"You can't just lie in bed all day," Pops announces as he struts into my borrowed bedroom, before pulling up the blinds and blinding me completely with the winter sun, which reflected off the heavy snowfall. "Come on. Ezra's coming over later, because Franny's working the late shift at the diner. You promised you'd watch him, and make sure he doesn't twist an ankle in the snow in the backyard..."

I let out a groan and pulled the blanket up over my head. "Go away," I muttered.

Pops hesitated for a moment before he climbed up onto the bed, and yanked the blanket from my face without hesitation. "Don't do that," he ordered.

Immediately, I sat up in bed, backing away from him. "Whoa, I love you and all, Pops, but personal space much?!" I demanded.

Pops sighed then, regulating himself to the foot of my bed so as he was giving me enough space to my liking. "Sorry," he replied, getting my feet out from under the blankets and rubbing them, which soothed my swollen ankles. "Really, kiddo, I'm sorry. It's just that Ian does that sometimes and I don't want you doing it either..."

"Hey," I said, reaching out then and catching ahold of his wrist so that he'd look at me. "I love Uncle Ian almost as much as I love you. But you need to hear me when I say this: I'm not Uncle Ian. Just because we've got the same thing doesn't mean we're automatically going to act the same way when we're in a funk."

Pops smirked as he worked his thumbs into my ankles. "In a funk, huh?"

"Yeah," I said, grinning back at him. "In a funk. Now," I said, looking around, "please tell me that Uncle Ian is still here..."

Pops laughed. "Course he is. He worked a double two days ago, so now he's off until tomorrow," he explained, and I rolled my eyes, hating what this pregnancy was doing to my brain. "Why? I mean, I thought I was doing a pretty good job rubbing your feet..."

Immediately, I grabbed my pillow and swung it at his arm, causing him to bash it back towards me, and the two of us started laughing. "Sorry, Pops, but Uncle Ian makes way better pancakes than you do..."

"We could just get some at the diner..."

"No way in hell am I doing that," I replied, rolling my eyes. "I don't want to go into my place of work on my day off, Pops."

Pops laughed. "Yeah, I can see why," he said, turning his head automatically when the door midway down the hallway opened, to the master, where he and Uncle Ian slept. "Hey," Pops said then as Uncle Ian trudged out, wearing long sleep pants and an undershirt, just like him. "We were talking about breakfast..."

"Is the pregnant princess craving something?" Uncle Ian asked, smirking over at me.

I scoffed, shaking my head. "If I wasn't pregnant, or resembling a beached whale at the moment, I'd be over there in two seconds and fucking waste you for calling me a pregnant princess," I fired back. "Guess this'll have to do," I muttered.

"What are you—? Hey!" Uncle Ian shouted, catching my pillow with a laugh. "Okay, okay, point taken. You craving something?" he asked.

"Pancakes," I replied, smiling.

"With chocolate chips and whipped cream?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied, looking at Pops for a moment before I turned back to him. "How would you know that I was—?"

"Your mom," Pops said with a smile.

"What?" I asked.

"It's what she craved on lazy mornings when she was pregnant with you," Uncle Ian explained with a smile. "We used to go to the diner, and Fiona would make them up special for her. Just for her," he said, looking nostalgic for a moment.

"I'm not that lazy," I muttered, gently pulling my feet from Pops's grasp and getting to my feet, before I dug a sweater out from my chest of drawers. "And now let us go forth, for pancake batter making," I declared, getting it onto my body, but not quite over my head.

"Come on, then," Pops said, hoisting me up in his arms bridal style, while Uncle Ian laughed and led the way down the stairs.

"Pops!" I shouted, struggling to figure out where my neck was so that I could attempt to pull my sweater down the rest of the way. "So not cool! Put me down!"

Pops set me down once we were in the kitchen, and greeted me with a grin once I managed to get my sweater into its proper place. "Hey, princess!" he joked.

I narrowed my eyes at him and punched him in the arm. "So not cool," I replied, crossing my arms, before I trudged over the the fridge to get Uncle Ian out some eggs. "I'm not that fucking lazy either," I said, just loud enough so that they could hear me, and I couldn't help but smirk when they both laughed.

. . .

"You seem...different lately, Iana. Tell me, has someone new come into your life recently?" came Cara's question, rephrased for the umpteenth time, as she wanted me to focus on her words that day, during our meeting.

My eyes snapped to hers. "Someone new in my life?" I asked, uttering it like the idea itself seemed foreign to me. "What do you mean?"

