jedichillwill: I like the way you think :ehe:

Guest 1: That's really nice of you to say, thank you so much dude. You have no idea how much that means :)

Guest 2: Well, remember, she did have a variety of symptoms, and the memory of what she and Lincoln did was on her mind. If I developed red bumps a few weeks after I was with a girl, I'd probably realize pretty quickly it's not just chickenpox.


Two lines. Who knew it only took two lines on a small piece of plastic to seal a person's fate?

Within the first immediate seconds of getting her results, Girl Jordan was hit by everything those two lines represented. They meant that she was pregnant, that there was a young boy or girl with half of her DNA and half of Lincoln's DNA nestling inside her. They meant that she would have to tell someone about the baby. A lot of someones, actually. Her parents swiftly came to mind, and she doubted she could hide it from her friends when her belly started swelling.

Lincoln. That was the important one. She knew that eventually, sometime close or far, she would have to tell him.

"I-I wonder how he'd react," she said in a stunned tone. She was feeling more emotionally numb at the moment, and she had the feeling she'd be getting hyper-emotional in a few minutes or a few hours. It's… it's what pregnant women do, she joked to herself.

But how would he react? Lincoln was a good person, and he had a history of putting other people's needs on his shoulders. Hell, he even had a history of taking care of babies and young children. But he also had a history of being flippant and self-serving. And then there was the question of how he would view her, let alone the child.

Girl Jordan sighed. She knew she was thinking crazy. Lincoln could react in a thousand different ways, and not all of them had to be bad. Some of them were, but some of them weren't. He was a real person, not a cartoon character. He had hopes, desires, dreams, expectations of ways of dealing with things. Girl Jordan was sure he'd adapt to being told he was about to become a teen dad. Hell, they were the lucky ones, now that she thought about it. They were both seventeen, about to be eighteen. They were bordering adulthood, if not already there. There was no reason for him to react super-childish to the whole ordeal.

That thought calmed her down. She looked up from the tiles on the bathroom floor and began to note how uncomfortable the toilet seat felt against her butt. She had been really pressing into it.

"Alright, Jordan, let's walk through this. You're having a baby, congrats. That's what evolution wants. Y-You should be thankful, some people can't have kids. So… what do we do now?" she asked herself.

Her family wasn't extremely religious, but she was Catholic enough to avoid thinking about… that. This baby was going to come out in nine months… well, more like six or seven. Maybe five, if it's early. The point is that she was going to have to live with this, so solutions started to pour in like rain.

"Cravings. That'll be a problem. I know I'm supposed to eat healthy, but am I supposed to have more veggies or more meat? And come to think of it, how much am I supposed to eat? And what should I drink with it, water or milk? And that's the easy stuff. How long am I supposed to sleep? I mean, I can sleep whenever I want now, but what about when I go back to school? Oh shit, school. Oh shit, am I allowed to say 'shit'? I don't want my kid's first words to be swears. How will they get into a good school?!"

A calm beat passed.

"I need to tell someone. They can tell me what to do."

Why not just use the internet?

Girl Jordan laughed. "Oh yeah, the internet. They'll just tell me that everything I do will cause cancer. Oh, and that the uterus is just a virtual simulation by lizard Freemason NASA employees."

Well, that just leaves the women in your life. You know… like your mother…

"Oh… right..."

Girl Jordan didn't know how Lincoln would react to her pregnancy, but she did know how her mother would react. She was upper crust people; the best of the best in Royal Woods. If she knew that her daughter had gotten pregnant at seventeen, by the hands of a POOR kid of all people, she would flip. Long story short, her mother wasn't an option. Maybe her father, who was a little more sympathetic and doting and kindly, but not her mother.

"And that leaves… no one," she whispered. "No one."

The feeling of closing loneliness began to constrict around her. She could feel her breathing start to increase slowly, and become more ragged. She closed her fist and put it on her chest as she heaved, and beads of sweat began to descend from her forehead. "It's not fair," she said to herself, closing her eyes tightly. "It's… it's just not fair! Why do other girls get to announce their pregnancies and get applauded, while I'm stuck in this fucking bathroom?! I can't even hide this forever! Why? WHY?! I was as careful as I could be!"

