Betty just sat on the floor, not knowing what to say. She would have immediately gushed her congratulations, but something in Valerie's tone told her that Val didn't share her enthusiasm. She was sure of it when Valerie began crying; Betty went over and sat down on the bed beside her. Thinking Valerie was worried about the pregnancy itself, Betty reassured her, "You have ten other people to take care of you and the baby."

"It's not that," Valerie softly responded.

"Then what…"

Looking at Betty, Valerie explained, "I never thought it would happen this fast. I mean, I never wanted to put the group in danger…"

"You haven't - we have this perfect home to live in now, and even if we were still at the ship, there wouldn't be that much danger to us. Besides, Steve's a big boy," Betty continued, giggling. "He knew what might happen once he performed that ceremony. He would have refused to marry you and Mark if this would have put us in danger."

This did little to reassure Valerie. "I guess you're right," she said grimly. "But I don't know if Mark thought of that."

Betty suddenly understood the source of Valerie's worries. "I'm sure he did, Val. There's no reason for you to worry."

"He just doesn't exactly strike me as the type of man who will jump for joy when he finds out about a baby."

"I think you underestimate him. I thought he was an arrogant jerk every time I read a newspaper article about him. I dreaded being on the same flight," Betty laughed, recalling the day he showed up at the airport. Coming back to the present, she added, "but you've both changed a lot in the past two-and-a-half years."

"I still don't want to rock the boat. We've been so happy the past six months…"

"And that won't change. I just know it. I know he won't throw you out the window."

This totally non-sensical statement made Valerie laugh and pulled her out of her depression. She hugged Betty, thankful to have such a caring friend. "Now," said Betty, wiping Val's eyes with a flowered handkerchief that Betty always had with her, "why don't we go eat some dinner?"

Valerie nodded and followed Betty out to the dining room. Dan and Fitzhugh showed up shortly after Betty had finished cooking up some pasta, part of what had been found in the pantry. She repeatedly had to shoo Fitzhugh out of the kitchen - but she wasn't angry with him. She knew they all felt anxious to eat real food after living for so long on roots.

After a very satisfying dinner, they all turned in for the night, looking forward to a worry-free night of sleep, something that had vanished with the crash. One person, however, was just as restless as she had been at the ship. Valerie lay awake all night, still wondering just how Mark would react to the news.

Breakfast the next morning was leftover pasta, but no one seemed to mind. As I explained before, after two years of roots, they could probably have eaten pasta for weeks on end without a complaint. Betty cleared the table and put the dishes in the little basin that had been cut into the wall, filling it with water that they got from the stream a few feet from the cabin.

While Steve took Fitzhugh and Dan and went back to the ship for the radio equipment, Valerie helped Betty with the dishes.

Barry and Joey popped their heads into the kitchen, saying, "We're going to go check this place out."

"Don't get lost," Betty jokingly warned. "Seriously, though, don't go near the windows - just in case…"

"We won't," Barry reassured her. With that, he and Joey started on their expedition of discovery, Chipper at their heels. They were soon joined by Nick, who took it as his responsibility to look after his younger brother.

It had been his responsibility since Joey was six. Nick was nine at the time, when their father walked out on them and their mother. He couldn't have been happier when the man left - their father was usually gone, and when he was home, he was always stone drunk. But Joey, being only six, was still troubled by the departure, so Nick stepped in as his new father. Since then, Joey had never let Nick out of his sight, and vice versa.

After the dishes were done, Valerie left the kitchen to search for Mark. She knew she couldn't keep it from him long, and the sooner she told him, the sooner she would have it off of her mind. He was in their room, poring over the Spindrift's tech manual, trying to find some type of material he could use to repair the engines, at least enough to get them home. "I was just wondering," she said quietly, walking over to him, "did you ever think of what would happen after we got married?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the book.

Trying to find the perfect way to word the explanation, she continued, "Oh, I don't know. Just…anything."

Still flipping pages, he responded, "If you mean, did I think about the fact that one of us could be killed any day, it did cross my mind."

Val walked over to Mark, pulling the book from his hands and forcing him to look at her. She then said, "I mean, did you think about the possibility that I would have a baby?"

"Of course I did," he replied. Then, taking the book from her hands and tossing it on the bed, he went on, "I always knew there was that possibility. But I'd rather see it happen back home, where you can be around a doctor."

Bracing herself for the worst, Valerie uttered one short sentence: "It didn't wait."

Mark visibly stiffened. While it wasn't the angry reaction Valerie was expecting, it scared her. "Well," he said, "at least you're not alone. Between the ten of us, we ought to be able to take care of you." While he forced a small smile, his tone was strained. Not so much with anger, but with what seemed to be…fear. Almost pain, Valerie thought.

Somewhat shakily, Mark said, "Um…I think I'll go help Steve with…with the radio equipment."

As he turned to go, Valerie stood there, not knowing what to think. Their strong, independent engineer had almost seemed on the verge of crying, and it had been her news that caused it. She broke down in tears; pounding her fist on the nightstand by the bed, she cursed the situation. Why did it have to happen now? Everything was ruined - above all, her perfect life with Mark Wilson, something she'd planned for years, since she'd read that first article on him.

Betty came out of the kitchen in time to see Mark slide under the pantry door and out into the cabin. Hearing Valerie crying, she hurried into the room and put her arm around Val, trying to comfort her but resisting the urge to ask what had happened.

