Chapter Thirty-Six:
XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXD
After a Hellish twelve-day straight, Ryan and Jessica finally had a day off with each other. The morning was spent lazily, with a lot of sleep involved. Ryan had long since decided to switch sides of the bed with Jessica, only to stop her rolling over in her sleep, attempting to squash the poor baby. Now she ended up sleeping half on Ryan's chest and half on Ryan's side of the bed, which he didn't mind on account of her stature and weight. Or lack there of. His OCD, however, hadn't taken too kindly to the incomprehensible change, and most nights he spent a good forty minutes trying to sleep, where he ended up toying with Jessica's hair until he drifted off to the land of nod. Jessica rolled over onto her back and sighed, sleepily. The sunlight poured in the blinds, leaving little bright lines all over the place. She had originally contemplated getting up and closing the curtains entirely, but really her desire to lie down and gaze up at the ceiling outweighed her annoyance at the sunlight. Ryan was still mostly asleep, yet Jessica felt startlingly awake. She was now about to roll into the fifth month of pregnancy, and she was, weirdly, enjoying it. Almost everyone in the lab knew about the pregnancy. Except for Horatio, Stetler and maybe the night-shift. Nikki and Valera had kept their word and never once told anyone. The morning sickness/nausea was becoming less frequent, and she was hopeful that it would stop entirely. She moved in closer to Ryan, letting her hand rest atop his chest. He stirred slightly; it was too hot in the room, and for some Godforsaken reason, it was unnaturally bright. He groaned and got up, eyes still closed, and shut the curtains over. It was much better that way. He moved back over to the bed and lay down again, facing Jessica. Eyes still shut, he smiled widely.
"Morning, Jess." He said, lazily. Even when he was dog-tired, his eyebrows still moved about as much as they could. Jessica grinned and shifted onto her side, idly letting her hand wander onto her now-swollen stomach. It wasn't as big as she would've liked, but it was fine. And Horatio hadn't noticed. Ryan quite liked it...after all, it was a kid in there, he had to remember. And, it actually suited Jessica.
"Hello, Ryan." She shut her eyes and felt Ryan's arm over her hips, sending tingles throughout her body. She knew he had been trying desperately - despite her best efforts to explain to him that it was all okay and above board - to go anywhere near her stomach. At first, it had annoyed her and it was thoroughly inconvenient. But lately, she'd come around to the way of thinking and that it was incredibly sweet of him.
"What time is it?" Ryan rubbed his eye and yawned. He knew there was something major happening today, but he couldn't quite remember what. Jessica looked to her other side.
"After eleven." She stretched. Pretty soon she'd get up and have a shower, make breakfast and all that other jazz. "I've gotta get up...you do know we've got a parenting thing today, right?"
Ryan snapped one eye open. Ah, yes. The parenting class. His mother had set it up for them, thinking she was doing good. His sister had taken him baby-shopping, and his father had given him mountains of tips, most of which he had forgotten in a panic. He had a plan, and he was definitely going to put it in motion soon. Maybe even today... "Ahh, what time? Two...okay. Okay. I can do that." He bolted upright. Jessica arched an eyebrow, still not opening her eyes.
"You can lie back down, you know. I'm not going anywhere." Except to the bathroom. Added weight on your bladder? Not fun. So she left for a few moments, and then returned to find Ryan with his head in his hands, on the phone.
"Yes, Mom. Don't worry, I'll do that- yeah, yes!" Ryan sat up straight and shook his head. He adored his mother, he really did - but she really was irksome at times. "No, she doesn't. 'Cause I just do! Fine, I'll ask." He put the phone in both of his hands and inwardly envisioned himself slamming it against the wall. He turned to Jessica, who was standing at the en-suite door, smiling slightly. He tried to force away the thoughts that he was having about her standing there in a very small, very attractive camisole. He swallowed and raised his eyebrows. "Jess, do you wanna visit my mom tonight? She's lounging, and she says she needs to speak to you."
Jessica shrugged. She'd never had trouble with Ryan's mother. Lilian Wolfe had always been perfectly nice to her. His father, Tom, had always been a quiet sort. They both thought highly of Jessica, but they were shocked about the pregnancy. They had since gotten over it, however. "Yeah, sure." She smiled and sauntered back over to the bed.
