Summary: The 16-year-olds Cora and Robert have been together for almost a year when the youthful nature of their romance is suddenly replaced by the gravity of life.
Hope you enjoy the different AU of our love bunnies! Let me know what you think!
Cora sat at the breakfast table, not touching her toast for minutes. Her mother was scurrying around the kitchen and singing with emphasis.
"Please, mom! This is unbearable in the morning," Cora finally snapped. Her nerves were on edge since she had awoken with this nasty nausea. Now her mother's eccentric demeanour was straining all Cora's senses. Worse than the loud singing, though, was the intense smell of the bacon Martha fried.
"Excuse me, Cora. I am sorry that my mood isn't as sulky as yours." Her mother's answer was as sarcastic as expected.
"But do you really have to cook bacon every morning?" Cora whined while rubbing her hand over her unsettled stomach. "This abhorrent smell will be in my nose all day."
"You are particularly sensitive lately, Cora," Martha stated. She turned around at the oven to face her daughter and pressed her hands into her hips, one hand clutching a spatula. "You're having the nostrils of a pregnant woman, darling," she mocked her daughter with a chiding tone.
"You're being ridiculous, mother," Cora rebuked. Her mother let out a short laugh and turned back to her bacon.
"Well, that would really take the cake if my son-in-law gave you a baby for your one-year anniversary," Martha babbled more to herself chucklingly.
"Robert is not your son-in-law!" Cora exclaimed. He was her boyfriend for nearly one year.
Twenty months ago, Cora held a tally sheet in her nightstand, she had moved to England with her parents. Her father's job had required his direct attention at the British branch of his company. The family had decided to settle their lives in London for the next years. Cora's brother, Harold, who had no intentions to leave the States whatsoever, had argued and baulked until Martha had enrolled him in some elite boarding school in Ohio. Everyone was happy with this solution. Cora thought maybe she was happiest about Harold staying behind but knowing her brother and his absolute laziness that probably wasn't true.
Moving to the UK at the age of nearly fifteen had been super exciting for her. Her heart was constantly beating at a high pace because everything around her had been new and fresh. Yes, of course, her emotional picture had also been painted with an amount of nervosity but that never kept her from enjoying the new world around her. Her racing heart though was allowed no rest when she bumped unpreparedly into the charming boy with the most attractive British accent she ever encountered right in the centre of the school's cafeteria. She had managed to spill her entire lunch on the matt tiles, and his clumsily uttered apologies and courteous assistance had set her heart galloping since. She had tried to tell herself that it wasn't his coy smile or sandy curls but merely his attentive manner that had captivated her. But not long and then there was no use. If it was his smile or his manners didn't matter, for she had fallen hard for him. Their encounters had increased and Cora couldn't tell if it was coincidentally or if he was seeking her contact. The awkwardness of their first meeting faded away as soon as they engaged in a real conversation, experiencing an instant familiarity that drew them together even faster. The first kiss behind a bookshelf in the deserted library was as coy as it was unexpectedly prompt. That Robert had sought her closeness afterwards deliberately had been obvious.
For nearly a year now they went out together. Both were sixteen years old by now and inseparable. Robert was a constant visitor at the Levinson's mansion and Martha liked to call him her 'son-in-law' jokingly. Cora didn't think it funny at all. She couldn't quite sort if her mother wasn't taking their relationship seriously or if, on the contrary, she was putting her under pressure to make this work because Martha didn't like to think of a son-in-law other than Robert. Cora was rather seldomly at Robert's. His mother had a distinct reaction to her presence but other than Martha's it was not one of amused excitement.
But now her mother carried her teasing too far with mentioning the possibility of a baby.
"I have to go," Cora stated, deciding she couldn't take her mother's presence at the moment anymore.
"But you haven't eaten anything yet!" Martha called confused behind her daughter.
Cora merely mumbled, "I am not hungry," while exiting the room.
Before leaving for school, Cora went to the bathroom and, sitting on the toilet, she scrolled through her phone and accidentally opened her period tracker app. The picture that met her froze her thoughts. Late, very late, overdue. How could this have gone amiss? The count of days, that appeared on her screen, was a horrible image and she tried to block the number from her thoughts. She deliberately pushed away all reflections, closed the app, put away the phone and carried on as if nothing had happened. Cora couldn't do anything else. She just was not able to take in the consequences of this unforeseen discovery. She washed her hands, not meeting her reflexion in the mirror. She left the bathroom and grabbed her schoolbag that waited in the hallway.
