Author's Notes: Hello everyone! So I'm writing this at like, midnight, so some of the things I write in this chapter are probably not gonna make much sense, and I've gotten really lucky if they do. I know the blue light from screens usually wakes you up more, but really, it makes me MORE sleepy when I write, so this is what I'm doing. I've been thinking about doing a fairly short chapter that's told from Jughead's POV. Like when Fred was shot and they did all those scenes where he was like, in a dream and he kept saying stuff like, "I never thought I'd live to see the day you guys graduate," and they'd say, "Oh, but you didn't," except Jughead wasn't shot. But… something nefarious is going on with Penny Peabody and the Ghoulies, if you didn't catch on to that. Also, Gladys and Jellybean Jones get to Riverdale in this chapter! I wanted it to take them a little while… I don't know why. I don't exactly know how far away Toledo and Riverdale are apart from each other, but I assumed Gladys wouldn't be in too much of a rush, if that makes any sense (like I said, I'm running on like, six hours of sleep. That may sound like a lot, but it sure isn't in the grand scheme of things!), and when her and JB finally arrive, they find Betty with her little baby bump, and then she has to explain. So, this chapter takes place two weeks after the last one. ALSO! I want Jughead to wake up by either Chapter 6 or 7. So yeah! Onto the chapter!
BETTY'S POV
It's been two weeks since I officially unofficially moved into the Lodge apartment. And apparently, Hiram Lodge has had enough of me.
"I'm very sorry to inform you, Ms. Cooper," Hiram spoke to me as though I was a business associate he was cutting ties with. "But me and Hermione have come to the agreement that you need to get out of the house by tomorrow afternoon,"
Hermione, cooking breakfast in the kitchen, heard what Hiram said and looked back, disgusted and enraged that her own husband would lie through his teeth like that. But, I know from living with these two for two weeks that Hermione won't say anything to her husband about it. She'll let it slide, just like she lets anything and everything that her husband does to her slide. It's sad, really, how he treats her. And even more sad how she just… lets it happen.
I put on a sarcastic smile and said, "That's fine, Mr. Lodge. I'll just be leaving then. I'm sure I'll find somewhere," which was true.
When Polly first found out that Mom was selling the house, she talked to Cheryl and Toni, and they all agreed that I could stay with them for a while. It sounded like a pretty good idea, but Thistlehouse is… kind of creepy, to me. Kind of in the country, no neighbors or anything like that. Not that I'd hate it there, but… truthfully, the Lodge apartment was closer to the hospital. So I chose to live with Veronica.
Hiram hadn't even told Veronica about this, and I didn't plan on being the one to tell her. So, I packed my things as quickly as possible, and left, calling Polly while I packed.
She got to the Pembrooke just in time, and I got in the car, staying silent until the Pembrooke was very far behind us.
"So Veronica kicked you out?" Polly asked sympathetically, tucking a strand of stray hair behind her usual headband.
I laughed and shook my head. "No, Veronica would never kick me out. She would have me move in with her permanently, if possible. No, her father, Hiram Lodge kicked me out. He said him and Hermione came to an agreement, but if her face was any indication, he hadn't even said anything to her or Veronica beforehand,"
"That sounds like Mr. Lodge," Polly said. "I mean, I've never met him, but your best friend is his dad. And if what you've been saying about him is true, then he's exactly like what the news and tabloids are making him out to be, which I don't think is exactly their intention."
Chuckling, I nodded. "That sounds about right," I then let out a long exhale and said, "Are you sure Toni and Cheryl are okay with me living at Thistlehouse?"
Polly nodded and said, "Oh, of course! An extra person to take care of the twins is always someone we like," and then laughed at her own little joke.
The rest of the ride to Thistlehouse was… okay. Nerve-wracking, but okay.
When we got there, Cheryl and Toni were standing outside on the curved driveway, each of them holding a twin. Cheryl holding Dagwood, Toni holding Juniper.
"Look, Aunt Betty is here!" Cheryl announced to the twins in her talking-to-the-babies-voice. She then came up to me and said, "Hello, cousin dearest,"
"Uh, hi, Cheryl," I said, giving her a half hug since she was still holding Dagwood.
