This is a fanfiction about Jess' pregnancy and her future life with Darcy. Enjoy!

Side Effects

It was late in the morning that Wednesday; too late for the rest of the world, but too early for Jess. It hadn't even been because she'd stayed up late the previous night. It was quite the opposite. The young professor Hawthorne had fallen asleep at her desk grading before ten o'clock, her arms draped in a crisscross pattern next to the desk lamp still shining brightly, her hair still neatly braided as it usually was, her formal dress clothes still unchanged for some of her husband's old shirts because they smelled like him. She felt a wave of nausea wash over her and dashed to the bathroom, only to spill last night's dinner into the toilet.

Though there were no dark circles under Jessica Hawthorne's eyes, she felt as if she could fall asleep at any given moment. She had woken up as her alarm sounded at seven in the morning. The sorrowful drown of the alarm was one of the only sounds she'd heard at the house for two days. Her husband Darcy, also a professor, was away with his American History class visiting Washington, D.C. for four days. It would be two more days before she saw his face again or heard his familiar, deep voice.

Their home was hollow without his presence, and Jess could feel the empty echo left behind in everything she did. She'd woken up this morning dreaming of his tan skin and kind words, but only saw the resentful black screen of her laptop. Even though Jess had slept for nearly ten hours, she felt as if she'd stayed up all night.

She would never tell Darcy; she'd hate to make him worry, but she'd been a complete wreck since he'd boarded the plane with his students, and even for some time before. Exhaustion overwhelmed her small figure like a bully over a victim. Yawn after yawn escaped her mouth. Yesterday morning, Jess had even been awake for a few minutes when she felt nausea sweep through her system as she ran to the bathroom and had thrown up twice in the toilet. Jess wasn't sure if she was just lonesome for her husband, or if she needed to seek medical help, but she was worried. She knew that these weren't the most serious signals, but she at least had enough common sense to know that being this tired after sleeping so long was not normal, and that nausea wasn't helpful either.

Thankfully, Jess hadn't felt sick after yesterday morning, and she was only a little bit sick this morning. Maybe she was just getting one of those 24-hour-bugs. Jess forced herself to accept that as the truth. Innocently brushing away the fear, Jess smiled and looked out the door. Today was Dartmouth's football game, and it was a tradition for the players' girlfriends to wear jerseys. So, though Darcy was away, Jess wore his green-and-white assistant coach's jersey with "Hawthorne" and the number 23 written across the back. After all, it was her last name too.

The drowsiness had managed to pass temporarily as Jess' first class of the morning streamed into the room. She taught chemistry and was one of Dartmouth's choir teachers. The acapella girls and boys choir had practice, and the impending concert in a few weeks. Yes, Jess did understand that everybody was absolutely sick and tired of singing in other languages such as Latin and Italian, but they needed practice.

Speaking of tired, Jess's wave of energy had disappeared like an ocean tide withdrawing from a beach. Suddenly snapping to attention, she lifted her baton and began to direct their first and easiest song. Though class only lasted an hour, it felt like an entire day to Jess, dragging on second after second.

Finally, Jess's two choir classes and three chemistry classes had all finished. She had at least a hundred tests to grade, but the day was over. Picking up her tan purse, swinging it over her sleeve, and readjusting her glasses, Jess felt very accomplished. While stifling yet another yawn, she worried yet again as she felt fatigue settle in again. When would the endless cycle of energy and sleepiness be over?

A ringing sound arising from Jess' purse let her take her mind of her troubles. Seeing it was Darcy, she quickly answered without hesitation, though Jess had chosen to not bring up her health with him. Darcy might worry, and Jess was fully capable of taking care of herself anyways.

"Jess! How are you?" His deep voice calmed and stressed her out at the same time.

"Hey, Darcy! How's DC?" She laughed casually, pretending to be fine.

He answered, "Oh, it's wonderful. I miss Concord, though, and you most of all." Jess was so accustomed to his voice that it sounded like he was right next to her, even though they were both fully aware that they were hundreds of miles away.

Jess yawned twice into the phone receiver. "Oh, well, at least we'll see each other Friday afternoon."

There was a pause on Darcy's side of the phone while he was thinking. "Are you alright, love?"

