A/N: Thank you for your continued supportiveness - you are all awesome reviewers :) Okay, time for a cameo appearance and then a little drama...
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 12
Mac knew she really shouldn't shop for groceries when she was hungry, it was never going to end well, but in a bid to prove to her parents she was a responsible person, she was offering to take on more of the household chores and such. They needed to know she could be an adult and take care of herself if she had to, after all there would be a baby to look after too in just six months time.
Trundling around the grocery mart, pushing her cart, Mac just kept on getting distracted by chocolate bars, jars of pickles, and even the smell of fabric softener that seemed almost good enough to eat. It was all very weird and very much keeping her attention off where she was travelling. One minute there was an empty aisle before her and the next, with her eyes wandering to the shelves, she suddenly found herself ploughing headlong into a fellow shopper, practically knocking him to the ground with her cart.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she gasped as she realised what she had done, packets going flying from the opposite shelf as the person she had shunted righted himself, "I wasn't... Weevil?" she stopped short of whatever she was going to say when she realised who it was she had inadvertently 'run down'.
He reacted with surprise, not least because he had almost been knocked off his feet by the woman who seemed to know him. When he got his bearings, he let go of the annoyance at having his toes crushed by the wheels of a shopping cart and smiled genuinely.
"Hey, chica" he greeted Mac who had always been decent to him, "No harm done, still got my unbreakable good looks" he told her with a wink.
"And don't forget the Latin charm, of course" she rolled her eyes as he shrugged as if what she'd said was a given, "I haven't seen you in months. How are you?"
They weren't exactly the best of friends, but Mac liked Weevil. In spite of the fact he was supposedly from 'the wrong side of the tracks' he was always decent to her. She was the reason he had passed algebra and graduated High School, so he told her, and he would always be grateful for that. They had a little more than 'friend of a friend' status via Veronica, and catching up was something they wanted to do rather than felt they should.
"Can't complain" he said in answer to her question, "There's not much happenin' at work with all you college kids taking your Summer break so I picked up a few odd jobs for my Uncle Angel, and ends just about meet, y'know?" he told her.
Mac nodded that she understood, and knowing Weevil wouldn't react well to any kind of pity, she attempted not to look too sorry for him as she spoke.
"Must be tough" she sympathised.
"It is what it is" he told her, quite happy to shift the focus of the conversation just as soon as he was able, "How are things with you? Anything exciting happening in the in crowd that I should know about?" he semi-joked and Mac flinched a little at the prospect of telling him about her situation.
"How would I know about the in crowd?" she reminded him, "The closest I get is Veronica, and she's not back til tomorrow" she said, mind racing as to whether or not she was ready to make any revelation about her condition right now, "As for me, I've been pretty busy... y'know, being pregnant" she blurted out, thinking she may as well.
Her parents knew, as did Dick, and Logan and Veronica too. There was really no harm in letting Weevil in on the secret that was fast becoming public knowledge. After all, she was starting to show now and baggy clothes were only going to cover so much for so long, as the weeks spun by without a stop.
"Pregnant?" Weevil echoed the word, looking suitably shocked, "Geez, girl, how'd that happen?" he asked, catching the look on her face right after and realising how dumb that sounded, "Well, I know how it happened, obviously" he assured her then, "I just... well, congratulations, I guess" he said eventually, moving to hug her again.
Though he was acting like he was pleased for her, Weevil still wasn't sure he'd picked the right reaction. Mac sure seemed okay with the whole baby deal, so he had to assume this pregnancy wasn't the result of an attack or a terrible mistake. Still, she was the smart type, way too smart to be getting knocked up and dropping out of college, or so he always thought until now.
"I know, you're shocked" she said as they parted, as if she had read the thoughts clean out of Weevil's mind, "Believe me, I was too, at first" she explained, "but I'm getting a handle on it now. Kinda had to" she shrugged her shoulders.
Her biker friend nodded that he understood, after all, he had been through this with his sister, his cousin, and various friends in his neighbourhood. Mistakes got made, accidents happened, babies got created that weren't exactly planned. Still, by the time the kids came along, everybody got used to the idea, and they were as loved as any babies every could be. He had no doubts that Mac would make a great Mom, even if she hadn't planned on being one just now.
"How long?" he asked her, thinking it was the friendly thing to do, and also just a little curious to see if he could work out which of her boyfriends might be the father.
"I'm three months now" Mac told him, with a slightly nervous smile, "I actually have the twelve week scan this afternoon"
Weevil tried to calculate and even his non-mathematical brain figured the big night must have been just about when college got out for Summer break. Far as he knew, that meant Mac was sans guy, which was confusing.
"So, should I ask who the father is or...?"
"Hey, babe" his question was interrupted by the presence of Dick who came striding around the corner with a packet in his hand that he was still reading, "I finally found someone who knew where that stuff was, and... Oh" he reacted with surprise as he looked up and realised Mac was not alone, "Is this guy bothering you?" he asked, his eyes narrowing as he put a territorial arm around Mac's shoulders.
"Of course not" she rolled her eyes at how dumb he was being, shrugging away the protection she didn't need from a guy Dick ought to know was her friend.
Weevil was wide-eyed and perhaps even more stunned by this revelation than the original one. Mac getting pregnant was a hell of a surprise, but by Dick 'Dude' Casablancas? That was beyond crazy as far as he could tell.
