Hello,
In this chapter I'm going to talk a bit about the canon. I'm planning to incorporate plots from the canon into the story from time to time. But I don't know exactly what I'm going to use yet.
I hope you like it. I would be happy if you would write a review.


Chapter 4

"Is everything all right? Did something happen?" George asked, right after opening the door to his law office, worried to see Lemon here.

Lemon didn't know whether to find his obvious concern annoying or funny. "I'm fine," she said, rolling her eyes. Then she pushed past him. She had no interest in being overheard by everyone passing by.

"Is anyone there?" she wanted to know from George.

"No. What's the matter?"

Lemon looked down. There was no point in putting off the fact any longer. "I told my father. About the pregnancy."

George stared at her in dismay. "Oh God! Oh Lemon!" He ran a hand over his face.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. I couldn't lie to him." Lemon tried to justify herself. She remembered how she had sat at the table with her father at breakfast.

"You look different somehow. I don't mean bad, but different. Have you got a new hairstyle?" Brick asked his daughter. Lemon looked up from her plate in astonishment. She suspected that her father knew her well enough to recognize her incipient pregnancy. She bit her lips.

"Uh no." she mumbled in the direction of her toast.

"Well, not that important. How are you, I know you said you didn't mind the break-up with Henry. Does that mean there's someone else?"

Lemon choked on the bite she was about to eat.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to push you." her father apologized as Lemon coughed. "You don't have to tell me anything. I'm just an over-curious father."

Lemon met her father's gaze and knew in that moment that she couldn't keep it to herself any longer. "There's actually something I need to tell you."

"How did he react?" George snapped her out of her reminiscence with his question. He looked like he wasn't sure he even wanted to hear her answer.

Lemon hesitantly opened her mouth, still searching for the right words. "Well, he was pretty shocked and upset."

That was an understatement. Strictly speaking, her father had vacillated between a panic attack and a tantrum. He had been pacing restlessly back and forth in the room, bombarding Lemon with questions.

"I explained everything to him. And in the end, I think he was at least a little happy for me." Lemon continued.

George had sat down on a visitor's chair in the hallway of his office. "So you convinced him not to kill me?" he said, only half-jokingly.

Lemon could understand his concern. Her father was a great person, but if he felt that she or Magnolia were under threat, he could become very unpleasant.

Nevertheless, she reassured George, "He's just worried. I simply wanted to give you a heads up so you wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly wanted to talk to you."

"Okay. Well then, I guess I'll just have to wait until he gets here."

Lemon laughed at George's doomsday mood. "By the way, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about."

George had got up again and looked at her questioningly.

"Do your parents still own the lake cottage? You know...?"

"Yes. Why?" George frowned.

Lemon had struggled for a long time with whether she should tell George about her plans. But in the end, she wouldn't feel comfortable if there was no one who knew. If George knew where she was, she felt much safer.

"Annabeth, Crickett and I want to go there. Actually, we'd probably rather break in. Like we did when we were teenagers. We want to relive a bit of that time back then."

Lemon could see the doubt on George's face. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, a trip with your friends would certainly be nice. But I don't know if it's what's good for you at the moment."

Lemon knew what he was getting at. "I'm not planning to drink. I want to spend time with my friends without having to worry. Because I suppose I won't be able to do that in the future."

She hoped George could understand her feelings. A baby would make a venture like this impossible for years to come.

"This might be the last weekend I can just be Lemon and not have my friends worrying about me all the time and only be the mom-to-be."

She looked at George seriously. He sighed. "I can see from your face that I won't be able to dissuade you either way."

Lemon grinned broadly. "Well, you just know me too well."

"Can I at least give you the key. Then you wouldn't have to break in."

Lemon shook his head. "First of all, Annabeth and Crickett would know I told you, and second of all, breaking in is part of the fun."

George raised his eyebrows and then shrugged. He turned and walked into his office. There he grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and started to write something down. Finally, he turned back to Lemon.

"Here's the code to turn off the alarm system." He hesitated before handing her the sheet. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, and now give it to me." Lemon took the piece of paper from George's hand.

"Have fun." Mumbled George.

Lemon smiled, at least he wasn't trying to stop her. But he still obviously didn't like it. "Thanks."

She turned and was halfway out the door when George called after her.

"Just be careful." It was more of a request than a command.

Lemon looked back over her shoulder at him and nodded before she finally left.


