Archie pulled his phone from his pocket to see the reply message Betty had sent him earlier. He'd had to stay late on a job with his crew and texted her earlier that he'd be late and to not wait up. She's sent him a response, but he'd been too busy with the work to read it. Needing to set the example, he kept his focus on the work. Now that they were done and his crew members were getting into their vehicles to leave the site, he felt safe in looking.
"Your old lady texting you?" Frank asked his nephew as he finished putting away his tools.
"I wouldn't really call Betty my old lady, but yeah," Archie put his phone back in his pocket. "I texted her earlier to let her know I'd be home late. I didn't want her to wait for me on dinner."
"I really like this one," Frank replied, "That brunette you dated in high school was a bit too..."
"Yeah, I get it," Archie interrupted him, "Betty's the best. I wish I'd realized it much sooner than I did."
Frank clapped his nephew on the shoulder, "Let me know when you two are free. I'd like to take you both to dinner and introduce you to someone."
"I'll talk to Betty and get back to you," Archie nodded, "See you Monday."
"Drive safe, Kid," Frank smiled.
"You too," Archie climbed into his vehicle. He rolled his shoulders as the soreness began to set in. All he wanted to do was grab a quick sandwich, take a shower, wrap up Betty in his arms, and sleep all weekend.
His contract with the client required them to finish by the end of the week, or they'd be docked money. Archie had been livid at his uncle for including the clause in the contract, but he wasn't about to eat any of the expenses, so he pushed his crew to get the job done on time. It was far cheaper for him to pay the crew a bit of overtime than to eat the costs the contract would require.
Betty was in Archie's room, reading a book, when she heard the front door open and close. There was a bit of rustling downstairs. She figured he was helping himself to the sandwich she'd made for him earlier. She set her book aside, adjusted the surprise she had for him, and then waited patiently for him to make his way upstairs.
Betty smiled as she heard him quietly making his way upstairs, probably thinking she'd already be asleep. He was so sweet.
He pushed open his bedroom door and stopped when he saw Betty was not only wide awake but clearly waiting for him.
"You should be at least half asleep by now," he felt the tension of the day ease simply by being in her presence.
"It's Friday night," she crawled to the end of the bed to make her surprise a bit more obvious.
"Betts," he advanced towards her, "You've been saying how tired you've been for the past few weeks, especially with the overnights at the paper. I was hoping you'd take advantage of the quiet."
"I took a nap when I got home," she assured him, "I have my second wind." She smiled when he stepped back to take in her ensemble.
"What are you wearing?" he glanced up and down her body.
Betty looked down at herself and then back at Archie as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth, "I think it's an old Bulldog jersey. Why? Do you not like it?"
"I think I love it, but how did you get it?" he looked to her in confusion as something clicked when he spotted the number, "Wait, is that my jersey?"
She bobbed her head, "Yep, I made a special request."
"I think I need you to fill in a few blanks," his fingers trailed the number on her shoulder. Though some schools allowed their player to take their jerseys at the end of their playing careers, Riverdale was not one of those schools. He'd been more than a little bummed to not have it.
"I was doing an article about the area schools and the disparity in the amount of money they spend on their athletics programs. Naturally Riverdale was one of the schools in the area I called," she smiled, "Weatherbee told me they finally had the funds this year to replace all the jerseys in their sports programs after nearly ten years without. I asked what the school was doing with the old jerseys. He said they were donating them somewhere. It took a bit of convincing and a few dollars from my bank account, but I talked him into giving me this specific jersey. I figured you'd appreciate having it."
"I can't believe you have this," he grinned.
"You've had a tough couple of weeks," her hands slid up and down his chest, "I wanted to do something to make you smile."
"This definitely qualifies," he nodded.
Betty grinned at him, "Are you coming to bed, or are you going to continue ogling your jersey?"
Archie leaned down and kissed her deeply. "Give me ten minutes to shower," he groaned. He kissed her again, "Five minutes."
"Make it a navy shower," she gave him another tempting kiss, "A little sweat never hurt anyone."
Archie began tugging at his clothes frantically so he could get rinsed off and get back to Betty in record time.
Betty wasn't surprised to hear the water turn on and off in short order. He hadn't even taken the time to towel off as he dashed back to his bedroom and practically attacked her, much to Betty's delight. She laughed as Archie pinned her to the bed.
"Does this mean I should keep this?" Betty giggled.
"Oh, hell yes," Archie nodded.
