Juju's pov
Archie didn't end up getting there until it was already dark.
"You guys took forever," Scarlett whined as we got situated into the car, me crammed between Noah and Scarlett.
It had been hours that we had sat there. Janet had given us dinner, and let me use her phone charger. We played a game of capture the flag with Sebastian, but that had ended after Noah and I had beat Scarlett and Sebastian, sending Scarlett into tears.
"Someone's a bad sport," I had whispered to Noah as Scarlett had ran, sobbing, into the house.
"And a crybaby!" Noah agreed. He'd spent the next twenty minutes making Scarlett cry even harder.
After listening to Scarlett sob for what felt like hours, I was looking forward to a new baby even less.
My mom came and got me at 11:30 sharp the next day.
"How was your weekend?" she asks as I get into the car.
"Nice," I reply, buckling my seatbelt.
"Do anything fun?"
I shrug. "We went on a bike ride. Then we went to Lynn's sister's house." I don't want to tell her all the other things that had happened.
"Oh, fun," Mom says. "We're going to go to the beach this weekend."
"Really?" I ask eagerly.
"Yep," Mom says, smiling.
"I need a new swimsuit," I tell her.
"I know. So do I," Mom agrees, glancing down at her swollen stomach. "Pretty much got rid of all of my maternity clothes since having Rhett."
"Mm," I say. She had been wearing the same two pairs of leggings and a small variety of shirts for about a month.
"I thought we could go clothes shopping, for both you and me, today," she says. "Then we can make the cherry pie when we get home. How does that sound?"
"Amazing," I tell her, grinning.
"Glad you're on board," she says.
We drive downtown and begin walking around the streets.
"Where do you want to go first?" Mom asks.
"Lunch," I say. I hadn't had breakfast this morning.
Mom chuckles. "That works. Come on, let's go here." She points to a restaurant on the corner of the street.
"Okay," I say, smiling.
After we order and get our food, we sit together at a table outside, eating silently.
"I have an ultrasound the weekend after next," Mom says after a while.
I look up at her, hoping she's not going to ask me to go again. "When I'm with Archie?" I ask. I know that's probably not what she meant, but if I'm with Archie, I have an excuse to not go.
"No, the weekend after that," she says.
"Oh," I say, chewing on my lip.
"Do you want to come? We already asked your brothers, they both said yes," Mom offers.
I shrug. "I don't know," I answer, hoping either Callie or Preston are free that day and we can do something together instead.
Mom sighs, studying me. "Jules, I know you're not super excited about this baby, but they're gonna be your new sibling, whether you like it or not. I really think you should come. But, that decision is up to you. If you don't feel comfortable with going, you don't have to," she says softly.
I look down, not wanting to look into her eyes. "I just… I don't want things to change. I liked them how they were," I confess.
"Change can be good, Juju. It happens all the time. Sometimes, what seems like a bad change can be the best thing to ever happen to you," Mom says carefully.
She's talking about my dad, I think. Or maybe me. All I know is, I don't want to continue this conversation, so instead I take a sip of water. Mom gets the message, and we go back to silence.
After lunch, we go into a few stores. I get a pair of jeans and a few shirts, and mom gets some dresses, pants, and shirts. As we're walking around looking for swimsuits, we run into some familiar faces.
"JB?" I hear my mom say as I look through the shelves.
I turn around and see JB standing a few feet away with Chelsea in her cart.
"Betty? Hi!" JB says, taking Chelsea out of the cart, and both come walking over to us.
"It's so god to see you! It's been weeks," Mom says, hugging JB.
"I know! We really should get together sometime, all of us," JB says. I hug her too, then pick up Chelsea. "Are you guys free this weekend?"
"No, we're going to the beach," Mom answers. She looks at me holding Chelsea and smiles softly.
"Oh, really? Which one?" JB asks.
"East Hampton. We're leaving Thursday and we'll be there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday before driving home on Monday," Mom says.
"That sounds like it'll be fun," JB says, smiling.
