Mal had finally done it.

Mike thought the reset button had gotten rid of Mal. It hadn't. It got rid of Mike's other four alters but Mal was too strong.

Mike thought Mal had faded away, never to be seen again. Really, he had just been trapped inside a rusty, black dungeon in the corner of Mike's brain.

It took Mal a year, but he escaped the dungeon, able to use an evil force inside of him to bust open it's prison-like gate.

Mike didn't realize that Mal had escaped; he didn't try to bring awareness to himself. Instead, Mal spent his days centering his power within, and it took only months before he once again had the power to take control.

He did it at night. At twelve thirty on the dot, Mal harnessed all his evil power and took control of Mike. Mike was immediately stuck inside his own brain again, with no idea of how to get out. There was no hope for him.

Mal shook Zoey awake.

"What is it, Mike?" Zoey asked, turning to him in their bed. Zoey's parents had trusted Mike to stay the night.

If only they knew.

Zoey sleepily rubbed her eyes, and looked at Mal.

"Zoey, darling. I'm not Mike. I'm Mal. It's over for your little boyfriend," he smirked, then let out an evil chuckle before getting out of the bed.

Zoey sat there in shock, tears welling in her eyes.

"This time, Mike isn't coming back. Goodnightmares!" Mal walked out of the room, shutting the door loudly behind him.

Zoey's heart hurt as she sat alone in the dark. She'd never felt so lost inside her own neighborhood, her own house, her own room.

She wanted to get up and chase Mal, wanted to scream at him and demand he perish and let Mike live in peace, but her legs were frozen like she was paralyzed. She stayed put.

Two Days Later

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Zoey groaned weakly, clenching her fists and holding back tears. She leaned against the back of her couch. Gwen's smooth hands stroked her arm.

"At least we'll be there together," she offered, but she knew Zoey was beyond comfort.

Zoey hadn't seen Mal in three days.

Mike's loving parents were mortified when they'd found out what had happened. They located Mal the night he went missing with the help of the police, but because he was eighteen, there was nothing they could do.

Mal got to make his own choices and he chose to leave. No one had seen him since he left, not his mother or father or any of Mike's friends.

Zoey cried into Gwen's shoulder. The older girl always made her feel better but right then, nothing could. Zoey thought it was her fault that Mal was out in the world in Mike's stolen body. She thought that if she had gone after him, maybe she could've helped.

And now Zoey and Gwen were being forced into another season of Total Drama.

"I don't want to go," Zoey cried, placing her face in her hands.

"I know. None of us do," Gwen said softly and sweetly. "But we have to prevail. Your strong Zoey. You've got this. And hey, maybe one of us could win the million," Gwen said, giving a weak smile in attempt to brighten her usually cheery friend.

"I don't care about the million. I just need Mike," Zoey sniffed.

"I miss him too." Gwen pulled Zoey into a sweet hug and held her tight. Zoey cherished the embrace, with no Mike she needed all the extra love she could get.

Three Days Later

"And our final returning contestant, Mal! That's right folks, sweet, awkward Mike has been taken over by his evil alternate personality AGAIN, and it seems like this time, it's for good!" Chris grinned.

Zoey's jaw dropped. Cameron put an arm around her and gave her a gentle rub on the back, looking at her worriedly. Zoey looked blankly ahead.

As Mal walked past Zoey to join the team, she whispered,

"I hate you."

Mal only laughed, the harsh words sending tingles of satisfaction down his spine.

"Not as much as I hate you," he came back quietly, a wicked smile at his lips. Zoey squeezed her eyes shut and focused on her breathing. Cam glared hard at Mal, who gave him the same evil smirk as he gave Zoey.

"When I get off this stupid show, I'm going to take over the world. I already have connections with dangerous people, I just need to put my plan into action," Mal said, a gleaming grin on his face, his eyes filled with hate.

"Yeah right. You sound like a villain from a Disney movie," Cameron glared with no fear. He was so done with Mal stomping all over him, Zoey and Mike. Mal didn't respond to Cameron, just turned to Chris to hear the instructions of the challenge.

That night, Zoey confidently marched up to her team's boys cabin. She knocked loudly, taking out her anger towards Mal on the door.

"Chill, bra, you don't have to break the door," Geoff said. Zoey refrained from rolling her eyes.