In short order, the jersey made its way to the floor as they satisfied their urges.
Archie was panting from exertion as he cradled Betty against him. They'd worked up a bit of a sweat, but it was the last thing on their mind as they basked in the glow of their love making.
"Did you enjoy your surprise?" Betty's fingers caressed his ribs as she enjoyed the closeness. He'd been so busy for the past few weeks, and she'd been on the overnight desk duty. These quiet moments together had been rare.
"Yes," he nodded as he sifted his fingers through her hair, "I also missed you like you wouldn't believe."
Betty tilted her head to look at him, "I missed you, too."
"We'll have to save that jersey for special occasions," he kissed her forehead.
"I think I should wear it to bed every night," she mused, "I like the response I received."
Archie chuckled in reply.
"Did you finish the job?" Betty asked.
"Yeah," he nodded, "And that clause is permanently being removed from all future contracts. I'm all for incentives to finish the project on time, but I'm not about to let the business eat the costs for delays that were beyond our control."
Betty nodded, playing with his hand, "Very smart of you."
"Thanks, Babe," he grinned, "Speaking of, did you talk to your boss about overnights?"
"Yeah, and she agrees with you. Keeping a consistent and normal sleeping pattern is a better idea for the future, at least while I'm pregnant."
"Glad she can see reason," his hand fell to her abdomen. She was just started to show, but only he was able to tell.
"I look bloated," she rolled away slightly so he'd have better access to her stomach.
"You look pregnant," he kissed her temple as he caressed her abdomen lovingly. "Are you nervous about telling our moms in a few weeks?"
"I'm nervous about telling everyone," she admitted, "I'm sure there is going to be a lot of looks like Polly got for being an unwed mother."
"Anyone who looks at you sideways will answer to me," he slid down the bed to kiss her stomach. "My reputation as a national boxing championship should sufficiently shut them up."
Betty smiled down at him, "I love you, Arch."
"I love you more," he glanced up with a brilliant smile.
"Not possible," Betty tugged lightly at his hair a bit to coax him back up so she could kiss his lips, "Should I put the jersey back on so we can go for a second round?"
"I don't think I need the jersey," Archie shook his head.
"Good," she smiled.
Archie and Betty were sound asleep when his alarm abruptly went off.
"Why is that stupid thing on?" Betty muttered as she snuggled against him while he reached over her to silence his phone.
Archie glanced at the phone, "Damn it, boxing class is in two hours. I have to set up."
"No, don't go," she moaned as she snuggled more into him. "Skip it."
"You know I can't, Babe," he kissed her forehead as he shifted on the bed to get out. "The kids look forward to it, and you know I do too."
"I know," she pouted, "Junie and Dagwood love it. Polly has even said that Juniper wants her to install a heavy bag in their apartment so she can practice because you've made her promise not to hit people."
Archie chuckled as he rifled through his drawers to pull out clothes to wear. He was pulling on his boxer briefs when Betty slid out of bed and pulled on his jersey. "Damn, I love you in that."
"Yeah?" she sauntered towards him, tossing an extra flare into her hips as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, "Enough to cancel class."
"Almost," he pecked at her lips.
Betty moaned in disappointment as he pulled on a pair of shorts and his Penn State boxing team shirt.
"It's only a couple of hours," he kissed her forehead, "I promise to spend the rest of the weekend wrapped up with you."
Polly called just as Archie pulled out of the driveway, "Hey, Betts, want to join me at the gym? I could use some company. Those other moms are ridiculous."
"Oh, I'm well aware," Betty laughed, "It was like the Real Housewives of Riverdale at the lesson I took them to."
"I heard you put them in their place with an epic display of affection," Polly laughed, "I'm sorry I missed it, but Junie gave me a pretty good rundown of what happened."
"That little sneak ratted me out. I'm going to have to talk to her," Betty sighed, "In any event, I was just making it clear that Archie isn't available."
"We can revisit that bit of trivia later," Polly replied. "Are you going to join m?. Those housewives don't go away easy."
"Sure, why not," Betty sighed, "I've got nothing else going on today, and it's always fun watching Archie with the kids. He really enjoys it."
"Great, I'll see you at the gym in an hour," Polly quickly hung up before her sister would change her mind.
Betty took a bit more care with her appearance as she dressed for the gym. She wasn't going into Real Housewives mode, but she was going to wear more than sweats. Her jean shorts were a bit snug when she tried to zip them, so she traded them for a pair of leggings and a Northwestern tee. She did a bit extra with her hair and added some mascara and lip gloss.
