True to his promise, Sweet Pea managed to finagel his schedule to be free the next Saturday.

Archie was relentless when he found out there was a second date, even going as far as to joke about camping out outside her apartment to see who would show up.

"And give them the 'if you hurt her' talk?" Betty asked.

"Well, naturally."

At Betty's look of panic, as he may actually, Archie waved her away.

"Oh, stop it. I have plans anyway. We're telling Ree's parents about the happy news; it's better done in person. They're also…" He winced, "Difficult."

"Oh, congrats! I'm such a bad friend, I never asked how it went! Good, it seems?"

Archie got a doe-eyed look on his face, "Yeah…yeah…" He sighed, caught in the memory, "It was perfect and she cried…I cried…it was great."

"When is she coming down to Riverdale, then?" Betty put her hands on her hips, "So I can give her the same talking to?"

"Calm down, you're like an angry chihuahua," Archie patted her head , "Hard to take you seriously that you're threatening anyone. But I think we want to do our engagement party here, maybe late summer."

"Good," Betty crossed her arms, "I can be very intimidating, especially when holding a wrench."

Archie placated her, "Sure, Betty, sure…"

Betty and Sweet Pea spent the next week texting each other.

Nothing intense, just little messages one way or another. Though they worked totally different hours, their main conversation time was still at Pop's. She went twice in between, greeting Franklin as he peered through the hole in the wall like he was in a dugout.

"Hello, Franklin," Betty said, knowing that he was watching them both quietly.

He ducked behind the line, having been caught.

"By the way, who won 'King'?" Betty asked.

"Not Franklin. Ha!" Sweet Pea turned, and Fangs popped back up just to stick out his tongue, "It was Midge. Which is probably best to hope for if it wasn't going to be me."

"Where'd you guys get your nicknames anyway?" Betty asked.

Sweet Pea snorted, "Hell if I know mine."

"A story for…not here," Fangs called to Betty, grinning widely, "For both of ours!"

Damn, now she wanted to know.

They soon fell back into the comfortableness they'd had before, as though the change in their status hadn't even happened. Which, maybe was a good thing. That they were friends first.

Not just friends, Betty amended, because when no one was watching, his eyes traced her like he was drinking in a goddess.

She couldn't remember the last time anyone had looked at her like that…so whenever he did, she couldn't help but blush completely.

There weren't any fancy restaurants in Riverdale, far too small a town. So Sweet Pea was taking Betty to the town over, Greendale, where there was an Italian place that Archie confirmed was the best date place by far.

Betty had been smart enough to order a few new things, so she wasn't without options when the day rolled around, having the hope that perhaps this would turn into more of a regular thing, and assumed she'd need some outfits to impress.

Sweet Pea picked her up in a button-down rolled up to his elbows and a bouquet of red roses.

"You're just…unreal!" Betty said, almost put out, "How can I compete with this?"

Sweet Pea leaned in to kiss her cheek, "Just be you. Seriously."

Inwardly, she was stewing.

He'd just made this a competition in itself , and as established, Betty liked to win.

She was already down points, damn him!

She spent the whole ride, about half an hour, trying to think of ways to even the score.

Though Betty had put aside some funds this week, the restaurant was more expensive than she'd anticipated.

Sweet Pea watched her; she looked up from her menu to see him examining her, tilting his head.

"Order whatever you want. I'm paying." He said, turning her gaze to the entrees, which indeed she'd steeled herself to just order an app.

"I couldn't," She said, shaking her head , " I'm all for equality."

"Sure, grab the next date," Sweet Pea said, of course not wanting to make her feel lesser, "But I asked you out, so this time's on me." At Betty's expression, he reached over, "Trust me, I'm not…hurting for money. Not for things like this. Things that…" He paused, as though deliberating, "Matter."

As established, Sweet Pea wasn't a big drinker, but the restaurant had a whole half-page of mocktails for them to partake in. Even if he wasn't as…officially sober the way Fangs was, she got the sense he steered clear anyway.

Ravenous, Betty ordered a steak and Sweet Pea looked pleased.

Mid-way through dinner, a string quartet (uber fancy) had begun to play and a few couples were listing back and forth, just…dancing quietly.

"Are we going to get up there?" Betty asked, and Sweet Pea's eyes went wide.

"Oh, god no!"

"Not perfect, then," Betty teased, "The romantic boyfriend would sweep me up in a dance. Maybe a dip."

Sweet Pea froze, "Boyfriend?"

Her attempt to throw him off his game had backfired.

