THERE'S NO OTHER WAY *

[Anabel Bailey]

Never in her life could Ana remember a time that two little lines, side by side, had frightened her like the ones before her eyes now did. It was more than just fear though that ate at her as she carefully set it down on the vanity. Her lips were pressed firmly together and, though she had no audience, she refused to cry. Numbly she stepped over to the shower in the corner and reached in to turn the water on before returning to stand in front of the mirror. She let her fingers toy for a moment with the ruffled hem of her skin tight nightgown, nibbling her lip as she shut her eyes with the memory of him pulling her on top of him just last night despite how tired he'd seemed to be when he had slipped in beside her. Of course that was not the cause of her current predicament, and she wished she could say it was someone's fault other than their own but she rather clearly remembered six weeks ago. They'd been in New York and it hadn't really been planned, rather perfectly spontaneous as a matter of fact. She'd made him take her dancing one night they were in the city and once she'd lured him onto the dance floor she'd come to the realization that she'd learned quite a bit from her favorite movie, Dirty Dancing. Only a few dances in they were both more than ready to go back and test his theory about the beds in their hotel room. Ana had thought they'd be ok with her being on the pill, but apparently that was not the case.

Pulling the gown on off and following it with her lacy underwear she tossed them in the wicker hamper. She started to step toward the shower but then she paused, gazing at her reflection and trying to imagine how she was going to look not so far in the future. She couldn't picture it though and honestly as she pulled her eyes away she could feel a bit of resentment well inside her. At what she wasn't sure, but she altogether loathed the thought of losing her figure, as was likely to happen. Her own vanity made that a painful enough thought and it was made worse by the thought that Jason would not see her the same. He'd say he did, for her sake, but it wouldn't be the same. She would change, she knew that, but she had thought it would be when she was twenty-four or twenty-five and ready for the change, not when she was only twenty and still wanting to be a kid herself. Stepping away from the mirror's mocking gaze, taunting her with what she would soon lose, Anabel stepped into the steaming shower and as was her custom only let the built-up tears go when the water already coursing down her face would mask them.

She took her time in the shower, not particularly concerned about making her classes. She'd already missed her morning classes anyway, she'd been too tired to get up when Jason had nuzzled her neck to tell her to wake her and mumbled something about not feeling like getting up. Before now she'd attributed how tired she was to stress, but obviously that wasn't it. She'd been nauseated all weekend, too, but she'd assumed it was just a minor stomach bug or something. When she finally did get out it was already eleven am and she figured by the time she got on campus she'd be able to make her afternoon classes and, if she could find him, somehow try to steal Jason away to some place private to tell him their... news. She didn't really care about making her afternoon classes regardless, though. As fate would have it she was going to have to drop out like her mom to take care of her baby. It wasn't like she was going to make Jason drop out to do it, though one or both of them were going to have to get a job of some sort as neither of them wanted to rely on their parents, mainly his, to pay for their kid. In short Ana would have to give up her dream and they'd probably see little of each other for the next few years. It was not an image that pleased her, but then again hadn't most of the unexpected changes in their relationship been hard to swallow at first.

Stepping out of the shower she wrapped herself in one of their turquoise towels, tucking it in around her chest and putting her glasses on. Her eyes were still to puffy from her crying and she didn't figure it was a good idea to put her contacts in. Pushing back the pocket door that led to the rest of her and Jason's bedroom she slipped into the larger closet and spent next to no time at all snatching a muted red tee shirt, a pair of skinny jeans, and black peep toe heels. Though she wasn't thinking about it as she changed and slid a ring on her right thumb and a few bracelets onto her wrist, someone that knew her as well as Jason would know instantly something was up. When she had obviously not spent a lot of time on her appearance but had tried to cover it up with little pieces of jewelry and four inch heels it always meant something was wrong. As though by making herself look shiny and elevating herself she could hide distract from how upset she was and the taller she was the higher her mood. Not that it ever worked.

