CHAPTER 31-EVERYBODY IS TRIFLING

Jessica had been holed up in a bathroom stall at The Drop trying to calm her nerves. The bar wasn't going to open for another two hours and she knew no one would just barge in so she left the door wide up. She could see how panicked she was due to her reflection in the mirror, but it wasn't something she never saw before.

Digging into her printed satchel, she pulled out a box and slipped the contents out, nearly throwing them onto the floor. Jessica bit into her lip hard before doing what the instructions said for a couple of seconds and popped it back up. She pulled her underwear and jeans up before flushing the toilet and stepping out to the sink.

Putting the little white and pink test on the box, she tried not staring at it, but it was hard not to. Jessica typed a timer on her phone as she impatiently waited to see the result of the pregnancy test, she bought. Various emotions ran through her mind and she couldn't contain them all at one. She didn't want to take one at home so she took it when no one could bother her which so happened to be Deran's bar.

Jessica was ready to cry happy or sad tears because they were bound to fall no matter the outcome. Either way, it wasn't a good situation as it meant a baby or a scare which she wasn't prepared for. Getting out of rehab months ago, getting her job back, being kidnapped and now adding a baby on her list was not the way she wanted to go.

Breathing in deeply, she shut the timer off and glanced at the test. Picking in up with the shake of her hand, Jessica's emotions were ready to go into a tidal wave as a tear slipped out of the pit of her eye. Placing the test back down, she gripped the edge of the sink, put her head down and took another deep breath. The worst part about it was that Jessica was going to face Deran the second she stepped out and she wasn't going to explain anything that transpired.

Jessica instead tucked the pregnancy test bag into the box, put it in her bag and covered it with various items she had inside of it. She also searched inside the bag for some make-up in order to fix her face. Despite her emotions going crazy, she had to pull it together as a sense of urgency ran through her veins.

"You're adding too much alcohol Deran" Jessica spoke, coming out of the bathroom and quickly wiping her cheeks off.

She stopped at the bar again in order to help Deran come up with some new items for his menu. Jessica always enjoyed cooking so he wanted her to help with some new ideas that he could do not only with food but drinks as well. Even though she wasn't a big drinker, he wanted to make different kinds in order to attract more.

"I told you only like a splash of vodka, not the whole bottle"

"In my defense, you said a lot not a splash" Deran told her as he slowly stopped talking to look over how much he poured. "You said orange juice, vodka, some of this cheery juice and an orange. What did you call it? Sunset or something" He looked up to see her as she took a seat at the bar. Noticing how panicky she looked, he completely took his attention off the drink. "You okay?"

"I'm fine…" She told him before typing on her phone in order to find the recipe she read to him earlier. Her blue grey shifted towards him before back to her phone screen. "It says right here that you needed 1.5 ounces, not two cups. You put way too much vodka in it"

Deran didn't say anything because he could tell that she had changed from the second she came back. Her cheeks were red, and he thought her eyes were too but he couldn't tell as she hardly looked at him. "What's going on? Were you crying?"

"Why would I be crying? I threw some water on my face and fixed my makeup. Give me a glass and let me try it. It's called a vodka sunrise according to this article" Jessica placed her phone down on the bar and looked at him with the bravest face she could manage.

"Are you sure? You know whatever it is you can tell me, right? If Smurf is bothering, you again or if it's that Detective snooping around…"

"Fine, you want me to tell you?" He hadn't grabbed a glass or anything that she asked for. Deran instead waited to hear what she had to say. "I slept with the detective in order for him to leave us alone" Jessica told him with a straight face as Deran's eyes went wide for a brief second. A smile appeared on her face much to his relief. "Oh, come on, you really think that low of me? Everything's cool, just a lot to figure out with work and all, If I'm going back right now or not, nothing new"

Deran faintly nodded his head as a response but he wasn't buying it. The mood shift was too sudden but there was no need in pressing forward. Jessica wouldn't tell him what was truly going on, so he left it at that. "What's the next one? Something that involves the color blue, right?"

