~Chapter 28~
"There's a kid in you!" he suddenly cried out.
"Uh, well y-"
"You're pregnant!"
"Y-"
"With a baby!"
"What else would it b-"
"It's inside you!"
"I kn-"
"And it's mine!"
"Y-"
"I'm the dad!"
"I alre-"
"Sam, you're pregnant!"
"I-"
"You're pregnant!"
"W-"
"With my kid!"
"St-"
"There's a kid!"
"Y-"
"Inside you!"
"Y-"
"It's mine!"
"A-"
"We did it!"
"Dan-"
"We only did it once!"
"D-"
"And now there's a kid!"
"D-"
"And it's inside you!"
"Da-"
"The kid's inside you!"
"Dan-"
"You're pregnant!"
"I kn-"
"It's a baby!"
"Y-"
"I! I! A baby! There's! It's!" He began to hyperventilate.
Sam quickly grabbed his shoulders and slapped him. "GOD, DANNY! BREATHE!"
He held a hand up to his cheek, where a reddening hand mark was beginning to show itself, and nodded. Yeah...okay. He didn't tell her he loved her, of course not. He'd freaked out instead. How nice for the both of them. He shouldn't have done what he did to her... It was his fault that she was pregnant. She didn't deserve all the extra stress and work that would come with another baby. He sighed. He did this. Obviously there were no regrets but he seriously just was not ready for another baby. And he didn't want to tell Sam that... He didn't want her to think she'd made a mistake by getting pregnant. That...that wasn't her fault, that was his.
Of course, there was a human life down there, so it couldn't really be called a mistake.
"Geez, Danny," she sighed. "You're taking this worse than I am..."
Worse than she was? So...she really didn't want this baby? But unlike with the twins, he had a major say in what to do with the baby. His choice counted as 50%, and hers the other 50%. So this time, if he wanted the baby, his vote counted just as much as hers did, and they could work something out. But...did he want the baby? It was a tough question. He didn't... He just... Agh, this was impossible right now. Thankfully her gestation would be a good nine months, since it was only one baby...hopefully. Oh, God, no, he couldn't think about multiple babies from one pregnancy, not again! That just...that wouldn't be good. Well, he had nine months to answer her questions...
Well, now, no. That wasn't right. He couldn't have nine months because she was at least three weeks. Actually, she was around one month exactly. All he had to do was remember the date of their first time, and that was the date of conception. Well, a few days around that time actually. As he remembered from Anatomy, fertilization could occur within a three day time frame. So pretty close to their first time, if not exactly their first time.
And the reality that fertilization did occur had finally come crashing down on him. He didn't really want a child this soon; not another one at least! But here was another child nonetheless. And he really didn't know if he wanted to take care of it, to keep it. He had a good while to decide but if Sam chose to go ahead and look for a couple wanting a baby, he might not be able to get around it. The quicker, the better.
But what if he decided that he really didn't want it? Then what?
"Danny," she mumbled, "do you want it? This baby, I mean."
No... Well...maybe... Um...
"Look, let's just get out of the ghost zone. We're both stressed, we could probably use some rest." He paused to look at her. "Especially you; you're pregnant."
She sighed in frustration. "What do you want, Danny?"
He turned the Specter Speeder around and headed back home.
"Nothing," he answered. "I don't want anything."
"You don't want anything to do with the baby or...? I'm talking about the whole 'pregnant with Danny's child' ordeal. You've already freaked out. If you don't want the baby, that's fine. I told you, I'm not gonna make you do something you don't want to, or aren't ready for," she clarified. "Just...tell me what you want."
He wordlessly docked on the other side of the portal, back in the real world.
The two sat in the vehicle for a long while, neither of them uttering a single word for fear of upsetting the other.
