Here it was. Her entire family—and Rini—gathered up in a tiny crowd around the living room. She hadn't specifically asked for Sammi and Rini but they assumed this was a family meeting of sorts and came anyway, as though they knew they were expected to attend. And she was not happy being the announcer right now. For once she wanted to stay under the radar. But Ami had been right. Her first step, since Darien wouldn't so much as take a phone call from her, had to be letting her family know.

Although in her mind, this wasn't inclusive of Rini.

"Alright, Serena, everybody's here," her father said, his tone mocking how serious this discussion was going to be. "Let's hear the big news."

Her mother leaned over and whispered something into her father's ear, causing him to chuckle and nod.

They were treating this like a joke or a game… She had no idea how to brace herself for the kind of trouble she was going to be in soon…

"Uh… This may not be the kind of conversation that we should have with kids in the room…" she sputtered. "Rini and Sammi should go…"

Both the kids opened their mouths to object to what was obviously a cruel bias but her dad rolled his eyes and leaned forward, quickly beating the others to the punch.

"Is this a mother-daughter conversation?" he asked. "If it's about lady things—"

"I-It's not."

Well, it sort of was.

"Why do we have to leave?!" Sammi quibbled. "We're part of this family too!"

"Because…" Uhhhh. "Because it's…it's about…adult things…and I-I would feel more comfortable if it's just Mom and Dad with me while I talk about it…"

The flushed colors on her father's face was a dead giveaway that he was already misinterpreting this, and the conversation hadn't even started yet.

"Uh, kids, maybe you should go…" her dad mirthlessly laughed. "I might even join you."

Her mother elbowed him in the arm and shot him a hard glare.

"On second thought I'll stay put," he grunted painfully.

Sammi and Rini both groaned audibly to show their displeasure but got up anyway and left the room, bemoaning under their breath the whole way down the hall where the rooms would begin to split.

"Serena, go ahead," her mom said, watching both her door and Sammi's shut tight.

She wanted to get it over with, rip the band aid off. The sooner the better, right? She would have one less thing to worry about and one less thing to hide. But…the thought of postponing her parents' fury and disappointment was incredibly tempting.

"Wait!" her dad interjected. "Before you tell us anything else, I just need to know, uhm, d-does this involve…does this involve boys?"

Well it used to...

"Not that it matters, dear," her mother growled—definitely something not aimed at her.

"Not…really," she answered.

Not anymore…

"Oh, okay, good," her dad blissfully sighed. "I-I mean, of course that wouldn't matter, like your mother said, I just wanted to know beforehand is all."

"Anyway, Serena, please go ahead," her mother said, rolling her eyes at her husband's earlier remarks.

Right.

Go ahead.

Just…come out with it.

"Lately I've been feeling a little um…a little different, you know?" she began. "Haven't really wanted sweets that much, traded those up for apples and milk."

"It's outside the norm for you I suppose," her dad said. "I didn't speak up about it, I was just happy you were finally eating healthier. We've been telling you to do that for years."

"Right. Well. There were—are—other little weird things. Less noticeable than apples…"

"Are you feeling okay?" her mother asked.

"Yeah!" No. "It's just, over the past few weeks, sometimes I'll feel a teeny bit nauseous, it's really nothing to worry about though, I can ignore it no problem."

Stop stalling.

Say it.

She took a deep, shaky breath and said, "I took a test a few days ago…"

"I wasn't aware you had any tests coming up," her mom said. "Did you do better than your last several tests?"

"Serena, are you trying to tell us you couldn't study because you weren't feeling well enough?" her dad added. "Because that's not an acceptable excuse, young lady."

"It-It's not that kind of test," she said. "It's…it's um…it's the kind a girl takes when…when she… You know how it goes, when two people love each other very much—"

"SERENA!" her mother gasped, shooting to her feet with her mouth hanging open in shock.

Her father, on the other hand, took a slightly different approach.

