Parenting Seminars
Author: AllVowels
Rating: T
Chapter 2: Things Don't Go As Planned
Summary: Annie and Jeff deal with the aftermath of Annie's news.
AN: I'm confused as to what exactly Jeff has to do to get his license back. In reality, I don't think he could get it back but I have no idea. Does he just need his bachelor's because on the show it sounds like he legitimately took the LSAT and went to law school? Anyways I don't know so I just made stuff up.
"At least I didn't knock you up in a bus station."
A small smile involuntarily graced her face, "Jeff I am being serious."
"I am," Her smile disappeared, and she gave him the stink eye. He ran a hand through his hair before sitting down next to her, "Fine, I will be serious. So in all seriousness, how do you want me to feel?"
"I can't tell you how you feel Jeff."
He chuckled darkly, "Oh yes you can. If I say I'm upset, you'll get mad because I'm not happy, but if I say I'm happy, you'll get mad and say I knocked you up on purpose. Just tell me what you want to hear and I'll say it."
Annie sniffled as she looked at him, "Just tell me you will be there for me."
He wrapped his arm around her and pressed his face into her hair, "Always… well except for when we tell the group. I'd like to keep my body parts where they are. So I'll be there in spirit."
Annie snuggled into him, "Maybe when can break the news over email. Right before break when we can avoid them."
"Sounds like a plan."
They couple sat in silence for several minutes, thoughts racing through their minds.
"Jeff," Annie started tentatively, "I'm scared. This wasn't part of my plan; I don't know how to be a mom. What if I mess everything up?"
"You are going to be the best mother in the whole world." Jeff knew that she'd be a wonderful mother, but he wasn't so sure how he'd do as a father.
A week later Annie was back in Jeff's apartment, hiding from her roommates. She didn't want Abed to guess her secret until she was ready. He hadn't said anything else since their last talk, but she wanted to be safe.
"You know what I was thinking?" Jeff broke into her train of thought.
"What?"
"You should move in here. I mean, so that I can help with the baby. I don't feel comfortable with Troy and Abed being so close to a small human being. It would become a prop in one of their movies and I don't feel comfortable with that. Besides, half your crap is already here anyway."
It was a rare day when Jeff rambled on uncomfortably, but that was exactly what he was doing. Annie thought it was cute.
"Half my stuff isn't here."
"Really?" He picked a book off the coffee table next to him, "I forgot how much I love to read Jane Austen in my free time. And listen to Hanson. You know how much I love that song 'MmmBop.' And how could I forget my favorite purple butterfly blanket?"
Annie rolled her eyes, "Alright, some of my stuff may have found its way over here."
"Annie, I have a stuffed animal on my bed."
"Excuse me, you gave me Charlie. He helps me relax when I'm studying."
"It's creepy." Annie huffed in indignation and Jeff back pedaled, "Not the fact that you have stuffed animals creepy, but I feel like it is staring at me with its one eye while we have sex. I almost had to fake it the other night."
"Should I be insulted?"
"No, I said almost, but if I faked it you'd never know. But they are a little off putting. I think you should get rid of the stuffed animals."
"I'll move in on one condition, I get to keep Charlie AND Mr. Brigglebee."
"Fine, but on the condition they won't go on the bed. That bear is just as creepy as Charlie. Plus Abed may have implanted a camera into him, like he is RoboBear or something."
Rolling her eyes, "Deal. You have to break it to Troy and Abed."
"You have to be there to back me up. Abed was mumbling something about a one armed evil Jeff, and I don't want him thinking I am trying to kidnap you."
Jeff stood in front of Troy and Abed in their apartment.
"Troy, Abed, would you mind sitting down?"
"Oh my gosh! Whenever someone asks you to sit down, it is bad news. Did Pierce die?" Troy cried.
"No! It's just Annie and I have something to talk to you about. Now we have made this decision together, and it in no way reflects on the way we feel about you…"
Abed started to hyperventilate "You and Annie are breaking up, and are about to give us the divorce speech. Don't worry kids, it's not your fault. We will always love you, but we don't feel that way about each other anymore. The two of you will cause a rift in the group and before you know it we are cancelled. Fade to black."