"Sorry. I really need to talk to Mal." Mal shoved Geoff to the side, raising an eyebrow at Zoey. She waved her arm towards outside, walking a few feet away from the cabin. Mal followed.

"Yes?" He glared.

"Bring. Mike. Back!" Zoey loudly demanded, getting right in Mal's face and stomping her foot. Mal laughed.

"No way. He's gone. FOREVER." The tone of his voice dripped with some sort of violence.

"Mal, please," Zoey begged, changing her tone from strong to weak. She knew being tough wouldn't work on Mal. She didn't even know why she had tried.

"It's not going to happen Zoey. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to work on my master plan to take over the planet." He turned and began his walk to the cabin. He was almost there when the truth came out and stopped him in his tracks,

"I'm pregnant."

Mal turned around and looked at Zoey. His menacing expression disappeared within nanoseconds.

He stood in there in complete shock.

Zoey's face crumpled, a pained cry escaping her mouth. She put her hands on her face, sobbing. She sobbed so hard her shoulders shook. She had cried a lot in the past few days, but not this hard. Mal didn't know what to do. He awkwardly approached Zoey. As he placed a hand on her shaking back, he felt something tug at his heart. The tug became a pull and something was released all throughout him.

Empathy.

"Zoey," Mal started weakly, but Zoey cut him off.

"Please," she sobbed, "Just leave me alone."

Mal respected Zoey's wish and left. His body ached with empathy. The newfound emotion had taken over him.

Mal kept himself awake until when he guessed was sometime around midnight, then left the cabin. He hadn't changed into his pajamas, he was ready for this. He walked down by the water and took a deep breath.

All the doubt of his decision faded away as Zoey's crying played in his head over and over.

Mal squeezed his eyes shut, ready to access Mike and give him his control back, so he could take care of his baby, so he could take care of Zoey and rid her of those awful, gut wrenching sobs.

It didn't work.

Mal tried and tried till he nearly pulled his hair out in frustration. It still didn't work.

He had no way to bring Mike back.

The Next Day

The challenge of the day was for each member of the two teams, The Flying Fish and the Swimming Screech Owls, to make it to Boney Island and back. To make it dangerous Chris had dumped a crapton of monsters and dangerous animals into the lake.

The teams were given light blue waiting benches for while they were waiting for their turns. Mal awkwardly took a seat next to Zoey when the challenge started. She gave him the meanest yet most hurt look he had ever seen in his life. Her face was red, clearly from crying.

"I don't understand how you can be so awful," Zoey whispered to Mal, a tear streaming down her cheek.

Mal sighed sadly. "Zoey... last night I tried to bring Mike back. I tried to give him full control but I couldn't. I really couldn't, I tried and it was impossible," he admitted, looking down to the ground in defeat. He heard Zoey's awful crying slowly start back up again. He couldn't even look at her.

"What's wrong Zoey?" Courtney snapped, annoyance filling her tone. She had no idea Zoey's situation, and was bothered by the sound of her crying.

"Shut up, Courtney," Mal said, narrowing his eyes at her.

Courtney crossed her arms. "You shut up! Loser." Having been called a loser so many times by Duncan, it made Courtney feel better to address others the same way.

Mal rolled his eyes at Courtney's generic insult. He turned to Zoey and rubbed her back, calming her down and slowing her tears.

Zoey's team won the challenge but she was unaffected by the win. If Mal couldn't bring Mike back... how could anyone?

Had Zoey lost Mike forever? Had her baby lost their father forever?

Zoey spent her evening holding back tears and pretending she was fine. Cameron and Gwen, both on her team, were concerned by her red, tear stained face. Zoey lied that it was an allergic reaction.

She dreaded knowing that she had to tell Cam and Gwen about her pregnancy eventually. The only ones who knew so far were Mike and Mal.

When she told him, Mike had pulled Zoey into his arms and smiled down at her. Despite their tender age, he was ready to go to the moon and back for Zoey and his baby.

At almost nine pm, nearing bedtime, Zoey, Gwen and Cameron sat in a circle playing Go Fish in the girls cabin. Zoey politely excused herself from the game.

