God Love Her
Summary: 'Seventeen, we couldn't wait, to see where the road might lead'
Dedication: Brittney & Andrea for supporting my crazy cause. Lily for being Lily. And to my two amazing reviewers!
A/N: Alright, so not quite as popular as I had hoped, but whatev. I can deal with that.
Monica Juliette Reyes sat on her toilet seat, three pregnancy tests rest in her hands, she bit her lip, her cheeks were tear stained. It was five o'clock in the morning, the only other person awake was her father, who was in his study writing next weeks sermon. Monica felt sick, different from the sickness she'd felt the past week, this was the sickness that came with knowing she messed up. Her parents would kill her, she'd be lucky if they didn't kick her out. She needed John, but had no idea how he'd react to this, they'd talked about the future, but avoided scenarios like this one.
Monica stood up, she needed to see John. It didn't matter how he reacted, all she knew was that she needed him and she had never needed him so much before. She stuck her tests in her hoodie pocket and wiped her eyes with a piece of toilet tissue. Slipping on her sneakers, she walked towards the front door.
"Monica... where are you going at this hour? What are doing even awake at this hour?" Reverend Reyes asked, he knew his daughter, she wasn't a morning person.
"I..." Monica sniffled, "I'm going to Dana's." she lied.
"Monica what's wrong?"
"NOTHING!" She exclaimed, "Can I just go to Dana's please?"
"Alright." Reverend Reyes said, "I love you sweetheart."
"I love you too daddy." Monica whispered and then stepped outside, shaking as the cold morning air hit her. She began the walk across town in her pajama pants and hoodie, her converse scrapping along the sidewalk, she hoped the cold would clear her head, help her find the words to say. The tears fell freely as she walked along alone. The cars passed her by, Jasper Hollow was a 'through' town and the old highway that ran through the town was often used when there was wrecks on the new highway.
"Monica?" Mulder's green truck pulled up along side her.
"Hey Mulder." She said and gave him a broken smile.
"Mon what's wrong? Get in." Mulder told her and reached over, opening the door.
"Can you take me to John's?" She asked as she climbed inside.
"Of course. Are you okay? Hurt?" Mulder asked.
"I'm fine." Monica said and wiped her tears on her sleeve, "I just really need to see John."
"Okay." Mulder said and turned down the road towards the Doggett house. They rode in companionable silence and Monica starred out the window as they drove. Mulder parked in front of the house and turned to Monica, "Hey, call me or Scully if you need anything, alright?"
"I know Mulder. Thank you."
"Sure. You sure you're alright?" Mulder asked softly.
"I will be." Monica gave him a warm smile, she leaned over and hugged him and then slid out of the cab. Mulder backed out of the drive and Monica gave him a sad wave. Her hands were shaking as she entered the Doggett household. John's mother wasn't off work yet and she knew that John was still asleep, she walked down the hall and opened John's door. She smiled when she saw his barefoot sticking out from under the covers, she walked over, pulling back the covers and climbing in beside him. Resting her head on his chest.
"Mon?" John asked groggily.
"I need you." Monica whispered as sobs racked her body. John pulled her into a tight hug as she sobbed into his chest, "It's so messed up. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She whispered over again.
"Mon what's wrong? Are you okay? What happened?" John asked, panicking.
"I'm pregnant." Monica whispered and looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears.
"What? Are... are you sure?" John whispered, his heart almost stopping.
"Yeah." Monica reach into the kangaroo pouch and pulled out the tests handing them to John.
"Oh my god." John said, "We're gonna have a baby." John said and wrapped his arms around her.
"What are we gonna do?" Monica asked as she clutched his sleep shirt.
"I don't know baby. I don't know." John held her tightly.
"I can't..." Monica said, trying to convey her thoughts.
"I know. I'd never ask you to." John whispered as he brushed her hair from her face.
"Okay." Monica glanced at the clock, "I don't want to go to school today."
"Let's not. Let's just get out of here, just for today. Clear our heads. Figure this out." John whispered.
"Yeah." Monica wiped her tears with her sleeves.
John reached over and took Monica's hand, "I know that everybody is gonna have their own opinions, but remember the only thing that matters is you and me, okay?"
Monica nodded, "We can make this work."
"Yes. We can. I'm not gonna leave you and we aren't going to leave this baby." John whispered.
Monica nodded, "I'm so tired."
"You look it. Have you slept at all?" John asked her.
"No." Monica whispered.