"Abed!" Annie cried in concern, "We aren't breaking up!"
"You aren't? Then why are we here?"
Jeff gestured towards Annie, "Annie and I have decided to move in with each other."
"Dude, there isn't enough hot water here as it is. I have to take cold showers after Abed all the time. But we can have late night pillow fights and eat s'mores. This will be so much fun!"
"No Troy. I will be moving into Jeff's apartment."
"But there isn't enough room for a blanket fort in Jeff's place."
Jeff and Annie shared a look.
"No," Jeff said slowly, "Annie will be moving with me, and you and Abed will stay here. You can even have the actual room back."
"Oh."
"Don't worry Troy. They'll promise to do something with us every week, and for a while they will. Then one day they just won't show up and then we can visit Planet Troy and return to stop motion animation."
"Okay." The two did their patented handshake, with slightly less enthusiasm than normal and entered the blanket fort.
"Well that went well." Annie said optimistically.
"Did it? I feel like I just burnt a puppy."
"They'll get over it." Annie said while rubbing a hand over her stomach.
"Don't do that, you're practically screaming 'Hey look at this bun in my oven.'"
"Oops. My stomach has just been really upset lately."
"Yeah, a parasite is in there gnawing at your innards."
"JEFF!"
"Sorry. I'm just tired. Someone woke me up four times last night to use the restroom."
"Well I'm sorry but I really needed to pee!"
"Whatever. Grab some clothes and we can come back for the rest of the stuff later."
"Okay. How are we going to tell the rest of the study group?"
"I figure Troy would let the cat out of the bag."
At that moment Annie and Jeff's phones began to vibrate continuously, alerting them to the multiple messages they were receiving.
The two went to back to Jeff's apartment, correction their apartment, after picking up some Chinese take-out. After a quick dinner they crawled into bed.
"There are times when I hate our friends."
"You don't mean that Jeff."
"Yes I do. I don't even want to look at my phone after some of the text messages I received."
"They weren't that bad."
"Yours weren't. Mine involved various veiled and unveiled threats. Apparently Pierce has 20 grand on standby and I have no idea what that means."
"Don't worry I'll protect you."
"Whatever, just cause you're a favorite..."
Later that night, Annie awoke to her stomach cramping horribly, and she ran straight to the bathroom.
Jeff rolled over and called out, "You okay?"
When he didn't receive a response, he levered himself out of bed to go check on his ailing girlfriend. "Did the Chinese not agree with you? I told you that lomein smelled a little funky."
Annie looked up at Jeff, and he noticed her eyes looked panicked.
"Annie what's wrong?"
"I'm bleeding… A lot." Jeff just stood there uncomprehendingly for a few seconds. He didn't see blood anywhere. Finally his brain decided to kick in and he understood where the blood must be coming from.
"We are getting you to the hospital."
In the ER, Annie was taken to an area that was closed off by a curtain. The doctor questioned her about how far along she was in her pregnancy.
"A couple of weeks. I'm not sure of the exact conception date."
"And have you seen an OBGYN?"
"No, all the ones I called refused to see me until I had missed two periods, or they had too many patients already."
"When did these symptoms start?"
"I was spotting for a few days, but in the books I read they said that was normal. My stomach hurt today but I thought it might have been something I ate."
The doctor sighed and took off his glasses, "Miss Edison, I'm afraid you've suffered a miscarriage. Your symptoms weren't that severe because you were in the very early stages of pregnancy. Now I want to stress that you did nothing wrong. Usually these things happen because there is something wrong with the pregnancy. Either there was a genetic defect or the embryo had implanted somewhere outside of the womb where it couldn't survive. Your body recognizes that there is something wrong and decides to end the pregnancy. You will most likely continue to bleed for the next several days, and there may be some tissue in with the blood. Do not be alarmed, this is normal. But if you start having any symptoms such as a fever or chills, you need to come back in. But don't worry, you are young, you'll bounce back in no time."
Annie found Jeff pacing in the waiting room after the doctor had left her.
"Are you okay?" With that simple question, a flood gate of emotions erupted from Annie and she started to sob. For the life of her, she wasn't sure if they were tears of sorrow or relief. Jeff wrapped his arms tightly around her and Annie clutched to him as if her life depended on it. After several minutes Annie had calmed down enough to be maneuvered back to Jeff's Lexus.