Valerie cried for twenty minutes, after which she gave the entire explanation to Betty. She wouldn't normally have blabbed private conversations, but she trusted Betty and needed her inherent ability to judge people's emotions. "I don't know what's wrong," she said.

"I know he has a good reason for reacting that way," Betty told her. "Just try to talk to him tonight. He'll tell you."

"I hope you're right."

They went out to the table to play cards. Pete and Robbie joined in the game, being practically abandoned by the adventurers. Soon, Steve, Dan, and Fitz returned with the radio components. "Where's our engineer?" Steve asked. "We need him to put this thing back together."

Valerie said, "He probably just got lost examining the ship."

With a confused laugh, Steve responded, "How could he examine the ship from here?"

"Wasn't he with you?"

Gesturing towards Dan and Fitzhugh, Steve replied, "I just took these two."

"He told me he was going to go help you with the equipment," Valerie said, growing alarmed.

"He never met us anywhere," Dan replied.

"Did he take a radio?" Steve asked.

"No, I don't think so."

Steve immediately set up two search parties. "Dan, Fitz, the three of us will head west. Betty, you and the boys head east."

"Please, Steve, let me come," Valerie requested.

"Someone has to stay here."

"I'll stay," Betty volunteered.

"OK. Pete and Robbie, you're with Dan. Val can come with Fitzhugh and me."

The two groups then headed out to find Mark. They hadn't gone far when Valerie noticed him leaning on a tree root by the stream. Steve started towards him, but Valerie grabbed his sleeve. "Let me talk to him."

Steve handed her his radio, and she walked over to Mark. Fitz began to follow but was yanked back by Steve, who walked further in the opposite direction.

"Why didn't you go to the ship?"

"I needed to be alone for a while. To think."

"You don't want the baby, do you?"

Taking Valerie's hand, Mark said gently, "Is that what I made you think? No, it's not that, believe me. Under any other circumstances, I would probably be thrilled."

"Then what is it?"

He sat down on a rock, Valerie beside him, and began to explain.

"When I was about sixteen, my mother was pregnant. It started getting really difficult for her, but there were my younger sisters to take care of. Both of them needed things that were very hard for us to afford. So, to take care of them, Mom put off going to the doctor. I told her she needed to, but she wouldn't put herself before the girls. Two months later, she had a miscarriage that nearly killed her. A miscarriage that the doctor in the ER said could have been prevented."

Finishing his explanation, he told Valerie, "I promised myself then that I would never have to sacrifice my wife's health because we 'didn't have the money'. But now, all the money I have is absolutely useless. It can't provide the care you need, and I don't want to lose you…"

He couldn't go on. Valerie gently put her arms around him, extremely touched by the tragic story. She held him tighter as sobs of fear and frustration overtook him. "It's OK," she whispered reassuringly, "Everything will be all right. No matter what happens, we have each other. That's what counts." As he slowly regained his composure, she said, "Besides, we have nine of the greatest friends in the world. I wouldn't want to be stranded with anyone else."

They both laughed and began heading back for the cabin. Steve caught Valerie's eye; she returned a look letting him know that everything was all right.

That night, a loud rumbling, almost like not-so-distant thunder, awakened them all. Without warning, their new home began to shake violently. They covered their heads as they were pelted with everything from books to luggage. When it had subsided, they all met in the dining room, where Mark had re-assembled the radio. Amazingly, it hadn't been touched. After finding the frequency they always used to monitor giant radio broadcasts, they learned that the city had just experienced a 'minor quake'.

"Now I know what a 3.6 feels like to a mouse," Barry said sleepily. Looking around, he asked, "Has anyone seen Chipper?"

Everyone began looking and calling. Following a quiet whimper, Valerie bent down to see Chipper huddling under their bed, quivering. "Oh, you poor baby, come to Auntie Val."

Chipper stiffly shuffled over to let Valerie pick him up. She then took him out to Barry, who began to stroke him in an attempt to comfort not only Chipper but also himself.

Having continued to monitor all radio broadcasts to get as much information as possible, Mark informed them, "It seems that what we just went through was just a preview. They're expecting a stronger one later tonight."

In his typical, paranoid manner, Fitzhugh said, "We'll never survive! This place is a death trap!"

"We're not going to die," Steve retorted angrily. Turning to Mark, he asked, "Where would be the best place for us to be?"

"Right where we are, actually. Our things might get thrown around a little, but the confined space gives a density that allows the surrounding walls to remain standing."

"Kind of like standing in a doorway," Betty said.

"Exactly."

"Anyone for some hot cocoa?" Valerie asked as she moved towards the kitchen.

"I think we could all use some," replied Betty, joining Valerie in the kitchen.

Before they had the chance to turn on the stove to heat the water, the ground began to shake more violently than before. Betty and Valerie dove under the counter, the boys went under the table, and Steve, Dan, Fitz, and Mark braced themselves in the 'doorways'. The shaking continued for nearly five minutes; suddenly they all heard a loud, horrifying crash outside the pantry. When the shaking finally stopped, Steve and Mark went to see what had caused the noise. A beam from the roof had collapsed, closing off the doorway. Fortunately, just as Mark had predicted, their home had held up perfectly, though the rest of the cabin had been totally destroyed.

"Well," Steve said soberly, "at least we can still eat."

Returning to the dining room, he sat down at the table. "Add one more hot chocolate to the order."

With a little salute, Betty smiled and said, "Coming right up, Captain."