There was no doubt in the halfa's mind that Sam was taking this the wrong way. He didn't know what to tell her. It wasn't that he didn't care about the baby, it was just that he wasn't ready for it. It wasn't like they had been trying for another child. They weren't even married. Plus, they had more problems to deal with. Tucker already knew he got more intimate with Sam from time to time, so he would believe it if Sam were to tell him she was pregnant. Tucker would immediately know who the father was. But the rest of his family didn't know. They wouldn't even have suspected that Sam could be pregnant because they didn't know about all the cuddling he and Sam had been doing recently. They didn't know the secondary reason why Sam liked to snuggle against him when she felt cold or affectionate. So no, they wouldn't have suspected Sam of pregnancy. And they wouldn't have suspected him of siring a child. In fact, he was the 'white knight' and would never try anything funny. And he hadn't until Sam had literally invited him to her body. Of course he didn't say no to that, no male would!
And it probably didn't help that he experimented on her, trying to see what annoyed her and what didn't in terms of seduction. Whenever he failed, she reacted by calling him a pervert and not letting him kiss her. When he succeeded, she would blush and kiss him back; usually that signaled the start of a potential 'cuddle'.
But most of the time it was an up-and-down kind of thing and he was still trying to figure out how to do it right. One thing always led to another, that much was easy enough to figure out, but he wanted to find out what order the actions should go in. Such as, kiss first or hug? Stroke hair or kiss cheek? Compliment or pull her close? Those kinds of things got him every time and he was determined to figure out which way he should go. It wasn't just for seductive reasons, though...he wanted to be better for her.
Now maybe he'd gotten a little too good... Either that or he was worse than he thought. Sam had told him numerous times that he was clumsy in bed. And as much as he hated to admit it, it was true. He would somehow manage to move them both to edge of the bed. Then he would slip and somehow fall off her, which resulted in him tumbling off the bed. If she was in the right position, she would go down with him. Maybe his clumsiness had something to do with it? Doubtful, but it was hard to believe it could've happened any other way. Falling off the bed seemed pretty legit right now.
"Sam..." he mumbled, his voice just barely above a whisper.
She lifted her head to look at him.
He took a breath. "I've made a lot of promises to you. I've kept to my word all this time, even though you probably don't remember half of them. But I remember every single one, including the very first promise I made. Do you remember what I said?"
She shook her head and waited for him to continue.
"I told you I would do whatever it took to help you. Tell me honestly, have I kept that promise?" he asked, sincere question without a hint of a statement in it.
"Well, yeah," she answered.
He held his arms open, inviting her in. She snuggled up against his chest and he closed his arms around her. "Then I won't break it now."
"I didn't ask about your promise, Danny," she reminded him. "I asked about how you felt. What do you think of me now that I'm pregnant? Again? This time with your baby?"
He frowned. He saw Sam the same way; nothing about that had changed. It was just...he was numb. He didn't necessarily feel or think anything about that baby, despite the fact that it was his.
"I still see you as my dove," he replied, trying to avoid another question with the baby. "I look at you and see my beautiful bird who soars through the clouds on wings like an angel's."
She smiled.
He continued immediately, knowing she was focused on the compliment now. "I see a girl who is just stunning. She has the most amazing personality. She's drop dead gorgeous. And I love her more than she could ever imagine."
She decided to join in with, "And her boyfriend is the biggest liar on the planet."
"I-"
"But she loves him anyway. He's really cute. He's still the most clueless person she's ever seen. He's a goofball."
"She's sarcastic."
"He's trustworthy."
"She's telling the truth now."
"He's half dead."
"But she's my life." He looked down at her. "And even though you only wear black, you shine like a beacon."
She rolled her eyes and he frowned.
"Well you do. I'm just saying it out loud." He bent his head down to peck her forehead.
From the way it sounded, she wasn't thinking about drilling her questions into his head. But now he was torturing himself by drilling his own questions into his head. the main one right now was...how were they going to tell his family? And what about Sam's family? And Tucker? And what if the rest of the school found out, just like they had with the twins? And...OH MAN, SAM DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AT SCHOOL! Oohhhh, that wasn't good... And she wasn't exactly in the mood to be told something like that right now...
