Mattie Lapin sighed and flopped down on her bed. Her dark red hair was a stark contrast to the yellow bedspread and pillow cases. She pillowed her head in her arms and stared at the ceiling of her room, thinking. It was in this position that her best friend in the whole world, Jean-Pierre Alouette, found her five minutes later.

"You don' look like you're ready to go, Mattie." J.P. grinned, shoving his glasses up on his nose. The habit was as natural to him as it was to his father. He didn't look any more ready than she was, but she knew from past experience that it didn't matter to him if he went to a dance in jeans and a blue t-shirt.

"Neither do you." Mattie laughed, sitting up. "But I would get ready if I could find somethin' to wear..."

J.P.'s green eyes twinkled at his friend and he walked over to Mattie's closet with a laugh and started going through her clothes. "You have tons of clothes in here, Mattie. Surely dere's somethin' you can wear to a dance."

"If I wanted to go to de dance, maybe. But I don'. Do you?" Mattie asked, joining him.

"Well, non...but Cheryl wants us to go. So we should, b'cause she's our friend." J.P. replied, pulling a nice blue and white sweater out of the closet and holding it up in front of Mattie's face. "What 'bout dis?"

"Yeah, so she can look good. An' I was gon' wear dese pants, mon ami. Dat don' exactly go wit' dem."

J.P. groaned. "You're hopeless, y'know dat? Do you have any shirt dat goes wit' dose pants or did you jus' buy dem to be difficult?"

"De shirt I bought dat goes wit' dem is in de washer." Mattie explained. "De only other t'ing dat goes wit' dem is dat stupid tube top Carson got me as a joke for my birthday an' you know I can' leave de house in dat..."

"Why not?" J.P. laughed. He knew as well as Mattie did that her father would never allow her to go out to a school dance or any place else in that shirt. Emil Lapin tried to be as fair as he could about things when it came to his children, but he was also a typical over-protective father and proud of it.

Mattie raised her eyebrows. "You know de answer to dat as well as I do, J.P.! I can hear Papa now...oy...I guess I'm jus' gon' have to change my pants, huh?"

"Yup. Dose white ones you have would look good wit' dis sweater..." J.P. commented as someone knocked on the door. Both teens turned to find J.P.'s father, Genard, standing in the doorway, a concerned look on his face.

"Hey Papa. Somethin' wrong?" J.P. asked. It amazed Mattie, not for the first time in her life, that the family genes were so strong. She knew she looked almost identical to her father, and the same could be said about J.P. and Genard. The only real difference between them was eye color. J.P. had inherited his green eyes from his mother, who died giving birth to him. Genard had brown eyes that actually made a nice contrast to his blond hair.

Genard looked at Mattie. "May I come in?"

"Duh. Of course you can." Mattie consented. Genard was her godfather, and she had a special relationship with him. She could tell him things sometimes that she couldn't tell her parents. Likewise, Mattie knew, sometimes J.P. could talk to her parents about things when he found it hard to go to his father. Godparents were such great people.

"T'anks." Genard joined them and sat down on the chair at Mattie's computer desk. "I jus' ran into Cheryl downstairs, she seemed pretty upset. Are you guys still goin' to de dance tonight?"

"Yeah...unfortunately." J.P. replied. "Why? Jus' b'cause she seems upset don' mean nothin'. She's upset on a daily basis."

"Be nice, Jean-Pierre." Genard scolded slightly. "I was jus' wondering if your plans were still on, dat's all. She was really excited 'bout de dance earlier."

Mattie frowned for a moment. "My brother prob'ly said somethin' to her she didn' like, or somethin'. We all know de two of dem really don' like each other. I wouldn' worry 'bout it too much. She can take care of herself."

"True. Well maybe you two can cheer her up tonight, huh? Or would dat be askin' too much?"

"I guess we can. We'll jus' dress de way we normally do an' be ourselves. Dat always makes her happy, b'cause it makes her seem even more beautiful to everyone else." Mattie laughed. "She can be pretty superficial."

