"You seem like you're in a good mood, Enid," Roxie remarked. "What brought this on?"

Enid did a slight pirouette as she reached up to put one of the glasses in the cupboard. "A few things," she said. "I met a new guy, your mother is pregnant..."

Roxie's eyes widened. "You just stop right there! Mom can't be pregnant. I'm pregnant!"

"You can both be pregnant at the same time. Although frankly, you're gonna have more to brag about than she is," Enid assured her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Roxie asked.

"You'll find out," Enid said. "Why don't you go tell her over your lunch break. Unless of course you've already told her?"

"Well, no," Roxie said. "I told my dad and he didn't react normally, so I thought I'd wait to tell my mom."

"Now is as good a time as any," Enid said. She watched Roxie expectantly. "Fine," Roxie said after a moment. "Fine, I'll go." Giving Enid a dirty look, she left the bar, got in her car and drove to her mother and Uncle Elijah's house, where she was met at the door by an overly eager small child.

"Who are you?" She asked him. "Stop pawing at me!" She nudged him off her and his lip began to tremble.

"Sorry about that," her uncle said as he appeared and picked the little boy up. "Hello, Roxanne. This is Gregory. Your mother coddles him much more than she should, so he can be a bit clingy at times."

"Who is he?" Roxie asked.

"Your half brother," Elijah said, smirking.

"He doesn't look very old," Roxie observed. "Is he? And stop referring to him as my brother. He is not my brother because you and Mom aren't..." She trailed off with an expression of disgust, gesticulating wildly.

Elijah shook his head. "No, he's not very old. Just over a year. And have you heard that your mother is pregnant again?"

"And yet Mom is pregnant again," Roxie said flatly. "Or at least that's what Enid told me over at the bar. Is that true?"

Just then, the back door opened. "Hello?" Selina called. "I'm back." She had just finished some things at the bakery.

Elijah grinned. "Well, why don't you ask her?" He said. "She's here now."

Roxie walked to the the back door and stood staring at her mother with her hands on her hips. "Are you pregnant?" She asked.

"Well, yes," Selina nodded. "You came all the way over here to ask me that? I wouldn't think you'd go to all the trouble."

"I came here to tell you you have lousy timing because I'm pregnant too!" Roxie said.

Selina started violently. "What? What did you say? Roxanne, did you just say you're pregnant? For real this time?" She collapsed into a chair. "Oh, my god."

"Why does everyone react like that?" Roxie asked, stomping her foot.

"Well, you guess," Selina told her. "You're not exactly the most motherly type."

"Neither were you at one point," Roxie said. "Or have you forgotten about the craziness that was Mary Anne?"

Selina shook her head wearily. "I don't think I'll ever be able to forget about Mary Anne. But you just knew that wasn't gonna end well. She was the daughter of a guy who cheated on me and your father didn't even ask before he decided we'd take her in. Maybe if he'd discussed it with me first, it would have been easier to be nicer to her."

"Oh, I don't think so," Roxie said. "I think she would have still been a pain in the ass, prior warning or no. Some people just are."

"So, tell me why," Selina said after a moment.

"What do you mean 'why'?" Roxie asked. "Why what?"

"Why get pregnant?" Selina asked. "Whose idea was it?"

"Vince came up with the idea and I said I'd give it a shot," Roxie said.

"So it was a mutual decision?" Selina asked. "You didn't just agree with him, did you? Because remember, it's not him that's going to have to deal with the majority of the consequences, it's you."

"He'll have to deal with them secondhand," Roxie said. "He'll be the one that has to listen to me cry and scream and complain and stuff. That's a consequence, right?"

"In a way, I guess it is," Selina said thoughtfully. "So, Vince wanted to have a kid, you said you'd give it a try...and?"

"And I'm kind of scared," Roxie admitted. "What if I screw up?"

"Here's a secret," Selina said. "No one does a perfect job raising kids. Sooner or later, you do something that makes you think 'My god, that will make them have to talk to a therapist years from now,' but most of the time, they get over whatever it is eventually and come out well-adjusted in spite of it. Take your brother Adrian for instance: How many times do you think he walked in on your father and me as a child?"

"A lot?" Roxie guessed.

"That's right," Selina nodded. "A lot. And look at him now. He grew up perfectly lovely in spite of that. And there were all the times he could have died before he was born among other things. The point is, if he got through his childhood all right, then anybody can. Or you. Think about how you grew up. You didn't exactly have a typical childhood, did you?"