Ryan rolled his eyes to himself and nodded. "Yeah, we'll be there. Seven-ish? Great, okay. Bye, Mom. Love you, too. Bye." He switched the phone off and lay down on his back, arms behind his head. Jessica shifted back so as they were almost conjoined at the side. Ryan put one arm around her and put his head on top of hers. "I'm sorry about her."
Jessica laughed. "Ryan, she's lovely. You don't have to apologise." She'd stressed this to him thousand of times, but he still felt that it was necessary. She crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed. "So, I'm thinking Bump'll have to sleep in here for a while."
Ryan frowned. "Bump?" This was new to him.
"Bump." She nodded. "What did I tell you about naming the baby before it's born? Bad luck - you'll jinx us. So, Bump. It isn't really a name...but it's better than calling it, 'It'."
Ryan smiled and moved towards Jessica. He put his arms around her waist and planted a light kiss against the back of her neck, then down on her shoulder and then he paused. "Want me to stop?"
Jessica arched an eyebrow and squeezed her eyes shut. "No, no, no..." But of course, he did. He pulled back and plopped his head against the pillow. Jessica rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "You're mean."
"You're pregnant." Oops. Those words just emitted from him before he'd thought. He wrinkled his nose and Jessica widened her eyes.
"Oh, no, you did not-"
"Sorry, sorry...I'm sorry." Ryan said, insistently, encasing his face in his hands, not making a move to sit up. Jessica moved onto her side, glaring at him. Slowly but surely, he brought his hands away from his face and smiled feebly at Jessica. "Sorry?"
Jessica sighed. "That is discrimination. Seriously, you're worse than Delko." She inwardly rewarded herself. That would get to him, and she knew it. He frowned and rolled over onto his back.
"You don't mean that." He hated it when he got compared to Eric. Eric was a pig. He was his friend, sure, but it still didn't meant that he wasn't a complete pig when it came to certain things. Jessica smiled to herself and put her arms over Ryan's stomach.
"No, I don't. I love you." She exhaled and shut her eyes again. "But I will not forgive you for calling me pregnant."
Ryan furrowed his brows. Call him an idiot, or call him a genius for his next move, but, damn it, he had to say something immediately...and he knew Jessica wouldn't approve of it. "I love you, too...but you are pregnant."
Idiot!
XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXD
Ryan and Jessica exited the Hummer and headed over to the front of the nursery. It was painted pink, which thoroughly disconcerted Ryan. Was there no boys in this place? And if so, who on earth would paint a nursery for girls and boys...pink? Of all colours, pink. Jessica walked shyly towards the door. Jeez, there were a lot of cars. She sincerely hoped there wasn't going to be any tests. She couldn't handle a test. Ryan sauntered up to her and clutched onto her hand. He looked down at her, and she glanced up at him and they smiled. Ryan glanced down at Jessica's stomach. She'd started wearing her old baby-doll shirts, that gathered in at the top, hugging her chest nicely, and swayed out at the stomach, losing the illusion of the bump and, strangely, Ryan missed it. Jessica pushed open the door and flicked a strand of pure black hair out of her way. She halted when she saw the huge line of expectant women and their heavily-peeved-looking partners. Ryan also stood behind her, eyebrow arched and mouth slightly-open. Jessica moved back a couple of steps and nudged Ryan.
"You know, if we sneak out right now, I don't think they'll miss us..." She whispered above the buzz of the crowd in front of her. Ryan glanced down at her and smiled, feebly. He couldn't do this, oh, no...and, for sure, his mother was dead. Well, she would be when Jessica saw her. Oh, God - his mother. He knew exactly what she would say; she would ask him how it went, and why didn't he go, and then, well, wasn't he just the world's biggest wastrel? And Jessica! How could she miss out on such an opportunity? Selfish, foolish kids. God knows how they'd ever cope with a baby now. For some reason, Lilian Wolfe didn't think that mother's could bring their children up naturally, and they needed a full class before they could even feed said child. Florence Lucas, however, was pretty much a Devil-May-Care lady whenever it came to parenting; and Ryan had to concur. He shook his head. They'd get less hassle if they just went in.