It would be too painful to tell Gwen and Cameron about her pregnancy then and there. She and Mike were supposed to do that together. They were going to do it the day after they found out, but that was the night Mal took over. Zoey needed a warm up announcement to prepare her for the pain of telling she and Mike's friends without Mike.

She walked to Chris's nice RV, feeling her belly on the way. She didn't know how far along she was, but she knew it had to be at least weeks, because her belly looked like she had been bloated full of too much Thanksgiving dinner. It didn't help that she had no baggy clothes, only her tight crop top. Soon enough, even the ones who she didn't tell would know she was pregnant.

Zoey took a breath and swore to herself she wouldn't cry in from of Chris. She knocked on this RV door. He swung it open, scowling.

"What do you want, Zoey? I was busy watching TV on my deluxe flat screen!"

Zoey fidgeted with her hands, her cheeks flushing redder than they already were from last nights crying.

"I, well, um, I'm pregnant so... I can't participate in dangerous challenges," she spit out, talking quickly and awkwardly. Chris uncomfortably shifted his feet.

"Um, oh," he said, a bit flustered. "You can go home if you want," he offered.

"No, thanks." Zoey wanted to stay in case there was anything Cam could do to help get Mike back.

"Okay, well you don't have to do any dangerous challenges," Chris said, then gave an awkward nod before shutting the door. As much as he hated teenagers, it was weird for Chris to have one of his young competitors going to become a mother.

Zoey walked back and took a huge deep breath that didn't seem to calm her nerves at all. She entered the girls cabin.

"Guys, I have to tell you something," Zoey said, already tearing up. She sat down in their little circle. Courtney was elsewhere, so it was just them.

"What is it, Zo?" Gwen asked, exchanging a worried glance with Cameron.

"Me and Mike, we're pregnant." The pace of Zoey's breathing increased as she blinked hard, trying to hold back tears.

For a second, Gwen just stared.

All she could see was how young Zoey looked.

Her pigtails, her pajamas, the way she was sitting on the carpet.

She looked so young.

And afraid.

Gwen leaned over and pulled the redhead into her arms. She felt Zoey's fast paced heartbeat against her chest. Cameron didn't really know what to do, he was nearly frozen in surprise. He rubbed his hand up and down Zoey's back in an act of comfort.

Gwen and Zoey simultaneously pulled away from their hug.

"I know this situation is horrible, but you're so strong Zoey. Congratulations, you are going to have the cutest little baby ever!" Gwen smiled, clasping her hands in excitement.

"Yeah, congrats!" Cameron smiled.

"Thanks guys. I don't what I'd do without you," Zoey grinned, the tears in her eyes spilling out. But now, they were happy tears.

That night, as Zoey laid awake in bed, she pulled her pajama top off and moved her hands up and down her bare belly. The bump was growing, she could really feel it now. The reality was becoming more and more, well... real. She was having a baby.

She clutched her tummy.

"I love you baby," she whispered. With everything happening, she hadn't had a chance to cherish her baby yet, but now it was clear as day, the baby was the light of her life and she'd do anything for him or her. She fell asleep with a smile on her face, and her hands rested on her unborn child.

Three Days Later

"Ugh, this mug is dirty," Zoey complained. "I'm going to get a new one." She started to stand up but Mal stopped her.

"I'll get it!" He said quickly, nearly shooting up out of his chair.

"Mal, you do realize that I can still WALK, right? You can't even tell that the bump is a baby yet! It just looks like I overloaded my plate at a buffet!" Zoey laughed.

"I know," he smiled genuinely, "But I'm still gonna get it for you." Zoey rolled her eyes, a silly grin on her lips.

"Awwwe," Gwen teased, happy at the sight of Mal and Zoey's newfound friendship. Zoey had been feeling a lot better the past three days knowing she had Mal by her side to go through her pregnancy with; he was the closest thing to Mike she was gonna get.

Gwen, Cameron and Zoey were all very suspicious when Mal started being nice to them the day after Zoey told him she was pregnant. They thought he was tricking or scamming them somehow, but eventually realized he was genuine. He truly cared about Zoey's well being and about the baby.

"One clean mug for the soon to be mama," Mal smiled, setting a perfect cup down in front of Zoey.

"Soon to be mama? What's that supposed to mean?" Courtney plopped herself down next to Zoey, who nearly jumped in surprise at the sound of her voice.