Another smile appeared on her face as he knew that was a color she enjoyed, hence the jeep parked outside. The pair continued for the next few hours making drinks and trying new dishes that they were coming up with on the spot. After Deran's disaster of making her a drink the first time, she told him that he needed to try something different and he was finally listening. When it was time to open up for the day, Jessica split in order to stop by the clinic.

After her last relapse, she had obviously taken the time away to get clean and not worry about any kind of work. It was best for her to take some time off in order to clear her head and not jump into it so quickly. Her boss, Shaun, had agreed in offered her a spot back when she was ready to come back. That was a sense of relief, but the hardest part was now going to Baz's. Jessica had some things on her mind that she needed to discuss but wasn't sure how she could bring them up to him.

Luckily for her, he called and asked her to stop by which made her mind wander. A lot of times she just showed up or they headed back together, not an invitation most of the time. When she pulled into his driveway, Jessica put the car in park but start outside for a couple of minutes. Looking at the bag that was tucked onto her passenger seat, she took a deep breath and leaned her head on the steering wheel. She was going to have to tell him the truth unlike last time.

Shutting her engine off, Jessica pulled away and took another deep breath. She was more curious as to what Baz had to say rather than her having to tell him about her scare. Hopping out of the car, she went around to the front of the house, rapped on the door before stepping inside.

Baz was sitting at the kitchen table with his phone in his hand. He was typing something out when he glanced over at her. He smirked faintly when he noticed her, and Jessica dropped her bag onto the couch.

"Is everything okay? You never call unless you want something" She emphasized on the wanting something, but something seemed to be troubling him. He put the phone and asked her to come over to where he was as she was standing next to the couch. "Baz, what's going on? You're acting strangely" She told him before stepping over.

"You're on my side, right?" Baz asked her bluntly before looking up at her. She placed her hand on the table to learn on it for support.

"What do you mean am I on your side? I didn't know there was a siding picking game going on right now" He had given her a look before getting up and walking into the kitchen. Jessica had no idea what was going on or what he was even talking about. "What did the Detective say this time?" She assumed it had something to do with him because he seemed to be a problem right now. At the same time, she wasn't sure if Pope had talked to him or not.

Baz grabbed a coffee cup and began pouring himself some before asking if Jessica wanted any. She shook her head no then walked over to one of the barstools. Pulling it out, she hopped onto it and waited for him to respond.

"No, it has nothing to do with him. I just…" He paused for a second, trying to figure out what to say. "Look, I'm going to do something big and I want to know if I can trust you. I don't know about anybody else but I really want to trust you with this"

He wasn't going to tell her about the storage unit just yet because he hadn't told J the truth either. Besides that, Baz wanted to make sure that there was someone he could trust to help him take down Smurf. Ever since the Javi incident, Baz had figured out that she had been hiding money from the rest of the family. He didn't believe for a second that she didn't have money to pay Jessica's ransom so he did a little spying and digging. When he figured out about all the money, he wasn't sure who he'd be able to trust but he and Jessica had a history.

"You didn't do anything to Cath…Right?" Jessica asked him again as her heart began to pick up. She didn't know what he was trying to say and it startled her. "What is going on, you can tell me"

"Jesus, I didn't do anything to Cath, this has nothing to do with her" Baz snapped with irritated creeping in his voice which made Jessica blink in surprise. "I'm sorry, I didn't want mean to sound angry but Smurf's been on my ass, so I need to know if you trust me"

"Of course, I trust you, why wouldn't I?" She asked back before sighing. This didn't look like a good time to bring her problems into the mix considering she still didn't know what was going on. "What did she do this time?"

There was no denying that he was starting to turn his back against her and if any of the Cody's looked close enough, they could see it. Things were rocky before Jessica showed back up but the biggest part was the way she murdered Javi. Her sentence, He isn't family lingered in his mind as he knew he wasn't either. Baz took it as a subtle threat even if she didn't say it to his face. That was what Smurf did, she would let you know she had a problem by words but wouldn't tell you straight up.

