"Hey Case?", Cappie finally says after a while, me still safely nestled in his arms.

"Yeah?"

"I know this isn't what you wanted and I know that… it's probably not gonna be easy to wrap our heads around and… be happy about", Cap explains. "But I thought about what you said, about how you know that if we have a kid then you know we'll love it? Well you're right, we'll love this baby, okay?"

"Yeah I know Cap", I speak softly then, feeling butterflies in my stomach for some reason. Obviously I didn't want to be pregnant right now but it was still nice for him to say.

"And you'll be a really good mom, I know that for sure", He adds.

"Thanks Cap", I pucker my lip then as I turn around to meet his eyes gratefully.

"And I know you wouldn't think it from… looking at my… past I guess… but I'm gonna try as hard as I can to be a good dad for it and… for you", He lets out a determined sigh.

"Cappie", I almost whine the word out and then I hold onto his hand, giving it a squeeze. "I know you will, okay? I'm sorry if I made you feel like I don't think you'll be a good one, but I know you can. You're like a dad to all the guys at the fraternity already".

I laugh slightly, trying to find some humour even in how despaired I felt right now.

"Well yeah some of the guys need it", He laughs.

"I know that me and you could be good at this if we… do it together", I nod, echoing his sentiment.

"Okay so… maybe we just… try to be happy about this then?", He shrugs.

I think about that for a moment.

"Happy is a bit of a stretch right now", I sigh. "But… there is some little part of me that can't help but be a bit… excited… even if that part of me knows I'm being super unrealistic because we're 22 and 23 and… not together right now".

"Well people have done it before at our age", Cappie offers.

"Yeah you're right, it's not like we're teenagers… or like this happened when we were freshman", I agree with him.

"Yeah exactly".

"That reminds me… I should call the Cyprus Womens Clinic, try to get in to confirm the pregnancy and just make sure that everything is okay with it", I nod. "I'll have to look up their number… I went there once in freshman year so they may still have a file open for me".

"Oh you did?", He asks.

"Yeah", I sigh. "When you and I started dating… I went there to get on the pill so that I'd be prepared".

Cappie takes this in with a nod.

"Lot of good that did me I guess", I scoff. "Here, I'm gonna go get Rusty's computer and find their number".

I squirm out of his arms then, moving away from his warmth to go find Rusty's laptop on the kitchen table.

When I find their number I come back to the living room and sit down on the couch again to dial them.

"Cyprus Women's Clinic, how can we help you?"

"Oh... uh hi there... my name is Casey Cartwright… I just took some home pregnancy tests and they're positive so I was wondering if I could come in sometime soon to… confirm the pregnancy I guess?", I speak into the phone nervously, just saying the words feeling weird to me.

"Hi! Okay great, we have some openings tomorrow with Dr. Connors. Would that work for you?", The girl on the phone offers.

"Okay yeah tomorrow is good", I nod.

"Would tomorrow at 11am work?"

"Yeah that's great", I sigh out, happy that it's so soon. "Thank you. Okay… see you then".

I hang up and then sit back against the couch again.

"I'm gonna go tomorrow at 11", I confirm with Cappie.

"Oh okay, I'll take you", he nods.

"Yeah? If you're busy I can go by myself", I shrug.

But I really didn't want to go alone. I just didn't want to tell him that.

"No way, I want to go", He says like the notion of me going alone is crazy. "What if… we get to see it for the first time?"

"Yeah", I nod, unable to help the way I bite down on my lip, trying to stifle in a nervous smile, happy that he wants to be apart of this with me. "You're right. It's crazy to think there's actually something in here".

I look down at my still flat stomach, touching it softly with my fingers over the fabric of my top as I shake my head in disbelief.

His blue eyes travel down to set on my belly too, sharing in how weird this felt.

"I know right…", he agrees, looking pretty terrified.

Suddenly me and Cap are startled out of this moment of fear and complete utter perplexity about the fact that there's an actual fetus growing in me because we hear the door open.

"Hey guys!", Rusty stands in the doorway.

"Oh hey Rus", I give him an awkward wave as me and Cap sit up straight on the couch. I'm sure he can probably tell I've been crying more.

"I left my class early, I just couldn't handle the suspense anymore, but I didn't want to find out by text so… what's the verdict?", He looks back and forth between us anxiously.