Even if she was over the moon, it did seem a bit…fast to be making such declarations .

She had a bad habit of taking things at breakneck speed, but she was trying to be better, honest! This had just slipped out by accident.

"I was…just saying…in the general…sense…" Betty flounder, "Not you specifically just 'a' boyfriend and…" She inhaled, "Okay, sorry, I'm going to stop talking now."

Sweet Pea was watching her carefully .

If he intended to push the matter, it wasn't going to be now.

He let her flub go with far more grace and far less curiosity than Betty would have had, knowing that if it were reversed she would be feral to know if he meant it, even at the expense of her feelings.

The dinner itself was nice. The nicest meal she'd had since college had begun, but that wasn't the real star of the night.

No, the part that Betty would be replaying over and over, examining each angle like a movie critic, was afterward, when Sweet Pea pulled off into a dusty inlet and somehow she ended up on his lap. It was like they were too needy teenagers, unable to keep their hands to themselves.

The exact steps to this were unclear and unnecessary to rehash, but Betty was just singing to the radio one second and the next she was grinding down on his lap, kissing him hard, biting his lip between her teeth.

Sweet Pea's fingers had shoved up her nice dress until it bunched on the small of her back, his palms grasping her ass, pushing her down onto him.

As he broke their kiss to use his teeth to drag one of her straps down her shoulder, and a shiver like someone had put an ice-cube down her back raced up her spine , Betty was hit with the thought that this felt so…ordinary.

It was the first time in a very long time Betty felt completely her age. She had likened them to teens at the start of this , but that wasn't completely true. Teenagers were fumbling, unsure of their actions. Sweet Pea certainly was not.

This could very well be two college kids , seeking out pleasure in whatever spaces they could due to both of them having theoretical roomates or something. She for sure wasn't this confident in high school.

Idly, she wondered if Sweet Pea had been.

Through their conversations, she'd learned he was just a year ahead of her in school.

She wondered if while she was studying and cramming and panicking over exams, Sweet Pea was doped up on drugs learning how to pleasure women.

Well, whenever he learned it…as her dress exposed her breast, and he leaned down to lick a circle, Betty whined, grabbing the grab handle to steady herself.

"Oh, god, Betty," Sweet Pea mumbled against her skin, whispering inaudible prayers, "You make me so hard."

Betty bit her lip, eyelashes fluttering.

She was just on the edge of an orgasm, completely just by friction alone, when car headlights sliced through the darkness.

Betty scrambled off his lap back into the passenger seat, imagining the shame if someone saw them like this.

Sweet Pea instinctively covered his crotch, though it was doubtful they could see the tent he was sporting.

As the car harmlessly passed, Sweet Pea and Betty exchanged looks and burst out laughing .

"I'll drive you home," Sweet Pea said, "I think the moment's ruined."

Regretfully, Betty concurred. Still, it had been a long time since she'd had sex, and longer since it had been good sex, so even just this hint of what was to come was enough to make her feel warm all over again.

Though she much preferred having a partner, she would finish herself off with her fingers later that night, replaying his breathless moans against her ear.

XXX

In some ways, Betty knew that the more real this was getting with Sweet Pea, the more she would have to face reality.

When she reached out to the local Riverdale hospital, she expected some half-hearted apologies for the long wait or a suggestion to try a bigger city if she wanted a sooner appointment.

She was banking on it , actually . If she did all she could and all the OBGYNs were unavailable, well, that wasn't her fault , was it?

What she wasn't expecting was for the receptionist to excitedly announce that they'd just had a cancellation and that they could slip her into Dr. Lopez's rotation in two days.

And that seemed like far too soon for her mind, which needed ample time to come to terms with this.

But she'd seem like a terrible person if she said no, wouldn't she?

So, sucking through her teeth, she wrote the appointment down on the calendar she'd tacked to her fridge.

The date in red ink seemed to follow her all the next day, and it was all that Betty could focus on.

When she told her boss she needed to take a personal day, part of her hoped that he'd chastise her for expecting off and tell her she couldn't.

But unfortunately, he just blinked and shrugged.

She should be grateful the universe cared about the health of her unborn child . More than she seemed to right now.

But it wasn't that she wished poorly on him or her, whoever it was going to end up being . Quite the opposite. Betty was sure that it deserved a much better mother than her, someone prepared and settled with a partner. Not a college out with too much fire and too little money.

Betty looked up the Riverdale Hospital on her phone and was frustrated to see that it was too far to walk, even if she enjoyed a good trek.