"Hey, Betty," Toni said, also giving me a side-hug.
We all went inside to find Nana Rose fast asleep in her wheelchair in front of the fire. Cheryl chuckled and said, "Oh, Nana Rose," and then her and Toni went into the nursery to put the twins down for their daily nap.
"Technically, they were supposed to go down twenty minutes ago, but Cheryl wanted them awake for when I got back and you got here," Polly informed me.
I nodded, looking around the living room at Thistlehouse. Honestly, it looked exactly as I remembered from Claudius Blossom's funeral. Clifford never got a funeral, mostly because the entire town saw him as a terrible, cold-blooded murderer. Which, yes, is what he is.
Cheryl then walked into the living room, her high heels clicking and clacking on the floor, and said, "Toni's still putting Dagwood down. I wanted to come out here and formally welcome you to Thistlehouse, cousin Betty,"
"Thank you for having me," I smiled at them. "Honestly, without you guys, I'd literally be homeless right now,"
Cheryl looked at me with a confused expression and asked, "Don't you still have your childhood home? If I were you, I would've tried to burn it down by now,"
I chuckled and said, "Trust me, I tried. But my mother managed to put it out before it could consume the entire house,"
"Oh," Cheryl said, smiling at me. "At least you tried, right? Anyways, if you'll follow me upstairs to our second guest bedroom,"
As we walked, Polly whispered to me, "Technically, it's the only guest bedroom. I'm sleeping where Penelope and Clifford used to,"
I shuddered at the thought of sleeping in the same room as a murderer and an abusive mother. But Polly seemed fine with it, so I wasn't going to say anything.
My room was, just as the rest of the house, themed around red and dark brown. Almost identical to Cheryl and Toni's room, except it didn't have nearly as many luxuries as their room had. Which I was fine with, might I add, because the room didn't seem as cramped.
I was right across the hall from the nursery, so I assumed there would be many sleepless nights from the crying of the twins, but more the practice for me, a mother-in-training, so to speak.
Polly and Cheryl left me to unpack the few things I'd grabbed from our house on Elm Street, and messily throw them in the drawers.
Once I was done, I flopped down on the bed, exhausted from just putting clothes in the drawers. I groaned at myself, at the fact that since finding out about my pregnancy, barely did any work. And when I did, was exhausted to the point of passing out immediately after.
I looked down at my small belly, and placed my right hand on it, thinking about Jughead. I couldn't help it.
What would he think about my pregnancy? That's the only thing that's clouded my mind since he fell into his coma. What would he have said if I'd been brave enough to tell him? What's he going to think when he wakes up? What if he doesn't wake up?
I stood up, and walked over to the full-length mirror in the corner of the room behind the door. My jacket was off now, leaving me only in my sweater. Even in the sweater, my bump was just now becoming noticeable.
These past few weeks at school, I've been avoiding the pregnancy rumors as much as possible. But they're hard to ignore and deny when you're currently showing.
I looked at myself in the mirror, and turned to show the mirror my side. I framed my bump with my hands, smiling to myself. I slowly began to rub my belly, and then felt… a little thud where I had stopped rubbing with my hand.
Letting out a small gasp, I looked down at my stomach.
The doctor had told me that for first pregnancies, babies usually didn't kick until at least sixteen and twenty-five weeks of your pregnancy, but closer to twenty-five weeks. So, why am I feeling the baby kick when I'm only fourteen weeks?
Quickly, I called Polly into the room and explained the situation to her. Even though I didn't want to admit it, I was freaking out a little bit, even though there was no reason to.
Polly smiled at me and let out a little smile. "Betty, it's okay," she then sat me down on my new bed and said, "This happened to me when I was pregnant with the twins, okay? For me, it was a mixture of the fact that I was very skinny at the time, and pregnant with twins. You're just really skinny. Nothing to worry about,"
I sighed with relief. "Thank you, Polly,"
"What do you think would have been wrong?" Polly asked me, a hint of a smile playing at her lips.
