"Why are you in such a good mood?" Briahna asked Kenzi when they sat down at the cafeteria table with their trays of food. She had been ecstatic at the beginning of the year to learn that she shared lunch with her best friend. The moment they picked up their schedules they were on the phone with each other comparing to see what classes they had together.  Aside from lunch, they had three other classes together - math, science, and band. It would have been a dream to have all the same classes, but she'd take having lunch together over anything else. She didn't want to eat alone.

"No reason," McKenzie grinned, dunking a French fry in ketchup. "Can you believe the amount of homework Mrs. McNeil gave us tonight?" Mrs. McNeil was their math teacher. They were learning graphing and coordinates. It all made her cross -eyed and want to run a finger over her lips in a crazy manner.

"Least your mom can help you," Briahna pointed out as she took a bite from her chicken nugget. "If Dad isn't home, I'm screwed. Mom takes one look at math and tells me the answer is ‘purple because aliens don't wear hats'."

McKenzie snorted. "You should see my mom when I have science homework. She tells me science is why she learned to draw."

"How about that science homework? I think it's pretty cool to be able to find out the blood types of your parents just by knowing yours. I remember reading something on Facebook about how someone found out there were adopted because their blood type didn't match their fathers. Can you imagine if that happened in our class? How embarrassing!"

McKenzie fell silent. She wasn't looking forward to science homework. She knew her blood type and already did the table in class. It was easy to do when you only had one blood type for comparison. The teacher had talked about how each of their parents' blood type played a part in their blood type. Bringing up a chart, she showed them what blood type from each parent produces what blood type in a child. He also brought up how you can figure out what a parent's blood type was by only knowing the one parent's type and the child.

That was the part she was after. She had stared at that section of the chart. She knew she was type O. When she got home she would find out her mother's blood type. Then all she had to do was figure out a way to find out JC's blood type. She wondered how she could ask him without it appearing too weird.

"Dude, what is up with you?" Briahna asked seeing her friend space out again. She'd been doing it a lot the past couple of days. "Don't give me that nothing crap either. I know you. Come on. Tell me."

McKenzie leaned her head close to Briahna, so no one else would overhear. Briahna tucked her head close. "I think I know who my father is."

Briahna pulled back surprised. "Shut the front door!" Her jaw fell open in shock. "Are you kidding me right now?" They had many conversations about McKenzie's father. McKenzie confided in her how she was jealous of her because of her dad. How he was always doing things with them. McKenzie thought he was crazy and how he made her laugh. It made Briahna feel lucky and thankful that her dad was in her life. She couldn't imagine if he wasn't.

McKenzie shook her head. "No!"

"How? Who!"

"JC!"

"Noooo," Briahna gasped. "How did you figure that?" McKenzie had been quick to tell her all about meeting JC. He had been one of the elusive members of the group that Kenzi had never met. She had seen JC often growing up. Since McKenzie met him, she couldn't stop talking about him. She went on and on.

"Well my mom was living in Orlando when she got pregnant with me," McKenzie explained. "He lived in Orlando too."

"Millions of people live in Orlando Kenz."

"Yeah, but I overheard my mom talking to your mom about her sex life with JC."

"Ew, gross."

"I know. But I found boxes in the attic filled with a bunch of mom's stuff from the NSYNC days. There were so many photos of her and JC. So many photos of me and JC! Plus, she had a drawing pad filled with like a hundred sketches of JC. She wrote her name ‘Rachel Chasez' all over some of them, like she was practicing her signature."

"No way," Briahna gasped. "How cool would that be if JC turned out to be your dad?"

"Right?" McKenzie grinned as the bell rang signaling the end of lunch. They both grabbed their trays and quickly walked to dump the trash and put the trays through the window where they'd get washed. They walked back to their table to gather their books.

"How are you gonna find out for sure? I mean, what if JC doesn't even know?" Briahna asked as they started walking from the cafeteria. They would part ways at the steps. She was on her way to English, while Kenzi was off to history.