"Maybe dere's a reason for dat." Genard suggested. "But I'll leave you two to finish gettin' ready. Jus' t'ink 'bout dis, okay? An' have a good time. Dat's most important."

"Okay, we will. Oh, an' de dance ends at 1..." J.P. said. "Zoe said she'd come pick us up so you don' have to wait up or anythin'."

"Dat's good to know, t'anks." Genard smiled. He was very happy that the teens were being responsible and mature enough to cover all the bases.

Cheryl was just about to go up to see what was taking Mattie and J.P. so long when she heard a car pull into the driveway. That told her the movie was over and her mother, brother and cousin were home. She decided to wait and see them before going up to get J.P. and Mattie.

Desiree Singer Boudreaux, known in the Guild family as Singer, barely had time to get the front door open when two excited but tired adolescents pushed their way past her. Singer just shook her head, her long, dark hair swaying around her slim shoulders, and smiled tolerantly at her thirteen-year-old son, Sebastien, and Reilly, the twelve-year-old daughter of her first cousin Questa. She had to laugh as they tried to tell Cheryl all about the movie, and she dismissed them.

When the young people left for upstairs, Singer looked at her daughter. "Your hair is lovely, Cherie. How did you do dat?"

Cheryl laughed. "I didn'. Papa did. He said he picked up a few tricks from watchin' you all dese years."

"Well now, I t'ink I'm gon' have to get him to do my hair from now on too!" Singer laughed, before growing serious again. "You know, you shouldn' treat dose two like dat. Dey're your family."

"I know, Mama, I know. I'll go 'pologize b'fore we leave for de dance." Cheryl conceded. "But I really didn' wan' know 'bout de movie right now..."

"You could have at least humored dem." Singer chided. "But is everythin' okay? You don' seem jus' right. You were more excited 'bout de dance b'fore we left earlier."

"I'm fine. I have to go get J.P. an' Mattie. It's almost time to go. I'm jus' in a hurry, dat's all." Cheryl kissed her mother's cheek and headed back up the main safehouse staircase.

Singer sighed as she hung her jacket up in the hall closet. "I wonder if dat's true or not." She didn't distrust her daughter, and knew Cheryl would talk to her if something serious was bothering her. She just had to be patient. With another sigh, she walked into the kitchen. For some reason she just felt like baking something.

On her way to get Mattie and J.P., Cheryl paused at her brother's bedroom door and peeked into the room. She smiled at the younger teens. Sebastien was sitting backwards in his desk chair, his dark hair in a state of disarray from having just removed his baseball hat. He never usually took it off. He was playing a game on his computer. Their cousin Reilly was sprawled on her stomach on the bed, flipping through one of Sebastien's latest comic books, her black hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, her blue eyes focused intently on the comic. Both children looked up when they sensed Cheryl's presence.

"We're goin' to de dance in a few minutes, I jus' wanted to apologize to you guys." Cheryl admitted, leaning in the doorway. "I shouldn' have been so short wit' you downstairs. I take it you enjoyed de movie."

"Yeah." Reilly nodded, turning back to the comic book. "I wish Papa could have gone too t'ough." She suddenly tossed the book aside and jumped off the bed. "Have fun at de dance, Cherie." She said as she left the room.

Sebastien looked at his sister, his hazel eyes thoughtful and concerned. "You look good, Sis. Blow 'em away at de dance."

"Yeah...is she okay?" Cheryl was suddenly preoccupied with Reilly's behavior. She knew there was something going on, but she didn't have all de facts, so she didn't want to say anything, even to her brother.

"She's fine. You know how close she an' Questa are. It's no big deal. Don' you have to go?"

"Mmm...hey why're you an' Carson friends, anyway?" Cheryl asked, switching gears without missing a beat, deciding to put her concerns for Reilly out of her mind for the time being. She was more interested in finding out just what her brother saw in Carson Lapin.

"We're de same age, for one t'ing." Sebastien grinned. "Look, I know you don' like him, an' frankly, he don' like you either, but don' let him get your goat. You guys don' have to be friends jus' b'cause he an' I are friends, okay? Jus' don' kill him, dat's all I ask."