"You and him?" he said, gesturing between the two of them, "Right. Er, I gotta go" he shook his head then, jerking a thumb over his shoulder to make his point clear, "It was nice seein' you Mac" he told her as he backed away, "and good luck, I think you're gonna need it" he added with a look as he glanced at Dick and then strolled away.
"Asshole" the surfer muttered in his wake, earning himself a smack in the shoulder from Mac.
"Dick!" she scolded him with his name alone, though he didn't seem to get what he'd done wrong.
"What?" he asked in earnest and she really couldn't be bothered to get into this with him.
"Nothing" she sighed, taking the item from his hands and tossing it into the cart, "Let's just finish up with the groceries. I don't want to be late for the scan" she reminded him as they moved off down the aisle.
Mac could see herself getting a lot of reactions similar to Weevil's own. She could see his point, because she knew just the same as he did that she and Dick were not an obvious pairing. She also knew that other people would think she was wasting her life having a baby so early, but that was just the ways things were. She had the sex, she got pregnant, and so she would have and raise this child. As far as Mac was concerned, there was no choice in the matter.
Up until she got here, Mac really hadn't been feeling nervous at all about her baby scan. At first, she figured it was because she was getting used to this whole situation, but soon realised that it was only because she had been keeping herself busy with no time to really think on it, so this appointment had ceased to be scary until she walked through the door.
It was almost ridiculous how relaxed she had been this morning at the grocery mart with Dick. They were so strangely domestic, going out to get the things her parents wanted and needed. She hadn't asked him to come along with her, she was totally willing to drive and complete the task herself, but when Dick showed up just when she was leaving, almost as if he'd somehow planned it, she hadn't the heart to turn him away.
It was strange how much Dick was trying to be a good guy right now. Back in High School he had always been such an ass, most especially to her and Cassidy when they were dating. Now Mac could hardly believe she was spending time with the same person.
Of course it wasn't so surprising that he had changed; she had as well. Cassidy's death hit them both hard, both the fact of him taking his own life and all the reasons why. He was way more screwed up than either of them ever could have imagined and it was tempting to try to place blame on someone for what had become of the kid that everyone called Beaver. Mac knew Dick wanted to blame her for a while, he had actually come out and told her so almost a year ago now. In some ways, she knew she blamed him just the same, wondering if part of what drove Cassidy over the edge was the thoughtless treatment he received from his brother and his father too.
The Casablancas' sure had been through some tough times, and no amount of money and power could really help. Dick was pretty much the last man standing at this point, appearing strong but surely hurting and wishing he could just give up. His Mom was busy with her new family, his Dad was in jail, and Cassidy was gone forever. The only family he had in any real sense was the child Mac carried now. The whole thought of that made her want to cry for various reasons that she wasn't really sure she could explain, but when Dick looked across at her when the Receptionist called for them to go in to see the Doctor, she forced out a smile.
This was like the most surreal situation for Dick. In his head he always assumed he'd either live fast and die young, or maybe pull a Hefner and just keep on marrying much younger swimsuit models as he grew old. The idea of a wife and kids, the whole white picket fence deal, it wasn't really a future he ever imagined having because no 'nice' girl was ever going to want to get with him. Sure, he and Mac hadn't exactly dated yet, their entire relationship working backwards so far, starting with sex and pregnancy and lately moving into what might be considered dating and getting to know each other better.
Lately they had got to talking a lot, not about anything deep most of the time because neither of them wanted to bring that stuff up when it wasn't necessary. They got into movies and music and occasionally High School stuff, steering clear of any reference to Beav if they could manage it. Giving their thoughts and opinions on the epic journey that Veronica and Logan were still very much on was always a good one that they could talk about for hours, and probably had now that he thought about it. Of course, now the serious stuff was all there was to think about, talk about, and deal with as Mac pulled herself up onto the bed and the ultrasound equipment was set up for the sonogram.
"Okay, here we go. This might be a little cold" said the doctor as he spread cold gel on Mac's stomach that made her shudder and Dick make a face that said he wasn't impressed.
"Dude, what is that?" he asked, making Mac want to face-palm, though she resisted the urge.
"It's going to help us see your baby, Richard" Dr Devlin rolled his eyes at the dumbness of the boy he had known since a child, "Now, this device is the transducer" he explained, "And when we place it on Cindy's stomach, this screen here" he pointed, "will show us what's inside her uterus"
Dick nodded he understood and though it wasn't really the right time, he decided to make a joke.
"I hope it's a baby" he whispered to Mac who laughed more out of nerves than because it was actually funny.
Of course, she forgot to laugh or do anything at all as the thump-thump sound of a tiny heartbeat echoed through the room, and there on the screen appeared a fuzzy little figure.
"Oh my God!" she gasped in shock, though she ought to have known what she was going to see.
Perhaps it was only just now sinking in that there really was a baby growing inside of here. Sure, it didn't look much like a child yet, especially not in the blurry image shown on the screen, but she knew it was her baby she was looking at. She and Dick Casablancas, a most unlikely pair perhaps, but they had done this, they had made this child. The bigger shock than this realisation was the feeling of Dick's hand slipping around her own and holding on tight. He didn't say a word, which was pretty shocking for someone who usually had a smart-ass comment for everything, and when Mac looked his way she would almost swear she saw tears in his eyes.
"Dick, are you...?" she began, but never got a chance to finish her question as he suddenly got up from his seat and bolted from the room.
To Be Continued...