Grabbing her keys out of the basket on the counter, she headed out to the garage where only her Chevy Cobalt was parked. Her heels rang against the pavement as she walked over to the black car and slid into its interior, brushing her somewhat damp blond hair back. It didn't really look wet, but it wasn't completely dry yet when she felt it. In California though, going out without blow drying her hair wasn't really a problem. Opening the garage door with the press of a button she started the car and slowly backed out, stopping to press the button again before shifting the car into drive. Her fingers were gripping the wheel to the point they were white, much like Jason had done the first time he'd driven after the wreck, only this time her nerves were for an entirely different reason. Ana honestly didn't know what Jason would say. Oh, she knew, of course, he wasn't going to leave her. Whether she was carrying his baby or not, he loved her and she knew that much. Her fear was more that he'd be angry or just as freaked out as she was, and, honestly, she didn't think she could deal with either. Right now she just really needed some support, even if he was faking it for her sake. It felt like her entire world was caving in and she didn't need him to cave with it.

As she drove on campus she checked the time and knew he'd be eating lunch right then. They ate lunch together on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, though they couldn't on the other days because Ana's psych class ran through when he had time to eat lunch. Today being Friday she'd normally be eating with him, but she had absolutely no appetite. Parking her car near the Cafeteria, she carefully got out and shouldered her purse, locking the car and squaring her shoulders. As she always did when she was trying to be strong she tipped her chin up a bit and with a long stride and the best air of confidence she could manage, approached the cafeteria. Brushing her fingers through her hair, she smiled slightly at the geeky looking guy that opened the door for her.

For a second she just stood at a distance, watching him. He was laughing with some of her other friends and she hated to have to take that happiness out of him. Not that she was going to do one of those amazingly selfless things and break-up with him without telling him. They'd already given the seperated option a try and it had been awful. At any other point in their life this kind of news would be good, wonderful even, but right now it was the farthest thing from that. Hesitantly she took a step and crossed slowly over to him, putting on a sweet smile at the people on the side of the table opposite him looking up at her. "Hey guys," she said with a touch of cheer that could have fooled anyone but her fiancé, and honestly, it might have flown over his head too. Resting her hand on his back she smiled a bit, scratching it through his shirt. "Can I talk to you for a second," she asked quietly, pausing before realizing she should probably clarify, "Alone."

TAGGED * mister jason irving
WORD COUNT * 1511
OUTFIT * here
CAR * chevy cobalt
NOTES * they're going out to one of their cars so i started it here since the majority is going to be there, but i didn't want to keep going and going.

[Jason Irving]

WITH AN ANNOYED LITTLE GROAN,
Jason glared at the alarm clock ringing loudly on the night stand beside his head, wanting to just turn it off and go back to sleep. He was comfortable in his big, warm bed with his fiancé at his side. Though she often teased him and called him a bed hog, he knew she loved waking up beside him as much as he loved falling asleep beside her. And though he had been tired the previous night, worn out from spending the last few nights up quite late studying for the three different tests he had, pulling her body on top of his had been completely worth it. He had made a promise to himself that even though he’d be busy with school for the next four years, he would still devote as much time as possible to her. There was no way things would work out well if they hardly ever saw each other other than when they were waking up in the morning and falling asleep at night. Besides, it hadn’t taken them long to realize just how addicting they were to each other and when they spent time apart, it was like a drug addict going through withdrawal, though not quite to the same extent.

