"Works for me, I had a couple of guys on my squad who acted like four year olds" He said. Leaning back, he was begining to like his new boss, "Alrighty, so whats next?" he asked, trying to stay on subject.

Any other time, Justin would be amused by her questions. However, this was not the time for being amused, smiling or anything but the nervousness eating away at him. He sat under his hands to hide that they were sweating. "No, but you almost did. When I was younger, I got your mom pregnant. Then, I told her to get an abortion or I would break up with her. So...you are an abortion survivor and I am your dad. I'm really sorry that I did that. I've been constantly imagining what my baby would have been like and regretted it for years." He let that sink in, wondering what she was going to say next.

"Well, Sydney." Delcan said, "You know what you have to do now?"
Sydney affirmed with a nod.
"Mundy, you know what you need to get." Declan said. "You know where you need to pick up the package?"
Rosemonde replied with a nod.
Rosemonde left and returned holding a brown paper bag.
"It's very important that we follow through with this task." Declan said, then he opened the bag and poured the contents out on the floor. Out came a bag filled with little pieces of chocolate. "Sydney, since you are the winner of the special Chocolate Monopoly game, you must eat all of the chocolate. Or at least one. Your choice."
Declan handed the bag to Sydney, "Or you could share them with the other players." Declan said with a smile.

Sydney chuckled as she took the bag. "Thanks." She opened the paper bag and pulled out a Fun Sized Crunch bar. "This'll do."

Rosamunde took the bag that Sydney offered back and said, "Declan will eat them for you, don't worry."

"Ro!" The souther-accented voice of Rosamunde's mother called from downstairs. "We have to meet your Daddy in about 5 minutes, sweetheart."

"Okay!" Rosamunde shouted back. She looked at Declan and Sydney. "Guess that means we've gotta wrap this up." Rosamunde stood.

Sydney pulled her phone out of her back pocket and checked the time. "Yeah, I should be getting back too." She picked up her bag and smiled. "Thanks, guys. I had fun."

Rosamunde grinned. "If we're not outside, Declan and I are up here. Anytime you want to hang, just drop on by."

Sydney nodded. She headed downstairs and through the front door. Pulling her iPod out of her bag, she put the headphones in and made her way home.

Amanda gave Eliza a hug after she finished. "You did awesome. CAn't wait to look tomorrow and see if we got the parts!"

"Thanks, me either, I bet that you'll get the part, your only competition was that Samantha girl, who couldn't act exited even if she was." Eliza chuckled "I just wish I could say the same for me.

Weydon stared at Justin.
She had always known that she was an abortion survivor. Her adoptive father hadn't kept that a secret from her. That's why she had taken mercy on the baby birds who had been abandoned by their parents.
She knew what it was like to not be wanted.
She looked down at the scratches on her shoulders, and fingered the scar on her face. She had gotten them from the tree branches during the feeding of those baby birds every night. Only, the people here had thought that Karver (her adoptive sister) had given them to her through abuse, and now Karver was in jail for it.
Weydon turned her eyes toward Justin again. She had always wanted to meet her real father. That's why they had come to this town. Karver, through her research, had found evidence that the real father was living here somewhere. Only they didn't know which of the people in the town it was. Until now.
"Why... why didn't you want me?" she asked him. That was a question she had been dying to ask her real father for her entire life.

~Riella

From the look in her eyes this time, Justin could tell she already new she was an abortion survivor. He didn't know what to say. Why didn't he want her? "I wasn't really a nice person back then and didn't understand or care about what I was doing and who I would hurt. I'll have to explain all that to you about boys when you're older..." Of course, he doubted she could possibly want to be with him and that was probably why she was so angry. Why did he feel back then that girls and babies were just throwaways? "Being a teen dad just didn't sound as appealing to me as the behavior that caused the chance for that to happen." He was only 23 and totally unprepared for the talk with his own child. Sure, he spoke about it many times at youth group, but this was just too weird. "Like I said, I was selfish. I was a coward who didn't know how to raise a child and certainly no role model for anyone..." He mentally berated himself for babbling on like this to a six-year old.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Miley looked towards the field. and saw the other cheerleaders gathering. "Well, that's our cue, Grac." She turned to the boys. "See you all during halftime."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Micah answered, "See you then. When he got to the seats with Ian, he noticed Peter and Jen sitting together. He turned to Ian and motioned towards Peter. "Do you know Peter? He said hi to me at school but I don't know if he could be trusted or not. If he could, we could sit with them."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amanda gave her friend ahug. "Aww. Thanks. I bet you'll get a part. You and Mr. Cutie had awesome chemistry."

Johnny nodded. "See you then!" He closed the door behind her and leaned his head back onto the hollow wood door. "Well, that wasn't the least bit awkward." C'mon, man, you gotta do better than that next time.

-----

"It's today," Ally clarified, seeing the look of confusion flicker across Logan's face. "And we were wondering. So we came." She nudged Stacey.

