A/N: Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you know that I already decided the gender and name of the baby before I published the story, so suggestions won't be necessary. But thanks anyway! :)

Also remember: Pregnant women are hormonal. And hormonal women are emotional.

Shout out to all of you who reviewed! It means a hell of a lot to me :3

Disclaimer: I do not own GMW, but Lucaya is bae.

It was warm. Not just the kind of warmth one got from basking in the sun, but all-encompassing warmth that heated one to the core. It was warm and comfortable, and Maya definitely didn't want to move any time soon. She had one foot in reality and the other wedged firmly in her dreams, and that's where she wanted to stay.

But she knew she had to finish at least one Studio Art project every two weeks if she wanted to have enough pieces done before the art show in May. She could push it back, but then she'd have to double up the coming week, which wasn't ideal. She knew this week was bound to be a hell week of epic proportions since all the teachers were basically planning to have their first exams at the same time.

Maya groaned and pried herself completely out of her slumber, trying to take stock of her surroundings. She was exhausted, never mind the light pounding in her head and soreness between her thighs. On cue, her stomach growled, and Maya realized she and Lucas had never actually eaten anything the night before.

Lucas.

Right.

They had slept together.

Got busy.

Hooked up.

Got it on.

They did the do.

Maya turned over her shoulder and peered at the peacefully sleeping figure pressed up behind her. He was snoring softly, face relaxed, muscled arm thrown casually around her torso and completely oblivious to her creeper-like gazing. Dammit. Why the hell was he so damn attractive?

Maya frowned.

It was surprising.

She had expected him to be gone in the morning. Run off to wash away their previous night's activities from his skin.

Yet, he had stayed.

She could vaguely recall a moment where she had asked him to stay the night, but she thought he would just chalk it up to her drunk warbling and reject the request. She was fairly certain he had weight training in the afternoon, anyway. What would even compel him to decide to stay?

Something squeezed in her chest, something odd and tight and painful, and she quickly broke her gaze from his face with a soft sigh, laying her head back on her pillow.

This had to be a fluke.

He probably had been exhausted and needed somewhere to crash for the night. His mother didn't take kindly to underage drinking, and since Maya's hadn't been home, it made the most sense for…

Shit.

Her mom.

Her shift usually ended by dawn and then it was a short commute back to their apartment. Her mother would always bring some breakfast for Maya and leave it on her dresser for when she woke up. And if she came in today, she would see Lucas. And shit would hit the fan.

Inhaling sharply, Maya yanked Lucas' arm off of her and kicked off the covers, bouncing out of bed. She raced to her desk and checked the time.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck..."

It was a quarter past seven, and the sun was up and bright and shining in the sky. Her mother could arrive at any moment. Her mother probably would arrive at any moment. Maya slid on a tank top over her wild mane of hair in a rush and some boy shorts she found resting on her easel before spinning around and roughly shaking Lucas awake.

His eyes opened drowsily in annoyance, but when he registered who it was, his lips curved into a goofy, sleepy grin.

"Morning…"

Maya tried to ignore the way her heart began to double time and shook him harder, "Hey. Get up. You need to go."

He frowned and sat up, stretching languidly. Maya forced herself to keep her gaze on his face, and not his sculpted torso.

"What's wrong?" he said in alarm when he noticed Maya's expression, "Maya, you look like you've seen a ghost."

"You're about to become one if you don't hurry the hell up and get your clothes on." Maya urged, "Look, my mom is going to be home any minute. You have to leave right now."

He stooped and picked up his discarded boxers from the floor, slipping them on after he'd kicked aside the tangled sheets.

"Okay. But can we talk about this later?"

Maya's stomach dropped as she tossed him his shoes. She knew it was something that was inevitable, but she had wanted to avoid it for a little longer. She wasn't ready to address what had gone down between them the night before.

"About what?" she feigned not understanding.

"About this…" he gestured between them, "…About us."

Maya frowned, ignoring his comment and righting a lamp they'd knocked over. She didn't want to discuss it. Discussing it meant addressing feelings and quite frankly, she didn't want to spend her Sunday afternoon sulking because he told her he had none for her.

"There's nothing to talk about."

Instead of rushing to get his clothes on as she would have liked, Lucas' expression sobered, and he watched Maya with a thinly veiled look of irritation.

"Maya."

"I swear to God Lucas, if you don't put your damn clothes on, I'm going to force them on you. And I will use my nails." She snapped, growling at him in irritation.

