A/N: Thank you for all your love and support! I hope you all enjoy this next chapter.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 5: Life Changes
Ah… blessed weekend.
Ana yawned and stretched as she slowly roused from her sleep, but instead of getting out of bed like she would have done any other weekday, she hunkered down further into her blankets, sighing in contentment. She didn't need to be anywhere this Saturday morning, so she was going to enjoy sleeping in. Jose had had a late night out at the bar with his coworkers from the art studio, so he had decided to crash at his own apartment instead of spending the night with her. That meant Ana had her bed all to herself this morning.
She definitely wasn't mad about it, especially when she could spread out and stretch her limbs without worrying about waking anyone. However, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of unease when she thought about her boyfriend – the two of them hadn't spent a night together since her first day back to New York. Both of them had been understandably busy with work, and they didn't typically spend every night together anyway, but even so… Ana couldn't help but worry.
She had been away in Georgia for two months, and apart from the one weekend when Jose visited her, she spent all of her nights alone in bed, missing her boyfriend's warm, familiar weight beside her. She thought Jose would be excited to finally have her back home, and of course he'd been happy to see her, but overall he'd been the same as he'd always been: ambivalent.
Jose had always been a pretty ambivalent guy though (which Ana knew, of course), but she supposed she wished he was a bit more romantic sometimes. Perhaps the two of them could plan to go on a trip sometime soon? It would probably have to wait awhile, though, since Ana had just gotten back from her leave of absence…
Ana's musings were suddenly cut short by her doorbell ringing. She quickly sat up in bed, eyes wide: it was barely seven o'clock in the morning. Who the hell was ringing her doorbell at this early hour? Her first thought was Jose, but he had a key. Maybe a random person rang it by mistake?
The next moment there were a series of urgent knocks, and Ana quickly leapt out of bed, grabbing her bathrobe and tugging it on as she hurried to her front hallway.
"Who's there?" she asked through the closed door, her heart pounding in her throat. She was almost too nervous to look through the peephole.
"It's Joanie," came Joanie's quiet reply. "Can I come in?"
Ana let out a breath of relief as she unlocked her door and opened it. "Of course, Joanie. Oh my God, you scared me. What are you doing here so early?"
Joanie gave her a tremulous smile, but it dropped almost instantly as Ana ushered her inside. She looked much more subdued than Ana had ever seen her before: her red hair was pulled up in a messy bun with frizzy pieces falling out around her face, and her pale skin looked sallow and wan. She had on an old hoodie and sweatpants that sagged off her thin frame, and her eyes were puffy and red, as if she had been up all night crying.
"Oh, Joanie. Is everything alright?" Ana asked worriedly, immediately closing the door behind her. She noticed there was a plastic CVS bag in her hand. "Did something happen?"
"No," Joanie muttered, twisting the plastic bag handle around her fingers. "I-I mean… I don't know. I'm sorry for coming over here so early, Ana. It's just… I-I didn't know where else to go, and I didn't want my parents to see me…"
She suddenly let out a sob, covering her mouth with her hand, and Ana quickly pulled her into her arms, hugging her tightly. Ana didn't know what was going on with Joanie right now, but it broke her heart to see her like this.
"Joanie, whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be okay," Ana insisted, rubbing a hand along her back. "Just tell me what's going on and I'll try to help."
Joanie didn't answer right away as she sniffled against Ana's shoulder. "I think…" she muttered after a few moments, pulling away as she wiped her eyes. "Um, I'm not sure yet, but I think… I might be pregnant."
Ana's heart seemed to drop to her stomach as she stared at Joanie in disbelief. "Pregnant?" she repeated quietly. A myriad of emotions filled her body at that revelation, but above all she was shocked that the young, sweet, innocent neighbor girl whom she saw almost as a little sister was sexually active. "Oh Joanie…"
"I don't know for sure yet, but I'm almost two weeks late. I haven't even told Carson yet," Joanie sniffed, reaching into her CVS bag and pulling out an unopened pregnancy test. "I bought this this morning, but I'm too scared to take it at home in case my parents find out about it."
"Joanie, if you are pregnant, it's inevitable they're going to find out about it," Ana said fairly, feeling it was best to be straightforward about this.
Joanie broke down again, bowing her head down as she cried, and Ana immediately felt guilty. "Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry – I didn't mean to upset you more," she said regretfully, pulling Joanie into her arms again. "Please don't cry."
"No, it's okay," Joanie sniffled, pulling away. "I know you're right, I just… I'm so scared right now."
"Sweetie, whatever happens, you have a wonderful family and friends who love you and will support you no matter what," Ana insisted. "But you don't even know for sure if you're pregnant yet. Take the pregnancy test and then you'll have your answer."
Joanie took a deep, shuddering breath before finally nodding. "Alright. I s'pose I should just get it over with."
Ana gave her a sad smile, rubbing her arm. "Feel free to use my bathroom. Can I get you a glass of water or something?"
"Yeah, that would be great, actually," Joanie smiled tremulously, wiping her eyes again. "Thank you."
"You're very welcome," Ana smiled, moving toward the kitchen.
"…Oh, wait," Joanie suddenly froze, staring at Ana with wide eyes. "We're alone here, right? Is Jose in the other room?"