"Bye, mom!" she called casually.
"Bye, sweety! Have a nice day!" her mother exclaimed, and Cora exited the house, seeking the bus stop.
Only once she was seated in the bus, gazing out of the window it hit her with full force what she had found out minutes earlier. Oh god! There was no doubt. She could keep on ignoring everything as much as she wanted. The absence of her period for this long could only mean one thing. And now all the little hints that had been there over the last weeks came to mind. How had she been able to overlook it? Cora felt her chest constricting unpleasantly. She clutched the front of her shirt in an attempt to loosen anxiety's grip, but of course it didn't help. Not being able to stand her unrest she jumped out of the bus one stop early and took a few deep breathes before striding the way to school briskly. She pulled her phone out of her bag and dialled the number, which was always up on her list of last calls, with trembling hands.
"Robert?" her voice was shaky.
"Hello, darling? What's up?" he inquired. Hearing his voice, even if it was distantly through a phone, took away a small part of the heavy weight that had settled deep in her stomach.
"Uhm… can we talk?" she mumbled.
"Of course! What is on your mind?" he said encouragingly.
"I'd like to do it in person. Can you meet me on our bench in the yard in a few minutes?"
"Golly, that sounds serious!" his answer came out with a slightly nervous chuckle. "Sure, I am on my way. But are you alright, Cora?" Robert inquired.
"Mmh," she hummed in affirmation. She didn't trust her voice. The "Sure" she added after a second held little conviction.
"You have me worried here, Cora," Robert spoke insistently from the other end of the phone. Cora really had no idea how to answer that. She didn't want him to worry but she couldn't just undo the grand drama that was trailing around the two of them with evergrowing density.
"I am alright," she spoke softly into the receiver. The next minutes went by in a blur until she walked onto the yard and her eyes immediately found his form sitting on 'their' bench fidgety. She could spot from afar the bobbing of his knee and despite his apparent nervosity, his sight enveloped her with a thin veil of relaxation. Her feet carried her reliably toward him, and she noticed his exhalation of relief as he spotted her. He swiftly rose from his seat and took a step to meet her halfway. He took her hands in his instantly. His eyes sought hers, and the concerned look he directed at her made Cora's stomach twist uncomfortably. She cast down her gaze and pulled him gently towards the bench. She had to sit down, but no doubt would be restless again in a matter of seconds.
"Robert?" she breathed cautiously. His thumbs brushed over her knuckles.
"Yes, dear?" She heard how he attempted to keep the nervosity out of his voice by caressing the words lovingly.
"Why do mothers always have to be right?" She shook her head, still not meeting his gaze.
"Uhm… I don't know. What did your mother say?" he gave back in slight confusion.
"She was only joking I think but she was right," Cora answered. Now she looked up at him, took in the warm dusty blue of his eyes and felt soothed by the care she found in them. "Robert, I don't know when exactly we have been sloppy but the fact is… I'm… Robert, I'm pregnant," she uttered and the tone of her voice sank with every word. The last one was only a mere breath. At Robert's agape lips and his frozen look, she saw, however, that he had understood what she'd said. Her heart began beating more and more rapidly and she pressed his hands anxiously, trying to irk a reaction out of him. He inhaled deeply.
"We'll manage," he said calmly. Cora looked at him baffled.
"That's the first thing you say?" she asked taken aback. "No question like 'how could this happen?' You say we'll manage?"
"Yes. Because I am sure of that. I don't know how, and actually, I don't know a lot. My head is quite mushy at the moment. But what I know is that we'll get this," he assured. Cora nodded slowly. His rather alert reaction surprised her. "We're in this together. We have been from the beginning."
At his last words, Cora sank against his chest and buried her face in his jumper. Her welling tears soaked his pullover, and she couldn't tell if it were tears of relief, or worry, or fear, or joy, or utter adoration. She felt too much at the moment and was only grateful for the hideaway Robert's embrace offered.
Note: This is based on a tumblr prompt to portray Cobert as teenage parents.