"Did you…pass…this test?" he asked in a low voice.

She felt tears sting her eyes and furiously nodded her head while simultaneously swallowing a huge lump in her throat.

He stood rigidly beside his wife and angrily screamed, "WHO DID THIS?!"

"He's not…in the picture anymore…" she choked out.

Her mother recovered just in time to reel her dad back in. He was still visibly seething with raw fury but at least let the more level-headed of them take the reins. For now.

"Serena, we raised you better than this," her mom said sternly. "What in the world were you thinking?"

"I was just curious, I'm sorry!" she sniveled.

"Well I hope that curiosity was worth it because I cannot possibly express how disappointed I am in you right now!"

"I know you're upset, I'm really sorry!"

"You should be! Do you have the slightest clue what you've done, what you've gotten yourself into?!"

She opened her mouth to protest, to say that yes she was fully aware of what pregnancy was, but her mother wouldn't give her the chance to speak.

"Babies are so much work, Serena! You have school, you have other responsibilities, you're still a child! And who was this boy anyway? Who would possibly be so stupid and irresponsible as to—" Her mother's slowly spiraling rant fizzled down a bit with a growl, as if she was unable to continue. "Was it Melvin?"

"MELVIN?!" her father roared as he tensed back up.

"No!" Serena gagged. "It's not Melvin!"

Not to mention, Melvin had his heart set on Molly now anyway.

"Do we know him?" her mom pressed. "Did you ever bother introducing us?"

"No… I didn't know what you guys would think of him…"

Her mother scoffed in disbelief and said, "Well we don't think highly of him now!"

"If this COWARD is man enough to use my little girl for a night of fun, he's man enough to stick around for the consequences!" her father growled through clenched teeth, a bloodthirsty look in his eyes that only intensified as the conversation carried on.

Her mother immediately realized the situation and turned her attention toward calming her husband back down. But despite her soft gestures and gentle hushes trying to convince him to focus on Serena, the man simply wasn't tolerating any of this and stormed, infuriated, to the door, smashing it against the wall as it opened to his unbridled rage.

"If I can't bring him back here I'll bring him to his knees!" her dad screamed, the door practically rattling the house when he shut it behind him.

"Serena, go wait in your room," her mother said to her.

"But Rini's in there—"

"Then kick her out!" her mom snapped back. "I'm going to get your father. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Upon watching the woman leave to chase down her dad and put out the fire, she made her way to her room as commanded. Rini was sitting on her bed, clearly annoyed but also trying to hide her curiosity. No doubt she had heard all the commotion, even if nobody could quite make it out through the walls.

"Mom wants you to get out of my room," Serena said.

"Why? Are you grounded?"

Possibly, but being grounded was the very least of her concerns right now. Her fate would be decided after her parents came back from a long discussion about what to do with her. She'd known the whole time that they wouldn't take the news well, but she didn't anticipate her father losing his mind and going after a boy he didn't know with no directions in which to find him.

"Just leave," Serena mumbled.

"Fine, but only because you're in big trouble and I don't want to get caught in the crossfire."

She didn't really care about why Rini was leaving, she just didn't want her to be here when her parents came back ready to scream at her again. But…if they could help her navigate an experience she had no idea how to deal with, then all of this would be worth it. Besides, what was the worst they could do? Even if they grounded her for life, how were they going to stop Sailor Moon from breaking out?

And then there was Luna to worry about… That cat would absolutely have her own opinions about this and more than a few choice words. Not to mention she wouldn't hesitate to be the messenger to the other Scouts. Ami already knew but the last thing she needed was both Luna and Rei on her case at the same time, particularly after all of this with her parents. That was four people expressing anger and disappointment with her at once. Just a few too many for her liking.

"What was all that about?" a voice said as it crawled out from under the bed.

Speak of the devil.

"Oh…nothing much, just grades. Failed a really big exam," Serena lied.

