Chapter 1

Why did her mom have to be a doctor? Maddy sighed and turned to walk around the block one more time, buying time to think. She couldn't go into the infirmary without her mother seeing her but she really, really needed to go in. Since this is Terra Nova, and not 2149, she had to go to the hospital to get a stupid test instead of being able to go to the store and do one at home. She twirled one long piece of hair between her fingers in worry.

Stupid! Why had she been so stupid? What had possessed her? Of course, she knew what. Reynolds was irresistible. They had both thought they would be able to control themselves but… that had not been the case. She groaned out loud. To top matters off, after they had done the deed, Reynolds had been so ashamed and sorry that he'd left and not spoken to her since. What kind of boyfriend does that?

Tears welled in her eyes at that thought. She saw him regularly and he could barely keep his eyes from following her. She could see the longing in them, the hurt. But he still didn't talk to her.

Well, he'd have no choice soon enough.

Her fifth time around the block was fast coming to an end and as she approached the doors she steeled herself and opened them before she had a chance to change her mind. She, of course, plowed right into Reynolds, who was coming out with a fresh bandage on his arm.

"Oh!" Maddy exclaimed. "Sorry!" As she looked up, she was struck by how green his eyes were and she felt her breath catch in her throat.

"No, it was my fault. I'm sorry Maddy! Are you all right?"

She smiled weakly at him. "Yeah, no problem. But, what happened to you?"

He shrugged it off. "Oh, nothing. Just a heavily thorned vine thought my arm would make a good meal."

Maddy scrunched up her nose in disgust. "Yuck. But, you'll be okay?"

Reynolds nodded and scooted past her. "I'll be fine."

He was making his way down the path when Maddy called to him. "Mark!

He turned around and looked back at her. She quickly jogged down the path to meet him. "Can we talk some time? About what happened?"

His green eyes grew a little harder and she could see the shame written all over his face. "Maddy I-"

"Don't… I don't want excuses. I just…" she paused as she felt tears filling her eyes again. "I just miss you, okay?"

He connected eyes with her again and his expression softened. "Hey," he reached out with one hand to wipe her tear away. "Don't cry Maddy. I'm just… it was my fault what happened and, well, I don't want it to happen again. I don't want to hurt you Maddy. I don't want to take advantage of you. I want us to have a good relationship. I'm supposed to be the one protecting you not… not hurting you."

She made a noise of incredulity. "You're hurting me now!"

He was silent for a moment, looking away and thinking. After a moment, he turned back to her and nodded. "Okay, let's talk. Tonight? At the orchard at 7?"

Maddy nodded. "Okay." She turned away quickly and entered the infirmary before she could change her mind. His green eyes followed her the whole way.

She immediately spied her mother standing in the farthest corner with a patient. Quickly, she moved so that a wall hid her from her mother's view. There was a nurse there who gave her a strange look.

"Did you need something miss Shannon? Your mother is directly across," she said, pointing past the wall. Maddy pulled her hand down, shaking her head.

"No, I don't want my mom to know I'm here. Can you do that? Please?"

The nurse frowned again. "What's this about?"

Maddy took a deep breath and then sighed heavily. "I… I need a… a, a pregnancy test."

The nurse fixed her with a look and then her expression softened. "All right. Don't worry, I won't say a word to your mother. And I'll omit it from your records. But, if you are pregnant you will need to let people know soon. And you'll have to start taking care of yourself properly."

Maddy nodded to all this. "Can we just do the test first?"

The nurse smile slightly. "Wait here."

She was back in no time with a hand held scanner. "Just don't move."

She swiped it over Maddy's body a couple times and then nodded. "It looks like there's a little one in there."

Maddy's eyes filled with tears in response and she covered her mouth.

"Looks like two months and 12 days along." The nurse looked up and reached around to grab a tissue, offering it to Maddy. "Look," she said gently. "You're pretty far along for not having any test or proper diet so you'll need to let your parents know as soon as possible so you can start getting the proper care. Understand?"

Maddy nodded weakly as she wiped her tears away. "Okay. Thank you."

With that, she was out of the infirmary as quick as she came.

