Bay and Emmett were sitting together in the living room of the Kennish house. It had been nearly a month since their first ultrasound appointment. Bay was now ten weeks and four days into her pregnancy. Her lower abdomen was now firm and was beginning to protrude ever so slightly. Emmett laid his hand on her small belly and grinned. Bay giggled. "What?" She signed. "Just thinking about what our little jellybean might be like." He signed, rubbing his hand against her belly. They had taken to calling their baby 'jellybean' after the first ultrasound.
Katherine Kennish, the mother who had raised Bay, walked into the room. Emmett quickly moved his hand away from Bay's abdomen. Bay and Emmett had not yet told anyone of Bay's unplanned pregnancy. They had not even given any thought to how they were going to tell them. This was a discussion that Bay tended to avoid at all costs.
"Sorry to interrupt. I just wondered if you were staying for dinner, Emmett." Katherine signed as she spoke. Emmett shrugged. "If you'll have me, I'd love to." He responded. Katherine smiled. "I'd be delighted. We're having fettuccini Alfredo." She signed excitedly. Bay's stomach turned at the thought of dinner. She placed her hand over her mouth and cleared her throat in an attempt to hide her nausea, but Katherine noticed anyways. "Are you okay sweetie?" She asked Bay.
Bay nodded. "Oh yeah, fine. I just, uh…I'm not really in the mood for Alfredo, so I think I'll pass." Katherine furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "But you've always loved my Alfredo…are you not feeling well?" She asked, sounding more concerned than she usually did. Bay could feel her face becoming red. "I've just felt a little off lately. I must have eaten something bad or…something." She lied. Katherine nodded slowly, though she did not fully accept this answer. "Okay well…do you want me to make something else? Because I can do that; I don't mind."
"I can just eat the salad." Bay smiled. She could stomach that, right? Katherine shrugged. "That's not really much of a dinner…I could at least put some chicken in it for you." Bay smiled. "Yeah that sounds great." Katherine smiled back, mostly satisfied with what Bay would be eating for dinner, and headed into the kitchen. Emmett faced Bay and held his hands up. "You need to be more careful if you're not ready to tell them yet." Emmett scolded her. "What do you mean?" Bay signed silently, making sure her mother didn't overhear anything she need not know about.
"She's picking up on your new eating habits. I'm just saying…she's a mother. I'm sure she's going to put two and two together soon." Bay crossed and uncrossed her ankles nervously. "I haven't thought about telling them yet. I don't know how." Emmett nodded. "I get it." He looked towards Bay's growing belly. Although it wasn't physically obvious yet, Bay had taken to wearing much more loose fitting clothing than she would normally wear. Her belly was firm and maybe a tad bit bigger, but not much. Her ankles were swollen and she was vomiting fairly frequently. Emmett wasn't sure how much longer Bay would be able to hide their secret from her family.
Katherine called out, asking everyone to please come to the table. Bay motioned for Emmett to follow her into the dining room. They stood up and walked to the table. They took their seats right next to one another. Daphne and Regina sat across from them. Katherine brought in a large silver bowl filled with salad, which was exactly what Bay wanted. She quickly put what she wanted onto her plate and drizzled her favorite salad dressing over it. "Whoa Bay. I don't think that salad is going to get up and run away from you." John joked. Bay, suddenly aware of how much she had already eaten, tried to slow her pace.
The room was filled with the usual dinner table conversation. Katherine was too busy in the kitchen to join just yet. She was just finishing her homemade Alfredo sauce when she saw, out of the corner of her eye, Bay sprint from the table with Emmett close behind her. Katherine furrowed her eyebrows as she turned the stove off. Now Katherine hated to eavesdrop on her daughter and her boyfriend, but she just had a feeling that something was wrong. Call it mother's intuition, if you will.
Katherine quietly tiptoed down the hallway. The stench of vomit filled the air. Was Bay sick? Katherine inched closer to the bathroom in the hallway. She could hear Bay sobbing quietly as she vomited. Katherine inched even closer, enough to be able to see through the crack in the door that had not quite been closed all the way. Bay was crouched over the toilet. Emmett was holding her hair away from her face with one hand and gently patting her back with the other.
Katherine waited. Bay finally leaned away from the toilet and sat back against the wall. Emmett flushed the toilet and offered Bay a piece of gum from his back pocket. "I love my mom's Alfredo." She said sadly. Emmett shrugged. "I know you do. You're still getting used to your cravings. You'll figure it out soon." Katherine put her hand over her mouth to keep her gasp inaudible. Bay nodded. "I guess so…I just…this is getting hard. Keeping this secret from them." Emmett sighed. "Maybe we should start thinking about how we're going to tell everyone that you're-" Katherine stepped away and walked quickly toward the kitchen. She could not handle seeing Emmett sign that last word, the word she could not force herself to think.
She stepped back into the kitchen and quickly finished her fettuccini Alfredo. She served it to her family, who did not ask what had taken so long. Katherine was thankful. Either they had not noticed or they saw the look on her face and decided it was best not to ask. Emmett stepped back into the dining room moments later. "Bay's not feeling well. She's upstairs in bed. I brought her some water. I'm going to head home. Thank you for dinner, Katherine." He signed. Katherine managed a weak smile as Emmett put on his jacket and left.
Dinner was a blur for poor Katherine. She did the dishes and stored the leftovers in the fridge. And then she cried. She knew now exactly what had been going on with Bay. There was simply no other explanation. But she still couldn't believe it. Had she failed Bay as a mother? Maybe things would have been better for her if she had been raised by Regina. Katherine walked into her bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She splashed some water on her face and sighed heavily. She knew she needed to talk to Bay immediately. She needed to make sure Bay was taking care of herself. Katherine was not entirely sure she was ready to discuss what she had witnessed with her daughter, but she had no choice.
Katherine knocked on Bay's bedroom door and quickly let herself in. "Hi sweetie. How are you feeling?" She asked softly. Bay was lying on her bed with her laptop. She set it aside. "A little better." She answered truthfully. Katherine sat down on the end of Bay's bed. She noticed her ankles were swollen. Katherine began to tear up again. "Bay…honey, I…I need to ask you something." She said. Her words were unsteady. Bay saw the tears in her mother's eyes. She was instantly concerned. "Mom, what's wrong?" She asked. Katherine scooted closer and gently put her hand on Bay's shoulder.
"Honey…I followed you and Emmett when you left the dinner table tonight." She admitted. Bay's jaw dropped. Katherine held her other hand up, silencing her. "I know. It was a total invasion of your privacy and I shouldn't have. But…I've just been feeling like…like there's something going on that I don't know about." Bay gulped. "And…what did you hear?" She asked. Katherine still spoke softly. "I heard you throwing up. And I saw Emmett sign to you…that you're still getting used to your cravings. And I heard you say it's getting hard to keep this secret." Bay blushed and looked away from her mother. Katherine could not contain her tears any longer. They spilled over onto her cheeks.
"Bay, look at me." She said, still speaking softly. Bay looked into her mother's sad eyes. Katherine looked into her daughter's terrified eyes. "Honey…are you pregnant? Are you having a baby?" Katherine whispered, her last few words nearly inaudible. Bay began to cry too. She shook her head yes. "Yes, yes mom. I'm pregnant." She felt the weight of the world on her shoulder's as she waited for her mother's response. Was she going to kill her? Was she going to kill Emmett? But Katherine didn't become angry. She continued to cry and wrapped Bay in her arms. They wept silently together.