Her throat lurched again, and Girl Jordan fell on the ground, spinning quickly to open the lid of the toilet and expel her insides in the bowl. Acids ran down her chin like tears ran down her cheek. Her heart was sinking, and she wished she could sink with it.

"It's not fair..." were the last words from her mouth before she passed out on the ground.


When she finally came to, she shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair. She patted the back of her head, and it felt matted and poofy. Christ, can't I get a break?

She was feeling just a little better, though, so that was nice.

Her reflection in the mirror was haggard and pale, like a hostage in some dimly lit attic. She felt like a hostage. A hostage of… well, everything at the moment.

I think I need to talk to someone, she figured as she reached for her comb and shakily combed her hair.

But who? Who?

"Who do I trust the most in this town? Who do I like the most?"

Lincoln quickly flashed into her mind, but she dispelled that. She would need to talk to someone about talking to him at this rate. So her mind quickly flashed to the person she trusted second-most in the whole town…

Mollie.

"Can I really tell her about… this, though?" Girl Jordan grabbed her stomach and squeezed it lightly. "What advice could she even give me?"

It's better than staying cooped up in her with me. Any advice she can give is better than what I will.

"That's true."

It wasn't that bad of an idea, all things considered. Mollie was many things. She was abrasive, rough, snarky and a little, oh what's the word… absolutely intolerable at times. But she was also loyal to a fault, and could give decent advice when she wanted to. Plus, she had a secret soft spot for kids. She'd want to hear this.

"Great. I'll go tell Mollie right after I build up the courage to tell her!" Girl Jordan beamed.

Just call her.

"Hey, I'm the one who's about to embarrass herself and tell someone something really private. Give me a few moments."

If her subconscious could roll its eyes, it would have. Fine. At least you're not crying anymore. Must be those mood swings kicking in.

"Aren't mood swings supposed to appear later?"

You're a teen girl. You always have mood swings.

It was a good thing she did. If she didn't, she had no doubt she would be on the floor right now, with tears gushing from her eyes. Her mind was temporarily distracted by a glowing feeling of hope that Mollie would swash-buckle in and save the day, so she knew she had to capitalize on it.

The next moments were a blur (literally, she felt dizzy and the whole world seemed to spin together and turn into a multi-colored blur) but she found herself pacing back and forth in the living room, her thumb scrolling through a list of contacts until she reached her friend's number. Her breath hitched when she saw the number labeled 'Mom' right underneath it. "M-Maybe she'll never have to find out. Those trips in Asia take a real long time," Girl Jordan giggled nervously.

She summoned all her courage with a deep breath. Her thumb dangled dangerously over Mollie's phone number. She willed herself to push down on the button, but there was an almost gravitational force that kept her thumb hovering over the screen. "Come on, come on… Why am I still so nervous?"

She's not going to call me a slut… she's not going to call me a slut… she's not going to call me a slut…

With that semi-soothing phrase repeating in her mind, Jordan forced herself to push down on the 'call' button in a flash. She instantly regretted it, but kept her hand off the phone. It was too late, she realized with glee and embarrassment. Even if she did cancel the call, Mollie would still have gotten the message that she tried to call her. Girl Jordan carefully raised the phone to her face, listening to every buzz and vibration…

"Hey, you've reached Mollie. Only you haven't, cause I'm away right now. Uh… call back later. And by later, I don't mean two minutes later."

"Glad I forced myself to call her for nothing," Girl Jordan growled.

She tried again, with similar results.

"Do you take a message?" Girl Jordan asked the phone. "Because I got a message: Mollie, you SUCK!"

Two seconds later…

"Oh God, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean that, please forgive me."

You know it's not taking a message, right?

"Oh, right, forgot."

She turned her phone off and tossed it on the couch. Girl Jordan bit down on her finger, an anxious look crawling onto her face. For one reason or another, Mollie's phone wasn't working, but she needed to talk to her now. There wasn't anyone else she could turn to. Her foot tapped against the floor, filling the quiet living room with echoes, until she started pacing around again. She walked from the living room to the kitchen, and from the kitchen to the closet, and from the closet back to the living room.

Then she opened the door and headed straight for the sidewalk.


Knock knock

"Mollie, get up," Mollie's mother grumbled as she stood in her sleeping daughter's doorway. She rapped her fingers against the door, hoping to bother her daughter into waking. The teen groaned, flipping over in bed and covering her head with the blanket. Finally, she gave up and rose with a sigh.