Okay, okay...hold on... The priority right now wasn't school, it was telling his family; and if he could convince her to tell them, her family. Chances were, she would want him to tell everyone. That was probably for the best, actually. He could tell his family and relieve her of the burden of having to do it herself. That would make it easier on him to at least try to convince her to tell her own family. She needed closure with her parents; that much he knew. Problem was, Sam was too stubborn to admit it. So she dismissed every conversation he tried to have with her that concerned her parents.
But for now, he had to talk to her about his family and how she wanted this to go. Obviously she wanted a smooth, peaceful chat...but that just wasn't going to happen. When she was still pregnant with the twins, they believed him to be the biological father without question. Well, their reaction to it wasn't peaceful. They had been disappointed, and had even said so. They were supportive, sure, but they weren't very happy about a grandchild; although later on her pregnancy they were ecstatic about it, even more so when they found out it was twins.
So initial reaction would probably be the same as before. And in time, they would probably grow to like the idea of another grandchild. It might even be easier for them this time, because they absolutely loved the twins. The thought of having another baby in the house could actually cause a warm feeling in them. After the uncomfortable confession, that is.
"Dove," he murmured into her hair.
"Hm?"
"We have to tell my parents." He felt her shift beneath him. "I don't want to wait like we did last time."
"I know," she sighed. "It'll probably be better to get this over with."
"I'm sure they'll be okay with it after it sinks in."
"Yeah...as if that's going to happen..." she muttered back. "Are they home right now? Both of them?"
"Yes."
She pushed away from his embrace and his arms went slack. He waited to see what she would do. Honestly, he wasn't expecting this to go so easy. He was expecting a fight of some sort, some kind of resistance. Apparently not.
They both got out of the Specter Speeder. Each mentally prepared themselves for the nervous talk that was already forming severe anxiety in them.
The halfa led Sam upstairs and into the living room, where they sat on the couch and took a few minutes to try to calm their nerves. It wasn't working at all.
Danny was the one who decided that a few minutes of torture was long enough, and called to his parents, who were only God-knows-where.
Sam bit her lip as footsteps were heard thumping into the living room...and stopped as soon as they were there.
She finally looked up. There was Maddie and Jack, just standing there waiting to be told something. Both of them had a serious expression on their face for some reason. when she saw Danny, she suddenly realized why. The goth wasn't entirely sure how she looked, but her boyfriend looked like a nervous wreck, and his parents didn't have a hard time figuring out that they were about to have a serious conversation. Even Jack seemed intimidating.
"S-So...uh..." Danny fumbled. "Um...so Sam and I...um, we have...we have, um, s-something to tell you guys." He cleared his throat. "W-We need to discuss something with you."
She could only nod and stare up at the two adults standing in front of them, waiting unnaturally patiently for their son to continue. Danny snaked an arm around her waist, probably more to comfort and motivate himself than her.
"Mom, Dad, I think this is something you should sit down for..." Danny's voice trailed off. I was sure he was trying to keep himself together, and I was proven right when he tightened his hold on me.
"What do you need to talk about, sweetie?" his mother asked.
I felt his heart trying to jump out of his chest. My own heart was trying to go with his. I swallowed.
"Promise me you won't get mad," he said.
Jack nodded his head and his mother merely kept her deathly gaze on him, and for a second it shifted to her, but landed back on Danny.
"Okay..." the halfa breathed. "You guys love the twins, right?"
They both smiled.
"Oh, just wait until they're older!" Jack boomed with pride. "I can teach them everything they'll ever need to know about ghosts! And maybe one day..." He wiped a false tear away from his eye. "Maybe one day, we'll get to watch that Phantom kid be dissected."
Ooooo...kayyyyy... She looked up at a blanching Danny. There went all chances of him telling them his secret...
"Oh, don't worry, sweetheart," Maddie assured her son, apparently noticing his altering skin color. "I'll make sure to teach them all about the weapons, that way Phantom can't hurt them. And who knows? Maybe they'll even grow to be inventors and make weapons of their own!"
