Chapter Two
Eight weeks later Aria was crying her eyes out as she lay in bed. Her life had just gone to Hell. Everything with Jason was fine, they were a couple again, but it was still early days. College was fine, she only had one more year of it to go before she got her degree. But the big problem was growing inside of her. Yes, at twenty one years old Aria was pregnant and absolutely devastated about it. In her eyes, her life was over.
She was so shocked when she found out. She'd been so busy with college she didn't even realize her period was so late. She took four pregnancy test, two were negative and two were positive. Aria didn't know which one to believe so she went to the doctor who confirmed the earthshattering news.
Even though Aria was far from ready, she had decided right off the bat that she was keeping the baby. In her eyes, this might be her only chance to ever have a child of her own. Two years ago she was in an awful car crash with Emily. It was a dark, stormy night and they were driving down an old highway when out of nowhere a large truck carrying huge tree logs crashed into them, sending them crashing down to a watery ditch. The truck driver was killed instantly when the truck flipped over six times. Emily was injured badly. She cracked open her skull, broke two of her legs from where the tree crashed onto the front of the car, fractured two vertebrates in her back and had to stay in a medically induced coma for a week. She was fine now.
Aria had broken every single rib in her body. She had broken her foot so badly the doctors said that they might have to end up amputating it, thankfully it never came to that. But the worst news of all what the internal damage. The bleeding stopped without surgery but the doctors said that Aria's uterus had been damaged to the point where she may never be able to have a baby of her own. At first she didn't mind too much. Being only nineteen at the time, motherhood was the last thing on her mind, and she wasn't even sure if she ever wanted a child ever. But the more she thought about it, the more it depressed her. She was afraid that no guy would ever want to be in a relationship with her if she wouldn't be able to give him a baby at some point. After a while she just accepted that she had to get used to being alone forever. Even getting close to Jason again these past few weeks were tough, she didn't know whether to bring it up or not, she decided not to.
Because she went to college at Hollis, Aria was still living at home with her family. Byron insisted that it was a complete waste of money to pay for rent on an apartment when the college was only twenty minutes away. But now that she was having a baby, she had to start thinking about other living options. Living at home was okay but it had its downside, her dad had married Meredith and she was basically the devil.
Aria called Jason and told him she had to see him. They met in the park. Sitting on the bench in front of the lake, she told him. His jaw dropped and he went pale. Aria was so worried about his reaction. "Are you sure?" he asked.
Aria nodded. "Yeah, I went to the doctor. I don't know what to do. I feel so confused."
Jason gulped. He looked so nervous. "Are you keeping it?"
"Yes, this could be my only chance to ever have a baby. I have to keep it."
"Your last chance? What do you mean?"
"Do you remember two years ago when I was in that car accident? Well, I had internal injuries. The doctor told me I might never be able to get pregnant. Even though I'm not really sure if I even want to be a mother, I have to go with it and see what happens." Aria pushed her hair back and sighed. "I'm going to be a horrible mother. I'm not warm enough."
Jason took her hand. "You'll be an amazing mother and I'll be there for you no matter what. I mean it."
Aria smiled at him. "Thanks, we'll see. So, do you want a boy or a girl?"
"A boy. I like sports and wrestling. I don't know what I'd do with a girl."
"I'd like a girl. But after the accident I just want the baby to be healthy."
Jason tensed up and Aria noticed. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, this is just happening way sooner than I thought it would. We're going to be a family. It feels weird. In a good way."
Later that day Aria met up with Mona, Hanna, Spencer, Emily and Alison. They were all supposed to meet up like they did every week to catch up. Mona was going on about a new pair of shoes. Hanna was gushing about Caleb's chest hair. Spencer was boasting about exam results. Emily was just listening and Alison was sipping on a low fat milkshake.
"So what about you Aria?" Ali asked. "How are things going with Jason?"
Aria tensed up. Two of Jason's sisters were at the table. She might as well tell everyone now. "Fine. I um...I uh, I have some news," Aria watched on nervously as her friends leaned in wondering what she was going on about. "I'm going to have a baby."
Her friends' jaws dropped down to the floor. "You're pregnant? Oh my God, how far along are you?" Hanna shrieked, nearly choking on her water.
"Eight weeks."
"But that's how long you and Jason started dating again," Mona was putting the pieces together. "Oh my Gosh you little slut," she joked. "You had sex with him the night we went to that club together two months ago, didn't you?"
Ali covered her ears, pretending to be offended. "Okay, I don't really like to hear about my brother's sex life?"
"Wait, you knew he was there?" Aria asked.
"Yeah, I saw him," Mona said nonchalantly. "And apparently you did too."
"Aren't you worried about stretch marks?" Hanna asked coyly.
"Forget about stretch marks, what about college?" Spencer brought things back to reality.
"It's not a problem. I'll graduate a few weeks before I have the baby. And it's not as if I don't have enough money to take care of the baby." That was true. Last year, Aria's wealthy grandfather had passed away and left her three hundred thousand dollars and a four bedroom house in his will. It was incredibly kind of him as Aria was very close to her granddad was devastated when he died. Aria wasn't too fond of the house he had left her, though. It was in a suburban town only twenty minutes away from Rosewood but was very spooky looking. Aria used to spend summers at her grandparents' house as a child and could have sworn it was haunted. It was very pretty though and if it came to it, she might just end up living there when the baby's born. Also Jason came from quite a rich family himself and had a very generous trust fund and inheritance. "And a degree isn't even that important to me. I know everyone says it's really hard to get published but I'm pretty certain my writing career will work out. I've been working on something really good and it's really finished."
