Chapter 7 - Showing (Posted 17 November 2011)

In the two and a half months that passed, Ethan mostly ignored his condition. Not to say he didn't take every precaution necessary such as taking his vitamins, maintaining a healthy diet, and having Benny's gramma check up on things. And of course the baby was never completely out of his thoughts. But he chose not to talk about it.

And Benny never pressed him. It was like a silent understanding that they weren't going to discuss anything serious until it was the right time.

Ethan had been home, of course. But he spent a lot more time with Benny. And they spent so much time together before that it wasn't really that unusual. His parents just shrugged it off as teen angst, needing to get out of the house and away from the stress of home life though they did their best to make things as good for their children as possible.

It was funny how he began to think about that lately. How his parents... parented. He might be doing it soon himself, after all.

The morning sickness was winding down, only threatening to force his breakfast into an encore every once in a while.

This morning, however, was different. Ethan woke up, in Benny's bed as usual, and began getting dressed for the day. It was a weekend, thank goodness, so he could have stayed in his pajamas if he really wanted to, but honestly he was more comfortable in his regular clothes.

"Morning, E," Benny said tiredly as he stretched.

"Morning." Ethan responded as he took his shirt off.

"Woah..."

"What?" Ethan asked, thinking something was wrong."

"You..." Benny pointed to him. "Is that... a bump?"

"Huh?" Ethan's voice cracked as he looked down at his stomach. "Oh... my god..."

"Wow."

"Yeah... wow..." Ethan was completely awestruck.

"You have a baby bump."

"Holy cow, I have a baby bump... this is so freaky." He turned sideways, looking at the bump from a different angle in the mirror in front of him.

Benny stood, keeping his eyes on Ethan's stomach. "I think it's cute."

"Cute? I'm getting fat, Benny." Ethan pouted.

Benny laughed. "You're not fat, Ethan."

"No, but I'm going to be!"

"No, you'll be a little larger, but only in your stomach area. Oh! I have a present for you! I didn't know when you'd start showing, so I made them a while ago..." Benny began rooting through his closet. "Here," he pulled out some pieces of clothes and handed them to his still shirtless friend, "try them on."

Ethan looked through the pile of shirts he's just been given. They just looked like regular shirts. "What's so special about shirts?"

"I charmed them," Benny explained as Ethan put a brown one on. "With Gramma's help, of course. I know it doesn't matter much now, since you're only showing a tiny bit, but they're bigger on the inside around the belly area, so you can walk around even at the end of the pregnancy and still look like you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean we can't hide it from our families, but not everyone has to know. And if they did, they wouldn't understand. This will allow you to walk around all the normal people and still look... normal."

"Thanks," Ethan said, a little surprised. He actually had been worried about that.

"No problem, dude."

Ethan lifted the shirt up to expose his stomach once again. He examined it, placing a hand on the tiny bump. "Our son is in there."

"Yeah." Benny couldn't help the smile that crossed his face.

Ethan took a deep breath. "I think it's time to tell Mom and Dad. And our friends. Soon, anyway."

"Are you sure you're ready?"

"I'm ready. And even if I'm not... he is. But I need you to be there with me."

"I wouldn't be anywhere else, Ethan."

X

"I'm so nervous..." Ethan said, cold sweat beading on his face. It was just a few days later.

"Don't be." Benny put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm here for you, man. And they're gonna be supportive. I know it. They're your parents and they love you. If they get upset at anyone, it's gonna be me."

"But they love you too, you know. You've always been like a second son to them."

"Yeah, I know. That's why I'm sure that even if they're upset, they're not going to hate us or anything. I mean... they're not going to be all excited and welcoming about it, but..."

Ethan nodded. "I know. Let's just do this." He walked into his kitchen, Benny following close behind. "Hey Mom, Dad."

Ethan's mom turned and smiled at him. "Hi, Ethan."

"Hey, son." his dad said from where he sat at the table.

"Um..." Ethan said softly. "Can I... talk to you guys about something?"

They both got a serious look on their faces.

"Is it drugs?" his dad asked.

"No, it's not drugs." Ethan answered.

"Is it a girl problem?" his mother asked.

"No."

"Is it..."

"Guys... it'll be easier if you just let me explain everything to you."

"Okay," they said. His mother sat at the table by her husband, and watched as the two boys sat across from them.

"Well..." Ethan started, "I guess we should start at the very beginning..." He went on to explain Benny's magical family, and then his own visions.

"Ethan!" His mother squealed. "Why didn't you tell us you've had your first vision?"

Ethan gaped. "What?"

"I was getting worried," she said, sounding relieved. "I thought something might be wrong with you!"

"You... you know I'm a seer?"

"Well, we guessed," she admitted. "I mean, mind started when I was around thirteen."

Both Ethan and Benny were surprised. "You're a seer too? Wait... are both of you...?"