"You know, if you're free, we'd love for you to join us," Mom offers.
"Oh, we couldn't possibly-" JB protests.
"Really, you should come! It'll be fun. Right, Jules?" Mom says.
I nod eagerly. "Yeah. It would," I say.
JB thinks about it a moment. "Alright. I'll see if we can make it," she says, smiling.
"Great," Mom says. "Now, Juju, we need to get back to buying swimsuits. We'll see you guys soon, okay?" she tells JB.
"Of course," JB replies. I hand her Chelsea, and the two walk away from the swimsuits.
"You were holding Chelsea," Mom points out as I go back to looking through swimsuits.
"Chelsea's not my sister, though. I haven't seen her since my birthday last month. I can't just go a month without seeing my own sibling like I can with Chelsea," I tell her.
Mom sighs. She's silent for a while as we look through more swimsuits. "Oh, this is cute," she says, holding up a pair of navy blue, high waisted swimsuit bottoms.
"Yeah, they are," I agree. "Can I get them?"
"Of course," Mom replies, smiling and handing them to me.
We continue looking for more swimsuits, and eventually I find a black and white striped top to go with the navy blue bottoms and mom finds a plain, black one piece she can wear. We buy them before getting in the car and heading home.
Betty's pov
"Hey guys, how was your shopping trip?" Jughead asks as Juju and I walk inside once we get home.
"Fun," Juju answers, grinning.
"I'm glad to hear that," he says, hugging her. "Did your mom ask you about going to the ultrasound?" he asks once they've pulled away.
"I did," I answer for her.
"What did you say?" Jughead asks.
Juju hesitates for a second. "Maybe," she says skeptically.
Jughead nods, smiling sadly. "Okay."
Juju walks away, holding her bag of new clothes in her hand.
I sigh and lean into Jughead, my own bags of clothes that I hold in my hands resting against my legs. "We got a maybe," I say tiredly. "That's better than last time."
"Let's just hope she'll agree to be in the same room as the baby one they're here," Jughead jokes, smiling.
"I wouldn't be surprised," I say. ""I just wish she'd be excited about this like we are, or like the boys are."
"Once the baby is here, I'm sure her attitude will change," Jughead says. "If not right away, give it a few weeks."
I take a deep breath, running my fingers through my hair. "Let's hope," I say.
A few hours later, after Juju and I made the cherry pie she'd wanted to make, Jughead and I are sitting on the couch watching TV while Grayson and Everett play with Legos on the floor when Jughead's phone rings.
"Oh, it's JB," he says, answering it.
I knit my eyebrows together, remembering there was something I was meaning to tell Jughead about her.
"Hey, what's up?" Jughead asks, putting the phone on speaker.
"I wanted to tell you guys that I can come this weekend, but Alex can't get off work," JB says.
"Huh?" Jughead asks, looking at me.
"Oh!" I cry, remembering. "I forgot to tell you, we ran into JB and Chelsea at the store today and I invited her on our beach trip this weekend," I say.
"That baby's really getting to your head, Betty," JB says.
"Not just the baby," I reply, laughing. "Anyways, you can come?"
"Yeah. Chelse and I can go, but like I said, Alex is stuck at work all weekend," JB says, a touch of sadness in her tone.
"That's too bad. But hey, we can call him, and there's always next time," I tell her.
"Yeah," JB agrees. "What hotel are you guys staying at? I want to try to get a room at the same place."
I tell her the name. "It's nice, not too expensive but it gets good reviews, and they have a breakfast buffet," I say.
"Oh, that's cool," JB says. "I'll book a room right now. Anyways, that's all. I'll see you guys on Thursday, I'll come over and we can leave together, does that sound alright?"
"Yeah, of course! We'll see you then," I say.
"See ya," Jughead says, and we hang up.
"I can't wait for this weekend," I say blissfully.
"It'll be amazing," Jughead agrees. "I still can't believe you didn't tell me you invited my sister, though," he adds playfully.
I roll my eyes. "I forgot, I'm sorry! Pregnancy brain, it's actually a thing!" I cry in my defense, grinning.