On the way back to the apartment Annie managed to tell Jeff what the doctor had said, with occasional pauses to wipe tears from her cheeks. They managed to get back into the apartment by 8 o'clock in the morning. It was telling of how upset Annie actually was when she resolutely climbed into bed and pulled the covers over her head without a word of missing her classes.
Jeff sent a quick text to the study group.
Jeff: Annie's sick. Staying to take care of her. She's super contagious so stay away!
Shirley: Tell her I hope she feels better soon! If you need anything call!
Pierce: What STD did you give her? Doxycycline works wonders for most of them.
Britta: Bout time a man stayed home to take care of a woman
Abed: K. I'll video tape the lecture so she can watch it later.
Troy: Remember to take the soup out of the can before you put it in the microwave. Trust me.
Jeff shook his head at his friends and crawled into bed with Annie. She was facing away from him with her face turned into her pillow, so he pressed himself into her back and buried his face into her neck.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No. Maybe. I don't know." He heard her sniffle. "It's just… Part of me was starting to get excited about being a mom. I'd finally have a real family again and a cute little baby with your eyes and my nose to play with, but…." She hesitated before speaking again, "Another part of me is relieved. I wasn't prepared. You know me; I like to know what I'm doing. I need to have plans and schedules. I have no clue how to be a mom, let alone be a mom and finish school. Plus, I didn't exactly have the best example to go off of. And I keep going back and forth between being sad and being relieved. Does that make me a bad person?"
"No it makes you human." Annie wiggled in his arm so that she could face him. Her eyes were bloodshot and her face was pale, but Jeff still thought she looked beautiful.
"Jeff, give me a speech to make me feel better."
Jeff was silent for several moments, "From what I've learned so far, life never seems to go as planned and even though it seems horrible at the time, in the end it works itself out. I was supposed to be a hot shot lawyer and you were supposed to go to an Ivy League school, and look how that turned out. We found Greendale. And while that school is the most insane place I've ever been, and I have visited clients in mental institutions, it brought the group together. It brought us together. So while this is painful now, maybe it has a bigger meaning for us in the end. Makes us grow and expand our horizons. It showed me I wouldn't run at the mention of fatherhood, even though I was silently terrified, which I never thought would happen."
Annie was crying again. "I guess that didn't make you feel better."
"No that was perfect."
The next morning, Jeff woke up before the alarm and silenced it before Annie could wake up. It had been a long day yesterday and she was still experiencing some discomfort and bleeding. If the group saw her right now they'd know something was wrong.
He quietly got dressed, and made sure the shutters were closed so that the light wouldn't wake her up. On his way out of the room he grabbed her two stupid stuffed animals and tucked them in with her so she wouldn't wake up alone. He jotted a quick note and placed it under Mr. Brigglebee's eye patch.
Went to school. If you need anything call. –Jeff
Jeff felt somewhat guilty about leaving her alone, but part of him needed to be away from her. The last few weeks had been a whirlwind of changes for him, and he needed some time to gather himself. One minute things seemed perfect with Annie and the next he was going to be a father, and just like that it was gone. Something akin to disappointment took root in his heart, but that couldn't be. Jeff never wanted the traditional family.
Unfortunately for the group, Jeff's confusion was taken out on them.
"Alright that's enough! What the hell is wrong with you today?" Britta demanded.
"Nothing is wrong with me."
"Jeff-rey, you've made Troy cry twice. You've snapped a Pierce and made a rude gesture at the dean." Shirley cooed. Using her serious voice she asked, "Now what the hell is wrong with you boy? Did you and Annie have a fight?"
"No, Annie and I are fine. Just leave me alone." With that he stormed from the study room.
Abed found him in front of the Luis Guzman statue.
"What do you want?"
"I was elected to come talk to you. The group wants to know what Annie did to get you so angst ridden. But I don't think you are mad at Annie. You might have had a small fight over where to put her stuff, but nothing that would bring this reaction out of you. If anything Annie would be the one upset."
"Annie and I did not have a fight."