"Hi, Aunt Betty," Juniper hollered from where she stood with her classmates when Betty joined her sister on the bleachers.
As Betty expected, the moms were decked out again and looked incredibly disappointed by Betty's presence. Betty waved at the twins and then took a seat next to her sister. Archie smiled in her direction before working with his assistant to get all the kids taped and gloved for their lesson.
"Junie looks forward to these lessons all week," Polly smiled as her daughter punched at the air after getting gloved up.
"Did you get her the heavy bag yet?" Betty replied.
"Not yet, but I'm thinking about it," Polly stated, "I found these ones that don't need to be hung from the ceiling, so I'd still have a shot at getting my security deposit back. If the twins are still as enthused about this activity in a few weeks, I'm probably going to cave."
"You should talk to Cheryl," Betty suggested, "She always loves an excuse to spoil the twins."
"I'd be surprised if she was still talking to me because I had to decline her wedding invitation," Polly took a sip of her coffee.
"What? Why?" Betty gasped.
"Dagwood has this nonrefundable family camping trip," Polly replied, "We booked it way before we got the invitation to Toni and Cheryl's wedding."
"Cheryl's going to be super bummed that the twins won't be there," Betty frowned.
"I know, and I really tried to get out of it," Polly stated, "I even thought about just eating the costs and not going, but Dag really wants to camp with his friends. It's a lose-lose situation."
"I'm sure Cheryl will understand," Betty assured her, "She loves those two like crazy."
"I'm hoping we can come up with something special the twins can give her for the wedding," Polly stated.
"I actually might have the perfect idea," Betty stated, "Let me make a few calls and then get back to you."
"You're the best, Betty," Polly put an arm around her sister's shoulder and then offered her up her cup of coffee, "Want some?"
Betty could smell the tempting aroma and her hand itch to wrap around the cup. Giving up coffee for the sake of the baby was one of the hardest parts of her pregnancy. "No, I'm good," Betty said finally.
Betty and Polly watched the lesson begin and would occasionally trade banter about the goings on in their lives. The twins would look over and wave on occasion, but for the most part they were singularly focused on the lesson and their teacher.
"He's so good with kids," Polly noted towards the end of the lessons as Archie helped the kids remove their gloves and carefully cut the tape off their little hands. She watched as Archie held up his hand to Juniper and waited for the little girl to give him a high five. The little girl did just that and then launched herself into his arms to give him a hug. "He's going to be such a good dad someday."
"Yeah, he is," Betty's hand reflexively went to her stomach, a move that didn't go unnoticed by her sister.
"No!" Polly gasped, "Are you serious?"
"What?" Betty glanced over in confusion.
"You and Archie," Polly whispered.
"Me and Archie what?" Betty began to panic.
"You and Archie," Polly's eyes lowered to her sister's stomach.
"Can we not do this here?" Betty responded through gritted teeth. So far the housewives were too involved in their own conversations, but Betty certainly didn't want them to get wind of her situation.
Polly glanced at the women and then bobbed in agreement.
After the twins were free of their gloves and tape, they ran over to bask in the praise Betty and Polly were quick to bestow upon them. Archie helped his assistant wrap things up and then came over, wrapping an arm around Betty's waist as he kissed her temple.
"Glad you came to watch," he whispered in her ear.
"You two have some explaining to do," Polly waved a finger between the two.
"Oh?" Archie raised an eyebrow in Betty's direction. She looked a bit guilty.
"Dinner tonight, just the three of us," Polly stated, "I'll get Mom and FP to take the twins."
"No, I want to eat with Aunt Betty and Uncle Archie," Juniper moaned in disappointment.
"Maybe another time, Princess," Polly tugged at the young girl's ponytail, "Mommy needs to take about some grownup stuff with them."
The little girl huffed in reply.
Betty had volunteered to make dinner for Polly. It was really a matter of logistics as she'd be in the neighborhood to drop off Juniper and Dagwood anyways.
"She knows?" Archie stood at the sink rinsing the lettuce for the salad.
"I think so," Betty sighed, "It's not even that I said anything. We were watching you with the twins. Juniper had just given you a hug, and Polly made a comment about you being a good father one day. My hand had a mind of its own as it went to my stomach. She saw it and guessed. It was all I could do to keep her from verbalizing her suspicions with the nosy housewives nearby."