"Sleep. I am gonna get Luke off to school, okay?" John said referring to his little brother.
"Mmkay." Monica said and turned over, falling asleep. John smiled, kissing her temple, he crawled out of bed and got dressed. pulling on pair of jeans and a tee-shirt. John left the room, walking across the hall to Luke's room.
"Luke, it's time to get up." John said and shook his little brother's shoulder. Since John's father had passed away several years ago and their mother worked full time, John and Luke were incredibly close. They relied on one another and John was Luke's father figure.
"Mmm, what time is it?" The nine year old boy asked, wiping the sleep from his eyes.
"Six. Mrs. Scully is gonna be here soon to take you to school. So get up, get showered, get dressed and I'll get breakfast ready." John told him, Luke's best friend was Charlie Scully and Mrs. Scully took the boys to school every morning.
"Alright." Luke groaned and tossed the covers back.
"Did you get your homework done?" John asked as Luke grabbed his clothes for the day.
"Yeah, yeah it's on the desk." Luke brushed him off as he walked in an almost zombie state to the bathroom.
"You'll thank me for this later." John called after him as he moved to the desk to check Luke's homework and placed it in the book bag. John walked to the kitchen and began to prepare a breakfast for three, John was a surprisingly good cook and he actually enjoyed it. He made French toast and bacon, he sat a plate on island for Luke.
"Is Monica here?" Luke asked, as he climbed up on the stool, freshly showered and dressed.
"Yeah." John shrugged.
"John Jay yous gonna be in trouble." Luke scolded his big brother, "Mama's gonna whoop you."
"Mom's not going to find out." John said as a command instead of a request.
"Yeah, yeah I know. Is Mon okay though?" Luke asked, Monica was his buddy who helped him pick on John, "She's usually gone by now."
"Yeah, she's fine. She just had a bad night so she's gettin' some sleep." John explained as a horn honked outside.
"That's Mrs. Scully. Go." John ordered and ushered Luke out the door, waving at Mrs. Scully from the porch. John grabbed the plate from the kitchen and carried it to his bedroom, he shook Monica's shoulder gently till she woke up, "Breakfast." He whispered.
"What is that?" Monica asked as she swallowed hard.
"French toast and bacon." John said and then stood up as Monica convulsed, "Are you okay?"
Monica shook her head and sprinted to the bathroom, sliding to her knee in front of the toilet she vomited. John cringed as he heard her through the door, it hurt him to know that she was hurting, "Monica, are you alright?"
"I'll be fine, but can you please just get that away from me. Far, far away?" Monica called back.
"Alright." John said and went to dispose of the remnants of breakfast.
Monica emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, "When's your mom getting home?"
"Soon. We should probably get out of here." John suggested, "We have enough time if you want to shower really quick." John told her and Monica nodded her thanks. Grabbing some of her clothes that she left there, she went to the bathroom and took a piping hot shower. The bathroom filled with steam and Monica sobbed while she showered, she was scared of what was to come, of what would happen. Monica turned off the shower, toweling off, she got dressed. She wore her converse, an old pair of obscenely worn out jeans and a hot pink Lady Warriors Soccer shirt.
"Hey. Ready?" John asked and Monica nodded, taking her hand and leading her out to the car. They climbed inside the blazer and Monica rested her head against the window as John drove.
"Where we going?" Monica asked.
"I'm not sure yet." John admitted.
"Sounds good to me." Monica whispered as she flicked on the radio.
"Mon, c'mon. you have to lighten up. This stress could end up hurting you or the baby. We'll be okay. Even if that means driving to Vegas and getting married right now and never looking back, we'll be okay." John promised her.
"How do you know that?"
"Cause, even though it's a little out of order, this is what I've been dreaming about since I met you six years ago." John admitted.
"You've thought about that?" Monica asked surprised.
"Of course. I always imagined us living in a big city, somewhere I could work for the PD and you'd be working at an art gallery or something like that. We'd have a big house and a couple of kids running around. Mulder and Dana would live up the road and we'd all vacation together and stuff like that." John explained.
"You've put a lot of thought into this." Monica smiled.
"Yes I have." John said as he pulled off the highway and headed towards a nature preserve, it was out in the middle of nowhere and had beautiful gardens and wildlife centers. He parked in the gravel parking lot and climbed out, walking around he opened Monica's door for her.
"So in these dreams, what's our kids names?" Monica asked, linking hands with him.
"I don't know. I always thought Sarah would be nice." John admitted.