A LITTLE SMILE CROSSED HIS
handsome face when he thought about the previous night. Yes, even tired, it had been wonderful. It was like no matter how tired he was, starting something with her seemed to give him more energy. Thinking about that brought back the memory of their trip to New York, his smile growing a bit as he still refused to get out of bed. They had been trying to find something to do one night other than go shopping and Ana had decided she wanted to go dancing. There was one club Jason had been to in the past with his friends when they were just goofing off, not drinking or doing anything stupid, just hanging out and having a good time, so he took her there. It didn’t take her too long to get him out on the dance floor, though he felt a bit awkward about it at first, something that usually never happened to him. Only after a few songs of her body moving along his, he was more than ready to take her back to the hotel, his lust fueled by the way she had pressed her body against his and just how long it had been since he had felt that. They had taken things slow since their break up and he hadn’t realized just how much he missed that until it had actually happened. Of course, he didn’t realize just how ironic it was that this thought had crossed his mind right then and he wouldn‘t until a little while later.

AFTER A MOMENT, JASON HAD
sighed and kissed his girlfriend’s neck, breathing in the sweet scent that always seemed to linger on her, telling her they unfortunately needed to get up for their classes. A slightly concerned look flickered across his face when she had said she didn’t feel like getting up. Neither one of them ever wanted to, but she seemed to be overly tired lately and it concerned him, especially as there had been something a little off over the weekend, too. It wasn’t anything too major, at least he didn’t think so, but it had been enough for him to notice it. But, he had given a little shrug as he rolled out of bed and leaned over to kiss her forehead before kissing her lips and he told her he loved her and that he’d see her later as he turned toward their bathroom to get ready for the day.

JASON‘S SHOWERS HAD NEVER BEEN
the most eco-friendly and things didn’t exactly change that day. After he stepped out of the steamy bathroom, he had gone to their large closet, not quite sure what he wanted to wear. He had lived in California for a few years, long enough to know the weather hardly ever changed; it was cooler in the evenings and quite warm during the days. After staring at his t-shirts for a few moments, he finally grabbed one of the light blue ones he had bought in New York because it made him laugh. The front of the shirt proclaimed “I shoot people!” with the picture of a camera above it. He pulled it on over his head, his dark curls still a bit damp and creating a few darker spots along the shirt that would dry long before he got to school and headed back into the bedroom he shared with his fiancé, quietly opening up one of the drawers where he kept his shorts and pulled out a pair of fitted denim shorts, pulling them on over his boxers and laughing silently to himself as he nearly tripped himself putting them on.

ON HIS WAY OUT OF
the bedroom, he grabbed a couple of his accessories off of his dresser, sliding one over his hand onto his formerly broken wrist that had finally healed. He knew he had been lucky that his parents hadn’t had to re-break it and put a cast on it, but that’s just the way things happened to him. Bad things happened, but he was always lucky in the end. He had been lucky to get out of his car wreck alive, he had been lucky to run into Ana that night at the beach party and he had been lucky that after using a broken wrist for over a month, it didn’t have to be re-broken to heal properly. The young man grabbed his keys and a pair of sunglasses off of the counter on his way to the garage, checking to make sure he had all of the books he needed as he slid on a pair of shoes, for once not really paying attention to which ones they were, just that they matched, and he climbed into his silver Mercedes, finding a radio station where he approved of the song that was playing as he backed out of the garage.

THREE CLASSES AND TWO TESTS
later, Jason was sitting down to eat with a couple of his friends, joking around, as usual. He was tempted to pull out his cell phone and text Annie to see if she was feeling better, but he was distracted by one of the sounds that always made him look when she wasn’t with him; the sound of high heels clicking across the ground. Because she wore them so often, the sound reminded him of her and whenever she wasn’t around and he heard it, he’d always look to the source and hope it was her and in this case, it was. A warm smile crossed his face, his dark eyes lighting up for a moment until he took in her attire, his eyes narrowing a bit. Something seemed a bit off; it didn’t look like she put much effort into it at all and that was quite unusual for her. He tried to push it aside, though, knowing she hadn’t felt like rolling out of bed and though he wanted to blame it on that, he simply couldn’t. That was one of the things about knowing each other so well; when something wasn’t right, they could always tell.