"It...might be fun. Besides, we could miss something important." Ryan muttered, glancing around the long, narrow corridor. He placed his hand on Jessica's back and guided her, hesitantly towards the crowd. She rolled her eyes and moved ahead. The first thing she noticed: everyone had a bigger bump than she did, and she was uncharacteristically envious. Ryan noted that all the men looked highly worn out, and very fed-up. The woman were pretty scary, and most of them were shooing their partners away. Once more, Jessica and Ryan glanced at each other before Ryan put his arm around Jessica's neck and then they sauntered up to the back of the queue. Many angry mutterings from in front could be heard.
'Honestly, John, you are hopeless! Why I married you is beyond me, and do not touch me. I'm too hot. An what is that God-awful smell? Did you spray that junk on yourself again? I'm gonna be sick.'
'Jane, Honestly, I love you. No, I didn't mean it! I wasn't, I swear! Look, you're over-reacting. Seriously? Honey...baby...fine. Be like that. No, -I-I didn't..."
'Frank! Put the cigarettes down. This is nursery, for God's sake. And no! No! Put that down. Frank. Put it down! Oh, for the love of - put it down! Put. It. Down. Thank you. Asshole. You heard me!'
'Lucy, do not test me. Stop saying that. You're like a broken record. I don't know, and fine, maybe it is my fault but I don't recall you complaining last year when we went to that convention. Oh, fine.'
'Aw, would you look at that- Dave, were you looking at that woman? Yes you were. You were, weren't you?! Oh, my God, I knew it. I totally did. I mean, of course you don't find me attractive. I'm an elephant and guess what - so's she!'
'Alice! I wasn't looking! I swear! I love you...yes, I do. More than you. No...okay, maybe...no, never. What? Tsk. Don't listen to her. I know you're related to her, but it doesn't mean she's truthful. You worry too much, babe.'
After a few moments, everyone had gathered into the large room full of chairs and seats. Ryan couldn't believe how much these pregnant couples argued. It wasn't even huge arguments, it was just tiny tiffs over ridiculous things. One man forgot to buy crackers, and, God love him, the wife absolutely ripped him a new one. Thankfully, Jessica hadn't been too bad. Of course, she had burst into fountains of tears over a broken glass, but hey, he didn't expect a garden of perfectly red roses all the time. In fact, he'd expected worse. Much worse. If anything, Ryan had been the emotional one. He'd snapped at Delko and Cooper a few times, which he wasn't too proud of, but Jessica really wasn't any of their business. Ryan sat Jessica down on a small sofa and sat next to her. The teacher, Mrs. Hurley, was a tall, skinny rake of a woman with perfectly maintained hair, pink nails and a very sharp grey suit. She didn't exactly look motherly, but Ryan wasn't sure what exactly a parental unit was supposed to look like. Normal, he guessed. During her speech, Mrs. Hurley paced the room, talking with her hands and her eyebrows.
"Now, everyone. Welcome to the Lakeview Parenting Classes. This is the first of four and today, we'll be doing an introduction. I'm Lucy Hurley, and I've got five children. Sadly, they're all grown up. What I'm going to teach you will surely come in useful one day. The years of parenthood are definitely the defining years of your life. Some people take to it like a duck to water, and some...well, some need a gentle shove in the right direction." Lucy Hurley sat down in a chair at the head of the room, suspiciously close to the door, making Ryan wonder if she was about to do an Al Capone by locking the door and taking out a baseball bat. He swallowed nervously and sat back, eyeing Jessica up quickly. She looked the very epitome of worry, so he inched on closer to her. There was an unearthly silence for a few seconds before Lucy began speaking again. "Now, there are thirty expectant mothers in this room...may we start with names and then we'll get right down to business." All in all, the introductions took about eight minutes, and Jessica must've checked her watch a thousand times in the short space of time before she discovered the whole room was looking at her.
"Oh, uh, I'm Jessica Lucas and uh, I'm five months pregnant. This is Ryan Wolfe. He's the father." She pointed her finger towards Ryan, who waved nervously. Thankfully, everyone glanced over to the very young couple next to Ryan and Jessica and began to pester them. Finally, Lucy returned to her speech. Everyone but Ryan and Jessica listened intently for a while until Lucy sat down again.