"Somehow that doesn't come as a surprise…" Luna commented. "I would imagine your parents would expect that from you when you don't study."

"They're…getting really tired of it. They must've finally snapped."

"They have the patience of a saint to last as long as they did," Luna yawned, bowing down in a nice, long stretch.

The cat flinched when she hit a certain position, recoiling her front leg to accommodate the stretching skin around her shoulder where the cut had been bandaged.

"I'm sorry you got hurt," she said.

"It is what it is," Luna replied. "The veterinarian said it should heal by the end of the week."

"Still, sorry about that. I should've come sooner."

Although she wasn't sure how that was possible when she was completely unaware of what was happening until it had already happened.

"Serena, I don't blame you. We were all just frustrated with how things were going and by the end each of us was totally exhausted. It was only in the heat of the moment that we were angry at you, but the truth is we just weren't prepared for what we would face," Luna explained. "We have such a bad habit of relying on all the Scouts to be there to fight as one unit, but the more I think about it, the more unrealistic that is. What happens when one of you goes away somewhere? We just wait until that person comes back and hope the world doesn't end in the mean time? We need more practice and I need to train you girls better."

"I guess more practice and training means more exercise, huh?"

Luna giggled—clearly she'd had a good nap otherwise she would've been much more serious—and said, "That's correct, less time to play video games."

"But that means we're moving around a lot more," she pointed out.

The cat looked at her slyly.

"It's a sacrifice you'll have to make to better yourself as a Sailor Scout."

Was she even supposed to be moving around more? She felt like she got plenty of exercise just from regular fights and running to school each morning.

She heard the front door open and, without even thinking about it, shoved an unsuspecting Luna out of the room. It was her mother who opened the bedroom door, her father nowhere in sight—she had to assume he was still cooling off elsewhere in the house.

"We've talked about…things," her mom began. "We're still not happy with you but what's done is done."

Her mother sat on the edge of the bed and patted beside her. Serena obeyed, if for no other reason than to minimize her parents' wrath.

"What are you going to do?" Serena asked.

"Nothing. Don't take this as us approving of your decisions though," her mom answered. "We just know how hard this is going to be for you—harder without the father around. There's no point in punishing you now, personally I think you've suffered enough. We don't want to push you away, Serena."

"What about Dad? He was so mad earlier."

"Your father has always looked out for you and the thought of a boy abandoning you when you need him most…well, it… He didn't like that idea. Every time we talked about your future we always imagined you married first. This kind of thing never once came to mind."

"Is there anything I can do to make it better?"

Her mom faked a laugh, sounding a bit unsure of how else she was supposed to respond.

"That's a very loaded question. I don't really think there's anything you can do though, he's… We're both…"

It didn't feel so fantastic to hear her unable to finish.

"Yeah…" she mumbled. "I'm sorry…"

Her mother took a deep breath and said, "I know you are."

"I don't know what to do now…"

"We'll help you through it, honey. It won't be easy though and some decisions will be entirely yours to make. First things first, we need to schedule an appointment with an obstetrician."

"What's that?"

"An obstetrician is a doctor who specializes in pregnancy. You'll need regular checkups to make sure it goes smoothly."

Go figure she would have to see a doctor anyway.

"What if something does go wrong?"

"I…I learned the hard way when I was pregnant with Sammi," her mom answered. "Listen to your body. If you have a gut feeling that something is wrong, tell us immediately."

Serena nodded but instantly thought back to Luna's idea of extra exercise and harder training.

"What about exercise?" she asked. "Is it okay for me move around a lot?"

"Exercise is very good for you but don't overdo it. Like I said before, listen to your body. If you feel like you need to rest, you should rest."

She laughed bitterly in her mind. There was no way Luna would allow her to sit on the job while everyone else was working harder than normal.

"It's good that you're already eating healthily," her mom added. "That's a big deal too."

"Is it okay to eat more?"

"Well, you are eating for two now. Nobody's going to hound you about food for the next several months but just keep avoiding the junk food."

