Ok I just had to update this, but I needed a couple days to sort it all out in my mind LOL

Thanks for the reviews :) please keep them coming!

I don't own Next to Normal

It was two months since that first college party. Henry and Natalie would be driving back home in a week for Thanksgiving break. Henry had agreed to spend the day with his mother and father, so Natalie was not looking forward to that. She was stressing. There was so much work to do and it seemed like she was barely making it through. She had literally been living on Red Bull and the occasional candy bar. Who had time to walk all the way to the cafeteria and sit down for half an hour and have a meal and chat with friends? Natalie was sitting in her room at her desk just doing all her school work. And she was acing every class because of it. But it wasn't easy.

She was also stressing because this was the second month she missed her period. Of course the first time she figured it was all the stress. That happened sometimes in high school. But now, she was praying she wasn't pregnant. Finally, she decided to just go out and buy a test. Stella walked in on her waiting for the results one afternoon.

"Oh my god," she said, "what's going on?"

"Um..." Natalie checked her watch and took a deep breath. "We'll found out in a second." She picked up the little stick. Positive. Fuck.

"Are you pregnant?" Stella asked. She had moved closer to Natalie and was trying to get a look at the test.

"Um, I guess," Natalie said uneasily. "Do we maybe have any more of these just to be sure?"

"I might." She looked under the sink and did indeed find an extra test. "Here." Stella left Natalie in peace to try again. But it came back positive a second time.

"I think I really am pregnant," Natalie said finally, closing the toilet seat and sitting down.

"It's Henry's, right?" Stella asked.

"Of course. Oh, god, Henry! What am I supposed to tell him?"

"The truth. You kind of have to. Sooner or later, he'd find out."

"How the hell did this happen?" Natalie cried hysterically.

"Um, well..."

"I mean, were we that stupid? I thought this would never happen to me! I mean, this can't be happening. I'm not married, I don't have my degree yet! And how am I supposed to tell my dad?"

"Natalie, calm down," Stella said, putting a supportive hand on her shoulder. "Why don't we go to the campus clinic and get a blood test done? The home tests can be innaccurate."

Natalie and Stella walked over to the clinic, even though Natalie had so much homework to do and didn't have time to waste, especially if this was all a big mistake. But it wasn't.

"Yes, sweetie," the nurse said, looking through the test results. "You are pregnant."

"Seriously?" Natalie asked.

"Yes, seriously. I would say this a "first-freshman-party" baby, am I right?"

"Um...are you positive?"

"Postive, honey," the nurse said, closing the file. "My advice? Take care of yourself. And if you plan on continuing your education, I would recommend looking into the apartments for student families. We have fabulous child care here, as well as playgrounds and swimming pools, all of that. And most of all, good luck." She left Natalie alone to sit on that uncomfortable table and cry. Why does this have to happen to me? I can't have a baby in college. I can't be my mother.

Eventually, she had calmed down enough to join Stella in the library. Something didn't look right.

"What?" she asked.

"Henry just called," she said nervously. "He had stopped by the room and was nervous that you weren't there, since you're always there working."

"Well, what did you tell him?"

"I said you weren't feeling well so I brought you to the clinic. I said we'd be back later, but he insists on waiting for us."

"Okay," Natalie said, taking deep breaths. "I'll just talk to him. It'll be fine." Another breath. "It's all going to be fine."

Stella went over to Kyle's dorm so that Natalie could be alone with Henry. When Natalie opened the door, Henry ran at her, taking her in his arms for the biggest hug she had ever received.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Stella said you were at the clinic. Is everything okay?"

Natalie broke free from his grip. "Why don't you sit down?" she suggested.

Henry gave her a confused look. "Um, okay." And he did.

It took Natalie a few minutes to gather the courage to say anything at all. "Um...Well...I noticed there was...a change in my...my...womanly situation."

Henry laughed. "You mean your period?"

"Um, yeah."

"Well, are you okay?" he asked.

"You're not catching on, are you?" Natalie asked.

"I don't think so."

"Well, this isn't easy to say so bare with me."

"Okay."

"Stella and I were concerned that I could be...with child. So we went to the clinic to see for sure."

"And are you?" Henry asked uneasily. His face was expressionless. This made Natalie even more nervous.

"Um...yes," she said.

Henry took a deep breath. "Okay," he said, suddenly smiling. He stood up and gave her a hug. "So you're having a baby. Perfect. We'll make it work."

"Seriously?" she said. "We'll make it work? Henry, I'm eighteen. I'm not ready to have a baby."

"Well, neither am I. But Natalie, come on. It's happening, isn't it? Life is full of surprises. And how do you know that this isn't a sign that we're meant to be together?"

Natalie couldn't help but start crying on his shoulder. "But I don't want this. I want you, but I don't want a baby. Not now. Why was I so stupid? We didn't need to have sex. It was fun, but it wasn't worth it."

"Ssh. Don't say that. We're having this baby, Natalie. And we'll make it work, like I said. I can get a job and we can do that whole student families program. Everything will be okay."

"How can you be so calm all the time?" Natalie asked. "You do realize that next week we're going home to see our families? How are we supposed to tell them?"

"We just will," he said. "Natalie, calm down." He gave her a kiss on the lips. "I love you. And I know that I will love this baby. You know why? Because he or she is ours. Picture this: a little Henry or Natalie Jr. running around, a little person to love and hold. Won't that be nice?"

Natalie thought about it, picturing it like he said. "Maybe."

"Nat?"

"Alright," she said, softening. "Having a baby will be hard, but not so horrible. At least I'm having it with you and not anyone else."

"Oh, I meant to ask you," Henry said. "The baby is mine, right?"

She smacked him in the arm. "Yes, wise guy, it is."

"Just checking. Now, all we have to think about is how to explain this to our parents."

One week later, Natalie and Henry were parked in front of Henry's house. They were spending just two days there, then they were heading over to Natalie's for the rest of the break. The minute Natalie stepped out of the car, Natalie felt incredibly nauseous. She puked right on the curb.

"Are you okay?" Henry asked, rubbing her back.

"Um, I just puked on the sidewalk," she said.

"I can see that."

The front door opened: Henry's mom. "Is everything okay?" she called from the front porch.

"Yeah," Henry told her. "We just got a little carsick. Give us a minute, Mom. We'll be right in." She went back inside.

"I can't do this," Natalie said.

"You can," Henry assured her. "Just remember, I'm right here." He kissed her.

"Ew, you kissed me and I just puked."

"Yeah, I know," Henry said, wiping his mouth. "It was a spur of the moment thing. Bad idea."

"Hey!" She smacked him.

"Sorry." They stood there laughing for a few minutes. "Are you ready?"

"No, but I have no choice. Let's go."

Hehehe! Baby :) I'm very excited to continue.

Please review!