#fall 3

"Ashley Rogers, are you PREGNANT?"

"Of course not, mom, what would give you that idea?"

"You look pregnant! And you're gaining weight and you're sick, and you've never been sick a day in your life."

"Maybe I should go to the doctor?"

"No. You're gonna pee on this pregnancy test, right now."

"All right. If you'd just give it to me, and I'll go..."

"No. You're a sneaky one. I'm going to watch."

"Mom!"

"You will obey!"

One extremely uncomfortable bathroom trip later...

"ASHLEY ROGERS! How DARE YOU! After all your sister put us through! How dare you besmirch the family name like that! Do you know what the people at church will say! I'll never live this down, first Kayleigh, then Leanne, now you... they'll say that I'm raising sluts!"

"..."

"You've dishonored the Watcher with your choices, you have dishonored your father, wait until he gets home and finds out about this! Another daughter pregnant, I cannot believe it, you're just a little slut like your sisters. I have no idea where you've learned things like that, we're a WATCHER-HONORING FAMILY! This would never have happened if you were just behaving as you ought, you little reprobate..."

"..."

"Have you nothing to say for yourself?"

"No, ma'am."

"Who's the father of this little bastard?"

"..."

"WHO, ASHLEY!"

"..."

"TELL ME NOW OR YOUR FATHER WILL BEAT IT OUT OF YOU!"

"... Acklay Miller."

Sophie and Claude Rousseau watched their newborn sons sleep peacefully; the new parents had survived their first night at home.

"It's amazing," Claude whispered. "It feels like my sense of gravity has changed completely."

"I know what you mean," Sophie whispered back.

They continued to watch their babies' chests gently rise and fall with each small breath for another tranquil moment.

Then Sophie turned to Claude and said quietly: "Let's get married."

"What, now?"

"Yes now! Let's do it. We've come this far," she smiled sweetly.

"I guess that's true," Claude smiled back.

"What'do yah say?" she asked.

"I've already said 'yes' to you before, haven't I?" he grinned.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Mrs. Rousseau."

From Ashley Rogers' Diary

I haven't been feeling well lately. I feel so sick and I'm so tired and I don't even want to go out and dance and have fun anymore... but I don't know what's wrong with me. It must be something with my stomach, making food for my family makes me so sick, I have to pee all the time, and on top of that, I'm so sick that I even missed my period!

Later that day...

"Ashley Rogers! Why are you puking all the time! What is wrong with you! I swear, if you've gotten yourself pregnant like your useless sister did..."

Under her breath... "Oh, shit..."

From Leanne Miller's Prayer Journal

When I first found out that I was expecting and then got married to Ashton, I thought that was the end of the world, I was so ashamed of myself for what I have done, for how I have sinned against You, Watcher. But You have thought me that we truly can be refined and sanctified by our hardships, and if we give everything to You in the bad times as well as the good, we can be forgiven and even rewarded.

While my husband still is not a kind man, I have a precious little baby to take care of, and kind and wonderful new brothers and sisters-in-law. My brother Acton is so kind to me, and he showed me the library that is now one of my favorite places. There are so many books and I love reading so much, it's so much fun and it's so interesting and I'm learning so much. Acton doesn't have much time to read, but I always make sure that I take care of returning his books, and picking up his new ones. My brothers-in-law Alden and Arden, who run the gardening service where Ashton works, have been trusting me more and more with taking customer calls, and when they're especially busy (and they're always busy!), I take over the scheduling and some other administrative tasks for them so they can do what men do best, work very hard. And my sister Rose is such a blessing, she helps me take care of baby Treyton when I'm working, and I value her kindness and her friendship so dearly.

Truly, Watcher, you have blessed me, and I am so grateful for all that you have given me!

Dear Lily,

I still miss you so much, ever since you moved to Strangerville, but it's such a joy to have my sister-in-law Leanne in the house! She's such a wonderful young lady and she is such a diligent wife to Ashton, even though Ashton is not making it easy for her to keep sweet and submit to him at all (you know what he is like).

She loves reading and learning so much, and you know I'm not good with that, but with Leanne, I don't feel left out. She loves the library, but she always brings back books that I'm interested in, too, and when I'm taking care of baby Treyton for her, or doing chores, she reads to us both and we talk about what we read, whether it's the Holy Book or something not quite as difficult to understand (but of course less important).

I've missed you and Daisy so much because Acacia is so little and she's so busy with her music and with Adair and it's so lovely to finally have a sister again, and a baby to take care of!

Love you (and still hope I can come visit you one day soon!)

Rose

"Henry? Could I talk to you about something important?"

"Whatever it is, it can't be that important, when it's coming from you."

"I thought... it bothers you so much that the girls are always home, maybe we should send them to school. So you can have your rest?"

"What? Are you stupid? Do you know how much school costs? They'll need books and backpacks and lunches and all that expensive shit, and then those horrible people will report us to CPS, and the kids will get taken away and I'll lose my job. You're so fucking stupid, I can't believe it."

"I'm sorry, Henry."

"You'll better be."

"Henry? I think Grace needs to get seen by a dentist. Her teeth..."

"Do you think I'm made of money, you stupid bitch? How am I supposed to pay for that?"

"It's really important, Henry..."

"I don't care if it's the most important thing in the world, I don't have the money for that. You're just such a greedy bitch, all you want is my money, just fleecing an honest, hard-working man dry until he can't even afford a vacation anymore. If you weren't so useless, maybe I'd get promoted at work! Marrying you was the worst thing I ever did, you ruined my life!"

"Henry, I'm so sorry about this, but the girls need new clothes."

"And why is that my problem?"

"Because I don't have any money, and..."

"Stop right there. It's your fault you don't have any money because you always get your lattes and your stupid shit at the grocery store and all those stupid expensive vegetables. If you were better at budgeting, then you could afford clothes for your brats."

"Henry, they're your daughters..."

"And how do I know that? None of them look like me, they're all red-headed little sluts like their mom. You were probably cheating on me left and right every time I went to work, and now I'm raising your baby daddy's kids!"

"Do you want a paternity test?"

"Damn straight, I want a paternity test!"

A few weeks later...