The show really changed after the "mid-season twist." They made Emily wear a fake pregnant belly until her real one grew in, why, I had no idea. There was a lot of pregnancy humor thrown in to each episode, and I bet that ninety-percent of it went over the heads of the children in the audience.

Shawn and Emily were basically shunned by everyone. As a result, they stuck with each other and sparked more rumors. The entire thing made me sick.

Now that Kendall's dreams were seemingly being realized, she seemed to be disgusted.

"Poor Steve," she lamented one afternoon.

Liz and Mark spoke stiffly during each S.E. meeting. The meetings themselves consisted of plans for making sure Emily drank lots of water and always had a chair nearby.

The first three months passed without much incident. Emily was so tiny that she began showing almost immediately. She was sick nearly every day, but was forced to work through it. She didn't have any more sick days to take off.

In early March, a new excitement swept the studio.

"Listen up!" Brenner told everyone during our morning staff meeting. "This episode we will be finding out the gender of our Baby Jones!"

There was a collective gasp.

Emily nodded. "We had an ultrasound yesterday. The baby is absolutely beautiful!"

"We're going to have a gender reveal party as part of the episode," Brenner continued. "Emily will be in charge of the activity," He turned to her, "so don't do anything stupid."

That week we all tried to get the baby's gender out of her. Each time someone would ask, Emily would blush and tell us to wait and see. I could see the excitement shining in her eyes.

The day of the big reveal, Emily came into the studio carrying a large piece of cardboard, grinning from ear to ear.

"I stayed up all night working on it!" I overheard her tell Liz. "You pop the balloons attached and pink or blue confetti comes out. Ooh! I'm so excited!"

As we walked onto the stage, however, her smile fell. The middle of the "living room" was decorated with pink and blue streamers and decorations. A couple set workers were bringing in two giant cakes.

"Cut the cake to see the gender," one of them told Brenner.

"Perfect," he replied.

"Um, Mr. Brenner?" Emily asked softly but with an edge in her voice. "I thought I was doing the game."

Brenner waved her comment away with a flick of his wrist. "Well, I decided it would be best if I came up with the activity. That way I could be sure it was a good idea."

Emily's jaw dropped. She began to shake, and I was shocked to see her hands ball into fists.

"But--sir--" she said through clenched teeth, "I worked really hard--"

"I know, and look how much it strained you," Brenner adopted a patronizing tone. "You're tired, Emily. Maybe you should sit down. Now, tell us the baby's gender so we can set up the correct cake."

Emily crossed her arms over her chest. "Boy."

Brenner turned away, indicating that the conversation was over. Then Emily did something I never would have expected her to do: she stormed off the set.

That evening as I left the studio, I noticed the piece of cardboard sticking out of the trash can.