Lin awoke the next day to the sound of his wife throwing up in the bathroom again. He'd hoped it would have been a 24 hour thing, but this was about the 4th day in the row. He was really feeling badly for her. Lin swung his legs over the side of the bed and walked to the bathroom. As his wife wretched, he pulled her hair back and held it, then rubbed her back in support. Once she was finally done, he planted a kiss on the center of her back. Vanessa flushed the toilet, then immediately went to the sink to rinse out her mouth.

"I think you should go to the doctor today," Lin told her as he turned on the shower. "This has been going on too long."

"What can they do?" She said. "I just have to wait it out."

"Baby, please just go," he begged her as he stripped off his shirt. Vanessa sighed and reluctantly agreed. She might have a window at some point in the day. Lin took the lead with getting the kids ready and agreed to drop the boys off at daycare. Sebastian was four now, so he went a little farther down the street to preschool. This morning, Sebastian refused to take off his Iron Man mask. He decided it wasn't worth the battle; he would let the teachers deal with it.

___

At school, Lexi was trying to figure out a way to bring up Hunter to Amber. How was she going to tell her best friend that she was willingly transferring to another school? She would be crushed.

"So anyway," Amber went on at lunch time, "He Snapchatted me back with a picture of his dog's butt. It was weird."

Lexi chuckled as she pushed around her trail mix. "Hey, listen," she began nervously. "I wanted to talk to you about something..."

Of course, the bell rang, and all the kids started to make a dash for the doors.

"Tell me after school," Amber said. "The park?"

"Okay," she agreed, and then spent the rest of the day dreading it.

After school, they met on the front steps and started walking over to the park. The chit chatted on the way like normal, then put on all their protective gear. They started rolling around the ramps and rails, laughing at each other when the other messed up.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Amber asked as they met at the top of a ramp.

"Uhh...so apparently my test scores are insane," she began. "And you know Hunter? Where my sister goes?"

"Yeah," Amber said, adjusting her helmet clip.

"Well...they're making me transfer there," she spat out, not looking at her friend.

"What the what?!" Amber said, exasperated.

"They're making me," she lied. "I told them I didn't want to, but they keep saying I need to be challenged more."

Amber opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, biting her lip.

"No big deal," Amber tried to brush it off, but she was obviously upset. "We can still hang out after school, right?"

"Of course," Lexi assured her. That was all that was said about the subject until they both had to go home.

"When do you switch?" Amber asked her.

"Um, I actually don't know," she admitted. Hopefully it wouldn't be an immediate thing. She needed some time to prepare.

___

When Lexi got home from school, Lin was making stir fry in the kitchen.

"Hey, sweetie," he greeted Lexi as she came in.

"When do I have to change schools?" She asked him immediately.

"Well," he turned the heat down, "Vanessa and I were just talking about that. How does next week sound?"

It was Tuesday. It almost seemed a little too close, but that still gave her five days to adjust.

"Is that okay with you?"

"I guess," she said quietly.

"Take a seat," he told her, and she hopped up on one of the bar stools. Lin popped a piece of green pepper in his mouth and passed one to his daughter.

"How are you feeling about this?" He asked, giving her his full attention. She shrugged, but knew he wouldn't let her get away with that. "Hmmm?"

"I told Amber today," she said, crunching on her green pepper. "She was disappointed."

"I'm sure she was," he agreed. "Saying goodbye to friends is hard. But you can still hang out with her after school and on the weekends. She'll still be my third daughter."

Lexi laughed a little. "But it's not the same."

"No," he admitted. "But you're not going to be with Amber forever. You'll go to high school, college, become adults. Sooner or later you're not going to be around her constantly."

"That's true," she admitted. Francisco waddled over, getting more and more confident on his feet all the time at 18 months.

"Wexi!" He held up his arms. Lexi smiled and picked up her younger brother.

"Are you gonna start skateboarding now?" She asked him, rubbing his belly.

___

"How long have you been having these symptoms, Vanessa?" the nurse asked her during the late afternoon appointment.