Cameron, Gwen, Zoey, Mal and Courtney were the only people left on their team. Despite their win on the first challenge, Zoey being unable to play had thrown them off their game, and once Geoff got eliminated in the second challenge, it was downhill from there. Tyler and DJ, the other two teammates, were both kicked off in the third and fourth challenges respectively.

Zoey was grateful she wasn't eliminated in any of the three challenges the team lost. Chris, respecting Zoey's privacy, had told everyone that she couldn't compete because of a strange medical condition she had just gotten. He was a good actor, as seen in the TDA badminton movie clip, and everyone believed him.

Now that it was just Zoey's friends and Courtney, Zoey didn't even have to worry about getting kicked out till the merge.

Being the nice person she was, Zoey felt bad about Courtney being excluded. DJ was her only friend on the team and now that he was gone, she had no one.

"If I tell you a secret, do you swear you won't tell anyone?" Zoey asked Courtney.

"I swear! We learned all about trust when I was a C.I.T," Courtney started, but was interrupted by Zoey.

"Okay okay I believe you! ...I'm pregnant." Courtney gasped.

"Please don't tell anyone, I'm trying to keep it on the down low for now to avoid unwanted attention," Zoey said.

"How many weeks?" Courtney questioned, intrigued.

"I'm actually not sure. I just found out recently that I was pregnant, but the bump is already pretty evident." Courtney and Zoey both looked at Zoey's belly.

"I thought the lump was bloating from your period. Mine always gives me an inflated stomach, it's so annoying," Courtney sighed.

"Haha, I don't have my period anymore!" Zoey cheered.

"Lucky," Courtney and Gwen both jokingly growled at the same time, causing them to laugh in unison.

"So, um, is Mal the father?" Courtney asked. Mal's face scrunched in disgust, and Zoey spit her water straight onto her plate.

"No!" She stated quickly. "Mal and I are just friends. One hundred percent just friends. It's Mike's baby. Which genetically makes it Mal's baby too but... Mike is the one who I, um, conceived with," Zoey said, her cheeks flushing dark red.

"Oh, okay," Courtney laughed. "Anyways, your secrets safe with me, Zoey."

Courtney was always taught that she shouldn't be friends with women who had babies out of marriage, especially at ages around Zoey's tender eighteen, but she couldn't think of anything bad about Zoey. Maybe her parents weren't right about everything.

"Let's knock today's challenge out of the park. I know we can do it!" Gwen raised her cup in the air, and everyone clinked glasses with her.

"I don't want any more of us to get kicked off before the merge!" Zoey declared, glancing at Courtney. Zoey and her friends had planned for Courtney to go next, but now Zoey felt a connection to her. Courtney hadn't judged her, and she swore to keep her secret. She really wasn't so bad after all. Gwen felt the same way as Zoey as she gazed at Courtney, who was in a great mood that day. Maybe all the failed attempts at a friendship between Gwen and Courtney were only there to lead them to a successful one.

That day, Zoey's team won the challenge. This time, Zoey was actually excited to have won. While there was still a hole in her heart the size of a boulder because of Mike being gone, Zoey felt a lot better having a team of people supporting her, and knowing that Mal had at least tried to get Mike back. That was a very noble of him.

That night, Mal laid on Zoey's bunk with her. Chris never actually checked to make sure that there were no boys in the girls cabin or vice versa, and Gwen and Courtney didn't care that Mal was in there.

Zoey laid on the inner side of the bed, facing the wall, and Mal spooned her, holding her waist loosely, his body fully pressed against hers. Both knew that it's what Mike would've wanted; something intimate but not necessarily romantic to help Zoey get along without him. The two friends fell asleep peacefully.

One Week Later

"We're for sure headed to the finale!" Gwen cheered, her legs loosely hanging off her bed.

"Thanks for letting me join your guys' alliance," Courtney warmly smiled from her own bed, grateful.

Gwen swung her legs and back forth, grinning. "I'm glad we did. I'm so over all the animosity that's ever been between us."

In the past week, Zoey's team was unstoppable, and after the merge, their alliance was unstoppable. Cameron, Gwen, Zoey, Mal, Courtney and Duncan, who had been on the other team, were the only ones left. Really goes to show what such a big alliance is capable of.