"So we're telling her," Archie concluded.
"I can't lie to her, Archie," Betty replied, "She's my sister."
"It's up to you," Archie replied, "I don't have any siblings, so I can't offer any advice."
"It's kind of weird," Betty admitted, "We've been estranged pretty much since she had the twins, but things are getting better for us now. In a way, I feel closer to her now because I am pregnant."
"If you want to tell her, we'll tell her. Hell, I'll climb up on the roof tonight and shout it out to the entire town," Archie smiled.
"No, we're going to wait," she forced the bowl of lettuce from his hands and turned him towards her, "It's only a couple more weeks. We've waited this long."
"Not sure which wait is worse," he wrapped his arms around her waist, "Waiting to tell people that we're having a baby or waiting for the baby to arrive."
"You have no idea how happy it makes me to know that you're as excited as I am about this baby," she rose up on her toes to kiss him. They were still kissing when the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it," Archie reluctantly released her and went to the front door. "Hey, Polly, come on in."
"Where is she?" Polly asked.
"Kitchen," Archie pointed her in the right direction.
Polly didn't even bother with pleasantries as she charged into the kitchen, "So you're knocked up."
"Hey, that's not at all how I would put it," Betty challenged her sister, "Yes, I am pregnant, but you make it sound icky."
"How far along are you?" Polly asked.
"Nine and a half weeks," Betty replied.
"Is he the father?" Polly thumbed towards Archie.
"Yes," Betty replied, "One hundred percent no doubt. We're still going to do a paternity test once I'm in the second trimester to remove any doubt in the event Louis comes out of the woodwork."
"And why is this the first I'm hearing of it?" Polly folded her arms in front of her chest.
"We've been waiting to tell everyone until after the first trimester," Betty explained, "We haven't told anyone - although there are a few people who do know."
"Let me guess, Cheryl Blossom," Polly stated with a bitter tone, "I'm your sister, Betty. Why would you tell Cheryl before me?"
"Because she was there when I found out," Betty replied, "She's been there for me for so many things."
"This is about the farm," Polly's eyes welled with tears, "This is about me siding with them over you, isn't it?"
"No!" Betty exclaimed, "You were in a vulnerable place when that psychopath got his hooks into you. Was I hurt by some of your actions, yes, but that was him, not you. He had you completely brainwashed. My telling Cheryl was has nothing to do with the farm. We're close, Polly. Cheryl is one of my best friends. She's been there for me through a lot of things. Do I wish you and I were that close? Yes, but we've a had a lot of things working against us."
Polly swallowed past the lump developing in her throat.
Betty crossed the kitchen to stand directly in front of her sister, "I've been wanting to tell you since we found out, and you were one of the first people we were going to tell as soon as we're clear of the first trimester. We just wanted to be safe."
"Yeah," Polly bobbed her head as a few tears fell.
Betty immediately embraced her sister, "I'm sorry I hurt you."
"I'm sorry I haven't been around more," Polly held her close, "Yeah, it hurts that it was Cheryl, but I get it. I want us to be close again, like we were until our parents sent me to the Sisters."
"I want that too," Betty bobbed her head slightly.
Polly released Betty and turned towards Archie, "Do I have to yell at you for knocking my sister up? Haven't you heard of condoms, Andrews?"
"Um, Polly, do we have to remind you of Dagwood and Juniper?" Betty snickered.
"That's completely different," Polly scoffed.
"How is that any different?" Betty laughed.
"That happened to me, not my baby sister, and the baby's daddy is the neighborhood boy who followed her around like a puppy for nearly a decade," Polly stated.
"A puppy? Really?" Archie lifted a brow.
"Total puppy," Polly laughed.
Archie shrugged, "I've been called worse."
"You'd better be planning on sticking around," Polly waved a threatening finger in his face, "This baby is going to have the father he or she deserves. Oh my god, Betty, is it a boy or a girl?"
"We don't know yet," Betty replied, "Our next sonogram is just after we enter the second trimester. Maybe we'll know then."
"And I'm not going anywhere, Polly," Archie assured her, "This baby is going to have a father that loves them more than anything in the world."
"And you're both happy about this?" Polly asked.
"So happy," Betty went to Archie's side and wrapped her arms around his waist. His arm immediately came around shoulders to bring her close.
"Seeing the two of you together like this…" Polly waved her hand in front of her face to keep the tears at bay, "God, I really wish I had what you two do."
