November brought with it the beginnings of snow fall, though so far there'd been nothing more than a light dusting of snow, this had drove Kim to show up at Jagged's mansion at least four times a week on average for nothing more than a desperate need for exercise. The rock and roller was happy to oblige him in this.
Lynette had watched the end of October come and go without a monthly visit, then the first week of November brought the same. Now she stood in the pharmacy trying to work up the courage to go to the family planning isle. She ideally looked over the various over the counter medical remedies for pain, heart burn, allergies. Who has allergies in winter? She briefly wondered then remembered that Kim's sister had been allergic to dust.
Kim's sister, that made her wonder what he'd say about this. Would he stay her boyfriend or would he leave? Would he want to keep the baby? Would he stay and help her raise it?
'I'm getting a head of myself,' Lynette chastised herself.
"Hey Lynette," Marinette's voice drifted to the brunette girl.
Lynette broke from her trance like state and regarded the blunette, forcing a smile up to her face, "Hi Mari."
"Mmm, nope, I don't like it," Marinette stated.
Confused, Lynette inquired, "You don't like what?"
"That forced smile you just gave me," Marinette clarified.
Lynette hesitated for a moment before grasping the blunette's arm and heading off to a different area of the pharmacy where there was less of a crowd.
"Lynnie, what's wrong?"
"I'm late," Lynette whispered.
She rested a hand against her fore head before admitting, "it could just be stress related. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't. But I—I can't work up the nerve to get a test. I've been walking through that isle for the past—" she broke off and looked at her phone. How long had she been here? It was 5:30? Seriously?!
"—hour. Marinette I just—I can't do it. I gotta know but I can't deal with being asked any personal questions. I'm scared out of my mind and the honest truth is that doctor that first treated me last month didn't help things any either. Literally tried telling me I was lying about what happened," Lynette confessed.
Marinette gasped and covered her mouth at the last bit. She slowly shook her head 'no', not wanting to believe what she'd heard while her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
"Lynette, I'm so sorry. I wish they would've let me be in there with you. I mean you don't wake us up in the dead of the night for trivial things. You really don't. And it's never been an issue, it never would be," Marinette stated.
She smiled a little bit before making a suggestion, "I'll get it for you. Just meet me outside, okay? Don't worry about anything. I'll handle it and if you want, you can take the test at my place later, that way you've got someone with you."
Lynette slowly nodded.
"And don't worry about Kim. He's crazy about you, I really don't think he's going to leave you to raise a child on your own if you are," Marinette added.
Lynette blinked in shock before asking, "H-ho-how did you kn-know I was—"
"It was written on your face. You get this one particular look whenever you're worried about Kim or something regarding Kim. Almost a look of regret. He didn't stumble into this choice to be your boyfriend, he made a conscious choice to pursue his feelings. You're stuck with that jock. Get used to it," Marinette replied with a wink before heading off to the family planning isle.
Lynette let a small genuine smile creep across her face as she left the pharmacy to wait outside. The crisp cold air almost had a cleaner scent to it than summer, and it tickled her nose. She put her hands in her jeans pockets as she stood and waited.
"Well lookie here, why are you just hanging around outside of the pharmacy, Montclair?"
'Geez I can't catch a break,' Lynette thought to herself before she shot back, "why are you here, Bourgeois? Don't you have minions that go to the pharmacy for you so you don't have to mingle with the 'peasants'?"
"As if! I'd never let one of those guys come here for me. They'd be clueless," Chloe retorted, "But that doesn't answer my question. Why are you here?"
"What do you care? Don't even bother acting like you do, I know you don't. You only care about what exists before the tip of your nose. If you actually had half a heart like the rest of the school, maybe you would've picked up on a few things the past month. I'm not here for your entertainment, Chloe, and I am most certainly not in the mood to put up with your bullshit. So get in there, get what you came for, and go. Leave me alone," Lynette growled.
Chloe blinked a little before sighing and relaxing her pose. She shifted her arms from being across her chest to her hips as she pressed for more information, "I do notice somethings. I noticed that in the second week last month, you missed about half a week of school. Kim kept getting your homework for you and everyone said your parents were no longer being considered fit parents. I read the tabloids too, they're talking about some kind of scandle and child abuse?"
"So the rumour mill goes," Lynette replied with a disinterested tone.
"Well anyways, the other person that's was missing is that Sebastien guy. Rumour had it that he'd attacked you and- did things. Is it true?"
Lynette shot a glare at Chloe that would've killed her on the spot if looks were capable of such things. The brunette spoke slowly, "first off, never mention that name to me again. Second sometimes rumours are just rumours and sometimes rumours hold some truth that's all you're getting out of me Chloe, so I'll thank you kindly to move along."
At that moment, Marinette left the pharmacy carrying a shopping bag, "got what I came for, let's go."
Lynette followed her blue haired friend without a second glance Chloe's way.
Chloe watched as Marinette took a pink box out of the bag and handed it to Lynette. Lynette quickly stuffed the box into her coat pocket.
Chloe entered the pharmacy and began scanning the isles, first aid, pain relief, feminine hygiene, family planning, there it was. First response pregnancy test, that's what the box was!
The blonde thought for a moment on what Lynette had told her, 'sometimes rumours are just rumurs and sometimes rumours hold some truth.'