She smiled. "Well, I mean you seem distracted, to say the least," she replied, folding her hands over her desk then. "Can you tell me why that is?"

I sighed. "Well, I guess it's because you're my attorney," I said, knowing I could easily turn the discussion back to her, "and, other than Axel, his parents, and yours, I really don't know that much about you personally. I mean, I know that it doesn't pertain to my case in any way, but I guess it would make me trust you more and open up more easily if I knew a little more about you that way."

Cara nodded to herself then. "Yeah, I suppose I can understand that." She hesitated for a moment before she raised her eyes to mine. "What would you like to know?"

I blinked, surprised that she had stopped her interrogation of me and that she seemed so willing to talk about herself all of a sudden. "I don't know. I guess, if there someone in your life?" I asked, knowing that it seemed to be the most appropriate question right now, given that she'd just asked me the very same thing.

Cara smiled softly. "Yeah. There's someone in my life," she replied, pulling slightly at the silver chain around her neck, which was always tucked into her button-down shirts she wore, which revealed a square-cut, flawless diamond ring. "My husband is in my life."

I felt my eyebrows raising several storeys. "You're married?!"

Cara laughed lightly, putting the ring back beneath her shirt. "Yeah. My husband and I have been married for six years. We got married on my eighteenth birthday, actually."

"Your husband?"

"He's a member of the Abbott family," she replied, naming a wealthy family that was from Northern Chicago, where I knew that Cara had been born. "We knew each other since we were children. He's Axel's best friend," she replied, "and he's a few years older. Let's just say it was difficult for him to keep his hands to himself for the two years we dated, and we slipped up a few times, but we made it work."

"You got married at eighteen?" I whispered, shocked that Cara was only twenty-four, and she had amassed such a following already. "That's amazing!"

She smiled. "Lawrence is just lovely," she said softly. "Our son looks like a combination of him and Axel, which is why we named him Axel in the first place."

"You have a son?"

"He's five," she replied, reaching into her desk and pulling out a family photo, which showed a candid of her, Lawrence, and Axel, taken at a theme park. "Got pregnant with him about six months after we got married, but I was almost finished with my second year of law school at that time, so Lawrence's mother stepped in and helped out during that first year, after graduation and after I built up the practice. His family's been very supportive..."

"And your family?" I asked.

Cara sighed. "My parents adore him, now at least. They think of me as an adult now, I suppose, and Axel's always been there."

"He has?"

"Yeah, of course. He dotes on Laurie, that's what we call my son, just to differentiate between the two of them. His full name is Axel Laurence Abbott." Cara hesitated again, almost as if she wanted to share something else, but wasn't sure if she should. "He's been different lately, too, to say the least."

"Axel?" I asked. "Different?"

She laughed. "It's probably nothing, but he's been avoiding my phone calls as of late. And one of the last times he took a call from me, it sounded like there was a girl there with him..."

I tried not to flush then, as I remembered exactly when that was, and exactly what I'd been doing to Axel when he absolutely had to take the call... "I take it that this isn't typical of Axel, then. In terms of behavior."

"No," she replied. "Axel doesn't stay with a woman long. And, when it ends, the woman always gets her heart broken," she went on, deliberately lowering her voice. "Each and every time, he finds a fault within her, and ends things..." Immediately, Cara seemed to be aware of what she was talking about, as well as who she was talking to, she she laughed a little, shaking her head in a moment of embarrassment. "Sorry. Here I am talking to you like we're girlfriends out for cocktails, and you're my client. Sorry for being unprofessional, Iana."

I smiled back at her, despite the heaviness weighing upon me then. "No problem," I said quickly, despite knowing that my days with Axel were numbered.

Cara checked her computer then and sighed. "And that's all the time we have left for today. Well, we've got another twenty, but we should use that next time to plan strategy. I'll call Sally about the matter and get your curfew adjusted if need be," she assured me, getting to her feet, and I did as well. She put her hand out to me and shook it then, and I did my best to remain straight-faced and shook her hand as well, before I said goodbye to her and attempted to remain smiling as I stumbled out of her office.

. . .

"Thirty-two weeks today," Dr. Lennox announced with a grin as she breezed into my exam room, snapping on her gloves and getting the gel ready. "Your baby should be the size of a squash by now. And how are we feeling today?" she asked, turning to look at me as she prepared the wand by wrapping it up in plastic.

"Fine," I replied, keeping a grip on Pops's hand. "My mom's been cutting down my work hours a bit, per your recommendation, but I need the money, so it's proving to be a point of contention between the two of us..."

