by Keelan Storm
“Okay.”
“That first night we were together was…amazing. The way we connected…it wasn’t just physical. It felt so much deeper. I’ve been thinking about it, and I wanted you to know that this is it for me. You, me, us. You were meant for me.
“I’d kind of like to think that’s why neither of us had much success with relationships before. I never wanted one girl because I didn’t have the right one, and you didn’t really date because you knew they weren’t right for you.”
Izzy looked down into her lap and placed a hand over her stomach. “Even now that you know there’s a baby? You still feel that way? It hasn’t scared you away?”
He shook his head, thrown that she could have worried about that for even a second. “Of course it hasn’t scared me away. Nothing could scare me away from you. Like I said, you’re it for me. Something like that doesn’t just change because something unexpected happens. But I will say that I have no clue how I feel about this baby. It doesn’t even seem real.”
He watched the girl he loved swipe at the tears now forming in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she laugh-sobbed. “I’m just so relieved. And I’ve thought about that, too. That we were never with anybody, at least not emotionally in your case, because we were waiting for each other. But Tucker…I want to keep the baby.”
His foot hit the brake, and he came to an abrupt stop on the side of the road, needing a moment to process. She already sounded so sure.
“Izzy, I agree that abortion is out…” He paused to find the right words. He had known that option wouldn’t have even been on the table. It was Izzy he was talking about, and, to be honest, he didn’t think he could do that to his own child, no matter how unreal it seemed. “There are other options, though, like adoption,” he suggested.
She placed a hand against her stomach, looking up at him as she explained. “Tucker, I know it sounds crazy, but I can’t give this baby up. There’s no way. I already love it too much. The second I knew it was really there, I was hooked. I’m scared to death, yes, but for me, there’s no other choice.”
He looked into those gorgeous, green eyes and saw that she meant it. She loved this baby, even if he still could hardly believe that it was even there. But when he thought about it, the baby was a part of her…a part of them. The answer was simple, then. He wouldn’t…couldn’t make her give up this baby.
They were going to be parents.
He nodded, firm in his decision. “Okay, let’s keep it.”
And with that, she was in his arms.
15
The Talk
“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Annie grumbled to Jet as they went to join their parents at the Thanos’ dining table immediately after school the next Friday.
“Me neither.”
He knew this was big, though. All three of their parents were home early. They’d even called the school to make sure he didn’t stay for practice today.
He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what they would say, but if he had to guess, Jet figured it probably had something to do with the news Izzy and Tucker had delivered last weekend. “This should be fun,” he thought sardonically as he and Annie took their seats.
His dad was the first to start. He cleared his throat. “Now, you two have been together for a long time.”
“And we love that you’re so good together,” Helen cut in. “I can’t imagine anyone who could make Jet happier, Annie.”
“But…,” Stefano cut back in, “there are some aspects of your relationship, of being in a relationship, that we feel we haven’t talked with you enough about.”
Jet groaned, knowing now where this was heading. He felt Annie stiffen beside him and prepared himself for things to get heated.
“I know you two might not want to talk about this, but we have to. We, as in all three of us,” he said, pointing to their moms and himself, “think you’re too young to be having sex.”
“We’re not saying that we know whether or not you are,” Helen chimed in.
“But since your sister and Tucker decided to have sex, and they’ve only been together a few months, we feel that it’s reasonable to think that you two have done it as well,” Bridgette added.
“Mom, it’s not fair for you to compare our relationship with Izzy and Tucker’s,” Annie snapped, hating that their parents just assumed the worst when they had been responsible.
“I think it’s very fair,” Bridgette replied, her ‘don’t test me’ voice well in effect. “I can’t deny that something that happens to one of my girls could easily happen to the other. I thought I had talked to you and your sister plenty about being safe and not rushing into things.”
“Oh, so Jet and I would be rushing things if we decided to do it? We’ve been dating over four years now. We’ve been friends for forever. That would be rushing?” she retorted, voice rising.
Jet took hold of her hand beneath the table and gave it a gentle squeeze of support, then pressed the back of her hand to her leg, running his thumb over her palm as he silently urged her to calm before things got out of hand. She still looked furious, but he’d felt some of her tension ease.
“Yes, Annie. We think it would be,” Helen took over before a fight could ensue between mother and daughter. “You two are still in high school. You’re still minors. If you have sex and don’t take the right precautions, or even if you do take the right precautions, nothing’s one hundred percent effective… There are too many decisions you’re too young to make if that happens… We don’t want that for you.”
Jet scrutinized his parents’ intensity at this hypothetical situation. It was bizarre. He and his dad had talked. Being safe was the number one topic every time. His mom gave him an encouraging smile, but his returning one was tight and forced.
“I have a question,” he said, his tone firm with his irritation. “Since y’all seem to already assume that we’re having sex without even asking us about it, is this conversation more about convincing us to stop having sex or finding out whether or not we’re stupid about having sex, so we don’t end up like Izzy and Tucker?”