"I know. I need to get mom to confirm it. I just don't know how. I also gotta see if he'll tell me his blood type. I'll see ya in band." McKenzie said to her friend and let herself be moved with the crowd down the stairs.

*~*~*~*

"Mom, what's your blood type?"

Rachel stirred the cubed chicken in the pan before sitting the utensil down on the counter. "Why on earth do you want to know that?"

"For school." McKenzie was sitting at the kitchen table, with her homework and school books spread out before her. "It's for science class. We're learning about DNA, genetics, and blood type. We learned about twins too. You and Uncle Lance don't share the same DNA because you're different genders. Same with Uncle Michael and his sister. I thought it would be cool if genetically I'd be Uncle Lance's daughter too."

"Me too. Then I could send you to him when you're being a brat." She tugged on her daughter's pony tail.

Kenzi rolled her eyes at her mother. "Also, there is a possibility that you could have twins or I could have twins. That it's the mother who decides."

"That's a terrifying thought," Rachel said. "Why would you want to have twins? Twice the diapers. Twice the feedings in the middle of the night."

"Yeah, but you'd always have someone to play with."

"Your Uncle Lance was a pain in the butt. I wanted to sell him half the time. Ask your Gramma. I made a want ad to put in the paper trying to get rid of him."

"No you didn't." McKenzie laughed.

"Ask her. I think she still has the ad somewhere."

"So what is your blood type? Do you know mine?"

"I'm O negative."

"Really?" McKenzie pulled her notebook closer to her and flipped the page back. She skimmed the page with her finger until she found what she wanted. "That's the universal blood type. That means you can share your blood with anyone."

Rachel laughed. "I kind of like my blood where it is, thank you very much."

"But Mr. Miller said that O negative blood is the kind that blood banks need the most. You can give to any blood type. That's why they need yours more."

"This is sounding more like health class than science class."

"Well Mr. Miller gets off topic a lot," McKenzie giggled. "It's sort of funny. We try to get him off topic as much as we can. That way we don't go over actual work. Then there is usually no homework."

Rachel laughed. "Good to know I'm not the only one you try to manipulate. Why don't you use your powers for good?"

"What are you talking about?" McKenzie grinned. "No homework is for good!"

"Looks like it didn't work today," Rachel tapped her daughter's notebook.

"Eh, it's not much. I just have to make a chart figuring out my blood type." She flipped the notebook paper back to where she had been and showed her mom the chart she had started during school. On the left side had listed the mother's potential blood type. Along the top had listed the child's potential blood type. In the chart, had listed what the father's blood type could be. "I know your blood type is O," she pointed to the bottom line. "So if you give me my blood type..."

Rachel froze looking at the chart. On the right hand side, it said ‘father's blood type must be'. She zeroed in on the word father. Everything else blanked but that one word. She could feel her breath start to quicken and she clenched her hand. Her fingernails dug in to her palm. She didn't want to think of McKenzie's father. It was a title he didn't deserve.

"Mom?" McKenzie asked. She stared at her mother waiting for her to answer the question she just asked. It was like her mother couldn't hear her. "Mom?" She called again, starting to get worried. "Are you okay?" She reached up and touched her shoulder. "Mom?"

Rachel jumped at the touch. Her wide eyes met McKenzie's. Her daughter's own questioning gaze looked back. "I'm sorry. I'll be right back." She quickly stood up from the chair and strode from the room.

"What about dinner?" McKenzie called, but it was useless. Her mother kept on walking from the room. She stood up from the table and walked to the stove, giving all the pans a stir. She turned the burners down and sat back down at the table. When after fifteen minutes her mother still hadn't reappeared, she put her pencil down and went to find her. The bedroom door was closed, and she raised her hand, knocking on it. "Mom? Are you okay? Dinner's still on the stove?"

"Turn the burners off. I'll be down in a minute."

"Are you okay?" McKenzie called through the door.

