Title: Parenting Seminars

Chapter Title: Conception of a Relationship

Author: AllVowels

Rating: T (sexual situation implied)

Spoilers: Some to the latest episode of Once Upon a Time 'The Stranger.'

Summary: Jeff and Annie's trials and tribulations as they embark on a relationship and parenthood.

Annie was sitting in the cafeteria working on the group's latest biology assignment. They had to pick one of the organ systems in the human body and present their poster/model/interpretative dance/etc. to the class. It wasn't due for two weeks, but she wanted to get an early start on it. Across from her Jeff sat playing Temple Run on his phone.

"Gah! What are those things? They run like monkeys but they don't look like monkeys."

"Jeff, you are supposed to be helping me with this."

"I am. I chose the reproductive system."

"I told you no."

"Well you obviously don't want my input on the project, so I am not participating."

"Jeff…" Annie whined, "You know I have trouble saying certain words out loud."

"So we can't say penis or vagina when referring to the reproductive system, but you'd say rectum when referring to the GI tract?"

Annie's face flushed as his blasé use of such risqué words.

"Well no… But imagine Troy or Pierce trying deliver a presentation about a female's reproductive organs."

Jeff frowned in thought, "True."

"So instead we are going to present the Skeletal System. No words that will be giggled at or made dirty there."

His eyebrow arched up, "Annie they will talking about bones…" At her blank look he continued, "You know… boners."

"Oh right. Muscular System?"

"That'd work. But don't let Troy talk about the gluteus maximus. He has a weird fascination with butts."

"Don't I know it. Moving on, what should we present? A poster or model?"

"I don't care; I came up with the idea so I participated." His eyes looked around the room and quickly changed the subject by asking, "Hey who's that guy?"

Annie looked over her shoulder at a tall lanky man in a suit. "He's dressed way too nice to be a student or teacher here. But he looks familiar."

"He looks like Sidney."

Annie's eyes widened, "He does look like Sidney Glass. Wait… You watch Once Upon a Time?"

"What? No! I've seen commercials and that's a stupid chick show about fairy tales. Oh look at the time, I'm late for class." With that awkward answer Jeff hurriedly walked away shoulders tense.

Annie called out, "You don't have class right now!"

"You don't know everything about me!"

Annie's rolled her eyes. "Men."

With that last comment, she went back to work on their project. Annie decided to enlist Abed and Troy's help into making a costume that would demonstrate the different muscles in the body. It'd be perfect.

It was 7:45 on Sunday night, and Jeff was gearing up to watch his guilty pleasure OUAT on ABC. Popcorn was popped (no butter and light salt), his phone was on silent, and he was wearing his comfiest pajamas. He just started to nestle into his couch when the doorbell rang. His first instinct was to ignore the bell and continue to watch TV.

'But what if someone is in trouble and needs your help?' nagged the voice in his brain that sounded suspiciously like Annie. Sighing he muted the TV and got off the couch. Jeff opened the door to find the real Annie on the other side holding a pizza and soda.

"What are you doing here?"

Annie beamed, "I'm here to watch Once Upon a Time. I even brought pizza and soda! It's the kind you like, Fit and Delicious Diced Red Tomato, Mushroom and Jalapeno."

"But I'm not watching that. I'm watching a manly show."

"Like what?"

"Duck Dynasty."

Annie frowned in disappointment, "Okay, we can watch that instead. I was looking forward to watching how they incorporated the poison apple into the show tonight."

"That was going to be on tonight?" Annie nodded, "Fine, come in, but you tell NO ONE about this."

Annie laughed as she sauntered into Jeff's domain, "Deal. Besides now if you get caught watching it you can say I forced you to."

"Why would you need to watch it here?"

"Because Abed is a ruiner. He knew who the stranger was before they even revealed he wasn't Mr. Gold's son. He was like, it's Pinocchio, and I said no, it's leading to be Mr. Gold's son and then he used his Abed logic on me and said, no there needs to be a plot twist. His initials are AWB, i.e. a wooden boy. AND HE WAS RIGHT!" Annie fumed.

