Disclaimer: Last time I checked, I'm not a billionaire. I guess that means I don't own Camp Rock or Wizards of Waverly Place.

Holy crap, my dears! The amount of reviews I got for last chapter was, in a word, AMAZING! 46. Holy shit. That is… WOW. That's incredible. Record breaking for me. I LOVE YOU! Do it again? ;)

"Alex, how many balloons did you get?" Connie asked as Alex brought in yet another set of three balloons tied together. This would make the fourth set of blue ones, five pink sets already scattered around the apartment, tied to the back of chairs, taped to the windowsill, or just bumping gently against the ceiling.

"I just have one more set of blues," Alex said, handing the one she was holding to Mrs. Torres and setting the box that was under her arm on the table.

The Torres apartment was decorated with pink and blue streamers and the many balloons Alex had carried inside. It was decorated for a baby shower.

About two weeks after the ultra sound that sent Alex running away, then running back, Alex had decided her first duty as a parent was to throw Mitchie a baby shower. So, she once again joined forces with Caitlyn and they started planning.

This time, Mitchie's mother was actually able to attend. Alex had even invited her own mother, but Theresa was running late.

"My mom's bringing the cake," Alex told Connie, who just let the balloons go and float to the ceiling.

"You got a cake for the baby shower?" Connie asked with a raised eyebrow.

Alex shrugged. "I don't know what people eat at these things."

"You don't even know what people do at these things," Mitchie said from the couch. At nearly eight months pregnant, Mitchie's stomach was larger than ever. She leaned back into the cushions and placed her hands atop her belly, rubbing gently in an attempt to calm the baby. He or she was always moving now. "Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help?"

"No!" Alex said quickly, shaking her head. "This is for you, and you're not going to move a muscle in an attempt to help set up. Now you just keep your cute, little butt on that couch, missy!"

Mitchie sighed and rolled her eyes, but remained seated.

Alex watched Mitchie for a few moments to make sure she followed orders, then turned to Mrs. Torres again. "I'm going help Caitlyn with the rest of the stuff."

"How much more is there?" Theresa asked incredulously as Alex started to walk out the door. The apartment was already cramped and packed as it was. With more decorations, and not to mention the guests, she didn't know if they'd be able to breathe.

"Just a little bit!" Alex assured over her shoulder as she walked away.

Deciding she was feeling lazy, she went down the hall to the elevators and pressed the down button. She waited, and when the doors open, Caitlyn was standing there with bags in both of her free hands. In her mouth was one of the noise makers Alex had bought, just for the hell of it.

Caitlyn blew, the horn making a honk sound and the tail of it hitting Alex's nose. Alex jerked her head back and grabbed the noise maker out of Caitlyn's mouth.

"I hate you," Caitlyn said, a little out of breath from carrying such heavy bags. "And your mom is downstairs."

"Thanks," Alex said before putting the obnoxious party favor back in Caitlyn's mouth and standing back to let the curly haired girl off the elevator. As she passed, Caitlyn lifted her foot and hacky-sack kicked Alex in the butt before making her way down the hall to the Torres apartment. Alex chuckled and got in the lift, pressing the correct floor.

When Alex got to the lobby, she saw her mom squinting to read the names listed for the apartment numbers.

"Mom?" Alex asked, getting her mother's attention.

"Oh, hi, honey." Theresa greeted her daughter with a kiss on the cheek when she approached. "Thank goodness you're here. I was trying to find the apartment, but whoever wrote those names writes worse than a toddler." She nodded her heads towards the list.

Alex just smiled and shook her head before going over to the corner where the delivery man had left Alex's order. She grabbed the last set of balloons from the air and a neat, slender, gift wrapped package from a chair.

"To the third floor," she told her mother, who's smile instantly fell. "There's an elevator," Alex clarified. She saw her mother breathe a sigh of relief and had to smirk a little. And she always thought she got her laziness from her father.

When the mother and daughter duo got to the Torres apartment, Alex made sure to hide the gift in the cabinet before Mitchie even looked in their general direction.

"Hi, Mitchie," Theresa called and waved and she placed the cake on the counter. "Caitlyn, right?"

"Right. Hi, Mrs. Russo," Caitlyn said with a smile from the couch, where she was seated beside Mitchie.

Alex went over to the two girls and sat on the other side of Mitchie. "Our moms are meeting for the first time," Alex whispered, leaning in close so her mother wouldn't overhear.

"Is that a big deal or something?" Caitlyn interjected, whispering also.

"I'm not sure," Alex said softly. "My parents never met any of my boyfriends' parents before." She looked at Mitchie, who only shrugged.

"Never had a boyfriend." She frowned a little. "Or a girlfriend either, for that matter. So this is all unchartered territory for me."