Lucas got the hint and stood up from her bed, snatching up his jeans along the way. Maya had to use all the willpower she had in her body not to ogle him as he pulled them on. It was not fucking right for anyone to be that sexy.

"Are you planning to just ignore this?" He asked in dissatisfaction as he tugged on his shoes, "We're going to have to talk about it eventually you know."

She swallowed thickly and stooped down, picking up his button down shirt before flinging it at him to speed up the process.

"What's there to talk about? We were drunk last night. We slept together. The end."

He paused in putting it on and stared at her incredulously, surprised by her blasé attitude. She refused to make eye contact entirely and walked over to her window, prying it open to air out her room and checking to see if her mother was walking down the sidewalk.

"Well then… what now?" He said lowly, anger laced in his words.

Now? Now he would leave and forget all about this little incident. She didn't want to talk about anything. She didn't want to sit through a conversation of him apologizing and calling it a mistake. Proving to her that it had been a one-time thing and major fluke. Confirming what she already suspected: that she wasn't the kind of girl who could get good things in life.

Maya was just like her mother. She got left. And she knew if Lucas found somebody better, someone kinder and prettier and smarter with better goals for her future, he wouldn't stick around with Maya. It was better for them to cut whatever this was off immediately. It would save them both future heartache and problems.

No matter how many nights Maya had spent with her vibrator imagining it was Lucas' tongue, no matter how many times she had fantasized of a sexual encounter under the bleachers whenever he had pulled off his shirt during football practices, no matter how many times she'd wondered what it was like to be wrapped up in his embrace, to feel his mouth sucking on her neck or fingers touching her most intimate parts. No matter how much she wished they could enter a real relationship, this should never have happened.

"You leave, and we pretend like this never happened and move on with our lives. What do you say, Cowboy?" She said blithely with a terrible faux country accent in a poor attempt at nonchalant teasing.

Lucas fell dead silent behind her, and Maya steadfastly faced her window, closing her eyes and knowing what she had said had officially set boundaries. She could feel the heat of his glare on her back and knew that he was displeased with her words. But this would be better for their friendship in the long run. And at least this way, she couldn't get left.

At last, she heard his footsteps approach, and she stepped away from the window so he'd have room to climb out. She kept her gaze trained diligently on her carpet, afraid of what she would see in his eyes.

"If that's what you want." He finally replied, icy gaze trained on her.

Maya licked her lips nervously, nodding in finality.

"That's what I want."

"Fine."

He turned away from her and climbed out of the window and back into the street. Maya tried to quell the sick feeling growing in her stomach and ignore the pain in her chest when he didn't turn back once.

Maya needed to figure out a better excuse for her impromptu vomiting sessions and fast, before everyone began to suspect what was really going on. Throughout the week, she'd been able to keep them for the most part at bay, but she avoided the cafeteria entirely and it wouldn't be long before people began to question why. Riley had backed up her stomach bug excuse for the first couple of days, but there was no way that excuse would last if this morning sickness bullshit kept happening every time she caught whiff of food. And it was killing her, not being able to eat in fear of vomiting. Her stomach was aching for food. Something sour or sweet or bitter. Or all three combined...

She was just glad it was Friday already. Because avoiding Lucas had gotten to be tiring as well. He was definitely worried and knew something was up with her, and he still wanted to talk about their little relationship issues. She'd been able to evade conversation in Bio by showing up as soon as the class bell rang, sitting far in the back, and leaving class as soon as it was over before Lucas could even get a word in. And anytime else, Maya was able to get Riley to redirect and change the topic, but she was running out of options. She knew he would eventually try to corner her, and she knew he would succeed. Because Lucas, despite his general unassuming expressions and demure countenance, could be viciously cunning when he wanted to.

At least one good thing was that he had football practice after school every day, so she didn't have to worry about conversing. But clearly, it was getting obvious to other people that there was something wrong with their relationship. Farkle had picked up on the awkward vibes they were giving off, especially during Biology since she wasn't sitting next to Lucas anymore, and had asked Maya if she and Lucas were fighting. She had told him they were fine and that she wanted a seat closer to the door to quickly get to the bathroom in case her stomach bug acted up, but from the raised eyebrow Farkle had given her, she knew he didn't believe a word of that bullshit.

The added stress was only serving to make her more nauseous than ever before, and she took to twisting her hair into buns and wearing ponytails every day to avoid the hassle of cleaning puke out of it. Hopefully, her visit to the doctor would help her with that issue because she didn't know how much more of this she could take.