"About four days," she told her.

"And when was the last day of your period?"

Vanessa looked up, doing some calculations in her head. "Umm...the 2nd of August?"

"Six weeks?" The nurse double checked. Vanessa calculated in her head again.

"Yeah..."

"Any chance you're pregnant?" She got the blood pressure sleeve and began wrapping it around her arm.

"No, I'm on birth control," Vanessa told her.

"Alright," she said. "You already gave us a urine sample, and we always check our female patients for pregnancy."

Vanessa nodded as the nurse recorded the information on her computer and asked a few more questions. She left a couple minutes later and told her the doctor would be in to see her soon.

About 5 minutes later, her doctor walked in and shook her hand. "Vanessa, so good to see you again."

"You as well," she said politely.

"How are the kids?"

"They're doing great," she said. "Wearing me out."

"I'm sure," he said, pulling up her file on his laptop. "Sorry to hear you're not feeling well. Basically, just nausea and an upset stomach that won't go away?"

"Yes," she reported. "And it seems to go away by mid-morning."

"I see," he said, checking over her file. "And is it severe would you say?"

"It's pretty bad," she said. "It hasn't been that bad since I was pregnant with Francisco."

"Vanessa, it says here that it's been 6 weeks since your last period. Any chance you could be pregnant?"

"No, I use birth control," she said again.

"Mmmhmmm," he said, peering over his computer. His system popped up with new test results for his patient. He clicked the message and took a look at her urine sample results. "Well, Vanessa. This is starting to make a whole lot more sense," he said. "Looks like you're about 4 weeks pregnant."

Vanessa sat a moment, in shock. "Excuse me?"

He nodded. "Pregnancy test positive," he told her. He turned his screen around so she could see.

"Are you kidding me?!" She asked, exasperated. "I use birth control! I have for years. We already have four kids."

He nodded and rubbed some sanitizer over his hands. "These things happen by surprise sometimes," he told her. "Go ahead and lay back on the table, and let me do an exam."

Vanessa complied, still bewildered. She knew that birth control wasn't 100% accurate, but the odds were tiny. And they already had four kids. Vanessa unfastened her pants and pulled her shirt up slightly so the doctor could feel around her belly, pressing down very gently.

"Have your breasts been tender lately?"

She got a sick feeling in her stomach. How had she missed the signs? "Yes?"

He reached for some gel and warned her it would be cold. He squeezed some onto her belly and then pulled the ultrasound machine over. Using the scanner, he moved it slowly around her belly, searching. A minute or so later, he spotted a tiny little blip on the screen. "And there it is. The source of your morning sickness."

Vanessa stared at the screen, flabbergasted. This was not the news she was expecting when she came in with what she thought was a bug. He pressed a couple buttons on the screen and printed out an instant picture.

The doctor began to wipe the gel off Vanessa's belly. "I can tell this is a shock, and it's an unplanned pregnancy. Obviously, this day in age you have some options. I'll let you talk it over with your husband. When you're ready, go ahead and make an appointment with your OB/GYN. Any questions for me?"

"Are...are you sure?" She asked. The doctor handed her the picture.

"There's your evidence right there. Have a good evening, Vanessa."

___

Vanessa took the subway home, mulling things over in her head. She still couldn't quite believe it was true. They used birth control. How was she going to tell Lin? This situation had never happened before. With her previous two pregnancies, she'd taken a home pregnancy test on a hunch, and they'd gone to the doctor together to confirm. Truthfully, she felt a little sad that she had this secret and it was only known to her.

She must have worn the stress all over her face, because Lin immediately asked her what was wrong when she walked in the door.

"Nothing, " she said, taking off her coat and setting down her bag. Dinner was almost ready. Lin walked over and gave his wife a kiss. Now obviously wasn't the time to tell him. She was bursting, wanting to tell someone, but it would have to wait until the kids had gone to bed.

She helped set the table and they all sat down together to eat Lin's stir fry. They talked a lot about Lexi's plans to go to Hunter and what she'd need to do to get ready for Monday. Emma was trying to tell her a few tips about getting around the building.

