We're Having a Baby
It was the next day. Holden had been in surgery the past night. It took five hours for Dr. Mackenzie to piece her pelvis back together. She was in pain, but she knew that when she got hit by the car she wouldn't come out of it totally unscathed. She made the decision and was ready for the consequences.
"Where's your dad?" LJ asks nervously as he looks into Holden's hospital room.
"Sulking," Holden answers. "He can't deal with not knowing."
"Are you going to tell him?" LJ asks as he carefully sits down on the bed next to Holden.
"I don't know if I can," Holden answers as she rests her head on LJ's chest. "He will be so angry."
"What about someone else," LJ suggests hopefully. "Could you tell me?"
"No!" Holden replies frantically. "I'm sorry… it's just I'm having trouble dealing with it myself… I won't be able to tell anyone until I deal with it first, I'm so sorry."
"It's okay," LJ says. "I'm here when you're ready."
"Thanks," Holden replies. "So where is everyone?"
"Back in the Hollow," LJ answers. "They all have work or school."
"When did they leave?" Holden asks confused. She had been out half of the morning because of the surgery.
"Sometime this morning," LJ answers. "They saw that you were alright after your surgery, so they headed back to the Hollow. It's only mom, Jess and me here now."
"That's good," Holden replies. "I don't want them all spending their time in the hospital."
"What about me?" LJ asks as he pouts.
"You can stay," Holden answers. "I need someone to keep me company, and what's better than having my boyfriend, huh?"
"I'm glad you're alright," LJ says as he kisses the top of her head.
"Yeah, me too," Holden says as she lets out a sigh.
"Can you tell me anything about what happened?" LJ asks Holden hopefully.
"Sure," Holden replies. "I knew I was going to get hit by the car… and I stick by my decision. It did happen too fast though. I didn't have enough time to proper assess the situation."
"What do you mean?" LJ asks confused.
"I wasn't supposed to get this badly injured," Holden answers as she let out a little laugh. "I was just supposed to have a broken leg."
"What happened?" LJ asks confused.
"I didn't take into account the brick wall behind me," Holden explains sadly. "It wouldn't have been a big deal if I had realized… I wouldn't be in as much pain as I am now."
"Holden?" LJ asks quietly.
"Yeah," Holden answers.
"Was it Logan?" LJ asks carefully. "Was it my dad that hit you?"
"No," Holden answers. "I wish it was that simple… I didn't know the driver."
"Good news and excellent news Ernie," Jess says coming into the room. "What one do you want first?"
"The great news," Holden answers.
"No," Jess explains. "I said that there was good and excellent news, not great."
"Okay then," Holden replies confused. "Good news then."
"They caught the guy that did this to you," Jess says happily. "A guy called Mark Warner."
"That's good," Holden replies disinterested.
"Holden?" LJ questions.
"It's nothing," Holden replies. "I knew that he was going to get caught… it just doesn't really change anything. What's the excellent news dad?"
"We're springing you out of here tomorrow," Jess says excitedly.
"Yeah that is excellent news," LJ agrees.
"Sure is," Holden replies.
"Hey Holden," Dr. Mackenzie says coming in with Rory. "I've just been discussing your homecare with your mom."
"No, I'm-" Rory begins but Holden cuts her off.
"That's fine," Holden says smiling warmly at Rory. "Go ahead."
"We're going to keep you here until tomorrow, let your pelvis heal some more before we move you," The doctor explains to Holden. "We took another MRI this morning and the bleed on your brain has disappeared and you don't seem to have any brain damage, which is good. When you go home though, you're going to be on bed rest for two weeks. So your pelvis can heal properly, luckily it heals pretty fast."
"That's fine," Holden replies. "I understand."
"Well I think that's all you need to know," Dr. Mackenzie tells her. "Your parents have been filled in on everything else. Signs to look out for, your medication, all that. After the two weeks you can move around, but take it easy."
"Shouldn't be too hard," Holden replies. "My legs are fully incased in plaster."
"Well yes," The doctor says. "But I'm sure you could still manage to get into some mischief."
"You have no idea," Jess answers.
"Yeah," Rory agrees. "No more playing hockey."
"Hey," Holden argues. "There is such a thing called wheelchair hockey… I think."
"If there isn't than we'll invent it," Jess tells his daughter.
"Just try and take it easy," Dr. Mackenzie tells Holden. "Don't have too much fun, we don't want to see you back in here for a long while."
"Of course," Holden replies. "Thanks for everything."
"My pleasure," Dr. Mackenzie says as he leaves. "I'll see you tomorrow before you leave."
"Sure," Holden answers as Dr. Mackenzie leaves. "Hey dad, LJ, can you give Rory and me a minute alone?" Holden asks.
"Sure," LJ replies as he kisses Holden and then gets off the bed.
"Don't be long," Jess warns as he leaves the room with LJ.
"What did you want to talk about?" Rory asks Holden once the others were gone. "Is this about what happened to you?"
"No," Holden answers. "I'm still trying to figure that one out. But I am in the process of finding someone to tell though… I know that I need to tell someone, I just have to figure out who."
"That's good," Rory replies. "So what was it then?"
"You're pregnant," Holden tells her.
"Did you hear me?" Rory asks confused.