Roxie shook her head. "No, I guess I didn't. Not that I blame you for that, of course."

"I know you don't," Selina said. "It was between you and your dad and you did what you thought was best. Did I ever tell you that I've always really admired you for that?"

Roxie smiled, surprised. "Probably," she said. "I don't usually pay attention to anything you say, but maybe I should start." She reached for her mother's hand. "Thank you," she said.

"Yeah," Selina said ruefully. "Don't thank me too much. I haven't exactly been the best role model for you. You know why I'm having this kid at this point?"

"Why?" Roxie asked. "Did Uncle Elijah decide it for the two of you?"

"Of course not!" Selina said. "For god's sake, it's worse than that, even. My mom and his dad are a couple now, and being the traditional people they are, every time they come to visit, they're like 'when are you going to have another baby? The one you have is a year old already'." She sighed. "I just thought things would be easier if I had the next kid now. I know that's not healthy, but sometimes, you have to do things you wouldn't necessarily do normally if you want to keep the peace."

"And you want the kid, right?" Roxie asked.

"Well, of course I do!" Selina said. "I love kids! I'm just not used to having them so close together." She paused. "And don't forget about Sam."

"What about him?" Roxie asked. "Are you talking about the fact that technically he shouldn't exist?"

"He was a surprise, that's for sure," Selina said. "And raising him was a bit difficult, what with the fact Damon and I weren't actually together anymore when he was born, but we got through it, right? I guess I should thank Lenora someday for saving us a bunch of misery by making him and Lucy grow up so fast."

"Yeah," Roxie said. "And at least Sam was more mad at Damon in the end than he was at you for his less than perfect childhood."

"That's not really a win for me," Selina said. "I want him and Damon to get along. They're really all each other has. I try to support them both, but I can only stretch myself so thin before all I do is disappoint more than help. That is why I hope every day that something will come along to make them come back together on their own."

"But back to me," Roxie said. "So you think I'll do okay?"

"Well, do you think you'll do okay?" Selina asked. "Are you willing to make the effort to be a good mother? Because it does take effort. Especially if your kid happens to like her father more than you and makes a point to throw a tantrum every time you come near her."

"If that happens, I'll just have to dig my heels in and keep doing what I'm doing, won't I?" Roxie asked. "Because it's possible that underneath all the tantrums, she'll really want my attention, but being a baby, she won't be able to say so." Roxie kept her eyes on her mother as she said this. "You're not the only person I've had a hard time relating to in my life. After Dad went on his drunken, hybrid-making rampage at Enid's, I was scared of him for years. That's why I stayed away so long. And I know I could have told you, but I thought you'd tell him, so I didn't. I wish I had though."

Selina nodded and took Roxie in her arms. "I wish you had too," she said. "It would have saved you from feeling so alone."

"I was never entirely alone," Roxie said. "I had Vince."

Selina nodded. "You did and you do. I think you're very lucky to have him."

"Yeah," Roxie agreed. "And you know what else? I'm lucky to have you too."

"Well, thank you," Selina said. "Listen, you probably don't know this, but I bought a bakery and our grand opening is soon. You want to come? If you feel up to it, that is. Sometimes, morning sickness can be a real bitch."

"You bought a bakery?" Roxie asked, looking at her mother in amazement. "That's so cool! Can I come and see it?"

"Sure," Selina said. "I have a few recipes I still need a taste tester for and Elijah doesn't like it when I give Gregory a lot of sugar." She rolled her eyes and looked hopefully at Roxie. "Would you be interested?"

"Well, yeah!" Roxie said. "What are we still standing here for? Let's go!"

Sam was sitting alone in the back of the bus thinking about Corrie. She was pretty, there was no doubt about that. And it had been nice to finally tell someone about his problems with his family who didn't think he was a total weirdo. But at the same time, there seemed to be something about her that was a little off. That story about her family, for starters. He smirked. Vampires and werewolves were one thing, but Greek gods? They definitely were not real, so no matter what she said, she wasn't one. He sighed. "Just my luck," he whispered under his breath. "I get someone to like me and she turns out to be a looney. He looked up just in time to see Corrie bending over one of the instrument cases, struggling to get it closed. He grinned to himself. She might be crazy, but she was pretty too. Even so, was it okay for him to get involved with her? Or would things just end badly, with him wishing he'd never been with her in the first place? He needed advice. He reached for his phone and opened it, but who to call? He couldn't call his mom, Lucy would just laugh in his face if he asked her...that only left one person. His dad. He took a deep breath and dialed Damon's number.