Finally, the boys had been put down to bed and the girls were in their room, doing homework. Lin went into the master bedroom to change into his pajamas, and Vanessa followed him inside, closing the door behind her. He walked out of the bathroom, pulling a fresh t-shirt over his head.

"Hey, babe," he said as she sat down on the bed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said, biting her lip. She looked at her fingernails, examining them.

"Did you get to the doctor today?"

"Yes," she told him.

"And?" He prompted her as he found his slippers.

Vanessa took a deep breath. "Lin, I'm pregnant."

Lin froze, his mouth open. "What?"

"They did a pregnancy test," she went on. "I'm four weeks along."

He sat down on the bed, on the opposite side. "Wh...how?"

"Well, you were there, Lin..." she reminded him. He gave her a look.

"But you use birth control," he reminded her.

"I know," she said. "But it's not 100%"

He let out an exasperated sigh, leaning forward and rubbing his fingers with his temple. "Oh my God."

Lin had never reacted this way. When she'd told him she was pregnant with both boys, he'd been elated. This time he seemed...inconvenienced.

"Lin?" She asked, looking at him.

"I don't...I don't understand how this happened," he said.

"Lin, it happens sometimes," she told him firmly. "I didn't ask for it to happen. There's a baby growing inside me. It's not going to help to go over the what-ifs. We can't go back and use a condom."

"I know that, but-"

"But what Lin?" She stood up, now angry. "Me having a baby is an inconvenience for you? How about me? You think I enjoy my ankles swelling and my back aching? And trying to take care of two young kids in the meantime?"

"Vanessa-" he reached for her, trying to calm her.

"No!" She snapped at him. "You know, most husbands would be trying to support their wives if they just found out they were pregnant. You're just concerned with yourself."

He called after her, but she stormed out and closed the door behind him. She didn't dare slam it, not wanting to wake the boys and have to deal with trying to get them back to sleep in her room. She went to the kitchen, set on having some wine. She got out a wine glass and popped open her favorite type of red wine. As she held it over the glass to pour it, she remembered she couldn't have any. In spite of her usually level head, she threw the glass into the kitchen wall, and it shattered to pieces. One piece came back and snagged her on the hand.

"Owww!!!" She recoiled. "Dammit!"

Emma had heard the commotion in the kitchen, and rushed out to see what was the matter. "Vanessa, what happened?" She asked, walking up next to her.

"Stay away, Emma," she told her. "There might be more broken glass around here."

"Step around," the teenager told her. "Let's go rinse this off."

Emma helped her carefully step around the kitchen sink and they went to the hallway bathroom. She turned on the faucet and Vanessa put her hand underneath, watching the blood go down the drain. Her heart was still pumping hard from her interaction with Lin. She couldn't believe how he'd reacted.

Emma turned off the faucet and gave Vanessa a paper towel to stop the bleeding. "Vanessa, what's wrong?" She asked, concerned.

"It's nothing," she assured her. "I was just being careless."

Emma knew it was more than that. The wine glass was no accident. It had obviously been thrown against the wall. Anyone who'd watched a couple episodes of CSI knew that. She decided not to push it, though. Obviously she didn't want to talk about it.

Lin walked out and stopped at the bathroom, noticing they were congregated. "Everything okay?"

"Fine, Lin," Vanessa said in a short voice. Lin sighed and continued out to the kitchen. He noticed the broken glass and found the dustpan and brush. Carefully, he brushed the pieces up. Lin realized he'd really messed up. His wife was dealing with the news that she was pregnant, and he'd acted like an ass. It wasn't that he wouldn't love the new baby like he loved the others. It was just that it had not been planned. They were already overwhelmed with the four they had.

Emma helped Vanessa bandage up the two fingers she'd managed to slice and checked again that she was okay. Vanessa assured her she was fine, but headed back to the bedroom. She quickly changed into her pajamas and brushed her teeth, then climbed into bed.