Everyone sat at the same table for breakfast that morning. Zoey's hormones were swarming inside her like a nest of angry hornets.

"I want pancakes, not whatever this is!" She complained to Chef when he served her.

"Well deal with it girlie, because this is all we have!" Chef barked, glaring.

Zoey's breath slowed and her eyes slowly narrowed. Chef took a small step back. He hadn't been this frightened by a young woman since Izzy!

"I. Want. F**KING PANCAKES!" Zoey screamed, shocking everyone. She smacked her hands down on the table and clenched her jaw, looking fiercely at Chef. Chef slowly back away, running into the kitchen.

"That... was awesome!" Courtney complimented, grinning at the pregnant girl.

"I- I don't know what came over me!" Zoey said, blushing and giggling a bit.

"Well whatever it was, it worked! Look!" Gwen pointed to Chef, who was coming back with a buttery stack of fluffy pancakes.

"Thank you," Zoey said timidly, back to her normal self. She took the pancakes and chomped into them, giving zero heck's about what anyone thought of her.

Zoey finished off her final bite in no time.

"Mmm, delicious. Usually I wouldn't be able to finish that many pancakes, but I am eating for two," she smiled, rubbing her belly.

Duncan stopped eating. "Hold up, what?"

"Oh right, I haven't told you yet. Me and Mike are expecting." Zoey took a nice gulp of water, clearing down her pancakes.

"Expecting what?" Duncan raised an eyebrow.

"A baby, Duncan, obviously," Courtney face palmed.

"Oh. Oh. OH! Cool! Congratulations, Zoey!" Duncan said, a bit shocked. However, he had already been suspicious. Zoey's bump was now really showing and very round. It would've been really odd if she weren't pregnant.

Chris was standing nearby and had heard the conversation.

"Speaking of your, um, baby, Zoey, how many weeks along are you? I'm no expert but I know that it's gotta come out eventually," said Chris.

"I actually don't know." Zoey poked at the leftover syrup on her plate.

"INTERN!" Chris shouted, startling everyone. An intern came frantically rushing in.

"You know about like, medical stuff right?" Chris turned to face the blond intern, a hand on his hip.

"Yep," the intern meekly peeped, cowering. He'd seen what had happened to the other interns when they failed Chris, and he didn't feel like being shark food.

"Find out how long till Zoey here is um, going to like, have a kid," Chris ordered.

The intern scrambled over to Zoey. She turned to face him and he felt her bump.

"Come with me, I'll need to use my equipment," the intern said, and Mal popped up to help Zoey stand. She laughed at his eagerness to help, taking his hand and hoisting herself to her feet. It was still pretty easy to stand up, but not as easy as it was before she was pregnant. With the bump getting so big and visible, things were really changing for Zoey.

"Would the father of the baby like to come, too?" The intern asked. Zoey and Mal shared a look.

"Well, I'm not really the father but... I'd like to come if that's okay with you, Zoey," Mal blushed.

"Oh, yeah of course." Zoey took Mal's hand, and he gently rubbed his thumb on hers. They shared a sweet look before walking off with the intern.

Right before breakfast ended, Zoey and Mal returned to the cafeteria. They both looked a bit flustered.

"So?" Courtney asked excitedly.

"I'm twenty two weeks!" Zoey exclaimed. "Can you believe it? The baby is the size of a papaya! And it's due in eighteen weeks!"

"Oh wow!" Cameron stood up to take his plate to the dirty dishes bin. "That's pretty far!"

"If I'm correct, you could find out the gender, right?" Courtney turned around on the bench to face the expecting mother.

"Yes, but they don't have the tools for it here. Trust me, we asked."

"Awe man. If it's a girl your going to name her Courtney after me, right?" Courtney gave her best, 'I'm an angel' smile, putting her hands under her chin. Zoey giggled. She wasn't too sure about that.

Eight weeks later

Zoey leaned against the comfy back of her couch. She and Mal were watching the season they were just on.

Zoey and Mike's parents had found out about Zoey's pregnancy through her telling Cameron and Gwen on the show (of course Chris put that in there for ratings) and they were not too happy when Mal and Zoey arrived home. However, both sets of parents were very loving and fully supported their kids. Zoey's parents had gotten her plenty of pickles and ice cream to devour, which she was gladly doing.

