Chloe's face became solemn and pinched with sadness as she remembered Brad and June. "Yeah. I'll definitely be there."

"I am," Kayla offered, raising her head. She glanced around the table, wondering who else was going.

Ben said "who's Brad" he then saw the rest of the table looking at him like 'are you death?'
---
Nate said "I am"

Miley then answered, "He wasa a friend of ours, along with his wife." SAdnees overcame her. "I'm going to miss him. To think we could be possibly planning Justin's soon..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jen answered, "Me too."

"I won't," offered Zach, flopping a hand in the air and then letting it fall.

That afternoon, Peter carefully combed his hair to the side and gelled it back, causing the sides to curl and the few strands at the middle of his neck to me more visible. He adjusted his tie, waiting for Jusitn to pick him and Nate up. Justin had called him earlier, telling him that he was picking them up and he was also going ot the funeral. After Justin picked them up, he was going to pick up Jen and Kayla.

When he walked out bathroom door, he was greeted by his older cousin. Justin teased, "Hey, little squirt."
Peter smiled, then asked, "Is it realy okay to be joking like this before a funeral."
Justin said, "If you think it wouldn't be, you don't know Brad. He liked ot make light of things. He was a lot like Nate."
Peter groaned, "Does that mean Nate will die?"
Jusitn shook his head. "I did not say. I doubt he will as a result of what I said. Now, come on." Justin gave Peter a playful shove.
Peter teased, "Fine, I will think of a prank to play on you teh day of your trial."
Justin laughed, "Better not!"
Peter bumped Justin's arm, then saw Nate. "Hey Nate. Ready?"

"Yeah, come on lets go" said Nate as he walked down the stairs.

Jen finished brushing her long blonde hair, which flowed in fullness to her waist. She checked for any out of place ahirs and was satisfied to find it looked neat. She rushed out the door, with Kayla as soon as the doorbell rang. The two of them jumped into the car. Jen was suprised at how handsome Peter looked. Of course, he was handome but sitting in his cousin's car, he looked even more handsome. He gave her a hug and complimented her on how she looked, causing her to blush.

When they arrived at the funeral, The preacher asked if anyone would like to say something. Miley's heart went out to Amanda as she sorrowfully talked about how close they were as kids. She also mentioned they got in an argument, but he came back and apologized but was not very specific on that. Miley figured Amanda wanted to keep the reason for Brad's anger secret, but why? Still, it wasn't any of her business.

Peter listened on, as he imagined himself speaking at his cousin's funeral. It just seemed like each day was a day closer to Justin's death. Tears ran down his cheeks, as images of of how his cousin's death penalty flashed through his eyes. What if they shot him? Justin, the strong one of the two, fallen to the ground and collasping in pain, in the presence of those who hated him. His loved ones, not being able to help. Or, a lethal injection. Peter hated needles and hated the though of a pointy, sharp object going into his cousin's muscular arm. The cousin who can withstand most pain, yelping as he is injected into his death. Peter winced. He covered his eyes, as he thought of Justin shaking to death in the electric chair, screaming shaky screams.

Kayla happened to glance at Peter and saw that he was frozen on the spot, looking really frightened. She looked at Jen to see if she'd noticed, but Jen was staring straight ahead. Kayla shrugged it off and focused on the preacher's words. Her stomach twisted as she thought of Brad.

Justin noticed Peter looked as if he were about to cry and scream at the same time, so he decided the two of them could talk about it outside the doors. He put his hand on his cousin's shaky back and whispered, "Hey, let's talk outside, okay?" Peter allowed Justin to lead him out of the doors, into he lobby. "Hey, buddy." Holding his cousin close, he could hear him whimper. Then, he remeberd it was a year after Peter's accident. He pulled out a chair and said to his cousin, "Hey, let's sit down." Peter nodded, looking young and vulnerable. "Is it the accident?"

Peter shook his head. "Im sure flashbacks of that will come though," He swallowed. "It's just...I keep thinking about...what if they kill you?"

Justin put a hand on Peter's arm. "Who's going to kill me?"

Peter said, "You know, the police."

Justin swallowed. "I will try not to let that happen."

Peter kept on. "And I keep thinking of all the ways they would do it, too and you were so scared and in pain." IN tears, he looked up at his cousin. "But, you're the strongest of all of us two and our friends."

Justin let out a quiet laugh. "You're forgetting Chuck, Kevin and Nate."

Peter groaned. "And Kevin! They might kill Kevin, after Nate has just been reunited with him. How could they?"

Justin felt a wave of sadness. "I don't know. You know, I'm not always strong about this. Some mornings, I wake up and feel like I'm looking death straight in the eyes. We are all a day closer to our deaths, but it seems closer for me at times." He adjusted himself and cleared his throat. "Though, I have days where I feel like everything is going to turn out alright and I won't die or go to jail." He looked away. "THen, there are those days where I can feel the coldness of a prison cell against my skin and hear voices...of other prisoners and guards from when I was there four years ago." He lowered his voice, "When I killed that thug, flashbacks of my past swarmed all around my head, breathing down my neck. It was like I was suffocating and when that officer put a gun on Miley, I wanted to scream. It was like all my nightmares of Miley being hurt by someone from my past came true."

Curiously, Peter asked, "You have nightmares?"

Jusitn asked, "Since I killed the man?"

Peter answered, "Yes."

Justin restrained emotion. "Almost everynight. I feel as if there was a better way for me to haved defended the others."

Peter blushed, "This is going to sound shallow, but I actually recently had a nightmare of Mr. pole come back and cutting off alll my hair."

Justin teased, "Yep. You're definately Eustace. Having nightmares about scissors."

