HAPPY END OF THE WORLD EVERYONE!

You guys I am so so so sooooooo sorry that this chapter is late! Please, please forgive me! These past two weeks have been INSANE!

Anyway, I can never thank you all enough for your continuing support throughout this story! If it weren't for you guys, I wouldn't be here. You guys are so awesome and I love each and everyone of you more than y'all will know! From the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you, thank you all sooooo much to everyone who favorited, reviewed, and subscribed to not only this and any of my other stories; but to me! I can never thank y'all enough for that! Love y'all!

And I AM keeping my promise of two updates this week!

Chapter 14: Make The Move

"Move?" Mr. Egbert asked surprisingly as he set is coffee mug down on the dinning room table, "Dirk, son, why on earth do you want to move?"

When Dirk Strider showed up at his door calling everyone in an emergency group meeting, Mr. Egbert was left scratching his head. And it was when Dirk revealed the reason for calling in such a meeting that left everyone in the room asking that same question.

"Yeah Mate; I mean, what the hell? What's going on? Why do you want to move all of a sudden?" Jake English asked his best friend sitting across the table from him.

When Dirk Strider called the emergency meeting to the Egbert's house, he really didn't give a definitive answer as to why. He just told them that they all had to talk about something, and that it was an emergency. Fearing that something was seriously wrong with Dave and/or the baby, they all immediately rushed over. When it was discovered that both Dave and the baby were fine, they began to ask what was going on. However, the response they got when they arrived just raised more questions than it answered.

Dirk could only sigh as he sat across the table from his nearest and dearest friends. He realized he didn't exactly tell them why he and Jane wanted to take Dave and move. And honestly, he really didn't want to tell them exactly why.

He didn't want them to know that because of his big, dumbass mouth, that he almost got his baby brother and soon- to-be niece or nephew killed. He didn't what them to know that because of him, every step that Dave took outside of the apartment could be his last. He didn't want them to know that because of him, Noir now knew of Dave's pregnancy. Because he knew exactly what they would do.

All he wanted to do was tell them that they needed to move somewhere for alittle while, just until the baby was born; maybe get some ideas as to where they could move, and HOPE that would be that.

Nope, that's not what ended up happening at all. Now, he had three people sitting across the table from him and Jane, demanding to know what was going on.

Dirk nervously looked over at Jane, giving her a 'What do I tell them?' look.

Jane only responded by looking over at him with a 'Tell the truth' look.

Dirk sighed once more. Realizing that, once again, Jane was right; and that he should just come out with it already.

"The," Dirk nervously began, "The reason why Jane and I feel it is best to move, is because..."

"WHAT?!" the three teens in John's room cried out in unison at what their friend just told them.

Unlike his bro down stairs, he didn't hesitate to tell them why his bro and Jane had decided to move them.

And needless to say, their outburst came to no surprise to Dave. Hell, it still shocked, and terrified, him to wrap his head around what all happened the day before.

Dave sat on the end of John's bed; slightly leaning back, with one arm propping himself up and the other wrapped protectively around him belly.

He sighed before replying to his friends, he just looked down at his slightly pretrubing belly and gave it a quick rub; recalling just how close he and his baby came to losing both of their lives.

"It's true," Dave finally spoke, "That night that we found out, he went to Noir and beat the crap out of him before he opened his big mouth. And yesterday, Noir came to see for himself."

"Are you okay?" Jade blurted out, "Noir, he didn't hurt the baby did he?"

"No, he didn't hurt the baby. I made sure of that," Dave said, "And aside from this," Dave said pointing to his bandaged cheek, "I'm okay."

"Are you okay, emotionally?" Rose rephrased Jade's question.

Dave really didn't know how to answer that.

Was he and the baby okay physically? Yes. Emotionally, well that was a whole other story.

Dave felt like a nervous wreck since his encounter with Noir yesterday. Everywhere he went, even inside the apartment, he was on his toes. In fear that Noir would find him again and that he was hiding in every corner, under every shadow, just waiting for the right moment to finish the job.

Last night, he woke up screaming in a cold sweat from a dream of what could, would have happened if Dirk and Jane didn't make it when they did.

To which Dirk came busting in his room with unshieved katana in hand at the sound of his baby brother screaming his head off. Once Dirk discovered that it was just a dream his brother was screaming over; he tucked him back into bed, and slept right beside him for the remainder of the night. To remind his baby bro that if Noir wanted to lay another hand on either of his babies, that he would have to go through him first.