"Morning, mom."

"It's hardly morning. It's almost afternoon."

"Is it?" Mollie reached to her side to check the small digital clock she kept on her bedside desk. She glanced at the large red numbers. "Wait, but it says here it's only ten in the morning."

"Ten fifteen."

"Still, it's not that close to afternoon."

Her mother sighed. "You know, you're the only one of your siblings like this. Your older brother is a morning person, and your younger sister is awake at five. Why can't you be like them?"

"Because Mike is a super-nerd that actually likes school, and Kat is a super-baby that wants to spend all morning watching cartoons."

Her mother rolled her eyes and left, just satisfied that Mollie was awake. The brunette growled as she stretched her slender limbs and hopped out of bed, taking off her sleepwear and putting on her usual pink shirt, purple jacket, skirt and boots. It was kinda her trademark.

Mollie practically hopped down the stairs, getting into the energy of the morning. "Well look who decided to grace us with her presence," her older brother Mike said as she entered the kitchen. "It's Sleeping Beauty, only without the beauty."

"So is that what you're doing with your English studies? Learning crappy insults? I bet you and your liberal arts buddies sit around with each other having 'serious' discussions about what you'd do to Sleeping Beauty's body if you found her."

Her sister Kat giggled, before slapping her iPad screen for the next cartoon. Mollie didn't like seeing that. She worried her sister was getting addicted to screens way too early. At least wait until you're a teen to get hooked.

She poured herself a bowl of cereal, splattering the wheat and chocolate with milk. Before her spoonful of carbs could even touch her mouth, she heard a vicious knocking at the door. She jumped with fright at first, as did her sister. This was either a really urgent mailman, or a robber trying to get in.

Mike, of course, didn't have the same paranoia nestled in his brain, so he got up and checked the door. His head popped around the corner for a second to say "Hey, Mollie, it's for you."

"Aw, I was about to eat!"

She grabbed her bowl and went to the door, finding Girl Jordan standing there, rubbing her arm nervously. "Hey, Jordan. What are you doing here so early?"

"Mollie, I tried calling you. Where the hell were you?!"

"Asleep."

"You really have an unhealthy sleep cycle."

Mollie shrugged in agreement, and scooped up some cereal to eat. "That doesn't answer my question, though. What are you doing here?"

"Mollie, I need to talk to you. Inside. Please."

The desperation in her tone encouraged Mollie to take a second look at her friend. There was something… off about her. She seemed nervous and sweaty, her hand constantly seemed to be in motion. And maybe it was her shirt but… did she gain weight? Not that Mollie was going to ask. Girl Jordan looked like she would tear her to shreds if she did. Hell, she'd tear her to shreds no matter what circumstances if she asked.

"I don't know," Mollie said. "I'm still a little tired, so I..."

"Mollie, I slept with Lincoln!" Girl Jordan blurted, knocking all the tiredness out of Mollie's body. "And I think that I..."

"Say no more. Come inside. And don't scream about that, I have a kid sister in here."

Mollie put a careful hand on Girl Jordan's back, and noticed just how toasty her skin felt. Something told Mollie that it was more than just summer heat.

In her room, Girl Jordan took a little prodding before she finally spilled everything. She told Mollie how she had put her in charge to give her a chance to seduce Lincoln. She told her how her plan succeeded. She told her how they had wrapped it up, but…

"Jordan… dude… y-you did make him wrap it up, right?"

"Of course I did. There must've been a tear or something..."

"Jordan, listen to me," Mollie put her hand on her friend's shoulder, drawing her in, "You have to tell someone that isn't me. You have to tell… well, obviously, you should tell him. It's his kid, he needs to know. But also, you need to tell your parents."

"No… no, I can't do that."

"Why not?" Mollie's tone seemed a little frustrated.

"Mollie, you don't know my parents. You have no idea how badly they'll react. Especially my mom."

"What's wrong with your mom?"

Girl Jordan trembled, though it didn't seem like a shiver of fright. It was more like… resentment. "I know the idea is that I should talk to her because she knows how to deal with pregnancies and babies, but… trust me, she doesn't She really doesn't care. When I was kid, she usually left me alone just so she could yell at some low-ranking employee in her company. Plus, she's really… what's the word? Classist?"