Once outside, she ran as quickly as she could to the farthest corner of Terra Nova, a place where she doubted anyone would find her. And then she cried, long and hard. She knew she had to tell Reynolds. But, she didn't know what to expect from him. If he was so sensitive about having sex, how would he be when he finds out his girlfriend is pregnant? And her parents. Her Dad would probably kill Reynolds, maybe not literally but at least beat him up. And her mom… well, she just hoped her mom would be understanding. She didn't know what Zoe would think and she felt horrible for disappointing her family. Most of all, she felt horrible for messing up Reynolds life. This wasn't 2149, this was Terra Nova. There was no adoption, no option for abortion. And anyway, she was almost too far along for that. There was nothing she could do but have the baby and care for it. She knew her family would help. It would be more of a group effort, but she would always be the mother. She never wanted her life to end up this way…

Hours later, she finally made her way home. Darkness was falling and it was time for dinner. Her stomach was telling her so. She tiredly pushed open the door to their home and saw her mother standing at the counter preparing dinner. By the smell of it, it was almost finished. Josh was slouched into the couch with his guitar so it almost looked like it was eating him, and Zoe was on her knees at the coffee table, coloring a picture.

"Maddy!" her mom said as she saw her come in. "How was your day?"

Maddy smiled vaguely. "It was fine mom."

"Your teacher let me know you missed the last half of school today. Is everything all right?" She looked up from whatever she was stirring. Maddy smiled big, hoping to fool her mother.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just… uh, I wanted to go for a walk. It was such a beautiful day." Maddy cringed inwardly at the ridiculousness of her excuse but she hoping her mother would let it go in the interest of having a more private conversation later.

"All right," she said in response with a frown on her face. "But we'll talk later?"

Maddy nodded, pressing her lips together. She wanted to talk to her mom, she wanted to tell her, it's just, she knew how disappointed she was going to be.

At dinner Maddy was quiet, refraining from saying much of anything. Her dad noticed and asked about it but her mom thankfully shushed him. When dinner was over, she asked to be excused from clean up duty and promised to be home soon. Her mother obliged and Josh protested, of course, saying he should get the day off tomorrow. With a roll of her eyes, she left her family behind.

She saw Mark sitting in the orchard near the edge of the settlement before he saw her. He was sitting on a bench, leaning forward with his head in his hands, clad in green army pants and a black t-shirt. She sighed as she saw him but continued forward, trying to make up her mind to tell him the news. He looked up as she approached.

"Hey there," he said and gave her a small smile. She smiled back, genuinely.

"Hey." She sat down next to him on the bench but not close enough to crowd him. After a moment of awkward silence, Maddy said,

"Can we just go back to the way we were, before everything happened?"

He sighed heavily and looked away. "I wish we could Maddy, really."

That made tears come to her eyes again. "What does that mean?"

Hearing the tears in her voice, he quickly turned to her. "Oh Maddy, no, not like that. I still love you just as much as I did. Honest. Probably more." He sighed as he wrapped her into his arms. He smelled the flowery scent of her hair and felt the smallness of her body. His body responded to her and his mind realized how much he had missed her. Maddy started to cry in earnest. Mark started to brush through her hair with one hand, holding her close with his other strong arm.

"I'm sorry Maddy, I'm so sorry." He was whispering the words into her ear. "I'm sorry for taking your virginity, I'm sorry for being such an… ass. I'm sorry for not knowing what to do after everything happened. I'm sorry for pushing you away. I just, I didn't want to hurt you anymore."

His soothing voice in her ear seemed to calm her down somewhat and soon she was breathing normally again. She knew she had to tell him before she could lose her nerve. Pulling away, she looked him in the eyes. He smiled at her, glad to be holding her once again.

Just then, his communicator buzzed. He grimaced and looked at her apologetically, fishing in his pocket for it.

"Reynolds," he said as he answered it.

"Hey, Taylor wants to talk to you."

"Understood. Be there in five."

He smiled at her again and took her hand. "Sorry love, I have to go."

Maddy could barely contain her tears. "Do you have to go now?"