HER CHEERFUL TONE COULD HAVE
had him fooled, though he was still puzzled about her attire and nine words later, he knew that he had been right. Something was wrong. “Yeah, no problem,” he said quietly, his eyes studying her as he stood up and picked up his half-eaten lunch, suddenly not hungry anymore. “See you guys later,” he said with a forced smile, taking his garbage to a trash can before wrapping his arm around Ana’s waist, still trying to figure out what was wrong. The first thought that popped into his mind was that he had done something wrong and he tried to pinpoint why she needed to talk to him alone, what he could have done that was that bad. That was just the way the twenty-two year old was, though. Always blaming himself.

HE STAYED SILENT UNTIL THEY
reached his car, wanting to say something but knowing that she’d speak up when she felt comfortable, a thousand different thoughts flashing through his mind, though the reality of what he was about to hear wasn’t one of them. Leaning against the silver car as he often did, he wrapped both of his strong arms around her waist, pulling her close to him, his dark eyes looking at her, clearly concerned. He couldn‘t decide if he wished he hadn't left his reflective sunglasses in the car or not; she could read him like a book and he didn‘t want that to influence the way she said anything, though he knew she was always painfully honest. Finally he spoke up, his tone both nervous and concerned. “Honey, what‘s wrong?”
-----------------------------------
TAGGED ; Miss Anabel Bailey
LENGTH ; 1,503 words
CLOTHING ; Click
CAR ; 2009 Mercedes Benz
NOTES ;

[/font]

[Anabel Bailey]

An almost apologetic look flashed across Annie's faux smiling face when her eyes met Jason's. That sweet, smiling, attractive face and the way his eyes lit up at the site of her almost hurt, simply because she was so sure that what she had to tell him would change everything between them. It was almost a relief when his eyes dropped off her face and fell to her figure, though by then she had moved her eyes away to who he was sitting with and her smile was back in place, missing his observation of her simple red tee and skinny jeans. She knew all eyes were on them as she asked him if they could slip off for a minute to talk, but she pretended that their friends' conversations hadn't just stopped. They would find out when the time was right. Their families, it seemed, they should go ahead and tell, but their friends could wait a bit longer. If nothing else they'd all figure it out when a little baby bump made its appearance. Lifting her head from where it was dipped down closer to his she offered a smile to their friends, one of those 'everything is ok, really' looks, and stepped back a bit to let Jason get up. She lingered for a moment, waiting on him and then she walked with him so he could throw his lunch away. She wasn't surprised by that; he didn't eat when he was upset and he apparently had figured out there was some sort of reason for him to be concerned.

It was rather comforting to have his arm around her waist and she leaned just slightly into him as they walked out of the cafeteria. She thought to go ahead and say something to reassure him, able to see his mind working furiously behind his dark eyes as they scrutinized her face. Instead she just dropped her blue eyes away and focused on her black peep toe pumps, letting him lead her to wherever he wanted to go. Her mind was, like his, running a mile a minute, though in her case she was instead trying to figure out what to say. Whether she should ease into it or just flat out say it. She didn't want to shock him, but she didn't know if it was good to pussy foot around such an important issue. Her eyes looked up from the pavement as he led her to his car and leaned back against it, a pessimistic half-smile crossing her lips.

Leaning her full weight against him as he pulled her to him, relaxing in the well-known feel of his hips against her belly and his arms so tightly holding her to him. She slid her arms around his waist after a moment and turned to rest her cheek against his chest, feeling the tears well in her eyes. She was afraid to say it; as always she was being her cowardly self. Her teeth clamped down on her lip as she heard his words and felt his chest rumble a bit with them. Her left hand that was resting on his back curled in a fist, holding his shirt firmly as she shifted a bit uncomfortably. "Jay," she mumbled before turning and resting her chin on his chest, her eyes slowly turning up to look at him, her hand releasing his shirt from its iron grip. Her normally composed face began to crumble a bit before she finally answered him in a half-whisper, "Jason, I'm pregnant." She didn't let her eyes linger long enough to see his reaction, dropping her face instead back against his shirt with a little suppressed sob.