Lemon stood in the garden and stared at the note in her hand. Annabeth and Crickett had already made their way back to the house, laughing, but Lemon felt frozen.

"My wish is that in fifteen years I'm as happy as I am tonight."

Was she as happy as she was then? Back then, everything had been easy and carefree. She had felt free and - as Annabeth and Crickett had just explained to her - she had been newly in love. At seventeen, she had still had dreams and believed in things like true love.

Lemon felt a lump in her throat. That fifteen years later she would be standing here in George's parents' garden, carrying his baby in her womb, would probably not have seemed unlikely to her at that time. Except that the things that had happened in between didn't match her imagination.

No, she wasn't nearly as happy as she had been back then.

"Lemon are you coming?" Annabeth called out with the slight waver in her voice caused by too much alcohol.

Lemon folded up the note in her hand and took a breath. She wasn't here today to dwell on sad thoughts.

"I'm coming!"


It was dark and cold by now. Lemon pulled the towel tighter around her shoulders. This was not how she had imagined the excursion. It had actually been nice. Until now. Now she and her friends were standing locked out in front of the beach house.

"What are we going to do now?" she asked aloud to the group, trying to get their attention back.

Her eyes fell on Crickett. She was holding a cell phone. "Why didn't you say you had your cell phone with you?" Lemon asked, dumbfounded. Crickett looked at her innocently. "Okay, give it to me. I'll call George."

Lemon took the cell phone from Crickett's hand. Thank God she had told George about their plan. It was still awkward though. Lemon had really thought she would be okay.

The phone rang. What if he didn't pick up?

"Hello Crickett. Why are you calling?" Hearing George's voice immediately calmed Lemon down a little. Even though she could hear the concern in his tone. He knew she was out with Crickett.

"George. It's me." She said quietly. So that he wouldn't worry unnecessarily, she added: "I'm fine."

"Lemon! What's wrong?" George asked, confused.

"We're at the lake cottage and, well, we've managed to lock ourselves out."

There was silence on the other end for a moment. Then Lemon heard a soft, laboriously suppressed laugh.

"It's not funny!" she hissed. "We're standing here with wet clothes and can't get in. It's cold. Can you please just come here with a spare key and let us in?"

"Sorry." George said. "I'll be on my way straight away. In twenty minutes, I'll be with you.

"Good. See you then." Lemon ended the call and put her cell phone down. She felt exhausted.

Annabeth and Crickett were having a giggling attack that was clearly due to alcohol consumption. It had been surprisingly easy not to drink without either of them realizing it. In the beginning, Lemon had taken on the task of mixing the drinks and had simply not put any alcohol in her own glass. After a while, the two of them were too drunk to notice what Lemon was drinking anyway. Now she had two drunk friends who didn't seem to care about their wet clothes or the cold. Lemon leaned against the glass window of the porch door. Hopefully George would hurry up.


George put his cell phone back in his jacket pocket and glanced across the room. There he could see a very unhappy-looking Frank together with Dash, who looked just as unhappy. Standing around them were a number of older women who adored the two men in the strange outfits.

Lavon had asked George to come along. He had to attend the event for some mayoral business and, understandably, didn't feel like being alone. George couldn't blame him. He himself could think of a whole lot of things he would rather be doing. That's why he was more than happy to have a reason to leave the event now that Lemon had called.

He went to Lavon, who was watching the scene with his head in his hands.

"Lavon, I'm sorry I can't stay any longer. I've got things to do."

Lavon jerked his head upwards. "Then I'm leaving, too. I've seen enough to do my duty. Who called?"

George hesitated. He and Lavon had only just made up after the fight over Lemon and the situation was still tense. But George still couldn't lie to Lavon.

"It was Lemon." He met Lavon's gaze. He widened his eyes. "She's at my parents' lake cottage with Annabeth and Crickett. They must have locked themselves out. I'm going there to unlock it for them."

"I'll go with you." Lavon had gotten up.

George wanted to object, but he couldn't think of a good reason why Lavon shouldn't come with him. Except that George would prefer otherwise. He glanced at his watch. Lemon was waiting for him. He didn't have time to argue now.

"Fine with me. I'm driving." He sighed resignedly and walked ahead of Lavon to his truck.

Ten minutes later, the two men were sitting next to each other in the car in silence. George could feel Lavon looking at him from the side.

