"How long have you known?"
Her father's words ring in her ears. Jade completely comprehends the question he's asking her, but she can't bring herself to make eye contact with him and actually answer it. She's too ashamed.
"Jade."
"About two days." Beck answers for his girlfriend, rubbing her back gently "Other than each other, we haven't told anyone yet besides you guys."
The young couple sits in the living room at Jade's mother's house, where she resides most of the time with her mother, step-father, and eight year-old half-brother, Tyler. Her mother and father are both present as are their respective spouses, Jade's step-mother, Angie, and step-father. Chris. Tyler has already gone to bed, Jade didn't want him present when they first broke the news just in case someone ended up saying something they might regret saying in front of him later. Beck's parents are also there.
She's pregnant. There hadn't really been any other way to tell their parents other than to come right out and say it. They're sixteen and scared, well terrified really, and they didn't know what else to do other than to tell the adults that they trust the most and that are supposed to know what is best for them.
"I feel really stupid." Jade admits "We thought we were being careful."
She wasn't on birth control, but she has an app that tracks her periods and ovulation days. They made sure it was an off week, and they used a condom. They thought they were covered.
"You're not stupid, sweetheart." Her mother, Kaitlyn, tells her "Unfortunately this happens sometimes, even when you're careful. I just wish you would have come and talked to me beforehand so maybe we could have done a few things to make sure you were...more careful."
She, of all people, understands what it's like to suddenly be faced with an unexpected pregnancy. She had met Jonathan West when she was still in college. They were only twenty-one when they had Jade, after only knowing each other for about a year. Neither one of them was certain if the other was for sure the person they wanted to spend the rest of their life with, and unfortunately it didn't work out. They split before Jade was two. Co-parenting wasn't easy on them either, they disagreed on a lot of things and let their jealousy get the best of them at times. It was only just recently that they began to see eye-to-eye and were finally able to have a conversation about something other than Jade without it turning into a screaming match.
"You're not seriously going to let her off the hook, are you?" John asks his daughter's mother "She's sixteen!"
"I know she is, I know." Kaitlyn assures him "But yelling at them right now won't change anything. She's already pregnant."
"So now what do we do?" Beck's mother, Priya, sighs "Do we call MTV and see if they need any new couples for 'Sixteen and Pregnant'? What do we do with these two?"
"Well if they think they're old enough to be having sex, then obviously they're old enough to make their own decisions about what they want to do now." Beck's father, James, points out "So, what exactly do you two plan on doing?"
"We uh..." Beck hesitates, looking to Jade "We're not really sure yet. We're still trying to process everything that's going on."
"We were hoping that you guys might have some advice for us..." Jade adds
"My advice is still the same as it's always been!" James exclaims "Don't have sex if you're not ready for the possibility of getting pregnant! Especially when you're still in high school."
"Thanks, Dad..." Beck sighs "That's real helpful."
"I raised you better than this, Beckett." James shakes his head "Or at least I thought I did."
"Oh my baby boy..." Priya looks as if she could cry as she walks over to Beck and cups his face in her hands "You can't have a baby yet...you're still a baby yourself."
"Let's not make their decisions for them." John suggests "Like you said, if they're old enough to get themselves into it...they can figure out if and how they want to get out of it. I don't think lecturing them is going to help at this point."
"I think you're right. But we're not done talking about this, Beck." James says sternly "We'll see you at home later."
"Yes sir." Beck nods as his parents grab their coats
"Thank you for your hospitality." Priya says to Kaitlyn as she and her husband exit the living room "I wish it was under better circumstances."
"I'll see them out." Chris says as he follows the couple out of the room
Beck and Jade are left then with just John and Kaitlyn, as well as Angie. The room is quiet, and no one really knows what they should say to break the silence.
"Mrs. Parker, Mr. West...I'm so sorry." Beck finally apologizes "You must hate me."