"Well Spitter…", Cappie sighs. "Looks like you're gonna be an uncle".

"Oh my god!", He puts his hand over his mouth and then puts his book bag down, coming over to sit on a chair in the living room. "This is insane… I kinda just thought you were just being overly paranoid Case".

"Well… nope", I shrug, putting my fingers on my temple for a moment. "I'm really knocked up".

"Oh my god… mom and dad are gonna freak out Case!", Rusty can't help the way his eyes bulge out of his head at the idea of this.

"I know", I groan. "They're gonna totally kill me, they were so happy that I got into law school…. and I just talked to mom the other day and told her I wasn't dating anyone and that I was just focusing on school. So this is gonna come as like… a huge surprise".

I sigh as I put my head in my hands, feeling dread when I think of having to tell my parents that this has happened.

"Well…," Cappie scoffs slightly. "I'm sure she knows you don't need to be dating for conception to take place".

Cappie gives me his usual smirk and I glare at him slightly.

"Yeah Cap but my mom knows that I'm not… I'm not the type of person that just has random hookups! Not that there's anything wrong with doing that, it's just not… me", I huff out.

"Well… we're not really a random hookup Case", Cappie thinks to himself and then offers up a shrug. "You can tell her that the baby is with your ex boyfriend slash friend slash general on and off again… whatever you wanna call this".

He gestures between the two of us with his finger, making light of the fact that me and him never seemed to know exactly what we were to each other, especially lately.

"Well why don't you guys just get back together?", Rusty shrugs like it should be totally obvious.

"Thank you Spitter, that's what I said", Cappie gives him a pat on the back and then looks at me mischievously.

"Rus", I throw my head back with a groan. "If me and Cappie are gonna get back together it's not going to be because we're forced to because he got me pregnant".

"Yeah but… you guys are gonna raise the baby together right? You're gonna keep it?", He asks.

"Yeah I'm keeping it", I nod up and down. "And me and Cappie will… do this together. But nothings changed between us since yesterday or since the night this happened".

I shrug then.

"Well a lot has changed, you're literally gonna be parents now Case", Rusty scoffs.

"I know a lot has changed but it doesn't mean that me and Cappie have to jump back into a relationship just because we're having a baby together now. If we want to be together… it should be regardless of me getting pregnant", I say carefully, making sure to lay that out to them.

I really didn't want this to be the reason that we get back together. I mean sure, I couldn't exactly hide it, I loved him. That was pretty much just a constant in my life that I'd come to terms with at this point. And I know he knew that. But I didn't want to jump right back into this during such a scary time. Not to mention, I feel like I'd always wonder whether we only did it because of the baby.

"I'm not worried about the getting back together thing", Cappie pipes up then, speaking softly. "I know that… you and me will be together. I'll wait as long as you want".

He looks at me then and I can't help it, my heart just about pounds out of my chest for him. He still had the same stupid hold on me he always had since we met in freshman year. The fact that he was always so sweet to me, so charming, so lovable even when I didn't want to be in love with him.

And even though I was freaking out right now I really needed him and he'd stepped up. I couldn't really ask for anything more from him today.

"Okay", I speak meekly then, sure my cheeks are probably red hot, hating that he has the power to do that to me. "Thanks Cap".

"Yeah", he nods.

"Well… I can't believe this. I'm actually gonna be an uncle!", Rusty shakes his head, looking shocked still. "I never thought this would happen today".

"Me neither", I scoff to myself. "I woke up and it was… just a regular day before this whole thing dawned on me".

"Well I hope you know I'll be around to help you guys as much as possible", Rusty tells us. "I know it's gonna be really hard because you guys are young but… whatever you decide to do, if you raise it here or somewhere else, I'll be there as much as possible".

"Aw thanks Rusty", I can't help but give him a soft look, puckering my lips as my eyes fill with tears and I put my arms out so he can hug me.

"Yeah thanks Spitter, it means a lot that you're gonna be this kids uncle… it's pretty cool", Cappie nods.

"I know right", Rusty can't help but smile then as him and Cappie share a grin. I really loved that the two of them had the relationship they did, that Cappie had completely taken my little brother under his wing. It only made Cappie more lovable to me over the past few years to see him care about Rusty so much. "I guess… I guess you haven't told Ash?"

Rusty takes me out of my thoughts about Cappie, instead making me think about Ash, making me feel sad about our current relationship... or lack thereof.