Courtney had won the season. She deserved it. She worked hard on the challenges and for once, on making some friends. She and Gwen completely buried the hatchet, swearing they'd never let anything come between them again.

Forgiveness. It was hard, but Courtney and Gwen both did it. Zoey thought about this.

She cuddled into Mal's chest as she eat her ice cream. He put his arms around her.

"Is this okay?" He asked in his signature deep voice.

"Yeah," Zoey smiled. Their relationship had become a bit odd throughout the weeks. They wouldn't consider themselves romantically involved with one another but had gotten very touchy-feely and close. Like best friends with a hint of something more that couldn't be identified.

Sometimes, Zoey felt like when she was with Mal, she was also with Mike in some sort of way.

Zoey took a half eaten jar of pickles off the counter right next to where she was sitting. She began breaking each of the remaining pickles in half.

"What are you doing?" Mal asked, laughing. Zoey gave a mischievous smile and mixed the pickle bits into her ice cream.

Mal threw his hands up in the air in mock disgust. "Ewww! That's just WRONG!" He cried. Zoey laughed harder than she had in months, and soon the two were nearly exploding in a laughing fit. Zoey's parents rushed in to make sure they were okay, and were happy with what the saw. They knew the whole Mal situation, and were glad that he was treating their daughter well. After all, physically, he was the father of their grandchild. When Zoey's parents left, Mal's laughing slowed down and came to a stop.

"Zoey, I'm really sorry about Mike. I'd kill myself to give him back to you, I swear."

Zoey's laughing abruptly stopped and her eyes became teary.

"I know, Mal. And thank you. You've been the best support I could have through everything... or, well, the best support I could have besides Mike. Thank you," she said, looking into his deep dark brown eyes.

"No need to thank me. All I've done is ruined everythi-" Mal started, but cut himself off with a quiet sob. For the first time since he could remember, he was crying. He let it all out. Zoey joined him, the two snuggling in a fit of tears.

But it wasn't a bad thing. If anything, their sadness was good. They'd been holding back and they needed to get it out. Both knew that they wouldn't have spent that moment with anyone else.

Ten weeks later, in the hospital

Zoey whimpered as another contraction started, squeezing Mal's hand with her left hand and her mom's with her right.

"Your doing so well, sweetie. Just keep breathing," Zoey's mom Tracy encouraged her.

Seven hours ago, as she was laying on the couch watching Spongebob, Zoey had had her first contraction. It felt like a period cramp, but five times more painful. When the pain ended she'd rushed to Tracy, who was making lunch, and told her about the pain. Tracy calmed her down and invited Mal over. He eat lunch and watched TV with Zoey, comforting her when every hour a new contraction came. Eventually the contractions became more frequent and Zoey's water broke, at which point she was driven to the hospital.

Zoey's contractions were five minutes apart at this point. When her current one ended, she slumped against her pillow, her hair messy and face soaked with sweat. She softly started crying, overwhelmed by everything.

"Hang in there, Zo," her mom encouraged her, "When I was in labor with you it hurt. It hurt and I was scared, but the second I held you in my arms," Tracy's voice became shaky as her eyes welled with happy tears, "It was worth every minute of it." A small smile appeared on Zoey's face as she looked at her mom. She raggedly breathed in and out.

Mal brushed Zoey's hair out of her eyes. "Your doing really good, Zo. If Gwen were here she'd say, 'your so strong, girl!'" He joked awkwardly. Zoey weakly chuckled, loosening her grip on Mal's hand slightly.

As much as Gwen and Cameron wanted to be in the delivery room, Zoey's parents had decided it'd be best to have the least amount of people possible. Gwen, Cam and Mike/Mal's parents were all waiting in the waiting room.

Zoey shut her eyes and rested, taking good advantage of her break before the next contraction.

When it came two minutes later, it hit her like a truck. This one was a stabbing feeling. She shrieked like she'd seen a ghost, then began screaming loudly. The nurse let her scream, she knew it was normal. Tracy and Mal both let Zoey clench their hands. Zoey's dad squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't bare to see his little girl hurting.

When the contraction ended, Tracy rubbed Zoey's hand gently. "Sweetie, do you want an Epidural?" She asked. Zoey weakly yet eagerly nodded her head. The nurse gave Zoey a shot of Epidural, helping the pain a bit.