Her sob was tear-less, her tears already gone from her hour long shower, and she groaned a bit, her weight dropping against him more heavily again. "Oh," she breathed out, waiting for him to say or do something, anything, though she supposed he was as in shock as she had been when she first saw the double lines show up on the little home pregnancy test. After what felt like an eternity but really couldn't have been more than a minute, Ana turned her head to look up at him with a distressed look, her eyes gazing into his and reading his emotions in a second. She let out a deep breath, her teeth nibbling on her lip, waiting for him to say something that confirmed what she already knew from his eyes. If she had thought she was scared before she was even more terrified now as her eyes dropped from his face again, wishing their silence would end.

TAGGED * mister jason irving
WORD COUNT * 775
OUTFIT * here
NOTES * grr.

[Jason Irving]

THOUGHTS CONTINUED TO BUZZ
around his mind like angry bees chasing each other through their hive and he still couldn’t place his finger on what he did wrong. He felt her body press against his a bit as she leaned closer, a tiny little sigh slipping from his lips. If she wanted to be close to him it couldn’t be that bad, could it? Or maybe it was. Maybe she wanted to be closer to him for the last time. No, he thought as he chewed on his bottom lip. He had been paranoid about that ever since his infidelity, that one day she would figure out he had been right and she was regretting getting back together with him. No matter how many times she insisted she wasn’t going anywhere, he knew he wouldn’t be completely sure until they both had their wedding bands on their fingers.

ANOTHER SMALL SIGH SLID FROM
him as she wrapped her arms around him, still chewing on his lip. When she turned her cheek into his chest, he rested his chin on top of her head gently, finally nudging her to tell him what was so pressing that she couldn’t say anything with anyone else around, lifting his chin away from her head. His eyes widened a little bit as he felt her death grip on his shirt, for a moment glad she hadn’t been holding onto his hand. It was an odd thought to have at a time like this, but it was just his mind’s way of trying to lower his current stress level. His eyes watched her as she turned her face up to look at him, staying silent as she called him by the nickname reserved for her, waiting for her to spit out what the pressing matter was. He could feel his heart start to race as her face crumpled, completely confused. His arms tightened around her, stunned as she said three simple words.

AT FIRST HE WAS ALMOST
relieved; she hadn’t said “Jason, I‘m leaving,” like he feared she was going to. That was his biggest fear now. And then what she really said, or whispered really, hit him. It was like all of the thoughts that were in his mind, the buzzing bees, had dropped dead. And after a pause, a whole new swarm started up. The clearest thought in his mind was that he was in no way ready for this sort of responsibility. Marriage was one thing; they had practically been married in the past, but having a baby. That was completely different. He now had less than nine months to grow up and right now, even at twenty two, he was still a kid himself. And in those nine months, they had so much to do. From shopping for clothes, a crib and furniture to painting the room. He had to get a job, put his career on pause, if not stop. Something told him that might turn into one of their arguments, but he had reason on his side - he already had his undergrad degree. If he got a job, it would pay more than one Ana could get without a degree; it’s what would be best for their child.

HIS THOUGHTS STOPPED AGAIN AS
he heard her sob, remembering that yes, she was indeed there and they were in this together. He gave her a squeeze, looking down at her and kissed the top of her blond head. “Ana, shhh, it‘s going to be fine,” he murmured reassuringly, his eyes reflecting that he truly meant what he had said. Yes, he did believe that, but for the time being, he was absolutely terrified. He always wanted to be a dad, but he had expected it a few years down the road, when he had already had a job and was well, grown up. Right now, he wasn’t sure if he could be the dad he wanted to be. Holding her against him, he rested one hand on the back of her head, the other rubbing her back gently. He could already be quite protective of her, but he knew this was only going to make him more protective. Moving the hand that was resting on her hair, he gently touched her chin to tilt her head upwards and gave her a little kiss. “I love you. And we will make it through this. It‘s gonna be fine.”