I let out a long, pent up sigh and said, "Honestly, Polly? I have no idea. It's just…" I exhaled again before saying, "Ever since Jughead slipped into his coma everything's… everything's put me on edge, and I can't explain why,"
Polly put her hand on my thigh and said, "I can. I felt the same way when I found out Jason died when I was with the Sisters,"
"What did you feel?" I asked. "And how did you cope?"
She sighed and said, "Well, I felt alone. Every time I thought about the fact that I was going to be a mother, alone, I felt crazy. Like something bad was going to happen to the babies, and I was going to be even more alone,"
"I get that," I said breathlessly. "But… how did you cope?"
Polly smiled and said, "I thought about how happy I was going to be once I delivered my babies. I didn't have the possibility of Jason coming back. You do. Think about the fact that Jughead can come back to you. Tell yourself he will come back to you,"
"Thanks Polly," I smiled, nodding at her. She then nodded back, and left the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
That was when I realized: she's right. Jason Blossom was shot in the forehead by his own father. There was no way he was ever going to come back after that. But Jughead… he's in a coma. There's a possibility he could come back to me. And like Polly said… I have to tell myself he's going to come back for me. No matter what.
Ever since I heard about what happened to my boyfriend, I've been extra paranoid about everything. And, yet again, Polly's right. The idea of losing my boyfriend and my baby is too much to comprehend. So every little thing is the most terrifying thing in the world, the idea of it.
I touched my belly, feeling for another kick. Unfortunately, it didn't come. But, I knew my baby was there.
And that, was when it became extra real.
Later that night…
I was laying in bed, unable to sleep. Truthfully, I'd been having trouble sleeping since literally the day I got pregnant. Of course I didn't know back then, but I was having trouble sleeping, and undoubtedly pregnant.
The only thing I could think about was; what if I have to raise the baby alone? What if Jughead dies, or is in a coma for so long he like… transfers into a vegetative state? What if he's asleep so long they just declare him dead?
The idea of any of those things were enough to keep me awake. When I first found out, the guilt of not having told Jughead about the baby was enough to keep me awake. But now… now it was because there was a chance I could never tell him about the baby. Polly at least got to tell Jason Blossom. I might not ever have that chance!
But, there is still the chance he could wake up. That chance that could change everything.
What happens when Jughead does wake up? And then I tell him about the baby? What if he wants to leave me? Honestly, I don't think Jughead would ever do that… but there's always the chance, right? The scary chance that when he finds out I'm pregnant and that I decided to keep the baby, he doesn't want it?
I looked at the clock on my nightstand and realized it was 3:30 in the morning. FP told me earlier today in Jughead's hospital room that his mother, Gladys, and his younger sister, Jellybean are coming into town today.
I need to tell them. Today. But how? What am I gonna say to them? "Hey, my name is Betty Cooper, I'm your son's boyfriend, and guess what? I'm pregnant!" that's not exactly how I wanna do it.
But how else? How else am I supposed to tell Jughead's mother and sister that I'm pregnant, decided to keep it, and never got the chance to tell him? That's quite a tall order to fill, you know?
I let out a long sigh and rolled over, touching my stomach. I smiled to myself as I felt another little kick from my baby ripple through my skin at my touch.
"I love you, baby," I whispered, closing my eyes.
Somehow, after feeling my baby kick, I found my way into dreamland, where I dreamt about Jughead waking up, and was rudely awakened, right as we were pulling in for a hug.
The next day…
"Alright Betty, rise and shine!" Polly's voice announced to me at ten o'clock in the morning, "You have an appointment with Dr. Patel at eleven, and then Jughead's mom and sister are getting in from Toledo, and FP says he's gonna bring them by here,"
I cringed at the day's agenda, even though it was considerably empty. All I had to do was go see the doctor for an ultrasound, and to make sure the baby was okay, and then I had to tell Gladys and Jellybean Jones that I'm pregnant with their son and brother's baby. Truthfully, that's the part I cringed at.
Seeing my clear discomfort, Polly sat next to a groggy me on the bed, rubbed my back and said, "It's okay, Betty. You've decided to keep the baby, and there's literally nothing they can do about that,"
"Well, they can disapprove of me altogether," I said with a light chuckle. "That wouldn't be the end of the world, but it'd be pretty bad to me,"
Polly let out an exasperated sigh and said, "Just try to be positive about today, okay? If not for you, for me?"