"No", I sigh. "She's staying here at your place right?"

"Yeah… on the very futon you guys are sitting on", Rusty scoffs. "Just until she gets her own apartment".

"Well… I'm sure she doesn't want to hear from me so…", I trail off sadly.

"She'd wanna know that you're pregnant Case", Cappie gives me a look, his eyes looking especially blue against the blue pattern of the flannel he's wearing right now.

"She's so mad at me, I don't even know if she'd care", I sigh out and then put my head in my hands.

"Case I think you should tell her. This… trumps whatever your fight was about", Cappie adds.

"Yeah... what was your fight about anyway?", Rusty chimes in and I look up to see him looking at me quizzically.

"Um…", I say, sighing to myself. "Basically me telling her she needs to be more realistic about her job search… and then her telling me that I needed to be more realistic about my… love life".

Rusty and Cap take this in.

"So the fact that not even like… 5 hours after our fight I went and hooked up with you Cap…", I gesture over to him with a slight groan. "Won't exactly bode well with her".

"Wait… your fight was about me?", Cappie seems surprised.

"Not entirely… but sort of. She thinks I'm holding onto… a fairytale version of some life where me and you work out", I sigh, looking over at Cappie. "I don't know. But I do know she's gonna judge me big time for getting pregnant with you".

"It's Ash, she's not gonna judge you Case, she loves you", Rusty gives me a look. "I think you should just give her a chance…"

"It's just… I always thought that if I got pregnant… I mean, for one, I wouldn't be getting pregnant by accident at 22, but also… I thought that I'd immediately be able to share it with Ashleigh and we'd be really happy about it and the whole thing would be… sweet", I can't help but sniffle then as another tear falls down my face.

"Well maybe it can still be like that", Cappie shrugs half heartedly. "I know maybe she… doesn't approve of me and you but… I think if she knows you're pregnant, the rest of your issues will just go by the wayside".

"Yeah?", I confirm with him.

"Yeah", he nods up and down, trying to be supportive. "She'd be there for you".

"Okay well, maybe I'll tell her eventually. But I'm still hurt by some of the things she said about me and about… me and you Cap", I say.

"I think she's just going through a really hard time right now Casey. Not that it's an excuse but she's… pretty lost. Don't tell her you heard this from me but… she's working at Doblers", Rusty says.

"Really?", I raise my eyebrow. "I can't believe she took that job".

"Well she must've taken something you said to heart", Rusty shrugs. "At least she kind of took your advice".

"Yeah…", I take this in. "Well… maybe we can still be friends again. I really wish I could talk to her about this right now. I have like… no girl friends to share this with. I don't want the sisters to know until it's sunk in more... and until I'm further along. And Rebecca's my friend obviously but... if I tell her the whole Greek system will know by the time we go to sleep tonight".

I groan then as the three of us laugh to ourselves.

"Yeah maybe… hold off on telling Rebecca right now", Cap laughs. "But you have us Case".

Cappie gives me a smile, gesturing from him to Rusty.

"Okay", I give them a sheepish smile, thankful for the two of them. "Thanks guys".

"Yeah of course", Rusty chimes in as him and Cap give me a supportive nod.

I still couldn't help but wonder what Ash would think. This was something I wanted to share with her, if I got pregnant I imagined us jumping up and down in happiness. But… I also imagined me and Cappie being much older and established when it happened and not still here in college. So… it wasn't like anything else around this situation was really how I thought it would be anyways. Except... maybe the fact that Cappie's the dad.


"Cap", I give him a look from the passenger seat of his car, it was later now and he was driving me home back to ZBZ. "I know you want to be nice and walk me in but the girls absolutely can't see me with you. The other night was different because they weren't home and it was Friday but tonight… it's a weeknight and I'm their house mom. Not to mention… I don't need everyone gossiping about… us right now. They probably will soon when they find out but they don't have to know now".

"Okay", Cappie nods. "Yeah I get it, you have to follow the own rules you enforce. You're sure you're gonna be okay alone tonight?"

"Yeah I'll be okay", I nod up and down, sure I'm blushing a bit, thankful he's looking out for me but knowing I sort of needed to do this on my own.

"Okay good. Well I'll pick you up tomorrow at like 10:30 then?", He confirms with me as I see us pull up beside the ZBZ house, him stopping the car and putting it into park.