"Calm down tiger, you almost dropped the pizza. Plus the show's starting." He ushered her to the couch and turned the volume back on. The two sat side by side, reveling in the soap opera and fairy tale goodness that was OUAT while eating the low calorie pizza. That was how their routine started.

Annie would show up to watch the show, they'd eat and drink and Annie would leave once the show was over, after all it was a school night. When the season ended, the two prayed for a renewal but were left in a constant state of anticipation as they waited for the network's decision.

In the mean time, the two needed another show to fill their fairy tale void. Jeff discovered the other fairy tale based show that came out around the same time on his ON DEMAND™ service. All the episodes were currently available and the show had already been picked up for another season. It was a win-win situation. He suggested she come over on Friday nights to watch the show. That was when the show was scheduled to be on, so they'd already have a new routine when the show's new season started, and she could stay later because they didn't have school/work/other obligations the next day.

"I really like Monroe. He's like the anti-werewolf. A cultured vegetarian who makes clocks."

"I thought you liked ruthless werewolves that ate vampires."

"That was a scary story. There had to be a twist."

"Mm-hmm." Annie yawned widely prompting Jeff to say, "If you are tired we can continue next week."

"No, I can make it through one more episode. I want to see what happens." Jeff relented and pressed play on the next available episode. Five minutes later Annie was slumped into his chest snoring slightly. He wrapped one arm around her and pulled the blanket from the back of the couch and laid it across them. He soon followed Annie into slumber listening to Detective Nick Burkhardt fight with the latest creature of the week.

It was during the third week that the kissing started. Annie turned out to be afraid of spiders, and the tarantula like creature caused her to clutch to Jeff in fright and bury her face into his chest. Jeff smoothed her hair down and stroked her back trying to calm her down.

"It's over now. You can look again." Annie cautiously opened her eyes and found herself looking straight into Jeff's eyes. Neither could be sure who acted first but their lips were soon pressed together, and neither of them was willing to stop. Annie let out a breathy moan when Jeff's tongue dipped into her mouth. Her hands slid into his hair as his much larger hands gripped her waist.

The two separated and looked at the other awkwardly.

"Annie…" Jeff started but Annie interrupted him.

"Jeff, we are missing the show." Annie turned back to the television and began to resolutely watch Grimm. That spider thing wasn't that scary anyways. Besides, if they didn't admit something happened, he couldn't dismiss it and she wouldn't get hurt. Therefore it was in their best interests to ignore the kiss had ever happened. Done and DONE.

When Annie left that night, Jeff was convinced she'd never come back. But she was back the next Friday night, and he was never happier to be wrong. Midway through the second episode of the night, her hands were back in his hair and his tongue was situated in her mouth. His hand slowly crept under her shirt and Jeff let out a tiny moan at the feel of soft smooth skin. She hadn't stopped him yet, so he decided to trail his mouth down to her neck, and scrapped her skin lightly with his teeth.

Annie was going through a system overload. The hand on her stomach sent shivers down her spine and caused a heat to pool between her legs. When his mouth touched her neck all logical thought processes stopped. What's his name… the gay one, never made her feel this alive or aroused and he had technically had sex with her. Vaughn made her feel fuzzy, but not like this. They had obviously been doing something wrong.

She arched her back to bring herself into closer contact with him and followed his example by sliding her hand under his sweater. Jeff growled as she traced her fingers over his abs and played with the small speckling of hairs that led the way down into his pants.

The noise of guns shooting filled the room causing Annie to jump.

"It was just the TV."

"Oh," Annie sighed in relief. "At my old apartment it was never the TV. I guess I'm still on edge even after moving away."

She pulled away from him slightly and turned to watch the TV again. Jeff looked at her in confusion, having no idea what just happened. Well he had some idea as to why he was painful aroused in his living room, but he didn't understand why they had stopped. Grabbing a throw pillow he covered his erection and tried to focus on the show. His eyes kept slipping back over to Annie, and he could make out the hard outline of her nipples through her camisole. Life was so unfair.

