Disclaimer: I do not own Another Cinderella Story, but if I did I would probably take over the world.

A/N: Sorry again for leaving you hanging, but I'm back! Thank you for the reviews, I love each and every one of them! A special shout out to hilararoula and duelgirl98 for the multiple reviews!

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Mary opened the door to Doctor Stevens' office. She didn't think she could have faced this on her own, so she had asked Tami to come. Tami was being very supportive during this whole situation, just as Mary suspected she would be.

An older, red-headed woman greeted the girls with a smile. "I'm Dr. Stevens. Nice to meet you. Mary?" she guessed. Mary confirmed this and shook Dr. Stevens' outstretched hand. "And you are?" she looked at Tami.

"Tami Achava."

"You just here for moral support?" Tami nodded. "That's perfectly fine. I'll just need you to sit on this table here." She motioned toward a patients' table lined with a sterile covering, and Mary climbed up.

"Okay, I'm just going to take some blood here and then I'll need you to take this into the bathroom." Dr. Stevens handed her a small cup labeled with her name. "I assume you know what to do with it." She took a needle and carefully extracted what Mary thought was a lot of blood. Then she hopped off the table and excused herself.

When she returned, Doctor Stevens told her to wait there while she analyzed the samples.

Tami seated herself next to Mary. She gave her hand a squeeze. "I'm here Mary." She smiled and gave her friend a hug.

"Thanks, Tam. I knew you would be." The two sat in the waiting room talking pleasantly until the doctor returned.

"Okay, Mary, I checked everything out, and you came back positive." Mary couldn't believe it. No coherent thoughts were going through her head besides "No. No."

"We have programs that can help you. With anything from the emotional stress you're going through, to becoming a teenage parent, we're definitely here to help you, sweetie." Looking back, Mary couldn't remember anything else about their visit except one thing. Right as Mary was about to walk out, she felt a warm hand touch her shoulder. She turned around to face Dr. Stevens.

"Miss Santiago, I just thought I should tell you that you're not alone in this. Jesus loves you." Mary felt a tear escape her eye and wrapped the doctor in a big hug.

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"Joey, can we talk?" Joey followed Mary and Tami into the kitchen. They all sat down and waited for Mary to start. She stared at her clasped hands a long moment before finally coming right out and saying, "I'm pregnant."

She looked desperately to Joey for any sign that it was okay, that he didn't blame her, that they would get through this. Because if he didn't believe that, she didn't think she would either.

Mary got her sign. Joey stood up and opened his arms for her. Mary gladly accepted them, and finally let the sobs roll out. "Why? What did I do wrong to deserve this?" Mary choked.

"Nothing, love. Nothing at all. You know, I've been doing a lot of thinking through all this, and the more I ask myself that, the more I feel like God has something to do with it. He just seems to fit into the equation. It's like he wants us to trust him."

"Well, if he wanted me to trust in him, he shouldn't have let Dennis rape me!"

Joey shushed her gently and held her to himself, soothing her by stroking her hair. He quoted a verse he had been reading a lot lately. "'And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.' Do you know what that means, Mary? God turns everything to good if we believe in him. Please." Joey was almost in tears; this was so out of character, he never begged for anything. This had to be something he really cared about.

How could she respond? She didn't want to tell him that what had happened was not good, and she couldn't completely trust in a God that let horrible things happen (even if she still believed he had led her home safely after the accident).

So she didn't say anything; she just stood there and let him hold her.

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Time passed slowly for Mary. Day to day life was a cycle of morning sickness, dragging herself to school (mainly because she had nothing else to do), avoiding raw foods, coming home, wandering around the house, and going back to sleep.

It was hard for Mary to express how she felt to Joey. She would let him kiss her; she really didn't want to be touched, but she put up with it because she loved him. She had a feeling he could sense her hesitancy, because he had a vaguely hurt look in his eyes whenever he pulled away.

Mary had basically lost all will to move forward. She didn't dance anymore- not because of the pregnancy, but because she didn't get any joy out of it. The only thing that kept her from ending it all was the knowledge that Joey and Tami cared for her, and that she now had a child to protect and care for.

Joey had faithfully refrained from talking about Dennis. But one day, Mary could not stand it anymore. She had to know what was going on.

"Joey?" Mary tentatively approached him, watching a basketball game on TV.

"Yeah?" he turned the TV on mute. Mary sat beside him and took his hand.

"What's going on, Joey? Have they caught Dennis?"

Joey looked surprisedly at Mary. He obviously had not expected her to talk about it. "Well, it's not exactly good news. They found him and locked him up, but he escaped prison after causing a riot." Mary cursed. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry. I'm sure you noticed that the neighborhood is under constant surveillance, plus I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to you. And I won't.

Mary was shaking. She instinctively peered out the window for danger. She curled up next to Joey and clung to him like a frightened child. "What's he going to do?" she whispered.

"I don't know what he plans to do, but he won't lay finger on you if I have anything to say about it." And for the first time in a long while, Mary kissed Joey first.

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"In short, your baby is growing healthily and you don't have any major health issues that we need to worry about." Mary looked into the face of Doctor Stevens. She was here for her four-month checkup. "Also," Dr. Stevens added with a smile, "If you want, we can now perform an ultrasound to find out your baby's sex."

Mary looked excitedly at Tami, who had been faithfully attending her appointments. Tami returned the excitement, just like always. "Do you want to, Mary?" she asked.

Mary became thoughtful. She hadn't told anyone this, not even fully admitting it to herself, but she still didn't want this baby. She knew she could never get an abortion, but the memory of how this baby happened still haunted her, and she also knew a child would constantly remind her of that pain.

She didn't planned on saying it, but it just slipped out. "No. Let us find out when it comes." She chalked it off as wanting to be surprised, but inside she knew better. She didn't even want to think about this baby, but of course that was inevitable. She felt powerless. If she couldn't even control her own body, what could she control?

The rest of the appointment went well, and they parted with well-wishes from all the staff, who they had gotten to know quite well.

When they got back to Joey's house, he greeted them with smiles. He gave Mary a hug and a peck on the cheek. "So? What's the consensus?" Mary knew what he was talking about.

"I decided to wait and find out whether it's a girl or a boy. It'll be fun."

Joey frowned playfully. "Then how do we know what color to paint the nursery?" Mary shrugged. One thing she was grateful for though was the constant reminders from Joey that he accepted this with open arms, and that he wanted this baby. Maybe that was the reason Mary had decided to keep the it, she didn't know for sure.

Joey must have sensed that something was nagging at her deep inside because he became serious then. "Don't worry about anything, me and Tami are here for you." Joey placed a hand on the slight bulge of Mary's stomach. "Let me help you Mary." She leaned her head into Joey's chest and remained there for a long moment. Then she pulled away and smiled at him.

"Well, we better get cracking if we want to set up the nursery," she said. Tami jumped up and down.

"Ooh! Ooh! I'll help! I'll help! We should paint it light shades of blue and yellow. I found the cutest furniture and bedding online, you just wouldn't believe how adorable it is!" Tami rambled on in excitement. Mary and Joey exchanged a look and laughed heartily.

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A/N: Okay, so things are getting a little better. If you want excitement, just wait for the next chapter. So, the question of the day is: What's the best movie so far of 2010? There's Toy Story 3, Karate Kid, Eclipse, The Book of Eli, Clash of the Titans, Alice in Wonderland, etc. What's your fave? Or top five? Let me know!