It was as Max joined Artie and Cheyenne in Kindergarten that Jeff knew he had to talk with Alicia again. It was only the right thing to do. So Jeff, somehow knowing Alicia's schedule before remembering she had had him memorize it so they could sneak off to make out in a closet on the second floor of the old building that only housed the school newspaper that met like once a week or so. She had study hall second period when he had his Chemistry lab period, and so Jeff knew if he could get a note to her that she'd meet him in the old building. Getting a note to her would be easy--she went back to her locker after first period. So quickly scribbling a note, Jeff folded it and slipped it in her locker before returning to his first period Chemistry lecture period.
After the lecture was over and they were moving into the lab, Jeff could hear the bell ringing to denote it was second period. Jeff feigned use of the bathroom, and the late middle aged Mrs. Kowalski waved him off before donning her lab coat for the lab portion of the double class period.
Jeff did his best to hurry through the crowding hallways to the less used first floor of the old building that had been claimed by the art teachers as their own place to decorate the decaying walls with murals and displays of various students' projects--both good and ill. But Jeff was more interested in the stairwell as he took the stairs two at a time before arriving, out of breath, outside the appointed closet. He took a few moments to catch his breath and leaned against the wall to do so. Eventually deciding to take a seat in the unused hallway while he waited for Alicia to come. The bell for class rang not a moment later and he waited. Just when he was starting to think she hadn't gotten his note, Jeff heard footsteps from the stairwell and turned to see Alicia coming up them. As she approached, he stood.
"What's so important that we need to meet now?" asked Alicia
"Have you talked to your Mom yet?"
"Have I showed up at your house crying yet?"
"You really think it's going to go THAT bad?"
"I--" but what Alicia thought Jeff didn't find out as she was interrupted by the sound of a thump from inside the closet. Immediately both their attentions turned to the closet door. Jeff silently mimed turning the nob and Alicia nodded her head in agreement. Jeff then opened the closet door only for two freshmen to come spilling out. Specifically, Harry and Becky, who judging by the state of their half on clothes, looked to have been in the middle of a rather intense make out session prior to Jeff and Alicia's arrival.
"Becky, Harry, what were you two doing in there?" asked Jeff, though he already knew the answer.
"Like you don't know," answered a clearly frustrated Harry.
"Alicia told me about your spot," said Becky while avoiding Alicia's eyes.
"And we both have first period study hall," added Harry.
"That doesn't mean you should be knocking around in school closets," said Alicia, clearly perturbed.
"Don't throw stones if you live in glass houses," answered back Harry.
"Well, study hall's over... get to class," said Jeff firmly, which seemed to make Harry relent a little. The two younger teens picked themselves up, freshened up, and then at separate times left the empty hallway. Once Alicia and Jeff had seen the last of Harry as he rhythmically hopped down the steps in an almost syncopated manner, Alicia turned back to Jeff.
"What are they thinking?"
"They're not," answered Jeff.
Alicia however continued on as though she hadn't heard Jeff.
"They're too young to face the consequences of messing around like that!"
"They're in your grade,"
"That's how I know they're too young!" snapped Alicia right back at Jeff.
"I'm too young... Sure I've thought about being a Mom, but now that I am about to be one... I'm scared I'm going to fuck it up. That's all I've been thinking about since we talked Jeff. I can't sleep right, I can't think clearly, all my thoughts are about how I'm going to cope with being a teenage mom. I don't want to end up a joke like on those reality shows on TV. Maybe if I was older, it wouldn't be such a worry."
And with that Jeff got an idea. What if he made Alicia older? Would Cris remain inside Alicia as he made her older, or would he pop out the moment he made her older? Well, either way might go to helping Alicia and solve the issue he'd been having with what to do with Cris. If Alicia was older, she'd be better able to raise Cris, and if Cris popped out as Alicia got older, perhaps he'd go back to being her half-brother?
Jeff pulled out his phone and opened the app, and pressed for Alicia to grow older by one year. Jeff didn't notice much change in her--and the app still listed her as three months pregnant. So it appeared Jeff could make Alicia old enough to not feel too young to have a kid. Jeff pondered for a moment at what that would mean for him and the reality where Cris being his son would disappear. It had been an accident to begin with, but he had said he'd wanted to be a Dad and that meant something to him. It made him look after his little brothers and their friends with a bit more attentiveness--for after all in a few years he'd be looking after a son of his own their age. Jeff pondered the changes that accepting being a potential father had brought to him: the accepted responsibility he'd willingly chose, the new lens through which he saw his peers and their clumsy attempts at relationships--when he considered where it all led, it almost seemed that cramming a bunch of horny high school teenagers together in a building could be a lot like playing Russian Roulette in terms of them potentially creating more kids. But then Jeff thought about Tommy and Artie--especially about how he'd aged Tommy into Tom only to discover that future for Tom still existed--not enough had been changed about Tommy, when he'd specifically asked for a second chance. Would he have enough time to help his new little brothers become better if he suddenly was a Dad in half a year? He wouldn't. And it was then Jeff knew, that despite all that potentially being a father had given him, and hearing Alicia go through all of her worries about how bad of a mother she could potentially be, Jeff knew he had to fix the situation for good. For his little brothers' sakes if not for Alicia and Cris'. And it was with that in mind that Jeff entered an age for Alicia and pressed enter.
Alicia, who with the extra year Jeff had already given her, had become the same age as him, quickly finished maturing as she shot up to her full adult height as she reached being a Senior--a hall monitor sash appearing over her clothes for a moment before they shifted and a VISITOR badge appearing instead with her being a Student Observer, and then a few moments later a Student Teacher as her wardrobe shifted from casual to professional. And then it changed completely as she became a full fledged teacher a moment later. The biggest changes besides her knee length skirt, blouse, and a thin sweater set over it, were to the size of her bust which had fully developed. A few laugh lines settled in as her age stopped at 31. Still a young teacher, but not so young as to be completely low on the totem pole. Jeff now recognized Alicia as Ms. Fuentes--the second grade teacher. But the changes were hardly done, as Jeff had made a few extra alterations which now took effect, causing Cris to begin to age, and for Alicia's breasts and belly to expand into the second trimester before leaving her at six months pregnant, and about to go on maternity leave and be looked after by her sister (formerly her mother). It took her a moment for her eyes to unglaze and the mental changes to catch up, during which time Jeff quickly ducked into the closet. He heard her ask what she was doing in this wing of the school before her clogs clacked down the tile hall towards the stairwell. Only when she had gone did Jeff leave the closet and head back to his Chemistry Lab.
Memories cemented in Jeff as he returned to class that the school was abuzz that Ms. Fuentes was unmarried and had decided to have a baby on her own through invitro fertilization because she had made a promise to herself that if she hadn't found the right man by 30 she'd have a kid by herself then. Or at least that's what some of the students said. Others said she'd had a one night stand and had forgotten to take the morning after pill. Jeff wasn't sure if either scenario was better for Alicia and Cris.