He took a sip of his coffee before nodding at her words. "You know, I was trying everything I could to get you back but she wouldn't give up any money. She kept saying she had no money and she had given all to Jake. Smurf's always been good at lying, she's lied to all of us her whole life. Especially you"

This made Jessica's attention pop up now wondering how she got drug into this mess. "Lying about what? What went on between you two that I'm missing?"

"All the money that you've gotten from jobs, we fought with her to give it to you" It was true and they all wanted her to get a cut. No one told Jessica about it because she wouldn't have taken the money. "Smurf never wanted to give you or Julia any of it. Sure, we had to cut her off and we came close doing it with you but you tried getting better and bettering your life. Smurf had a field day with it, and we all fought to keep you in the circle"

Jessica had been staring at him, hanging onto every word as this was a revelation to her. It didn't surprise her as she also had a rocky relationship with her but there was a part of her that had a ting of curiosity. It wasn't something she expected either when she showed up. Baz however wasn't done and continued on.

"She never paid for your rehab, the rest of your schooling, nothing. You know who did? Pope and I"

Jessica narrowed her eyes in confusion before speaking. "But she handed me the money when I stopped stripping because of that asshole who wouldn't leave me alone" She was referring to a guy that used to come into the club and bothered her every other night. The boys got on him but still kept coming around following and watching her.

Baz shook his head before leaning on the counter towards her. "No, that was all a lie. I gave up half of my job money to help you out. Smurf made you think she paid so she could keep you in line. I got into it with her about did, Pope did too"

"What about rehab? Smurf told me herself that she wanted me to get clean"

Jessica couldn't believe what she was hearing because she thought once in her life that Smurf actually cared for her wellbeing. It was her idea to send her into nursing school and Jessica didn't' have much of a say when she told her no. Smurf wouldn't listen to he and decided to dictate what she did. Part of her always wondered if it were due to her not being able to control Julia as she had already left the family. As Jessica wanted a mother, Smurf would play the part only if she played the game as well.

"We did, she didn't do a thing" She looked to him with disbelief reading across her face. "Oh, come on Jess, she didn't even offer to pay for Julia who was far worse than you. You remember, she was out on the streets scoring with God knows who and left J up in the apartment by himself. She didn't do anything, we all took care of you, not her"

Baz took another drink of his coffee while she continued to process this through her head. "Why? Why would you guys pay for me?"

"Are you really questioning why we look out for you?" He asked back knowing she was asking. Jessica was always a loner and didn't rely much on the family except when it came to money.

She placed her elbows on the cold countertop and put her face in her hands. Rubbing her face slowly, Jessica still had more questions that she wanted to ask him. "Okay, so you're telling me that you and Pope have been taking care of me, not Smurf?" Baz nodded yes at her. "Pope had all that probation stuff going on way before he even went to prison and Lena was just born…Why didn't you just let me figure things out myself?" Jessica wasn't mad, she just knew everyone else had their own things going on.

"Because we always take care of you, we take care of each other. We all know Smurf isn't going to do it so someone has to step up to the plate"

"Why are you even telling me this?" She asked back, rubbing her face out of confusion. "You could have told me this years ago when I was in school or even rehab. Why now?"

"I thought you should know. We've all known this for years and no one said anything. On top of it, I trust you the most out of everyone right now" Baz wasn't going to tell her about meeting with Lucy and taking J with him. He was going to wait until he began going through the contents of the safe.

As if she didn't have enough on her plate as it was, Jessica had various emotions running through her head that she was having a hard time even accepting what he said. The truth stung and it hit her right in her heart that she could feel in pounding out of anger. The hurt however hit her like a wave and tugged at her heart strings but she had given Smurf the benefit of the doubt. Jessica's always crave that mother figure but it was never found in Smurf. She thought for once that she did something but it looked like things changed.

Slowly getting up from the chair, Baz watched her intently thinking that she was going to leave. At the moment, he didn't realize or care if his words were going to start any kind of drama between the two women. In fact, Baz was for sure that Jessica was now going to stick with him as he was willing to tell her everything when the time was right.

