Author's Notes: Hey everybody! Welcome to Chapter 8 of The Bump in the Road! I'm having a lot of fun writing all my fanfictions lately, part of the reason I've been updating so regularly. With all the quarantine, and the fact that I can't spend my summer with my friends has really brought me down, emotionally I mean. I started watching Riverdale around two weeks ago, and I'm already finished (I know, I'm a crazy binge-watcher) and now I'm going back to watch my favorite episodes, mainly all of Season 1 and the flashback episode from Season 3 (that was a very good episode, highly recommend!). That has kept me inspired to write this story, as I've seen the characters so much, I know how the characters act and how they talk and stuff like that. This chapter is going to feature Archie and Veronica, Sweet Pea and Fangs, and possibly Toni and Cheryl. Really, it just depends on how I feel while writing it. Now, without further ado, let's jump right into the chapter!

BETTY'S POV

Jughead was sitting up now, which was kind of a great achievement.

According to the doctors, it sometimes took people a long time to sit up on their own without help from others after waking up from comas. Days, weeks, even. They said that he got really lucky with that.

Archie and Veronica came about an hour ago, and just like we were before they came, we were all sitting in silence. FP had brought by Jughead's laptop, so he could work on his novel, and we were all on our respective devices.

Veronica was texting her friend Katy Keene frantically, they were talking about something tragic that happened in New York (one of their celebrity friends was talking trash about Veronica and Katy or something), Archie was texting his parents, telling them that Jughead was okay. Like I said before, Jughead was writing, and I was reading a book.

It was a book about pregnancies, which I was sure I was not supposed to be reading.

Why? Well, because it was one of those books that told you about all the terrible things that could happen during your pregnancy. It also told you all about the "perfect" diet to go on whilst pregnant, including all the foods that will help nurture your baby and make sure it gets all the appropriate nutrients in the womb.

I let out a small, barely audible gasp, and all three of the other people in the room looked up.

"Betty, you seriously need to stop reading that book," Archie said.

"Yeah, B, it's got you all freaked out," Veronica said in her usual, sassy tone.

Jughead reached down to hold my hand and said, "The doctor said the baby's okay, right?" I nodded. "Well then stop stressing about it. The doctor can literally see inside of you, there's no reason to worry. Besides, stress isn't good for the baby,"

I squeezed his hand comfortingly and said, "I know… it's just hard not to. I mean, once you pick up this book, everyone says this by the way, it's so hard to put down,"

Jughead then snatched the book from my hand and put it on the nighttable on the opposite side that I was on. "There you go. Now, go find another book to read,"

"Where?" I asked, the annoyance clear in my voice.

"Do you not have a digital library app on your phone?" Jughead asked, knowing full well that I do and just wanted to be difficult.

I loaded up the library app on my phone and quickly chose to checkout a random, meaningless book. I absentmindedly read it, not taking in any of the details. Mostly, I was focused on Jughead. He'd had random sleeping spells lately, where he would just sort of fall asleep in the exact position he was in, where he would sometimes fall over. Just a few hours ago, he hit his head on the headboard of the hospital bed, which hurt really bad and scared him even worse.

That, although, wasn't the only reason I was tuning out the book.

Honestly, I couldn't focus. I kept thinking about what Fangs and Sweet Pea said, that they heard intel from someone (they still refuse to tell me who) that Penny Peabody was going to try and kill Jughead tonight. Well, now he's awake, and mostly alert, and there's absolutely no way that anyone is going to be leaving Jughead alone tonight.

But that didn't mean that I was still worried. Maybe Archie and Veronica would go home, and then I would have to be alone with Jughead. Yes, I would protect him, with my life. But, I'm also carrying another life. My baby's life. I would risk everything for Jughead.

But… what if I get up to go to the bathroom, and then Penny Peabody slips in when I'm out and stabs him to death? What happens then?

I decided that there was going to have to be two people at the hospital at all times, so that if one person was away, there was still another person to be there.

At around ten o'clock at night, Veronica got tired and went home. Archie promised that he was going to stay at the hospital with us, which made me very relieved.

Being twenty weeks pregnant, and with all the excitement that'd gone on during the day, I was already exhausted. When Jughead noticed me yawn, he invited me up on his hospital bed, where I cuddled up to him and fell asleep almost immediately.

Midnight…

It was midnight when I was awoken by the feeling of Jughead adjusting. I knew he was trying to be subtle and slow, trying his best not to wake me, but it unfortunately didn't really work. I woke up the second he started moving.

I quickly gathered that something was wrong. Everything was silent. Archie was a snorer, I learned from the few sleepovers we had as children, and I somehow figured Jughead was awake, because I learned quickly from our spent nights together that once Jughead's asleep, he stays in the same position, for the most part, until he wakes up.