Dave didn't have anymore bad dreams that night, cause he knew he had is bro there to protect him. Dirk was there to protect him from both the bad dreams and he was there when he needed him the absolute most.

Even though Dave handled himself better than most people would have been able to, he knew it was only his because of his bro and Jane that he and his baby were alive. And he dared not think about what would happen if they weren't around when Noir made his next move. Cause next time, he might not get so lucky.

"I, I don't know how to answer ya there Lalonde," Dave finally answered, "It all just happened so fast. It's still kind of hard to wrap my mind around it."

"I mean, one minute, I was just walking down the street, minding my own business. Just trying to prove to my bro that I can handle myself and that I didn't need him under me all the time," Dave continued, "And then the next, I'm up against a wall, staring up into eyes of the devil himself. I have never been more afraid in my life as I was in that moment. I tried to fight him; but if it weren't for Bro and Jane, I, we would be..."

"Dave listen to me," hearing his name brought Dave by t-total shock. Very, very rarely does he hear his first name be spoken by Rose. When she does, that was Rose's way of saying that he needs to shut up and listen whole heartedly to her.

"Don't think of all the 'what ifs', 'could haves' and 'would haves'," Rose continued, "Think about what did happen."

"Did you're bro and Jane get there in time? Yes. Did they protect you? Yes."

"But Rose, what if they weren'..."

Rose held up her index finger, signaling to let her finish.

"Did you fight off Noir the best you could? Did you protect your baby from him?"

"Of course! You know I did," Dave replied.

"When why are you fretting over all the 'what ifs' and 'could and would haves', when you know what DID end up happening? You did protect your child, Dave. You done everything you could to keep that maniac from harming your baby. And both your bro and Jane protected you. That is all that matters, what did happen. You and your baby are safe because of what did happen."

"You can't constantly ask yourself 'what if I had done, or didn't do that?'. Or 'how could, or would have gone differently?'. It will drive you insane. You can't dwell on the past; but what you can do is learn from it so you can stop it from happening again," Rose sincerely told her friend.

Dave thought long and hard over what Rose just said to him. And he knew she was right, every word she spoke hit him like a nail on the head. Ever since yesterday, his mind was plagued with countless scenarios on how both he and his baby could have died, and what he could have done differently. However, not one of the scenarios reflected back to what did end up happening. Did he protect himself, and more importantly his baby, with everything he had? Yes. Did Dirk and Jane show up in the nick of time? Yes. Did they beat Noir? For the time being, yes.

Dave knew that, for his own sanity, he couldn't be dwelling on all the 'what ifs' that could have happened yesterday. He had to focus on what DID happen; and more importantly, learn from his mistakes. So that, not if but when, Noir showed up next, that he would be ready.

"Thanks, Rose," Dave almost smiled.

"Any time Strider," Rose smirked a bit.

"And Strider," Rose said standing up from her seat at John's desk, "You done an amazing job protecting your baby. Only Dave Strider could have pulled something like that off," Rose said as she embraced her friend in a surprisingly warm, strong hug.

Rose's actions caught Dave by surprise, but after a moment, he slowed wrapped his arms around Rose's shoulders and returned the hug.

The two other raven haired teens in the room couldn't contain themselves and threw themselves at the pair as the four embraced in one big group hug.

Dave almost felt tears forming in his eyes as his friends embraced him in a big, warm, comforting hug. Almost.

"Alright, alright, knock it off you guys," Dave said, wiggling free after a few moments of being smothered by his three closest friends.

"So," Dave said after everyone composed themselves, "you guys wanna hear how I kicked Noir's ass?"

The three other teens gathered around him as if it were a good ole campfire story.

Dave smirked as he pushed his shades further up the bridge of his nose.

"Well, there I was, up against a rock and a hard place, staring into the eyes of demise. I saw my fate rise high above my eyes, and before I blinked, I..."

"I SWEAR TO GOD DIRK STRIDER!", a thoroughly enraged Jake English yelled at the man sitting across the table from him, furious at what his best friend just revealed to them, "I'M GOING TO RIP OFF YOU HEAD AND SHIT DOWN YOUR NECK IF YOU EVER DO SOMETHING SO STUPID LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN!"

Needless to say, Dirk was shocked at his normally calm and collective best friend's outburst. In the nearly 20 years that they have known each other, Dirk had never seen Jake react like that to anything. Dirk could see Jake's emerald green eyes glowing with anger.

"Do you have any idea the danger you have put Dave and the baby in by opening that big mouth of your's?!" Jake continued, "My God, they could have been killed!"