Damon was just waking up when the phone began ringing very insistently. Groaning, he threw his pillow at it, but that didn't make it stop. Finally, he decided to get out of bed and pick his phone up off the floor. "Hello?" He grumbled. "Who is it? What do you want?"

"Dad?" said a voice he never thought he'd hear again. "It's me, Sam. Did I wake you? I'm sorry."

Damon was so shocked he almost dropped the phone. "Yeah, you did wake me," Damon said. "But it's probably time I got up anyway. What's the matter? Are you all right? How's Europe?"

"It's fine, I'm fine. But I'm having a problem," Sam said. "And I need your help. I didn't feel comfortable asking Mom about this."

"Sure," Damon said, sitting down on the bed. "What is it?"

"I met a woman and she's pretty and nice and I think she likes me, but I also think she's weird. And crazy."

"But you said she's hot, right?" Damon clarified.

"Well, yeah," Sam answered. "Duh."

"Here's something you should always remember," Damon told him. "Hot trumps weird every time. Trust me."

"Really?" Sam asked. "Because she thinks she's a goddess. Not a metaphorical one, which she is, but a real one."

"Well, that's new," Damon said. "I've never heard that one before, and I have been with some crazy women, let me tell you."

Sam grinned. "I bet you have. So what should I do?"

"She hasn't, for example, threatened to kill you or started sending you dead chickens in the mail or anything like that, right?" Damon asked.

"Right," Sam said. "We just, you know, talked about our families and she brought up the goddess thing."

"Did you mention that you have werewolves and vampires in your family?" Damon asked.

"Of course not!" Sam said. "I didn't want her to think I was nuts!"

"Good," Damon said. "I think you should keep it that way, just to be safe. So, other than possibly certifiable, is she nice?"

"Yeah," Sam nodded. "She's the manager of our band. We're en route to Greece now. Oh, and before you ask and feel all awkward about it, no I haven't heard anything new from Lucy."

Damon grinned ruefully. "Well, thank you," he said. "She called me and told me about how she's doing that mural for the opera house. I hope it's going well."

"I looked up the place on the internet, and it said the place is haunted!" Sam said gleefully. "I wonder how many people died there?"

"Probably none," Damon said. "I bet they just made up that ghost story for publicity."

"True," Sam said. "But I think it would be cool if it actually was haunted." He paused. "I gotta go, Dad. The guys are gesturing at me and it seems like the bus has stopped for some reason. It was nice talking to you."

"You too," Damon said. "It was a nice surprise for me. And I wouldn't mind if you called more often either. Lucy's not the only one I want to hear from."

"All right," Sam said. "I'll try and make time. Goodbye."

"Bye, Sam," Damon said. He heard the click of the receiver on the other side and then silence. He stood with the phone to his ear, clutching it tightly for a little while longer, then slowly put it back on the bedside table and went to get dressed, pleased with the realization that he and Sam had just had their first civil, even pleasant, conversation in a long time.

The morning of the bakery grand opening, disaster struck. Selina locked herself in the bathroom beginning at two a.m., overcome by morning sickness. By six, things had finally calmed down and she was able to move away from the toilet and drag herself back to bed. She fell asleep and didn't wake up until she felt Elijah gently shaking her.

"It's past ten," he said. "Abby called. She and her grandmother are wondering where you are. What should I tell them?"

Selina looked at him with half-focused eyes. "I can't go," she said. "I feel like hell. I'm tired, and nauseous and everything hurts!" She paused. "I bet I look like hell too!"

"I think you're being too hard on yourself," Elijah said. "You've had a bad night and you need to get your rest."

"Which is code for 'Yes, Selina, you do look horrible, but I'm too gentlemanly to say so'," she grumbled and pulled the covers over herself. "I feel bad about leaving Abby and her grandmother alone, though. I feel like someone else should be there, at least for today." She looked at Elijah appealingly. "Would you be willing to take over for me? It'll be just this once, I swear."

