Hai! I've kind of been going through a brain fart lately (0 inspiration) so, I finally got chapter 32 done, meaning that I could post 23. Ha! 32 is 23 backward! Anyway, here's chapter 23!

…which is 32 backward…

Chapter Twenty-Three

Max

Fang had continued to insist that I eat something, so he dragged me out of my bathroom sanctuary and into the kitchen. The smell of the food cooking burned my nose and made me feel even worse. Fang seemed to notice my discomfort, because he said, "Go lie down on the couch and I'll get you something light."

I did as I was told, too tired to disagree. Fang returned with some crackers and water. I didn't realize how thirsty I was until he handed me the glass of water. I brought it eagerly to my lips and chugged it down.

"Don't drink it so fast!" came Iggy's startled voice. "You'll just make yourself sick again. The glass was taken away from me by Fang. I pouted at him but he didn't give it back.

"I'm so thirsty," I griped. Nudge, who had come in the room with Iggy, knelt down by my head.

"I know, Max," she whispered calmingly. "But you have to listen to us. Drink it slow, okay? If you drink it slow, you can have some more."

They were talking to me like I was a child. Or an insane person. I kind of felt like both right then, so it didn't really matter. I took my glass back from Fang and sipped it. I wanted so badly to drink it all at once. But I wasn't allowed to. So I co-operated.

Everything I ate that day was pretty much water, crackers, and toast. Boring, but I didn't throw them up so it was good. My mom and Ella didn't get here until about three in the afternoon. When they did, Mom was in a state of panic.

"Hey," I said when I let the ladder down so they could climb up. "How's it going?"

"I'm okay, how are you?" she asked. In most other cases, the question would have just seemed polite, but she seemed panicked so I took it as a real question.

"I'm fine," I told her. "Really. I'm not expiring or anything, I don't think. Fang checks my neck a lot for numbers, so I think I'm surviving."

"If you wouldn't mind, either way, I'd like you to just do one test for me, please," my mom said, calming herself.

"Yeah, sure. I want to find 0ut what's up with me as much as you do, I think."

"Alright," my mom said. She opened a box and pulled out a sticky-jigger thing. "Could you just..."

"She wants you to pee on the stick," Ella said briefly when Mom hesitated. I cocked my eyebrow.

"Pee on a stick?" I said. "Ew. I don't want to pee on a stick."

"You have to if you want to find out what's wrong with you," Mom said. I rolled my eyes and took the sticky-jigger thing.

"Fine. I'll pee on the stick." I headed down the hall to the bathroom, checking out the sticky-jigger thing. There wasn't much to it. Just a stick with a little screen on it. I guessed the results came up there.

I did as I was told and watched the screen before leaving. I wanted to see if I could decipher what it said I had. I waited while it loaded the results, then a little word popped up on the little screen.

Pregnant

I stared at the screen for a second. I felt like I was going to be sick again. I washed my hands and clutched the sticky-jigger thing tightly in my fist. I wondered what my mom would say. I'd gotten myself knocked up. Damn Fang. This was his fault. I didn't know the whole science behind pregnancy and sex and stuff. I'd never had to go over it with the kids because no one had asked and it hadn't seemed important at the time. Maybe this was a lesson that I should have taught them.

There was a light tap on the door. "Max?" my mom's voice called through the door. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," I said, but was betrayed by my own voice when it cracked noticeably. I coughed. "I'm fine," I repeated. I mentally counted how many times I'd said that today. Surprisingly, almost none of them had been true. I wasn't okay. It was time to face that fact. I turned the knob and stepped out of the door. I handed my mom the test and continued down the hall. I collapsed on the couch, clutching my abdomen, and was immediately swarmed by flock members.

"Max," my mom said, joining the swarm around me. I felt so caged in. I didn't like it. "It's going to be okay. Really. Nobody loves you any less because of this, okay? You don't have to worry. It will be okay."

I buried my face in the cushions. "No, it won't," I mumbled into the fabric. "I screwed up, big time. I know."

Mom put her hand on my shoulder. "Max, this doesn't change the way I, or anyone else here, feel about you. We're all going to help you get through this.

"Get through what?" Nudge asked finally. All of us had forgotten to tell them.

"Max is going to have a baby."