Betty's pov, a week later while teaching; 19 weeks pregnant

"Okay, and so-" I say, before I'm interrupted by my phone ringing. "Sorry, I thought I had it on silent," I say, grabbing my phone off the desk to check it.

I look at the number and realize it's Juju's preschool. "Oh, actually I have to take this, um... I'll be right back, just outside of that door," I say, and quickly step out of the classroom as I pick up the phone.

"Hi, is this Mrs. Jones, Juju's mom?" Juju's teacher, Miss April, asks.

"Yes, hi. What's up?" I reply.

"Well, Juju said she wasn't feeling well, and she has a little bit of a fever, so you're gonna need to come take her home," Miss April says.

"O- oh," I say. "I'm at work right now but my lunch break is in ten minutes, I'll be there then," I say.

"Okay, thank you," Miss April cheerfully says.

"See you soon," I say, and hang up.

I walk back into the classroom, focused not on what I'm teaching but on where Juju will go. My mom is busy, Fp is at work, I can't take the rest of the day off and I can't leave her home alone. That left one option: having her in the class with me.

Could I even do that? I have to think it over. Three minutes before the class is supposed to end, I dismiss them and quickly run down to the office.

"Hey, my daughter is sick and I have to go pick her up from preschool but I have nowhere to bring her and I was wondering if I could just keep her in my classroom for the rest of the day?" I ask the principal nervously.

She studies me for a second. "Just this one time. She can't be here next week," she responds.

"No, of course not. Thank you so much!" I say, smiling gratefully.

"It's no problem," the principal smiles.

I run out and find Jughead's classroom now, just as he's dismissing a class.

"Hey," I say, walking past a few students.

"Oh, hey, what brings you here?" He asks, smiling, his eyes sparkling.

"Juju's preschool called and she's sick, I'm gonna go run over there and pick her up, and she can stay in my classroom for the rest of the day," I explain.

"Oh wow, want me to come with you to pick her up?" Jug asks me.

"Do you want to?" I ask him.

"Yeah, sure, I mean she's my daughter, plus I have no commitments here," Jug says.

We turn around to see a nervous-looking student a few feet away from us.

"Oh, Grace, hi, what do you need?" Jug asks her, his face turning slightly red.

"I didn't really understand this," Grace points to something in the book for Jughead to see. "And I was wondering if you could explain it a little better to me."

"Of course," Jug says, then looks up at me. "Change of plans, I can't go, but tell me how she is when you get back."

"Definitely," I smile. "Bye. Good luck, Grace," I say, and turn and walk out of the room.

I get to Juju's preschool quickly and run inside to the nurse's office.

"Mama!" Juju says weakly.

"Hi baby," I say, squatting and hugging her. I stand back up to talk to her teacher while still holding Juju's hand. "How has she been feeling?" I ask.

"She said her head and throat hurt, and she has a little bit of a fever," the school nurse replies.

"Aw baby, I'm sorry,'' I say, brushing some hair out of Juju's face. "Okay, I'm just gonna take her home now, thank you for taking care of her." I smile at the teachers, and then Juju and I walk out of the school together.

"So Juju, I can't take you home just yet, because there's no one there, so instead we're gonna go to my work, and you can hang out there for a few hours while I teach the last few classes, then we'll go home, okay?" I explain as I get Juju into her car seat then climb into the car myself.

"Okay," Juju replies, playing with a small toy she was holding.

We get to the school a few minutes before the lunch break is over, and I quickly get Juju settled at my desk before letting students into the classroom.

"Hi everyone, I hope you're all having a good day..." I say, knowing they're all concentrated on Juju, who's coloring on some paper I gave her. "So you may have noticed there's another person here today," I gesture to Juju. "This is my daughter Juju, she's gonna be here for the rest of the day, but she won't disrupt the class or anything, so don't worry." I smile.

I teach the rest of the day normally, Juju not making any noise at all and staying very well-behaved.

"Thank you for being so good today Juju, you were very helpful," I say as I pack up my stuff.

"You're welcome," Juju smiles, her voice softer than usual and slightly hoarse.

"Okay, we're gonna go get your dad now, and then go home," I tell her, and we walk to Jughead's classroom.

