On Monday for school, I decided to wear something that embraced the bump. The black tank top I wore shown the twins incubating and had people everywhere shooting me looks.
There were hater and pitiers. There were also people who supported me, like Iris and a few other kids I shared classes with. There where also the jocks -a.k.a. Bryce's friends- who were enraged at me for getting him taken out of sports and suspended, they were also beyond furious I had reported his to the cops. The cheerleaders called me a homewrecker for sleeping with the squad leader's boyfriend but she dumped his as soon as she heard about it. "Why do I need a guy that I don't satisfy?' she had said. There were also the popular wannabes saying I faked the rape claim because I was so thirsty that I slept with a taken man.
The weeks went on like that, until it settled down and the haters were overridden.
/||\\/||\\/||\\
By week fourteen my bump had grown again and I was craving cheetos, lemonade, apples and quesadillas. I was standing in the kitchen cleaning up from lunch one Friday we had off and eating an apple. The phone rang and I leant across the island to grab it, I picked up the call and placed it under my ear.
"Hello?" I asked.
"May I speak with Ms Reversi?" the automated voice on the other end asked.
"This is," I said, placing the apple down and leaning on the counter.
"Hello there Ms Reversi, we are calling to update you on the case," the voice continued when I acknowledged it. "We have taken Mr Evans into custody on warrant for arrest." the line clicked off after that and I had to place a hand on the counter to steady myself through a dizzy spell.
I put the phone back in it's charger and took a bit of my apple chewing thoughtfully. Andi skipped in and over to the fridge, pulling out the gallon of milk and effectively sloshing it all over the counter. I gagged at the smell but pulled the towel off my shoulder and wiped it up.
"Who was on the phone?" she asked, sipping milk from her glass.
"The police station," I said, finishing off my apple and tossing the core into the trash.
"What did they say?" she asked, bouncy and energetic all of a sudden.
"Not much, they took Bryce into custody." I rubbed my bump.
"How is that not much? They arrested the man who hurt you! The women of our town are safe now!"
"Because they still have to question him. If there's no case they can't hold him for a crime without evidence."
"Oh,"Andi breathed out, "Are you going to make him sign away his parental rights?"
"Damn right I am." I smiled down at my swollen abdomen.
Andi smirked.
"Hey, I've been meaning to ask, what's been with the music these last few months?" I asked.
"You'll have to catch me for answers." she took off running as she spoke.
"Hey, these aren't my running jeans," I called but started jogging after. I had a feeling soon enough I wouldn't be able to.
/||\\
Six weeks later we were sitting in the doctor's office, waiting with a buzz of excitement. Today we should be able to tell the gender of the twins and everyone was itching with anticipation for the naming frenzy to begin. The doctor came in with bright eyes as she snapped her gloves onto her hands.
"Ready to see these babies, Miss Amber?" she asked me sweetly as she wheeled her stool next to the table where I was laying down. Laying down I couldn't see my toes anymore, I was looking more like twenty three weeks than just twenty. The doctor asked me many questions as she began the scan and looked at the screen. "Baby A, Miss Amber is a…" she said holding her breath a pause. I looked around the room and then at the doctor and nodded. "A is your son. And B is… drumroll please your daughter."
I gasped and tears sprang to my eyes. "Can we see them?" I asked shakily. The doctor nodded and spun the monitor towards us. The two babies were touching their feet and baby A was blinking. I gasped again and covered my mouth with my hands. They were so beautiful and precious it hurt. In that moment, I felt everything around me shift. It went from all about me to all about them and what was best.
/||\\/||\\/||\\
We were sitting on the couch back at Andi's house watching a movie in the living room and grazing on light snacks. I had a bag of half-eaten, puffy cheetos in my lap when I jumped up so high I almost fell of the couch.
"What happened?" Cyrus asked, panic beginning to seep in his voice.
"No, no, no. Nothing bad, the babies kicked. I think, something in there moved at least," I said, my voice was high and ecstatic. I could feel love pumping through my veins, if that was even a thing
"Aww, that's cute," Buffy said, her eyes never leaving the screen but her hand found its way to rest on the babies.
"Hang in there babies, seventeen more weeks," I whispered to them, then turning back to the movie. The movie was in black and white, and from what I gathered, about a Girl named Lucille trying to cross the Hudson River.
/||\\/||\\/||\\
We were sitting in the park grass eating a pizza, enjoying the spring air when the baby whacked my intestines with a foot, or an arm.
"Oof," I grunted, massaging the spot that took the blow. "I swear I'm raising MMA fighters."
Andi laughed and finished off her bite of pizza. "Have you thought of names?"
"A few. I thought about Otto and Olivia or Drew and Dakota," I said.
Buffy put her pizza down and brushed the crumbs of her fingers into the grass. "Personally, I like Elliot and Stephanie."
"What about Nadia and Aidan, they're spelt with the same letters,"Andi suggested, beaming at her idea.
We chattered on about those two suggestions and a te a little bit more before Cyrus interjected. "What about something a little more unusual like Dara and Jon. J-O-N, Jon?" I nodded and took another bite of pizza imagining calling out into the house for little kids, I would have laughed at the thought if the now twenty-four week twins weren't settled in my lap.
"I like Nolan and Marilyn," Jade said, never looking up from her phone. I actually liked those two a lot.
"Oliver and Odetta are better." Jonah remarked, braiding strands of grass between his fingers.
Bex who was previously quiet and almost not there spoke up suddenly. "Before I chose Andi we thought about Jasper or Eliza. How about both Jasper and Eliza?"
The chatter picked back up as we discussed names taking each on into consideration. After the laughter at Andi's half-hearted suggestion of Bryce and Spencer had faded and a silent, pensive moment passed I was struck with an Idea.. kind of. "What about Jasper and Marilyn?" I proposed.
Everyone nodded and agreed in a quiet chatter.
I looked down and wrapped my arms around the mound of baby and skin. "Nice to meet you Jasper and Marilyn. We love you so much. I love you so much." I whispered down.
/||\\/||\\/||\\
"Don't go in there. It smells like paint and that's not good for you or the baby. Babies," Jonah warned, closing the door behind him and trying to wipe a smear of paint of his cheek.
"Ok," I said, placing a hand on my rib trying to catch my breath after a particularly harsh kick to my lungs.
Giggles erupted from the room. "Does it look centered, Jade?" I heard Buffy ask.
My little sister laughed harshly but nicely. "Not at all." I paled and reached towards the door knob.
"No!" Jonah snapped, pushing me lightly out of the way. I put my hands up in surrender and walked back towards my room.
/||\\/||\\/||\\
I was settled into my bed with a bag of cheetos and water bottle full of lemonade reading a pregnancy book on raising multiples. I heard the phone ring down stairs, knowing everyone else was asleep I walked down stairs to answer it. My legs were swollen and my feet ache so I tried to get up onto a barstool but that was difficult enough for my petite frame when I wasn't pregnant.
"You have a call from the Western Pennsylvania Correctional Facilities inmate: Bryce Evans." An automated voice spoke. My breath caught in my throat.
A/N: Hi readers, it has come to my attention that the rapist in '13 Reasons Why' is also named Bryce. I didn't know this when I wrote my oc Bryce into this, so they aren't the same people. On the other hand sorry this took so long to update.