"You think I don't know that?!" Dirk hollered back, with anger in his own voice. Anger directed at himself. He knew what he done was stupid, the single stupidest thing he's ever done in his life; and if he could go back and redo it, he'd do it in a heartbeat. But he couldn't, and now Dave had to pay for it.

"Dirk, son, what on earth were you thinking?" Mr. Egbert calmly spoke.

Dirk took a few heavy breaths before answering.

"I wasn't thinking, not of Dave at least," Dirk finally spoke, "The only thing I was thinking of was me wanting vengeance. I wasn't thinking about the consequences, or how they would effect Dave. If I could go back and change it, I would," Dirk said, wiping the forming tear from his eye, "Believe me, I never meant for any of this to happen. I hope you all can forgive me; God knows I'm never going to be able to forgive myself if anything happens to my little man, because of me."

Dirk placed his head in his hands and silently sulked in his seat. He let a few sobs escape his lips, before he was embraced by a pair warm, comforting arms from behind. He lifted his head from his hands to discover Jane's arms wrapped around his shoulders.

"It's okay Dirk," Jane quietly said to him, "It's okay, we forgive you. What's in the past, is in the past. The only thing we can do now is protect Dave and get him out of here."

"I agree with you Jane," Mr. Egbert spoke up, "What's in the past is in the past. What we need to focus on is keeping both David and the baby safe. And I think that we can all agree that so long as David is pregnant and Noir is still out on the street, that moving is the best option."

"Dirk, Jane, do y'all have any idea as to where you would move to?" Mr. Egbert asked.

"We were hoping you guys would have some ideas," Jane said, "We don't have a clue."

"Well, if you're going to move, it would be best to move as far away from here, and Noir, as possible," Jake spoke up, having his anger subsided.

"Let's see," Mr. Egbert said, sitting back in his chair, "You all could move to Washington. Before we moved here, that's where we used to live, near Seattle. It was a nice place. The people were very nice, open minded. Great hospitals, plenty of families looking to adopt. Dave could have the baby up there and move back, after everything was settled."

"Not far enough, you can drive from Texas to Washington in a little over a day. I want to get as far away from this area as we can possibly get," Dirk said.

"If you're looking to get far away, I can call my grandparents' in Australia and ask them if you guys could stay them for a while," Jake jokingly said, "But then again, after that little incident with the kangaroo when you went with us over there that one time, I don't think they'd want you back over there."

Dirk chuckled at infamous kangaroo incident back in '93 Jake was referring to. Stemmed back from yet again one of Dirk's less than brilliant moments. He had never seen two people so mad before in his life. Even though he and Jake thought it was funniest thing they have ever seen in their lives. Good times, good times.

"Thanks but, I'm pretty sure I'm the last person they ever want to see again," Dirk admitted.

"H-Hold on you guys," Roxy was finally sober enough to comprehend a single train of thought correctly after being in a drunken stupor for the majority of the entire conversation.

"What, what if you, move to Rainbow Falls in New York and stay in our house up there until the baby is born," Roxy stammered out.

"Rox, we couldn't..."

"Now hol' on Janey, let me finish," Roxy continued.

"We still have our house up there, we haven't used it in years. You guys wouldn't have to pay rent or anything. And let's say for a moment that for some reason, Dave couldn't find adoptive parent's for the baby. Now, New York has safe haven laws where you can drop off the baby at any hospital or fire station, no questions asked."

'Like we're gone let Dave give up that baby just like that,' both Dirk and Jane simultaneously thought as the same time.

"So, what do you say you guys?" Roxy asked.

Both Dirk and Jane looked at one another with the same thought in their mind, 'Should we do it?'

Would this be the perfect 'hide out'? Yes.

Would they under constant supervision from CPS? No.

Would they be free from Noir? Most likely.

There was still a chance that Noir would find them before the baby the was born. But the chances of that happening over there would be minuscule compared to over here.

Over there, they could actually walk out of the house and not worry about anyone watching them. They could breath more easily, relax. And most importantly, both Dave and baby would be safe. From both Noir and CPS.

Yep, they made their decision.

"Okay, we'll do it," both Dirk and Jane excited said.

"Okay, is that everything?" Jake asked Dirk as he finished loading the last of the boxes into the trunk and backseat of Dirk's car.

"Yeah, I think so," Dirk said looking over everything.

Three days had pasted and Dirk, Jane, and Dave were finally able to move. They had already got everything situated.

Jake would take care of the club.

Roxy had the power and everything turned back on inside the house.