"...and you girls may think your men are plain, old, useless. But really, you've gotta hand it to them. They're trying to adjust to the new change and it's gotta be difficult for them..." And so she rambled on the useless-father route for a few minutes, and Ryan wondered if he should kill himself right now with a noose or a gun... "And, honestly, I'll bet he means well, but you girls won't see it that way..." Noose would be less messy, definitely. "...and you must tell him how you feel, no matter how tired you are, you must ask for his help. Yell at him if you must!" This woman couldn't bring him down any farther if she tried. Ryan didn't want to be yelled at. In fact, he was one-hundred-percent positive that no one in the room wanted to be yelled at, so he really didn't understand why Lucy had to talk about this. In a sudden flash of madness, he stuck his hand up in the air, stopping Mrs. Hurley in her tracks. "Yes, Mr. Wolfe?" Holy cow. She knew his name. She really was The Devil. Maybe Lucy was just a front, and Lucifer was on her birth certificate...
"Uh, well, I was just listening to what you were telling us and, uh..." Ryan laughed nervously, and rubbed his eye. "Well, actually, I don't really see why you have to talk about it. I mean, everyone's different, and, like you said, some people take to it really well and some don't. But you're basically calling all us guys here...useless. And I don't agree." At least, that's the impression he was getting. Lucy put her hands on her hips and Ryan half-expected the very ground underneath him to open up with the sheer penetration of her gaze into his eyes. Jessica tried to sink farther into her chair, but it was impossible.
"Well, Mr. Wolfe- Ryan? Can I call you Ryan?" She asked, and he nodded in reply. "Well, Ryan, dear, I understand what you're saying, but I don't agree with you. What I meant earlier was that some men aren't the fatherly type, and some are. From past experiences, however, most fathers are thoroughly useless. Sure, they say they'll look after you and your child but, pah! The next thing they're off with their buddies and they'll be back soon, but they never are, and here you're left holding the baby - literally - and your back hurts, your boobs are sore, you're walking like John Wayne and the baby will not stop crying!" Lucy was unhinged, and walking violently across the room. At least one woman had started crying, and every man in the room's heart had, literally, ceased beating. Jessica wrapped her hand around Ryan's arm and squeezed. He looked down at her and blinked. He was incredibly sorry for even thinking about asking Mrs. Hurley the question. Suddenly, a tall, skinny, dark-haired woman entered the room and removed Mrs. Hurley, announcing that she, Nicole Fenley, would be taking over the class for a while. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the news.
"Okay, uh, I'm Nicole...I'll be teaching you for a while. I'm sorry about her. She's had a tough life. Anywho, has anyone got any questions?" The man from earlier, Dave, raised his hand and frowned. "Yes, Sir?"
"Is she on drugs?" He motioned to the door, slightly worried about the latter teacher. Nicole chuckled.
"No, unfortunately. As I said, she has men-issues. Uhh, you there, black-haired woman with the unbelievably cute shirt." Nicole pointed to Jessica, who smiled.
"I, uh, I was just wondering, uh, are we actually gonna learn anything today? We've got an hour left, so..."
Nicole stood up and slapped her hands together. "Yes! Well, pretty much...uh...we should try exercise and things, right? Anybody up for that?"
About three quarters of the hands in the room shot up and Nicole nodded. Soon enough, everyone was on the floor, women leaning against their partner's chest. Jessica leant her head against Ryan's neck and sighed. God, she needed to pee. She sighed again and placed Ryan's hands from beside him and put them besides her legs. He leant down to her and whispered. "Hey. How's it going?"
Jessica looked up, also whispering. "Good. Apart from the crazy-lady with the deep-seated loathing for men. Did you honestly have to say anything to her?" She furrowed her brows. Ryan sighed.
"Well, she deserved it. That was no kind of a speech to give to a guy that's never had any experience with kids before. Not unless you want the poor guy to run away and hide." He moved his hands onto Jessica's hips. "Anyway, it got rid of her, didn't it?"