"I'm okay."

McKenzie stood at her mother's closed door for another moment or two before turning to walk slowly back downstairs and in to the kitchen. She turned the burners off and began to clear her things from the table. When her mother walked back in to the kitchen, she could tell she had been crying. "Mom..."

"Sorry about that, kiddo," Rachel pulled her daughter into a hug, squeezing her tightly.

"Are you okay?" McKenzie asked softly.

"Yeah," Rachel let her go, and sent her daughter a smile. "Come on, let's eat. Set the table."

McKenzie did what she was told, but she couldn't stop sending her mother looks. She was worried about her. She had never seen something effect her mother like that; to send her running from the run and to cry. She wasn't even sure what caused the reaction. All she did was show her mom the chart on the paper... McKenzie froze with her hand still in the utensil drawer.  The chart on the page had listed what the father's blood type would be.  Her mother must have known where she was going with the blood type after asking what blood type she was.

Dinner was a silent affair. McKenzie was still trying to work through her mother's episode just seeing the word father. She wondered why her father would elicit such a reaction. It was not the type of reaction she expected from her mother about JC. JC had always garnered the opposite reaction. It was weird.

When she went to her room that night, it was still on her mind. She couldn't finish her homework until she knew her blood type. She didn't think there was a way she could ask her mother for her blood type. She didn't know what else to do. Picking up her phone, she sent a text to her uncle. ‘I have a question.'

It was a few minutes before he responded. ‘What's up?'

McKenzie stared at the screen wondering what she wanted to say. ‘Do you know my blood type?' She decided to keep it simple. If Lance knew, he would tell her and that would that. She wouldn't have to explain why she was asking him instead of her mom.

‘Ask your mom silly'

McKenzie sighed at her uncle's reply. She was afraid he would said that. ‘I did.' She sent the text immediately followed by another one. ‘She wigged out. She had to leave the room. She was crying in her room.' After she sent the text, she had another thought and typed it out to her uncle. ‘Why would seeing the word father make her freak out? I'm just doing blood type for science class. Finding out the father's blood type from the mother's and child's blood type. Finding out the child's blood type knowing both parents'.

McKenzie sighed when Lance didn't answer her back. She sat her phone down and walked from her room. The kitchen light was still on, casting a glow in the downstairs, but it was empty. Her mom had gone to her room after cleaning up after dinner.  Kenzi walked into the den and turned on the lamp. The room wasn't used often. From what Kenzi understood, it was supposed to be a formal dining room. They never had formal meals though.  They ate at the kitchen table, even when they had guests. One wall held a shelving unit from floor to ceiling. Her mother had it decorated with books, knick knacks, photographs and other décor. The center of the unit didn't hold a TV like most, instead her mom had a record player. On the shelves below the record player, held a number records her mother had acquired over the years. Most of which she had no idea who they were.

On one of the shelves, was her baby picture. Next to it was her baby book. She took it off the shelf and sunk down on the couch. It had been awhile since she leafed through the pages, but she was sure she remembered her blood type written on one of the pages. The first pages talked about the pregnancy. There was a page with information about her mom. The page that was supposed to hold information about her father was blank. Another page held her family tree. It was the same as before. Her mom's side was filled out. Her father's was blank. Another page talked about a baby shower. She chuckle at the photographs of her mother, her stomach round with her inside. Rachel looked so young in the photos. She found the pages that described labor and delivery. Gramma was present in the delivery room when she was born. On that page with her birth information about what time she was born and what her height and weight was, was the line asking about the blood type.

Type O.

McKenzie sighed. It was the same blood type as her mom. She knew what that meant. She had the blood types memorized. With her being type O and her mother type O as well, that meant her father had either type A, B, or O. She pushed up from the couch and put the baby book back on the shelf before making her way back to her room. Sitting back on her bed, she grabbed her notebook and finished her science homework with the new information.

