She comes into the house late, and tiptoes into her basement abode. She hopes not to wake anyone on her descent down the stairs. She walks towards her bed, hoping to quickly find a state of slumber. Halfway across the room she notices the glow of light seeping out around the basement door. She furrows her brow, and wonders who is in her bathroom at three o'clock in the morning. She knocks on the door, and receives no response. She grips the knob, which willingly turns. She pushes the door open, and finds her sister.

"DJ?" She questions.

Her older sister doesn't respond. DJ sits in front of the toilet, on her knees. The toilet seat is lifted, as she wretches. Her hair is secured in a sloppy bun, and she wears a pair of checkered light blue pajama bottoms and a plain blue top. Stephanie takes a seat on the edge of the bathtub. She sits on the edge of the tub for several minutes, until DJ is finishes. Eventually she flushes, and closes the seat, as well as the lid. Without a word she turns, and makes her way over to the vanity. She pulls out a toothbrush, and proceeds to scrub her teeth until she is certain that her gums will bleed. She follows this up with a thorough swish, and spit with Listerine.

When she is finished she turns, and looks at her sister. Stephanie remains seated. She patiently waits for DJ to say something. DJ silently crosses the room, and lowers herself onto the edge of the tub, next to her sister. Stephanie hugs her to her side.

"Are you okay?"

"No."

"Why are you down here?"

"I knew you were still out, and I didn't want to wake the kids up."

"What's going on?"

"I'll be okay."

"Is whatever you have contagious?"

"No, it is certainly not."

"You want to talk about it?"

"I most definitely do not," she shakes her head.

"Okay," Stephanie agrees. She carefully studies her sister, who wears pajamas, and dark circles, under her eyes. Her attention is soon caught by a shiny wrapper in the waste paper basket in the corner of the room. DJ looks over at her, and follows her glance.

"It isn't as if it is something that I can hide from you," DJ admits.

"I'm pretty confused right now," Stephanie admits.

"About what?"

"Typically this requires a certain amount of activity," she begins, delicately.

"Correct."

"I didn't know that you were currently participating in said activity as of late."

"Apparently I did."

Stephanie furrows her brow.

"With whom?"

"This just goes from bad to worse," she admits.

"Go on," Stephanie implores.

"Several weeks ago, you, and Kimmy took the kids out to a movie."

"I recall."

"I was cleaning up the kitchen, when Steve came over. He was upset, so we started talking."

"Uh huh."

"We had some wine."

"How much wine?"

DJ shrugs, "Obviously more than we should have."

"Why was he upset?"

"He was upset because CJ informed him that she didn't want to have any more kids. He was pretty devastated."

"You decided to go halves on a kid with him?"

"No. Our conversation progressed to the old days. One thing led to another, and…" she trails off, on the verge of tears.

"So you slept with Steve?"

"Yes," the tears begin trailing down her cheeks.

"Who is going to be getting married to another woman, in the near future?"

"Yes," she nods in confirmation.

"And you're pregnant?"

"How could I let this happen? What was I thinking? This is the stupidest thing that I have ever done. Steve is getting married soon. I am already a single mom, with three boys. I have a baby, already. I can't do this. Some days I feel like I am barely getting by as it is."

"Nobody is saying that you have to do this."

"I know that. What would I tell the kids? How would I explain this to them? I can barely accept it myself. What about Steve? I can't tell him. Steph, I don't know what to do."

"You are going to stay down here tonight. Cancel your morning appointments, and get your bearings. Kimmy, and I can get the kids off to school. I'll take Tommy to baby bonding, or whatever ridiculous thing you have him signed up for tomorrow. We will figure this out."

"Thank you, and please don't tell anyone."

"I'm not going to tell a soul."

"I'm exhausted, and I feel awful."

"Let me grab some of my stuff, and I'll head upstairs to your room. You get some rest."

"Okay," she agrees.

She nervously fills out paperwork at the doctor's office the following week. They call her name, and a nurse ushers her back to an exam room. She feels numb as she answers questions. At some point she finds herself staring at ceiling tiles instead of the monitor. The technician clears her throat, and points to the screen. DJ exhales, and turns her head to view the monitor. She rubs her eyes, and her heart sinks even further.

When she gets home that evening she goes through her usual routine. She never lets on that anything is going on. That night, sleep refuses to find her. She heads down the stairs, into her sister's room. Stephanie is still awake, as she does not go to bed at 10 PM. She is reading, when DJ makes her way into her room. Stephanie looks up, and says nothing, as her sister crawls into bed next to her.

She puts her book down, and turns towards her older sister.

"What's on your mind?"

"What was I thinking?"

"I can't answer that," Stephanie admits.