July 28, 1978

I drove up against the curb in front of where Keilah's apartment building was and turned off my car. I got out from the front seat and moved to the back seat, helping KJ and Sky off the seats and onto the concrete ground. I shut the door behind them, stuffed my keys in my pocket, then started to walked toward the entrance of the building. I helped Sky as she walked, since she couldn't walk as well as KJ could just yet. We walked into the building and up to the right floor.

"Hey, Rain," Keilah greeted with a smile when she opened the door, then looked down at KJ and Sky, "And hello, my wonderful niece and nephew."

"Hi, Aunty Kay," KJ smiled brightly and ran to hug his aunt. I smiled as she hugged him and picked him up off the ground.

I followed Keilah into her apartment, Sky holding on tightly to my hand as we walked. When we entered the apartment, she let go of my hand and ran off as best as she could to Mrs. Mathews, falling into her grandmother's lap. Sky let out an ecstatic giggle as this happened, which made everyone in the room give some kind of laugh or smile. KJ leaned over to me, a smile on his face and said, "Sky fell on Grandma." I smiled and nodded at him, "Yes, she did."

Those present in the room was Keilah, KJ and Sky, myself, Mrs. Mathews, Caroline Washington- Emmett's mother- Candy and Elizabeth, Marilyn and Mariah and DT, Evie and Cherry. Eric's girlfriend Annabella was also with us, since we'd all started to get to know her and started to like her. We'd all be helping Keilah pick out a wedding dress, as well as dressed for the rest of us. We'd also all be looking for outfits for the kids that were with us, with the exception of Patrick and Jonathan, who were with Ponyboy and Sodapop.

The large group of us all went to a diner in town first before going to any of the dress shops. We all took a few different cars, since it was absolutely impossible for us all to fir into one vehicle- unless that vehicle was a bus. We'd all follow each other in our cars, forming a small line of cars on the road. IN my car it was me, KJ, Sky, Keilah and Annabella. In Candy's car it was herself, Elizabeth, Cherry and Evie. In Marilyn's car it was herself, DT, Mariah, Mrs. Mathews and Caroline. Since Keilah knew exactly where all the shops were, I drove first, then Marilyn, then Candy.

Once we all arrived at the first store, we all got out of our cars and went inside. Our large group received a few odd looks, which I guess that I could understand slightly. We really were a very large group, but what did all those other people care? We weren't in their group, so why did they all care that there was so many of us?

"So, who's up first?" Keilah asked excitedly once we reached a specific area for wedding parties, "Rain?"

I looked up suddenly. "Oh, uh," I stuttered, "I'll go in a bit. You know how I hate bein' first."

"A radio DJ who's shy," Evie thought aloud, "That's truly ironic."

"That's why I'm in radio and not television- no one can see me on the radio." I smirked in triumph.

I really didn't like going first for most things. Yeah, I know that I'm an adult and I'm married and a mother, but that would always be a bad habit for me. I mean, when it came to my family and their well-being, I'd instinctively go first for things- but other than that, I would never go first. Like I said, that's why I worked in radio and didn't work in television… to be honest, that probably wasn't the only reason, but personally, it was a major reason.

At the dress shop, Mrs. Mathews ended up going first. The order in which everyone chose dress went: Mrs. Mathews, Caroline, Marilyn, Annabella, me, Evie, Cherry then Candy. We had Candy go last since she was a few months pregnant, and by the time that the wedding came around, the dress would probably have had to have been altered at least one or times so that it would fit right.

We took about three hours altogether in the dress shop. The dress I chose looked like a satin or silk fabric that was way softer than it looked. The neckline looked like a mix of a V-neck, then a square M as the neckline wrapped around and under my arms, around the back. The edge of the dress reached just above my ankle, so it didn't matter whether or not I decided to wear heels that night. The straps were not too thin, but not too think either, but rather somewhere perfectly in between. The material was also my favorite color- blue.

"We won't have to worry 'bout you having to get you a bigger dress size, right, Keilah?" Evie asked in a teasing tone of voice.

At first, Keilah seemed unsure of the joking question, then nervous as she let out a nervous chuckle. "Oh, uh, don't worry," she stuttered, "We'll be alright."

"Have you two ever slept together?" Caroline asked as if she was talking to a girlfriend rather than her future daughter in law.

Keilah nodded embarrassedly. "Yeah, we have," she answered awkwardly, "But… we're always careful."

"Maybe we should change the subject," Mrs. Mathews tried a bit desperately, "You know, cause of the kids."

This went unheard. "It's not always full proof, Keilah," Annabella warned.

Keilah seemed irked at this point. "Look, we're fine, ok? Can we just drop it?" She then stormed out of the dress shop and out onto the sidewalk.

I leaned over to Mrs. Mathews and Caroline. "Let's go after her," I said and they nodded, and I asked as we walked out to the door, "What was that about?"

Mrs. Mathews was hesitant. "Keilah can't have children," she answered with a sigh.

Caroline and I both stood in silent shock. Based off of her reaction, she had no idea about this, just like I didn't. I immediately felt quiet sympathy for Keilah. I also felt bad for the fact that, even though I tried to understand how she may have felt about it, I couldn't since me and Keith already had two kids of our own.

"How long has she known?" I asked softly.

Mrs. Mathews thought for a moment. "A little before she turned eighteen," she answered, "She missed her period over six months, so we both agreed to see what was up. When we went to the doctor, they told us that she was barren and she can't have children."

"Does Emmett know?"

As we reached outside, Keilah heard us. "Yeah, he knows," she answered quietly.

"What did he say when you told him?" Caroline asked a bit nervously.

Keilah seemed to calm down a bit. "We talked about it a while back. When I told him, he said that it was ok. That if we ever got married and if we ever wanted kids, we could just adopt. He said that it didn't matter and it shouldn't matter, and that it didn't change anything between us."

The three of us all smiled at what Keilah said that Emmett had said about it when she told him. Out of the three of us, Caroline seemed to be the happiest as his words, which was understandable, considering she is his mother. She would hope that he would have the right morals.

The four of us stood outside for a few more minutes to calm down and clear the air, then went back inside where Keilah chose her wedding dress not long after.

I'm a day late on updating, oh well. I've been really busy lately. Anyway, next time I update will be in a time range from two weeks to four weeks. The least amount of time I take is two weeks, the most is four. That's just me.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Peace from all the hippies of the world. =^-^=