AFTER HE HELD HER FOR
a few more minutes, he squeezed her waist again and pushed away from his car, his hand not leaving her side as he led her over to the passenger’s side of his car. “Come on, let’s go home,” he murmured quietly, kissing her cheek before he let her slide into the seat. Closing the door behind her, he ran a hand through his dark curls nervously as he made his way to the driver’s side, his thoughts buzzing through his head again. He couldn’t help but wonder just how long this secret was going to be theirs, how long it was going to be until it was obvious that he had knocked her up.

THE THOUGHT OF OTHER PEOPLE‘S
judging minds made him uncomfortable. Ana didn’t need that sort of resentment coming from anyone. And though they were in college and both of them were definitely old enough to have kids, he knew there were still going to be some people there who needed something to gossip about. Of course, there was another thing that terrified him, and that was telling their parents. Their friends could wait, either until they decided to tell them or until it became obvious, but their parents, well, he felt like they had to tell them. His parents would be nothing more and nothing less than disappointed, he knew that. And he was sure - though it was a little late - he was going to be lectured by them both. Ana’s mom, on the other hand, well, he wasn’t sure how she would take it. He wasn’t one of her favorite people, he knew that much, and he knew this wasn’t going to do anything to improve her impression of him.

THE CAR RIDE HOME WAS
quiet, both of them lost in thought, though his hand didn’t leave her leg for the entire ride, squeezing it gently from time to time. When they did finally get back to their house, Jason opened the doors from her, as usual, keeping a hand on her as much as he possibly could. Only when they were through their door did he let her go long enough to open the back door and call for their dogs, sending them outside into their large, fenced in yard and closing the door behind them. He loved both of the dogs, but he felt like they didn’t need the distraction of the two animals at the moment. Sitting down beside her on the couch, he engulfed her in a huge hug. After just holding her like that for a few minutes, he sighed, kissing her head. “I guess we need to, to, uh, call our parents,” he murmured quietly, smiling a little smile at her. Now that all of his initial shock and fears had worn off, he could feel something else. He was actually a little bit excited. No, this was far from the right time for it to happen, but it was still something he had wanted for so long. Picking out a crib, painting the room, though that would be all him - Ana shouldn’t be near the paint, and even choosing a name, well, it was simply exciting even though it was all happening before they were even married.
-----------------------------------
TAGGED ; Miss Anabel Bailey
LENGTH ; 1,284 words
CLOTHING ; Click
CAR ; 2009 Mercedes Benz
NOTES ; I found my muse :]

[/font]

[Anabel Bailey]

A little grunt left her as he tightened his arms around her, not sure why he was holding her that tightly. It hadn't really dawned on her that she'd left him enough time to invent several possible scenarios or that the thought had never crossed his mind. It had for Ana a good many times, simply because it was her that a pregnancy would affect most. They would have to deal with it together, of course, but it was Annie that would carry the baby, Annie that would have to give up her life, and worst of all, it was Annie that would carry the shame of their out of wedlock pregnancy. Though it was more common place now, there were still people that would judge her for having a protruding belly and no second ring yet on her finger. The only fix to that was to rush their wedding or elope, but it wasn't as though they could really hide it. Someone, perhaps everyone, would figure it out. The alternative though, keeping their wedding date wasn't much better. Walking down the aisle six months pregnant was certainly not the look she had hoped for, nor was she particularly psyched to spend her honeymoon trying to work around her belly, unable to be together as they normally would. It was a lose-lose situation with no one to blame but themselves. They had known good and well the risks of not preventing this predicament with the utmost precaution, and they'd ignored them, for which Ana currently loathed herself.

