18-Framed

Courtney stared down at the white stick in her hands. The tiny plus sign on the screen wasn't very assuring for anyone. The brunette turned her head up to face her cousin. Arianna was a state, her eyes wide and her finger nails had been chewed to the stub in frustration.

"What are you going to do?"

"I have no idea..." Arianna whispered, her voice not very steady or confident. None of it was making sense, but it was true.

Courtney was also confused. She couldn't understand herself what Arianna was feeling right now, but she could understand. Things were meant to go the way they always ended up, Arianna believe this as well, but not everything was easy to take in once it had happened.

"How did you find this, anyway?" Courtney asked, placing the pregnancy test down on the table.

"Indianna gave it to me." Arianna sniffled. "She found it in Carmen's bathroom."

Courtney could believe that. Indianna was a snoop and did always like to run her nose through things in Carmen's possession. What Courtney couldn't believe is that her 'niece' was now pregnant. Carmen was a sensible girl; she wouldn't have done something this stupid. Yet, all of the evidence pointed to the truth.

"Can I be honest with you?" Arianna nodded. "This is your own fault."

The blonde Queen turned to face Courtney as if she was completely insane. Arianna had come to her cousin for comfort, for help. And now she was trying to say it was all her fault.

"My fault?" Arianna questioned. "HOW THE HELL IS THIS MY FAULT?"

"You're the one who told her she had to get married." The brunette shrugged it off as if it was a normal thing, which to her it was. Both of the ex-Princess' knew that the rules could be broken.

"I don't make the rules, Court..." The Queen sighed, placing her head in her hands and shaking it back and fore gently. Things were not going good for her.

"What's your point?"

"My point is...I'M TOO YOUNG TO BE A GRANDMOTHER!" Her tanned forehead came in contact with the Hudson's wooden kitchen table. It hurt, but Arianna didn't care, the harsh pains of reality were too great now. Her mind was swimming with questions and queries, only preparing herself to face Carmen in the end of it.

Courtney cracked a smile, pushing back the laughter in her mind. Arianna was overreacting as usual. She truly was a Drama Queen at heart.

"There, there, Arianna." Courtney soothed. "Things aren't all bad."

"Yes it is!" Arianna moaned, sitting herself back up again. She rubbed her aching temples, hoping to ease the burning and throbbing sensations that buzzed around in her head. "How would you feel if it was one of your girl's that was pregnant?"

"I'll tell you when it happens." Courtney giggled, secretly praying that when it did she wouldn't overreact like Arianna was. "But, for now, you need to talk to your own daughter."

"I know, I know..." Arianna knew she had to go talk to her daughter, that didn't mean she wanted to.

The smartest thing to do was go talk to Carmen and get her view and side of the story. After that, hopefully, things were going to work themselves out and everything would end up okay for everyone in the end.

Arianna's eyes were narrowed down on her daughter, not in a bad way, but as in a trying to figure her out way. Carmen was worried. She had no idea what she had done wrong, but her mother thought there was something.

"Sit." The Queen ordered.

"Am I in trouble?"

"Sit!"

"I'm sitting!"

Carmen's face went blank and then pale, but she did as she was told and sat down before she was shouted at. Getting yelled at was not something she liked.

The Princess was slightly worried. There was nothing she could think of having done that would have gotten her in so much trouble that her mother had to be involved. There was nothing that sprang to mind that even helped her try to understand what he mother was thinking of.

"What have I done?"

"Carmen." Arianna spoke softly, trying not to rush into anything. "I want you to be completely honest with me."

Carmen and Arianna had always had a strong bond, always talking and no secrets were kept. That may have been one reason why Arianna was so upset. The secrets between them were starting now and she was worried that she was going to lose her daughter to it all.

"I will be."

"You know you can talk to me about anything, don't you?"

"I know I can." None of this was making a lot of sense to her at the moment, but she had to trust her mother's judgment and insanity to some extent.

"Then why haven't you come to talk to me about this?"

Now Carmen was confused. Maybe her mother had finally lost her mind. Maybe the once proud Queen had now cracked under all the pressures of her life.

"About what?"

"You know what I'm talking about, Carmen." Arianna words were growing stern. Her eyes were not taking any nonsense and she was not in the mood for the games Carmen was already starting to put up.

"Mom...Are you feeling okay?" Arianna was acting a little strangely in Carmen's eyes. "I really don't know what you're talking about."

"About this!" Arianna grabbed the pregnancy test from the table behind her. She thrusted the white stick into her daughter's hand, hoping this way she was going to get the truth from her.

"MOM!" Carmen jumped backwards, up from the seat and onto the arm of the same chair in the library where they were sat. "You could have told me!"

"I should have told you?" Arianna questioned. "YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME!"

"I didn't know!" Carmen squealed in delight. "This is so exciting! How far along are you?"

The two of them seemed to be at a stale mate of what was true and what was not. Neither seemed to know what the other was babbling on about in these two very different conversations that had merged into one somehow.

"W-What are you talking about?" Arianna stuttered. "This isn't mine! IT'S YOURS!"

"WHAT? NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NOOOO!" Carmen jumped up onto the floor, almost tripping over her own feet in shock. She dropped the pregnancy test on the floor and started to shake her head violently. "THAT'S NOT MINE!"

"It was found in your bathroom." Arianna told her daughter, hoping that would help her show that her mother knew the truth.

Lying was okay in this situation, if Carmen chose to deny it, that was her choice, only sooner or later she was going to have to face up to the facts. She was going to have to face up to the truth.

"But it-" Then Carmen realized. "Oh shit! Mom, you have to trust me when I say it's not mine. Please...Just listen to me on this one."

Arianna believed her daughter. Carmen wouldn't lie purposely, only to protect someone she loved. This was definitely one of those times where she was covering for a friend.

"Then who's is it?"

A/N: Well...I'm not even gonna ask who ya'll think it is...I think it's pretty obvious, maybe a few of you do too...Or maybe I just think it's obvious because I know...hehehe!

Oh look, Aaron, the dreaded 'P' word isn't priest after all...Gosh darn it! I though you wouldda been able to get it right ;) hehehe! That Priest thing has been sticking in my mind ever since you said it...LOL!

hehehe!

I've been watching Shutter Island whilst writing this...I LOVE THAT FILM! And now I'm watching Avatar: The Last Airbender! I LOVE THIS FILM TOO! YAY!

I'm hungry...Let's try and make this quick-ish so I can go eat a potnoodle...POTNOODLE! hehehe! Is that all I ever seem to eat, you ask? Yes. Yes it is. That is probably why my parents have bought me a new Wii active fit thinga-ma-jig...LOL! I actually wanna go play that now...

Thank you to;

i'mSOhighIcanHEARheaven: hahaha! Hmmm...Really? LOL! I do try my best for drama ;) hehehe! Thank you :)

pomtdwt: Hmm...If you wanna chance it, that would be okay with me :) LOL! CAKE! That is gonna keep me laughing for a while...LOL! =O! We don't know yet...LOL! Thanks :)

Aaron'sInAMineField: I must have been suffering from a headache during that point...How are my Princesses strange? Thank you :)

Destanaa: haha! LOL! Ah...LOL! OH NO! Just think, at least the practice is out of the way now :) hehe! Good Luck :D...This may sounds stupid but...What is an ACT test?... Thanks :)

ahahahaha! You guys crack me up every time...I mean it...My daily source of humor is my source of daily comedy...That and watching Daniel Sloss on Comedy Rocks replays on YouTube...LOL! He creases me too...

Thanks for reading, please review :)

Love, ChloeRhiannonX