Java stared at the old suburban neighborhood before her, remembering exactly what it looked like before the virus. It now looked like a tornado had flown through it. Most of the houses lacked windows and doors, and were tagged with graffiti. She walked up to a brick house and entered through what used to be the front door. She stepped slowly on to the cracked marble floor before she took another look around the house. "The place sure has changed," she muttered.

Jay shrugged, "It just needs a little bit of cleaning up. Before you know it, it'll be as good as new."

"You think Noelle will like it here?" she asked.

"Of course she will. It was your house…or it still is your house," he replied.

Java nodded then grinned, "I want this entire place to have a new paint job."

Jay sighed, "Oh gosh, you're going to make all of the rooms purple."

She scoffed, "Not all of them."

He wrapped his arms around her and sighed softly, "Gosh…if walls could talk."

Flashback

Java lunged straight at Ebony, going straight for the jugular. At age sixteen, the girl had a lot of power. "I hate you! Look what you did to my shirt!" she yelled, bringing her down to the floor.

Ebony wrestled her older sister off of her and at that moment, punches and slaps were thrown between the two girls. "You deserved it!" she yelled back.

The two continued to fight with no inhibitions. At one point, Java had even bitten Ebony on the arm and pulled out a braid or two. Of course, Ebony couldn't do very much but defend herself. Her sister was a lot bigger than her and therefore a lot stronger.

Suddenly, Daniel ran over to the two girls to separate them, "Janie, Ebony…stop it!"

Java didn't hold back any punches. "You knew it was my favorite shirt!" she yelled.

"Who cares if it was your favorite!" Ebony lunged at Java again and managed to get her on her back.

Daniel struggled to keep the girls from killing each other and when he was about to pry Ebony off her sister he suddenly felt someone's foot kick his crotch, causing instant pain. "My favorite place," he gasped.

End of flashback

She turned and kissed Jay on the cheek, "Well, it is our old neighborhood. There are so many memories here."

"Just think of all the new ones we'll make," he grinned.

She chuckled before she turned around to face him, "Do you remember all the times you made me mad? You just couldn't stop teasing me about Noah."

"Yeah," he blushed, "It's only because-"

"You liked me so much?" Java raised a brow. "It's really cute now that I think about it."

Flashback

"Why do you like this guy so much, Janelle? He's such a jerk," Jay said and sat on the brown leather couch in his house.

"You don't know him like I do. Besides, you're not the one who's going out on a date with him," she replied.

Jay stared at her, a little bit hurt that she was going to go out with a guy that he didn't like one bit. Noah was pretty wealthy, the star soccer player, and had the ability to pick and choose any girl he wanted and then dumped them off after he got what he wanted. He knew all of this since he was also a soccer player, a pretty good one at that, except the coach never saw it since he always put Noah in instead of him. [i]"Forget it, Jay. She's not gonna go for you,"[/i] he thought bitterly. "Alright whatever, Java," he sighed.

She jerked her head back, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothin," Jay shook his head.

"Fine then-"

"It's just that he's a jerk. You don't know him like I do. He'll pick any girl he wants, use them, and dump them off as if they're yesterday's trash," he explained.

"No, he wouldn't do that-"

"Why wouldn't he? You're being so naïve. He'll dump you and then what? You're going to end up hurt like all the other girls," Jay said. But before he knew it, Java angrily stormed off. "Java, wait."

"No!" she yelled back, already halfway out the door.

Jay sighed and rubbed his forehead, "Dammit, Jay, you big dork."

He suddenly looked down at the coffee table and saw that Java had left her keys. He grabbed them then ran out of the house, "Java-"

He saw that she already made it a quarter of the way to her house. He sighed deeply and opened the door to Java's black SUV. He drove slowly up to her with the window rolled down. "Hey! Aren't you forgetting something?" he asked with a slight smile.

Java looked back at him, now noticing her car. She sighed deeply, "Shut up!"