"You did, Polly," Betty reminded her, "Jason was crazy about you. He was running away with you. You two would have lived happily ever after if it wasn't for his creep of a father."
"Maybe," Polly wiped at her eyes, "Or maybe we'd be one of those high school sweetheart statistics."
"No matter what, you've got two of the cutest kids out of the deal," Betty replied.
"Yeah, they are pretty amazing," Polly smiled.
"Let's have dinner," Betty suggested, "We made your favorite, eggplant parmigiana."
"Yum," Polly replied.
"Go ahead and have a seat," Archie suggested, "I'll bring the salads in a few minutes."
"You've got him trained well," Polly linked arms with her sister as she was led to the dining room where the table was already set.
"I can't take credit," Betty took a seat on one side of the table, "He sort of came that way."
Polly and Betty were chatting away when Archie came in with three plates full of salad.
"No tomatoes?" Polly frowned, "Betty, I thought you loved tomatoes."
"She does, or at least she did," Archie took his seat next to Betty.
"Stupid pregnancy," Betty frowned, "Right now, they make me gag."
"You'll regain your taste for them," Polly assured her. "Is the eggplant parm going to be okay?"
"Oh, yeah, it's only in their whole form that I have issues with them," Betty replied.
"What other discoveries have you made with your pregnancy?" Polly asked, "It was such a confusing time for me."
"Yeah, me too," Betty asked, "Cheryl talked about an amped up sex drive Toni had heading into the fourth month. I've ramped up earlier than that."
"And I bet Archie hasn't minded one bit," Polly snickered.
"Not one single bit," Archie kissed Betty's temple.
"Yeah, that's a total bitch when the father of your baby is gone when that kicks in," Polly sighed, "Not to mention being trapped with a bunch of nuns."
"I bet," Archie replied.
"Betty, whatever questions you have, I'll answer what I can," Polly offered, "I don't want you to think for a second that you and Archie have to go it alone."
"Okay," Betty swallowed a lump in her throat.
"And if Mom gives you a hard time for being an unwed mother, tell her to stuff it," Polly stated.
"Stuff it," Betty repeated with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Stuff it," Polly stated again, "Simple, to the point, and puts her in her place. If she tries to send you to the Sisters, things are going to get ugly."
"She'd send Betty to the Sisters over my dead body," Archie chimed in.
Betty leaned over and kissed his cheek.
"Can I ask how things between the two of you happened?" Polly asked.
"Well, when we were four…" Betty began.
"You know what I mean," Polly scowled at her.
"When things with Louis went bad, Arch is who I went to," Betty replied, "I knew I'd be safe with him because I rarely mentioned him to Louis, and for other reasons I'm just starting to figure out. Archie didn't let me hide away in his dorm room, which is really what I wanted to do. He took me out to meet up with his friends some nights and on others it would just be the two of us hanging out. One night we went out, had a couple of drinks, and danced. When we got home, things just sort of happened. I wanted to feel safe and cherished, and Archie was really the only one who could do it in that moment. We agreed not to talk about it again, but we did have sex."
"So how do we get from a night of unmentionable sex to the two of you living together and looking very much like a couple," Polly stated.
"We are," Betty smiled at Archie, "When Archie graduated, I had this moment during the ceremony where it sort of hit me. I've had feelings for Archie for pretty much as long as I could remember, and I just couldn't return to Riverdale and live with him like we'd planned without having something more. He felt the same way."
"I always thought there was something between the two of you," Polly smiled, "How the whole dating Jughead and Veronica thing happened was beyond me."
"Youthful experimentation," Betty replied.
"So now you two are what? Engaged?" Polly asked.
"No, it's way too soon to talk about that," Betty rubbed her still barely there belly, "There is still so much that needs to be sorted out."
"Betty still has some issues to sort out where Louis is concerned," Archie wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "He's still a threat as long as he's able to breathe free air."
"FP and Sheriff Keller got a bit creative and an arrest warrant has been issued," Betty stated, "So the hope is the instant he pokes his head in Riverdale, he'll be locked up without me having to face him."
"What are the charges?" Polly asked.
"Stalking, violation of a restraining order," Betty replied, "I've filed one, and it's been properly served. If he gets within five hundred yards of me, he's breaking the law."
"And I have a reason to bust his jaw," Archie growled.
"Not if I get to him first," Polly stated.
Archie chuckled.
TBC…