"Jeff?" Annie's voice broke the silence.

Jeff's eyes widened in fear, he wasn't prepared for the where is this relation… thing going talk.

"Yes?"

"Your thing," She waved her hand at the throw pillow, "isn't going anywhere near me until you've had an STD test."

"Huh?"

"Make that two. Just in case the first one missed something or the nurse was incompetent."

Jeff's eyes narrowed, "Fine, then you need to start birth control."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Good."

"Great." And just like that their relationthing moved forward. Both afraid that if they questioned what the hell was going on, the other would decide to stop.

Whenever Annie left the apartment she made sure to come up with a story so that her roommates would not want to come with her. She thought she was doing a pretty good job of hiding her tracks because Abed hadn't made any inferences or outright statements about what she was really doing. One thing she knew for sure, if the group found out that her and Jeff were having sex in secret, there would be hell to pay.

"So where are you today?" Jeff asked in amusement.

"The aquarium."

"Troy and Abed didn't want to come along?" Jeff asked in disbelief.

"No, there are sharks at the aquarium. Troy read an article about a scientist attaching lasers to sharks. He is now convinced that they will soon grow lungs and try to take over the world. They are now running scenarios in the Dreamatorium about contingency plans."

"Why would you attach a laser to a shark?"

"I have no idea."

They weren't just having sex, granted they were having quite a bit of that once Jeff got her over some of her inhibitions, but they did other things together. They continued to watch different TV shows, go to movies, mini golf, dinner, and even a football game. It was almost like they were dating… almost.

Jeff had honored his word and gotten two STD tests. He even went as far to get them at a clinic that wasn't inside Greendale, but that was more so that Dean Pelton wouldn't find out. Annie wished that she had done the same thing, because after starting birth control she ran into the dean and he winked at her and told her they'd need to exchange stories someday.

It bothered her on so many levels. The first and foremost was the thought of the dean having sex with anyone. The second was the thought of the dean thinking about her having sex, and the third was that her prescriptions were protected health information covered by HIPPA and no one but Nurse Jackie should know.

A month after taking her birth control, Annie experienced severe nausea the week before her period. Concerned she went to student health.

"Oh that's the result of too much estrogen in your body. We will switch you to this other pill with a lower amount and you should be fine." Nurse Jackie assured her. She wasn't, her chest ached to the point where she'd smack Jeff if he tried to touch her. Jeff hated the fact that he was banned from touching her glorious breasts and demanded she go get a different pill.

"Well aren't you a sensitive little thing," Nurse Jackie laughed to himself as Annie gasped in indignation. "I mean you're sensitive to hormones. Geez. So here's your options, we could try a different pill with a different dose of estrogen and progesterone, the sponge, a condom (male or female), or the patch. Do you have sensitive skin?"

"Yes, I break out when I wear band aids."

"Well then the patch may break you out." The female condom and sponge weirded Annie out, she realized it was the same principal as a tampon, but still…

"I'll try the third pill." Annie was happy with her choice at first. There was no chest discomfort, no nausea and if there was any weight gain no one pointed it out. One day while she and Jeff were fooling around he pinched her nipple and a white milky substance came out. Annie quickly slapped Jeff's hands away and began to cry.

"There is something wrong with me! Every other woman on this planet can pop a stupid pill but not me! It's karma."

Jeff wrapped his arm around her and awkwardly tried to console her, "Hey it's not that bad."

"Not that bad? You aren't the one lactating."

"Well, just stop taking the pill."

Annie sniffled, "But then what would we use?"

"Condoms?"

Annie laughed, "Well they are more effective… But I'm not buying them."

Rolling his eyes, "Fine, now can we continue you cow?"

She smacked his chest before pulling his lips back down to hers.

The pair's secret was exposed on the first day back at school. The traditional group meeting was held before their mutual class.

"So what's new with everyone?" Shirley cooed.

"You saw me a week ago. Not much," Britta answered.

"True I did see you this summer, but Annie wasn't around that much. Annie?"

"Oh not much."