Lin knew he was on thin ice. He gently opened their bedroom door and climbed into his side of the bed, watching his wife carefully. Her back was turned to him, scooted up close to the edge of the bed. Hesitantly, Lin moved his body towards his, until he was flush up against her back. Gently, he rubbed her hip and side.

"Sweetheart, I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair. "You just caught me by surprise."

He heard her sniffle, and she wiped a tear off her face. Lin hated that he'd made her cry. "It caught me by surprise too," she reminded him. "I was alone in the doctor's office."

Lin took her hand in his and squeezed. "I'm sorry I wasn't there," he told her. "Had you missed a period?"

"I guess," she said. "I've just been so busy I didn't really notice."

"So...he said. What are we going to do?"

Vanessa turned around to face her husband. "We're gonna have another baby," she told him.

Lin smirked a little bit, stroking her face with his thumb as he cradled her head in his hand. He leaned forward and gently captured her lips in a sweet kiss. They rested their heads together.

"I know this wasn't expected," Lin went on. "But I'm excited."

"Yeah?" She smiled, looking into his eyes.

"I get to be a daddy again," he said.

"Lucky kid," she said.

"Lucky pea," he corrected.

___

The next day at school, Emma was really dragging. Her AP History teacher had just dropped a new project on them. And it was the worst kind – a group project. Sighing, she got out her day planner and looked ahead to the next few weeks. She had extra rehearsals at ballet, plus a food drive she was supposed to be organizing for student government. It would be a miracle if she got six hours of sleep every night.

On top of that, she was worried about Lin and Vanessa. She could tell they'd been fighting. They never fought in front of them, but there had been several discussions behind closed doors. Plus the broken wine glass. This morning, Lin had been affectionate towards Vanessa, so that was a good sign, but she felt like they were keeping something from her.

That night, Lin was working on his laptop, his feet propped up on the coffee table. Emma sat down next to him with her own work and kept glancing over at him.

"Can I help you?" He finally asked her.

"What's going on?" She asked him. He looked over at her.

"What's going on with what?"

"You and Vanessa," she said. "You're hiding something."

Lin furrowed his eyebrows at her question. Damn, she was perceptive. "I'm not sure what you mean, Em."

"Oh come on," she said. "The broken wine glass? Talking in the bedroom with the door closed? We're not moving to China for a role or something are we?"

Lin laughed and shook his head. "No, nothing like that," he said. "We'll have some news for you soon, but not yet. It's private."

She sighed and looked at him. "Why is it secret? I never get to keep secrets from you guys."

"This is different," he told her.

"Is it good news?"

"Oh, yeah," he assured her. "Very good news."

Emma eyed him suspiciously, wondering what she was hiding. She opened up her laptop and began working.

___

This next Monday, Lexi adjusted her shirt for the third time. Should she leave it tucked or untucked? Emma poked her head in and smiled. "You ready, squirt?"

Lexi sighed and decided to leave her shirt untucked. "I guess," she agreed. She picked up her backpack, which was light for now, and followed her sister towards the door. They kissed Vanessa and Lin goodbye and got on the same subway train to Hunter College High School.

As they walked in, Lexi realized that her sister was pretty popular. Every few seconds, someone else said hello to her. Their eyes would dart to her for a moment and then moved on to something else. She was nervous, and was kind of glad to have her older sister there. Emma walked with her to her locker and showed her how to work the combination. They'd brought things from home to decorate her locker together.

"Give me your schedule," Emma told her sister once they'd finished. She glanced over the list and pointed in the direction of each classroom. Most of them were in the same area. She told her to meet on the front steps after school and wished her luck.

Her first day was a bit of a blur, and she was relieved when the final bell rang. As promised, Emma met her on the school steps up front. She had to go to ballet rehearsal, but wanted to make sure her sister knew how to get home.

"Actually, I'm going to meet Amber at the skate park," she said.

"Okay," Emma thought for a moment, then told her what train she'd need to take. She could walk home from there.

