Serephina

"Sera, sweetie, time to get up for school," called Seth.

"What time is it?" I ask him with a sleepy smile.

"Well it's 7:30am. School doesn't start for about an hour and a half, why?" Seth replies from their ensuite, peering around the door with interest.

"So come back to bed then, or are you gonna make breakfast now?" I ask him with a smirk.

"I don't know. Given we are seniors we aren't supposed to be late or miss the first day so probably make breakfast. What do you feel like?" Seth remarks with amusement.

"As if you don't know Seth. I'm only human after all." I laughed back at him.

I roll out of bed and stretch luxuriously, and catch Seth watching me with longing.

"What's wrong Sethy? What are you looking at me like that for?" I ask Seth, looking away and blushing slightly.

Seth walks up to me, putting his arms around my waist just as my arms go around his neck and hug myself to him in a feline kind of way.

Seth picks me up and puts me on the counter-top of the bathroom vanity and kisses my mouth passionately before kissing his way down my throat before back up my neck to beneath my ear.

"Seth, stop distracting Sera, she needs to get dressed instead of parading around in her pyjamas cause she sure as hell can't wear baby doll satin pj's to school" remarks Ignatius from the doorway while Asia's tries to sit on the bed laughing so hard she misses the bed completely and lands on the floor and starts rolling around hugging her ribs.

"Fuck off and get yourselves some breakfast. We don't start for over an hour." mutters Seth mutinously, before kissing my mouth again.

I take Seth's face in my hands and look him square in the eyes before saying "They're not the only one's who need breakfast my boy. I'm starving myself." And as if in agreement, my stomach starts to growl inexplicably loudly.

Ignatius and Asia get up to leave with the parting comment of "We all know what you want to eat Sera, we'll call you in 45 minutes. Have fun kiddies." And they walk off, arm in arm, laughing.

"Seth, what time does school start and how long does it take to get there from here?" I ask curiously.

Seth looks at me knowingly and replies "School starts at nine, it's about quarter to eight and it takes 5 minutes to drive there from here. Why?"

I take him in my arms and rest my head against his chest tiredly.

"What's wrong kitten? Are you feeling ok? What is it?" Seth asks looking down at me with worry.

"I just want to go back to sleep, I'm really tired. Maybe I should go make an appointment with the doctor to get my levels checked. I just feel really weird." My response muffled by the fact my head is buried in his chest.

"When's Aunty Flo due?" he asks quietly.

I look at him shocked and reply "Tomorrow, why?"

"Just checking that's all. Come on Kit, lets get some breakfast" he replies laughing down at me.

Seth lifts me up into his arms and carries me downstairs where he sets me on my feet in the kitchen all the while ignoring my protests to being carried. Asia looks up in surprise while Ignatius looks worried.

"I'm fine guys, Seth's just being Seth, that's all." I laugh at them.

Seth walks over to the fridge and pulls out bacon and eggs, and starts to fry them up for Ignatius, himself and me. Asia is already eating her sushi.

"I'm going to head to the doctors after sch....."I start to say before the smell of cooking bacon and eggs makes me whirl and race from the room towards the downstairs bathroom with my brother and sister close behind me.

"Sera, what...?" Seth starts to say before he finds the kitchen empty except for him. "Where did everyone go?" then he hears the sounds of someone throwing up and he runs to see.

Asia blocks him from going in.

"Asia, let me in please?" pleads Seth, sick with worry.

"Seth just go upstairs and get her some clothes please?" calls Ignatius over the sounds of me throwing up.

"Sethy please do what he says. I'm in desperate need of clothes that aren't covered in vomit. Please sweetie, I need clothes." I call weakly.

Seth turns to walk upstairs but stops. "What caused you to be sick kitten?"

"The bacon." I reply softly. "Why?"

"No reason." he calls back before trudging upstairs loudly.

After I get myself under control I stagger upstairs to our room where I find Seth sitting on the bed with his head in his hands, his torso shaking uncontrollable. I proceed to get dressed like normal and notice my every move being watched. After I finished dressing I kneel down in front of Seth and try to reassure him.

"Seth, love what's wrong? Please, don't cry, I'm ok. I promise. Nothing's wrong with me. Sweetie, please?" I beg as I start to cry.

I try to get Seth to look me in the eyes but before I could move to do so my body rebelled again and I raced to the bathroom with my hand over my mouth, Seth hot on my heels.

"Ignatius, get the doctor on the phone and get him over here now! Tell him it's an emergency!" yelled Seth while holding my hair back from my face as I sagged against the porcelain toilet again.

"What's wrong? Is Sera ok? What's the number?" Ignatius yells back, confused.

"It's on the fucking fridge, open your eyes and HURRY!" roars Seth angrily.

Ignatius calls the doctor as he's racing back upstairs to my room and tells the doc what's happening to me. They hang up and Ignatius reports "The doctor's on him way over here now. Seth, I hate to do this to you but Asia and I really need to get to school. I'll inform the principal of what's happened ok? I've got to go buddy." Ignatius looks really upset about having to go but I look up when I hear him.