And at Dave's appointment yesterday, they told the doctor their plan on 'relocating for the time being' as Jane put it.

To their surprise, the doctor had a friend who was an obstetrician that worked in the Rainbow Falls area. The doctor told them that they would give her a call and explain their situation and fax her all of Dave's papers. He gave them her card and told them to contact her as soon as they get settled in.

Dave sat in the cramped backseat of his brother's car, not-so secretly looking through the baby book he was constructing. After the baby was given a clean bill of health at their latest appointment, Dave could finally breathe easier, and bring himself to look through the pages he had already created. For two days after he ran into Noir, he couldn't bare the thought of looking through the book without knowing for sure if his baby was okay.

Dave let his fingers trail over the ultrasound picture from yesterday's appointment. The doctor reassured him that his baby was healthy and growing strong. He told him that his baby was about the size of his thumb.

Dave took a quick glance of his thumb and tried to picture his baby, how small it was. And yet, how big of a place in his heart that it already held. As much as he thought he was convinced before, the thought of actually giving up his baby made Dave want to puke.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't just give up the life he swore to protect and fought for with his very own just like that. He wouldn't.

And yet he had too, or so he thought.

He had two futures to think about. Both his and the baby's.

What kind of future would either of them have if he decided to keep it?

It would be hard and rough on both of them.

Dave didn't feel like, that after everything it's already been through, the baby deserved that.

He felt that the this baby, his baby deserved the best of everything. And he knew full well that he would not be able to provide that for it.

As much as it pained him to admit it, Dave knew what he must do.

Dave felt a tear drop roll down the bridge of his nose and fall onto the page below. He quickly wiped the tear stream away before anymore fell and ruined page.

Having it too painful to look at the moment, Dave closed the book and tucked it away with their other belongings in the car. But not before John decided to stick his head in the window.

"Whatcha doin' Dave?!" John said, sticking his head right next to Dave's, scarring the crap out of him.

"Jesus, John! You scared the shit out of me!" Dave said quickly shoving the book away.

"Whatcha got there?"

"Nothin'," Dave quietly said.

"So Dave, you gonna miss us?" Jade said, approaching the two, "Cause I'm sure gonna miss you."

"Eh, maybe just a little," Dave sarcastically said.

To which both Jade and John responded by pinching him.

"Ow!"

"You better miss us," Jade said teasingly.

"Don't worry, I'll miss you," Dave said, sticking his head out the window, giving Jade a peck on the cheek. Which Jade graciously returned, along with a few last rubs on the tummy before Dirk and Jane piled into the car.

"Okay, here are the keys to the house," Roxy said, handing the keys over to Jane.

"Roxy, there is no way we can ever thank you enough for this," Jane said giving her best friend a gracious hug.

"You can thank me by keeping those two boys in line and making sure that baby is safe," Roxy returned the hug.

"Will do Rox."

"Okay, tell me again why you guys are driving all the way up there, and not take a plane?" Jake asked Dirk.

"Because, I don't want to pay for all this shit to get shipped up there; and plus airport security is a bitch," Dirk told him.

"True true."

"Dave, son you call us whenever you all make it up there, okay?" Mr. Egbert said, "It doesn't matter what time it is, you let us know that you made it there safely."

"Will do, Dad," Dave said.

"Oh and Strider," Rose referred to Dave, "You touch any of my stuff and I will personally go up there and kick your ass."

"Oh don't worry," Dave retorted, "I'll be sure to write 'Dave Strider was here' with a permanent marker on everything I see."

But before Rose could act like she was fixing to punch Dave in the arm, Dirk started the car and began to drive off.

"BYE!" the three heard from the small group of people behind them.

Dave turned around and waved back at his friends.

'Well New York, ready or not, here we come.'

Here's the story I concocted about the Kangaroo.

In 1993, Dirk and Jake would have been 15. And for that 'holiday', Jake had convinced his parents to letting Dirk come with them to their grandparents' ranch in Australia. Yeah, you all can see where this is going. Anyway, while they were there, Dirk spots a kangaroo that has hopped onto their land; and he gets the bright idea to try and ride the poor creature. He took a rope, and tried to sneak up on it. He managed to jump on its back and tried to get the rope to act as reins, like on a horse. He was succefuly in his attempt for all of 3 seconds, before the kangaroo threw him off and hopped wildly across their yard and into the house through an open door. While Dirk and Jake couldn't breathe they were laughing so hard, Jake's parents and grandparents were less than amused.

And that's the story of the kangaroo.

Just thought I'd share that with you all.