"You sure you'll be absolutely fine, Maya?" Riley asked, tugging on Maya's sleeve as they walked to the front doors of their school. "I can get in trouble with mom and stay with you anyway."

"It's alright Riley." Maya chuckled softly, "I'm sure everything will be okay..."

And then she tapered off when she saw Billy sitting on the front steps of the school, bobbing his head in time with the music blasting from his headphones while he waited for the bus. Alarms rang immediately in her head.

She tapped his shoulder, "Hey, don't you have football practice today?"

"Oh, practice was canceled for linebackers. Deconditioning day."

"What about the quarterbacks? Does Lucas have practice today?"

"Theirs was canceled too." Maya began to sweat, "Speaking of Lucas, he was looking for you a few minutes ago. He should be walking out any second now."

Her eyes widened. "Riley, I'm out. See you tonight, okay?"

And Maya took off, queasiness in her stomach be damned. She knew she was being entirely immature about this whole ordeal, but she was scared. She didn't want to discuss their relationship, and she wished Lucas would just leave well enough alone. She had enough to deal with as it was, and she didn't have time to focus on his issue right now.

A considerable (and safe) distance from school, Maya finally pulled out the directions Topanga had given her the evening before. The hospital was within walking distance of their school, so it was a real convenience for Maya to walk there. But she kept a vigil out for anyone she could possibly see from school. (And obviously Lucas. He could literally hop out from anywhere). They'd be wondering why she was entering a hospital in the first place, and she didn't want to ignite any possible theories.

Arriving at the hospital, she entered the large building and headed past the lobby's front desk into the nearby elevators to head to the fifth floor.

The ambiance of the obstetrics floor was relaxing, and the waiting room was prudently decorated with obnoxiously saccharine pictures of parents with their infants and mothers lovingly cradling their swollen abdomens. It smelled of chamomile and peppermint, and the walls were painted a soft, carnation pink. A light orchestral piece played in the background, and Maya grew sickly aware of the fact that this was a loving atmosphere with loving mothers and women excited to give birth.

Not knocked up seventeen year olds who didn't even want the kid in the first place.

After signing in with the receptionist and sitting down in the waiting room with the other three women, Maya could feel her confidence rapidly plummeting into the ground. The other women were plump, happy, and serene. Most likely settled, wedding rings on their fingers, and had probably planned for their babies. None of them a silly teenage girl who got knocked up because she hooked up with one of her best friends and was too stupid to be more careful about her protection.

'One of these things is not like the others' from Sesame Street started playing on repeat in her head, and she snatched up a parenting magazine on the coffee table to divert her brain from the self-destructing mockery.

Maya bet they were judging her. All the women were. Even the receptionist was probably wondering why some poor waste of space was coming to the hospital. She kept her gaze firmly planted on the magazine, feeling her fingers shaking slightly, despite trying to force herself to relax. But even the magazine was mocking her stupidity. Every other page she turned to featured some type of birth control available at clinics and hospitals.

What the hell was she doing here?

She was saved from the complete annihilation of her morale when the nurse came out of a door, "Ms. Hart? We're ready for you."

Swallowing her fear, and keeping her eyes firmly away from any of the other people in the room, she picked up her bag and quickly followed the nurse. She was taken through a corridor and past several sterile rooms to a room near the end of the hall. Thankfully, it wasn't super cheerful and decorated with pictures of mothers and babies all over the place. It was tastefully bare save for a sink quipped with amenities, a table with a desktop computer, and the examining table already prepped with paper. Oh, and the blocky white ultrasound monitor and machine.

Maya swallowed tightly and fought the urge to turn around and run. Maybe she should have taken up Riley's offer, because she was terrified.

The nurse, apparently named Candy, began a general physical, taking Maya's blood pressure, height, weight, and other important physical things. Through it all, Maya almost forgot that this was not just a regular physical for school, but an actual physical because she was fucking pregnant. That dampened her mood right quick. Candy then instructed Maya to sit on the examining table and reassured Maya that she would just be taking a bit of blood just for pregnancy confirmation. Maya did as she was told, allowing her to work unobstructed.

"Ms. Hart? How do you feel?" the nurse asked, once she threw out the used materials and closed the vial of blood. "You're looking a little pale."

"Uh, I'm fine." She quickly responded. She didn't want to deal with questions. She just wanted to get her information and get the fuck out of there.