She instead reached over the couch to grab her bag. "Baz…I need to talk to you" Jessica said quietly before pausing after she gripped it. This wasn't going to be easy for her, especially not after hearing what he said but it would weigh on her until she said something.

"Well I'm standing here, what is it?" He asked back, his elbows on the counter, leaning towards her once more. When she turned around, he could see the change in her face and it was something he didn't recognize. "Are you okay? I should have told you all this if that's what's bothering you"

She shook her head faintly, her blonde hair falling off her shoulders. Taking her seat back, she wiggled into her to get settled. "It's not that, I had to come here and talk to you anyway" Jessica said before digging around in her bag. "I um…I don't know what to say"

"Whatever it is, you can tell me Jess"

She bit her tongue before speaking. "So, we've been sleeping together for how long now? A couple of months? And we've been kinda together since I came back right?"

Baz narrowed his eyes while watching her dig through her things. He had no idea where she was going with it but he was agreeing with what she was saying. Jessica stopped digging when she finally found what she was looking for and put all of her focus on him.

"What?" Baz questioned now staring back at her.

"I'm um…I'm pregnant"

Her voice had been shaky as she was trying to figure out exactly what to say. Jessica wanted to see what his reaction was going to be and that was why she kept her eyes on him. Baz's face had softened after hearing her but it quickly changed. She slipped her hand out of her bag and placed the pregnancy test on the counter. Sliding it his way, he stared at it before picking it up to read it.

"I haven't slept with anyone else but you since I got out of rehab. It couldn't possibly be anyone else's so I just thought you should know"

"When did you find out?" He asked her not believing what he was hearing.

"This morning at Deran's bar. I went there to help him with his menu and I hid away in the bathroom to take it. I haven't felt good in the last couple of days and I knew I wasn't getting sick. So I took one of this and the results came back as positive" She wiped her nose for a second. "Don't worry, he doesn't know. No one does but you"

He placed the test back onto the counter before pulling away from it. Baz stared at her for another moment before ripping his eyes away. The tables now turned with various emotions running through his mind. As Jessica was trying to read them, she knew that it wasn't a good thing or at least good by any means. It meant things were going to change and she knew it that morning but being with him was different.

"I know that you're having a hard time with Lena and Cath being gone and trust me, I didn't expect this either, but I can't change it" She said quietly but enough to hear him.

"Are you sure that you didn't have sex with anyone else?" Baz asked back.

Staring at him once morning, Jessica rubbed the side of her forehead. "No, the only guy I've slept with is you Baz. You and I started hooking up like a day or two after I got out. I just…"

"You just what Jessica? Decided to come over here and drop this on me as if I'm not going through enough shit as it is with Smurf?"

"It's not like I had this planned or anything because let's face it, what's going on with Lena is really convincing to me" She told him back knowing that this was about to turn into an argument.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean. You don't take care of her and you think I'm happy about this? I don't want to be a single parent Baz; I've had that my whole life and I'm not going to do it again. I don't want a kid, not being in this damn family because we're not capable of raising a child. I never wanted this to happen, I got my life back on track and you think I want to add a kid into this?"

Baz turned away from her and faced the refrigerator. This wasn't news he was expecting or wanted, and it was truly the last thing he thought would happen. It was clear he wasn't a parent and now it looked like it was going to be two children. He put his hands behind his head still in shock.

"How did this happen?" He spoke mostly to himself, but she heard him clearly.

"You know how this happens. Boy meets girl, they have sex and one ends up pregnant" She told him just in case he needed a reminder.

"You know what I meant Jessica" He stopped talking before she interrupted his thought.

"So how do you want this to work? Are you going to stay with me or what? Because your track record isn't so great" Baz turned to her with a glare. "Oh, come on, you're letting your brother take care of your kid. You couldn't give two shits if she were her or not"

The bitterness was starting to fill Jessica's voice and she didn't care. This argument was going to explode as both parties were clashing. It wasn't fair for Jessica to deal with this issue by herself when it clearly takes two to make a baby. Baz on the other hand was completely thrown off. He didn't want to get furious either, but he couldn't help everything he was thinking. This changes the course of everything not only in their lives but also in the family's.