Before any more words could be exchanged between the girls, Connie returned from the hall closet with a folding chair. She stopped immediately when she saw another adult in the apartment.

"You must be Alex's mom," Connie said with a bright smile, propping the chair against the wall and walking forward, hand extended.

Mrs. Russo nodded. "I'm Theresa, it's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

Mitchie stared, slack-jawed at the two women standing in her kitchen. She was shocked, to say the least. How had she not seen this before?

"Oh my gosh," she said quietly, still staring.

"What?" Alex followed Mitchie's gaze to their mothers.

"They look exactly alike!" Mitchie said in a stunned whisper.

Alex crinkled her nose and scrunched up her eyes, trying to see what Mitchie saw. "Do they?"

"Yes!"

"I don't know, Mitchie," Caitlyn said doubtfully. "I don't see it."

"Me either," Alex agreed.

"How can you not see it?" Mitchie gestured with her hand to her and Alex's mothers, who were now involved in a conversation about cooking or something like that.

"I just don't think they look alike," Alex said with a shrug.

"But…"

"I'm with Alex," Caitlyn agreed, turning her attention back to her text from Gabe.

"But…they do," Mitchie said meekly, pouting.

Alex smiled sympathetically and grabbed Mitchie's hand, squeezing it slightly. "Sure they do, love."

The sound of someone nearly dying in the doorway caused everyone in the Torres apartment to turn and see a red-faced Harper clutching the doorframe and gasping for breath. Alex instantly jumped up and ran to her best friend's side.

"Harper, what's wrong?"

"Running…late…ran…here…got…lost…STAIRS!" Harper gasped in between each word and nearly fell forward, grabbing a fistful of Alex's shirt with the last word. She breathed heavily, letting Alex support her weight.

The raven haired girl simply shook her head. "One, you could have called to say you'd be late. Two, there are more ways of transportation that foot. For example, taxis, the bus, or subway. And you have a license! Three, you could have called me to get more directions. And four, there's an elevator!"

Harper froze and set Alex with a hard look. "There's….an…ELEVATOR?"

Knowing how dramatic Harper could be, Alex quickly backed away from her friend and put on a cheery smile. "Okay! Harper's here! Now the party can really start!"

"It's a shower, Alex, not a party," her mother corrected her.

She gave Theresa a blank stare. "Can we still have cake?"

"What is it with you and cake?" Caitlyn asked.

"I like cake!" Alex said with a smile, walking over to the couch and standing in front of Mitchie. She held her hands out, which Mitchie took. Alex planted her feet on the ground and leaned back, pulling Mitchie from the couch.

Caitlyn got up as well and walked to the kitchen, where the mothers were helping each other slice the cake and put the pieces on plates. She'd never been to a baby shower, but she didn't think there was usually cake. And if there was, she was almost certain it wasn't served right away.

"Harper, what the heck are you wearing?" Caitlyn raised an eyebrow at the redhead, who was dressed in what looked like a dress made from shower curtains with ducks on them.

"It's my baby shower outfit," Harper said with a smile. She loved talking about her designs. "Get it?"

Caitlyn said nothing, just walked away while shaking her head. Over the past few weeks she and Harper had been hanging out at school, and she'd come to learn that Harper Finkle always dressed in crazy outfits. Hell, she remembered thinking Harper was a patient who had escaped from a psyche ward the first time she saw her. And then she met her. Yes, she was crazy and she did dress like a freak, but she was a sweet girl. But Caitlyn kept forgetting that she needed to stop asking Harper about her outfits because, frankly, she really didn't want to know.

Hours later, after the shower was over, Mitchie and Alex sat on the floor of Mitchie's room. Her door was open, her parents in the living room.

"Awe! Look how adorable you were!" Alex said, pointing to a picture of Mitchie and her father, poised and smiling with Mitchie seated on a pink tricycle and her father behind her.

For the past fifteen minutes or so, they'd been looking through Mitchie's baby pictures. One album was resting on Alex's lap while Mitchie looked over her shoulder at the familiar pictures.

"I remember that trike," Mitchie said with a smile. She didn't remember the day exactly, but she sure remembered that little, pink tricycle. "I cried when I outgrew it."

"Justin cried when he couldn't use his little red one anymore," Alex said with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

Mitchie, who was too busy looking at the photo, and not her girlfriend, did not catch this. "Did he outgrow it too?"

"No. I pushed him off it and took it from him," Alex said nonchalantly, like it was no big deal.

Mitchie's eyes widened as she looked at Alex. "You stole his tricycle from him?"

"What?" Alex asked when she saw the look Mitchie was giving her. "His was better, I wanted it, so I took it."

"How was it better?"