I sighed as well and said, "Alright, fine. But not for you, Polly. For the baby and Jughead,"
"Now that's how I want you to think of it," she said triumphantly.
No surprise, it took me so long to get ready that we almost missed our appointment with Dr. Patel. But, thankfully, she was fairly underbooked that day, so when we showed up five minutes late, she allowed us in with zero wait at all.
"Alright Betty," Dr. Patel said, looking through her files."It seems you're about fourteen weekspregnant as of yesterday, correct?"
I chuckled nervously and said, "I don't… actually know the date of every new week through my pregnancy. My previous gynecologist, Dr. Wellsberry, never actually told me before she was moved to another hospital. I think down at Seaside?"
Dr. Patel nodded as she listened to the information that my previous gynecologist, Dr. Wellsberry, had given me.
"Well, Ms. Cooper, it seems I'll be your obstetrician from now on, seeing as Dr. Wellsberry sort of bailed on you," Dr. Patel said, undoubtedly as a joke.
Unfortunately, I wasn't really in the joking mood. The thought, the idea, of telling Jughead's family about the baby when Jughead himself didn't even know, was looming over me like some sort of… venomous spider, ready to attack.
Dr. Patel gave me a look that asked what was wrong, and I simply said, "Uh… today I'm telling my boyfriend's family about the baby,"
Dr. Patel nodded to show she was following. "I get it. My first child… wasn't exactly expected. I was married to my husband, but family didn't, and still doesn't, like me. So, the pregnancy was complicated, as you could imagine,"
Somehow, hearing how Dr. Patel related to me in that way was comforting, and made me feel a little bit better about the idea of telling Jughead's mother and sister. Obviously, we've never met, so I don't know what they think about me at all, but I decided to take that as a good thing. Even though when they come, they're going to find out I'm pregnant with Jughead's baby, I can at least try to make a good impression. Right?
The baby's fine, and when I asked Dr. Patel about the early kicking, she said it was completely normal and, just as Polly had told me, it was a matter of me being fairly small.
Dr. Patel informed us that we could tell the baby's sex within the next visit, but I didn't really want to know. Truthfully, I did want to know, but I wanted Jughead to be there, to find out with me.
After Dr. Patel dismissed me, we left her office, and when we got out, who did I see? The one and only Ethel Muggs.
"Betty?" she asked, stopping following the woman she was following. "What are you doing in the maternity ward?" after noticing Polly, she asked, "Polly, are you pregnant?'
The woman who Ethel had been following gasped, snapped around and said, "Ethel Muggs! You never ask a woman if she's pregnant!"
Polly chuckled and said, "No, it's okay. But uh… no, I'm not pregnant,"
"Betty?" Ethel asked. "Then… are you..?"
Seeing no way out of it, I looked down at my small, somewhat visible bump, and nodded solemnly as I said, "Yeah, uh… yeah, I am,"
"Oh…" Ethel muttered. She then turned to the woman and said, "This is my Aunt Christie, she just found out she's pregnant, and my mother and I were the first people she told. I'm uh… coming with her for her first doctor's appointment since finding out,"
I smiled, and nodded towards Ethel's aunt. "Well, nice to meet you, and congrats!"
"You as well!" Ethel's aunt replied cheerfully, before ushering Ethel down the hall where she had been going originally.
I then got a text from FP Jones:
FP: 'Hey, Betty. Gladys and Jellybean just got here, we're all in Jughead's hospital room. I told them that you wanted to meet them, but I didn't tell them about the baby.'
BETTY: 'Thanks, Mr. Jones. Uh… tell them I'll be there in a few minutes.'
FP: 'A few minutes?'
BETTY: 'I just had a doctor's appointment with Dr. Patel.'
BETTY: 'Baby's fine, healthy and everything. We'll be able to find out the gender at my next visit.'
FP: 'Oh, that's great, Betty! Well, I'll tell them you're on your way.'
BETTY: 'Okay, thanks Mr. Jones.'
FP: 'Of course.'
Polly asked, "Who's texting you?"