Opening my eyes, I turned my head a bit, and my fuzzy eyes recognized a blonde woman wearing a leather jacket.

"Betty, don't move," Jughead whispered in my ear, right around the time I realized the woman was holding a gun. Pointed at me.

If the woman shot, it would hit right in my forehead. It would hit Jughead's arm, but I would be killed immediately.

My heart began beating faster and louder in my ears as the woman, Penny Peabody I'm assuming, started talking.

"You know, Jughead, you're a lot sturdier than I thought you'd be," she then chuckled and said, "Honestly, I'm a little offended no one told me you'd woken up! Then, maybe, I wouldn't be going after Cooper here,"

Jughead was seething with anger at this point, as he asked angrily, "What do you want, Penny?"

Penny laughed heartily and said, "Jughead, I want to kill you! Have I not made that clear? Sorry," she then laughed a bit more and said, "I want to kill you because of what you did to me. You exiled me from the Serpents, you made me leave my hometown and live in dumb Greendale!"

"What was I supposed to do?" Jughead demanded, his arms wrapped protectively around me, a continuous message not to move. "Just let you continue terrorizing the Serpents? You forced me into drug dealing, Penny,"

"Because you owed me a favor," Penny growled. "What was I supposed to do?"

Jughead continued to stare at the woman, who's arm hadn't wavered away from my head. I was scared. Scared for my life, scared for Jug's… and scared for my baby's. At any point, Penny could point her gun at my stomach and shoot, which would kill the baby immediately.

Slowly, Jughead's left hand, the one that wasn't trapped under me, snaked around his body and rested gently on my belly, somehow making me feel safe, despite the situation.

I wasn't sure where Archie was, but I was sure that he was definitely aware of what was going on.

"Why'd you come back, Jughead?" Penny asked, fake sympathy. "You know, if you'd died, then maybe your girlfriend here wouldn't be in danger. Maybe I'd've let her and your sweet, precious, baby alone,"

Jughead grit his teeth as he said, "Don't you dare touch either of them,"

"I think I'll spare her, for the baby's sake," she shrugged modestly and said, "I do want to kill you, but that poor baby didn't do anything. Maybe once the baby's born I'll come after her and kill both of you! Maybe I'll take the baby, too,"

"You wouldn't DARE!" Jug yelled.

Penny cocked her gun and then pointed it directly at Jughead. Just as she had said, she was sparing me for the baby's sake. Jug's grip tightened a bit around my belly, making the feeling of safety disappear very quickly.

"I'm not going to kill you tonight," Penny then mused very slowly, as if wanting to draw out the moment of having a gun pointed at my boyfriend's forehead. "But I will come back. I mean, I'm not an idiot, I'm not going to shoot someone in a hospital! Maybe in a few days, when you're out and about, and at a safe distance from everything. Just know that I'll come for you, Jones. Two months, max, and you'll be dead,"

And then, without another word, Penny Peabody exited the room, and we heard her boots stomping down the hall. Only when her boots were inaudible did we relax.

Jughead pulled my face up to his and we kissed passionately for a few seconds. He then leaned his face down and kissed my bump a few times, rubbing around it furiously. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," I whispered back, our foreheads resting together.

Suddenly, Archie's voice came into our ears as he said, "Yes, Mr. Jones? Penny Peabody was just in Jughead's room, he's got a gun…. Yeah, he threatened him, he threatened Betty, Mr. Jones." then a pause before he said, "No, she didn't even acknowledge that I was in the room…. Okay, see you in a few minutes,"

"Was that my dad?" Jughead asked, looking at Archie hopefully.

Archie nodded and said, "Yeah. He's coming down here. Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine," I said. "Just… shaken up," I added, while running my hand from Jug's face to his shoulder multiple times in an attempt to calm him down.

His hands were plastered to my stomach. Not moving, they were just sitting there. And somehow, I felt that was best. Just to feel safe in his arms as we hugged, and calmed each other down. All three of us sat in silence for another twenty minutes until FP arrived.

Instantly, the sheriff came to Jughead and I, and asked us questions about the situation.

"I didn't see her come in,"I said. "I woke up right as she pointed the gun at my head."

Jughead sucked in a breath and said, "She picked the lock on the door. She came in, really quiet, and then she took a gun out of her pocket. I thought she was going to point it at me, but then, she pointed it at Betty's stomach. When Betty woke up, she pointed it at her forehead,"

I hadn't been aware that our baby had been the one who was originally in Penny's plans to hurt Jughead, either physically or emotionally.