Elijah looked at the pathetic picture she made, lying prostrate on the bed and moaning, and put a hand on her cheek. "Of course," he said. "I'd be glad to. I'll just go change into something that won't kill me to stain, go drop Gregory off at our parents' and then roll up my sleeves and put in a good day's work. You can give me restitution when you feel better," he grinned. She rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at him and he laughed and grabbed an old t-shirt and pair of jeans out of the dresser and went into the closet to change into them, then left for the bakery.

When he walked in the door, he was, of course, greeted by Abby, who had to push her way through an sea of people to meet him. "There you are!" She said. "I was hoping you'd show up. Where's Selina?"

"She's not feeling well today, so I came instead. I hope your grandmother will be all right with that," Elijah said.

Abby grinned. "Of course she will," she said. "I know I am. I'm so sorry about Selina, though. I hope she gets better soon. But until then, it will just be the three of us running this place."

Elijah slowly backed away from Abby and ran for the kitchens. "I'm here, Edith!" He said as he burst through the kitchen doors. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

The older lady turned. "Well, hello, there!" She said pleasantly. "Why are you breathing so hard? Did you run all the way here?"

Elijah paused, closed his eyes, and trid to calm his breathing. "Well, I got here as fast as I could," he said. "And it's good I did too, I suppose. The place is full! Selina will be glad to hear that."

"What's happened to her?" Edith asked. "Nothing serious, I hope."

"No," Elijah shook his head. "Nothing serious. She's pregnant and not feeling well today."

"Well, congratulations and I'm sorry to hear that," Edith replied. "I hope she'll be back on her feet soon."

Elijah nodded. "Oh, I have no doubt she will be. You can't keep her down for long. It's one of her defining characteristics."

Edith put the finishing touches on the pink frosting of a batch of chocolate cupcakes, then handed them to him. "These are seventy-five cents per cupcake," she said. "Make sure people give you their money before they take one. It's a bit of a mob scene out there, so it might be difficult. Abby will be glad to help you, I'm sure."

"Oh, goody," Elijah said under his breath. He didn't relish being dependent on Abby, although he was sure it would make her day. He brought the cupcakes out of the kitchen and put them on the counter. "So what do we do now?" Elijah asked Abby. He had to shout to be heard over the pulsing rock music and chatter of the customers, who were packed tightly together in a room that was nearly at full capacity.

"How about this?" Abby yelled back. "You take the money and I'll give out the goods."

"All right!" Elijah said, and then immediately regretted the decision. As soon as he appeared, it was as if every woman in the place ran toward him yelling and screaming and pulling at his shirt and his hair. Soon, his shirt had been torn from his body and lay in a crumpled heap on the floor, and women were waving dollar bills in the air as Abby gleefully threw cupcakes and other baked goods into the crowd. Some women even tried to put dollar bills in the waist band of Elijah's jeans, but he managed to move out of the way before that happened.

Eventually, he managed to escape and hide out in the kitchen.

"Well, what happened to you?" Edith asked him with a grin. "Are you all right?"

"To tell you the truth, I'm really not," Elijah said. "It's bedlam out there. Complete and utter bedlam."

"It is, isn't it?" Edith said. "I never had a day like this. Then again, I never really made the effort to be hip. That probably helped draw the kids in." She looked at Elijah sympathetically. "If it makes you feel any better, you can spend the rest of the day in here with me. Well, me and my friend Anne. She told me she'd stop by to check the place out some time today."

"Well, that's nice," Elijah said. "I hope she enjoys herself and that she's very hale and hardy. She'll have to be to not get trampled by the crowd out there."

Just after one in the afternoon, Elijah heard the kitchen door open and Edith said, "Here's Elizabeth, Elijah." Elijah looked up and put an apron on to cover himself up, walking in the direction of Edith's voice. But when he looked up and saw the woman who was standing with her, he froze. "Oh, my god," he whispered.

"Hello," Elizabeth said to him. She had big blue eyes and long, snow white hair which she had put up in a bun. "How are you?"

"Fine," Elijah said. "And you?"

Anne grinned. "Wonderful. Your wife has quite the business here. It is your wife who runs this place, right?"

"Yes," Elijah nodded. "But she's not feeling well today so I'm taking her place."

"How sweet," Elizabeth said. And once Edith had gone to wipe down the empty tables after the initial crowd thinned, Elizabeth whispered, "You always were a considerate person, Elijah. At least until you left me, that is."