He laughed lightly. "I'll see you tomorrow, don't worry. And we're going to start over. We're going to try this again. At least, if that's what you want?"

Maddy tried to smile but it came out more of a grimace. She nodded.

"Good," he said and kissed her lightly on the forehead. He rose to leave and pulled Maddy up with him. "I'll walk you back to your house. It's on the way anyway. Okay?"

"Sure."

As they walked back, Maddy fought with telling him right then and there or waiting until after she'd told her parents. She knew she should tell him first but of all the times he had to talk to Taylor, it had to be now. He dropped her off at her house and gave her a quick kiss goodbye. She slowly, ploddingly, entered the house. It was apparent that her sister was asleep. Josh was probably either holed up in his room or at work and her parents were sitting on the couches talking quietly. Her mother smiled as she entered the house.

"Maddy! Hi honey." She smiled at her from the couch and then frowned as she looked at Maddy's face. She got up quickly, going to her and grasping her shoulders with her hands. "Maddy, what's the matter? Are you all right?"

That look and touch from her mother was all it took to have Maddy crying again. Her mother pulled her into a deep hug and held her close. She heard her dad get up and walk over too. She could tell her parents were silently communicating over her head. After a moment, she pulled back.

"Can we, talk for a minuet?" She sniffed and wiped her eyes. Her mom looked worriedly at her dad and nodded.

"Sure hun, whatever you need."

They made their way back to the couches and she sat between them, her dad draping an arm over her shoulders.

"What's up pumpkin?" He asked innocently.

She blew out a breath and decided to just lay it all out there without any pretense. "I'm pregnant."

She felt her dad's arm freeze on her back and more tears squeezed themselves out of her eyes.

"Come again?" Her dad asked, removing his arm from her back.

"I'm pregnant." She repeated, this time a little angrily.

"You, Maddy Shannon, my little girl, is pregnant?" The anger in his voice was clear.

"Yes," she said softly. "I went in today and they confirmed. 2 months and 12 days."

"I assume Reynolds is the father?"

Her mother seemed to be in shock, because she remained completely silent. Maddy nodded.

"I thought you weren't even seeing him anymore? I thought you broke up?"

"We did, but… well, it was before I knew. And I didn't want to break up either. And, we're back together now."

Her father let out a disbelieving laugh. "Does he know?"

Maddy shook her head and she felt her father rise from his seated position. She looked up to see what he was going to do. He had one hand over his mouth and the other behind his neck. His back to her, she could tell he was barely containing his anger. She wasn't afraid of him, but she was afraid for Reynolds.

"Please dad, I want to tell him. I just haven't had a chance-"

"No Maddy," her dad cut her off, "you don't have any say in this right now. Reynolds need some sense knocked into him because apparently he's lost it somewhere along the way."

He quickly made his way to the door, picking up his jacket on the way out. Her mother rose quickly to stop him.

"Jim… Jim! Stop! This isn't going to solve anything, you know that."

He turned back angrily. "Do I? Really? It'll make me feel a hell of a lot better."

"Jim, please, think about this. You need time to process. You're just being rash because you didn't expect this. Just take a breath."

He pressed his lips together and his eyes narrowed. "Take a breath? Take a breath? No, Reynolds got MY daughter pregnant and he's going to stand up for his actions, not hide away like a little boy. And I intend to make him do that."

With that, he was out the door and the heavy metal slammed into her mother's face. She jumped slightly and then sighed. Zoe stuck her head out of her bedroom at the same time Josh did from his.

"What's going on?" Josh asked. "What's up with Dad?"

"Just, go back to your rooms, both of you. He'll be fine. He just needed some air."

When Josh shot her an incredulous expression she gave in. "All right, everything's not fine but now is not the time to talk about it. We'll tell you in the morning."

Josh gave her another look but responded to her request and slid his door shut. Her mother disappeared to take care of Zoe for a moment. Maddy was left to herself on the couch.

OOOOO

Jim raced out of the house, almost at a run, his blood boiling. Why he had ever let Reynolds date his daughter was beyond him. He couldn't believe his smartest child could be so stupid. What had possessed her?

He made his way to Reynolds house as fast as he could, banging on the door when he got there.

