Chapter 39

Liz nearly choked on the piece of candy she was eating.

"Dad, don't start that again!" Lucky said, his face turning red, even through the pale make-up.

Luke laughed and shook his head. "Okay, I'll be good. But, when you do things like that, you have to expect comments from me!"

Lucky rolled his eyes. "Fine, Dad, you've made your point. Why don't you go back into the kitchen now and let us eat our candy in peace?"

Luke chuckled and turned around, shooting a quick look at Emily and Nikolas to make sure they were keeping an eye on the couple. He wasn't about to lose this bet because they weren't paying attention!

"What are you two laughing at?" Lucky asked angrily, causing Emily and Nikolas to just laugh harder. Even Liz had to stifle a giggle. Lucky was so flustered by his father, it was too cute!

A few minutes later she gathered her candy and stood up. "I better go home. If I eat any more of this I'll be up all night!"

"You'll be up? I seem to remember us eating that entire pan of brownies, and you slept fine! I was the one who was awake all night!" Lucky said, not noticing the raised eyebrows of his brother and Emily.

"Yeah, well, brownies are one thing. This stuff is pure sugar! Anyway, it's getting late. We still have school tomorrow. Oh - don't forget we have to hand in the baby stuff."

Lucky nodded, walking her to the door. "No problem, I'll have it. Good night."

She walked outside and turned around to smile at him. "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite!" she said, giggling.

He laughed. "Dreams of gold."

Liz smiled and turned around to leave. He watched her for a minute, then closed the door and turned to walk back into the living room, only to find that his parents had come out of the kitchen, and they were all watching him. "You guys really need a hobby!" he grumbled, going back to the couch.

Laura turned to Luke and whispered, "She's gone. You lose!"

~*~

The next morning, Lucky got to class early and waited for Liz to show up. His eyes were red from lack of sleep. She bounced into the room and sat down next to him.

"Uh-oh. Too much candy last night?" she asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, I guess. I didn't get much sleep. Did you remember the project stuff?"

"Of course, you?" He nodded, pulling it out of his bag. "Good."

The bell rang and the teacher came in. "Well, class, today's the big day. You're all having your babies! Now, I'm not going to hand out the results until the end of class, because I want your full attention. If you find out now what you had, you won't stop talking. So, you're just going to have to wait a little longer."

The class groaned, and she began to collect the assignments. "You'll be happy to hear, though, that I am sparing you from the next assignment until Monday. Sort of a short maternity leave, if you will. So far, you've all done fairly well, and we're coming down to the wire. The semester's almost over, and there aren't many assignments left. Don't let that go to your heads, though, and start slacking, okay?"

The class mumbled in agreement as she began the lesson. Lucky was trying his hardest to stay awake, but he was fighting the battle. Liz kept laughing at him every time his head would nearly hit the desk.

Half-way through class, Liz looked over and saw that Lucky had his head on the desk, and was asleep. Afraid that Ms. Kraft would see him, she poked him on the shoulder, trying to wake him up. "Lucky!" she whispered. "Wake up!"

He stirred, squinting at her to see who was disturbing his sleep.

"Mrs. Spencer? Is there a problem?" Ms. Kraft asked loudly, causing Lucky to sit up quickly. Liz tried not to laugh at his reaction, and shook her head.

"No, everything's fine." she answered, trying to sound serious. Ms. Kraft narrowed her eyes, then continued with the lesson.

"Thanks," Lucky whispered, rubbing his eyes.

Afraid that she would get yelled at again if she spoke, Liz just nodded. Lucky turned back to the front of the classroom and tried to pay attention to the teacher, but she was just putting him to sleep. Luckily, class ended quickly. About five minutes before the bell would be ringing, Ms. Kraft grabbed a stack of envelopes and approached the first row of desks.

"Okay, here's how we're going to do this. I've learned the fairest way to hand out the results of your births is to make it random. So, I have a variety of results in these envelopes. Most just say 'boy' or 'girl', but some are different. There are a few multiple births, and some other outcomes. Stay in your seats, and I'll come around to you and let you pick one. Please wait until class is over before you open them."

She proceeded to go to each group and hold out the envelopes in a fan, so that they could choose one. She got to Lucky and Elizabeth about half-way through. Lucky nodded at Liz to pick one, so she took one of the ones in the middle. They sat and stared at it, waiting for the bell to ring. Once it did, they gathered their books and went out into the hallway.

"Okay," Lucky said "Open it. Let's see if it's Levi or Liberty."

Liz smiled at his eagerness. She took a deep breath, laughing at herself for being nervous, then quickly handed him the envelope. "I can't do it, you open it!"

He chuckled. "Isn't the woman supposed to be the one to give birth?"

"Yeah, but the father's usually the first to see the baby," she answered smugly.

He shook his head and tore open the envelope. He read the paper inside, and his face paled.

"What? What is it?" Liz asked, wondering what was wrong with him.

"How can she do this? This isn't fair!"

Liz grabbed the paper out of his hands, wanting to see for herself what had him so upset. She gasped when she read it:

"What?" she asked, choking back the tears that she could feel coming. She couldn't believe she was getting upset about this.

"Liberty," he whispered. "It was a girl."

That was all it took for Liz to lose control. She dropped the paper and started to cry. Instinctively, Lucky took her in his arms to comfort her, rubbing her back as she cried, trying not to keep his own tears from coming. How could the teacher be so cruel?

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