"What about Serendipity? It means something like a 'lucky accident'." Monica explained.
"Really? Well that's fitting. Not for a first name though." John told her as they walked across the frosted wooden bridge and the ground crunched beneath them.
"Yeah. I want something that...fits." Monica said as they approached a play area near the wildlife center. The center wasn't open so they had the place to themselves. Monica walked over and sat on a wooden swing. John stood in front of her, resting his hands above her head, holding the rope. Monica looked up and him and John smiled, leaning down he kissed her slowly. Monica lifted her hands up and pulled him closer to her, she pulled away slowly, looking him in the eye, "Push me?"
"Of course." John said and walked behind her, pulling the swing back and letting go.
"I always liked the bible story about Elizabeth." Monica told him.
"Really?" John asked.
"Did you know Elizabeth means 'daughter of God'?"
"How do you know this stuff?"
"It's a girl thing, John. Let it go." Monica advised, "Anyways, Isabel is Spanish for Elizabeth. So if you take the first part of Isabel and the last part of Elizabeth, you get Isabeth. Which I thought was a pretty cool way of incorporating my Mexican heritage."
"We still have nine months to figure this out." John reminded her.
"I know, but I like thinking about it." Monica said as John pulled her to a stop.
"I like it too." John said and lifted her up, moving, he sat on the swing and placed her on his lap. His hands locked in front of her stomach, he traced his thumb over her shirt, "That's us."
"John, I'm hungry." Monica said a while later.
"Well I'm not surprised." John said and remembered she hadn't had breakfast and it was now lunch time, "What do you want to eat?"
"Cheetos." Monica said firmly.
"That's it?"
"Mhmm." Monica nodded.
"Alright, Pretty Lady, let's go get you some Cheetos." John said and they walked back to the truck. John headed back towards Jasper Hollow, pulling into the BP gas station, he ran inside, "Wait here." he told her. He purchased two bottles of Lipton iced tea, a prepackaged foot long, a bag of Cheetos and a ring pop. They sat in the car, heat on full blast and the radio playing, 'Come On Get Higher'. John took a deep breath as he finished his iced tea. Glancing over at Monica, he smiled. Her hair hadn't been brushed, it was curly and unruly, she was unsuccessfully trying to get the cheeto dust off her hands and jeans, she looked absolutely perfect.
"Monica?" He asked as he tore open the package to the ring pop, "I know this isn't what every girl dreams of. Sitting in the parking lot of a gas station and eating junk food, but I love you. I know that we don't do things in order and people probably think we're psychotic. None of it matters to me Monica. All that matters to me is you. And now our baby. I'm not doing this because your pregnant. Not wholly anyways. I know it's not a diamond ring, but I want to marry you and love you for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?" John asked and looked her in the eye. They were both crying as Monica nodded.
"Yes." She whispered. A huge smile overtook their faces, John slid the ring pop onto her left ring finger, he leaned over and kissed her.
"We're engaged!" Monica squealed as they separated and John laughed, this moment was perfect, he wished that he could just freeze time. He opened his glove box and pulled out the camera he kept in the glove box. He held it out and Monica held up her hand, he kissed her cheek and snapped a picture.
They sat in a car for a long time talking, they discussed everything from their future wedding to what little Isabeth or Grey would be like. Where would they live and what they would do for jobs. They laughed and they cried and everything was perfect, sitting in the slowly dying blazer, listening to music and talking about everything under the sun.
At three pm they decided it was time to head back to Jasper Hollow when John's phone rang as he was taking the trash to the can.
"Hello?" John asked as he flipped his phone open.
"John...man.. it's Mulder, where are you?"
"I'm like fifteen minutes away from the Hollow, what's wrong?" John asked.
"Dana and I, we got out early because of testing today and uh, man we stopped by your house to see where you guys were. Oh man, Uhm. The cops are here. Luke's missing. He never got off the bus." Mulder explained.
"No." John whispered as the phone slipped from his grasp, shattering when it hit the pavement. His knees went week and he fell to the cold pavement. Monica got out of the Blazer and rushed over to him.
"John? John? John what's wrong?" Monica asked as she knelt beside him.
"Luke....Luke is missing."
A/N: So thoughts? Did it completely suck? I know the proposal was corny, but I always think of John Doggett wanting to make an 'honest' woman out of Monica if they had a kid. And Quite frankly I think ring pop proposals are like, the cutest thing ever. As for Luke disappearing, I'm a drama whore!