"Classist? I mean, Lincoln's not that poor. He doesn't have brains or muscles or a charming personality, but I'm pretty he has money."

"You don't know my mom. To her, anyone that isn't behind a gated community is poor."

"But… but you don't live in a gated community either!"

"She once said that she wanted to marry me off," Girl Jordan admitted with a sigh. "Marry me off, make connections, get us richer..."

"Do you honestly think she's that inhuman? Do you honestly think that, when her daughter calls her from home and tells her she's having a baby, she won't care?"

There was a pause. Girl Jordan wanted to answer an absolute, unwavering 'Yes' but something was keeping that word lodged in her mouth. "I… I..."

Don't you think maybe you're being a bit of an angsty 'I hate you, Mom' teen right now? You haven't talked to her in a while. Maybe speak to her before you start acting like she's the Wicked Witch.

"I don't want to talk to her," she finally said.

Mollie sighed, and rubbed her eyes. "Okay. So Mom doesn't work for you. Okay. How about your dad?"

"I… I guess I could talk to him. Although..."

"Although what?"

Girl Jordan groaned. "Mollie, how would you feel if you had to call your dad and tell him… tell him that you were at a party and slept with someone? You had to tell him, and listen to him, as you let him know that Daddy's little girl isn't a little girl anymore, and that she's carrying a little boy or girl inside her now? I can't… I can't do it. It's too weird."

Mollie had only met her father three times in her life, but she understood what her friend was saying. "Look," she started calmly, "I get that you're embarrassed. I get that this whole thing is confusing and frightening. I know you think you've let other people down. But listen to me here…"

Girl Jordan looked into Mollie's eyes, her pupils sharp and alert. Mollie coughed awkwardly before she continued.

"I think that you should at least try with your Dad. I also think you should try with your Mom, but that's a different story. You think you've let him down? You don't know that for sure. And even if you somehow did, even if he's so upset that he can't speak, you don't have another place to turn to. I know you want this kid, s-so all you can really do is prepare everyone around you for him. Or her."

"But what if..."

"I'm going to be here. So don't worry about a thing," Mollie said with a caring smile. "If they do the unbelievable and decide to disown you, I'll be right here for you. Hell, I'll even give you a place to stay."

"You will?"

"I mean, we don't have a pool or a billion rooms, but I think it'll be fun."

Girl Jordan laughed, and for the first time in nearly a day it was a warm laugh. "It'll be like a never-ending sleepover," she joked.

"And that's the worst case scenario! So what the hell are you even scared of?" Mollie chuckled besides her.

Deep down, both girls knew the serious ramifications of what could happen. But, at the end of the day, what is a good friend for if not to help you through the toughness of life?

She took Girl Jordan's hands in her's, and helped dial in the numbers to reach her father's phone. She waited for Girl Jordan to send the call, but she was still hesitant and frightened. With an understanding nod, Mollie pressed the button for her, then got up to leave the room, leaving Girl Jordan with her privacy.

With every shake from the phone, she felt more sick. When she heard the crackle on the other side, she nearly jumped up with fright. "H-Hello?" came a tired, older voice over the phone.

"Hi Dad… dy," Jordan tacked on at the end.

"Jordan? Jordan, honey, how are you? It's so nice to hear your sweet voice again."

"Th-thanks, Dad. Dad, listen, I need to talk to you about… something important. I need to tell you something."

"Oh oh, Jordan, I'm so sorry. I'd love to talk with you, but if it's serious stuff… well, I am a little… um..."

He didn't have to tell her. She could tell that he was hungover.

"Listen, sweetie, I have your mother right here next to me. I'll just hand her the phone-"

"N-No!"

"Hello? Jordan?"

When she heard the voice of her mother over the phone, her heart sunk immediately. She wanted to end the call right there, but she couldn't now. She had to tell. Tears were threatening to spill out of her eyes as she grit her teeth and said "Hi, Mom."

"Jordan? I overheard what your father said. Is everything alright?"

"I… I have to tell you something important, Mom. I wanted to tell Dad, but he's… yeah. I have to tell you."

"Well, what is it? I hope it's nothing too serious."

"Mom, what do you think about babies?"

"Well, when you were one, you were a bit of a handful. Always screaming, always crying, always throwing around your food… so many times I just didn't know what to do with you, so I just handed you over to the maid while I lay down..."