"No" his dad spoke up at last, "just your mother. I'm just a regular joe. I was kind of hoping you would be too, but only because I know what she went through when she first discovered her power."

"Neither of us wanted that for you." the woman added. "But it is a wonderful gift."

"So..." Ethan said, "you knew about Benny, too?"

"Of course we did. We were good friends with his parents. Having them around really helped us .

Ethan quickly glanced at Benny. He always worried anytime someone mentioned Benny's parents. He didn't expect him to have an immediate breakdown, but sometimes hearing about them upset him. He was glad to see Benny hadn't really reacted. "Well, that makes this a little easier, then. Although not by much..."

"Sweetie, you know you can talk to us about anything."

"Yeah, Mom, I know... I just... it's really hard to say."

Benny looked at him. "Do you want me to do it?"

Ethan took a breath, holding it for a second before slowly letting it out in an effort to calm himself. "No, thanks though. Okay, so... Benny and I mess around with spells and stuff all the time, and a while ago we tried this one spell... it was supposed to give us moustaches. It didn't work, obviously, but that's because we accidentally used the wrong spell and... well, it put us in a very unique position..."

Ethan's parents stared at him. They looked worried.

"What did you do?" his father asked bravely, though he looked apprehensive.

He didn't want to say it. He didn't want to tell them. He wasn't ready, they weren't prepared... but was anyone really ever ready for news like this? He just had to do it, like ripping a bandage off. So he just closed his eyes and blurted out, "I'm pregnant."

"What?" they asked, thinking they'd heard wrong.

Wow, Ethan thought,itwasn'treallythathard.ItshouldbeeasiernowthatI'vesaidit... "I'm pregnant. The spell we used was a fertility spell. One that can be used on men."

Ethan's dad opened his mouth to say something, but Benny started talking before he could say whatever he was going to say.

"It's my fault," Benny confessed. "I wasn't paying attention when I started the incantation. I'm so sorry."

"Benny!" Ethan scolded. "I told you I don't blame you."

"So..." Ross's eyes were wide. "You're actually... pregnant?"

Ethan nodded. "Yeah. It'll be three months tomorrow."

"All this time I was worried about you getting a girl pregnant... I never thought to worry about it being you."

His wife rolled her eyes. "I told you it was possible. But no, I had to carry bothour kids."

"Aren't you guys upset about this?" Ethan asked.

"Well," his mother said, "I can't say we're exactly ecstatic about it... but at least it's not because you were out having unprotected sex... were you?"

Ethan blushed. "No! I wasn't even having protected sex, I swear!"

"Really?" she didn't seem to believe him, but seemed to accept it when he nodded. "I'm proud of you for being responsible."

"Yeah," Benny said, "I'm the irresponsible one."

"Benny, it was an honest mistake." Ethan said.

"So? Honest or not, it's huge, Ethan. I can't tell you how horrible I feel about this."

"I don't want you to feel bad. I'm not mad at you."

"Have you discussed your plans for the baby?" Ross asked.

"A little," Ethan answered, though he wished he could reassure Benny more. "We haven't really made a decision yet."

"What are you considering?" his mother asked.

"Um... well, adoption is one option. I mean, we're just young and... I don't know what kind of parents we'd make right now."

"That's very mature of you." she said, looking a little sad.

"Yeah." Ethan said. "But we've thought about keeping it too. It's ours, after all." He felt himself start to tear up. "At first, you know, I wasn't really sure, but... I think I might feel bad after giving him away."

"It's a boy?" Both his parents asked.

Ethan actually smiled. "Yeah. It's a boy." Benny, although surprised by Ethan's smile, felt a little better at seeing it. "And we've decided that if we keep him, we're gonna get married."

"That's great, honey." his mother nodded.

"You're okay with that?"

"It's not up to us." his father answered. "You may be young, but you're not a child. You've got to make the decisions that are right for you, and your baby. And you're smart, we trust you to know you're making the right choice. Besides, you guys are so close, it probably won't be any different if you get married. Well... you know, mostly."

Ethan blushed again. "Dad!"

Ethan's mom and Benny chuckled.

"Have you told anyone else?" she asked.

"Just Gramma." Benny answered.

Both parents nodded. "Well, Ethan," Ross started, "I'm glad you decided to tell us. We're proud of you, and we're glad you felt comfortable coming to us. And even though we were never expecting something like this to happen, I'll support whatever you choose to do, and I'm sure your mother will as well."

"Of course." she agreed. "If you want to give him up for adoption, we'll help you find an agency or a family. But if you want to keep him... we'll help you with that as well."

"Really?" Ethan and Benny asked, surprised.

"Absolutely," she assured. "We love you. Both of you. And even though we thought it would be later, we'd be awesome grandparents."

X

"Wow." Ethan sighed, sitting on his bed. "That was a lot easier than I thought it would be."

"I told you it wouldn't be so bad."