"No," Holden replies. "I just knew. Anyway you need to tell dad."
"Umm," Rory falters. "I don't know… I'm not sure how he would take it."
"You see how he is with me," Holden explains to her. "He loves me so much and I know my dad, he wouldn't want to miss a minute of the pregnancy."
"Why are you so keen on me telling your dad?" Rory asks confused.
"No reason," Holden replies.
"Sure," Rory scoffs. "Miss I never think anything through."
"Okay, you got me," Holden replies. "I know if you tell dad then he will be preoccupied… it's not that I don't like him caring for me, it's just with the accident and everything… I need to deal with some stuff without him. Plus I figured that I would never be able to leave home, you see how he gets when I'm not there, maybe this baby will be my get out of jail free card… give him someone else to love while I'm off at college or wherever."
"Okay, I see your reasoning," Rory says. "So when exactly do you have in mind for me telling him?"
"In about 10 seconds," Holden answers.
"10 seconds?" Rory questions confused.
About 10 seconds later Jess and LJ come back into the room.
"So what were you talking about?" Jess asks Rory impatiently.
"Oh," Rory replies. "Not much."
"Actually," Holden tells her father. "Rory has something to tell you."
"You do?" Jess asks confused.
"Yeah," Rory answers. "Here's the thing… I may be… well actually I'm pretty certain that…"
"That?" Jess asks nervously.
"I'm pregnant," Rory answers.
"Really?" Jess asks excitedly. "With my child?"
"No," Rory answers. "There's a slight possibility that it could be Taylor's… of course it's yours."
"I'm so happy," Jess says as he kisses Rory and then picks her up and spins her around. "How far along are you?"
"I don't know," Rory answers. "Maybe a couple of weeks."
"Thank you for telling me," Jess whispers in her ear.
"Alright you two," Holden tells them. "Go out and celebrate."
"What about you?" Jess asks his daughter concerned.
"I have to enjoy my last day in the hospital, who knows when I will be back," Holden explains. "Plus LJ will keep me company, though by the look of him I might have to explain where babies come from."
"Hey?" LJ protests. "I can't process things as fast as the rest of you.
"Just go dad," Holden tells him.
"Right," Jess says happily. "We'll be back."
"Bye kids," Rory says as Jess drags her out of the room.
"So my mom and your dad are…" LJ begins as he lies down on the bed next to Holden.
"Having a baby," Holden finishes for him. "Pretty cool right?"
"I guess," LJ replies. "But it's slightly weird. The poor child will grow up thinking that it's alright for brothers and sisters to date."
"Sure," Holden agrees. "Well we'll just have to tell the kid that you're adopted."
"Not funny," LJ says as he lightly tickles Holden.
"Stop," Holden says in between laughs. "Ow!"
"Sorry," LJ says stopping. "Are you alright?"
"Sure," Holden answers. "I'm just in pain, shattered pelvis and all… the morphine doesn't seem to be doing much."
"Should I get the doctor?" LJ asks her.
"No," Holden answers. "I can live with the pain, its fine."
"Are you sure?" LJ asks again.
"Positive," Holden answers. "You're a good distraction from the pain anyway," Holden says as she kisses LJ.
"Good," LJ replies as he pulls out of the kiss.
"So when are you going back to school?" Holden asks LJ sadly as she laces her fingers with his.
"I'm not," LJ replies happily.
"What do you mean?" Holden asks confused. "You can't not go to school."
"I'm still going to school," LJ replies. "It's just that we are both being home schooled for a while."
Home schooled?" Holden questions.
"Yeah," LJ replies. "You're going to be out of school for a good eight weeks with your shattered pelvis and broken legs, not to mention physiotherapy on top of that."
"Make sense," Holden agrees. "So who's our teacher, mom or dad?"
"Both," LJ answers. "They said and I quote, 'We'll fit you in between our busy work schedules'."
"What work schedules?" Holden replies amused. "All they do is sit at home all day and do nothing."
"What are you talking about," LJ says. "They often go to the diner."
"Oh," Holden replies. "My mistake."
"So do you hope that they have a boy or a girl?" LJ asks Holden happily.
"Don't know," Holden answers. "A girl probably, then I won't be dad's baby girl anymore, he can lie off a little. What about you?"
"Boy," LJ answers. "And for practically the same reasons as you, though I know that mom would like a girl."
"We'll just have to wait and see then," Holden tells LJ. "Maybe we'll get lucky and they will have boy girl twins."
"Hmm," LJ replies. "That'd be pretty cool. Do you think that they will let us help them with the names?"
"Sure," Holden says. "But watch out if it's a boy, my dad will try to name it Earnest."
"Doesn't matter," LJ replies. "Mom hates Hemmingway, she'll never let him have his way."
"I love you Lucas, you know that?" Holden tells Lucas.
"I know, I love you too Holden," LJ replies. "What's brought about this display of affection anyway?"
"I'm sorry…" Holden begins. "I'm so sorry for what I put you through-"
"It's alright," LJ replies cutting her off. "I trust you, I know you had to do it, and in due time I will find out what happened."
"You'll be angry," Holden tells him.
"I won't be angry," LJ reassures her as he puts his arm around her and draws her close.
"Everyone's going to be so angry," Holden repeats as she buries her face in LJ's chest.