"Nobody will hound me…unless they don't know…"

"Serena, you need to tell everybody else. It's good to have as much support as you can get right now."

"What about Rini? I'm…kind of young for this…and I'm a little worried about her being exposed to it. I'm not setting the best example right now…"

"Rini lives here, honey…she'll know once you start showing. And even if she doesn't, she'll probably have a lot of questions for you. I doubt you'll want to answer those."

"We could send Rini somewhere else for a while."

"Where? Her family is out of the country right now."

"I…have someone in mind…"

Rini absolutely adored Darien and Darien seemed to adore her. Hopefully neither of them would say no to that arrangement.

"Who?"

"It's a good friend of mine—"

"I am not sending your little cousin to live with a 'friend' of yours, Serena. They would already be far too young to care for a child anyway."

"But she knows and trusts him."

"Him? Serena…" Her mother's tone became a warning.

"It's…it's not what you think, he…uh…" She wasn't going to be able to provide any good argument to convince anyone to let Rini stay with Darien. "No, you're right…"

Very well then. She could figure out some sort of backup plan to get Rini out. Or maybe one of the Scouts could watch— No. That was cruel. Rini was such a handful and not at all obedient. Constant supervision. How could they train with her running around all over the place? But she couldn't live here unless, or until, she talked to Darien and explained what had happened. Rini would run her mouth til kingdom come and Darien would end up finding out from somebody else. He would likely resent her for not confronting him directly, despite any efforts to reach him. She didn't want to risk it. Not now.

"Serena, do you think you know how far along you are?" her mother asked, either to keep the conversation going or to change the topic.

Truthfully, she hadn't thought about it. She couldn't possibly have been too far along otherwise she would've had a bump or something. She would've been compelled to see a doctor under the assumption that it was serious.

Not that pregnancy wasn't serious but it wasn't a tumor…

"I don't know," she answered.

"That's okay. We'll know when we see the doctor."

They both heard scratching at the bottom of the door, and when they looked, a tiny black paw was clawing from underneath it, appearing and disappearing as if desperate to come in.

"Looks like Luna wants her favorite person," her mother chuckled, already getting up to let the cat in.

"Wait!" Serena yelped, dashing past the woman to block the door. "What if we picked up our little talk some other time?"

"Why?"

"Uh…" Rini. Rini was still a good excuse right now. "I think I heard Rini in the hall and I don't want her to know yet."

Her mother sighed and said, "It's up to you to tell whoever you want, but I do advise you to tell them now rather than later."

"Right, of course…I'll do that."

She moved out of the way for her mom, who not only allowed Luna in by simply opening the door but must've decided that she had other things to do. That was fine with her. While a part of her appreciated having that discussion, another part of her had wanted it to end shortly after it began.

"I hope she talked some sense into you," Luna said once they were both sure her mother was out of earshot.

"Sure did," Serena sighed. "It was very…educational."

"Hm. Well, let's hope that education lasts long enough to pull up your grades."

Grades were the last thing on her—and her parents'—minds. At this point she could flunk out of school and it wouldn't register a blip on their priority list. What would Luna's priorities be once she found out? How frustrated would this one little cat get? Luna wouldn't be too happy adjusting to some new needs of one of her Scouts.

The leader, no less.

A/N

I wanted to update yesterday but a lot of life issues popped up and honestly this wasn't a priority by comparison. Sorry about that anyway. This fic will now update just once a week (I'll try to make it on weekends, either Friday or Saturday). I updated it sooner to help get the ball rolling. Thank you all so much for the growing support! I appreciate it much more than you realize!

Review replies:

Plugging Up: Yup! And in time they'll have to find out. :P

Guest: Thank you, I'm glad I could entertain!

Animalistic Ballistic: Updated! :)

Les Lasagna: You make a great point and this is actually a topic that will be addressed again later on.

James Birdsong: Thank you!