"I keep telling her she needs to rest, doc," Pops puts in, and I shoot him a glare.

"Rest is beneficial in this late stage of pregnancy, Iana," Dr. Lennox informed me gently as she came closer, flipping off the lights. "I've warmed up the gel, as we're in mid-December now and I don't think you want anything cold on you now."

I shook my head. "Definitely not," I replied.

"Let's get a look-see at Baby Girl Milkovich, then," she said with a smile, switching on the monitor of the ultrasound machine, and put the gelled-up wand onto my exposed stomach. "Oh, and there she is," Dr. Lennox said after a moment, and Pops and I immediately turned our gazes to look up at the screen. "Oh, look, she's showing us her feet. Isn't that nice?"

I felt myself grinning stupidly up at the screen as my eyes readily filled with tears. I felt myself reaching for her then, almost as if she was right there in the room with me. "Hey, gorgeous. I'm right here. Mama's right here."

"There is one small cause for concern," Dr. Lennox said then, and I felt my eyes snap to hers immediately, questioning her with them. "She's supposed to be getting close to four pounds now, but she seems to only be three and a half pounds. And she's also supposed to be over sixteen and a half inches, but she's just at sixteen. My suggestion is to gain at least another ten pounds until your pregnancy is over."

"Am I doing something wrong?!" I cried out. "Is my daughter okay?!"

"I don't think you're doing anything wrong, Iana," Dr. Lennox said, consoling me immediately, her voice calm. "I just think that perhaps your mother is right about restricting your work hours back a bit. It means you need to take more time for yourself. You need to relax and de-stress, Iana, and I know that's damn near impossible to do, considering that Christmas is less than a week away, but you need to do it for your little girl."

"But she's okay?" Pops pressed her. "The baby's okay?"

"She's fine," Dr. Lennox said to Pops with a smile. "Hear. Listen," she said, flicking the switch on the machine, and the whoosh-whoosh sound of her heart filled the room. "She's got a really strong heartbeat, Iana," she told me. "So, just listen to your mother, rest a little more, and gain a few more pounds. I'll see you in four weeks for your next appointment," she told me gently, and keyed in the buttons so that I'd have pictures to show anyone I wanted.

. . .

"You are amazing," Axel said then, rolling off from on top of me then, grinning from ear to ear then, as if he was a cat.

I sat up then, rolling my shoulders as I considered him then. "Listen, I wanted to ask you a question or two..."

"Sure, babe," he said, rolling over onto his arm, which was beautifully tattooed with a black raven, and moved slightly so that he could kiss me, on my back. "Ask me anything you like. I don't mind."

"Is this the first time you've done this?"

Axel straightened then, fixing me with a confused look. "'This' being...?"

"Like, sleeping with one of your sister's clients?" I asked.

He smiled slowly. "No, I've never slept with one of her clients. Most of her clients have been men suing their unfaithful wives for divorces, or old ladies, making sure that their children get equal shares of the estate. Trust me, neither one of those are my type."

I nodded. "Okay..."

"Is that all?"

I shook my head. "No. I... Was wondering if you've ever slept with someone that's underage before you started sleeping with me," I said then, my voice shaking, all because I knew that I was afraid of the ultimate answer.

"When I was under eighteen, sure," he replied, sitting up completely then, and placing his strong hands on my shoulders. "Where is this coming from?"

I swallowed then. "I don't know. Guess I'm just..."

"What?"

"Scared," I admitted, turning and looking at him over my shoulder. "Aren't you?"

"Sure," he replied, his tone honest, yet not critical. "My entire life could be fucked if anyone ever found out about this."

"Then why?" I whispered then, wetting my lips as I leaned back into him, knowing that, despite everything, I felt safe in his arms. "Why are you just... I don't know. Risking it all just to do this with me? You could get anyone, over eighteen, who could do all this, and probably more, than just a sophomore in high school with legal problems..."

Axel dragged me closer then, before he turned my cheek towards his face and kissed me. "I guess this is the point where I tell you that you're worth it..."

I blinked. "Wait. What?"

"You're worth it," he repeated.

I turned fully to face him then, mulling his words over in my mind for a moment then before I got myself into his lap. "What does that mean?" I whispered to him then, gently cupping his face in the palms of my hands. "What makes me so worth it?"

