House of the Scotts

Lydia had said that Justin would be happy about the news he was going to be a father; but she had been wrong. He was staring at me, like a roebuck running into a car's headlights. The shock was all over his face.

"Please say something, Justin!" I begged him, feeling how I got more and more nervous.

"You sure?"

I had just showed him the positive pregnancy test, he had seen the two lines with his own eyes. The question was absolutely unnecessary and not what I had expected. "Yes, I'm sure." I took back the test from him and pointed at the lines. "Two lines mean pregnant," I explained patiently. What had he expected of having sex without protection. Someday, you just score a hit.

"Shit!" he pushed out, running a hand through his thick hair and sighing.

"Shit?" I repeated, outraged. "That's your only comment?" I felt anger rising inside me. Though I had felt the exact same way after I had made the test. My concerns were his, too, now. And for I didn't know how else to react, I just burst into tears.

"Oh no… Sawyer… please… don't cry!" Justing gave worriedly and wrapped his arms around me.

I pressed my tear-soaked face against his shoulder and he moved his hands over my back.

"I'm so sorry!" he said when my sobbing decreased. "I'm such an idiot!"

I carefully freed myself from his arms and smiled thinly. "I wouldn't put it that way. We're both responsible for my condition. So we're both idiots then." Justin stared at my flat stomach and I took his hand and carefully put it on the spot I assumed our baby was, probably only a few millimeters big right now.

"Pregnant…," he mumbled quietly, as though he was only now realizing a living being was growing inside me.

I nodded, although I knew it hadn't been a question. "What would you prefer, a son or a daughter?"

"May I think about it first?" he asked, his lips slightly flinching.

I couldn't help but laugh, though I still had tears in my eyes. "I think we can't influence that anymore anyway. It's decided already."

Justing nodded. "You been to a doctor yet?"

"No." I shook my head. "I only did the test yesterday. After that I called Lydia right away," I confessed to him and then sheepishly bit my lower lip.

"Lydia?" Justin echoed. "Why not me?"

I had been aware that question would come, but I afterwards I had actually needed a friend rather than my boyfriend and father of my baby. How was I supposed to explain to him that I had been scared of his reaction? The talk with Lydia had been important, for it had given me the needed courage to talk to Justin. "I already told Lydia I know how bad the timing is," I babbled on without thinking. "On the other hand, it's kinda funny Brooke and I are pregnant almost at the same time…"

"W-What?"

Justin's eyes were wide with shock and I only now realized what I had just said. Only that it was too late now to take my words back. "Justin, I…," I began, but he cut me off.

"Brooke is pregnant?!"

I nodded hesitantly and then kept chewing my lower lip. If only I had shut my damn mouth! But I had assumed she had already talked to the others about it. Seemed like she hadn't. "I… oh man, Justin…" I groaned in frustration. "I didn't mean to make you find out this way. Somehow I thought she would've told Julian by now… and you guys, too, of course," I added hastily.

Justin shook his head mechanically. "I had no idea." He rolled his eyes. "Now I know why Lydia wanted Jude and me to eat dinner out," he realized. "She wanted to be alone with Julian to tell him she's pregnant, right?"

I nodded. "Lydia's been at her parents' with Izzy meanwhile," I told him.

Justin laughed and I looked at him, puzzled. "What's so funny about that?"

"Julian and I will both be fathers. That's really a very strange coincidence."

"Neither my parents nor yours know about my pregnancy, though," I remarked, rolling my eyes. "And I'm not really looking forward to telling them."

"Me neither," Justing admitted. "They'll want us to marry."

"But we wanted to marry anyway," I stuttered in confusion. "Or didn't we?"

"Of course I still wanna marry you," he hummed and hawed, "but we had an agreement we'll wait until you're legal."

Yes, we had an agreement. But was it still up, now that I was pregnant? Justin was right. My parents would insist we got married. My mom was pretty old-fashioned about that. "First we need to tell them," I said. "And then we'll see."

Justin took a deep breath. "Okay," he then said hesitantly. "I'll talk to my parents, you'll talk to yours."

"It's much easier for you than it is for me," I reminded him. "Brooke and Julian will be parents again themselves, and they went through this with your brother and Lydia already. For my parents it'll be a shock their underage daughter's pregnant."

"You want me to come with you?" he asked hesitantly.

"Would you?" Though it was worded like a request, I was hoping he would see how important it was for me that he would come with me. But that wasn't all. "No matter what my parents will say, don't let them force you to a wedding if you don't want that."

"Okay."

I didn't whether to be sad or relieved about his short, emotionless answer. Fact was that I wanted to marry him as soon as possible, and that before I would be 18. The baby had turned our schedule upside down. But I didn't want to marry when my baby bump would already be visible. Like a reflex, I put my hand on my stomach and remembered how huge Lydia's belly had been at the end of her pregnancy. She hadn't even been able to tie her own shoes anymore. And then the labor pains, giving birth… All things I would experience in a very near future, too. Was I really ready yet to be a mother?

"Sawyer?"

Startled, I looked up. "What?"

"You gonna be okay on your own? I gotta go to training now. We got a match tomorrow. But you know that." Nervously, he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, and because I knew he was indispensable as a coach, I nodded. "Okay… good." He kissed me and I could tell how relieved he was to finally be able to go.

"Come for dinner tomorrow," I suggested. "We can talk to my parents then."

"Tomorrow already?"

I could practically see the panic in Justin's eyes. "The sooner, the better," I said and shrugged. "Don't you think?"

He nodded, but it didn't appear convincing. "Okay, see you tomorrow then," he said and then opened the door of my room and ran down the stairs.