"Dada!" Juju cries, and runs to hug him.

"Hi Juju!" Jug says, picking her up. She wraps her legs around him, holding on to his neck.

"Ready to go?" I ask Jughead.

"Yep," Jug replies, grabbing his bag.

The three of us walk out of the school together, since most of the students had already left, and the few that were still there barely looked up as we passed.

JB's pov

My phone gets a notification, and I look down at it. I see it's from instagram, and open it before checking exactly what it is.

It takes me to a DM from Lydia, one of the girls in my grade I rarely talk to but who's in a few classes with me.

"Hi JB, I just saw your brother walk out of the school with Miss Cooper and a little girl, and they looked kind of comfortable, if you know what I mean, and I was wondering if they're together or something? Also, who is the little girl?" the DM read.

I stared down at my phone in disbelief. What was I supposed to say to that? I had already read it, so saying it didn't go through was out of the picture. Leaving her on read for too long looked suspicious as well.

Finally, I knew what I had to do. I shut Instagram and went to contacts, where I called Betty.

"Betty?" I ask..

"Hey JB, what's up?" She replies.

"Um... it'll be easier to explain in person. Can I come over for a few minutes?" I ask.

"Sure, of course. Want a ride? I can come pick you up if you want," Betty offered.

I hesitate. My first instinct is to deny it, but I realize I do want her to come. I love Juju so much, but I wanted time alone with Betty. She's like a sister, and I don't spend much alone time with her because she has Juju.

"JB? You there?" Betty asks.

"Y- yeah. Um, you picking me up would be nice. Are you sure it's no trouble?" I reply.

"No trouble at all. Okay, where are you?" Betty replies.

"Pickens Park," I answer.

"Great. I'll see you in a few minutes," Betty says, and hangs up.

I sit on a park bench for about five minutes before I see Betty pull up.

"Hey, JB, it's nice to see you" Betty says softly, gesturing for me to sit in the passenger seat next to her. "Here, just put your stuff in the back," she says, taking my bag and putting it in the back seat of the car.

"Thanks," I smile. "How- how are you?"

"I'm good. You?" Betty replies absently.

"Good. I'm good," I reply, twisting my hands together in various shapes.

"So what did you need to talk about?" Betty asks, looking at me, concerned.

"Um, someone saw you and Jughead walking out of school today with who I assume is Juju, and they asked me if you guys are together or something," I anxiously tell Betty. "And I was wondering what to tell them."

"Ah," Betty said. She seemed to think it over. "They ask who Juju was too?" She asked.

"Yeah," I reply.

"Well, tell her the truth. Simply though. Don't give her more information than she asked for. Just answer her questions without lying, because if she finds out you're lying she'll be mad at you. Tell her the truth but volunteer nothing," Betty instructs.

"Okay," I say. "That sounds like it came out of a parenting book"

Betty laughs, which I'm grateful for. "Yeah, I saw it in a few parenting books about telling you kids deep things when they ask. I mostly looked at them for telling her about Archie, if she finds out and asks," Betty replied.

"Mm," I reply, and awkwardly look out the window.

"Do you wanna go to the store with me? I need to buy stuff for breakfast tomorrow. We can go to Target or something and you can help me pick out some baby clothes. I need to start shopping for them, he'll be here before we know it. Or I can drop you off at home first, if you have something going on," Betty offers.

"Um, yeah, sure, I'll come, that sounds fun," I agree.

"Great," Betty replies. She has her eyes focused on the road the whole time, barely looking at me.

I call my dad to tell him where I am and that I'll be home in about an hour, and by then we had made it to Target.

Betty and I walk inside, going to the food aisle first, because that's what was most needed.

"Have any ideas on what I should make?" Betty asks me.

I shrug. "I don't know. Get what sounds good," I suggest.

She thinks for a minute. "French toast. I don't make it much, Juju'll be happy," Betty says.

I smile. "Sounds nice."

We get the bread and eggs, since they already had milk, cinnamon, and sugar at home.

"Okay, now for the fun part: baby clothes!" Betty says happily, and we walk over to the aisles of baby clothes and toys.