Half-wailing into his shirt like a small child, the comforting feel of his arms holding her tighter for a moment then letting her go distracted her from the river she was wanting to cry. She frowned when he said everything was going to be fine. He couldn't know that and he couldn't possibly understand how upset she was. She felt like she had lost her footing and had nothing to stand on anymore. "You're not the one that's going to get fat and old," she mumbled begrudgingly, not sure if he could hear her with her face so close to his chest. Her superficial mind really hadn't moved far past that. She knew maternal instinct would kick in for her, so that wasn't much of a concern. She had had virtually no responsibilities when she'd moved in with Jason after his accident and she'd adjusted well enough. A baby was a bit different, but she figured it couldn't be a much bigger adjustment, not by itself. It was that on top of having to quit school, she was most definitely fighting Jason if he brought up putting his education on hold, and give up her wedding and the life she'd pictured. It was scary because she'd never expected this to be her reality. She knew it happened, she just didn't think it would happen to her.

She let him hold her, a hand on the back of her blond head and the other rubbing her back in a way that truly did relax her even at her most stressed. A little sigh left her as his fingers touched her chin and made her face him, pressing his lips to hers. She actually met his eye for the first time since she'd told him, nodding her head slightly. "I love you, too," she said back softly, a firmness in her voice that disappeared as soon as she added onto that, shaking her head, "But I'm just not that sure." She let him hold her for a few moments longer, her eyes staring sideways down at the pavement. She was glad he was supportive and not asking her to do anything she simply couldn't do to her own child, like get an abortion, but she found it wasn't enough to convince her to expect anything less that a horrible change in events.

Ana shrugged a bit as he lifted off of the car and she straightened her short frame, letting him lead her to the other side of the car. She cast a quizzical look at him, but she figured leaving her car over the weekend wouldn't really hurt anything. Driving wasn't an activity she felt like bothering with right now, nor was arguing, so she accepted his kiss and slid in. Dropping her blond head against the warm glass of the passenger's window, she watched him walk in front of the car, his hand running through his hair like it did when he was worried. Anabel shut her eyes as he got in next to her, finding that despite her extra sleep she was still exhausted. Actually, she just plain didn't feel well, but it didn't dawn on her that could be because of stress and not pregnancy. The thing that sounded best to her right now was to put on a bathing suit and go sit in the jacuzzi for a good long soak. Dropping her eyes down onto her figure again she scowled. Slipping into one of her tiny little string bikinis would just be gross in another five or six months and after that she wasn't going to have a flat, well defined stomach, just a flabby slightly poochy one with stretch marks, unless she got lucky like Heidi Klum.

Crossing her arms over her chest in a self-conscious kind of way, Anabel sat in silence, not sure what more there was to say. She was so caught up in her own fears and anger she didn't know what to say to him or to anyone. It wasn't that she was completely dreading everything about this change in events, Ana could acknowledge that there would be good things too. She had wanted kids for a pretty long while now and she'd wanted it especially since getting with Jason since before that point she'd never been able to picture finding a suitable father for her kids. If the timing were better she truly would be happy but it came at such a bad time for both of them. She didn't want to give up her education or her wedding, but she would have to do both and it sucked, plain and simple, and that was on top of her worries for what their kid was going to think. No kid liked figuring out their parents had had them before they were married and thinking that was why their parents were together. Anabel looked over at his as he squeezed her thigh, deciding she might as well try his optimism. It wasn't as though raging at her predicament would fix anything.

Undoing her seatbelt as he parked in the garage she waited, knowing he would open her door for her. She smiled just slightly at him, walking just slightly before him and feeling his fingers on her back. When they dropped away and he headed to let the dogs out onto the lanai she flopped herself down on the sofa, curling up in a ball. She fell into him as he wrapped her up, sighing and feeling like she wanted to cry, though she wouldn't let herself. She was on the verge, however, when she heard a loud splash from outside and she laughed, knowing it was her Great Dane launching himself into their pool. She shook her head, sobering as he mentioned calling their parents. "We're having dinner with Mamá tonight," she said with a shrug, "We can tell her then. I guess when she wants to know why I'm not drinking." She picked up the phone from the table beside her and handed it to him, looking at him apprehensively. She couldn't help but dread telling the Drs. Irving; she knew as well as Jason they would not be pleased. "Why us? Why now," she muttered with a frown, brushing a hand through her hair. She was struggling to see the light in this situation again, faced with telling his disapproving parents and later her own mother.

