Months passed. Eddie, Jared, Charise, Alice, Bruce, and Victory tried again and again to get Keiko to open up or at the absolute least hold Raphael, but to no avail. Indeed, it seemed that Keiko doubled down on distancing herself every time they made an attempt to reach out. Wherever Raphael happened to be, Keiko would go out of her way to make sure she was as far away from him as possible. Eddie's determination never wavered, but a sense of frustration began to settle among him and the others as they struggled with how best to navigate this delicate situation. With each month that passed by, it became increasingly clear that breaking through Keiko's barriers would require more than just persistence— it would demand a deeper understanding of her inner turmoil and a willingness to confront uncomfortable truths that lay beneath the surface.

Their golden opportunity arose six days after they and the rest of the world rang in the new year. Eddie hoped that 2051 would be a better year for him and his family than 2050 had been, but at the same time, he didn't want to be overconfident. They'd now found themselves facing a pivotal moment in their efforts to bridge the gap with Keiko. New years meant new beginnings, and this was an opportunity to start things off on the right foot and start healing personal wounds. It was at that moment that they finally decided to act on their Hail Mary: corner her in her room when they least expected it. However, once they'd managed to barge themselves inside, they found that it was strangely empty.

"Huh?" Eddie scratched his head in confusion and looked around as he tried to find any sign of her. "Where's Keiko?"

Stranger still, everything in the room looked about the same as if Keiko was here, but Keiko herself was apparently nowhere to be found.

"Huh, that's weird," Alice remarked. "Where could she have gone?"

Eddie shook his head. "I don't know. Wait, you don't think she took Jailbot X with her again, do you?"

"Maybe. Why don't you check first?"

Eddie did so, and sure enough, Jailbot X was missing as well.

"Dammit," Eddie swore under his breath. "Where could she have gone?"

Before he could consider all the places Keiko might have gone to with Jailbot X in tow, he heard Charise calling out to him.

"What is it, Charise?" Eddie asked, slightly annoyed.

Charise fidgeted nervously. "Um, there's something you need to read. I-It's important."

Eddie's face paled. "Uh, okay... what is it?"

Charise wordlessly handed Eddie a note that had been written on notebook paper. Eddie tried his best not to shake as he read through the note, hoping that it wasn't going to read what he thought it would read. He kept himself steady and calm as he read, trying his best to rein in his emotions and analyze the meaning behind the note. Finally, when he was certain that he'd read through every word and every paragraph, he placed the note back on Keiko's desk where Charise had found it.

"Oh..." Eddie tried to maintain a stoic facade. "Keiko just flew off to Superjail to pay respects to Mom and Dad. No doubt she'd been planning to do that for a while."

The world dictator breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that his initial assumption had been wrong. Then an idea came to him. Surely, Keiko didn't want to have to visit Warden and Mistress's final resting place by herself, right? (Technically, she wasn't because Jailbot X was also there, but Eddie still didn't like imagining Keiko doing it alone.) So why not head off to Superjail and confront her there? Then perhaps she and Raphael could finally start acting like a family.

"Do you know where we could find some spare Jailbots around here?" Eddie asked.

"Oh, I think we might have some in storage," Victory replied.

"Cool. Alright, gang, let's go. Keiko needs us."

And so Eddie, Jared, Charise, Alice, and Bruce set off upon five original-generation Jailbots to Superjail to confront Keiko. Eddie wasn't sure how Keiko was going to react once she saw them, nor was he sure that she would even want them to join her, but he was so desperate to help her at this point that he had no idea what else could be just had to hope that they weren't too late.

Upon arriving at Superjail, the group came across Kendra and explained the whole situation to her.

"Well, if there's anybody who could help her, I guess who better than you guys?" Kendra asked with a shrug. "Just keep in mind that she might not want to see you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Eddie replied. "It's a risk we're willing to take, though."

"Well, good luck. You're going to need it."

"We certainly will."

As if in no time at all, Eddie and the group traversed their way into Superjail's cemetery (specifically, the section that was designated for Warden and Mistress). There, they found Keiko staring aimlessly at the mausoleum where her grandparents were being stored. None of them could blame her for doing this or for even coming here in the first place, but at the same time, they were worried that the grief was becoming too cumbersome for her to handle alone.

Eddie decided that he would be the one to approach her from behind. "Keiko?"

Keiko jumped and turned around, her father's voice having broken her out of her dissociative trance. "Dad?"

"Keiko! Keiko, please, we need you to talk to us!"

Keiko froze up, unable to say much of anything. Eddie gripped her chin with his right hand to keep her from turning back to the mausoleum.

"Keiko, it's been six months, and you haven't even held your son once," Eddie continued. "I still need answers! We all do! Why didn't you tell anyone you were pregnant? Why did you keep it from us?"

Keiko still couldn't bring herself to speak. She tried turning her head away from him and back at the mausoleum, but her father's grip was too strong.

"Sweetie, you can't keep doing this," Eddie begged. "You can't keep avoiding Raphael like the plague. He's your son. He needs you."

"No, he doesn't," Keiko squeaked out. "He's better off without me."