"When was the last meal you ate?"

"I had some crackers before coming here." Maya lied.

"Okay. You should be fine then." She smiled congenially before pulling out a sheet from one of the table cabinets. "If you could remove your bottoms and cover yourself with the sheet, that would be great, hun. We'll go run these tests, and then I will get the doctor."

And then she left in a cloud of scented lotion, and Maya was left with only her thoughts for company. Maya removed her jeans and rearranged herself on the examination table, the paper crinkling uncomfortably under her bare thighs. The reality of the fact that she was sitting in an obstetrician's office, about to have a damn ultrasound was starting to creep up on her pretty rapidly.

Look at yourself… A seventeen year old with no plans for your future, no goals, and you're pregnant. Great job. Failure at its finest.

She glanced at the offending machine to her right and could feel her breathing harshen and pulse start to race. This was all very real. She swallowed the lump in her throat and rubbed her face with her hands, trying to calm herself and keep from hyperventilating. Dammit, where was Riley when she needed her? Maya contemplated texting her to come.

Her calamitous thoughts were halted when the door hinges squeaked and Candy and a young doctor walked in, a bright, calming smile on her lips. She had disheveled brown locks tied haphazardly in a ponytail at the nape of her neck and these huge, goofy-looking round glasses on her face. Any other day, Maya might have laughed. But this was not such a day.

"Maya Hart? I'm Dr. Melanie Torres. I'll be your OB for the duration of your pregnancy." Maya shook her hand, hoping Dr. Torres couldn't feel her racing pulse through her fingertips. "Topanga notified me of your situation, so you don't have to worry about anything. I'll take good care of you, okay?"

"Uh… thank you, Dr. Torres."

"Fell free to call me Melanie." She smiled and then addressed the clipboard she had been carrying, "Now then. From your blood test, your heightened hCG and progesterone levels are looking just about right. You are indeed pregnant, Maya."

"Oh…" She said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Whatever little hope she had been holding on to that perhaps this pregnancy was a figment of her imagination flew right out the window when the doctor confirmed her condition. The reality of the whole situation was banging on her door, and Maya felt like she couldn't avoid it much longer.

"Your iron levels are a little low, but nothing to worry over at this point. However, your blood glucose level was alarmingly low, Maya. I take it you haven't been eating because of morning sickness?"

"Yeah." She said, a faint blush rising on her cheeks, "It's been kind of bad."

"I'm sorry you've been experiencing discomfort. I'll give you some multivitamins that can help with sickness. How does that sound?"

"That sounds good." Maya said appreciatively.

"But otherwise, you need to make sure you are eating often. Your baby requires nutrients to survive through a successful full term. And you need nutrients so you can continue through your daily activities without feeling faint. Part of your nausea and faint feelings can be attributed to the fact that your glucose levels need to be restored."

"I understand."

"Have you been drinking plenty of water or fluids?"

"I…" Maya hung her head, a little ashamed and embarrassed. She felt entirely stupid. An idiotic seventeen year old who got knocked up and was doing everything wrong. "Not really."

"Maya, it's okay. Don't feel bad. Remember I'm here to make your pregnancy as comfortable as possible for you. You can tell me everything you've been going through." Dr. Torres chuckled, "As for the water, your body is probably very dehydrated from all the vomiting, so please make sure you are replenishing as frequently as possible."

Maya nodded silently, wringing her hands together nervously.

"Other than that, you're quite healthy. Everything on your end seems fine. So now let's check on the baby's end." Dr. Torres set the clipboard on the table, and turned to the sink, washing her hands meticulously, "When did you start experiencing your morning sickness?"

"Last weekend about?"

"Okay." Dr. Torres pulled on a pair of rubber gloves, "So I'm going to hazard a guess that you are five to ten weeks in. If you were further along in your pregnancy, we would do an abdominal ultrasound, but since you're fairly early in, we'll be doing a transvaginal ultrasound."

Maya must have made a face of some sort because Dr. Torres laughed and shook her head.

"Don't worry. It's nothing terrible. You won't feel any discomfort. It's just a more efficient way to observe the baby since it will most likely be very small and difficult to detect." She pointed in a diagonal direction from the door, "There is a restroom further down this hall to the right. We will need your bladder emptied for this procedure, so if you could please use the restroom, that would be great. In the meantime, Candy and I will prepare the test."