"I had to!" Elijah whispered back. "You wouldn't have understood at all. And I couldn't drag you into it. I loved you too much to do that to you."

But Elizabeth's expression was cold. "So help me understand," she said. "Tell me what you are. How is it that I've grown old and you still look the same as you did the day I met you?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he said. "It would be safer for you if you just forgot all about me and lived your life and died."

"Your current wife, does she know?" Elizabeth asked. "Or are you going to string her along, lie to her, and abandon her too, like you abandoned me?"

"No," Elijah shook his head. "Selina is different. You have to understand. You and I could never have lasted. We're too different. Selina and I, we're the same. I don't have to worry about her. To her, the damage has already been done."

"What damage?" Elizabeth demanded. "Tell me the truth! What are you?"

"I'm a vampire," Elijah said through his teeth. "One of the oldest vampires in existence. That's why you're old and I'm not. It's a hard life. And you deserved better and better than me, so I left you for your own good. And you have a family, didn't you?"

"Yes," Elizabeth nodded. "I do."

"And so do I," Elijah said. "I've married Selina and we have a son who's just a year old and another one on the way, who I actually hope is a girl, but we'll find out for certain in a couple of months."

"I don't believe you," Elizabeth said. "You ripped my heart from my body and now you're just standing there, obliviously talking about another woman! You're not even sorry, are you?"

"I am sorry that things had to end between us the way they did, but it was really for the best," Elijah said. "Elizabeth, can't you see that?"

"Never!" Elizabeth shook her head, her hair flying around wildly. "And you'll be sorry. I'll make you sorry. I promise!" And with that, she strode from the kitchen, leaving Elijah to stand in stunned silence.

They closed the bakery around five and Elijah, tired, bruised, aching and covered in cupcake frosting from his hair to his jeans, drove home. He parked the car in the garage, pulled himself up the steps and nearly collapsed inside the front door. He just wanted to soak and go to sleep. He didn't care how early it was. He found a note from Selina on the fridge: Felt better so I went to pick up Gregory. He's playing in his room. I'm in our bathroom. I want to say thank you for covering for me today.

Suddenly feeling more awake, Elijah sprinted to their bedroom and opened the bathroom door. Selina was sitting in their bathtub. When she saw him, she arose from the water, her body dropping wet, naked and covered with bubbles. "Well, there's my hero," she said. "You look like you could use a bath."

"Yes," Elijah said, his train of thought suddenly disappearing as she came toward him. "Do you need help getting out of your pants?" She asked, an eyebrow raised and a wicked grin curving her lips.

Elijah eased her against the bathroom wall and kissed her deeply, his hands roaming over her body. "Yes," he said, breathing hard, his eyes wide. "Please help me." Selina removed his pants and then got into the tub, watching with a wide grin as he climbed in after her.

"I have to thank you for taking over for me today," Selina said as she scrubbed Elijah with a loofah. "To tell you the truth, I was a bit reluctant to ask you."

"Why?" Elijah asked. "You know I'd do anything for you."

Selina grinned and nodded, her face flushing faintly pink. "I know that. It's just that...I remember the look on your face when Anna and I tried to start that dog breeding business years and years ago. We asked you for help then and you yelled at us!"

"Well, that was different!" Elijah told her. "You and Anna got all those dogs, then you got bored when no one would buy them, so you came over and set them loose in my house! I had every right to be angry then. Now, you seem fully committed to making this bakery a success and I want to do everything I can to help you. It's not your fault you were ill the day of the grand opening. You're pregnant. It's natural that you should feel ill from time to time."

"Now we just have one problem," Selina said.

"What's that?" He asked.

She grinned as she massaged shampoo into his scalp. "You may have to come work for me all the time. It would save me from having to disappoint women who show up and ask me, 'Where's the hunk who was giving us our cupcakes on opening day?'"

Elijah laughed. "They wouldn't do that! Well, except for Abby. She might."

"Did she make you uncomfortable?" Selina asked. "I'm sorry."

Elijah shrugged. "Between her and Elizabeth, I didn't have a moment's peace."

"Who's Elizabeth?" Selina asked.

Elijah sighed and looked Selina straight in the eye. "I won't lie to you," he said. "She's my ex-fiancee. And she's very angry with me right now."