"Reynolds?" He yelled. He heard sliding and scratching from inside, indicating quickly moving people. One of his roommates was at the door in seconds.

"Mr. Shannon, what can I…" he trailed off as he shoved him out of the way and stormed in.

"Where's Reynolds? Reynolds!" He called as he looked through the house. A moment later, a bleary eyed Reynolds slid open the door to his room.

"What in the name of-"

But he never had a chance to finish his sentence because the minute Jim saw him he hit him squarely in the face with a punch that landed him on the ground. Mark shook his head as he recovered from his shock and squinted his blurry eyes up at Jim.

"Mr. Shannon?" he asked, confused.

"Yeah, that's right. Maddy's dad, remember?" He reached down and roughly pulled him up by both arms, slamming him into the wall.

"What the hell did you think you were doing with my daughter?"

A round black and blue welt was starting to appear on his face. He looked at him, confused. "Did I do something wrong?"

"You sure as hell did something wrong." He slammed him against the wall again and then roughly released him, turning to pace the room. Only then did he notice his two other house mates had gathered at the door way, one of them holding a lowered gun.

"You want to put that down?" Shannon looked at him with fire in his eyes. The soldier looked at him with equal fire.

"No sir. Not until I know Reynolds is safe."

Jim sighed angrily and rolled his eyes. "I'm not gonna kill him, if that's what your worried about. Even though I should. I warned you I carry a gun before any of this started. What good it did…"

Mark was starting to look angry. "Sir, you wouldn't come in here and beat me up without at least having a good reason. Give me the courtesy of knowing what I've done."

Jim took a few breaths, working his jaw as he thought and then he look at Mark straight on, his jaw set. "It's Maddy, she's pregnant."

At that, Mark's roommates slowly and quietly backed out of the room. Mark didn't seem to process the information the first time. He stood, dumbfounded, staring at Jim. Then, his stare grew intense again.

"She's… pregnant?"

Jim, who was pacing, lashed out. "Yes, she is. And it's your fault Reynolds. You were supposed to protect her." He stopped pacing and stood in front of him. "You were supposed to take care of her. I trusted you to take care of her." Jim looked like he was ready to throw another punch but this time, Mark looked ready to take one.

"Sir, if you want to punch me again please do. I deserve it."

Jim worked his jaw. "Don't tempt me."

He began to pace again and Mark stood at attention against the wall, waiting to see what Jim would say next. After a moment, Jim turned to him.

"Just WHAT were you thinking anyway? You're SEVEN years older than her, she's practically a baby, and I let you date her. I didn't forbid it, because you seemed like a man with his head on straight. Apparently I was WRONG! And what, you didn't even think about using birth control? It's not like it's hard to come by Reynolds. You're old enough to know. And that's no excuse by the way."

Reynolds set face barely twitched. "I know sir. It… it just sort of happened. We didn't plan it, in fact we planned the opposite. But…" He shook his head and let out a frustrated noise. "We got caught up in our feelings and I wasn't thinking straight. I have no excuse sir."

"Well, Reynolds, I have news for you. You've just irreversible changed your life and Maddy's life forever." He walked to Mark until he was nose to nose with him. Jim was taller, but in a fight they'd probably be equal. "This isn't 2149. This isn't the Earth we knew. This is Terra Nova. There is no adoption that happens here. There's no way out of this. This decision, this choice that you made without thinking has just changed your life forever. Do you understand that Mark?"

His firm soldier façade cracked as he truly realized the gravity of the situation. "YES SIR!" He responded loudly.

"AND," Jim continued with more force than before, "you have changed the life of my 16 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER BECAUSE YOU WEREN'T SMART ENOUGH TO USE BIRH CONTROL." His breathing was coming quicker again and he quickly turned away, slamming his fist into the nearest wall, holding himself back from using Reynolds as a punching bag.

"DAMN IT REYNOLDS."

With the last utterance, he slammed both his forearms against the wall above his head and rested his forehead between them, feeling burning tears filling his eyes. He took a long moment to compose himself and then turned to Mark.

"Let's go. We have a lot to talk about."