His mother’s mouth opened and closed in surprise. Bridgette’s gaze flicked between him and Annie, not sure of which to focus on, and his father’s jaw tightened. Jet could feel Annie all but gaping at his directness, but he was tired of them beating around the bush.
“Would it really have helped if we would have asked you if you were having sex?” his mom asked. “Wouldn’t you have gotten just as upset as you’re getting now?”
“Yes, it would have helped. As for getting just as upset, I can’t answer for Annie, but I know I wouldn’t be. If you had taken the time to find out for sure, this conversation could have gone a lot easier.”
“Alright then, son, are you and Annie having sex?” his father asked.
“Yes.”
They heard their mothers moan at the confirmation of their fears.
“Ugh, why, Jet?” Annie thought, dropping her head into her hands. She’d rather them have that seed of doubt. It was going to be hard to look at his parents for a while.
Stefano nodded, seeming to appreciate the honesty, even if he wasn’t happy about it. “For how long?”
“Since June.”
“So was this some milestone you and your sister decided you should pass through together?” Bridgette snapped.
“What?!” Annie shouted. “She can’t be serious. How dare she?!” she thought as her anger soared. “No, Mother! Our decision to have sex had nothing to do with them! They weren’t even dating yet. We didn’t even find out Izzy and Tucker were having sex until last Saturday! And before you can ask,” she said to Stefano, sure that he wasn’t done with the questions. Oh, she could kill Jet for this… “Yes, we use protection. We are always safe about it.”
“You are?” Helen asked, clearly relieved.
“Of course.” Did they really think she and Jet were that irresponsible? There was no way in hell she was g
oing to risk her youth to raise or even have a baby before she was damn well ready for it, and that was definitely a hell of a long way off. “Just because Izzy and Tucker were stupid about it once, doesn’t mean that we would be.”
“Once is all it takes,” Stefano commented.
“We know that, Dad,” Jet replied.
“Well, good, then maybe you two won’t throw away your futures like your friends,” Bridgette retorted. “Now, since I’m sure that we won’t be able to convince you to stop having sex, we’re going to make sure there are as many precautions as possible.”
Annie shared a glance with her boyfriend. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve made an appointment for you at the clinic today after your sister’s. You’re going on birth control.”
“What?”
“And we expect you to still use condoms,” Stefano added. “We also don’t want you two alone in each other’s rooms anymore.”
“We’ve never done anything when you’ve been home.”
“I appreciate that, son, but we still feel this way’s best.”
Annie slumped back in her chair, processing everything that was happening. So their friends make a mistake and their parents decide that she and Jet had to pay for it since it was too late for the others? The birth control part might not be so bad, but everything else just sucked.
Bridgette stood, signifying that the conversation was over. “We’re leaving for the doctor’s in twenty minutes, Annabel. I expect you home and ready to go by then.”
Jet squeezed her hand as her mother left. Things were changing, and neither could help but wonder if things would ever be anywhere near close to how they used to be again.
* * *
Tucker looked around the waiting room of the OB’s office and fidgeted in his chair nervously, his fingers tapping in a quick, repetitive rhythm against his leg. He was aware of Izzy and Annie talking next to him in low voices. Bridgette was reading a book she’d brought, and everyone around him seemed frustratingly calm.
There was stuff about babies everywhere: parenting magazines, pamphlets, pictures on the walls, and worst of all…pregnant women all over the place, some far along while others were just starting to show. His foot began tapping on the floor, adding to the beat of his fingers.
He watched a young woman in her early twenties walk over from the reception desk and take a seat near the door. She reminded him of Izzy, her movements graceful and controlled with the same shade and style of hair, but she had a definite baby bump filling out her shirt.
He wondered for a moment if that’s how Izzy would look when their baby started to show. He knew it was there, it would happen, but it was hard to imagine there was really a baby when Izzy’s stomach was just as flat as ever.
How long would it take before that baby bump appeared on her? How long before this all seemed real to him? Would this ever seem real to him? What were they going to do with a baby? How would they take care of it? The baby would be here before they even graduated high school…
“Tucker, I swear if you don’t calm down, I’m going to send you outside. You’re driving me up the wall. Tyler would have been easier to deal with,” Bridgette said impatiently, startling Tucker from his mounting inner panic.
“Sorry.”
He shifted in the navy blue, barely padded chair, trying to make himself sit still. Their parents were already furious at him and Izzy, and annoying the crap out of his pregnant girlfriend’s mother was not going to help the situation. He leaned back in the chair and rested his head against the wall, his thoughts traveling back to a conversation from nearly a week ago.
Tucker sat beside his girlfriend on the large U-shaped sofa in his family’s living room, all three of their parents sitting across from them at the other end, a matching ottoman separating them at the center. Izzy was twirling the ends of her hair with the fingers of one hand and was gripping Tucker’s forearm with the other, subtly shaking against him with nerves.
He could hear his sisters and Tyler playing in the backyard with Barkley and hoped that they wouldn’t decide to come back into the house anytime soon. But then again, it might be a good thing if they did come back in. Then there would be witnesses if their parents decided to kill them.