That night at dinner, Lin and Vanessa asked Lexi all about her day. Her classes, her teachers, the other kids. She tried her best to answer, and was grateful when Emma changed the subject. As she told the family about how she'd hilariously fumbled her dance at rehearsals. They laughed as they all dug into the tortellini. Lin caught his wife's eye from across the table.

"Kids, we have some news," Vanessa announced as she set down her glass. Lin winked at her, urging her to continue.

"Remember how I kept getting sick the other week?"

"Yeah, and you're still getting sick," Lexi told her. "Did you catch an alien parasite?"

"No," she laughed. "Actually, it's because I'm pregnant."

Emma and Alexis both dropped their forks. "You're pregnant?!" Emma asked, exasperated.

"Oh my gosh that's so cool!" Alexis said.

"It wasn't planned, but these things happen," Vanessa told them. "The baby should come in May."

"Can it be a girl?" Lexi asked, looking back and forth between her parents.

"Sweetheart, we don't exactly get a say," Lin reminded her.

"His balls get the say," Emma joked, causing Lexi to burst out laughing. Lin and Vanessa pursed their lips together to suppress a laugh.

"Emma," Lin said warningly.

"It's true," she said, sipping her water.

___

After dinner, Emma popped another Adderall, anticipating another long night of homework. She was starting to feel a little guilty, taking her sister's pills. She figured once the prescription ran out, Vanessa could just go get a refill. School was so much easier with this little upper. She pocketed another three for now.

She walked out to the living room where Vanessa was on the couch talking with Sebastian. When his mother had been pregnant before, he'd been a bit young to understand what was going on. This time, he had lots of questions.

"The baby's in your belly?" He asked his mother, and lifted up his mother's shirt a little bit. She wasn't far enough along to start showing yet. It was difficult for a four year old to understand how something so tiny was actually a human life.

"Uh-huh," she patiently explained. "It's just about the size of a pea right now. And when it grows enough, it will be born and you'll have a brother or a sister."

"Like Francisco?"

"Yep," she said. "What do you think it will be? A boy or a girl?"

"Can it be a baby superhero?"

Vanessa laughed and messed up his hair as Emma leaned over the couch. "Explaining the birds and the bees?" She asked her.

"Oh, you know, the G-rated version," Vanessa said. "Do you want to give Sebastian his bath tonight?"

"I've got a lot of homework," she said. "Just came out for a snack."

Emma grabbed some trail mix from the pantry and disappeared back into her bedroom. She had a lot of work ahead of her.

___

The next week, Lexi opened up her prescription bottle and realized she only had three left. She thought that was strange because her mom had just gotten her a refill recently. She shrugged and made a mental note to remind Vanessa to refill her prescription. Turning off the lights, she met her sister at the door so they could ride the subway together. It had become a tradition that while riding the subway, they both shared half of a set of earbuds and listened to music together. It had become a contest to pick out the most ridiculous tracks to make each other laugh. There was Weird Al, New Kids on the Block, and Menudo. They didn't dare make fun of Weird Al in front of Lin because they knew he was a fan. But seriously, polka?

"So, do you think Vanessa will have a girl or a boy?" Alexis asked her older sister as they neared their stop.

"I think it'll be a girl," she predicted. "They've already had two boys. The chance of having a third boy are pretty low."

"But every pregnancy has the same 50/50 chance," Lexi pointed out.

"True," Emma agreed, checking her phone.

"I hope it's a girl," Lexi grinned.

"Why?"

"So I can have a little sister. I want to be a big sister and give advice," she said.

Emma smirked as the subway slowed at their stop. They didn't always get along, but she hoped her little sister always knew she could come to her for advice.

___

Later in the day, Vanessa called the pharmacy to ask for a refill on Lexi's Adderall. The pharmacist technician told her it wasn't eligible to be refilled for another 10 days.

"What?" Vanessa asked in confusion. "But she only has three pills left. I checked the bottle this morning."

"Well, according to our records, you picked up the last prescription on the 9th. You're not eligible to get a new one until 30 days later."

She sighed, not needing this. "So what am I supposed to do? We're almost out."

