I did previously upload this chapter, but I took it down after having written a second section. If you have already read this chapter read it again, because there's more.

"Why didn't you call me?!" Kendall heard Mitch yell over the phone. His mom was standing in the living room getting ready to leave for today's trip to the NICU. It had been a week since Keegan was born and she had been released from the hospital a few days ago. Needless to say, her baby had not. She liked to get there as soon as possible, but the shift change at 7AM closed the unit for an hour so she usually tried to get there by 8AM. However, today, she was running late and now slowly pacing as she was a teeny bit sore, while talking to who she liked to think of as her ex-boyfriend.

"I forgot about him," Katie, sitting on the orange couch, whispered to Kendall.

"Oops," Kendall replied.

"It's ironic that when we shouldn't be talking to him we do and when we should we don't."

"I'm not sure that's the definition of irony, but it's something."

"Well, looks like I'll be meeting Mitch at the hospital." Mrs. Knight grabbed her purse off the table and threw her phone into it. "I can't believe we forgot to call him."

"How did he find out?" Katie asked.

"He went to the hospital to see me." She rubbed her head. "I really…don't want to see him. I just want to spend time with my son."

"Mom, do you still love Mitch?" Katie asked earning an elbow from her brother.

"I—I can't talk about this right now." Mrs. Knight opened the door and then turned around to face her children. "If you want to visit Keegan come by after lunch."

"Jennifer, you know I want to be involved!" Mitch exclaimed the minute Jennifer approached him.

"Let's not argue about this." She led him into the room.

"Argue? My son was born a week ago and you didn't tell me!"

"I forgot, okay? My son was born a week ago, seventeen weeks premature. This isn't easy."

"If you'd let me help…"

Jennifer put a hand on his shoulder to direct him toward Keegan. Over the course of the week he had gained half a pound and grown to be exactly one foot tall. It was promising news. However, he still had not enough strength to suckle on his own and his lungs were not developed enough to breathe on their own. But, hopefully, it looked like he was on his way. All the wires attached to his body made him look even smaller than he already was.

"How sick is he?"

"He doesn't have an infection, if that's what you mean, thank God, but his lungs are underdeveloped as are most of his organs. He has to do a lot of growing outside the womb that he should be doing inside. I just—I just want to hold him and make everything okay." One tear made its way down her cheek allowing dozens more to follow. "I'm his mom. I should be able to kiss his boo-boo and make him feel better, but I ca—can't." She ran her fingers along the plexiglass. "If you want to touch him you can use these gloves," she pointed to the ones attached to the incubator, "but wash your hands first. We cannot risk him catching an infection."

"He's so tiny. I don't blame you," he said so softly Jennifer almost missed it.

Blame her? Did he think she had something to do with this? It wasn't her fault. These things happen!

"These things happen," she said out loud.

"I know," he replied coming back from the sink where he had washed his hands with antibacterial soap. "I can't believe he's so small." Mitch ran his gloved hand over his son's body. "I can't believe something this small can survive."

"You should have seen him last week," Jennifer said. Mitch gave her a look.

"All right, Mom," the NICU nurse said walking over to the two. Jennifer rolled her eyes at being called mom. "Would you like to hold your son?"

"I can hold him?"

"Mother-child bonding is extremely important in the early stages. We'll just need to disinfect your chest area…" the nurse went about her routine and after taking opening the incubator slowly lifted Keegan out.

"Will I be able to hold him, too?" Mitch asked.

The nurse looked at him with sad eyes.

"I'm sorry. We wouldn't even let the mothers do it if it wasn't so important in bonding. OK, Mom." The nurse placed Keegan in Jennifer's arms. Jennifer didn't even care she was called mom. She was holding her son for only the second time.

Jennifer sat down in the rocker next to the incubator and brought the baby to her chest. A tear escaped down her cheek and onto the baby. She quickly wiped it away. Crying on the baby would not do anyone any good.