"We're all really happy for you. Surprised, but happy." Emily smiled sweetly. "So how are you taking this? After the accident you kind of just expected to never have kids. You must have been so shocked."
"That's the understatement of the year. I actually feel really stupid." Aria admitted. "After I was told I couldn't have a baby I stopped taking birth control. Maybe if I hadn't of been so reckless this wouldn't have happen."
"Wait, so you guys didn't even use a condom?" Spencer was not impressed.
"Yes we did. Twelve actually."
The girls mouths dropped opened. Hanna was the first to speak. "Twelve times in one night? Jesus Aria, no wonder you like him so much."
Aria blushed. "Hanna? Don't say it like that. It makes it sound dirty."
Alison smiled deviously. "I bet it was dirty, very, very dirty." All the girls giggled. "Seriously though I'm really happy for you and Jason. He hates showing anyone his feelings but he's always adored you."
"So you are happy about this, right?" Spencer asked. "You never thought of not keeping the baby?"
"Honestly, I was devastated when I found out. I didn't want it at all. Under any under circumstances I would seriously my options but this could be my only chance to be a mom. It's better to do it now than never at all." Aria was really trying to convince herself that it was going to be okay. It might all be happening sooner than she had expected but maybe that was a good thing. She loved Jason and they were going to be a family. What could be so bad about that? If it went wrong, well, that's just life, but she was just going to see what happens.
Although Aria was now eighteen weeks pregnant, this was her first scan. She'd just been too preoccupied with college and other stuff to actually make an appointment. As she sat in the waiting room with Jason, she felt so nervous. Jason noticed and asked her what was wrong. "What if there's something wrong with the baby?" she admitted her fears. "The doctors said I could never have children, what if the baby doesn't have a heartbeat when they check." Despite voicing her concerns, everything so far seemed okay. She had a small, yet definite bump, so the baby was definitely growing. "Oh god, what if he tells me I'm going to have to have a c section. I don't want my stomach to be cut open."
Jason grabbed her hand reassuringly. "Relax, everything will be okay. You're healthy, so the baby will be healthy. And if anything is wrong I'm sure you're in good hands with the doctors here." Even though he tried to remain calm Aria could tell he was nervous too. "Everybody probably feels like this when they see their baby for the first time."
A few minutes later they were called into the doctor's office. Dr Foreman was a grey haired man with a friendly, wrinkled face. He welcomed them, asked them medical questions and told Aria to lie down on the table for the ultrasound. He squirted ice cold jelly over Aria's small bump and began to inspection. Instantly there was a heartbeat. "Okay, now that's a very good heartbeat." He pointed to the screen. "That's your baby, right there."
Aria looked at the screen. It was tiny, like a little alien but it was her baby.
"Can you tell if it's a boy or girl yet?" Jason asked.
The doctor nodded and smiled. "I sure can." He stared at the screen for a few seconds and delivered his verdict. "I wouldn't be in a hurry to run off buying blue clothes, just yet, because that little baby right there is a girl."
Aria couldn't conceal her smile. A boy would have been fine but a girl was absolutely perfect. She looked over at Jason and couldn't help but laugh quietly to herself. The poor guy looked petrified and confused. He wanted a boy. "It's a girl Jason, are you happy?"
"Yeah," is all he could say. "I don't know how to raise a girl."
The doctor chuckled. "You say that now but believe me, having girls is much easier than having boys. When girls grow up they'll still want to hug you and spent time with you. Boys on the other hand they tend to be a little more distant. That's my experience anyway. I have two daughters and a son." The doctor continued to move the ultrasound stick around Aria's stomach. "And you might just get the boy you want, let me just take a look at the other baby."
Aria gasped and Jason looked like he was about to pass out. "The other baby?" He said. "They're twins."
"Yes, seeing as this if your first scan it's not surprising you didn't know. But yes, you two are going to have twins." He stared at the screen. "And it's another girl by the looks of it. Congratulations you two. I'll leave you to get dressed. I'll have my assistant write you out another appointment card."
"Well, that was shocking." Aria couldn't believe it. "Are you okay?"
"Two girls?" Jason was in a daze. "Yeah, I'm fine. Are you alright?"
"I don't know, I mean, maybe." Aria didn't know she felt. She went from not being able to have any kids t having two. "I'm sorry that at least one of them isn't a boy. I know you wanted a boy."
Jason shook himself out of the daze. "No, don't say that. I'm the one who should be sorry. Acting like the gender is the only important thing, that was selfish of me. I just wanted a boy because I thought it would be easier. I love you and the babies."
Aria giggled. "Yeah you can play house with us, dress up, Barbies, you can be their life sized Ken doll."
Jason laughed. "They're going to like sports, though. I'll teach them how to swim, how to play basketball, football. It's not all going to be twinkle light garden parties."
Please Review. It would mean a lot to me. Tell me what you think should happen next?
