“So, honey, um, you wanted to tell us something?”

Diana set down her water glass. “Yes Walker, I did.” She looked around the table. Isaac, Taylor and Zac were fidgeting with nervousness, awaiting the announcement, Jessie and Avery were playing with Avery’s doll that she carries with her everywhere, and Mackie was playing with his mashed potatoes. “Mackie, sweetie, stop playing with your food. Mommy has something very important to say.” Mackie looked up, looked his mom in the eyes, and then went right back to the potatoes.

“Joshua Mackenzie, pay attention to your mother.” Walker said as he gave his youngest son a warning look.

“Sowwy daddy.” Mackenzie mumbled as he set down his fork.

Diana smiled. She thought it was cute. She continued. “Um, well, I... I don’t really know how to say this, so , I guess I’ll just come right out and say it.”

“Thank god,” Tay whispered to Ike. Isaac snickered.

“I’m pregnant.”

The whole table fell silent. Zac dropped his knife, Avie and Jessie stopped playing with the doll, even Mackie was quiet. Taylor’s jaw was dropped in astonishment. Diana’s huge smile faded fast as she looked around the table. Only her husband shared her excitement.

Taylor stared at his mom, speechless for a moment, then words came back to him. “WHAT? Another one?! You have got to be kidding!” Taylor threw his napkin on the table, pushed his chair back, and stood up. “This is ridiculous! Where are we gonna put it? We don’t have any room! And he sure as hell isn’t sleeping in our room!” He was yelling now, and everyone’s eyes in the restaurant were focused upon him.

Walker stood up. “Jordan Taylor Hanson! Don’t you talk to your mother like that! Sit down and finish your dinner!” But Taylor had already stormed out of the room.

Isaac looked at his mother, whose eyes were brimming with tears. “Isaac, could you...”

He set down his napkin. “Sure mom.” Isaac said as he stood up. “I’ll be right back.” He said quietly, to no one in particular. He walked towards the doorway leading out of the dining room in the silence that had taken since Taylor had exploded at his parents. He felt all eyes on him as he walked towards the bathroom. He went inside.

“Go away, Isaac.” Taylor said angrily. He sat upon the counter, twirling his rattail in-between his fingers. He hadn’t even laid eyes on Isaac yet.

Isaac leaned against the corner of the wall, facing Taylor. He looked directly at his brother, who was staring at his feet as he swung them back and forth.

“How’d you know it was me?” Isaac questioned.

Taylor ignored Isaac’s comment. He jumped off the counter. “Can you believe this?! I mean, if you ask me, six kids is more than enough! But seven!” He sat down on a velvet covered chair and hung his head. Isaac remained silent. He moved to the counter where Taylor had been. “I- I just don’t know how to... how to deal with it anymore.” He rubbed his eyes and looked up at Isaac. Isaac looked back from his position on the counter, his face not holding any emotion.

“What do you want me to say, Taylor? That you don’t have to? That you can get out of it?”

Taylor looked at his feet. “I...” He took a deep breath. “I don’t know.”

“Well you can’t, Taylor. This is a family. Our mother is having a baby, and just because you can’t deal with it doesn’t mean that it’s not gonna happen! Get over it!” He was angry now.

“Isaac.... how could you say that? Do you have any idea how hard this is on me?”

“Oh, hard on you huh?” He got down from the counter and walked towards Taylor. “And you think it isn’t on me? Or the rest of the family?” Taylor was speechless. Isaac continued. “How do you think I feel about it? And Zac? How do you think he feels about it? And what about Jessie? Do you really think that she wants another whining brat tagging along?”

“But I... I never said that!”

Isaac looked at his brother sympathetically. “The whole world doesn’t revolve around you, Taylor. You’re so pathetic.” He turned on his heel and left the bathroom, leaving Taylor speechless once again.

The door slammed. Taylor flinched. ‘I guess I am pathetic. I didn’t even think about the others, how’d they’d feel.’ He hid his face in his hands. ‘What’s wrong with me? Why couldn’t I see that everyone else was upset too? Am I really that dense?’ He looked in the mirror to the left of where he was sitting. He stared at himself. “Who am I?” He whispered.

Taylor sat alone, barefoot, on the cool sand. The sun had long since set, and the sky was filled with millions of twinkling stars. He watched the waves as they tumbled to shore, only to be sucked back into the depths of the ocean. Sighing, he pulled his knees to his chest, encircling them with his arms.

It was getting late. He didn’t know exactly what time it was, he didn’t feel like lifting arm to look at his watch, but he could tell that some amount of time had passed since he’d come outside; he could tell by where Venus was in the sky. It had moved almost halfway across the horizon since they’d gotten back from the restaurant at 8:00.

Tonight had been the most horrible night of Taylor’s life. He was deeply embarrassed from the scene he’d created earlier that night. And the car ride home had been even worse. People that you don’t even know staring at you out of disbelief is nothing compared to having people you know and love ignore you. He’d spent the whole hour ride home staring out the window, cursing himself while listening dead silence of his family members around him. He'd never felt so ashamed.

As soon as they’d gotten home, his mother made a beeline for the bedroom, carrying a kleenex soaked through with her tears. His father went after her, his siblings going to their rooms, presumably to go to sleep. He’d been left standing in the middle of the living room, alone and filled with self-pity. From there, he’d silently walked towards the door to go outside, pausing only to glance at the clock on the microwave in the kitchen. It was 8:15 then.

Now, outside underneath the stars, he reluctantly looked at his watch. He didn’t want to go inside, but he’d probably have to soon. His watch read 11:02. He sighed. He knew he’d have to go to bed soon. He could fall asleep out here, except for the problem of the tide going in and out. ‘Nah, the tide’s in. In the morning it’ll be farther away from me.’ He sighed as he laid back on the sand, his hands behind his head. ‘What am I gonna do? Everybody’s mad at me. They can’t even speak to me!’ He sighed again, and let his head roll to the right. He got a full sideways view of the ocean, most of the beach, and Venus. He stared at it, and as he did so, he found it comforting. It seemed to talk to him, to tell him everything was going to be alright. It talked to him much like the way the other star in his dream earlier today. Except this star didn’t frighten him. It soothed him. Calmed his fears. He wanted to stay there forever, never move from that spot, never let another minute pass, with that being in the sky by his side.

As he stared at it, he began to feel lighter, (kinda like that time when him, Isaac, Zac and Ike’s friend Brian played ‘Light as a feather, stiff as a board’ and Tay was the one that was light as a feather and stiff as board. And lifted halfway to the ceiling, which scared the crap out him and everyone else in the room.) and the star started flashing. Which he found to be rather strange, considering the fact that there wasn’t a cloud in the sky to be seen.

It began a steady pulsation, which some might describe as a metamorphosis cycle, dim, normal, bright, normal, dim, normal, bright......

His eyes were fixed on it, the pulsation reaching down inside him in some sense, and touching the very core of his inner being. He felt it, and responded with a jolt. A tiny part of him, somewhere deep within, was very afraid. He didn’t know what this was. But he’d soon find out.

As the pulsation continued, a very faint, shy purple ring encircled the planet, making even more beautiful and even more ornate than usual.