Months had passed since the Mistress's tragic and untimely death in December from a bullet wound to the throat. It wasn't easy adjusting to life without her, but everyone was adjusting in the best way they knew how... well, almost everyone. Out of all the people Mistress's death had affected, it had affected Keiko the hardest. This was somewhat expected given that she'd been Keiko's favorite grandparent, but it still left her feeling not like herself, especially given that she was still blaming herself for what had happened. It especially didn't help that Keiko had to grieve for her grandmother while also dealing with another predicament in her life.

It all started when her period was late. It hadn't raised any red flags in her then. She figured that it must have been just undue stress over Mistress's death that had thrown her off-kilter. Next came the nausea and vomiting spells. Again, it didn't raise any red flags in her, and she chalked it up to stress. Then her fatigue went through the roof. Yet again, it didn't raise any red flags. She instead assumed that it must've been because she was in mourning and couldn't concentrate on much else. Then she started gaining weight and overeating, sometimes indulging in some weird cravings while she was at it. Just like before, she assumed that it was all stemming from stress and grief, but she wasn't sure where exactly the weird cravings came in. Weeks later, she noticed that her belly was growing. It freaked her out, enough so that she decided to conceal it with her reality-warping powers. This couldn't be happening, could it? Finally, she started to feel tiny but strong kicks inside her, mostly against her internal organs, something that only seemed to happen more and more often as time went on. This couldn't be happening. This just couldn't be happening. She didn't need to deal with this right now.

No worries, though. All she'd have to do was wait this out and then it would all be over. To some extent, this was true, but it'd only be a matter of time before she was forced to face the truth. For now, she'd carry on with her life like nothing had changed, like there wasn't anything different about her. She'd even partake in the same activities she'd done before.

And what better way to do that than to head out to Hurricane Harbor at Six Flags in Baltimore and have some fun? After all, it was July now, and she was desperate to do something to take her mind off things. She decided to head out solo, not wanting to tip her family off to where she was going, and decided to seek out Jailbot X for a ride.

"Hey, Jailbot X!" Keiko called out to the black X-shaped robot.

Jailbot X came flying in her direction and made sure to stop in front of her before they could collide.

"I'd like for you to fly me down to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland," Keiko commanded as she climbed upon him. "And I'd like for you to do it as quickly as possible."

Jailbot X did so, and just like that, off she went. She was determined to have a good time, at least for today. It didn't matter what the immediate future had in store for her. All that mattered was the here and now.

Eddie could feel a panic attack coming on. Neither he nor anyone else had seen Keiko since breakfast, and she hadn't told anyone where she was going either. What if she'd been kidnapped again or worse? For that matter, no one had been able to find Jailbot X anyway. Could he have gone rogue and kidnapped Keiko? Could he have been stolen or worse?

"Oh no..." Eddie kept muttering. "No, no, no, no, no. This can't be happening! Not again!"

Victory shook her head in disbelief. "I know, dear, but we're going to find her."

"Well, where could she have gone?" Mariko asked.

"I don't know, Mariko," Victory replied. "But we're going to send out the search and rescue teams soon."

Eddie sighed and nodded. "Let's just hope that we find her in time. Otherwise, I don't know what we'll do."

And so they sent out the search and rescue teams, who proceeded to cover the entirety of Washington D.C., as well as the surrounding states of Maryland and Virginia. They scoured the city and surrounding areas, looking for any sign of the girl, but it seemed that their efforts were to no avail. Nevertheless, they weren't about to give up hope. They continued the search, determined to find the girl before it was too late. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of searching, they were tipped off to her being held at MedStar Harbor Hospital, safe and sound.

Eddie couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief upon hearing the news. "Thank God. Now I can rest easy knowing she's safe."

"What's Keiko doing over at MedStar Harbor, though?" Mariko asked curiously.

"I don't know, and frankly I don't even care why she's there. All that matters is that she's safe."

"Should we go over and see her?"

"Yes, I think that we should. After everything she went through, I think she'd appreciate it if we at least dropped by for a visit."

It took almost three hours for Eddie, Mariko, and Alfie to ride the bus from the White House all the way to MedStar Harbor. While they rode along to their destination, they spared a glance out the windows. While Eddie was busy being grateful that Keiko was alive and well, Mariko and Alfie were too busy wondering what could've possibly happened to their older sister to land her in the hospital. The long bus ride gave the trio time to process the shock of receiving the news about Keiko. Not that long ago, they and everyone else had been bundled with worry and fear that something serious may have happened to her after she'd been missing for hours and hours. Now that they knew for sure that she was still alive, they couldn't wait to show their gratitude and glee over her safety. Eventually, they made it to MedStar Harbor in practically no time at all. Eddie led Mariko and Alfie through the doors of the hospital and right up to the front desk to sign them all in as visitors.