"But what are you going to do about your car?" he asked with a laugh.

"Freakin a!" she exclaimed. She let her hands fall to her sides and stormed over to the passenger side, "Fine! Drive me back home."

Jay laughed quietly as he began to drive her back in her car. All of a sudden, he felt a slap on his arm. "What?" he asked, chuckling.

"It's not funny!" Java said angrily, causing Jay to laugh even more.

End of flashback

After a couple hours, Damien grazed his hand over her belly, "On a scale of one to ten, how much did that one hurt?"

"Five," she replied nonchalantly. She turned to him, calmly now, "Alright, you know what you can do? Find Java and Jay."

"No, I can't leave you here alone," he said to her firmly.

"Well what do you suppose we do? Wait for them to," she stopped and inhaled deeply as another contraction tore through her. She gripped Damien's hand suddenly and squeezed it- hard.

Damien didn't mind it much. He'd gotten his hand squeezed harder than that before. He gazed down at her, "Breathe, Noelle, breathe. See, there's no way I'm letting you-"

"Shut up," Noelle choked out painfully, her eyes watering a bit. "Go! Go find my mom!"

Reluctantly, he got up, "Are you sure about this, Noelle?"

"Yes! Please, just go."

Damien sighed deeply, looked around the room and finally kissed her on the forehead. "I'll be back in an hour," he said and left.

After a few hours, Noelle decided to lie on her bed. She breathed deeply, unsure of how much longer she could last. She gripped the side of the bed as her knuckles turned ghost white. No matter what she did, the pain just got worse and worse for the next minute or so. When the pain somewhat subsided she just laid there, somewhat delirious from the contractions that came about every eight minutes.

She inhaled deeply then exhaled but stopped short once she heard the door creak. "Damien?" she called out only to receive no reply but the sound of heavy footsteps coming closer to her. "Damien is that you?"

"No, it isn't," she heard someone say.

She grew slightly scared. Since it wasn't Damien, and he certainly didn't sound like Jay, then who was it?

He stepped forward and opened the door. He stopped midway through the doorframe once he saw the girl, just writhing in agony. "Excuse me, miss? Are you alright?" he asked, staring at her with his dark brown eyes.

"No," she replied quietly. She watched the man approach her slowly and she curled up, pushing herself away from him. "W…what do you want?"

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said reassuringly in a deep accent. "My name's Slade. I came here because I thought this would be a place for me to stay for the night. Anyway, what's your name?"

"Noelle."

His eyes widened as he set his red leather jacket down on the ground. "Noelle? Noelle, it's me…it's Ron," he grinned. He couldn't believe his eyes. It was his younger sister…the sister he hadn't seen for years. "My god, look how much you've grown up," he muttered in amazement.

"Ron?" she smiled.

"Yes, yes it's me," he replied.

"Do you know where my mom might be?" she asked deliriously, "She said she'd be here."

Slade shook his head, "No, I'm sorry. But your mom? Jane's gone, love."

"N…no. My real mom…Java," she replied.

He was taken aback as he heard the name of the girl's real mother. "Java," he smirked, "I knew it."

Meanwhile, Java and Jay strolled through the virt market casually. Java began to look at some jewelry with Jay behind her and suddenly she paused. She took a short breath and turned around, feeling as if something was wrong.

"You alright there?" Jay asked.

"Yeah," Java replied uneasily. She turned around suddenly and looked up at Jay, "You think Noelle's okay?"

"Why wouldn't she be?" he shrugged.

"I…I don't know…the kid's about ready to pop. I think I should be there."

"Java, you worry too much. Noelle's going to be fine…" he trailed off. "Now that I think of it, I think we should go back."

"See? What got you worried?"

Jay sighed deeply as he grabbed her hand, "Damien. I don't trust him with her."

"He's not that bad, Jay. He said-"

"What makes you so sure, Java? I never told you this but right before Max left, he and Damien got into a huge fight over her. Max told me to watch over her and make sure he didn't come near her. I just don't know about him."