"And you think you're a fit parent? You literally just got a clean a month ago and expect to raise a kid?" Baz fired back at her while turning to see her.

Jessica's mouth popped open to say something, but she instead kept quiet. He watched as her eyes filled with tears and she quickly tried blinking them away. "You know what? This is fucking stupid. I'm gonna just go, okay?"

She grabbed the test harshly and threw it back into her bag. Jessica slid off the stool and didn't say another word as she started marching towards the door. She wiped her eye with the back of her hand as Baz watched her.

"Jess wait, I didn't mean what I said. Stay here so we can talk about this"

"I'm out of here, everything we say is going to end up in a fight so I just need to leave before I decide to have a mental breakdown" It was the truth and they both knew it. When the two of them argued, they argued like it was no one's business. "Forget about everything, I'll figure out something"

"Like what? You not going to try and do this all by yourself when I clearly had something to do with it. Just come sit down and we'll get through this together"

She grabbed the door handle and held it tight but didn't step outside. Jessica wanted to stay, a part of her was screaming to but she just wanted to get out. She had no idea what his reaction was going to be when she told him but part of her wanted him to be happy. Their relationship wasn't nowhere near perfect, but she thought this would bring them closer, or even put an official term on it. They didn't call each other boyfriend and girlfriend, they only slept together and that was that. This changed the whole game and neither of them knew exactly what to do.

The blonde spun around to see him before sniffling. "I'll think of something, if I have to disappear like Julia for a year I will. If I have to say I slept with a random person and had a baby I will. You don't want this responsibility because you aren't even handling it when Lena"

"Then what are you going to do? Come back here and try to make everyone believe that story? No one knows who J's Dad is because Julia slept around and that was the truth. You are different, you don't just go out and have sex with someone for money. Everyone will know that's my kid Jessica, it will be more suspicious that you just leave and come back with a kid"

"No one knows about us, if Smurf knew we both would be dead by now. I wouldn't even be allowed at the house because she'd kick me out like the first time. I'm sure you remember the whole thing considering it was your fault"

Before he could even answer her, Jessica ripped the door open and stormed out. She moved quickly to her car in order to hop in just in case he tried to stop her. Once she got inside, she locked the door, put the keys in the ignition but didn't start the jeep. Instead Jessica placed her hands on the wheel before pounding on it as hard as she could.

More tears fell from her eyes because she knew this wasn't something that could be brushed under the rug. Not only did it affect her relationship with Baz, this was going to change her life. Despite the options she has, Jessica had to keep the kid no matter what due to past experiences. This was a reality that she was trying to face but she didn't want to do it alone. She faced everything by herself and this looked like this would be another case.

After calming herself down, she started the car and headed down the road. Jessica's plan now was to go to Smurf to confront her about everything Baz said. She was going to wait until the morning but with her emotions high now, Jessica couldn't. It took her at least fifteen minutes until she arrived at the house and fixed her face in the mirror. If Smurf began asking questions, Jessica would lie because there was no way she was going to Smurf about her being pregnant.

Jumping out of the car, Jessica slammed the car door shut and stormed towards the back door. Her emotions being heightened was going to make matters worse but she didn't care at this point. While she was telling Baz the truth, she might as well hear it from someone else.

Walking through the backyard, she saw Nicky and J sitting at the patio table with a couple of books in front of them. They both said hellos but she ignored them and beelined for the kitchen. Jessica saw Smurf putting dishes away, at least she didn't have to hunt her down. Pulling the back door open, Smurf turned thinking it was J but she was surprised.

"Why didn't you tell me? You've been lying to me this whole time" Jessica spoke, standing on the opposite side of her. She leaned on the island staring her down.

"Lying about what? Is everything okay?" Her mother asked back feeling a sense of concern.