"Annie has a new boyfriend."

"Abed! Why would you say that?"

"You'd leave the apartment in the evening, and try to sneak back in the middle of the night. That is if you came home at all. Your clothes were rumpled and you smelled of cologne. The excuses that you'd use to go out were amusing, but unimaginative and you clearly did not want Troy and I to come along. So you either have a new boyfriend, or you befriended a new group of people in an effort to replace us. Or I guess there is the possibility of you dressing like a man."

"Annie! You're replacing us?" Troy asked tears brimming in his eyes.

Pierce pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed his eyes, "I knew the day would come when my favorite would abandon me."

"No it's not like that! I'd never replace you guys."

"So you do have a boyfriend?" Troy questioned.

Annie made eye contact with everyone in the group, excluding Jeff, "No! Why would I lie about having a boyfriend to you guys?"

"She didn't make eye contact with Jeff," Britta pointed out.

"That either means she doesn't want him to get jealous or he is the mystery man."

"The cologne Annie smelled like is consistent with the cologne Jeff uses."

That's when the yelling started.

"NO! He is just using her to mask his gayness!"

"JEFF! How could you? She's just a child! May the lord have mercy on your soul."

"What? Couldn't find any more dumb bimbos at L Street to hook up with?"

"ENOUGH!" Annie jumped from her chair and faced her friends. "I am an adult. I make my own decisions and you have no right to treat me like I am a child who is being used! What I do and who I do it with is my business and not yours."

Annie swung her backpack on to her shoulders and stormed out of the group, leaving Jeff to the wolves. She was still fuming by the time she reached the small student lounge and threw herself onto the couch.

"Thanks for leaving me back there." Jeff called as her approached the couch.

"Did they hurt you?"

"No I high tailed it after you. I am quite fond of my testicles and I don't want Shirley anywhere near them right now."

"Oh. Good." Jeff nudged her back pack and sat next to her. "So…"

"So?" Jeff echoed back.

Annie shifted uncomfortably. They had spent all summer avoiding this conversation and their friends just shoved them knee deep into it.

"Does this mean we stop?"

"What? Why?"

"Well after you and Britta were found out you two stopped."

Ignoring the reference to himself and Britta he asked, "Do you want to stop?"

Annie shifted uncomfortably, "Do you?"

"I asked first." They both refused to talk, hoping the other would break and say what they wanted first.

Annie was the one to break first, "Fine! I don't want to stop! But I don't just want to be hook-up buddies either."

"Okay."

"Okay what? Okay we are done? Okay we continue hooking up? Okay we are boyfriend/girlfriend?"

"Sure, that last one. I'm hungry and I don't think it is safe to eat in the cafeteria today." He stood up and held his hand out to Annie, "Milady, would you mind accompanying me to lunch."

"I'd be delighted milord."

Shirley had followed Jeff out of the study room determined to give him a piece of her mind. The rest of the group followed, morbid curiosity over what Shirley would do to Jeff running through their veins. Shirley's eyes narrowed as she found Jeff sitting indecently close to her little Annie. She stopped when he stood up and held out his hand. Annie's face lit up the room when she placed her hand in his. He even bent down to kiss her hand.

"Oh, that's nice."

The other four members of the group looked at Shirley as if she had grown a second head.

"What? It was. But we all agree now that if he hurts her we will hurt him in the most horrible way possible."

Pierce interjected, "I know a guy who will sneak into his room at night and shoot an air embolus into his neck for 20 grand."

"Well we will keep that in mind…"

From that point on the study group seemed to accept the relationship. Things didn't really change that much. Except that Troy and Abed insisted that if Jeff was in the apartment with Annie, a chaperone needed to be involved. Not because Annie was too young or innocent, but because Abed caught them mid-romp in the Dreamatorium. Troy cried for a week and refused to look at them. Britta, trying to comfort Troy, showed up one night with an eco-friendly sanitizer and helped them sanitize the room.

Shirley would throw Jeff her patented, 'I'm a mother and disappointed in you,' looks whenever he spoke to other women. It got to the point that he avoided all possible contact with girls under the age of 65 in fear that Shirley would lash out at him.