"Um, yeah! Perfectly fine. Just a little tired, Darce." Jess bluffed and acted casual. She hoped Darcy couldn't tell she was faking over the phone.

"If you say so, darling." Darcy's words said one thing, but Jess could hear that he wasn't fully convinced. "Alright, I have to go now. We're touring some museums."

"Mmmkay. Bye now! I love you." Jess answered.

"I love you too. Bye! See you Friday afternoon." Darcy hung up and Jess sat there for a moment.

She was half-relieved that Darcy wasn't talking to her, because the last thing she wanted was for him to worry while he was supposed to be relaxing in Washington D. C. On the other hand, there was nothing she wanted more than for him to cuddle up with her on their new white couch with blankets, pizza, and a nice Disney movie. However, she was marooned at home, all alone, with tests to grade and music to revise. Life felt empty without Darcy.

Out of her ajar door Jess could espy Darcy's empty classroom. Or should she say Professor Hawthorne, but that was far too responsible for beautiful, silly, reckless Darcy. He'd always just be "Darcy" or simply "Darce." Besides, she was Professor Hawthorne too, Jess thought, as she stroked her wedding ring.

Jess figured that there was no use in staying at Dartmouth if Darcy wasn't there with her. It was always nice when they stayed after school…alone together. They would grade papers together, and sometimes even switch stacks when they got tired of the same reiterated essay or test. She'd complain about how bad she looked in her new glasses (Jess had gotten them this year and still hadn't adjusted to them) and Darcy would grin that stupid perfect cunning boyish grin and loudly whisper-scream "YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL" into her ear. Then he'd steal her glasses and parade around the room, wearing them and refusing to return them by holding them above her head.

"Why, Jessica Elizabeth Hawthorne, I thought you abhorred these glasses!"

They'd make eight-o'clock trips to the vending machine together and try to decide on a snack they both enjoyed. She was a health nut, he had a bit of a sweet tooth. Needless to say, to compromise was difficult.

Jess missed Darcy terribly, as much as she hated to admit it, so she took her belongings and drove home.

Sighing slowly, Jess sat down at her desk at home with a pounding headache and a stack of tests to grade. She worked for more than an hour, sifting through bad handwriting and incorrect answers, and couldn't begin to imagine how thoroughly exhausted she was. Was her office supposed to look like it was spinning around and around on Earth's axis? It certainly shouldn't have.

Jess finally finished after nearly two hours of insufferable grading. She took a break for a snack and a quick drink of stood up to go to the kitchen, the office changed from tilting on Earth's axis to being bounced around like a little rag doll by some mythical monster. Thankfully, she was able to cling onto the edge of her desk.

Jess cautiously sat back down, flummoxed, after one or two minutes passed and it was safe to resume movement again. The dizzy spell was over at long last, but Jess still was unable to make sense of what was happening to her…or why.

A group of symptoms such as nausea, sleepiness, and dizzy spells left a wide margin of possible disorders and diseases to be diagnosed with. Anything could be happening to her right now and Jess would be left completely unaware. So Jess only groaned as she stood back up to get something to eat. Maybe she was just stressed out by Darcy's absence and her difficult work at the moment. Hopefully that was the case, but Jess wasn't convinced.

She couldn't go see a doctor about this. First of all, this wasn't a particularly good time. Darcy was far away on a trip, and he'd worry about Jess. Also, doctor's appointments were expensive and difficult to manage between hers and Darcy's packed schedules. They'd agreed to not go unless it was necessary because they'd only been married for two years and were trying to save up enough money for a family later on.

Lunging and grabbing the calendar, Jess flipped through the pages, checking to see when she and Darcy had last been to the doctor's. It was early April, so Jess turned back to March. Hadn't there been the week in March when Darcy had that terrible cold? She remembered having to force him back into bed with a cup of tea while he protested, sneezing and sniffling in between sentences.

There was no "doctor's appointment" written in March, and Jess smiled as she remembered that she'd stayed home and taken care of him for a few days. She checked February but still didn't see anything written there about going to the doctor's.

However, a little pink flower was drawn in the corner of February 22nd. It was the doodle Jess used to mark down her time of the month. Her eyes widened and Jess madly scrambled back to March. There wasn't any mark.

Her period was late.