Java sighed deeply and looked up to Jay, "He's willing to be with a girl who has a baby. Now doesn't that seem awfully familiar?"

"Sure, but even before then he was all over her….while she and Max were together. I think he's just going to-"

"Java! Jay! Hey!" Damien shouted, his voice cracking in between. "Please, you have to come…it's Noelle."

"What? Is the baby coming or something?" Jay asked.

"Yes," he said, completely out of breath. "I've been looking for you two for the past three hours. I told her I'd be back in an hour but I ended up getting lost. Come on! We have to go!"

The three of them ran off in the direction of the shack. Two and a half miles later, the three entered the shack. However all of them, in their panic, forgot there was only one door and three of them. The three tried to squeeze past the other and ended up getting stuck.

"Where the hell have you guys been?" Noelle called out.

"Sorry!" Java said, squeezing herself past the boys. "We're here now and-"

Slade looked over to Java and smiled, "Hey, Java."

"Hello, Ron. How did you manage to find Noelle?"

"Well you see, I-"

"Are we really gonna go through this? I'm enjoying the family reunion but come on!" Noelle said in agony.

"Kid, you alright there?" Java asked as she took a seat next to her.

Noelle looked over at her with her forehead just glistening with perspiration, "Does it look like I am?I'm just fan-fucking-tastic!"

"Okay, I'm letting your attitude slide this time," Java smirked. "C'mon, Noelle, just breathe."

"I've been breathing! You don't even know-"

"Oh yes, I do," she laughed.

Noelle sighed deeply and laid her head back down on her pillow, wanting to cry badly. "Talk to me, I need a distraction," she said quietly.

"Okay…um…well-"

"Hurry!" Noelle yelled

"I'm trying!" Java yelled back in panic.

"I'm starting to see why Siva yelled at you now," she sighed.

"Hey!" she snapped back and pointed a finger at her daughter. She couldn't think of anything to say, so instead she just gave her a glare and a point.

Noelle laughed slightly, "What the hell's that supposed to do? Shut me up?"

"Yes, temporarily. You're starting to scare me, Noelle. You're like the girl from The Exorcist." Java replied defensively.

"So if I point at you, would you shut up?"

Java scoffed but didn't really say anything afterward. "Oh, whatever, Noelle," she said after a few seconds.

"Please…just keep talking to me."

"Why should I? You're only going to yell at me."

"Come on, you big baby. You're not the one who's in labor," Noelle replied.

"Alright, alright, alright," Java sighed, "you remember the old neighborhood we used to live in? Well Jay and I found it this morning…and…you know it's better than living in an old shack. Maybe you, the baby, me, Jay, and maybe Damien relocate there?"

"I…um…I don't know," Noelle replied uneasily.

"Why? What's the matter?" Java asked. After she received a shrug from her daughter, she figured out the reason behind the girl's uneasiness. Noelle was afraid of going back to her old house, the one that she lived in with Jane. "Don't worry, we're all going to stay at my old house. If it makes you feel better, it doesn't look anything like it used to."

"Okay, that's fine," she replied.

Jay came over now and sat next to Java, "So…Nema, huh?"

Noelle smirked and nodded. Once Java had been distracted by Slade and turned around, Noelle shook her head. "No way!" she mouthed to Jay.

Jay chuckled, "Alright, well…I guess Nema's a cool name. If you rearrange a couple of the letters it makes 'name.'"

Flashback

"So, Max…you're going to have a little boy?" Jay said to the young man.

Max smirked as he ran his hand through his hair, "Uh…sure."

Jay sighed as he pat Max on the shoulder, "I can see that you're nervous. Don't be, you're going to have Noelle with you and I'm sure the both of you will make great parents."

"Me? Nervous?" he smiled. "No, Jay, I'm actually uneasy about having a little boy."