Peter smirked, "That only makes you Edmund."

Justin said, "I will gladly agree."

Peter stood up. "I guess we better go back in there."

Justin teased, "And tell the others you've been undragoned."

Peter smirked. "Oh, shutup." The two quieted down, as they sat next to each other in the row they were in back inside.

After teh funeral, Peter asked Nate, "How did you hold up?"

"I never really knew Brad but some how I felt conected with him. I don't know if it was because my brother served with him or what but it just..." Nate just cut off.

Peter put a hand on Nate's shoulder. "He was my cousin's best friend. You should have seen us last summer. I think I drove him crazy," Peter said with a small chuckle. "I kept wanting to help bust this corrupt pastor and kept talking to Brad about it on the phone. I bet I was annoying."
~~~~~~~~~
The next day, Justin and Maralyn were getting the sonogram. THe nurse placed a gel on Maralyn's stomach and announced, "It's a girl and she looks very healthy. See her moving?"
Maralyn smiled and held her husband's hand.

Justin rubbed Maralyn's hand, excited about the new baby girl. If he was still alive and out of jail, he was going to let her wrap him around her finger. "let's name her Rachel Grace."
Maralyn smiled, "I like that name."
~~~~~~~~~~~
The next evening, Peter and Jen met Miley at Ryan's basketball game. It was an exciting night of fun, followed by Amanda's Chrsitmas party the next day. . Once everyone arrived, Justin announced, "We are having a baby girl! Her name is Rachel Grace!"

Jen gripped Peter's arm in excitement. Her eyes sparkled at the glorious news and she went up to Justin to congratulate him. "I'm so excited for you! How's Maralyn taking it?"

Maralyn laughed, as she walked behind Jen. "Nice to see you too. I'm handling it okay." She would not let her worries about Justin going to jail or dying cross her mind.

Peter excitedly asked, "When is she due?"

Justin smiled. "Summer."

Amanda called, "Okay, we are putting in Prince Caspian!"

"Well, congratulations, Maralyn! Come on, Peter! I don't want to miss Prince Caspian."
Jen's expression beamed smiles. She was so happy, and it made her face glow.

Peter was glad to see Jen and even gladder she was happy around him again. He sat next to her on the couch and put an arm around her, then awkwardly pulled back and put it on his lap. "Uh, sorry." He didn't want to do anything inappropriate. He knew that temptation was very easy for him. He needed to make sure she was comfortable. "Hug?"

Miley grinend and whispered to Chrissa. "Looks like my cousin is growing up." She giggled mischieviously. She remembered when she had seen Pete rin that room after that horrific accident. He had looked so unrecgonizable that Miley did not think he would ever get a girlfriend and she honestly was thinkin of some ways to prepare him for people tormenting him about his disfigurations were his fault. Now, the only disfiguration he had was a small cut abov ethe eyes from the accident. His hair had grown back from the accident, only to be pulled out by Mr. Pole. Now his hair was slowly growing back. He no longer had a bald spot and his hair was just a tiny bit thicker. Still, half his hair being pulled out was nothing compared to his accident disfigurations. Miley did not even know if he would walk again or if his face would be the same as it was. Now his face was handsome and looked like a younger version of Justin, almost. He had a playful smile when he smiled. His eyes had warm friendliness that he didn't have before the accident. It was definately a far cry from when she had to double check with the nurse to see if it was Peter's room. She listened to Edmund say, "Last time I didn't believe Lucy I ended up looking pretty stupid." She looked at Justin who's facial expression, for a second, mirrored the darkness and sadness that came over Edmund's eyes. She held her brother's hand and kissed it, causing him to draw her close and allow her to lay her head on his chest. She had no clue what he was thinking about and didn't want to know. She just wanted to be hugged by her brother, her fellow youngest sibling. "Edmund was pretty brave in that scene," she commented, "standing up for Lucy and believing her when the others didn't. I think everybody needs an Edmund in their lives." She snuggled closer to her brother, who gave her a hug.

Justin was relieved to have the warmth of his wife and his sister in each arm. This may be the last few months of getting any such warmth if he spent life in jail. Of course, if he died he would be in a place of eternal happiness, which would be better. Still, he did not want to leave his wife with a child on her own or his baby girl without her daddy. In highschool, he thought of pregnancies as a problem to be fixed by clinics and now he knew better. He winced when he thought of how he would even explain to his baby girl how she has brothers and sisters, who were dead because of him and what he pressured past girlfriends to do. Would she even trust me? Would she call me a hypocrite and a liar when I tell her that is the wrong choice? How do I explain against drugs and other stuff? This was ridiculous. He didn't let his past stop him form being a youth preacher, why should it stop him now? There was a reason he liked Edmund the most, because they were both haunted by their pasts. He smiled at Miley and stroked her long hiar. She was so much like Lucy. So sweet and a ray of sunshine. He stopped, to put his other arm around his wife and whispered, "Think I will be a good dad?"
Maralyn smiled at him. "I'm sure you will." The two of them hugged kissed, causing Peter to teased, "Yuck! Get a room!"
Justin laughed and hit Peter in the head with a pillow, messing up his curls. "You should talk."
Peter asked, "Is that a challenge?" He put a pillow in his hand and got on his knees on the couch. "Bring it on!" He playfully hit Justin back with a pillow caused Justin to pull him to his side. Then, Justin stodd up with Peter at his hip and teased, "Who's next?"
Peter reached around, to the back of Justin's pants and pulled them up, giving him a wedgie. "Am I a pain in the you know what?"
Justin laughed and dropped Peter back onto the couch. "Okay, you win." There was a mischevious sparkle in his eye. "For now."