"This is just as much Jade's fault as it is yours, Beck." Kaitlyn reminds him "We're equally upset with both of you."
"I'm sorry..." Jade apologizes as well, tears forming in her eyes "Please don't kick me out."
"Woah, who said anything about kicking you out?" John asks her "We said we're upset, not that we want to disown you."
"Yeah." Kaitlyn agrees "I mean, I'm not thrilled about the idea of becoming a grandmother before I'm forty, but you're still my daughter. I'm not just going to throw you out on the street with nowhere to go."
"Really?"
"Of course..." Kaitlyn assures her daughter as she sits down on the couch next to her "Baby, we love you no matter what."
"Beck's parents did have a point though..." John sighs "I mean, do you two have any idea what you're going to do? We can't really make that decision for you."
"John..." Angie interrupts
"Hm?"
"Maybe..." She begins, but then changes her train of thought "Jade, sweetie...have you even been to a doctor yet?"
"No..." Jade shakes her head, wiping a few tears away "We wanted to tell you first, we didn't want anyone to find a bill from an appointment and get mad at us for hiding something."
"That's very responsible of you." Angie nods "But you should see a doctor before you make any decisions about what you want to do. They might be able to give you information better than we can."
"That's a good idea, Angie." Kaitlyn agrees "Jade? We'll call and make you an appointment first thing in the morning. Okay? It's late now, none of the offices will be open anyways."
"Okay." Jade nods "Mom?"
"Yes?"
"Please come with us..." Jade begins to cry "To the appointment. I need you. I don't want to admit it, but I need my mom."
"It's okay to need me." She says softly, taking her daughter in her arms and kissing the top of her head "I'm your mother first and foremost, I'll always be here for you. No matter how old you are."
"Thank you..."
"I should get home and talk to my parents..." Beck sighs, rubbing Jade's leg gently before standing up from the couch "I'm sure they have more to say."
"Hey." John extends his hand to shake Beck's "Thank you, both of you, for coming to us right away and not trying to hide anything. It was very responsible."
"Of course, Mr. West." Beck nods, smiling slightly "Thank you for not trying to kill me."
"Don't push your luck."
"Yes sir." He nods again before turning back to Jade, who is still leaning against her mother "You okay, babe?"
"I will be." She sighs "I think I just need some sleep."
"I agree." He leans over and kisses her quickly "Hey, I love you. It's all going to be okay."
"I love you too." She manages to smile "Call me in the morning?"
"Of course."
"So, this whole area here is your uterus..." The doctor explains, motioning to the screen next to Jade's head "and this little blob right here is the baby. If you look closely you can just make out the distinction between the head and the body. If all of the information you gave me was correct...it looks like you're about eight weeks with a perfectly healthy baby."
"Oh wow..." Jade manages to smile a bit as she looks from the screen to Beck
He smiles back at her, and squeezes her hand a little tighter.
Much to her relief, the doctors and nurses didn't lecture her and Beck at all about what kind of birth control they had attempted to use or how they should have been more careful. They just brought Jade in and asked her some questions about her period and her medical history, then took a urine sample to test to see if the test had been faulty or if she is really pregnant.
She is.
"Are you alright, sweetheart?" Kaitlyn asks, touching Jade's arm gently
"I will be, yeah." Jade nods "What's that sound?"
"That's the heartbeat." The doctor smiles, turning up the volume on the ultrasound machine "Right now it sounds like a purr because of how fast it's beating, but the more the baby develops the more it will start to sound like the kind of heartbeat you typically think of."
"That's wild." Beck admits "But like...a cool kind of wild."
"Do you want any copies of the images?" The doctor asks them as she switches the ultrasound machine off
Jade is about to say no, she doesn't want the image to possibly influence any decisions that they might make. But Beck speaks up before she can.
"Yes please." He answers "Two sets, if that's possible."
"Of course. Just let me print those for you."
"Beck..."
"I should at least show my parents." He reminds her "And you should at least show your dad and Angie, and Chris too."