"It was dark red and had a loud, obnoxious horn. Mine was hot pink, had stupid streamers, and a weak, little bell. I tried to get rid of it by throwing it in the street when cars passed, but my dad always got to it before it could be destroyed." Alex frowned. "You know, for a lazy man, he sure could move back then. But I think that's because he didn't want to have to pay for a new one."

Mitchie shook her head a little, having to remind herself that the three-year-old Alex was not the same Alex she knew (thank God). "So, what, did Justin just not have a tricycle anymore after that?"

"No." Alex flipped a page in the album to reveal another set of pictures. "He used mine."

"He used your girly trike?" Mitchie asked, trying to suppress a giggle for Justin's sake. It really was horrible of Alex to do that, and she didn't want to laugh, but the image was just too funny.

"He did," Alex said with a grin. "Since we're only about a year and a half apart, we would play outside together. When we'd ride, I'd always come up behind him and ram him in the back. Then I'd honk at him with the horn. All of the other kids would point and laugh. He'd run inside crying after only ten minutes." Alex's smile faded and was replaced by a sad frown. "I was such a bitch back then. Still am sometimes…"

Mitchie sensed the shift in Alex's mood and placed her hand on her girlfriend's forearm, rubbing gently. "But you're getting better." She offered a gentle smile.

"Thanks." Alex returned as much of a smile as she could before turning back to the pictures, her eyes landing on one of Mitchie in a red and green dress in front of a Christmas tree. She looked to be around four-years-old in the photo.

"I'm going to have to get one of these for my baby," Mitchie said, running a finger over the edge of the album.

"Oh!" Alex said, putting the album on Mitchie's lap and jumping to her feet. "I'll be right back."

And before Mitchie could question her, Alex walked quickly from the room. She crossed the living room, smiling and waving at Mr. and Mrs. Torres, and grabbed the gift from under the counter, where she'd stashed it earlier. She'd wanted to give this to Mitchie when they were alone, just the two of them. It was a personal gift, and it had meaning. She didn't want anyone looking in on them when she handed over the gift she'd spent hours thinking about and coming up with.

Upon reentering Mitchie's room, she placed the gift in Mitchie's lap and sat beside her. "Happy pregnancy," she said with a smirk.

Mitchie just rolled her eyes and smiled. "You're so clever." She looked down at the present in her lap. "There's no way you wrapped this," she said, holding it up.

"You know, it hurts to know how little faith you have in me," Alex joked. "But no, I didn't. I told Justin if he wrapped it I'd tell you that it was from both of us."

"I don't think you were supposed to tell me that first part." Mitchie giggled.

"Oh well. Just open it."

Mitchie smirked and pulled at the bow, untying it. Then she, very slowly, she started to take off the paper. She could tell Alex was holding her breath, waiting, and she smiled because she knew she was torturing the other girl. Finally, though, she was done with her teasing and finished opening the present.

In her lap was a book which read Baby's First Year on the front. Mitchie looked up at Alex, her features soft.

"A baby book?" she asked quietly.

Alex nodded, reaching over and opening the cover to the first page. Attached were copies from Mitchie's ultrasounds, the dates written under them in Alex's untidy scrawl.

"How'd you get these?" Mitchie asked.

"I may or may not have snuck into your room again…"

"Alex, you really need to stop stealing my things," Mitchie said. "Like, that's not a good habit to have." She was smiling to show she wasn't meaning to be severe, but she really did mean it.

"I didn't steal anything!" Alex protested. "I borrowed the originals to make copies, then put them back before you even noticed they were gone. That's not stealing!"

"Whatever you say, darling." Mitchie smiled and patted Alex's knee before looking at the book again.

From Harper she'd received a gift certificate to a local baby clothes boutique. From Caitlyn she received a gift card to have pictures taken of the baby after he or she was born. From Mrs. Russo she'd gotten an I-O-U card and an explanation that she'd get the baby a real gift when the baby was born and they knew the sex. And from her own mother, she had gotten a car seat. And Theresa had assured her that she and her father would be car shopping during the next month for a decent but cheap car for Mitchie so she could bring the baby back and forth wherever it needed to go without having to borrow one of their cars. All Mitchie would have to do is get her license. She'd taken the classes and passed the written part for her permit, she'd just never bothered to get an actual license. But once she got it, she was good to go.

All of the gifts were wonderful and really sweet, but none were as special to her as the book from Alex. Sure, she could buy clothes, it would be nice to get pictures of the baby taken, she needed a car seat, and whatever Mrs. Russo got for her was most likely going to be very nice… But they just didn't have Alex's special touch and charm attached.

Mitchie knew how selfish Alex had been her entire life. So for her to put thought into anything that wasn't for her was a milestone. It wasn't just today's gift that had her feeling like Alex had surpassed everyone. It was everything she'd ever done. Sure, her mom had been there her whole life and she knew Connie loved her very much, but that was a different kind of love. Her mom kind of had to love her. Alex didn't have to. Alex was there by choice, and that made everything she did for Mitchie all the more significant. The simple things, for Mitchie, were the sweetest things.