"Iggy, just go. I'll be fine he....." I break off as my body rebels again.

Ignatius looks at Seth pleadingly and at me again before turning and yells at Asia to tell her to get her things together as they're heading to school.

"Probably a good thing we didn't do what I wanted to, isn't it Sethy." I say weakly after my body's stopped rebelling on me.

"Yeah, it was." Seth replies quietly. "Sera, when was you period last time?"

"Why? It's not like I'm pregnant or anything so why does it matter?" I reply trying to meet Seth's eyes worriedly.

"Just tell me please?" he pleads quietly, still not meeting my eyes.

I think back to when I got my period last time and gasp in shock. I look at him in fright and run for the kitchen to the calendar. I reach the calendar, look at the dates on it, look at my stomach and collapse on the floor crying loudly.

Seth comes thundering down the stairs and races into the kitchen where he sees me on the floor crying. He proceeds to disappears into the lounge room and a loud crash echoes through the house.

Ignatius and Asia rush back in at the sound of the crash and find Seth on the floor shaking with hysteria. Ignatius leaves Asia with Seth and walks to where Seth is looking and finds me on the floor sobbing.

"What is it Sera? What's going on? Did you and Seth have a...?" he breaks off when he sees the calendar on the floor beside me.

Ignatius looks out at Seth and back at me, understanding dawns on his face and he kneels down beside me and takes me in his arms.

"Your period's late isn't it Sera?" Ignatius asks quietly so Seth and Asia don't hear him.

I just nod and bury my head in his lap sobbing harder than before.

Asia leaves Seth to answer the door and let the doctor in after the doorbell went off.

"Come in Doc. Thank you for coming on such short notice. Sera's in the kitchen and after you've looked at her you might want to look at Seth. He's just punched our filing cabinet and his hand is bleeding." Asia tells the doctor quietly.

"Thank you Asia, I will. Just go keep an eye on Seth while I look at your sister please? We don't want him to hurt himself anymore now, do we?" the doctor replies in kind.

Asia nods and then joins Seth in the lounge room once more, as the doctor proceeds to the kitchen where he can hear me sobbing my heart out.

"Ignatius, would you please leave us?" asks the doctor quietly.

"Doc, I'd rather be here with Sera while you assess her if you don't mind. This concerns me as well given I am her older brother." Ignatius replies in a worried voice.

The doctor looks at Ignatius, shakes his head and indicates Seth in the lounge room, just as Seth stands up, and walks back into the kitchen, his eyes red and blood shot from crying so hard.

"Ignatius, just go. I'll listen to what the doc has to say and fill you in. You and Asia need to get to school and tell the principal that Sera and I are detained. Tell Donahue this is unavoidable." Seth says in a rough voice.

Ignatius takes one look at Seth's face and went to get his things and leaves the house with Asia trailing behind him looking worriedly back at me.

"Doc, what's wrong with me? Why is this happening?" I ask between sobs.

Seth kneels down to lift me up so he can sit me on the kitchen bench to make it easier to talk to the doctor.

"Sera, when was the last day of your last menstrual cycle?" the doctor asks me, while watching Seth with a concerned look in his eyes.

"Judging by the calendar, about eleven weeks ago. I got it 5 weeks after my parents died to the day. That was the only time it's ever been late, because of all the stress and stuff. Doc, other than that I've never been late in my life. What the hell is wrong with me?" I reply, shocked that the Doc asked the one question I didn't really want to answer.

The doctor looks down at his clipboard and writes down notes. Seth looked at him with wild eyes and asked the question I feared the most.

"Doc, is Sera pregnant?" Seth moved to my side and took my hands in his.

The doctor looked down at his notes and replied by pulling out a home pregnancy kit and handing it to me.

"Let's find out shall we? Then we can decide the appropriate course of action." He said.

I look at Seth with fear and Seth nods encouragingly at me. I slip off the bench, take the kit and walk to the downstairs bathroom. I shut the door tightly behind me and lock it. I take the test and walk back out to find the kitchen empty. I look around the house and find Seth and the doctor in my bedroom talking quietly while the doctor bandages Seth hand carefully.

"Why did you guys come up here? Is there something I should know about?" I ask once they notice me standing in the doorway, my voice shaking with fear.

"Sera, what did the test say?" asks the doctor, walking towards me cautiously.

I look away from the doctor and stare out the window. I walk into my room, put the test on the table beside the bed then proceed into the bathroom slowly without looking back.

Seth looks after me afraid to leave me alone and stands up to follow me, but the doctor motions for him to sit back down on the bed.

"Seth, does Sera know about her powers yet? Or you powers?" asks the doctor softly so I wouldn't be able to hear.

"No, the only person who knows is Ignatius and he doesn't even know that he, Sera or Asia have powers. He thinks it's just Kai, Michael and I. Why?" Seth answers slowly.

Before the doctor can answer there's a knock at the door combined with the sounds of me hurling my insides out again.

"Go get the door Seth, I'll take care of Sera." Calls the doctor on his way to the bathroom.