Jessica smiled. "Yeah, true...God, I have to pee. This kid really likes pushing on my bladder for some reason..." She shifted her weight so as her stomach was no longer dependant on her bladder, and Ryan resisted the urge to move away from her. Nicole started instructing everyone to make like they were in a boat, rowing. Of course, she was making it all up as she went along, but it couldn't do any harm. "You know, this would be ten times more fun if we were naked." Jessica muttered. Ryan laughed, disbelieving of what he'd just heard. Jessica had changed a lot over the past year or so, but all for the better; she'd become less dependant, but she was definitely her old self. However, she'd never been as rowdy as she had become over the last few weeks.
"Tell me about it." He chuckled. Nicole left the room suddenly, hurriedly, and returned back about three minutes later, leaving everyone to pretend they were rowing in a very, very small boat. "You think we could leave now?" Ryan whispered right into Jessica's ear, and she quickly snapped her eyes open. She glanced around, looking for the beginnings of a plan. And suddenly, a little plan simply formulated right in the very depths of her eyes.
"Alright...I'm gonna go to the bathroom, wait for me for a few minutes and then come get me, okay? If anyone asks - you're worried to death about me and you have to see what's going on, okay?" Jessica scrambled to her feet and headed across the room. Ryan sat back and sighed. The young couple that had previously been sitting beside them had once more been paired up with Ryan and Jessica. The boy, Jake, an eighteen year old self labeled 'goth kid' with dark hair and all-black clothing shifted next to Ryan.
"Psst, dude?" He nudged Ryan, who glanced up at him and furrowed his brows.
"Yeah?" Ryan asked, shakily. Jake and his girlfriend, Molly, also eighteen years old with dyed-pink hair moved closer again so as Ryan's arm and Jake's arms were almost touching.
"Did your chick do a runner?" Molly arched her eyebrow, her button-nose wrinkling as she did so. Ryan laughed and rubbed his ear.
"Yeah, she did. She's, uh, in the 'bathroom'." Ryan whispered, glancing around the room again. In a place like that, who would know who the next person to have an outrage was going to be. It was a room absolutely packed to the gunnels with hormones, and usually very scary ones at that. There wasn't one man in the room - not even Jake - that hadn't experienced some sort of unusual argument/experience with their partner that sometimes ended in tears of laughter, or tears of thorough angst. Jake and Molly nodded, and Molly shot up like a volt of lightning and announced very noisily that she needed to pee. Jake nodded, smiled and leant back. He sighed and yawned.
"So...pregnancy. What's up with that?" Jake asked, trying to make a conversation. Places like these could do serious damage for a guy's reputation, so maybe if he talked to a cool-looking dude, then he'd be fine. Ryan arched is eyebrow and nodded.
"Yeah, it's, uh, crazy stuff." He shifted his gaze to the clock above the door and then checked his own watch. He wondered for a split-second what in the world he was doing sitting there, in what looked to be an unused gym, on the floor on his own, chatting to a kid about pregnancy. "When's your girl due?" Ryan nodded to the door. Jake adopted a dreamy look in his eyes and cleared his throat.
"Four months. November-ish. Late November, she said. You?" Jake glanced at Ryan, his electric-blue eyes boring mainly onto the clock on the wall. He couldn't wait any longer to leave, and he wasn't the only one.
"Uh, the same. Had any major tiffs yet?"
"Yeah. She threw her hair-straighteners at me. While they were on." Jake leaned forward and shoved his fringe out of the way, highlighting a thin red line across his forehead. "Burnt me right there. Let me tell you, that hurt for quite a while."
Ryan nodded. "Ouch. Uh, does, uh..." He arched his eyebrow and Jake pulled out his wallet.
"Molly Reynolds. I'm Jake Roberts." He extended his hand whilst also opening out his wallet, showing an ID that definitely wasn't a fake, judging by the photo. Ryan shook his hand and smiled.
"Ryan Wolfe. Does Molly ever just burst into tears?" Ryan sincerely hoped that he wasn't alone in this scary process. Jake nodded, sadly.