Jughead chuckles, putting his arms around me. "I love you so much, Betts," he whispers softly into my ear.
"I love you more," I reply, turning myself over in his arms so we're facing each other.
"Not possible," Jughead says.
"Is too," I whisper, and we kiss.
"Ewww," Everett and Grayson shout together, and Jughead and I break apart, laughing.
"I forgot they were there," I tell Jughead softly, smiling.
"Pregnancy brain, it's actually a thing," Jughead says, quoting me from earlier.
"It actually is," I tell him.
"I know. Have you forgotten I've been with you through three and a half pregnancies?" he says, tucking some hair behind my ear.
"You were only there for half of Juju's," I remind him.
"Ah, so you have not forgotten everything."
"I would never forget when I met you," I say, smiling.
"Me neither," Jughead agrees.
I take his hand and place it on my stomach. "The baby's kicking," I tell him.
"I can feel that," Jughead replies. "I can't believe that in just seventeen weeks, we're gonna have another baby."
"It's insane," I agree.
"I'm so excited, Betts."
"So am I."
Juju's pov
That Thursday morning, I finish packing for the beach and put my bag in the car as we wait for JB and Chelsea to arrive.
Once they finally do, we all load into the car and I spend the next few hours in the third row of the car, with Grayson next to me, Everett, Chelsea, and JB in the row in front of us, and my parents in the front seats.
As we hit the second hour mark, Everett starts asking when we'll get there.
"Soon, buddy," Dad answers.
"How soon is soon?" he whines.
"About an hour," he tells him.
Everett groans. "But that's so long," he says.
"We're more than halfway there already!" Mom says cheerfully.
"We've been in the car so long," Everett says, pouting.
"Want a cookie?" Mom asks him, bedding down to get something from the bag she has at her feet.
"Yeah!" Everett says excitedly.
Mom holds the cookie just out of his reach. "If I give you this you have to promise not to complain for the rest of the car trip. Can you do that?" she asks.
Everett nods eagerly. "I promise!" he says, reaching out his hands.
"Okay," Mom says, and hands him the cookie.
Chelsea is asleep, luckily, or else she would have probably been whining about getting a cookie as well.
An hour and a half later, we make it to our hotel. I get out of the car, grateful to be able to not be seated anymore. I can smell the salty ocean air, and I'm eager to get to the beach as soon as possible.
"Can we go to beach now, Mama?" Chelsea asks JB, who's unbuckling her from her carseat.
"Not yet. We'll check in at the hotel first, and then we have to change into swimsuits, but we'll go after that," JB tells her.
We do exactly that, and we're all walking down to the beach fifteen minutes later.
Around eight, when we're all back in our hotel rooms and Grayson and Everett are watching a SpongeBob rerun as I sketch a beach scene in my notebook, my mom comes up to me.
"Juju, wanna come on a walk with me?" she asks.
I set my notebook aside. "Sure," I answer. "Are the boys coming?"
"No, just you and me," she says.
I grin and pull on my shoes and a sweatshirt. "Let's go."
We begin our walk in the dark streets, walking along the shoreline at the beach.
"Are you excited to start middle school?" Mom asks.
I smile. "Yeah," I reply.
"We're gonna be in the same school now," Mom says.
"I know," I say.
"I'll try not to embarrass you," she says softly.
"Thanks," I say, grinning. However, just being there, pregnant, when the whole school knows who her husband is, and who her daughter is, is embarrassing.
We make it to a set of stairs leading up to a few shops.
"Want to go up here?" Mom asks.
I nod, and we climb up the steps. "Ooh, a candy store!" I point out.
Mom smiles, and leads me that way. "Come on."
We look around at all of their treats, and eventually pick out some candy for ourselves, and some for everyone else. I get some chocolate covered pretzels that are half dipped in milk chocolate and half in white chocolate and some mango sour belts, while mom gets some rocky road candy bars, and we grab packages of other things for the others to share.
We walk outside and right next door is a baby clothes store.