I cleared my throat and replied, "Uh, Jughead's dad. His mom and sister are in his hospital room, I think… I think this would be a good time to tell them,"
I was wearing a relatively tight-looking sweater that very vaguely showed off my bump. Under most circumstances, I would never wear something this… revealing, per se. Well, it definitely wasn't revealing in the way you're thinking. It was revealing because it showed off my bump for the world to see.
They were undoubtedly going to notice the second I walked in. Whether they were polite enough not to ask remained to be seen. Either way, they were going to know today. And if they didn't know the second I walked in, they were going to find out.
FP noticed me when I walked in, and happily said to his wife, "Alright, Gladys, JB, this is Betty. Jughead's girlfriend,"
"Hi, nice to meet you Mrs. Jones," I said politely, shaking Jughead's mother's hand.
She laughed heartily and said, "No, no, call me Gladys!"
"Oh uh… then, nice to meet you, Gladys," I said, continuously polite.
"Likewise,"
Jughead's little sister, Jellybean, stepped forward, her hand extended. "I'm Jellybean, but I go by JB now. Nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you as well, JB," I said, smiling. Honestly, they were much nicer than I expected. I expected them to be nice, but they were… over the top, in a good way. You know?"
Gladys then cleared her throat, looking me up and down, her eyes clearly landing on my mid section.
"So. We hear you got something to tell us?" Gladys asked, her arms crossed in her leather jacket.
I cleared my own throat, resting my hands on my belly. I looked down, and couldn't stop smiling. "I uh… never got a chance to tell Juggy. But… I'm… pregnant," I said, a bit hesitantly.
They both looked at me, stunned, before JB's face broke into a huge smile as she asked, "So… I'm gonna be an aunt?"
I nodded and said, "Yup,"
Despite not wanting to, I turned to Gladys expectantly, as her face was still full of shock, which was fair.
She then put on a face that said something like 'So be it,' as she stepped forward and said, "Well, congrats kid. You're keeping it?"
I nodded again as I said, "Uh… yeah. I hope that's okay,"
"Of course it is!" Gladys exclaimed as she let out a hearty laugh. "Either way, it's your decision. I'm not gonna tell you what to do with your body,"
Smiling, I said, "Thank you. Honestly… you really don't know how much it means to me to have you guys as a support system,"
"So you said you never got the chance to tell Jughead," JB said, looking at her brother sadly. "How… how pregnant are you?"
I sucked in a breath and said, "I'm uh… fourteen weeks now. I was going to tell him the day it happened,"
"He's going to wake up, okay?" JB said to me encouragingly. "You're gonna be able to tell him,"
I smiled at her, looking down at my bump. I'd told myself countless times that, 'Jughead is going to wake up. There's no question about that,' but I never really believed myself.
Maybe hearing it from my boyfriend's little sister helped me realize that he is going to wake up. Really, he doesn't have a choice. Not if I can help it.
Turns out, Dr. Masters had a brother who was working for the hospital in Greendale. After hearing about his brother's gruesome murder by the Black Hood (my father, unfortunately) he came to Riverdale to continue his brother's work. So now, we have a new Dr. Masters, who's Jughead's doctor.
Right at the beginning of all this mess with the motorcycle accident, and Jughead being in a coma, Dr. Masters told us that talking to him, positive stuff, of course, can really make all the difference.
I told myself that I was going to wake Jughead up. It's going to be me, I thought.
But that would take time and work. Not to mention I still had to figure out why Sweet Pea and Fangs remembered Penny Peabody being at the site of the accident.
Author's Notes: Hello everyone! So… I'm really, truly sorry if this chapter didn't really seem at all realistic, but that's not really what I'm going for in this fanfic. Not realism, more fun! I want writing this to be fun for me. It is, of course, but not when I try to go ultra-realistic. Also, again, sorry if Jellybean and Gladys' reactions weren't perfect, but I tried. Like I said, Jughead is going to wake up around Chapter 6 or 7, and this is Chapter 4, so we've got a little ways to go, but definitely not long until our beloved Forsythe Pendleton Jones III returns to this fic! Now, without further ado, let's stop this right here so I can get working on Chapter 5! YAY! Bye!