"All the time, bro." He sighed, heavily. "Just this morning, we were walking along Flagler and she just- poof! Started crying. I mean, like, these tears came from nowhere. I asked her what was wrong and she said she was so happy. I guess it's not a bad thing, right? I mean, maybe it means everything's going fine for them. Do you know why they do it?" Jake asked Ryan, all seriousness. Ryan shook his head. This kid was going to need a lot more than classes if he wanted to be a parent. But Ryan actually felt a sincere amount of respect for the boy. Unlike Delko, he didn't judge teenage parents, and had never had a major argument with any of them, either.
Ryan shook his head. "No, I don't. But hey, you're probably right. I'd worry if she acted normal on a daily basis."
Jake smiled and glanced at his own watch. Everyone in the room had stopped rowing, and started talking to each other. "What's your wife called?" He thought Ryan had said Jess, but he may have been wrong...it did occasionally happen.
"Uh, Jessica Lucas. She's not my wife, exactly..." Ryan shrugged. "I should probably go and 'check on her', now. It was nice meeting you, Jake." Ryan quickly got up off the floor, groaning slightly as he did so. He paused, looking down at the boy. He knelt down next to him and pulled his wallet out, and then whipped out a small card and handed it to Jake. "Here...if you guys need anything, don't hesitate to call, alright?"
Jake grinned and took the card from him. Ryan didn't know why the boy in front of him affected him so, but he really wanted to take the two of them under his wing and make sure they were alright. Maybe it was his paternal instincts finally kicking in. Unlikely, but... "Hey, thanks, man. I mean, Mr. Wolfe."
Ryan stood up again. "It's, uh, it's just Ryan, okay? Try not to get hit with any electrical products again, by the way." And then he headed out to the 'bathroom'.
XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXD
Jessica and Ryan arrived at his parent's house a while later, and Jessica was in no fit state to have an in-depth discussion about the parenting class, nor Mrs. Hurley. Ryan, however, never once closed his mouth all the way to the Wolfe estate. Jessica smiled to herself, eyelids heavy with exhaustion. The whole day had tired her out, somehow, and yet she was thoroughly contented with herself, and with Ryan, and with Bump. Lilian Wolfe greeted them at the large front door. Herself and Tom had worked easily for several years to create as large a house, and Ryan had to wonder where on earth they got the money from. They sure as Hell never had it when he was younger. Ryan worked four jobs just to put himself through college, and then he had to move in with them again after a long time on his own, purely in an attempt to save some money for himself. Ryan exited the car and hurried along beside Jessica. Jessica smiled and greeted Lilian, promptly receiving a large embrace from the latter.
"Jessica, dear, how are you feeling? Has the sickness worn off yet? And the class! How did it go? Did you enjoy it, Ryan?" These were the sorts of questions that they were asked just as soon as they stepped into the room. Lilian walked them right into the living room, still chatting to them from the adjoining kitchen as she scrambled to make coffee. And decaffeinated tea for Jessica.
"I'm fine, and yes, the sickness has, uh, pretty much stopped. The class..." Jessica sat down and looked at Ryan, hoping the words would jump into her brain. Ryan shrugged.
"The class was...different. How long have you known Mrs Hurley, Mom?" Ryan sat back, arm around Jessica, pulling her against his chest. Lilian sat down in front of them - behind the humongous table - and handed them their drinks. She was a short woman, her hair trying to decide if it's blonde or platinum white, with a friendly smile and permanently arched eyebrows. The room was large, but slightly old-fashioned, with it's large, ornate fireplace and dramatic red-rug in front of the fireplace. The sofas were black leather, and a deep mahogany table took up most of the floor space.
Lilian sat back, cradling her newly-made cup of coffee. "Well, now...Lucy Hurley and I used to go to school together. Then we went to college, and Lucy was at out wedding. Oh, Ryan, you remember her, don't you? She gave you a ride to school a few times, when me and your father had business to attend to." She placed the coffee on the table, eyeing Ryan curiously. Ryan frowned. Surely he would've remembered her. How on earth could he forget her? He shook his head. Nothing came to mind.
"No, I don't. What happened to her?"
Lilian laughed, nervously. "What do you mean, dear?"
Ryan rolled his eyes. "Mom, she's crazy. I just mentioned something to her and she flipped. Didn't she, Jess?" He nudged Jessica, who nodded, being rudely taken from her day-dreaming. She'd been not-so-subtly peering around the house. She had only ever been to the house three times, and never once was it the same room twice.
