled back into a semi-neat braid but her bangs almost covered her eyes.

"Oh umm…hi. My name is Ricky…I'm a student of your mom's." He felt extremely uncomfortable and unsure with how to deal with this little girl.

'You're going to have to learn dingbat. You're gonna become a dad sooner than you can blink.'

"Mume says we aren't supposed to let strange people in the house," replied the little girl, her lips twitching upwards slightly.

Then it hit Ricky; the little six-year-old girl was smirking at him. She actually took amusement from his discomfort.

"Nevaeh sweetheart leave Ricky alone. Come put away your things and get ready for bed."

Nevaeh and Ricky turned to see Lee standing against the doorframe to the kitchen with a small smile on her face. Nevaeh said something in Yiddish to the dark eyed woman in a distinctly whinny tone but Ms. Amoit merely gave her a stern look. Finally with a breathy huff the blue eyed girl stomped away.

The British woman motioned for Ricky to follow her into the small kitchen. On a small scrubbed table sat two porcelain cups filled to the brim with piping hot tea. Ricky's was half milk so the color of the beverage matched Lee's skin tone almost perfectly.

They sat in mildly awkward silence as Lee read his poems properly. Finally she looked up and said, "These are very impressive Mr. Underwood. I don't think I've ever had a student dive this deep into his or herself on my first assignment before."

"Thanks…I think. I'm in therapy…we talk a lot about these things so I guess it wasn't too hard for me to find."

"Yes indeed…there are two lines in particular that I think are very powerful. In your first poem- what is the title?"

Ricky shrugged, "'No' I guess would be a good title… hadn't really thought about the title to be perfectly honest."

"Yes well anyways," continued Ms. Amoit, "I think this line, 'You stole my innocence/Now my whole life is shadowed by you/I won't become the monster/I won't hurt my son/ I refuse' is very powerful indeed. I'm glad to see therapy is paying off. What's your second poem called?"

The dark haired sixteen-year-old thought for a moment then said, "'Lily'. The title is 'Lily'." Lilies were Amy's favorite flowers. She'd told him so during band camp and the night they slept together he'd manage to find a couple of lilies for her hair.

Ms. Amoit smiled softly and nodded. "Well I must say it has quite a different tone than your first. 'Your mine, I'm yours/Together we became one/No one else can/No matter how much He wants/ He can't/He said it/But I proved it'. Not the best poetry in the world but exactly what I wanted. Incidentally does Miss Juergens know the depth of your feelings for her? I mean aside from the fact that you impregnated her."

Ricky stared at his Lit teacher in shock. How did she know? I mean he knew it was pretty obvious that Amy was pregnant but he didn't realize teachers (aside from Mr. Molina) cared about his personal drama.

Lee smirked at him. "Come now Mr. Underwood. Did you really think there wasn't any gossip going around about you, Mr. Boykewich, or Miss Juergens in the faculty lounge?"

"I always thought they had better things to talk about," he muttered, not looking her in the eye.

"Ha! It's not every day the school player gets an innocent French horn player pregnant then has to compete for her affections with another young man. Have you considered talking to Marc?"

"Marc?"

"Mr. Molina. I know he wants to stop interfering in the personal lives of students but I do think he could help you," explained Lee giving him a kind look.

Ricky snorted, "Yeah right. That wuss Boykewich recruited him the first day of school. He won't help me."

The dark eyed woman arched an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound like Marc. I'm pretty sure if you asked nicely he'd at least give you advice."

"How well do you know Mr. Molina?" asked Ricky curiously giving his teacher an once-over.

"I've known him longer than either he or I have been teachers," was her only reply.

Ten minutes later Ricky had finished his tea and got up to leave.

"Mr. Underwood."

Ricky turned to see Ms. Amoit giving him an intense look.

"If you and Miss Juergens are truly meant to be then you will be. All you can control is how you handle her choice."

The soon to be father nodded and turned to leave. Later when he got home and crawled into bed those words were still echoing in his head.