I hang back a bit, unsure of what to do.

"Pick out a few things. We don't need a lot yet. I just wanted to get a few things because we haven't really started shopping for him yet. I'm just scared I'll be, like, thirty nine weeks and realize that we haven't gotten him anything yet. We need a crib, and diapers, and bottles, and one of those swing things, and toys and pinkies and all sorts of other things. It's crazy. Getting a few things now, even if it's just clothes, might help settle my nerves," Betty rambles as she looks through the shelves, throwing a few things into the cart.

"Mm. Babies need a lot of stuff," I observe, looking through a few clothes options as well.

"Definitely," Betty laughs. "Plus we have to re-learn all of the stuff we did with Juju. Like, we have to baby proof the house and adjust to no sleep again, and now we have to do that with a preschooler as well. It might be different now though, because Jug and I didn't live together while I was pregnant with Juju," Betty says.

"It's so weird to think that I hadn't met you five years ago. I feel like I've known you my whole life," I tell Betty, throwing a tiny monkey onesie into the cart.

"Oh, that one's adorable," Betty says, looking at the onesie I had just put in. "Yeah, it feels like it's been much longer than four years," she agrees.

"Have you thought about where you're gonna put this baby?" I ask her.

"Just in our room. We'll move soon, like in a year or two, into a bigger house we'll probably live in as our kids grow up. For now, this house works. Plus, moving while pregnant would be awful. And we've got to buy all of this extra stuff for the baby and for doctor's appointments and then hospital bills once he gets here. Thankfully, though, I'll be having the baby in mid-May, so I'll only be off for about three weeks, then we have all of summer and I can go back in September. It works out perfectly," Betty explains.

"Yeah, it really does," I agree.

"Okay, I think that's enough for today." Betty glances at the cart. "Do you want to walk around a little bit more? I kind of feel like walking around more," Betty asks me.

I shrug. "Sure, I can walk around," I reply.

We walk all around the store a little more, and soon I notice Betty looking at me curiously.

"Are you doing okay? You seem quiet," Betty asks me, and we stop walking.

"Yeah, no, I'm fine. Just... don't feel much like talking," I reply.

"Huh," Betty pauses. "Want to feel the baby kick?" she smiles.

I grin. "Yeah," I say excitedly.

Betty takes my hand and puts it on the side of her stomach, and I feel soft kicks against my hand. I smile happily at Betty. "That's gotta be so weird to feel from the inside."

Betty laughs. "It's definitely a little strange, but you get used to it eventually. Then again, by the time that happens, the baby starts kicking you in other places, like the ribs or bladder, and hard. You wouldn't think a fetus would have that much power, it's crazy."

"That.. sounds fun," I respond sarcastically.

"Very," Betty laughs, rolling her eyes.

We pass by the adult clothing section, and I see an overall dress that I really liked.

"Ooh, that dress is cute!" I say to Betty.

Betty looks over at it. "Yeah, it is. Want it?" she asks.

"W-what?" I respond, looking unsurely at her.

"Do you want me to get it for you?" she offers.

"Oh, I couldn't ask you to do that, right after you were talking about how much it costs to have a baby," I respond, shaking my head.

"No, it's totally fine. I might even get one for myself, it seems loose enough to fit for a while, then I can wear it again after having the baby..." she says. "Plus, it's on sale. Just let me get it for you, pleaseee," Betty begs.

"Fine," I laugh, and Betty immediately lights up, and walks quickly over to the dresses. "You promise it's no trouble?"

"Promise on my whole life," Betty responds, taking two of the dresses from the rack and putting them in the cart. "We better get going now, before Jughead orders pizza for the fifth time in two weeks because I was busy and he let Juju choose what we ate," Betty laughs.

I laugh, and we make our way to checkout. We buy the food then get back in the car.

"JB, do you wanna go home right now, or you could come home and have dinner with us," Betty asks me.

"Um, would me coming to dinner be too much for you guys?" I ask.

"Not at all, it's totally fine," Betty replies.

"Okay, I'll go then. Let me just call Dad", I say, calling my dad to tell him that I won't be home for another hour or two because I'm having dinner with Betty and Jughead.