[AN: I couldn't decide on last names so I have never used them till this chapter. Baum is the tentative last name I am using for Adam.]

Adam stared, dumbfounded: “...What?”

Helen couldn't help but snicker. “I had always wondered what your reaction would be... I don't know if you remember, but I had asked you to come back from the war three months after you left. That was because I had actually found out I was pregnant! I thought that would be a nice surprise when you got back...”

Adam could hardly wrap his head around it. Emilia appeared to have the countenance of a young girl as she said: “Father, I have always wanted to meet you!”

Adam could only feel that this was all unreal. He could only subconsciously responded: “Yeah.”

Adam's mind slowly started to work and his heart started to clench: “Helen was pregnant when I left! I left her all alone to deal with that! I can't believe it... just why did I have to leave!”

Adam looked at Emilia with a new light. She was his daughter! Though he couldn't quite make the connection, it was undoubtedly true. Adam was at a loss of words. What was he to say to her? Sorry for not being there when you were growing up? Helen, sensing Adam's awkwardness, asked Emilia to sit beside her while she started her story.

*************

Helen woke up early in the morning, nauseous! She felt just about ready to hurl! She could only think to herself: “Ugh! I totally hate this!”

Unfortunately, morning sickness was a part of pregnancy. Helen managed to keep the urge for vomiting down and didn't have to run to the restroom. She looked to the other side of her bed, which was presently empty. “Adam only left yesterday, but I already miss him...”

With the small taste of bile in the back of her throat, there was no way Helen was going to be able to get back to bed. She got up and got some water from the kitchen to clear her throat before starting the day. As Helen was drinking the water, Vivienne limped into the room. Vivienne had noticed the way Helen had been acting in the mornings and had caught on to what was going on. Vivienne sat down and waited for Helen to finish her drink before saying: “If you want any remedies for morning sickness, I know a few.”

Helen nearly chocked! Good thing Vivienne had waited till she was done drinking, other wise she really would have! Helen hadn't told anyone about this yet! Gasping for breath a little, Helen asked: “How did you know!?”

Vivienne gave a gentle smile. “I have been through it before. You might have been able to fool Adam, but I could easily guess it.”

Helen had thought she had hidden it well! She hadn't really known until a week ago when she was well past her period and the morning sickness had started up. Helen didn't really know a whole lot about pregnancy or preparing for parenting. She did not have a mother and while Madame's gave a decent education, they didn't really have these courses available for study. Helen meekly asked: “Could you share your remedies?”

Vivienne chuckled. She was extremely happy that Adam was really starting his own family and she was even getting a grand kid! Vivienne had already started thinking of Helen as a daughter-in-law and cherished her. Vivienne was a little worried about Adam going off to war, but he had promised to be back within three months. Hopefully that time was too small for anything major to happen to Adam. Vivienne said: “Sure, sure.” as she started giving Helen some pointers.

A little while later, Alan and his mother Reilly woke up and joined Helen and Vivienne. Together, they all put together a nice breakfast meal. Reilly said: “I will try to find a job as soon as I can so you don't have to put up with us for too long.”

Vivienne shook her head: “It is totally fine for you to stay after you find a job. This house is way to big for just Helen and me!”

Alan's only thoughts on the matter were: “When is Silber coming back?”

After breakfast, Helen prepared herself and went to work at Madame's. During one of her breaks, Susan came to talk: “I can't believe that little twerp went to war and left you behind!”

Susan was a little miffed that Adam had left Helen on her own. Helen tried to wave Susan off; “It's fine. He will be back in around three months.”

Their conversation continued on until Helen finally recalled something: “Oh, I almost forgot that I need to talk to Madame Janette.”

“About what?” Susan asked.

“Before too long, I may have to stop dancing for a while.”

Susan thought this suspicious and asked with a curious look: “Why?”

Helen froze. She had wanted to keep her pregnancy under wraps for a while but it seemed the cat was just being dragged out of the bag! Helen had wanted to be the one telling everyone instead of them figuring out on their own. Helen had been thinking she might have to stop dancing at some point during her pregnancy as it would probably be too much work to walk all the way from home and back each day in addition to dancing all day long. Helen tried to continue covering up her pregnancy by saying: “No, nothing special at all! Just umm...”

Helen's response was all she needed to know. A devilish grin crept over Susan's face as she said: “Helen, you naughty, naughty girl!”

“Naughty!? Why am I the naughty one!? You are the one who sleeps with different men at night!”

Susan didn't even bat an eye at this response. So what if she enjoyed a bit of night time play? Instead, she said: “Well, I am not the one having a child out of wedlock!”