"Okay. I won'." Cheryl agreed. She was just about to go see where J.P. and Mattie were when they poked their heads into the room.

"Um...Cher? Don' we have to go now? We're gon' be late." Mattie grinned.

"Yeah. You're right." Cheryl agreed, silently happy at how plainly they were dressed. They wouldn't stand out in the crowd while she, on the other hand, looked outstanding. "Hey Sebastien, can we talk 'bout somethin' in de mornin'? It's kinda private."

"Sure t'ing. Have a good time tonight, guys."

While Cheryl, J.P. and Mattie were out at the school dance, Carson and Sebastien played computer games for awhile before their parents insisted they go to bed. And Reilly Devereaux got some news from her own parents that would change her life.

Reilly had known for quite some time that her mother was sick. It was for that reason that her father hadn't taken her and Sebastien to the movies that evening. Questa had wanted to stay with Shelby while she waited for special test results to come back, but neither of them had wanted Reilly to miss out on the movie, so Questa had asked Singer to take them instead.

Questa looked up when his daughter entered the room. He smiled at her lovingly. "Hey, how was de movie?"

"It was awesome, of course." Reilly replied, giving him a huge hug. All her life, she was his little shadow. She idolized him and tried to imitate him constantly. It didn't hurt that she was a smaller, female version of him, with her messy black hair and dark blue eyes. "You would have loved it. How's Mom, is she okay?"

Questa smiled again and ruffled her hair. "Yeah, she's fine. Actually, we both have something to tell you. Your mother's in de bedroom."

Reilly went with her father into the master bedroom. Shelby was in bed, tucked up neatly under the green and gold bedspread with a smile on her face. Reilly went over and climbed up on the bed with her mother while Questa sat on the edge, facing them.

"Okay, I'm confused, you guys." Reilly said. "Mom...if you're really fine like Papa says you are, den how come you had to take some tests an' how come you've been sick an' how come you're in bed at eight-t'irty?"

"Oh sweetheart, I really am fine." Shelby comforted. "We promise. I'm just tired. I'm going to need your help from now on, okay, more than before."

"Why?" Reilly asked.

"B'cause she's gon' be needin' a lot of rest over de next few months, an' I can' do everythin'." Questa said, eying her closely for a reaction to the news that was about to come out.

"Why?" the question was asked again. None of this was making any sense to Reilly and she just wished her parents would tell her what was going on.

"Reilly...how would you feel about being a big sister?" Shelby asked.

Reilly's jaw dropped. "How would I...I mean...what....what are you...Mom? Are you...?"

Shelby and Questa smiled at their daughter. "Yeah." Questa said. "Dat's why she's been sick lately. Mercy got us a pregnancy test an' dat's why I couldn' take you to the movies. It came back positive."

"Wow..." Reilly blinked. "When are you due, do you know yet?"

"No, not yet. We called Remy in New York and he said he'd bring Dr. McCoy down here this weekend when he comes, so we can get a better idea." Shelby replied. "Honey, are you okay with this? I mean you're not saying much, you're just asking questions and blinking. Do you have any concerns?"

"I'm jus' glad you're okay, an' de fact dat I'm gon' get a baby brother or sister out of dis in a few months...I'm okay with it. How couldn' I be? Yeah it'll be an adjustment, but so's everythin'. Can I go tell Sebasien an' Carson?"

"Oh...can you wait until de mornin' to tell dem? We haven' tol' any of de others yet, an' we'd like dem to know first, if it's okay wit' you to keep quiet for a few more hours." Questa said.

"Sure dat's fine. I can wait. It makes more sense, actually, b'cause Cheryl, Mattie an' J.P. will be here den too." Reilly agreed before yawning. "Actually, I'm tired...I t'ink it's time I go to bed too..." She hugged both her parents and danced into her bedroom with a light heart. She knew if this had happened a few years ago, she would have been jealous and angry over it, but now, she just couldn't wait. It was the best news she'd gotten in weeks and it topped off an already great evening.

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