Ana felt herself blush as she filled up a glass of water from the tap. She cleared her throat. "Oh, um, no he's not. He went out with his friends last night and decided to crash at his own place. It's just the two of us here."
"Okay, good," Joanie sighed with relief. "Sorry, I just really don't want to have to explain my situation to anyone else today."
"I understand," Ana said sympathetically, walking over and handing her the water. "Don't worry, this'll stay between the two of us. At least, until you choose to tell people... depending on the outcome, of course," she added a bit awkwardly.
"Thank you," Joanie said gratefully, accepting the water from her. "I really appreciate this, Ana."
"Of course," Ana smiled, reaching for her free hand and squeezing it. "Now go take the test."
Joanie took another deep breath, and she nodded before heading into the bathroom and closing the door behind her. Ana stared at the closed door, wringing her hands with worry.
So Joanie might be pregnant. Ana felt like she was in shock as she dazedly made her way back to the kitchen. This was definitely not how she planned her Saturday morning to go – she walked over to her tea kettle to make herself a cup of black tea. She felt like she needed it to gird herself for whatever Joanie's pregnancy test results might be.
That poor girl. Ana's heart couldn't help but go out to Joanie, thinking about how scared she must be facing the uncertainty of a potential child. Joanie was far too young and innocent to be dealing with a teenage pregnancy, but even so – Ana knew that Joanie had both the inner strength and familial support that would help her handle whatever life threw at her.
After making herself a cup of tea, Ana walked into the living room and turned on the TV, flipping through the channels as she waited for Joanie to come out. She settled on the local news and sat down on her couch, glancing over at the closed bathroom door every couple of minutes as she sipped her tea.
Finally, after nearly fifteen minutes, the bathroom door opened. Ana jumped to her feet, watching as Joanie stepped out. Tears were still rolling down her cheeks, but a huge smile had now broken out across her face.
"I'm not pregnant," she sobbed in relief, holding up the white stick.
"Oh thank God," Ana said, relief immediately filling her body as she quickly set down her tea and ran over to Joanie. The two women hugged tightly. "Thank God, Joanie. You must be so relieved!"
"You have no idea," Joanie laughed, pulling away as she wiped at her eyes. "My period's always been a bit irregular since I started menstruating a few years ago, so I should've realized that's all this was. I should probably take another test, though, just to be extra sure."
"That probably wouldn't be a bad idea," Ana agreed, leading them over to the couch so they could sit down. "And you should probably also schedule a doctor's appointment with an OB-GYN to discuss possible birth control options."
Joanie blushed, looking a bit embarrassed. "Carson and I have only had sex a few times, and we were always careful. We use condoms."
"Even so," Ana said firmly. "Condoms aren't always 100% effective, and you don't want to have a repeat of this morning, except with the pregnancy test having a positive readout."
Joanie bit her lip, looking distressed at the very idea. "Okay. Yeah, you're probably right. I'll schedule an appointment later."
"Good," Ana nodded, satisfied. "And what about Carson and your parents?"
Joanie gazed uncertainly at Ana. "What about them?"
Ana gave her a stern look. "Joanie, they need to know about this. You can't just pretend this morning didn't happen."
"I know," Joanie looked down, twisting the cuffs of her sweatshirt around her fingers nervously. "I just don't want them to freak out or anything. My dad especially is going to be really pissed…"
"Only because he loves you and he wants you to make good decisions," Ana said firmly. "Trust me, your parents would want you to tell them about this whole incident rather than for you to hide it from them. Same with your boyfriend."
Joanie grimaced before finally nodding, a reluctant expression on her face. "I suppose you're right. God, this is going to suck."
"It won't be so bad," Ana assured her, rubbing her back in a comforting manner. "At least be thankful this conversation isn't going the other way if that pregnancy test had been positive."
Joanie gave a reluctant smile. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Thank you, Ana. I appreciate your help with all of this, I really do."
"It's my pleasure," Ana smiled sincerely.
Joanie's smile faded as she glanced over at the front door, looking nervous again. "I guess I should go and talk to my parents now."
"That can wait," Ana said, placing a hand on Joanie's arm. "It's still pretty early, and your parents probably aren't up yet. Let's go out for breakfast, just to the two of us, and then we can go and talk to them together in a couple of hours."
Joanie looked immensely relieved at that prospect. "Really? You'd come with me to talk to Mom and Dad? Oh my God, Ana, that would be so great!"
"I'd be more than happy to come for moral support," Ana assured her. "But I still think you should be the one to tell them, okay?"
Joanie quickly nodded. "Yeah, for sure. Thank you, Ana, I really appreciate everything you've done for me today."
Ana smiled again, feeling emotion fill her chest. "I was happy to do it. I could tell how scared you were thinking you were pregnant, Joanie. You're like a little sister to me, and I want you to know that you don't have to feel lost or alone when real life shit like this happens. I'll be here for you, and so will your parents. I promise."
Tears filled Joanie's eyes, and she wordlessly moved over to wrap her arms around Ana, hugging her tightly. Ana hugged her back, feeling a plethora of emotions fill her heart.
A/N: Oh poor sweet Joanie. This was a bit of a tangent from the main story, but it will all come together soon!
Please review :) Next chapter, we meet another familiar face.