Pierce would randomly ask him when he was going to stop living a lie and come out of the broom closet. He would then look at Annie and shake his head in pity, "You poor dear you have no idea what he is."

He would then pat her head and walk away.

Dean Pelton dressed in black to show he was in mourning. Black leotards, dresses, wigs, leather vests, and lots of dark eye liner. He also started to touch Troy more often. A casual hand to the chest, or a lingering pat on the shoulder. Jeff wasn't sure if he should be jealous or not. When he would complain that he lost his looks, Annie would roll her eyes and take off her top. That usually made him forget all about it.

Several weeks later…

"Annie, are you alright?"

Annie looked up from the book she was reading, "Why would something be wrong?"

"You aren't on your usually schedule."

"Jeff had a meeting with Ted tonight, that's why we aren't having our usual TV night."

"No, I mean your hormonal schedule. You are over a week late. I had chocolate in my pocket all last week but you never needed it, so it melted and ruined my pants."

Annie's eyes widened. Was she late? Thinking back, her last period was over 5 weeks ago and she was usually very regular.

"The first obvious guess would be that you are pregnant, but on the assumption that you and Jeff use protection decreases the odds. Besides that isn't a mid season twist, that is series finale material right there. You and Jeff realize your love for each other, and the audience has closure with the thought that you will have the traditional happily ever after. I was doing some research and other possible reasons for your amenorrhea are PCOS, stress, Turner syndrome…"

As Abed continued to list off different reasons for her lack of a period her mind raced. They always used protection! Always! Well except that one time in the library, neither of them had a condom on them. Then there was that time at Jeff apartment.

Jeff reached into the night stand, "Damnit! We are out."

"How can we be out we just bought those this weekend."

"I just bought them this weekend. But it looks like we've used all of them."

Annie held up her hands and her fingers wiggled as she silently recounted their sexual escapades.

"I guess we did use all of them."

"I will go get some more." Sighing he tried to lever himself off the bed but Annie held him steady.

"It's okay, I shouldn't be ovulating."

"You sure?" Nodding her affirmation was enough for Jeff as he collapsed back down onto the bed.

And the second time in the Dreamatorium. After the first round, Annie told Jeff about her experience with Abed and the 'Make love to me Ann' comment from his persona. Jeff was determined to live this new information out. Both made sure that Troy and Abed would be suitably occupied. They had brought one condom, but it broke, and both were afraid if they left the room they'd be caught.

Annie stood abruptly interrupting Abed, "I have to go meet Jeff."

"I thought you said he had a meeting?"

"He does, but I said I'd meet him once he texted me."

"But your phone hasn't gone off."

Annie ignored him as she ran out the door and raced to the nearest drug store and purchased one of ever pregnancy tests on the shelves.

When Jeff returned home that evening he was pleasantly surprised to see Annie's car in his apartment's parking lot. He had given her a key earlier so that she could come over if she needed to escape her two wacky roommates. Well, that was the excuse he gave her. The thought of Annie having a key to his apartment made him warm inside. It just felt right.

As he opened the door he saw Annie sitting on his couch starring at the coffee table. Her eyes were red as if she had been crying.

"Annie? Are you alright?"

Instead of answering she gestured to the coffee table, which was littered with every possible pregnancy test that he could imagine. He randomly picked up one and saw a baby's small face smiling back. Another had a + sign. Another had a ++ sign. One was pink.

"Annie, is this a joke?"

Shaking her head, "No we're pregnant. I guess it would be more accurate to say I'm pregnant and you knocked me up!"

Jeff, being his smarmy self, cracked, "At least I didn't knock you up in a bus station."

I originally wanted to write a story about Annie being pregnant with Galilee, with subsequent chapters looking at Jeff and Annie as they deal with learning to be a parent. This chapter was just supposed to give background onto the beginning of their relationship and got a lot longer than I planned. The rest will be more focused on the parenting aspects.

Hope you enjoyed.