Chapter 11- Man Up

Maya never realized that a word itself could be so loud. The word 'pregnant' shouted in her head. Repeating until it didn't even sound like a word anymore. She crumbled into a sobbing pile on the bathroom floor, holding on the test stick as tightly as she could, as if squeezing the life out of a plastic stick would change the result. Her mother knocked on the door.

"Maya, are you okay? Can I come in?" Katy slowly turned the doorknob and peeked in. She was slightly alarmed when she noticed her daughter in the fetal position on the floor. She rushed over and sat next to Maya's head, lifting it up slightly to place it on her lap. Then she saw the test and it clicked.

"Oh, honey." Katy said soothingly. "Everything is going to be okay." Maya sat up and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. She looked up at her mother with pleading eyes.

"Mommy? What am I going to do? I'm scared." Katy pulled her daughter close and placed her head on her chest.

"First of all, Maya, you are not the only one in this situation." Maya looked up at Katy, confused.

"But, Mom-" Katy held up a hand, shushing Maya.

"Josh is part of this, too. He bears half the responsibility, Maya." Maya had not even thought about that.

"But Josh is still in school, Mom." Maya protested. "What can he do?" Katy stood up and held out her hand to pull Maya to her feet.

"Let's talk out there. The bathroom is cold." They went into the living room and sat on the couch.

"I'm still in school. Josh is in college. What are we going to do, Mom?" Maya put her head in her hands. Katy rubbed Maya's back.

"You both will get jobs and take care of this baby. Simple as that." Katy explained. "I will help you as much as I can, but the responsibility is on the two of you." Maya nodded, agreeing. "First thing we need to do, is call the Matthews' and let them know. Then we will schedule you a doctor's appointment and getting everything started." Maya looked confused.

"Get what started?"

"Prenatals, Future doctor visits. All that." Katy explained, standing up to retrieve her phone from the kitchen. "Now let's make that phone call, shall we?"

Cory was focusing on grading papers at the kitchen table. Topanga tapped him on the shoulder.

"Honey, your pocket is ringing." Confused for a split second, he reached into his pocket to answer his phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Katy." Cory motioned for Topanga to come over.

"Hang on, I'm putting you on speaker." Topanga sat at the table as Cory clicked the speaker icon.

"Okay, what's up?" He dreaded the answer to the question.

"Well, since I don't know Josh's phone number, I figured you could pass the message or get in contact with him somehow." Katy paused. "Maya's pregnant." For a solid five seconds, there was literal silence on the phone. "Hello?"

"Yeah, Katy, we're here." Replied Topanga. "just processing." Topanga could see the wheels and gears in Cory's head turning.

"Okay. So, now what?" Cory asked.

"Well," Katy responded, "first you contact Josh and tell him. Then he can come to Maya's first doctor visit. I have not scheduled it yet, so I will let you know."

"Okay," Topanga said, "let us know if Maya needs anything."

"Will do, guys. Bye."

"Bye." Cory hung up the phone and stared at it for a minute. "Damn." He said, under his breath, dialing Josh's number.

"Hello?" Josh answered.

"Hey, Josh."

"Cory? What is it?"

"Josh, Katy just called and-" Cory stopped, "-you know what, call Maya."

"Okay, Cory, but I'm not suppos- "Cory cut him off.

"I am pretty sure Katy will understand."

"All right. I will call her as soon as I get back to my dorm." Cory hung up the phone again, and rubbed his forehead with the heels of his hands. "Damn." He said again.

"Peaches, do you want to come over and talk about it?" Riley was talking to Maya throwing out some old school papers. School was finally out for summer and she three months of nothing to do. Maya had just given her the news, and she was trying to be supportive for her friend.

"No, Riles, not tonight." Maya replied. "I might be up for it tomorrow, though." Riley smiled through the phone.

"Okay, Maya, sounds like a plan. See you maybe tomorrow. I love you."

"I love you, too, Riley. Good Night." Riley hung up the phone and sat in silence on her bed for a moment, letting it sink in that Maya was going to have a baby. She thought back to the time that she tried to get Lucas to have sex with her in that dirty apartment downstairs. This mess that Maya was in, could have been hers. Thank goodness Lucas at least at a good head on his shoulders and insisted that they wait. Now she would never get that chance though, because he was over 1700 miles away. She picked up the phone and started to dial his number, then stopped. It had been, like six months. Maybe too much time had passed. She put her phone down and started to walk out of the room. She made it about 4 steps and turned around. Picking up her phone off the bed, she sent out a quick text message.

Hey Lucas, It's Riley. Long time no talk. LOL. What u been up to lately. Send. She wasn't expecting him to reply at all, so for a reply to come through so quickly was a surprise.

Hey, riley. What's up? I miss talking to you.

Nthing much. Schools out for summer brk now. How bout u?

Still have a week left. People are nice in Austin tho. How's maya? Riley didn't know how to answer that question, so she kept it vague.

She good. Still dating josh

Tht good. Josh is good ppl. Listen, Riley. I gotta go, but talk soon? Sorry, it's been so long. Crazy busy, u know?

Ya, I get it. We will talk soon. Riley almost typed 'I love you' out of habit, but stopped herself. She put the phone on her nightstand and lay back on her bed. At least she and Lucas were still on good terms. After her brief text conversation with Lucas, she felt better than she had in a long time.