Weydon listened to Justin. She understood all he said, and yet she didn't. She had heard the same type of story on TV Shows, and how it was a "common thing" for people to have abortions, especially in teen pregnancies. But "a common thing" was such a cruel word for something that filled her heart with anguish every hour of every day for her entire life, and most likely would for the rest of it as well. Her father hadn't only abandoned her, hadn't just not wanted her. He had tried to put her to death, to make it so she didn't exist and pretend she never had. Was he sorry for it? He said he was, but people say a lot of things. Maybe he wasn't sorry at all. Maybe he wished the abortion had gone through.
Weydon pondered all of these things. She longed to know, but couldn't ask. She felt like screaming at him, asking him if he hated her and why didn't he love her? It seemed like such an easy thing to say that he had just been a foolish, selfish kid back then. But did he know how serious it really was? Did he understand how much it had destroyed her heart? How she had never been able to trust, to love, or feel loved, because of what he had done?
Every night she had lied awake, wondering what she had done that, while other fathers loved their children and hugged them and called them the "apple of their eye", hers had wanted to get rid of her, to end her life entirely. Many times she had wished she hadn't survived. And as most people her age seemed to despise her, and she felt herself a burden on her adoptive parents, she wondered how many other people wished she had died in the abortion too. She was young; but inside she was older than most people -- she had to be.
Weydon had always wanted to meet her parents, to ask them why, and if it was her fault. Sometimes she had pictured them apologizing and running to her, holding her in their arms. Other times she pictured them angry, and rejecting her yet again. But she never pictured what was happening now -- waking up in a hospital room, the first thing she sees being her real father giving a quick, blunt explanation. She didn't know what to say.
"Well," Weydon said finally. "I guess they might let Karver out of jail now, since she didn't kidnap me. And then I can go back and live with her again. I don't want to be a further burden to you, after all. I just wanted to see you. That's why we came here."

~Riella

Stacey put her hand on Logan's shoulder, looking at him pleadingly. "Well, the game's probably just started. Let's hurry so that we don't miss it." She planted a kiss on his cheek, making her offer more irresistable.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Justin asked, "How did Karver know to come here?"

Bridget smiled to herself as she climbed into her recently-washed truck. She put the keys into the ignition and turned the car on. A flood of cold air hit her face as she reached for her seat belt.

Bridget glanced at Johnny's house and a slight chuckle escaped her. She wasn't used to guys like Johnny, with their awkwardness and boyish charm. Most of the men she worked with were arrogant, self-centered and rich.

Putting the car in drive, she said to herself, "Bridge, he's going away. Don't get attached..."

~~~

Sydney ran a hand through her orange hair as she pushed open her front door. The house was silent, a sure sign that Bridget wasn't home yet. The empty driveway was another clue to her absence.

I'm actually home before the princess of punctuality... Sydney thought to herself with a slight chuckle. Closing the door with her foot, she dropped her bag by the front door and went to get a glass of water.

After ten minutes spent in unpacking, Sydney looked up as the front door opened and Bridget entered. Bridget smiled when she saw her younger sister and said, "Hey, Syd."

"Hey." Sydney leaned back on her feet, hands dangling over the side of a box on the floor. "I was lookin' for the photo albums. Know where they are?"

"In the box that's in your room." Bridget set her purse on the kitchen counter and clapped her hands together. "We've gotta make some dinner tonight. We're having company."

"We don't even have a decent kitchen, yet." Sydney stood and went into the kitchen.

Bridget made a face. "You've got a point. We'll have to order pizza, I guess...But then we need chairs...Guess we'll be eating on the floor..."

"Who's the company?" Sydney interrupted her sister's thoughts.

Bridget smiled. "His name is Johnny Thomas. He's one of the guys that helped me move all this stuff into the house yesterday." Bridget motioned to the boxes and small pieces of furniture.

"Oh, okay. That doesn't really answer my question." Sydney said, pulling herself up and sitting on the counter.

"You'll meet him, Syd. For now, let's unpack these boxes." Bridget smiled.

Sydney shook her head and smiled. "Secrecy? Bridge, this is unlike you."

Bridget laughed and opened a box. "Yeah, well, I think you'll like him."

Justin asked, "How did Karver know to come here?"

"Oh, she studied in college to be one of those... people..." Weydon thought for a moment. "I forget what they're called. There was a TV show about them once. You know, the people who usually help adopted kids find their birth parents? She knows how to search records. Plus, it wasn't too hard for her. Her father -- my adoptive father -- was the doctor my real mother went to for the abortion." She stopped to think. "What was my real mother like?"

~Riella

Justin said, "Well, she looked young for her age and was kind of sassy. She had a temper, but she became less sassy and did not have as much of a temper later on. She was really sweet to my wife and great friends with her sister in law even before she married her husband. She wanted to do what's right but felt very much like she wasn't accepted. My wife and I actually had a double wedding with her and her husband. It was fun. That's actually where my cousin, Peter and his girlfriend started having feelings for each other. But that's another topic you'll have to ask him about." He paused. "Your mom really was upset when she thought she aborted you. She didn't really want to but I was too cruel back then to let her keep you. I really hate who I was back then. I would get nightmares sometimes because of it."

Maralyn arrived at the hospital presently, hurrying in to the receptionists desk "Justin Thomas...." she breathed "He arrived her some hours ago with a wounded young girl. What room? I'm his wife" She pressed Sarah tightly to her breast, waiting for woman to respond

The older woman looked at Maralyn over shiny glasses "Room #7. I'll have a nurse show you the way"

Maralyn wanted to assure her she was in no need of a guide, but she didn't and instead thanked her, and waited. Then in the corner of her eye she caught sight of Cassy, sighting alone in one of the waiting chairs "Cassandra!" she called rushing over to her "I've been worried about you, sweety." she wiped some tears from her cheeks

"I was hoping someone would come!" Cassy said, and threw her little arms around Maralyn, giving her a hug. "Please, if you go see Weydon.....will you come back and tell me if she is alright!?

"Of course. I'm going to see her now.....I promise to come back and tell you"

*******

Ian looked over, then nodded "I know him, not as well as some others but yeah, I know him. He's a good kid."

"Alright Mundy." Declan said, sitting down in front of the TV. "I've got a movie to finish. I'll lock up if you guys are back when I'm ready to leave."
Declan picked up the remote and turned the TV on. Once on, he pushed play and started to eat the candy. "I love candy it's so... happy. Candy is happy. Maybe I should start substituting 'happy' with 'candy'."