Okay, so here's Emma and Jay at prenatal!!

Disclaimer: I own nothing...

When Emma and Jay had entered the makeshift 'classroom', both were surprised by the number of couples. There were probably twenty altogether, and every single one was married. Thank God for Jay! Emma thought as she scanned the room. Jay handed her a name tag and pointed to his. He had scrawled Outta Wedlock on his and was laughing hysterically. Emma shot him a dirty look until he took off the sticky paper and made a new one with Jay on it.

"You're no fun," he whispered, motioning to a few chairs by the door. "In case we need to make an early exit."

"You can't skip out on prenatal!" Emma scolded, sitting down and shaking her head at Jay. Maybe this had been a mistake.

"Are you scared too?" a small male voice beside Jay asked.

Jay turned to the nervous looking guy. "What?"

"Nervous? About becoming a dad?" he asked, a small bead of sweat dripping down his high forehead.

Jay shook his head. "It's not rocket science."

The guy looked shocked by Jay's answer. "Well no, but it's huge. I mean it's such a change. My wife goes and tells me we're gonna have a baby. Wanna know my reaction? I fainted. I mean, dead fainted. I've never passed out in my life, but the thought of how my life is gonna change, totally floored me."

"Change?" Jay asked, slightly amused by this guy's ranting.

"Forget sleep. Babies eat, like, every two or three hours. And that's if they don't have colic."

"Colic?"

"Horrible! It's where the baby cries, like, all the time. And money? I mean have you seen how much a package of diapers costs? Cribs, change tables, toys, clothes? You can't even wash their clothes in the same detergent as your's! You like to go to the movies?" he asked. Jay shrugged. "No more just going out. Now you have to get a reliable sitter! Dude, our lives as we know them are completely over!"

Jay turned his body away from this guy and looked at Emma. She was already digging in her bag of tricks to find something to eat. How was she going to do this by herself? Sure, with the account Jay had given her access to, money was not going to be an issue, but time? Where would she get the time to have and care for this baby and be in school? It wasn't like she cold take a full year off from college. He suddenly felt sure that he needed to be there for her, in whatever way he could.

Emma found the granola bar she'd been searching for, grabbed it, and looked over at Jay. The colour had drained from his face. "You okay?"

Jay nodded, but kept his open-mouth stare.

"What?"

"I don't know. I just feel scared," he admitted.

Emma smiled, trying hard not to laugh at Jay's sudden bout of nerves. She reached over and rubbed his hand. "It's okay. They start out light, I promise."

"Aren't you the least bit scared?"

Emma nodded her head, her blond tresses bouncing over her shoulders. "Of course. But I can't concentrate on that right now. I have to just prepare for the journey ahead. I'll face the milestones as they come."

"You are so brave!" he exclaimed, wrapping an arm around her neck and tugging her head close to his, so he could place a kiss on her temple. "Totally awesome!"

"You must be newlyweds?" the nervous guy's wife asked Jay and Emma.

"Newlyweds?" Jay asked.

She smiled at the two young people. "You still have the romance. I can see it when you look at each other. How long have you been married?"

"We're not..."

"Four and a half months," Jay answered with a big smile, putting his arm around Emma's shoulder.

"And pregnant already?" the lady asked with a smile. "Must have been some honeymoon!"

Jay smirked wickedly. "Never left the hotel room!"

Emma gave him a look. "Jay!"

"Oh come on, honey! We're all adults here! Where are my manners? I'm Jay and this is my wife, Emma."

The whole class continued this way, with Jay acting like the concerned husband and Emma trying not to crack up. Their newfound friends, Greg and Hannah, had no idea that they were two teenagers, one still in high school, and the other engaged to her best friend. That would have blown their socks off. But Emma was glad to have Jay with her. His personality charmed everyone and his jokes had most of the men in stitches.

Luckily this first class was mostly just an introduction to pregnancy; things to be aware of or watch out for. Jay paid particular attention and even took notes on a small notepad they were given in their start-up kits. If he wasn't sure about something, he actually raised his hand and asked. Emma was completely blown away.

As they left the building, saying goodbyes to their new friends, Emma burst into laughter. Jay helped her into the car with a smile.

"Who was that?" she asked as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"Who was who?"

"That! That guy in there!"

Jay laughed. "I can be bearable sometimes, can't I?"

Emma's face turned serious. "You're more than bearable, Jay. You're a lifesaver."

"Cherry or lemon?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "Quit making jokes. I'm trying to sincerely thank you for tonight. For a little while there I was able to pretend like my life wasn't actually as bad as it really is."

Jay stopped at a stop light and looked over at Emma. By the shade of the red light in front of them, Jay couldn't quite make out Emma's expression. "It's gonna be okay. And just think, if you'd actually let me help you out more, it would get even better."

"We have no choice, Jay. It's one thing to pretend like we're this happily married couple in front of a bunch of strangers, but it's entirely different when we're talking about people we love and care about. Nothing has changed," she admitted.

Jay chose to remain silent for the rest of the trip to Emma's house. He helped her out of the car, walked her to the door, and then left without muttering much more than, "See ya". When he was back in his car, speakers blaring, and on his way home, he allowed himself to give in to his emotions. Why wouldn't she let him in? This was his baby too! To hell with Manny! He didn't want to be with her anyway!

But as Jay let himself into his apartment, he saw Manny's heeled shoes sitting by the door and heard the television on in the living room. Manny was a part of his life now and it was just something he had to get used to.