She knows he's right, unfortunately. He has the right to show his parents if he wants to, and the rest of her's will certainly ask her about the appointment as soon as they have the chance.
Jade tucks the ultrasound pictures into her bag as quickly as possible once the doctor hands them to her, while Beck takes a moment to look them over before tucking them into his wallet.
"Can I..." Jade turns to her mother as they're leaving the office "I think I'm going to go with Beck."
She and her mother had driven there together, mostly because Jade had been too afraid and too fidgety to come on her own, and Beck had driven his own car there and met them. Now that the appointment is over, Jade feels that she should go with her boyfriend.
"That's fine." Kaitlyn nods "You two obviously have a lot to talk about."
"We do."
"Let me know where you end up." Kaitlyn tells her daughter as she kisses her on the cheek "I love you."
"Love you too, Mom."
Beck grabs Jade's hand and laces their fingers together, pressing a kiss to the back of her palm and giving it a reassuring squeeze before leading her across the parking lot to his truck. The two of them climb in, he starts the engine, and they're off.
The majority of their drive is quiet, the only sound coming from the radio within the car. Eventually, Beck finds a parking lot near a not-as-crowded part of Venice Beach and cuts the engine.
"Do you want to have an abortion then?" He sighs, looking to his girlfriend
"What?" Jade raises an eyebrow at him "No, Beck. I mean, maybe if it was still just a clump of cells but the thing has a heartbeat and a head...I can't do it. Why would you even ask me that?"
Contrary to popular belief, she doesn't actually enjoy causing pain to anything or anyone who doesn't deserve it. At least not on purpose.
"You've just been really quiet for the past thirty-six hours or so is all..." He tells her "I haven't been able to read you that well...and normally I can."
"Well yeah. It's a lot to process." She admits "I'm fucking terrified, Beck."
"I know, I know. I'm sorry." He sighs, cupping his face in his hands before running one through his hair "I'm scared too."
There's silence again, neither one of them knowing what to say next.
"Should we keep it?" Jade finally asks "I mean, we're sixteen-"
"I'm literally about to turn seventeen." Beck reminds her "You may or may not be by the time it's born, depending on how early or late things happen."
If the doctor is correct and she's really eight weeks along, that would put her contraception date sometime at the end of September. It would also mean her due date is very close to her own birthday in July.
"Because that one year will make all the difference." Jade rolls her eyes
"Think about it, Jade." Beck shifts in his seat so he's facing her "We have what, a little over seven months to get our lives figured out? If we choose to keep it, we have time."
"Do you want to keep it?"
"Do you?"
"I don't know..." Jade sighs "I can't abort it, that I do know. But I also know myself. And if I carry it for the next however many months, I'm going to get so damn attached to it. But there's all of these stigmas and stereotypes that come with being teen parents and I really want to go to college-"
"Whoa, hang on." Beck stops her "Who said you wouldn't be able to go to college if we keep it?"
"The stigmas..."
"Fuck the stigmas." Beck says seriously "Jade, this is us we're talking about here, remember? Honestly babe, if you're willing to put your body through all of that...I know it doesn't make any sense for us to keep it. But I really think we can do this."
"I think we can too." She admits "Together, at least."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"So, we're going to be parents then?" He clarifies with a smirk
"I guess we are, yeah." She chuckles, but only out of nervousness
"Hey." He reaches out and cups her face in his hands "I love you, okay? I love the baby. We're going to do this together and we're going to rock it."
He leans forward and kisses her briefly, before she stops him.
"Beck?"
"Hm?"
"Can you do me a favor?"
"Sure." He nods "Anything."
"If you're going to run...do it now." She begs "Don't do it two or three years from now when I love the kid and it's emotionally attached to both of us."
"I'll never run." He assures her "I'm going to be here for you and the baby, always. Okay?"
"Okay." She nods with a slight smile "Okay."