“So what’s going on?” his mom asked, studying the two teens with concern.
Bridgette was harder to read, but he knew his dad was waiting expectantly, his expression clear that this had better be important if they’d called him away from the game.
“Don’t worry, Dad, it is,” Tucker thought as he reached a shaky hand up to grasp the back of his neck, wondering how to even start to tell their parents the news. He hated how much this was going to disappoint them, but he knew it was inevitable.
“At least we’re closer to the door if we need to escape.”
“Well, come on, son. Spit it out. We’re not going to sit here all day,” Chuck said when neither of them answered his mother.
He took in a deep breath. It was now or never. Their parents knew something was up. They had to tell them.
“Izzy’s pregnant,” he blurted and braced himself for the reaction.
His mouth had gone a little dry, he noticed, while he waited for the crying and yelling to start. It was the first time he had actually said the words aloud since they had taken the test, and they sounded foreign and terrifying.
The room stayed silent. The three adult friends stared at their eldest children blankly. Tucker was beginning to wonder if he had just imagined himself saying it when he heard his mother’s nervous voice trying to maintain calm.
“I’m sorry. What, honey?”
Oh, no, they were going to make him repeat those horrifying words. He tried to move the little bit of saliva he had left if he was going to answer when Izzy spoke.
“I’m pregnant.”
Watching their parents react was surreal. His mom folded herself forward and started crying into her hands while his dad sat perfectly still, staring straight at him, the vein in his forehead Tucker hadn’t seen in years starting to pulse. Even still, Bridgette’s reaction was by far the most terrifying. Nostrils flaring, she jumped from the couch, a glare in place so intense it surpassed anything her daughters had ever thrown at him.
“You’re what, young lady?!”
He felt Izzy tense beside him and gave her leg a reassuring squeeze above the knee. She grasped his hand, clutching tightly.
“Pregnant,” she repeated, her voice timid.
Bridgette’s hands flew up into the air wildly. “Pregnant?! How can you be pregnant?!”
“Sex?” she offered, sounding on the verge of tears.
Tucker’s gaze still fixed on the vein pulsing in his father’s forehead. It seemed to be gaining momentum as the seconds ticked by. He could still hear his mother crying.
“But you two have only been dating a couple of months! Why would you be having sex already?! Not that I think you should ever get to that,” Bridgette added, her hands resting at her hips as she began to pace.
“It just kind of happened. We didn’t plan it.”
“When?” Bridgette demanded. “How long has this been going on?”
“Um…” Izzy muttered, and Tucker was sure the silent tears had started to flow.
She had been holding the conversation long enough, he decided, breaking his gaze from his father’s pulsing forehead. He looked up at his best friends’ mother. Bridgette was beyond furious, and it was easy to see where the twins got their temper.
“Well?!”
“About two months,” Tucker blurted.
Bridgette faltered at those words. She looked at them both in disbelief. “Excuse me?”
“It’s kind of how we started dating…” he replied nervously, his answer sending their parents off into a whole new round of reactions.
Somehow, his mom started crying harder. Bridgette looked too shocked to speak and took a few steps backwards toward the couch, but his dad wa
s up and in front of them within a second, his vein pulsing so fast and hard that Tucker started to wonder if it would burst.
“What in the hell were you thinking, boy?!” Chuck shouted.
Tucker shook his head, cowering, not knowing how to answer.
“How could you be so irresponsible?! You know to use protection every single time! I’ve told you that! I can’t believe you would mess up your future over one night of stupidity!”
“Wait, no…” Bridgette cut in. “Their futures don’t have to be over.”
Jenna lifted her head hopefully at Bridgette’s words, and their parents started doing one of those silent conversations only best friends could.
Tucker looked at Izzy, tear tracks running down her cheeks. They knew where their parents were going with this, and they were going to have to let them down again.
“You’re right. Adoption,” his mom said, relief spreading through her tone as Bridgette nodded. “They give the baby up for adoption, and then they can finish school and go off to college just like they’re supposed to.”
“We’re keeping the baby,” Tucker said firmly.
“What? Honey, why would you do that? You two have such bright futures ahead of you. Do the right thing,” his mom pleaded.
“Isabel, Tucker, be reasonable,” Bridgette interjected. “You’re too young, and you’ve barely started dating. A baby is so much responsibility. Give it to someone who can take care of it.”
Izzy stood up then, flushed with anger despite the tears still streaming down her cheeks. “I love this baby, Mother,” she fumed, her hand flying to her stomach. “And I will not give it away to strangers. Adoption is not an option!”
She rushed out of the room then, and they heard the front door slam shut behind her. Tucker stood and looked at all three parents.
“My future is not over. It’s with Izzy. I knew that even before we knew she was pregnant. We’re keeping our baby,” he said. His tone leaving no room for argument, he followed his girlfriend, leaving their parents standing in the living room, speechless.
He felt a hand on his arm, and the touch brought his thoughts back to the present waiting room.