"On it doc." Seth calls back as he races for the stairs.

Seth gets downstairs and opens the door to the Principal of the school.

Seth stops short, stunned that the principal is on his doorstep before remembering his manners and inviting him inside.

"Mr. Cleaver, why is it that I get a message off Ignatius and Asia Blaire that you and their sister Serephina aren't able to attend school on the first day of term?" asks Principal Donahue, suspiciously.

"Sir, it's not entirely our faults. See, the doctor's upstairs trying to figure out what's wrong with Sera. She's been throwing up constantly since she woke up and she doesn't have anything in her stomach. I couldn't leave her home on her own and Michael's at work so I couldn't get him to come look after her." Seth replies in earnest, motioning for the principal to follow him upstairs where they find the doctor on the phone to the hospital and me sprawled across the bed, in my black bra and sheer black panties, sweat pouring off my face.

"Principal Donahue, sir, what are you doing here?" I ask weakly, trying to sit up and failing miserably. I fall back and Seth proceeds to prop me up against the pillows carefully.

"I came to see why your brother and sister said you would not be attending school today, I also brought your timetables with me for you. That way you will know your schedules for tomorrow." answers Donahue, looking concerned for me.

I smile at the principal, and thank him generously before I feel my stomach lurch again. "Oh no, move!" I cry as I streak for the bathroom yet again.

Seth looks at the doctor before racing after me to help support my body while I'm sagged against the porcelain.

"Doctor, what's wrong with Serephina?" asks the principal quietly so Seth and I don't hear him.

"She's pregnant Donahue, and her body's rejecting any form on nutrition. I'm going to have to take her to hospital and put her on an IV drip if this keeps up much longer." The doctor answers glancing towards the bathroom and back to Donahue swiftly, a worried look on his face.

They both look up at the sound of a shower starting.

"Sera, you need to lie down, not have a shower. You're too weak. Please baby, just come lie down. Please?" they hear Seth begging me from the bathroom, his back to the door.

I reply with a harshness to my voice that surprises everyone.

"Just let me have a freaking shower for fuck sake. I'm covered in vomit and I reek. Plus I look like I belong in a casket and should be in the ground. Let me be so I can have a minute or too. I want to be clean. I want to feel like I'm a human being again. Please, just leave." I shout angrily at Seth, tears in my eyes.

Seth walks out of the bathroom stony faced and I slam the door shut and lock it behind him. Once I've done that I strip off my bra and panties, and step into the shower. I curl up on the floor of the shower and start crying so hard it hurts.

I hear the doctor, Donahue and Seth talking about me and the words IV drip catch my attention and make me angry. I get out of the shower without turning the water off, unlock the door and walk out into my room glaring at the three of the angrily with not a care in the world about being naked.

"I am not going to hospital and I am most certainly going to have any IV tubes put into my body. Is that understood?" I hiss angrily at the three of them from the doorway. They look shocked and Donahue turns away embarrassed because of my lack of apparel.

"And no more talking about me unless I'm involved, is that understood?" I yell over my shoulder as I walk back to my shower. Seth follows me and sits on the vanity unnoticed until I get back into the shower and sit back down on the floor.

I start crying softly, as I don't want Seth to hear me and next thing I know is Seth has his arms around me cradling me against his chest and rocking me back and forth, just holding me.

When I finally stop crying I realise that Seth is in the shower fully clothed with me, while the water is still running and Seth is completely saturated.

"Seth, you need to get out of those clothes before you get pneumonia or something. Go get dry. Please? I need to be alone." I whisper.

"You can be alone with me here. You've done it before." muttered Seth, upset, as he stood up to go get dry clothes.

Seth walks back into the bedroom dripping all over the carpet and the doctor and principal just stare at him in shock.

"What the hell happened to you?" asks the doctor, looking shell shocked.

"I had a shower with my clothes on doc, what's it look like?" replies Seth sharper than he intended to then looks upset for reacting to the doctor the way he did.

Seth walks to his chest of drawers and pulls out a set of clothes for himself that aren't wet and a set of pyjamas for me before he walks back into the bathroom to get changed. As Seth walks in he sees me leaning against the vanity looking down at my stomach.

"Sera, we'll fix it, don't worry. I have enough money that you can get an abortion if that's what you really want." Seth says softly, wrapping me in his arms, even though I'm still soaking wet.

"I don't know what I want to do Sethy, I'm so scared." I whisper into his chest.

I pull away to get dry and I get dressed in the flannel pyjamas Seth brought in for me. I take one final look in the mirror and sigh, then turn and walk out to face the doctor and principal, this time with clothing on.

"What have you decided Sera? What are you going to do?" ask the doctor.

"I don't know doc. What do you think would be best?" I answer softly, looking out my window down to the street below.

"It's up to you and Seth to decide Sera, not me, or Donahue, just the two of you." Replies the doctor quietly.

I look at Seth, and he nods because he understands my decision that's showing in my eyes. I look back at the doctor and Principal Donahue and ask quietly meeting no-one's eyes "What have I got to do doc?"