"Let's go in here," Mom says softly.
"Oh… okay," I say, following her unsurely inside.
There's displays of lots of tiny clothes and shoes.
"Oh, Juju, look at these!" Mom says, holding up a package of gray, white, and black onesies with various designs on them.
I stare at them in awe. "They're so tiny," I say, taking them in my own hands.
Mom chuckles. "I know. Three kids and I still can't believe how tiny they are when they're born."
I look at the onesies again. The top one is gray with small doodles of bees in white all over it.
"Should we get it?" Mom asks me.
"Sure," I reply. I turn around, where a rack of baby shoes is. "Oh my god, these are miniscule," I say, picking up a pair of tiny, black converse.
Mom smiles, looking at the shoes and then at me. "Let's get those too," she says, taking them from me. We look around a bit more, getting more gender neutral clothing for this new baby. As much as I don't want to have another sibling, I love shopping, so this is rather fun.
I wander over to the girls' section, and immediately find a pack of adorable onesies. They're all plain, but each in a different color and have tiny, ruffles sleeves. I pick them up, looking at the eight different onesies in maroon, lavender, white, light pink, olive green, light blue, grey, and black. I examine them, knowing we can't get them because they're for girls, and we don't know the gender.
"Do you like those?" Mom asks, walking up behind me.
"Oh- uh… I guess," I lie. I definitely like them. A lot.
"Want to get them?" she asks. I think she can see through my lie.
"We don't know if the baby'll be a girl, though," I say.
"I know that, but if they're not, we can give them to Polly if hers and Matt's baby happens to be a girl, or if they aren't, we can donate them," Mom says.
I suspect she's just excited that I'm getting into something to do with the baby, otherwise she probably wouldn't let me get the onesies.
"Okay, let's get them," I say, smiling.
Mom smiles back, her grin wide and happy.
We purchase the baby clothes then decide to walk back to the hotel.
Mom sighs as we walk along the shore.
"What?" I ask her.
"Oh, nothing. My feet are just really swollen," she answers, a look of slight discomfort on her face.
"That happens?" I ask.
She laughs. "That and a whole bunch of other things," she replies.
"Like what?" I ask, wrinkling up my face.
"You can never catch your breath, you're nauseous, clothes don't fit, the baby kicks your bladder and makes you have to go to the bathroom all the time, you're exhausted, headaches, you forget everything, and more," Mom says, counting them on her fingers.
"Woah," I say, my eyes wide. "That sounds awful. How have you done that four times?" I ask.
Mom chuckles. "Because at the end, I got you, Gray, and Rhett," Mom answers.
"But you still went through all of that," I point out.
"I did" Mom agrees, nodding.
"I could never do that," I tell her.
"You can if you want to," she says softly.
I bite my lip. I don't know if I want kids or not. I do, but at the same time, I don't. I shrug. "I can't decide," I confess.
"That's fine. You don't have to decide," Mom says, putting her arm around my shoulders and pulling me into a side hug.
We continue down the beach for about a minute before Mom speaks again.
"The baby is kicking. Wanna feel?" she asks.
I hesitate before raising my hand up from my side. Mom takes it and places it on the side of her stomach. I feel them kick right in the center of my hand. I let my lips form a tiny smile. There really is a real, living human inside of there, which is pretty cool, no matter how much I don't want them.
Mom's face lights up when she sees my face. "Cool, isn't it?" she asks.
I nod. "Yeah…" I answer.
We spend the next few days at the beach, and going into town a few times, mostly because Grayson and Everett insisted on picking out their own candy from the store.
Saturday evening, we were sitting on the beach, enjoying our last night there, when JB's phone rings.
"Hey, what's up?" she says when she answers.
A few moments later, she looks confused. "Yes, this is her," she says.
I see my parents, who are helping Grayson and Everett build a sandcastle, look at each other, communicating wordlessly before looking towards JB.
About a minute later, JB's expression turns to shock. "W-what? No…" she says, her breathing becoming heavier. "No…" she repeats.