Many contractions and minutes of deep breathing later, the nurse took off Zoey's shorts and underwear and opened her legs to check her dilation. The nurse informed everyone that Zoey's cervix was now dilated nine centimeters, which meant she was transitioning into the labor stage. Zoey used her little strength to look up to Mal, who gave her a smile and nod of encouragement.

This was the scariest thing Mal had ever experienced, and he'd been to juvie with all kinds of crazy kids.

Zoey's contractions became ninety seconds long and only thirty seconds apart. She threw up all over her mom, who didn't blink twice. Zoey was her precious daughter, a little bit of her barf didn't bother Tracy.

Zoey experienced one final, painful contraction before,

"Your cervix is ten centimeters dilated, honey. It's time to start pushing," the nurse said. As Tracy helped Zoey remove her shirt and bra to make her more comfortable, Zoey suddenly felt a strong urge to push. The second her shirt and bra were off of her, she began pushing. Many nurses and doctors came in and helped position Zoey's legs perfectly. She grunted as she pushed, sweating. Tears fell down her face at the uncomfortable and slightly painful feeling of pushing. When an extra bad wave of pain hit her, she tried to stop.

"You have to push, kiddo!" The nurse said firmly. Zoey took a deep breath in and gave it all she got, crying out in pain as she pushed. She felt sharp, almost unbearable pain for what felt like forever then...

The sound of crying.

Zoey looked up to see her son in the hands of a doctor. The doctor smiled at her and handed her the baby.

When his tiny body touched her bare chest, she knew her mom was right. Every second of physical and emotional pain had been worth it.

Tears of joy spilled down Zoey's exhausted face as she grinned at her baby, holding him gently and sweetly, filling him with the love of a mother. "I love you so much," she whispered, looking the crying infant in the eyes.

Mal gazed down at the newborn boy, tears of pure happiness streaming down his cheeks. The baby was the most precious thing he'd ever seen in his entire life.

Zoey looked up to Mal. "Wanna hold him? I want him to know what his daddy looks like."

"Of course," Mal whispered. A nurse came and helped hand the dark haired baby to Mal.

When Mal stared down at him, he felt something click inside his heart.

There it was.

The peak, the happiest moment of Mal's life. It was his time.

And the second he saw directly into Mike's son's eyes, it wasn't his time anymore.

It was Mike's. Mal sniffed, more tears spilling from his eyes.

He never wanted to let go of Zoey's baby, but he knew what he had to do. He gave the little guy a kiss on the top of his head and handed him back to his mama. Zoey looked up at him in surprise.

"That's it? You don't want to hold him any longer?"

Mal gave her the biggest bittersweet smile he could give. "No. I want Mike to hold him. It's Mike's time to live his life, and it is till this body dies. Thank you, Zoey, for helping show me what true happiness feels like." He reached down and gave the new mother an awkward hug.

She squeezed him back with all her might. "Oh Mal. Thank you so much. For everything. I couldn't have done this without you. You really did redeem yourself." Her voice cracked into a shaky whisper. "I'll always have a place for you in my heart." Mal smiled softly at her loving words as he pulled away.

He bent to the baby and breathed, "I love you. Make your mommy proud." Then he took a deep breath.

He used to think selfishness would bring him joy. And it did, it brought him an odd adrenaline whenever he stole someone's car or beat up the new kid in juvie.

But that odd adrenaline had nothing on true joy, true happiness, real selflessness.

As Mal breathed out, he let go of himself, the least selfish thing he had ever done. As Mike took back over, Mal faded into the soft breeze outside the hospital.

Mike blinked hard upon being given back to his body.

Then he looked down and saw his son and his heart melted. "Oh my..." He looked at Zoey, a grin pulling his face into pure love. Zoey looked up to Mike, giving a tired, happy laugh.

Mike leaned down and gave his precious bundle of joy a long kiss on the forehead, then Zoey a loving and passionate one on her lips, which she gladly reciprocated.

Mike wasn't sure what had happened in the past months but he knew that everything was perfect now and that was what mattered.

Zoey waited for sadness over the loss of Mal to hit her.

But it didn't. Because somehow, someway, he was still there.