It was enough to catch Eddie off-guard. "What did you say?"

"I said he's better off without me."

Eddie wasn't exactly thrilled with the answer, but at least now, he finally had something that he could work with. "What do you mean?"

Keiko struggled to say more as the words kept sticking in her throat and in her brain. Struggled as she did, though, she eventually found the strength within her to articulate her thoughts.

"I can't be the mother he needs me to be," Keiko choked out. "I just can't. If I even try, I'll just hurt him like Arkady hurt me or worse, I'll get him killed like what happened with Grandma. I'm broken, Dad. I'm broken. When Arkady forced me to marry him, he shattered me into pieces that I'm afraid will probably never be whole again. I have no business raising Raphael like you do. I know it's not his fault that his father's a monster, but..." She paused as she tried to keep herself from tearing up. "I just don't know if I'm strong enough to do it. I don't want to hurt him. I don't want to hurt him like Arkady hurt me. I just don't know if I'm strong enough or can give him what he needs."

Eddie just let go. He didn't know what to say. He couldn't help but feel as if his heart was going to break hearing her unload like this. Still, this was what he'd set out to do, and that was all that mattered. Rather than say anything, Eddie decided to do the next best thing and hug her tightly.

At this point, Keiko gave up trying to fight the tears. "Daddy..."

He could feel her sobbing into his shoulder, and his heart broke a little more.

"It's okay," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "Everything will be alright. You know we'll always be here for you every step of the way."

"Thanks..." Keiko sniffled as she slowly started regaining her composure. "I don't even know the first thing about being a parent."

Eddie chuckled. "Honestly, who does? When your grandma and grandpa found out that Ethan and Maddie were on their way, they had to learn everything as they went. Same with me and your mother when we found out about you."

Keiko chuckled back. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"Ready to come home now?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

Eddie nodded. "Sounds good to me."

And so Eddie, Jared, Charise, Alice, and Bruce returned home with Keiko in tow. Eddie couldn't help but take pride in the fact that he'd finally managed to break through to Keiko. Now all that was left was getting her to hold Raphael. Would the six-month-old actually recognize her, though? Considering that he rarely saw her if ever, that was doubtful.

"Did you find Keiko?" Victory asked hopefully.

"We sure did," Eddie replied with a smile. "And we finally got her to open up. Well, I got her to open up. Everyone else just stood by."

Victory's eyes widened. "Really? That's amazing! How'd you do it?"

"Never mind how. Let's just be glad that it finally happened and hope she starts healing soon."

"Alright. Well, where is she?"

"She's back in her room. Why? You want to come with when she sees Raph?"

Victory quickly nodded her head. "Oh, very much."

Eddie slipped his hand into hers. "Well, come on then. Let's go."

They made their way into Keiko's room and opened the door. Keiko was sitting on the edge of her bed, having apparently been waiting for them this whole time.

"Hey, Dad," Keiko greeted. "Hey, Vicki."

"Hey, Keiko," Eddie greeted back. "Ready to see your son?"

"Sort of. I'm not sure, to be honest."

"That's okay. We'll see what happens when we get there."

"Okay."

Keiko got up and followed her father and stepmother out of her room and into the nursery. Keiko's whole body seemed to tense up as she spotted a long dark rectangular-shaped crib adorned with blue-and-white hexagonal-patterned bedding in front of her. She could only presume that that crib was designated for Raphael. Beside it was a similarly-shaped crib but lighter in color and with pink-and-white octagonal-patterned bedding, which was clearly designated with her half-sister Fergie in mind. As it happened, Jared, Charise, Alice, and Bruce were standing by and watching Keiko as she took a moment to observe the dark crib on her left.

"Daddy, I'm scared," Keiko could only say.

"It's okay," Eddie assured her. "Just go up there and you'll be fine."

Keiko swallowed down her nerves and took a deep breath, bracing herself for whatever would happen next as she took a few steps towards Raphael's crib. As she looked down, her eyes locked with her son's. As it so happened, he was sitting up with a curious expression on his face, wondering who this paradoxically familiar stranger was. Keiko herself couldn't help but realize at that moment that she'd never actually seen his face, but it was nonetheless like looking into a mirror.

"Do you think he'll actually like me?" Keiko asked uncertainly.

Eddie shrugged. "Who knows? He's pretty friendly with everyone he interacts with so far. Only way to find out if you're the exception is to pick him up."

Keiko let out an involuntary sigh and then forced herself to pick up the child and bring his face level to hers. To her surprise, he wasn't trying to fight it or even screaming out of fear. So far, so good. Now all she had to do was let him touch his palm to her face. She did, and to her surprise, nothing happened. She breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God. Raphael actually seemed to like her. The fear and nerves soon left her body and were replaced with what she could only describe was a sense of pride and jubilation.

Satisfied with the outcome, Eddie crossed his eyes. "See? Everything worked out."

"Well, I gotta hand it to you, Eddie," Bruce chimed in. "You were right all along."

"Of course I was right. I'm her father, after all."

"I mean... can't really argue with that."

Without even having to think about it, Keiko held Raphael close to her. "Hey, buddy. I'm your mommy."