The Coopers, the Stepfords of Riverdale. High School Sweethearts who got married and got two beautiful daughters, Polly and Betty.
Until Jason Blossom happened.
And now, we hear from the person closest to him leading days towards his disappearance, Polly Cooper.
How a casual conversation turned into an epic forbidden romance. How, for reasons still murky, their respective parents tried to tear them apart. How their breakup is short-lived. Polly learned that she was pregnant with Jason's baby. How they became secretly engaged, with his grandmother's blessing and their heirloom ring. And made plans to run away together to start a new life. And now their dreams of escape went up in flames.
"Polly's convinced that no one wants her baby," Betty told us as we are in the student lounge. "Besides the child-snatching Blossom monsters," Kevin said. I cleared my throat and gestured to the Blossom girl that is sitting next to me. "No offense, Cheryl," he adds in, realizing his mistake. "None taken." Cheryl spat out.
"So, your mom and dad want Polly, but not the baby, and the Blossoms want the baby, but not Polly. It's a true Gordian nod." Jughead comments. "It's...an impossible situation," Betty says. "Betty, an impossible situation is being invited to the Vanity Fair Oscar party and Elton John's Oscar party on the same night." Veronica inputs in. "Which happened to be one year, I know," Veronica told a star-struck Kevin.
"This is merely an annoying situation, but luckily, I've been park leading on an idea. Hellishly simple on its conception. What if my mom and I were to host a baby shower?" Veronica asks. "Count me in." Cheryl pipes in.
"You want Polly to feel loved and supported, right?" Veronica asks. "Right, ideally by her own parents." Betty rebuffs. "Okay, so baby steps, girl. Get Polly and your parents in the same room, in a public setting where they can't fight, and voila, let the healing begin." Veronica says. "Am I expected to come to this thing?" Jughead asks. "Of course. You're Betty's boyfriend, so…" Veronica trails off as she sips her coffee. Everyone went quiet after she said that.
"Oh, my God, guys. Relax. It's just a letter that starts with the letter B." Veronica says to everyone before turning to a beaming Betty. "Betty, what do you say?" Veronica asks. Before Betty could reply, her mom storms into the student lounge.
"Elizabeth Cooper," she says, sternly. "Mom," Betty replies within the same tone. "I need you and you, right now," she says, pointing to Betty and Veronica.
"Well, I think a baby shower's a great idea." my mom commented as we were sitting down for dinner. "Knowing Polly, she's gonna invite Mrs. Blossom and Mrs. Cooper," I told her. "Well, let the bloodbath commence," she says. Isaac's phone went off all of a sudden.
"I gotta go." he abruptly says as he stood up. "Isaac, where are you going? We're just about to eat." my mom was telling him. "Andrews needs my help with something," he says as he leaves the house.
Later that night is the baby shower. My mom and I stepped into the Pembrooke and into the Lodges' luxurious apartment. "Hermione, I love what you did with the place." my mom says with a glowing smile. "It means a lot, Viv." Mrs. Lodge replied as we fully entered the apartment we had set our present on the table and walked off.
Then, in an unexpected twist, Mrs. Cooper showed up. After a moment between Polly and Mrs. Cooper, Cheryl barges in with a baby carriage. "We're here!" she announces, getting everyone's attention. "No big deal. It's only the best stroller that money can buy," she says as Mrs. Blossom rolls Nana Rose in.
"So...expensive," Polly says. "All I ask in return is that you make me the baby's godmother," Cheryl says. Betty clears her throat, signaling that she is most likely the baby's godmother. "Kidding," she says as there is hesitant laughter filling the air. "So not kidding." she mused out as she walks away.
Later on, Betty, Mrs. Cooper, Val, Melody, Veronica, Cheryl, Mrs. Blossom, and I were all gathered around Nana Rose as she is dangling a jewel necklace above Polly's head. "This necklace reads the baby's aura. Predicts the sex." Nana Rose says. "Nana Rose has dementia and Gypsy blood." Cheryl mused in.
"Oooh." Nana Rose says. "What? Is my baby okay?" Polly asks. "Babies. It's twins. One of each." she says. After that, Polly is now opening up her presents. Polly opens up Mrs. Cooper's present, which is a nightlight that she had when she was little. "Alice, that was very lovely." my mom inputs in.
"Open our's next, dear." Mrs. Blossom says. Then, Archie comes in, unexpected. He walks up to Jughead. "Excuse me for a moment, mom," I said as I was walking up to Archie. "You were protecting him. That's why you didn't tell me." Archie says. "Relax. What happened?" Jughead asks, confused.
"Archie…" Betty says as we are trying to diffuse the situation. "Did you know that Jughead's father is a Serpent?" Archie asks Betty, who clearly didn't know. "No…," she says, distantly. "So what if he's a Serpent? People are still humans no matter the cost." I snapped at him.
"Do you know that Ember Washington is a Serpent as well?" he asks me. "As a matter of fact, yes. But you don't see me giving her shit about it." I hissed as I now stormed out of the party.
After I left the baby shower, I was in my room doing my homework, then a knock came on my door. "Paige, can I come in? It's mom." I hear my mom say through the door. "I guess." I quietly say as she opened the door.
"Did you want to talk about what happened at the baby shower?" she asks me as she sat on my bed. "Not really. I'm just sick of all of this fighting." I said. "Don't have to tell me twice," she says. "But honey, I don't think it's a good thing to be friends with that Ember girl anymore," she adds in, catching me by surprise.
"Honey, I don't want you to make the same mistakes that I did," she adds on. "Those same mistakes help you meet dad," I told her. "I'm trying to help you," she says. "You always told me to fight what I believe in. You know for a fact that the South Side is the scapegoat of every single imperfection, especially the Serpents." I told her.