"What? What do you mean you're uneasy? I thought you wanted a boy," he said.

"I told Noelle that I thought the baby was going to be a boy because I actually think it's gonna be a girl," he grinned. "I didn't want to jinx anything, so I told her a lie. I want a little girl, actually."

Jay laughed and shook his head, "Dammit! You know you even have Java thinking that she'll have a boy?"

"So? Since when did my opinion count? Besides, who actually knows if she's going to have a boy or girl?" Max chuckled.

"Well, for one…since you've persuaded Noelle, she's persuaded Java. She even told her to look at your side of the family. She said that you have two brothers and that maybe the male allele is dominant. She got all scientific on her mom," Jay said, still laughing.

"But if you look at Noelle's side of the family, it's dominated by females," Max said as he raised a brow.

"That's true," he shrugged. "So why a little girl? Why do you want a little girl running around?"

Max shrugged, "I don't know. I saw how little boys act when they're raised…hell, I was one of them…and I just think a little boy would be too rambunctious. And, I'd want our baby looking more like Noelle than me. Besides, don't you think Java would have one hell of a time dressing up a little girl and spoiling her more? Come on, you could only buy a little boy so much. Don't you agree, Grandpa Jay?"

Jay shot a glare back at the boy, "Don't ever call me that again."

End of flashback

"I can't do it anymore!" Noelle cried.

"Yes you can, yes you can, Noelle," Damien said reassuringly.

He took her hand but she suddenly slapped his away.

"Don't touch me!" she snapped.

Damien fearfully looked over at Java, who simply smiled.

"Noelle, you have to do it. You only have one more push to go," Java finally said.

"Fuck! Really?" Noelle sighed.

Java nodded, "Yes, 'fuck really.'"

Noelle glared at her mother and suddenly pointed at her, utilizing Java's point and glare technique. It didn't work because Java ended up laughing at her, "Not funny! Goddamn, why couldn't it be you this time around?"

Java's jaw dropped, surprised that her daughter repeated same thing Siva said when she was in labor. "Alright thanks, Siva," she joked.

"I just want this baby out of me!" she cried.

"Alright, you're gonna have to push," Ron said then nodded to her, "Now."

Noelle did as she was told and pushed for as long as she could. She heard a person count down from ten to one but she couldn't make out who the person was. But after those ten agonizing seconds her baby was born. She saw the newborn in the arms of Ron but there was something wrong….seriously wrong. She could tell by his frown and the complete silence that filled the room. No crying, no whining, nothing. "What's wrong? Why isn't he crying?" she asked.

"Hang on for a moment, Noelle," he replied quietly. He stared at the baby for a moment, turned it on its belly and rubbed its back.

Noelle looked over to Java, quite scared that her baby wasn't crying.

Java held on to her daughter's hand and nodded to her reassuringly. "Everything's going to be fine, Noelle," she muttered quietly.

Ron furrowed his eyebrows as he concentrated deeply, massaging the baby's back to create warmth. Then he smirked once he saw it wriggle around. "Come on, you've got it," he whispered to the young one.

The baby moved around in his arms but couldn't make noise. That soon changed when "SLAP!" Ron slapped the baby's bum, causing it to cry out loudly. He smiled now and nodded to it, "You're going to be fine."

Noelle and the others breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh thank god he's alright."

Ron nodded, "That's where you're wrong."

"What? What do you mean?" Java asked.

Ron looked back at Jay and showed him the baby, causing him to laugh. "Noelle, you have a little girl and [i]she's[/i] going to be just fine," Ron said and handed her the baby, who was wrapped up in a purple blanket.

Noelle's jaw dropped and then she grinned once she held her daughter for the first time, "Well hello there. You're one hell of a kid, you know that?"

Java smiled, "She's your little Nema, Noelle."

The girl shook her head, "No, she isn't."

"Then what is she?"

Noelle gazed down at the baby and grinned, "She's my little Janie."