"But something between the two of you happened." It wasn't a question.
"Yes."
The two sat in silence for a few moments. "I know I'm not the usual character that you turn to for emotional support, but I've been working on my empathy, so if you'd like to talk, I will listen."
"You'll just tell Troy."
"I will keep this between us. Inspector's honor."
Jeff shifted uncomfortably, "Annie is… I mean was pregnant. She had a miscarriage. At first I was terrified, but I didn't want Annie to know so I kept it to myself. After some time, a lot shorter than I would have ever thought possible, I had gotten used to the idea I guess. I was still scared, but I was ready to be there for Annie. And now that is gone and I feel… off."
After a couple minutes Jeff looked over at Abed, "Don't you have some television themed advice for me?"
"Inspector Spacetime has never had a story line dealing with this issue. It is more commonly used in soap operas and other shows as a 'reset' button if you will. It would be difficult to add in a child and force character development, so the woman becomes pregnant for a dramatic factor, and then she has a miscarriage to revert back to the status quo. But I don't feel like this describes your situation, unless you are planning to break up with Annie now and make her move back in with us."
Jeff shook his head, "That may have been the push I needed to ask Annie to move in, but I don't want her to move out."
"She makes you happy."
"Yes."
"So you have two options. Revert back or grow. To me it sounds like you are ready to grow."
"I hope so."
The two sat there for awhile longer, and watched their various classmates continue on with their lives as if nothing had happened.
"Interesting fact: Married with Children incorporated Katy Sagal's pregnancy into the show. She later had a stillbirth at seven months. They decided to write the pregnancy off as a dream because they did not want to subject her to a baby on set after her ordeal."
"Are you telling me to keep babies away from Annie?"
"Possibly. She doesn't need reminded of something that makes her sad, she needs something that will help her move on." Abed stood and turned away from Jeff, "I'm going to go back to the group now before they come to find us."
"What are you going to tell them?"
"Annie used the last of your very expensive discontinued shampoo that you had been rationing."
Abed was right, they both needed something to focus on, and that became school and their relationship. Their life wasn't paradise, but they learned to adapt to one another. Jeff learned not to move Annie's notes after an unfortunate mix up when moving them to the desk one day and Annie learned not to get upset when women blatantly hit on him. Well Annie tried not to get upset, but it was really hard when they obviously didn't understand that SHE was his girlfriend.
A portion of the study group graduated that spring. Annie was accepted to UC Denver to complete her master's degree in HealthCare Administration. Jeff, after finally receiving his bachelor's degree, was able to take the bar again. After passing Ted agreed to transfer him to the Denver office. It was for the best, because Jeff's reputation around the Greendale area was mixed and he could stay close to Annie. Shirley used her business degree to open an online bakery. She was able to bake at home to be near her boys and she had enlisted Troy to be her baking assistant/delivery driver. He enjoyed it because if he dropped a cupcake or brownie he got to eat it, with the caveat that he did not drop it on purpose. Shirley had already lost 3 dozen different baked goods before she added that stipulation. Abed ended up working for his dad's restaurant, but continued to make movies with Troy on his days off. Britta, after declaring herself a psych major so late in the game, still needed certain classes so she continued to attend Greendale with Pierce, who had nothing better to do.
They got through the first year after Greendale with little contact with their former study group members. They would talk on the phone and text, but it was different because they weren't there. Plus Annie was focused on her schooling because she was finally taking real classes, i.e. they weren't Greendale classes, and Jeff was trying to build up his reputation at the Denver firm. The two barely had time to see each other, let alone their friends. That's why when she missed her period for the first time and woke up slightly nauseous she attributed it to stress. By the second month, she began to worry and went out to get a pregnancy test. When it came back positive she kept the result to herself. She knew that the miscarriage had upset Jeff more than he let on, but he never talked to her about it. Annie was certain it was because he didn't want to add on his distress to hers. This time she'd wait, and if she lost another one, she'd be the one to suffer in silence, not him.
With that decided she made an appointment at student health. They had an OBGYN who would come in on certain days of the week to see female students. After her appointment was made, she disposed of the pregnancy test so that Jeff would not find it. At the appointment the doctor prescribed her prenatal vitamins and performed a battery of tests.