"Don't do this to me again, I know everything. The money, my schooling, all the rehab trips. It wasn't you; it was everyone else"

Smurf noticed J and Nicky peek interest in their conversation because Jessica left the door open. She brushed the thought by, not wanting them to hear anything but didn't make an effort to close the door either. She could tell Jessica had been crying considering her eyes were red and puffy.

"I have no idea what you are talking about Jessica"

"Baz told me everything. How you never paid for the rest of my schooling even though you gave me the money. How Pope and Baz were the ones making sure I had everything I needed in rehab, how they begged you to give me cuts"

Smurf's eyebrows shot up in another surprise twist she wasn't expecting that night. "You really believe everything he says? It's Baz we're talking about"

"No, it's me, not Baz!" Jessica nearly shouted seeing how she was going to turn the conversation around. It was her method of back tracking, the same thing she did to him constantly. "Just tell me, is it the truth?"

"Why would you believe him baby? I'm your Mother and you're going to take his word for it? You know that isn't true. I gave you the money so you could stop stripping, I paid for you rehab the times you needed me to…"

Jessica cut her off. "Then why didn't you pay for Julia's? She needed it more than I did"

It was a valid point but Julia never asked for help to go. Jessica on the other hand had reached out, knowing she got into a bad position yet didn't have the money to pull herself out. That was the main difference between the two women and the reason why Jessica got more of a benefit than her older sister.

"Because Julia couldn't stay sober for three days, all the money I would have spent to get her to rehab would have been wasted. You allowed yourself to change, she didn't. Just like with your finishing school, I pushed you into to help this family. It was my job to make sure you graduation and that was what I did"

Even though what Baz said about Smurf sounded like her, Jessica had a hard time figuring out who was telling the truth. She knew they were fighting over every little thing and Baz was growing tired of Smurf. Smurf was still her Mother and her attachment was never going to leave.

"Baz said…"

It was now Smurf's turn to cut her off. "And you're really going to believe Baz? He's been lying and stealing from the family since he's been a kid. You know that he wouldn't have done any of that for you, right?" She moved away from the shelf and took a few steps to her. Jessica backed to the other side of the counter.

"He was always your favorite but now that J's in the picture, he's out, right?" Jessica quickly ignored her last comment.

Smurf knew that Baz had a hold of Jessica and it was easy to see why. If he could keep her at his side, she's rally everyone else against Smurf, well that's how she saw it. On top of it, Jessica had always crushed on him and he could easily take advantage of it. Smurf knew everything that went on in her house and this was not going to be an exception.

"He had a family to take care of, you really think he was going to support you?" Smurf told her harshly and that sentence alone caught Jessica off guard. "Catherine would have never let him support you, after all, she did catch you sleeping with him, didn't she?"

Jessica's blue eyes widen and had no idea how she even knew. Craig made sure Smurf wasn't there when he threw the party, and no one told her from her understanding. Smurf smirked her direction knowing that she got one over her.

Her daughter scrambled for words but had a hard time doing so. "How did you know…?"

"I have my ways but then again, that wasn't the first time you two got caught. It just wasn't by me that time around and I know everything that happens in this family. Just like I told Pope and Baz that if they didn't look out for you, they weren't getting any job money"

"What?' She now questioned, the first time she was hearing this. "That was when we were kids"

Smurf shook her head no. "No, I told them to have an eye out for you, especially when you started stripping. I didn't want anyone coming around and hurting you so I made them watch you. They only did because if they didn't, they weren't getting a money. He didn't even want to give up the church money to Javi"

"That's not true…"

"Then why does your face read otherwise?" She asked her back. "You know, Baz will say anything to take control of this family. That means lying to you until you sleep with him again, not that you haven't already"

She wasn't going to let him try to take everything away from her and even though she wasn't close to Jessica, she was included. Smurf knew Baz would pull out all the stops and if she had to lie as well, she would. Everything that she just spoke wasn't the truth but now Jessica had to make the decision on who was telling the truth.

Backing away slowly, Jessica stormed back out not saying anything else. For now, it was going to be a tug of war on who's side she was going to take. The secret she had however changed things completely and Smurf wasn't going to know anything about it.