Her finger hovered on Sweet Pea's number, but in the end, she backtracked.

She wasn't sure she was ready to tell him anything. True, she doubted he'd push her for more information, but at that point, it would feel like an omission of truth that she wasn't sure he'd appreciate.

Instead, she called Fred.

Fred seemed overjoyed to be called, to be thought of by her, and promised to meet her the next morning with plenty enough time to get there.

So, when Fred didn't show up an hour before - as she'd thought - she tried not to worry.

Fred was the most responsible person she knew. He wouldn't just forget…right?

She felt a pinch of panic when Archie showed up instead.

"Whew, sorry, Betts!" Archie kicked the passenger door open with his palm, "My dad sneezed and threw out his back. What an old, old, man," He scoffed.

"Is he alright?" Betty asked, eyes wide and frightened. She would hate anything to befall him.

"Yeah, just moaning and bitching about it," Archie chuckled, "Trying to make the case he's not old, just clumsy. Anyway, didn't seem like a great idea to be high on pain meds and drive a car." He paused as Betty clambered in, "Damn, too bad he didn't fall en route to dropping you off. You could have had a two-fer."

"Oh, well," Betty tried to quash her worry, "Erm, thanks."

But the panic didn't ease. Now it was a different sort of panic. A 'how much did Fred tell Archie' sort of panic.

Fred didn't seem like the type to break Hippocratic oaths, and it appeared he respected Betty. She hoped all he'd said was that Betty had an appointment, and hopefully, Archie would know better than to pry.

Archie filled the space all the way there, talking about everything and nothing at all. He blabbered on, fingers tapping on the wheel, switching between topics so quickly that Betty hardly had time to think or formulate replies.

She loved it.

She loved that Archie had so much to adore in life that he was a non-stop stream of consciousness. It also allowed Betty to ease her frantically beating heart and made sure that she wouldn't feel the need to spill the beans out of awkward silence.

They pulled into the parking lot.

"Oh, just let me off here," Betty said, jerking a finger toward the main entrance, laughing in a way she hoped made it seem casual.

"Well, don't you want to be dropped off closer?" Archie frowned, missing the front entrance and driving around the corner.

"Closer to where?" Betty asked, her mouth going dry.

"Well, to the baby wing or whatever. Does it have a name? I'm sure it does. I'm not a very good uncle for not knowing, I suppose."

Betty sucked in so hard that she choked on air.

"God! Fuck, Betty, do you need the ER instead?" Archie asked, panicked, patting her back hard. Betty coughed up nothingness, staring at Archie with a mixture of betrayal and confusion.

Anger spiked through her.

Her fingers shook as she unbuckled her seatbelt, angrily throwing open the door of the car, right in the middle of the parking lot. Archie called after her, confused, backing into a spot.

"What's the matter? I'm sorry I don't know the terminology, Betty, I'll be better for the next appointment-,"

"I can't believe your dad told you!" Betty spun, flinging an accusing finger at him, "I trusted him! It wasn't his secret to tell!" She yelled, knowing that she must look insane, yelling at an Andrews in the middle of a hospital parking lot.

Archie backed up, hurt, "You think my dad would ever tell a secret, even under duress?" He asked, scowling, "He didn't tell me anything!"

"Well then how do you know?" Betty demanded, feeling like everything had been flipped out from underneath her, "I haven't…I didn't…" She waited, eyes wide and panicked.

If he knew…did everyone? Was she delusional to think she was keeping it a secret?

"I was waiting for you to tell me," Archie mumbled, face as red as his hair, "But you didn't. Remember when I stopped at your apartment because I really needed to pee? After 4th of July?"

"Yeah?"

"I saw the pre-natal vitamins in your cabinet. And I wasn't sure what it meant, but it had a picture of a baby on it , so I Googled it."

"You know, you don't have to be pregnant to take those, Archie," Betty said, her anger deflating. She'd made sure to hide them when Sweet Pea came by, she she wouldn't have thought to keep them out of sight from Archie. But if anyone did see them, that was her excuse.

"Oh. Well, I mean, you just sort of confirmed it, didn't you?"

Betty stared at him and then found herself laughing.

"Shit. I guess…I did." She blinked at him, smiling, "Sorry I yelled."

"You're emotional. It's the hormones. I've read up a bit," He admitted with a shy smile, "You know, I'm really excited about a baby. I've been dying to talk to you about it!" Then, his face shadowed, "You don't have to talk about why, or how. I mean, I know how. I'm an adult," He rolled his eyes, "But I got the sense that…" Archie pressed his lips together, "And none of that matters now, does it?"