"You're here to visit Keiko Warden, you say?" the clerk asked just to be sure.

"Yes, that's correct," Eddie confirmed.

"Alright, then. She's being held in Room SN212 at the Women & Infants' Center on the second floor."

"Okay, and how do I get there?"

"Just take the elevator behind me."

"Okay, thank you."

Immediately afterwards, Eddie and two of his children headed for the elevator shaft. Once there, Eddie pushed a button to go up and waited for the doors to slide open before he, Mariko, and Alfie stepped inside. He then pushed the button with the number "2" printed on it and then stood by while the elevator started rising up to his destination.

"I can't wait to see Keiko again, can you?" Eddie asked Mariko and Alfie.

Mariko shook her head. "Not really. This has been such a crazy day, you know?"

"Yes, Mariko, I know. It's just..." Eddie sighed. "With all this time we've spent this year mourning over your grandmother and adjusting to the fact that I now have control over the whole world, it's a miracle that I'm still here in one piece. In fact, it's a miracle that any of us are alive at all."

"Uh... okay."

"Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away there at the end. Point is, I'm glad Keiko's still alive."

"Yeah, me too."

The rest of the elevator ride up was filled with nothing but awkward silence. In fact, not much at all seemed to happen during that time. Eventually, the elevator stopped at its destination, and everyone proceeded to file out.

"Oh thank God!" Mariko exclaimed. "I thought that elevator ride would never end. It was so boring."

"Mariko, please," Eddie scolded. "Let's just go find Keiko's room real quick, alright?"

Mariko shrank a bit. "Okay."

Mariko and Alfie followed their father closely as they rounded a corner into the right wing of the floor and walked until they found the room they were looking for. Upon entering the room, the trio saw that Keiko was sound asleep in her hospital bed, which was enough to bring smiles to their faces. However, it didn't take long for Eddie to notice that there was a group of ten people wearing what appeared to be red-and-white lifeguard outfits standing by.

"I have several questions," Eddie began. "Mainly, who are you people? And what are you all doing in Keiko's hospital room?"

"We're lifeguards over at Hurricane Harbor at Six Flags," one of them, a woman, replied. "We were actually the ones who helped her give birth over there."

Eddie scrunched his face in confusion. "What?"

"Yep, we delivered her baby over at the wave pool."

"Sorry, did you just say you delivered her baby at the wave pool? At Hurricane Harbor?"

The same woman nodded. "Yeah, that's what I said."

"I see..." Pause. "Where's the baby?"

The lifeguards just looked at each other for a moment before one of them decided to speak up.

"He's in the NICU right now," another lifeguard, this time a man, replied.

Eddie raised his eyebrows. "He?"

"Yep, that's what I said."

"How did this happen? Why is he in the NICU?"

The lifeguards went on to explain that when they'd delivered the baby, he wasn't breathing and they had to perform CPR on him. They also recounted how, when the baby finally took his first breath and started wailing, Keiko tried to run away despite what she just went through. Thankfully, Keiko would later calm down just in time to be hauled into an ambulance and take a ride to the hospital.

"Thanks so much for taking good care of Keiko during her time of need," Eddie said. "I will appreciate you forever."

The first lifeguard nodded. "No problem. It's the least we could do."

"So... can I see the baby now?"

"Of course you can. You're the grandfather, after all. All we ask is that Mariko and Alfie stay here. They're not old enough to visit the NICU."

Eddie nodded and headed off for the NICU with two of the lifeguards in tow. Once inside, the lifeguards guarded Eddie towards the baby's incubator. He took a deep breath as he entered the room and saw his grandson lying peacefully in her incubator, his breathing steady and regular. Eddie smiled and stroked his forehead, feeling a sense of relief wash over him. He was grateful to find that he was doing well.

"Well, I'll be..." Eddie continued to look into the incubator. "I'm a grandpa now."

"Hard to believe, huh?" one of the lifeguards asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. Does he have a name yet?"

The lifeguard said nothing in response.

Eddie pursed his lips. "I'm going to take that as a 'no.'"

"Yeah, here's the thing. Keiko struggled to bond with him. In fact, she didn't act like she wanted anything to do with him, let alone even hold him. From what I understand, she didn't even know she was pregnant until she went into labor. That, or she was in denial the whole time."

Eddie shook his head. "Poor Keiko. She's been through so much. I don't necessarily blame her for any of this, but I don't know why she didn't tell me or anyone else she was pregnant, either."

"Well, at least you have the baby. That's gotta count for something, right?"

Eddie shook his head again and felt a wave of sadness wash over him. He couldn't help but worry if Keiko would ever come around to raising her baby. Even so, he silently vowed to be there for his grandson, no matter what.