Helen's face started turning red in embarrassment. Susan had left her with almost an entire lack of words. All she could say was: “You, you!...”

Susan couldn't help giggling. “I'm sorry Helen, I just can't help teasing you! Really, though, congratulations! I suppose Adam doesn't know?”

Helen shook her head. Susan gave a chiding cluck: “If you had told him, he might not have gone off to war.”

Helen responded: “Maybe, but after learning what happened to his sister at Fort Erich, I am not sure it would change too much. He would still promise to come back within the three months, but this war is important to him. Adam met a young boy and his mother on the streets who had lost a sister and father much like he had... I think that no matter what he would have gone. Telling him about this might have just put more stress on him.”

Susan gave sigh: “You are too good for that twerp. Well, whatever. What's done is done. You know you can call on me if you need any help, right?.”

Helen nodded with a sheepish grin: “I know you are at least good for that.”

“What's that supposed to mean!?”

Life continued on, mostly as normal, for almost three months. Due to road conditions, Adam could have been delayed for days going either way from the front of the war. Helen wasn't too concerned with which exact day Adam was going to get back, but was hoping it was going to be any day now. At this point, Helen was now around sixteen weeks pregnant and had a small bulge of a stomach. Every time Helen looked down and saw it, she would get a little skittish and excited. This was her child with Adam and he would be home soon! Everyone she knew now also knew about this little surprise she had in store for Adam.

Helen was busy preparing a lunch with Reilly's help. Reilly had decided to currently forgo looking for a job in favor of helping Helen and Vivienne during Helen's pregnancy. Vivienne certainly could have done a lot on her own, but with her limp she would have eventually reached her limit. Adam would also be home soon, sure, but there was only so much a guy could do and understand in order to help in a pregnancy.

As they were preparing the meal, there was a knock on the door. Helen turned and started walking to the front door as she said: “I'll get it.”

When Helen opened the door, on the other side stood a gentleman in a black military dress uniform. Seeing this man, Helen felt a sudden wave of fear for what he meant! The man took his cap of and held it to his chest. “I am Capt. Erde. Is this the residence of Adam Baum?”

Helen could only give a wide eyed scared look at Capt. Erde. Her mind was racing. “This man can't be here to say Adam is... is...”

Seeing Helen's countenance, Capt. Erde was assured he had the correct address, not that there was much doubt to start with. With a regretful tone, Erde said: “My condolences. In an attempt to save civilian lives, Adam has gone missing in action and is assumed dead.”

Helen took a faltering step back. “No.... NOOO!”

Helen started to fall and Capt. Erde quickly stepped forward to catch her before she hit the ground. This type of behavior was relatively normal for those who received this kind of dreadful news. However, Capt. Erde was rarely the person who delivered this kind of news. Adam was simply in a unique position that demanded a higher officer to deliver the news. Beyond keeping Helen from hitting the floor, Erde had no idea if there was anything else he should do.

Reilly quickly ran into the entry way yelling: “What's going on!?”

As soon as she saw Capt. Erde, she could guess what had been said. Helen was fighting to escape from Erde's hold as he tried to prevent her from falling. She wanted nothing to do with this man who had brought such unbelievable news. Reilly quickly came up and took Helen from Erde where she slowly stopped resisting. Reilly started saying: “Breath Helen, breath! Don't get too stressed right now, think of your child!”

Helen tried to breath as she was saying: “He can't.... he can't be dead!”

Helen then fainted in Reilly's arms. At this time, Vivienne came limping in as fast as she could. Alan was peaking into the area from another room, too scared to actually get close and find out what was happening. When Vivienne saw Capt. Erde, she came to a dead stop and started to visibly shake. This man's presence and what happened to Helen could only mean one thing. She took a deep breath and then spoke with a trembling voice: “If you have anything to leave for us, put it one the stand next to the door, then please leave. We need to attend to her before anything else.”

Capt. Erde nodded and pulled a letter out from an inner pocket of his dress uniform. He left it on the stand next to the door and gently closed the door as he left. Vivienne then helped Reilly to hold Helen. “Let's taker her to her bed...”

Sometime later, Helen began to stir. As she opened her eyes, she felt something wasn't right. “What is it?”

Then she started to remember Capt. Erde again. Before she could start to mentally collapse again, Vivienne stood up from a chair beside Helen's bed. “Helen, stay with me and breath properly!”

Helen was surprised to see Vivienne in her room like this. Tears came to her eyes she reached out to Vivienne saying: “Vivienne, he... he said Adam had died!”

Vivienne held onto Helen in a hug. “Shush, now. Do you really believe my son, our Adam, would up and simply die on us? I don't believe it for a second!”