'Why does she have to talk in riddles?' Chloe thought to herself as she fought the urge to swing her fist at the shelving unit in front of her.
'I guess that really, she's never seen anything from me to show that I do have a kinder side. This just bugs me though. I mean her parents get arrested, Sebastien was held in jail at the police station for 48 hours, Sabrina told me about that. Are the two events linked? If so I can't imagine that kind of horror,' Chloe thought to herself as she headed off for what she'd came to the pharmacy to get.
Marinette and Lynette walked in silence as they headed to Tom & Sabine's Boulangrie Patisserie, Lynette hesitated when she saw the back of a familiar head. Kim.
Marinette grasped Lynette's arm gently coaxing her, "It'll be okay."
Lynette bit her lip and nodded as she headed into the bakery, with Marinette at her side.
"Oh hello sweetheart," Sabine greeted the brunette girl with a smile.
"Hey Mrs. Cheng," Lynette replied. At the sound of Lynette's voice, Kim turned around and smiled but his smile quickly fell as he noticed her body language and facial expression.
He walked over to her, watching as she seemed to visibly tense more as he approached. He brought his hand up to the left side of her face, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb before cradling the left side of her face. Lynette closed her eyes and nuzzled into his hand. The touch was familiar, loving, and comforting.
She knew he was going ask what was wrong, but she wasn't expecting the question she did hear from him, "When are you testing?"
Lynette's eyes shot open and she looked to her boyfriend with a questioning expression.
He shrugged a little, "I've never seen you like this before. I've seen how embarrassed you were when you got your first period at a swim meet."
"Don't remind me," Lynette grumbled.
"I've seen your expression when you're sick, when you're sad, when you're nervous. Given the date, I figured there's only one reason you'd be nervous right now," Kim concluded.
Lynette smiled to herself and gave a small chuckle as she admitted, "It still amazes me how much you notice."
"It's because I care," Kim answered as he sat at a table, Lynette shook her head 'no', and looked to the stairs.
"We were going to hang out in my room, Kim. Why don't you come along? We can wait things out there," Marinette suggested.
Kim nodded in agreement, "Alright."
He stood up and offered his hand to Lynette. Lynette smiled a little as she took his hand and the two of them followed Marinette up into the apartment above her parent's bakery and then to her room.
Kim looked around at the loft style room and whistled lowly, "It's pretty pink."
"Yeah, guess her favourite colour," Lynette quipped.
"Oh knock it off you two," Marinette replied as she opened a drawer and put the contents of her shop inside.
A question suddenly came to Lynette's mind as she asked, "What were you in there for anyway, Mari?"
"Girl stuff," Marinette replied simply.
Lynette chuckled to herself silently wishing she'd been a fly on the wall to see the cashier's expression seeing both feminine products and a pregnancy test.
"So, umm…"
"I'm gonna go and do my homework while I listen to music, you two go ahead and talk," Marinette offered as she gathered her book bag and climbed up the ladder to her bed, placing the earbuds into her ears and turning on the music app on her phone. Tikki gently licked Marinette's hand as the blunette smiled and scratched the pug's belly.
Kim waited until Marinette was out of sight before asking, "So if you are, what do you think you're gonna do?"
"I don't know," Lynette replied.
"I mean in one way I do want to have kids one day, but I'm not ready to be a mom. I certainly don't know about raising my rapists' child. That's not going to be easy," Lynette admitted.
Kim nodded a bit, "I can't imagine."
"Something you're not telling me," Lynette stated.
Kim shrugged and gave Lynette a smile, "It's just… I always pictured myself with a daughter."
Lynette blinked the decision within his words sinking in. Daughter, he said 'daughter' not 'raising a little girl', a daughter. So did that mean that even though he wouldn't be the father he'd consider this baby to be his?
She gave a small smile, "So what? If I am, even though it isn't yours, you're planning to raise it like it is?"
Kim nodded as he replied, "Yeah, I am."
Lynette felt tears coming to her eyes as Kim held her close to himself.
"I don't know how I could've ever done anything to deserve you," Lynette confessed in a partial sob. Kim nuzzled into her, kissing the top of her head.
"You were just yourself, Lynette. That's all you ever need to be," Kim answered.
Lynette slowly nodded and wiped her tears away, "I was thinking Victoire if it's a girl."
"Uhh, no, let's not name her after my sister," Kim stated.
"At least, not her first name. Her middle name was Madeleine," He suggested.
"Madeleine's nice—Mady," Lynette agreed, "I actually always thought Mady was cute for a little girl."
"And maybe Cam for her middle name. I've always thought Cam was a good name for a girl," Kim continued.
"Madeleine Cam Montclair? You're giving her a Vietnamese middle name," Lynette replied, "and she isn't Vietnamese."
"Well, not by blood," Kim defended, "but her Daddy is."
Lynette gave a small laugh and nodded, "I'll think about it. But maybe we should save 'Cam' for if, down the road, we have a second."
Kim blinked a bit at the recommendation before smiling, "You'd want to have my child?"
"More and more I'm thinking I would, yeah. Not right now, but one day. I mean I'm only turning 17 next week," Lynette replied.
She stood up and took the box with the pregnancy test out of her coat pocket.
"Well, here goes nothing," she stated with a sigh and headed to the washroom.