"Well Miss Edison, I'd say you are roughly at 8 weeks. Congratulations." The doctor noticed the uneasy look on Annie's face. "Miss Edison, I know this can be an emotional time, especially if the pregnancy was unplanned. There is a counselor here that I could call in for you to discuss your options."
"NO! No. It's not that. It's just… I've been pregnant before and lost the baby. I just don't want to get excited in case that happens again."
"I didn't see that in your medical records. Did you see a doctor when this occurred?"
"I went to Greendale Hospital."
"Ah, that would explain it. They aren't exactly the best at keeping records. Most miscarriages occur during the first trimester. I don't want to say if you make it through the next month you are home free, but after that the chances decrease exponentially. Make an appointment to see me in a month, and at the next visit we will determine how the baby is doing. Alright?"
Annie let out a tentative smile, "Alright."
Over the next few weeks, if Jeff noticed her mood swings or weight gain, he was wise enough not to mention it. In fact he was acting differently himself. The two would occasionally look at each other as if to tell the other life changing news, but then they'd both back down and chat idly about their day.
At the next doctor's visit, nothing abnormal was found, and Annie breathed a sigh of relief. When she got home, Jeff was already there which was unusual. Plus there were flowers and candles on the table.
"Jeff?"
"Hey." She turned around to see him in an apron, cooking pasta on the stove.
"What are you doing?"
"Well, I realize that we haven't had time to together lately, and you've seemed a little stressed. So I took the night off to cook you a nice romantic dinner."
Annie immediately burst into tears.
"Well that wasn't the reaction I was expecting."
"I'm pregnant!" Annie blurted out between sobs. Jeff lowered the pan he was holding back to the stove. His hand that was covered by an oven mitt accidently hit the burner. Smoke alerted the two that something was wrong.
"Son of a bitch!" Jeff through the mitt to the stove top and immediately covered it with a lid in hopes of stopping a fire. Once he knew that their apartment wasn't going up in flames, he turned away from Annie and walked into the bedroom. When Jeff returned a few minutes later he found Annie at their small kitchen table, crying.
"Annie, what's wrong?"
"You're…. You're mad…hiccup…at me." She choked out.
"No! No I just had to go get something. I'm not mad I promise."
Annie sniffled, and looked at him with wide eyes, "Really?"
"Really." Jeff quirked a half smile at her and shifted nervously. "I was planning on doing this later, but seeing how we never seem to follow plans what the hell right? Annie Edison, will you marry me?"
Annie looked at the small ring box that he pulled from behind his back.
Tears filled her eyes as she whispered, "No…"
"No?"
Annie shook her head.
"No? What why?"
"Because!" Annie was crying again, and in Jeff's mind she was half hysterical, but he wasn't going to tell her that right now.
"WHY?"
"Because people will only think you married me because I'm pregnant!"
Jeff started to laugh.
"It's not funny Jeff."
"Annie, people already think I'm with you because I'm a cradle robber. People think you are with me because you are a gold digger. People aren't always going to have the best view of our relationship, but I love you and I'm ready to commit myself to you for the rest of my life as crazy as that sounds."
Annie's tears stopped and she lunged forward to embrace Jeff. "Alright."
"Never thought I'd have to talk a woman into marrying me. So, how far into the pregnancy are you?"
"About 11 to 12 weeks."
"How long have you known?"
"Maybe a few weeks…" At Jeff's silence she amended, "I've known a month."
"A month and you didn't tell me?"
Annie lowered her eyes, "I didn't want to tell you incase… you know something bad happened again."
Jeff relaxed his grip enough to look steadily into her eyes. Resting his forehead against hers he said, "I'll be there for you no matter what. Good or bad. Never be afraid to tell me."
Annie didn't say anything for awhile, but her stomach broke the silence by rumbling. Jeff ushered her back down into her chair and went to the kitchen to try to salvage his pasta. When he came back he saw his fiancée admiring her new ring.
Presenting a large plate of pasta to her he whispered, "Milady."
"Milord."
AN: I've known several women who have had miscarriages. I can only imagine the emotional turmoil that one might go through and I hope that I dealt with the topic in a respectful way.