"Thank you, Alex. I really love it," she said, closing the book again and running a hand over the cover.

"You're welcome," Alex said, smiling at her girlfriend lovingly.

Mitchie leaned over, placing a sweet kiss on Alex's cheek. Then she rested her head on Alex's shoulder and reached for her hand, intertwining their fingers. She wasn't sure if what she'd had today could be considered a baby shower (after all, all they did was eat cake, open gifts, and talk), but whatever it was, she'd loved it. Now, all she had to look forward to was one more hurdle in this pregnancy, and that was when it ended.

"This is so weird," Alex commented as she took a seat behind Mitchie.

"Just do it. The book said to," Mitchie said, pointing to the picture in the book which they'd propped up so they could look at it while they worked on the exercise.

"But I'm not going to be sitting behind you in the delivery room," Alex said; then her face became fearful. "Do you even want me in the delivery room?"

"Of course I do, Alex." Mitchie turned her face slightly so she could look back at her girlfriend. "I can't imagine doing this without you."

"Okay," Alex said quietly with a relieved smile.

"Now, open your legs."

"My pleasure," Alex said in a low voice, wiggling her eyebrows as she spread her legs, Mitchie sitting in between them with her back towards Alex.

"Shut up," Mitchie said with a giggle. "We're supposed to be practicing breathing exercises." It was too late for Mitchie to sign up for a class, like most mothers did, so she was having to go through the exercises and learn from one of the books Alex had purchased for her.

"I know something that takes exercise and a lot of breathing," Alex muttered, nuzzling her nose into the back of Mitchie's neck as she ran her hands slowly down Mitchie's thighs.

Mitchie let her eyelids flutter closed momentarily and leaned her head forward, giving Alex more access as she felt warm lips come in contact with her skin. But when she remembered her parents were sitting right there in the living room and her bedroom door was open, her eyes flashed open and she quickly grabbed her girlfriend's wandering hands.

"Would you behave?" she scolded in a whisper. "My parents are literally in the very next room. Your hands are supposed to be here." She placed Alex's hands on her stomach. "Not on my thighs."

"Sorry," Alex said with a chuckle. "Couldn't help myself."

"Just keep your hands there while I read what we're supposed to do," Mitchie instructed, grabbing the book and flipping to the next page.

Alex was quiet for a moment. "Did you know that fifty-eight percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage within the first two weeks, before the mother even knows she's pregnant? And then eleven percent succumb after that."

Mitchie placed the book in her lap and turned to look at her girlfriend. "Where did you hear that?"

"It was in one of the books I got." Alex nodded to the pile on Mitchie's desk. "Also, first pregnancies are very commonly miscarried. And miscarriage is most common with teenagers and women over forty years of age."

"I didn't know that either," Mitchie said quietly, her mind reeling.

"Kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it?" Alex asked softly. "With all of the pregnancies that get miscarried, why are there so many pregnant teens? Why do so many girls get pregnant from their first time having sex and carry the baby to full term if the odds are so against them? And why, of all people, was it you?"

"I honestly have no idea, Alex," was all Mitchie could come up with.

Both girls sat there silently, Mitchie pretending to read how to do the exercise and Alex sitting behind her with her hands on Mitchie's stomach. Neither of them could get the question off her mind.

Why Mitchie?

Was it the universe's way of trying to teach her a lesson? Was this child destined to do something great? Or did it just happen by chance? Maybe that was it. Maybe sometimes shit just happened for no particular reason and it was up to them to figure out how to deal with it.

Maybe, just maybe… There was no reason. Life just was. And that's all there was to it.

IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ: If you follow me on twitter, you know I haven't been in the best of moods lately. Here's what's going on: I suffer from anxiety and depression, which has gotten a lot worse recently. I've been having panic attacks very frequently. It's become a huge problem. And I am just not happy like I used to be. The fact that I just had a family member diagnosed with cancer a year after my grandfather died of the same illness does not help any. I've gone to the doctor, and I've gotten a prescription for medicine to take to help me deal with things better. Hopefully, it will work and I can get my life back on track. Because honestly, I've been losing my mind. It's scary. I've been terrifying myself. So if this chapter seemed a little off, it's because I was off. And my schoolwork is terrible. My grades are shit. I need to get my act together. But I will try my best to update in a timely manner because writing is a stress relief for me and makes me feel great, but I can only write if I'm in a good mood to start with. So, thanks for all the wishes and the support. It means the world to me. I will try to update as soon as possible. I love you all. Thanks for the support, once again.

Twitter: xxMusicxSpazzxx

Wanna know what will make me smile? You writing a review :) Anonymous are enabled!