Vivienne started to calm down a little. If Vivienne could still believe Adam was alive, why couldn't she? Vivienne said: “That man left a letter, but I haven't read it yet. What did he tell you?”

Helen took a couple breaths before saying: “He said Adam had gone missing while tying to save some civilians. They assume that he is dead!”

Vivienne just scoffed. “Shows what they know. I am sure Adam is just dallying somewhere, making sure that they stay safe. When he gets back, we will have to give him a hard time for making you collapse like this!”

Helen felt a lot better due to the firm tone Vivienne was using, as if she truly and fully believed in what she was saying. The truth is, Vivienne was saying it so firmly to convince herself, as much as Helen, that Adam was still alive somewhere.

Vivienne then said: “I don't know much about how to investigate things in the military, but maybe we can get Alfred or someone else from the Silver Saviors to make a few inquires about where Adam was and what he was doing. Maybe we will be able to tell if Adam came to an impulsive decision about something and figure out just what he is doing!”

Helen could only hopefully nod her head to this. As Helen slowly calmed down, she relaxed herself into sleep. Vivienne silently left the room before getting Reilly to take her place in Helen's room. She went to the stand that had the letter on it and opened it up. Inside there was the salary from Adam's work with the military and a brief description of how he went missing. However, it did not give any details on how or where he went missing. When Vivienne turned around, she found a shy and worried Alan standing there. Vivienne gave him a gentle smile. What with Helen screaming and fainting, he was obviously worried about what was going on and didn't understand it. Vivienne asked: “Are you worried about what happened to Helen?”

Alan nodded: “Mom wouldn't tell me anything.”

“She probably wasn't sure what to say. Well, it seems the army lost track of Adam and Silber and they can't find them!”

Alan's eyes went wide with shock: “They got lost!?”

Vivienne nodded. “Yup. Do you remember Alfred? He has been here a few times. I am going to go see him as he might know a way on how to find them! Did you want to come along?”

Alan nodded his head: “Sure!”

Vivienne took Alan along since there would be no one else to watch him while Reilly was attending to Helen. Vivienne took Alan by the hand and they walked all they down to the Silver Saviors. There, Alan stared wide eyed at all the armored mercenaries quickly walking by to do their business. Vivienne flagged one of them down: “Is Alfred somewhere where I can talk to him?”

The Silver Savior nodded and pointed to one of their houses: “He is in there, giving a report on a mission he just got back from. Just go up and tell them you want to see Alfred. You might have to wait, but no one will give you any trouble.”

As soon as Vivienne walked into the house, she actually found Alfred walking out of one of the rooms. Alfred was clearly surprised when he saw her and Alan. “Vivienne, Alan, what are you doing here?”

“Is there somewhere we can talk?”

Alfred had a confused look: “Umm, yeah. There's a small room this way not being used.”

After they entered the small room, Vivienne told Alfred of how Adam seemed to have gone missing. Alfred looked flabbergasted: “Really? And they truly believe he is dead? That can't be right...” then he thought of something: “How did Helen take the news?”

Vivienne shook her head: “At first, not well. She had even fainted! Right now, she is resting and we are putting our hopes on you being able to find out anything about where Adam was or what mission he was on when he went missing!”

Alfred gave a firm nod: “I will do everything I can to find out. And, if I have to, I will personally go and drag him back by his collar to answer to Helen!”

The mental image of Adam being drug before Helen by his collar brought a small smile to Vivienne. “Thank you.”

Alfred nodded again: “Go home and rest, I will take care of everything else!”

Alfred saw Alan and Vivienne out before hurriedly heading to Clayton's office. He unceremoniously burst in and and slapped the letter Vivienne had given him on to Clayton's desk. Everything around went dead quiet. Doing what Alfred did was something that took courage and it caught everyone's attention in the house. Just what was going on?

Alfred looked firmly at Clayton: “I don't care what you have to say, Adam is one of our own! He has gone missing and we need to find him!”

Whispers started to float around: “Adam has gone missing? How?”

Clayton gave a hard gaze back at Alfred. A gaze that almost made Alfred tremble where he stood! It must be understood that while the Silver Saviors could voice their opinion openly to Clayton, his words were the law. No one could openly stand against him like this! Clayton slowly picked up the letter Alfred had slammed onto the table and examined it. After he was done reading, a loud growl was issued from his voice: “Of course he is one of our own! If these incompetent military folk can't find him, then we'll do it on our own!”

[AN: Hope you all like this tangent I am going on. I was originally just going to do a set of descriptive paragraphs to fill the gap, but I could not feel any attachment or emotion from them so I decided to do it this way. You also get to experience many of the characters we got to know one last time.]