"Yeah thanks, that should give us enough time to get there", I give him a nod and we sit there awkwardly for a second in his car, I think neither one of us really knowing what to do.

We lock eyes and he looks me up and down, finally making a decision in his head as he lets out a sigh and then leans in to pull me in for a hug.

"Everything's gonna be okay", he says quietly against me, knowing me well enough to know that I was still absolutely scared out of my mind.

"Okay…", I croak out against his shoulder.

A knocking sound interrupts us then and we both jump.

"Casey?!", I hear a distinctive voice I knew too well. One that so often brought me annoyance.

Me and Cap part and I turn around to see Rebecca making a knocking motion against the car door window.

"I can see you're busy with your… on and off again… whatever this is", She gestures between us snidely, but I know her well enough to know that she's just joking. "But you've been gone all day and we're out of Cheesaritos!"

"Crap… sorry Rebecca. I'll go grocery shopping tomorrow, I swear", I assure her. "Something just… came up today".

"Hmm something like hooking up with your ex again?", She crosses her arms at me. "Hey Cap".

"Rebecca", Cappie nods with a laugh. "Good to see you".

"It's almost as good as when me and the other girls saw you scurrying away down on our lawn in your boxers a few weeks ago", Rebecca gives us a wicked smile.

"Oh…", I let out, feeling awkward now, really thinking that I had gotten away with no one finding out about that night on Homecoming. But I probably should've known, Rebecca seemed to know everything, she was too slick to miss it.

"Yeah that's right, I know… and I fully understand ex sex… especially when it comes to you Cap", Rebecca scoffs to herself and me and Cappie share an awkward look with each other. "But the pledges are hungry! Not to mention so am I!"

"Right, I'm sorry Rebecca, I just needed one day for… a personal thing but I'll be right on my house mother duties again tomorrow, promise", I assure her.

"Alright good", She sighs in a huff and then fixes her hair. "Now please, if you're gonna kiss goodnight or something, at least wait to do it till I turn around, I don't need to regurgitate my dinner tonight".

She gives us one last snide look and then turns back around on her heel, wearing her pajamas and slippers as she walks back up the walkway to the house.

"Oh god", I groan to myself as I put my head in my hands in embarrassment but truthfully me and Cap can't help but giggle a bit, the awkwardness a little too much.

"Well…", Cap laughs. "I guess when they find out you're pregnant it won't be that much of a shock who the dad is, right?"

"Yeah I guess", I let out a deep sigh as I shake my head. "That was pretty humiliating… but now I don't have to worry about them seeing me with you. I guess we're not really fooling anyone".

"Nope", He grins then winningly. "That we're not".

We sit for another moment, me just staring at his smirking face as my heart races.

"Actually… Cap?"

"Yeah?", He looks at me quizzically.

"Can I stay with you tonight?", I take a leap and just decide to do what I really wanted to do. Because the last thing I wanted was go into the house, hole up in my room and stay up all night panicking. "If I go in and get my stuff… maybe I could just stay with you at KT?"

He can't hide the way his face lights up then, biting his lip as he tries to conceal his smile.

"Yeah that'd be fine with me", he nods.

"I just… I don't really want to be alone right now", I feel the need to explain. "And then we can go to this appointment in the morning together".

"Yeah sure. I'd love to have you. It would… feel like old times", He scoffs and I can't help but smile, thinking about how we basically had moved in together last semester of my senior year, just a few months ago. How I had a drawer in his room with my stuff, staying at the KT house so much that I slept in his bed more than I slept in my own.

"Yeah I guess it would", I nod up and down. "Except… no sex".

I put my finger up jokingly then, pointing it at him.

"Aw really, not even when you can't get any more pregnant?", he can't help but joke with me but I'm sure he knew that staying with him tonight was far from about sex. It was about the fact that I needed him.

I roll my eyes at him then playfully.

"Stay here crazy, I'm gonna go get my stuff", I laugh and open up the janky door of his car, hopping out onto the sidewalk. His car was… kind of a fixer upper but I felt like it was sort of part of him now. I remember he'd gotten it freshman year, called it his baby which I thought was funny because it was almost always barely running but he still loved it.

I turn around to give him one last awkward smile and then make my way up the walkway to the front door of ZBZ to go get my stuff.