FP was writing down everything that we were saying. "Was she alone? Like, did you see anyone else with her?"

"I saw someone outside the door once she closed it. I think the person was her watchdog or something," Archie said.

"That's a possibility," FP remarked, jotting it down on his notepad.

We told my baby's grandfather an exact recount of everything that had just happened. FP then suggested that we lay low for a while, find somewhere safe to stay and stay there. He suggested that we finish the semester, and maybe entire school year, online because Penny could walk in and start shooting up the school, looking for us.

Jughead and I decided that yes, we would finish the semester online, and stay home. Gladys was still living there with us, although she was spending less and less time there, saying she was out 'looking for a job,' but apparently she hadn't applied anywhere.

Fizzle Rocks, although, were hitting the streets like a rampage. Everyone was either dealing or taking Fizzle Rocks, at least one package being found in almost every locker at Riverdale High.

And despite everything that happened, Jughead and I still wanted to go to our doctor's appointment. We were going to find out the gender of our baby, see it, and Dr. Patel even said that he would out some pictures for us.

"Alright, Ms. Cooper, Mr. Jones… there's your baby," Dr. Patel switched on the sonogram machine, showing us a picture of our baby.

Both Jughead and I just sat there, staring at it in awe. Yes, I'd seen the baby before, but it always felt like a completely new feeling. Like I'd never seen our baby before, like this was the first time. But it actually was the first time Jughead was seeing our baby, and he was just as happy as I am.

A small tear slipped out of his eye, and a few more flew down his cheek once Dr. Patel turned on the heartbeat monitor, causing the entire room to fill with the sounds of our baby's heartbeat.

"Baby's perfectly healthy," Dr. Patel said. "Would you two like to find out the gender?"

"Yes please," Jughead and I said in almost perfect unison.

Dr. Patel chuckled and looked closely at the monitor, finding out the gender of our baby. Both Jughead and I sat there in anticipation, wanting to hear what the doctor was going to tell us.

"Congratulations you two!" Dr. Patel announced. He looked at us and said, "You're having a baby boy,"

A baby boy… a little prince I can shower with gifts and love. I felt my eyes tear up, and when I looked up, realized that Jughead was full-on crying. This was not only the first time he was seeing and hearing the baby's heartbeat, he was also finding out that he was going to have a baby boy.

Suddenly, he leaned down and kissed my forehead, before leaning our foreheads together. We listened to each other breathe, a long, loving gesture.

Dr. Patel then handed me a paper towel to wipe the goop off my stomach, and then asked me to lower my shirt.

Jughead and I were both still crying by the time we left the hospital, heading to the house that I grew up in and the house that the Jones now live in, crying, talking about it.

"I can't believe it," he said. "I just… I already love our baby so much. How is that?"

I smiled at him, caressing his face. "It's because babies are made from love. We're going to love our baby boy so much…" I smiled harder at the thought of it.

He wrapped his arm around me from the back, holding onto my shoulder as we continued walking.

We finally arrived home, and I plopped down on the couch tiredly. Hearing us, Jellybean jumped down the stairs, asking us about the visit.

"So…" she started. "Am I gonna have a niece of nephew?"

Jughead hugged his sister and said, "Nephew, JB. We're having a baby boy,"

"I KNEW IT!" FP yelled from the kitchen. He came out and said, "I was listening the whole time. Take that, Gladys!"

Gladys then emerged from the kitchen as well, a frown on her face. She took a twenty dollar bill from her pocket and handed it to FP. "Fine, FP. But the next one is gonna be a girl,"

"Next one?" Jughead questioned. "What next one?"

"The next baby, of course!" Gladys smiled.

Both of us just sat there, embarrassed, as FP gloated about the fact that he had accurately guessed the gender of our baby. Gladys then announced that dinner was ready (which I was very glad about), and led us into the dining room where the table was already set, and the food was already on the plates.

I quickly sat at the plate with the most food on it (I didn't need to be told it was for me) and began quickly horking down the food. Jughead stared at me in an almost awe-like stare at how much I was eating, then smiled to himself and sat down next to me, eating the delicious meatloaf that his mother had prepared for us.

Honestly, despite that I had almost gotten shot earlier that day, it was pretty good.

Author's Notes: Alright everybody, that is that! Now, I have a quick question: I had to delete my Descendants fic because of some complications with the file, and unfortunately had to delete it. I have no intentions of rewriting it at the moment, but I am considering starting another one. If I were to, it would be a Percabeth fanfiction. If you don't know what Percabeth is, it's the Percy Jackson main ship, which consists of Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. Would you want me to start the Percabeth fic, or do you want me to not and focus on this fic?