"Hey, little guy," she said softly. "I love you." She felt him relax in her arms and let out a contented sigh. She rubbed his back. "I wish there was something I could do for you." Jennifer closed her eyes and took in the baby smell. If she could bottle it up and take it home with her she would. "I can't wait for you to get bigger and healthier so I can take you home. You'll love it there. Everyone's so nice and…it's weird, because you hear all those stories about Hollywood people, but the people at The Palm Woods, while they have their complexes, deep in their hearts they're really nice, even Mr. Bitters. I'm sure he'll be thrilled there's another boy in the household. Even the Jennifers, those girls your brother, Carlos, tried to date. Don't get confused that those girls have the same name as your mother. I'm nothing like them. I hope."

She immediately opened her eyes when she heard a harsh sniffling sound come from Keegan. She patted his back gently hoping that would clear up whatever was in his nose, but he kept sniffling. Worry spread through her as the hose in his nose sounded like it was getting clogged with the mucus.

"Is he going to be okay?" she asked in tears as a nurse quickly took him away from her.

"Shh," another nurse tried calming Jennifer down by rubbing her arms. She shrugged her off and without thinking put herself in Mitch's arm.

Kendall squeezed his mom's hand lightly as he carried a tray with both his and her lunch one handed. The boys, Katie, and Jo had come to take her to lunch as they had planned the night before only now it was nearly impossible to pry her away from the NICU. The plans had originally been to go somewhere off campus, but they were lucky to get her to the hospital cafeteria.

"They cleaned his nose, put in a fresh tube, and administered some medication. The only thing you'd be doing right now is watch him sleep." Mitch, carrying his own tray selected a big table for the group of eight.

"But—"

"They have your number," Kendall assured.

After setting his and Katie's tray down, James pulled out a chair Mrs. Knight. "They'll call if anything happens."

"And they're not going to call," Logan said placing Jo's food which he had carried on his tray despite her protests in front of the open seat next to Kendall. "Because nothing's going to happen."

Jennifer smiled politely at him. Mitch rubbed her back.

After sitting in relative silence for five or ten minutes where the only sounds were their chewing and the conversation of a few doctors some tables away Mitch spoke up.

"Sorry to eat and run, but I got to get back to work." He leaned over Jennifer like he wanted to kiss her but instead put his arms around her. "Call me later, please, whether anything happens or not. He's my son, too."

Jennifer just nodded. She felt like breaking down into sobs but didn't want to scare anyone. She just couldn't take anymore. Her unexpected son was born seventeen weeks early. She wasn't getting any sleep for all she could think about was poor Keegan barely over a pound in weight, his pale skin so translucent, attached to the wires with added breathing problems from today. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. Did she do something wrong? Was she being punished? Why? Why God?

"Mom?" She looked at Kendall through blurry eyes.

"Can we go back, please?"

Kendall pulled his mom into a hug. He hated seeing her in so much pain. He already felt bad about his brother, but seeing his mom like this broke him further. "We're going to get through this."

Katie offered to take their mother back to the NICU. When Kendall let go of her he fell into Jo's embrace and released the tears.

I play this game called Drawception. It's basically the telephone game via drawings. This is how the site describes itself "Where simple drawing meets the classic "telephone game". Miscommunication and hilarity ensues!" I would like to direct you to a game I recently created that I think you might enjoy. It doesn't end up where it started, many games on the site don't, but its beginnings (I didn't think anyone would be that accurate)… yeah… And I know this site doesn't like URLS drawceptionDOTcomSLASHviewgameSLASHYnZYWD2KhfSLASHbandana-manSLASH (replace dot with . and slash with /)

If you send me a review, thank you, and you don't get a reply it's either one of the following: I am slow at responding, but I will respond (hopefully within the week) or you didn't sign in so I can't send you a reply (especially November 2 1990 who I always want to reply to but she doesn't sign in)! Thank you to everyone who does review!

If you're reading this far down, thanks. March 28 is Something on a Stick Day so come join me (and Carlos Garcia) in celebrating with a corn dog.