"You're wise beyond your years," he replied. "You feel like an outlier within your own family. I think it comes from being a half-sibling," he said, lowering his eyes for a moment. "You know you're loved by the people around you, but you never feel whole, like you would if your own parents were together. It's like the other siblings are in on this secret, the secret to holding the key to the perfect life. You can sense it, but you can't feel it yourself, because you constantly feel like there's this void between you and the other people involved. Like everything around you's make of glass..."

"And, one false move, and it shatters," I said softly, and Axel's eyes lock onto mine. "This illusion of perfection, that they want you to be a part of—at least, they say so—but you get that nagging feeling that it's only meant to be polite. Like they're secretly relieved that you decline their invitation to something... Like they envision the perfect family events, but somehow, whenever the prime example comes up, you weren't there..."

Axel nods. "Exactly," he replies, before he asks, "Who's that for you?"

"My mother's in-laws," I replied. "They liked me when I was a child, but once my parents got married and I was adopted, my brothers came. It was like they were the flesh and blood grandkids, and I was a fucking consolation prize..."

Axel sighs then, bringing me slightly forward then so that he can kiss my forehead. "I'm so sorry," he said gently. "They should be fucking lucky to have you in their family."

"Thanks," I say, before I raise my eyes back to his then, and know that I've got to ask him the question, too. "Who's it for you?"

"My stepfather, Humphrey," he replies, but doesn't go into details.

I nod, knowing not to push him. "I'm sorry," I tell him, leaning down and kissing him, and we comfort each other, the only way we know how, South Side.

. . .

I was helping Pops and Uncle Ian prepare Christmas dinner when Franny, Jay, and Ezra showed up as a unit, and I raised my eyebrows at her, and Franny rewarded me with a blush. We all knew that bringing your boyfriend home for Christmas was seen as a big deal. She also explained, with a kiss on my cheek and a nod towards the bag of presents and the offering of a chocolate cream pie from the diner, that Aunt Debbie would be along shortly.

"Good," I replied. "I know that Uncle Lip and Mandy will want to see her, and meet Jay," I put in, before I nodded at the table. "Think you and Jay can set that up?" I asked, stirring the gravy for the prime rib, which was cooling on the counter.

"No problem," she replied, turning and seeing that Ezra had already made himself at home in the living room, in front of the T.V. "Jay, you think you can help me set up the table?" she asked, taking her scarf off from around her neck.

"Love to help," he replied, taking her scarf from her and kissing her on the cheek before moving towards the table.

I continued stirring the gravy, knowing that nobody would tolerate it with lumps, and let Uncle Ian and Pops head upstairs to change. I was going to be changing next, which would be an easy feat, considering my outfit was all laid out on the bed. Once the table was set up, and Pops and Uncle Ian were still upstairs, Franny decided to sit with Ezra for a few moments, while Jay stood awkwardly in the kitchen, almost as if he was waiting for further instructions.

"You ever serve in the army?" I asked.

"Yeah," Jay replied with a smile. "How'd you guess?"

"My uncle, Carl, is a military man," I replied. "His sons, my cousins, are all involved, too. Let's face it, the Gallagher name is infamous at West Point now, considering that Carl went there, and all his boys are there now."

"Franny said you're good at handling yourself..."

I chuckled. "Yeah. Got myself arrested for it, too," I replied.

"Arrested? Didn't know that," Jay said, his soft voice sounding Chicagoan, which startled me for a moment, but decided not to press it.

"Yeah. Defending Franny's life," I said softly, flexing my hands. "Would've rotted in prison, too, if I didn't have such a good lawyer..."

"Where's this amazing lawyer now that got you off?"

"That was her brother, for the second part," I said, and Jay looked shocked. "Kidding. Mostly," I said, turning up the heat on the gravy.

"What was her name?"

I swallowed then, and opened my mouth. "Cara," I said then, shocked that my voice suddenly cracked in that moment, and felt tears forming in my eyes.

"Hey," Jay said, stepping towards me then and handing me a towel. "You okay."

"Yeah," I told him, forcing a laugh through my lips as I took the towel and dabbed at my eyes, plastering a smile to my lips. "Damned pregnancy hormones. Don't worry," I told him, looking up at his worried expression. "So not your fault."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have been so invasive," he said softly. "I know that a lot of people can get into a lot of trouble that way..."

I blinked, looking up at him, and found that there was something familiar in his eyes. "What aren't you telling us?" I asked.

Jay sighed and shook his head. "The less you know, Iana," he whispered as Pops and Uncle Ian came downstairs, "the better," he told me, before slipping into the next room to join Franny and Ezra, like everything was normal.