It was supposed to be Danny who told them but...with what his parents had just been saying... Well, it had to be putting images into his head right now. His own kids hunting, killing, and dissecting him... Then creating weapons of their own... And worse, his kids being around ghosts and actually handling an ecto-gun... That had to be a lot to take in, especially for the person they were supposed to hunt. Now it seemed to be up to her to break the ice.
"Uhm...w-what Danny means to say is..." Her mouth hung open, but no words would force themselves out.
Forget it, nevermind, she wouldn't just delve into this. This was technically still Danny's family even though she lived with them...even though her own family had abandoned her.
She elbowed the hybrid's ribcage. He responded with a jolt and a hand was placed over the area she hit. For a split second he glared at her, but quickly turned to his parents, knowing they were still waiting for an answer.
A million questions had to be running through their heads right now. And if not, then they had to be very curious.
Slowly, her boyfriend leaned back and whispered to her, "Is it too late to politely back out and try again later...?"
She straightened and whispered back, "Yes."
He leaned forward again, his face still pale as the moon, and absentmindedly tapped a finger on his knee, thinking of a way to stall them.
"Well, honey, what is it you want to tell us?" Maddie asked gently.
Her gentle attitude only made Danny and Sam all the more nervous; they knew she wouldn't be so gentle once they told her, and even if they lied or rudely backed out, Sam would start to show within a month and a half, maybe two months tops because she was so slim. Knowing his mother, Danny knew she would figure it out immediately and confront them about it. No matter what, Sam's stomach would eventually swell to an unreal size, and it would be a dead giveaway of her pregnancy.
The halfa cleared his throat and, taking a deep breath in another attempt to calm down a little, managed, "We need to tell you something about-"
Maddie jumped up. "The twins?! Is it the twins?! Are they okay?! They didn't ingest something they weren't supposed to did they?! Were they ever down in the lab, did they have any exposure to ectoplasm?!"
Danny put his hands up and made a motion that allowed her to sigh in relief and sit back down.
"The twins are fine... Um...it's Sam... See, she's, uh... Okay, promise me you won't get mad. You have to promise me you won't get mad before I tell you this," he said.
Maddie and Jack both nodded simultaneously. Amazing, really, how those two were complete opposites yet shared a very deep understanding of the other.
This would be the third time Danny had to clear his throat. The goth would imagine it was getting raw by now. And what he said next astonished her.
"I...I, um..." He lowered those baby blue orbs and powered through. "I got Sam pregnant..."
He... The way he'd said it made it sound like it was entirely his fault. He was trying to take the wrap for this...no, for her. He knew it was hard on her, so he was trying to pin it all on himself.
Instead of overreacting like the pair thought she would, Maddie cupped her forehead with one hand and closed her eyes. Disappointment. Just like last time.
She sighed. "Oh, Danny... I know you two are eighteen and hormonal; you even sleep in the same bed together... I mean, I should've seen this coming but... I thought you, of all people, would have more self control than this! I figured Jazz was more likely to do something like this than you!" She opened her eyes and looked at her son, whose own eyes were still on the ground. "Ever since the accident with the ghost portal all those years ago, I've seen your self discipline incline. I know it's from the ghosts; you're so skittish around them and...sadly, so terrified...but I think that raising twins has pushed you to mature. So tell me...why would you sleep with Sam?"
They both blushed, but the question was aimed directly at Danny, meaning he'd succeeded in taking the blame.
"I just... I couldn't help myself...I guess..." he answered weakly.
"Listen," Maddie said softly, causing her son to look into her eyes. A spectrum of emotions rested within. "I already know the twins aren't really yours, biologically I mean; Sam told me everything herself." Jack cast a very confused and surprised look at his wife. There would undoubtedly be a discussion that Sam would probably get sucked in to soon after this one was over. "But this time, the baby is yours. Now, I can understand how you came to love and accept the twins, being as you knew they weren't your responsibility to begin with and therefore you've had time to decide what you want to do. Even now Sam doesn't hold you to your promise to take care of them. But now you don't have that. This baby is your responsibility and it is something you need to decide on. You're the father; you're obliged to take care of it. However, there's also the choice of adoption, in case another baby is too much. My question to you is...what will you do?"