Jessica nodded, quickly. "Yeah, she started yelling about useless men were, and one second they're there and then the next they're off drinking in some pub or another. It was kinda...scary."
Lilian frowned, and sat forward. "Alright. What I'm about to tell you, you cannot repeat to anyone, got it?" Ryan and Jessica looked at each other and nodded. "Right. Good. Now, like I said, I've known Lucy for nearly forty-five years, give or take...and we know everything about each other. I mean, I've told that girl things that I wouldn't tell Tom. Anyway, when we were at college, Lucy started seeing this man, Daniel. Daniel was a jock, if you will. Extremely popular, and not just with the ladies, if you know what I mean. They dated for a few months, and she was happy, really. The next thing; she was pregnant. She broke the news to me first, then Daniel, then her parents. They all decided that it'd be best for her health if she just kept the baby, as long as she felt she was completely responsible." Lilian sighed and took a swift sip of coffee. "She was seven months pregnant when she caught Daniel. In bed. With another man." She glanced off to the other side of the room, despairingly. Ryan widened his eyes and nudged Jessica, who had let her mouth gape for a few moments. "For the sake of the baby, she let it slide."
"She let it slide? Jeez, I don't know how she could've..." Jessica trailed off, shocked by the sheer scandalous nature of it all. She had only ever seen things like this in the weirdest of cases or the True Movies channel. Lilian scoffed.
"Oh, she's a tough girl, she could handle it. Anyway, she had the baby, and everyone thought that it was the pure image of happiness. Until Daniel started drinking. It was a curse for him, and Lucy was left with the baby. She needed his help, understandingly. I mean, Ryan, you were rambunctious, and Hayley was no better than she should've been, but your father was always there for me. So Lucy turned to me, and I helped her out as best I could, but I had just started seeing Tom, and so I hadn't the time for that and Lucy. Of course, Lucy and Daniel stayed together for about six years before anything happened. They had another four kids, two girls, three boys. I stayed over a few times, and Daniel would come home, blind drunk, shouting the odds. One night, Lucy just gave up. She yelled at him that he was never there, he always said he'd come back soon and help with the kids...but he never did." Lilian finished off, sadly.
"Wow." Ryan said, simply. Lilian nodded, and a very long silence followed before they began speaking again. "So, uh, where's dad?"
"Oh! He's down in the garden. I should really get him in-" Lilian stood up.
"Oh, no, it's alright. We'd better head home now, anyway." Jessica stood up and pulled Ryan with her, hand protectively atop her stomach. Lilian exclaimed sharply. They'd only been there for forty minutes or so, and that wouldn't be acceptable.
"I forgot to ask, how's the baby? And how are you?" She rushed over to Jessica's side and pushed her down again onto the sofa. Ryan rolled his eyes and checked his watch. God, his mother could talk. Jessica cleared her throat.
"Yeah, we're great. The doctor said we're very healthy, and everything's great."
"Oh, good, good...Ryan, my dear, will you leave us alone for a moment, please?" Lilian turned to Ryan and smiled. Ryan, now in a state of discombobulation, shrugged.
Women. Tsk. Would he ever understand them?
XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXD
A/N: Hi all! Sorry for leaving it so long to update...been a tad busy!
Anyway, I'm sorry if I've offended anyone in this chapter. I like pregnant women, really, but I had a sort of...run-in a year ago with one, and they kinda scare me now. Plus I think it'd be fun, doing all those classes and all! And I like goth kids, too! So no harm to anyone!!
Thanks to all my reviewers, and the people that have alerted this fic, it really means a lot, but, but, but - I'm in a hurry and it's getting uber-late over here, so I must go! 5, 535 words in this chapter, so I definitely hope I get at least four reviews and then I'll be past the hundred mark! Woot!
Have a great rest of the day, please press Fred - byeee!
JauntyChick
PS: Long chapter is for a reason, got a whole other fic to pay attention to! Sorry! I'll try and get a chapter done by next week, though!
PPS: Nikki!! Discombobulation! Wooo! And Suzie, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.