Girl Jordan's fists curled angrily.

"… But, if I'm being honest, Jordan, I do miss those days slightly."

The anger faded as quickly as it manifested. "Y-You do?"

"I wish I did things differently, then. Throughout your whole life, I've been so focused on work. The older you got, the more of an excuse I had to slip away. But when you were a baby, a beautiful, defenseless little baby screaming for Mommy, I had no choice but to scoop you up and protect you from all the things that scared you. And… it was nice to feel that close to you. To care for you. To… I'm sorry, I'm making this all about myself. I just want you to know that you'll feel the same way one day, when you have a child of your own. I know it'll be as amazing and beautiful as you are, and you'll feel the same."

"Do… do you know what I wanted to tell you?"

"No. But I have a motherly intuition about what it might be."

Girl Jordan smiled, and felt a warm blush spread across her entire body. "W-Well, I shouldn't prove your motherly intuition wrong. Mom, I… I… I'm pregnant."

There was silence from the other side, and Girl Jordan waited patiently for her mother's response. She was gripped with two feelings; cold terror and warm love. It was a game now, she felt. Which side of her mother would win over?

"Jordan, I'm flying back home at the soonest possible time," her mother started. Girl Jordan crossed her fingers, in fear of what might be said…

"But until I can be there for you… I… I honestly don't know what to say."

"Are you mad?"

"Not mad. No, I couldn't be mad. I'm about to become a grandmother! I am… I'm too overwhelmed."

"Aren't you mad that I slept with a guy you don't even know? How are you supposed to marry me off if I already have a kid?"

"What on Earth are you talking about?"

"I heard you once say that you wanted to marry me to some business tycoon. I know you wanted to increase our connections."

There was another moment of silence, before Jordan heard a sound she almost never heard from her mother.

Laughter.

"Jordan, Jordan… that was a threat to your father. I said if he didn't take me to the Maldives for some vacation, I'd marry you off to one of his rivals so he'd never see you again. It was a mean joke, I admit. I… I suppose I'm still a little insensitive towards you. I'm sorry."

Jordan couldn't say anything, too stunned she was by the revelation, so her mother carried forward. "I know I haven't been the best mother, as I've said, so I want to make it up to you now. I'll help you through these months. I'll do my best to stay by your side. That is… if you'll let me..."

"O-Of course I would," she said, her mouth quivering and tears of relief now pouring down her face. "I'm sure the baby would love to see her… grandmother."

"We'll talk more when I arrive. Take care of yourself until then, Jordan. And one last thing..."

"Yes Mom?"

"Does he know?"

Girl Jordan knew automatically who she was referring to.

"No. Not yet. I haven't told him."

"I see. We'll talk more when I see you in person, dear. Your father and I will. I love you, Jordan."

"I… I love you too," Girl Jordan said as the call ended.

She… didn't know how to feel. She felt like she was in trouble, much like a troublesome teenager, but at the same time… she didn't. Maybe it was her mother's maternal side coming out, but the news of a pregnancy, even a teenage one, didn't seem to faze her as much as Jordan thought it would. Hell, everything about her mother wasn't what she thought she would be like. Maybe… maybe she was wrong about everything…

"Told you your Mom wasn't as bad as you were making her out to be."

She turned around and saw Mollie standing in the door frame, arm pressed on the wood, a smug grin etched on her mouth. Without a single word, Girl Jordan stood up and shuffled over to her friend, and hugged her tightly. Mollie choked at first, but then smiled and patted the pregnant teen's back.

"Thank you, Mollie," Girl Jordan whispered into her ear.

"No problem. What else is a godmother for?"

"Godmother?" Girl Jordan asked as she broke the hug.

"Well, duh. Who else are you going to ask? Stella?"

Girl Jordan punched her friend playfully, and Mollie complained as she rubbed it.

You know, maybe things are going to turn out alright for me and the little one.


I know the ending felt rushed, but that has to do with what I'm about to tell you below;

I'll be taking a break from writing for a while due to the fact that I'm moving. It's a lot of work, and I'm struggling to write while I'm moving boxes, throwing out furniture and deciding which of my possessions must BURN!

So yeah, I'll be taking a little time to get everything in order. Hopefully, I'll get back to writing sometime in July or August. I'll also try to work on this story whenever I can. So until then, have a good one.