"You'll have to talk to your doctor about that, ma'am," the tech said. "Sorry."

The phone call ended and Vanessa called up the girls' doctor's office. She left a voicemail for the nurses to see if they could send over another prescription.

That night, when Lexi got home, Vanessa questioned her about the prescription.

"Lex, I thought our numbers were off and I was right," she said as she prepared dinner. "The pharmacy said we refilled your pills on the 9th, so we're not due for a refill for another 10 days. Have you been careful with your pills?"

"Yes," she assured Vanessa. Emma was sitting on the couch, reading a novel for English class. She bit her lip and eavesdropped in. She hadn't meant to cause her sister or Vanessa problems.

"Are you sure you didn't drop any on the floor?" She pressed.

"Yes, I've been very careful," she said. "I've been taking one a day every morning."

Vanessa sighed and cut up some vegetables. "Alright," she said. "Hopefully the doctor will get back to me tomorrow and send over another refill."

Emma closed her book and disappeared into her bedroom. She pulled out her laptop and opened it to Google. If she was going to cause Lexi problems, this wasn't going to work. She knew that Lexi legitimately needed those pills to function. In the past, she'd heard other kids talking about getting Adderall from each other, or faking symptoms to get a prescription. She didn't think she'd be able to fake any concentration issues. Her mind was like a laser. She did a quick search for New York City Adderall. She wasn't sure what she was looking for – a list of drug dealers with phone numbers?

Rolling her eyes at her own stupidity, she shut her laptop and sighed. She picked up her cell phone and texted one of her group members from AP History class. She was pretty sure he did pot on a regular basis. She swore him to secrecy and asked if he knew where she could buy any Adderall. He immediately responded that he knew someone, and told her the price usually ran around $5 a pop. Emma was stunned. She got $10 a week in allowance, but she knew she also had some money in the bank.

Emma asked for the guy's number and she typed it into her phone. She decided not to text him just yet. If this was going to become a regular thing, she'd seriously have to think about her financing. Emma tucked her phone away and then heard a knock on the door. Lin.

She felt like he knew what she'd just been up to, and wouldn't look him in the eye.

"V and I are going to bed," he told her. "Do you need anything before we go?"

"Uh...no," she said, pulling a notebook over to her lap. Lin narrowed his eyes at her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?" She answered quickly, scratching the back of her scalp.

"You just seem a little on edge," he told her. "Don't stay up too late. Night."

He closed the door and joined Vanessa in the master bedroom. Her morning sickness had luckily gotten better because the doctor had given her prescription to help calm it down. Vanessa said she was feeling fine, but Lin remembered from her first two pregnancies that things could get rough.

Instinctively, he rubbed a hand over her belly as he climbed into bed. Vanessa looked over at him and smiled. She was used to him constantly touching her belly during pregnancy. He was obsessed. She didn't at all mind her husband touching her belly. It was when strangers somehow felt they were entitled to touch her just because her belly was huge. That really irked her and she wasn't looking forward to it.

"How are you feeling?" He asked his wife gently.

"Fine," she told him. "The pills worked wonders."

"Good," he told her, reaching down to kiss her belly. "You be nice to your mother, you hear?"

They'd told their parents the other night, and Lin's mother was already putting together lists of Puerto Rican baby names, just like she had before. She was really hoping for a girl this time. Their daughter, Lin's older sister, also had two boys so they were granddaughter-less. Luz was growing jealous of her friends who were buying cute little baby girl clothes.

Lin got another text from his mother. "Here's some more names from my mother," he said, then used his Spanish accent. "For a boy – Mateo, Manolito, Santiago. For a girl, Ivelisse, Valentina, Isabel, Ana, Marisol, Camila, Emilia. Hmmm...think she wants a granddaughter?"

"Nah," Vanessa joked. "Besides, your balls already made that decision, as Emma pointed out."

Lin laughed as he tossed his phone aside and leaned over to kiss his wife.

"Just one request," she told her husband.

"What's that?"

"We named our first son after a crab. If it's a boy, we are not naming it Tamatoa."

"Deal."