"So he's getting his own place?"

"Yes. He's not welcome back here, so we need to send him everything."

Mom and I stood in John's office, slowly taking it in. Though I was supposed to take it easy, if I went through another day without doing anything, I was going to go crazy. Helping to pack up John's office seemed as good a thing to do as any.

"Ok... Well, where do we start?"

"Excellent question."

...

We ended up starting with the bookshelves. Mom pulled a few books off the shelf and started to put them in the box, before freezing.

"Mom?"

She slowly set down the books and straightened. She reached toward the back of the shelf and pulled out a small clear box, holding a baseball. It was the ball John had broken some kind of record with.

"This was hidden behind the books..."

"Why would he-" I broke off, my eyes widening slightly. "Didn't we report that missing?"

"When Emmett was attacked. Yes, we did. It was on the mantle."

"Do you think...?"

My mind raced. Had John been behind Emmett's attack? Had he hidden away a few things to make it look like a robbery, so no one would suspect him? Had we ever even checked to see where John had been during the attack?

Kathryn shook her head. "No. No, he couldn't have. He was at a campaign thing."

Evidently, she had checked his alibi.

"Then what is the ball doing in here?"

She was quiet a moment. "He could have paid someone else to do it."

"What?"

"He tried to pay Simone off, didn't he? Does he have a limit?"

Before I could say anything, she turned and left the room. After a moment's hesitation, I turned back to the bookshelf and continued to pack away the books.

Why would John pay someone to attack Emmett? I knew he wasn't happy, but I never would have thought that he would have gone this far. If he had... What else was he capable of? How long had he been like this? Had he been hiding his true nature, or had he just snapped?

Questions filled my mind, and I quieted them by keeping busy. I just kept packing away books.

It didn't take long for me to need a break. I left the room, going down to the kitchen to get something to eat. Kathryn was on the phone, still holding the clear box in her hand.

"... So it was reported? Ok. Ok, thank you, I just wanted to double check. I, ah... I found it. Hidden behind some of my husband's things. That's... That's not good, right?... Ok, yeah, I can come in... See you then." She hung up. She sighed heavily and gently set the box on the counter, unable to take her eyes away from it.

I hesitated before I continued into the room, grabbing a pudding cup. I took a seat and peeled the lid back.

"I think we should keep this to ourselves. At least until I meet up with Officer Daniels in a couple hours. See if we're over reacting."

I nodded silently. I could handle Emmett not knowing of this most recent theory. With each passing day, he got more and more protective, stopping me from getting up half the time. If he knew that we thought John was targeting people for attack, he would never leave my side. I loved him, but he would drive me crazy.

"Ok. Our secret."

...

Kathryn went back to John's office alone, looking for any other proof. More of the things that had been reported stolen, his checkbook, anything she could get her hands on. I could tell that she was still hoping that she had been wrong. That he had moved the ball long before Emmett's attack, and she had just not noticed it beforehand.

She hadn't found anything before she had to go meet with the officer, and I returned to John's office. Maybe packing would raise the chances of finding something.

Despite everything that had happened, I couldn't manage to picture John doing something like this. He had raised me. He wouldn't want to actually physically hurt me or Emmett or our baby... would he?

My hands went to my stomach, and tears came to my eyes. The hurt that I had been keeping a hold on for months came bubbling up and pouring out, and I was glad no one else was home.

I could avoid the word as much as I wanted, but the fact of the matter was, my dad didn't care about what would make me happy. As long as my future-and by connection, his-was intact.

My dad wouldn't be there when I went into labor. My dad wouldn't see me graduate. My dad would never know his grandson. My dad had picked his side, his stance, and I had picked mine.

I'm not sure how long I was there, but I felt arms wrap around me, and I buried my face in the shoulder attached.

Emmett lightly stroked my hair, and I slowly calmed. When he was sure that I had, he pulled back slightly. 'What happened?'

"My dad won't meet our baby..."

He got a look on his face and he nodded, pulling me close again. I had a feeling he had been waiting for this particular breakdown, even if I had been determined never to have it.

...

After a few days, John's office was packed, and we hadn't found anything else. We were starting to think that maybe we were being paranoid.

I did my best to keep my mind off of it. Bringing it up certainly wouldn't help anything.

Instead, I turned to what Regina had said about the guest house.

I turned to Emmett the night before our next appointment. "Guess what?"

'What?'

"Regina's thinking about moving in with Angelo, so that we can go to the guest house."

His eyes widened and he sat up, turning to me. 'Seriously?'

"Yeah. She said it would be kind of like a training house for our family. We would still be close for help, but it'd be our place. What do you think?"

'I think it's perfect. I've been trying to figure out how we were going to get our own place in high school, with a baby. I've been trying to figure out how to support our family. This is perfect. We wouldn't be able to do it immediately, though. I still want to be able to buy our own groceries, and buy things for our baby, without using your family's money.'

I could see his mind working, building a timeline. "I figure the first few months, we should stay here. The closer the help, the better. And then when Regina does move, we'll have to get stuff for the house before we can move into it. So we have some time, still."

He nodded slightly. 'Ok. Yeah. What about Daphne?'

"Apparently Regina asked her about it before she even mentioned it to me. Daphne said she would move into this house."

'This is... perfect.' He slowly laid beside me again, and I left him to think it over while I went to sleep.

...

The appointment was fast and sweet. It was my last appointment for the month of March.

Natalie grinned at me. "You're gonna have a baby next month."

"I'm counting down the days until the 15th."

"Are you?"

"We're at 21 days, now."

"Assuming they decide to agree on the due date. Most births happen a few days before or after the predicted date."

"So it could even be 18. That's an exciting prospect."

"It could also be 25."

"That's a less exciting prospect."

She laughed softly, and leaned back in her seat. "Do you have any questions for me?"

I shook my head. "No."

'No.'

"I'll see you three next week, then."

"See you next week."