Lance still hadn't texted her back. She wondered why he was ignoring her, but she pulled up her Facebook and opened her messages. Tapping JC's name, she stared at the screen. Her mouth twisted in thought, wondering how she could just ask him for his blood type without rousing suspicious. Taking a deep breath, she started to type. 'Hey, I'm doing this thing for science class. Polling people on their blood type. Would you be willing to participate?'

She saw dots appear on the screen and held her breath. He was replying!

‘That depends.' Came the reply.

McKenzie was in the middle of typing out a reply, when another message came through.

‘You don't actually need my blood do you?'

McKenzie laughed and rolled her eyes. ‘No. You can keep all your blood. I just need to know the type?'

‘Whew! I try to stay as far away from needles as possible. It's type O.'

McKenzie's eyes widened seeing the message. JC had the same type as her! Everything was beginning to fall in to place.  The only anomaly so far was her mother's reaction.  If JC was indeed her father, then the reaction didn't make any sense.

*~*~*

The ringing of her cell phone, brought Rachel out of the state she had been in. She'd been hiding in her room since dinner, hating herself for not being able to pull herself together. The questions she could read in her daughter's eyes through dinner had been hard. She couldn't answer them though. Picking up her phone from where it lay next to her on the bed, she saw Lance's name.

"Hello?"

"What's wrong?" Lance said immediately.

Rachel's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"McKenzie sent me a message asking if I knew her blood type and said you wigged out and were crying. What's going on?"

Rachel sighed. "Nothing's going on. She shouldn't have bothered you."

It was Lance's turn to sigh. "Rachel, don't give me that. What's wrong? Talk to me."

"I just had a minor panic attack. I'm fine now or will be," Rachel tried brushing off her brother's worries.

The line was silent for too long before Lance finally said, "You know you can't lie to me."

"Lance..."

"I'm not going to make you talk. I know you won't," he cut her off. "But Rachel, she's thirteen. You know she's going to have questions about who she is and where she came from."

"She came from me," Rachel snapped. The line fell silent again and Rachel closed her eyes. Embarrassment ran across her face. It wasn't Lance's fault she was in this position. "I'm sorry Lance."

"I know you don't like to talk about it," Lance said softly. "I wish you would though. You know you can tell me anything."

Rachel sighed, feeling her eyes fill with tears. She so badly wanted to talk about what happened. She wasn't sure she was strong enough to. She wasn't sure she was strong enough to handle the reactions of her family members, her friends, McKenzie... "I know Lance. But I can't..." She heard his sigh over the phone.

"What are you going to do when McKenzie comes to you and asks you who her father is? If she asks his name? Where he lives?"

It was one of Rachel's worst nightmares come true. The questions about McKenzie's father had been prevalent when she first revealed she was pregnant. The paternity questions about her baby also sent her in to crying jags. Her family had learned to stop asking.  It was always in the back of her mind, that eventually her child would want to know about her father. A dream of hers had been to be married to a man who accepted McKenzie as his own, who filled the role of father so well that McKenzie wouldn't even care about whose DNA she carried. That hadn't come to fruition. Every piece of documentation that held a spot for father had been left blank on everything that had to do with McKenzie. The birth certificate held her name. The father was listed as unknown. Every school information paper had been filled out with her information, while the father's information had been empty.  There were empty pages in her baby book that dealt with the father.

She didn't know how she was going to face the questions once McKenzie got brave enough to ask.  Tonight, all her daughter asked for was her blood type. That was enough to send her in a tailspin.  It hadn't even been information about who her father was. She had seen the chart though. With her blood type and McKenzie's blood type, her daughter would be able to figure out what her father's blood type had the possibility of being. Rachel didn't want to know that information, but now she did. One look at the chart, she had seen the possibilities: A, B, or O.

"Are you okay?" Lance asked softly.

"I don't know what to do Lance," Rachel replied just as softly. She sniffed and wiped away the tears.

"Let me help you, Rach."

"There's nothing you can do."