A/N
ATTENTION PLEASE: The next update may take a good while. You'll see why, and trust me, you'll love why. ;) I promise.
OH! Really quick, if you're good at poetry, I have to write a poem for my Fundamentals of Literature class. If any of you are good at poetry, do you think you can lend me hand? I suck at it... -_-"
XD Oh, how I do love making this poor boy freak out.
So...let's recap, shall we? Danny freaked out to the point of hyperventilation. There's only a ton of confusion and unanswered questions, and he can't figure any of it out. Neither of them really knows what to do or think. Sam is worried that Danny won't want the baby. He's sidestepping all her questions, and now she's given up. He knows he'll eventually have to tell Sam about school. He told his parents that Sam is pregnant again. Maddie has indirectly revealed to Jack that the twins aren't biologically Danny's. Now Danny has to answer his mother's question.
A lot of stuff's going on, huh? ;) Just wait for the next chapter... It'll be pretty intense.
Okay, so...THANK YOU! OMG YOU GUYS ROCK SO HARD! :'D Just...so many reviews...! It literally gave me a LOT of drive to move on with this story, and just reading that you think...! :) It's really exciting, guys! Thank you so much! I'd hug you but...I'm over the internet.
Review quota: four hundred (400).
Review replies (you've so earned 'em!):
Lucifers. Angel. 93- Well then. ;) I guess I'll have to keep you entertained now won't I? Prft. Yeah, like I'm telling diddly squat.
Looka'sMagicHell- Yeah, the insight into his brain right now: "OMG I KNOCKED UP MY GIRLFRIEND!" What were your theories? Just curious.
Alisi Thorndyke- Hey, the poor guy just found out he's going to be a dad again; it took awhile to fully sink in. I have yet to read COD itself... :( I'm sorry... I'm so tied up right now, but I'll manage to read a chapter or two sometime this week, hopefully tomorrow.
Magicalghostgirl- Yup, the poor fella just cracked. XD
Mata Nui- lol He halfway did. Still shocked, but getting the feeling back.
princessbinas- LOL! Aw, careful of giving me ideas...! I may do just that, you know!
Guest- :3 I thought it had a slight undertone of cuteness to it, just because he can't believe it. And yeah...he totally lost it.
Sammi- lol Yeah, but he'll be okay. Just...traumatized. :P
AJ- Yeah, I guess I did, didn't I? Bye, FF friend! :) I look forward to seeing your account if you ever get one.
Favorite Daughter Of Hades- Yes but I can't update right when it's full. :( I have to write out the next chapter and if it's full before then, then I can't update until the next chapter. Poor Danny doesn't know WHAT he's going to say. XP
HeroAce- Thanks, and I can't tell you. :) You'll see eventually though.
I'm. Only. Human. Dude- o.o ...Run, Danny...run...
Inuyuke- Well, if you insist... *takes tranquilizer out and arms self with it* Well, he was already stressed because of Sam's mood swings, and she was kinda taking some of it out on him (which was explained two chapters ago when Tucker pointed out how stressed he was, and he was saying how stressed and moody Sam had become), then there's everything else piled onto that... Now his dove is pregnant and that just sends him over the edge. :P
sammansonrepilica- Mm-hm. And thanks! :D
shadowstar1999- C'mon, cut the poor halfa some slack here. XD Everything's piled up on him; when Sam told him she was pregnant again, it became one too many.
ChristinCC- lol Ayup! ;P Poor lil' guy... He just can't get a break today, can he? Thanks! :)
Glaze Hannah- It wasn't insulting. Sam had to drop out of school because of the twins. She didn't trust a daycare facility to take care of them, Danny's parents wouldn't raise them, and Jazz didn't have the time. She didn't really get the 'burnt end of the stick' because she gets to spend time with her kids every day instead of (like Danny) suffer through school.