Maya nodded numbly and did as she was told, leaving the room and going to take care of her bladder. In the bathroom, she contemplated running off and pretending this experience never happened. All the information she was being given was only increasing the tight feeling in her chest that she'd been trying to fight away since she came into the hospital. The feeling increased tenfold when she entered the room once again and saw that Candy and Dr. Torres had set up everything, and they were waiting patiently for her.

"Alright Maya. If you could remove your undergarment and lay back on the examination table, we'll get started. "

The whole process, though awkward for Maya was quick and painless. Dr. Torres was great about talking her through everything they were doing and alleviating her nerves. She kept Maya updated about each step of the process, and what each step did. While Dr. Torres continued the procedure, Candy kept Maya's attention occupied by asking her questions about her hobbies and favourite music and what she was studying in school. Having the distractions proved very useful, and Maya was grateful for them, because she didn't feel a thing, even when the probe was finally inserted.

"When was the date of your last period, Maya?"

"September 2nd…"

"Alright, then conception was most likely–"

"I meant September 2nd is the conception date." Maya clarified, cheeks burning red.

The night of the first football game of the season…

"Oh I see." Dr. Torres tapped on the keyboard of the ultrasound, clicking a few buttons as she activated the image, "That's perfect, Maya. So your expected due date will be around late May, the 25th or 26th to be specific."

So right before graduation… If I even make it there.

"Alright, Maya. You're about six weeks in. Everything looks good. You have a successful intra-uterine implantation." She turned to Maya with a smile, "Let me introduce you to your baby."

Maya turned her head and faced the screen. It had become a grayscale mess of random black and white lines, almost like an abstract painting. Maya frowned. That didn't look like any baby to her.

"Where's the baby?"

Dr. Torres chuckled softly, gesturing to the whole thing, "This is your uterus Maya." She pointed to the small black cavern that looked like a huge hole, "This is the gestation sac of your baby." Then she pointed to a white bubble looking blob in the sac, "This is your baby's yolk sac, so it can feed." And then she pointed underneath the yolk sac, "And this is your baby, Maya. It's about a quarter to half an inch as of now. This is the crown and this tail like thing is the rump."

Maya stared at it, inspecting it carefully. She was surprised and more than a little bit shocked at how vivid it was. It was just right there. And small. It looked like… a jellybean.

"Holy shit! It looks like a jellybean!" Maya exclaimed, letting out a little breathless laugh.

Candy giggled, "It does, doesn't it?"

"That it does." Dr. Torres chuckled. "You want to see something interesting?"

"Uh, sure… Whatever." Maya cleared her throat and sobered up, calming her excitement down in slight embarrassment at her overreaction.

Dr. Torres rotated the image so that the fetus could be seen more clearly. A tiny, rapid flickering appeared on the screen. She amplified the area and pulled up a graph.

"You see that flickering?"

Maya nodded, trying to play it cool.

"It's a little low, 91 bpm, but nothing to be too concerned over because it increases by the day," Dr. Torres smiled, "But that? That's your baby's heartbeat, Maya."

And Maya's breath caught in her chest. She froze, enraptured by the rapid, insistent flickering on the screen. Her shaking hand went to her mouth in shock.

It was alive. And its heart was beating.

And suddenly, it hit her all at once.

There was a human being—an actual living human being—growing inside of her.

You can't give this baby away…

Maya didn't even realize tears had been trailing down her cheeks until Candy cooed softly and took her hand to comfort her. She started crying harder, her whole body wracked with sobs and shudders and shoulders shaking heavily. She let out a breathless, elated, tear filled laughed as she watched the heartbeat. It was unbelievable.

How was it that her jellybean, without doing anything, had managed to give her so much grief this week, but also make her happier than she'd ever been before?

"I'm sorry…" Maya wailed, blubbering uncontrollably to the screen, "I'm sorry for calling you a tumor and a thing. I'm sorry for not eating. I'm sorry for being in denial and trying to pretend you didn't exist. I promise I'll be a better mother to you. I promise I'll take care of you."

Dr. Torres and Candy glanced at each other, smiling serenely.

You're my little Jellybean… Now and forever…

When Maya finally left Dr. Torres' office after receiving some prenatal vitamins to start out with and some brochures and documents with information on how to survive her first pregnancy, Maya knew she was in trouble. Jellybean had grown on her in a span of ten minutes, and there was no way she wanted to give it up now. Maya knew without a doubt that she wanted to raise her baby no matter what.