"Something is different. Between you and Lemon. Am I right?" he finally asked George. He didn't sound angry or offended. He just wanted George to confirm what he himself had already noticed.

George stared silently at the road. Lavon was right, of course. But George couldn't just say that. Lavon was probably jealous. He almost certainly was. George could hardly bear to think about it.

"Did you tell her about your feelings?" Lavon continued, no longer quite so calm.

"No, I didn't. Not yet." George gripped the steering wheel tighter. "Lavon, I know you don't like this, but I'm asking you not to tell Lemon how you feel right now."

George dared to glance sideways at Lavon. He was staring at him in disbelief, his eyes wide open. George could understand that. But it would be a nightmare for Lemon at the moment if Lavon declared his love for her and she then had to tell him about George's baby. George wanted to spare her that. If Lavon knew about the baby and then made his declaration to Lemon - not that George liked to think about it - then at least Lemon wouldn't have to enlighten him. Right now, it would be quite awkward for both of them.

"I can't explain why. You'll know and understand in a few months at the latest. I'm not saying this to get you out of the game or because I want to take advantage of the situation. You can't tell Lemon now. Please. You just have to trust me."

It stays quiet for a while.

"Okay. I trust you."

George's heart sank.

"You're my best friend. And I know you can't lie at all. So you must be serious. And I really hope you don't take advantage of that."

"Thanks Lavon." George says sincerely and leans back a little in his seat.


Finally, George's truck came into view. Lemon breathed a sigh of relief. George got out of the truck, along with Lavon. So George had brought reinforcements. No sooner had George taken a few steps towards the porch than Crickett hopped up to him.

"Oh, Georgie. You're here at last. We've been waiting for ages. And it's sooo cold." She warbled and clung to George's arm. George stopped a little awkwardly and patted Crickett's hand.

"Um I guess I'd better let you guys inside." He mumbled and freed himself from Crickett's clutching grip. Then he walked over to Lemon who was still standing by the door.

"Are you alright?" he asked her in a whisper.

"I'm ok." Lemon replied, knowing that George could see her exhaustion.

George stepped towards the door with the key in his hand. As he did so, he stood as close to Lemon as possible, and his fingers lightly touched the back of her hand. It was a silent gesture to let Lemon know that he was there for her. Lemon accepted it gratefully. It was inconspicuous enough that neither Lavon nor Annabeth nor Crickett noticed. As George unlocked the door, Lemon had to fight the sudden urge to hold his hand.

He had opened the door and was about to step into the room. Lemon stopped him by putting her hand on his arm. "It's a bit of a mess." She warned him.

George just shrugged his shoulders and went inside. Lemon followed him. It was a complete chaos. There were glasses and half-empty bottles on the coffee table and the clothes that the women had hurriedly taken off were scattered around the room. Added to this were plates of food with crumbs all over the floor. George stood there with his mouth slightly open.

Lemon couldn't help but grin. "Maybe it is a bit funny after all." She said sweetly.

George looked at her, shaking his head. "You'd better put some dry clothes on first. I'll start here..." he gestured vaguely at the mess. Lemon nodded slightly and then left with her friends to follow George's advice.

A short time later, the three of them had changed their clothes. George hadn't even come close to organizing the place. "Well then..." he made an inviting gesture, "you can get started."

"No!" Crickett replied in dismay. "I have to go home because of my cat!"

"What cat?" asked George, confused. Minutes later, he knew exactly what Crickett's cat problem was. This really couldn't be true!

"All right. Lavon, take my car and drive the girls home. I'll stay here and clean up. I'll come back later, or," George glanced around the room, "maybe tomorrow in Lemon's car." He sighed in resignation.

"Let's go ladies." Lavon called out with a grin and headed for the door.

Lemon, however, stopped in the middle of the room. "I'll stay here and help George."

"No. No, Lemon, you're not going to do that!" objected George. "You're going home with the others and get some rest."

Lemon stared hard at George. "It was my idea. I'm not going to let you clean up alone."

George returned her gaze, silently trying to make her understand that he didn't want her to stay. Of all those present, Lemon needed rest the most. Lemon just looked back at him without saying a word and raised an eyebrow. George was aware that Lavon was watching their exchange of glances closely. Damn, why did this woman have to be so stubborn.

"Well, then stay here." George finally gave in.

Lemon smiled contentedly, while Lavon looked rather unhappy. He gave George a doubtful look before making his way home with the other two women. Lemon and George stayed alone.