READ THE NOTE AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER

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"You've been doing nothing but watching Glee since you got home," Lucy said, entering the living room of my house and flopping down beside me. "It's starting to concern me."

"Don't insult me," I snapped, glaring at her for a long moment before turning my eyes back to the television.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Lucy hold her hands up in surrender. "What crawled up your ass and died?"

A wave of guilt hit me and I sighed, rubbing my eyes tiredly and pausing the television. "I'm sorry, Luce. It's just.." I sighed again, shaking my head. "I was just..I.."

Lucy cut me off, "Stop. I understand. Though I have the strangest urge of knocking you on your ass, it is okay. Your sister's in the hospital, you're knocked up, and you are basically under house arrest."

True. True. True. Yes, all three things are highly true. The last one is the most recent added to the list of events I had to be stressed over, I was under house arrest. It made me want to scream and throw something at everyone. Who suddenly decided it was okay to make decisions like this without me? It is not okay to trap me inside my own home and tell me I can't leave.

I chewed the inside of my cheek and ignored a strand of my hair that had gotten loose from its hold in my lazy bun, now resting in front of my eye.

"Faye?" Lucy nudged me ever so gently and I snapped my head up, looking at her.

"Yeah?" I murmured.

"Is everything alright? Besides .. Well, everything." She glanced at my stomach nervously.

"You mean, is the baby alright?" I offered, scratching my arm to get rid of an itch.

"Not just the baby," Lucy said. "Just you in general."

I thought for a moment about her question. Physically, I felt fine except for the slight stomach sicknesses I got from time to time and the weird cravings. Emotionally, I was having the worst moodswings mankind would ever see and I'm really pissed off and hurt at half of my family members right now. Mentally, I'm just exhausted.

"I'm just .. so tired," I started, running my fingers through my hair, "of being treated like a child."

"I know you hate being treated like that." Lucy took a deep breath and chewed her bottom lip. "But have you ever thought about what they're just trying to do?"

"I know they're trying to protect me." I closed my eyes and propped my elbow up on the armrest of the couch and leaned my head against my arm. "I just .. for once want them to trust me."

"Can I be honest with you?" she asked me, her head cocking slightly. I nodded for her to continue, swallowing. "Alright, this is going to sound a bit harsh .. but it's what I think is true." She took another deep breath. "Faye, it's not about trust anymore. We are on the verge of war and you're pregnant. To add that on, your sister was put in the hospital because of Livius. We have two major enemies on our hands: The Slayers and Livius, and now we figure out that there's a third crystal out there. And it's fighting on the side of Livius. If Livius has a crystal, he could have anything right now. You're not just surviving for yourself, anymore, Faye. You've been surviving for all of us, sure, but not you have a living being inside of you."

Lucy was right and I felt guilty for being so stubborn and unforgiving about all of this. I didn't respond to Lucy, having gotten lost in my own thoughts. My throat bobbed slightly as I swallowed down a ball of sobs that I've been keeping down for days, and I'm still trying to keep down.

"You okay?" My best friend murmured softly, her hand curling around mine gently. My eyes drifted down to our hands and I nodded a bit. Her unnerving eyes studied me, as if searching me for any signs of untruth. "You sure?"

"Yes," I said out loud, relieved that my voice didn't break or crack when I spoke, "I'm just thinking. I've been doing that a lot lately."

Lucy smiled a little and gave my hand a squeeze. "It's okay. I've been doing that, too."

I began to play with my friend's fingers out of habit, glancing out the window every so often. It's been storming like crazy, making my sleep be decreased during the night and increased during the day. My whole schedule is screwed up, and it's been causing my body to react strangely, not used to the changes.

"So any updates on Jordan?" I asked, listening to the sky rumble with thunder.

"She's .. improving, physically at least," Jordan informed, watching me play with her fingers. "But she hasn't woken from her coma .. The doctors aren't sure when she will. The babies?"

I glanced at the stairs in the hallway and closed my eyes for a moment. "I'm taking care of them. They're to young to understand what's happening .. That's one thing I'm happy about. They are oblivious to it all."

"You're not stressed with taking care of them?"

"Quince and Mom come over and help me. I'm not alone in this."

"No, you're not. In fact, I'll watch you the next time you go up to take care of those two. So I can help you out, too," Lucy told me, smiling.

I blinked, a bit surprised at her offer. I never took Lucy to be one who liked being around children, much less offering to care for two of them. "Okay..if you're absolutely sure."

"I am." Lucy nodded her head. "It might be difficult, but .. I can be patient."

"Patient? You?" I smiled a bit and raised my eyebrows at her playfully. "I can't wait to see you interact with them."

"I can be patient," Lucy retorted, looking offended as she scowls at me. "I just need .. motivation for it."

"You'll be doing Jordan a great deed." I nudged her softly. "And me. You, Quince, and my mom are all great with helping me out .. I don't know how Jordan does it sometimes. I'm nervous about the one I'm expecting."

"I'm sure your Dad and Jackson would offer, but they're really busy." Lucy brushed a strand of her black hair behind her ear. Lucy was very much correct, my father and Jackson have been doing nothing but business. Now that there was peace with the warlocks and riders, we have some powerful allies on our side offering up their help with the search for Livius. They've also been doing some meetings with other Hovers as well as meeting with some Council members. It was a huge mess.

"I know," I replied quietly, offering another small smile. I glanced at my best friend and released a soft breath, grateful that she was still at my side to help me through all of this.

--

A little filler / informative chapter.

Now, if you're reading this then I thank you because I'm going to do something.

I'm THINKING of doing another one shot competition! That's right, I'm accepting one shot entries 

What are your thoughts? Would you send a one shot if I did the competition?

Tell me!

-Grace xx