Betty exhaled her anger, "No. I guess it doesn't."

"Do you…" Archie hovered, "Want someone in there with you?"

Betty wiped away her wet eyes, "You know what? I'd actually love that."

In the waiting room, Archie switched to the topic of 'babies', which apparently in the few days since he'd figured it out, he'd been reading up on quite a bit. His softness towards the topic warmed her heart.

"Of course, I gotta be prepared. I need to be the best Uncle," He scoffed.

"You're their only uncle."

As she filled out her paperwork when she got to the 'emergency contact', she barely registered she'd written down Fred's name until she blinked at the completed sheet, as though her brain had been on auto-drive.

But who else was she going to call? Her mother?

She shuddered at the thought.

Dr. Lopez called her in. She was a woman with a stern yet warm presence, someone Betty would want to be in charge of babies and pregnant women.

"Is this the father?" She asked, looking at Archie. Betty couldn't imagine she didn't know the Andrews. Everyone knew everyone here. But, she was professional enough not to let Betty know if she had thoughts or opinions, "Is this your fiancee, Archie? Your father told me about the engagement."

Archie responded to the question as though Dr. Lopez had asked Archie to eat a worm.

"Ack! No! Ew!"

Okay, that was a little bit dramatic, Betty thought. She didn't think the idea of her was that disgusting, though, she had a similar fraternal feeling toward Archie.

"No, sorry, ha. That's funny," Archie ran his fingers through his hair, "Naw, no, this is my sister."

Dr. Lopez blinked, as though trying to riddle out what he meant, but didn't push it. Some part of Betty was…honored that he'd said that. Not just that she was 'like a sister' or 'my chosen sister', but he'd claimed her as family with his full chest.

Dreaming of better holidays, Betty wondered if she asked to be an Andrews officially if Fred would let her.

Her baby certainly wasn't a 'Weston-Wallace' . She wasn't sure it was a 'Cooper' or a 'Smith' either.

Maybe it was meant to be an Andrews?

"Let's see what we're working with. Did you want to know the sex?" She asked smoothly.

"Uhm, I think I want it to be a surprise."

Betty wasn't sure where that came from. She wanted to plan everything . But if she was starting a new one, she had a chance to be a less compulsive-obsessive person.

This was a good surprise, anyway. A welcome sort of one. And she'd be happy either way.

"Alright, plenty choose that."

"You know…" Archie leaned back on a chair , " Archibald is a fantastic name . And it's gender neutral."

"No, it isn't," Betty snipped at him.

"Well, Archibalda is pretty."

Dr. Lopez's focused mask cracked and she tried to hide a snort.

"And what, we'd call her 'Archa'?" Betty was grateful for the distraction.

Archie shrugged, as though he thought that was perfectly fine, "It's worked for me!" He pointed out with a wide grin.

"So, Betty, it looks like we're measuring about five months. That sounds about right?" Dr. Lopez cut in.

Betty blinked fast, "What? No that's not…" She counted back on her fingers, "I thought it was four months."

God, she felt awful. She was halfway through the pregnancy and this was the first time in an actual doctor's office.

What kind of terrible mother was she!

"Ah, well, you count from your last period, so I see the confusion. Instead of thinking that your missed week is 'week zero', it's actually 'week four'," Dr. Lopez explained. Betty blinked, swallowing her own guilt.

"I guess…yeah, five months. Is it normal to not show so much yet?"

"Oh, entirely. First pregnancies are strange. Some women never do, and some 'pop' right before. I wouldn't worry about it. This baby seems healthy, so everything's good."

"Healthy?" Betty echoed. She'd been so convinced she'd ruined everything, but here it was…perfectly fine.

"Right as rain. You seem to be on track in length and weight," The doctor assured, "That puts your due date in November."

Betty swallowed the information, "Oh!"

It seemed so soon . She felt like she barely had time for anything now.

"Would you like an ultrasound?"

"Three!" Archie jumped in, raising his fingers, "Me, Dad, you," He added sheepishly.

"What, gonna keep it in your wallet, Arch?" Betty asked with a roll of laughter.

"Yeah, maybe!" He guffawed.

So Betty got three copies.

One, as promised, Archie immediately slipped into his wallet. The next went straight on Fred's fridge, where he beamed at it proudly.

The last Betty slipped beneath her pillow, and she would pull it out, tracing her fingers over the fuzzy features.

Some part of her was relieved. Now that Archie knew, there was only one more big, scary moment of truth left with Sweet Pea.