TAGGED * mister jason irving
WORD COUNT * 1326
OUTFIT * here
NOTES * my muse is bipolar, apparently.

[Jason Irving]

JASON‘S BUSHY EYEBROWS ROSE A
bit as he sort of caught the words she mumbled into his chest. All he had truly heard was “fat” and “old” but the way she said it definitely told him all he needed to know. His dark eyebrows then furrowed a bit as he really understood what he was saying and he shook his head before pressing his lips against the top of her head for a moment. “Ana honey, you‘re not going to get old just from being pregnant,” he murmured quietly, doing his best not to stutter as he said the last word in his sentence. Oh, they had talked about having kids plenty of times, but never actually about it being anytime in the near future. It had always been a few years off when they discussed it. “And, this is going to make me sound like a girl,” he said with a slight chuckle. “But I definitely think it‘s cute when I see a woman with her baby bump walking down the street with her boyfriend or husband or hook up, whatever he is,” he said, his nose wrinkling a bit at the mention of a hook up. It was not a thought he liked to think about, people hooking up just for the heck of it. He thought it was quite reckless. Not that he could say much, now, the only difference was that he wasn’t going to be leaving Ana to raise the baby on her own.

IT FELT GOOD TO HOLD HER AGAINST
him, even if it was because he was comforting her. They hadn’t had a lot of time together lately and it seemed like it was only going to get worse now. He was determined to see it through, though; if they could make it through what they had already been through, then they could make it through anything. At least he thought so. Knowing it needed to be said and simply just wanting her to know, he tipped her chin up so she was looking at him and told her the three little words that meant so much. A small smile crossed his face, at least until she shook her head. Hearing her words, he shrugged, his eyes falling away from her face. “Okay, fine, I’m terrified,” he muttered quietly, not exactly wanting to admit that. His eyes picked back up to look at her, determination clear in their dark depths. “But it will work out. I promise,” he said quietly but clearly meaning what he said. One might ask how he could promise such a thing and if he was honest, he wasn’t quite sure, but he knew he would do anything to keep that promise.

HIS MIND WAS IN ANOTHER PLACE
as he led her over to the passenger’s side of the car. He had forgotten that they hadn’t driven together that day and when he did remember as he buckled his seatbelt over his body, he just sort of shrugged it off. He didn’t want her driving right now, partially because he was concerned about where her mind was, though his wasn’t in a much better place, and partially because he didn’t want to be apart from her right then. The silence as he drove down the all too familiar roads was a bit unnerving, but he wasn’t sure if they wanted to know what each other was thinking at the time. There was no way he was going to even mention an abortion; it was sick. He didn’t understand how people could do it. The only way he ever saw it as okay was if the mother’s life was seriously at risk. It was sickening when people were in the same predicament they were in and decided to have an abortion; they were essentially killing their unborn baby because of a mistake they made and he simply thought that was wrong. He prayed it wasn’t something Ana would want as he pulled into their garage.

THE SPLASH FROM OUTSIDE AND
ana's little laugh was enough to distract him, at least for a moment, but he sighed, bringing them back on track. He swore he could feel some of the color drain from his face when she mentioned dinner with her mom that night. Thinking of breaking the news to Mariana face to face was not something he was looking forward to. “Well, I guess I‘ll should call mom and dad now,” he said quietly, flashing her a gentle smile. “Just in case I don’t survive through dinner.” It wasn’t meant to be insulting, but he knew just how much her mother didn’t like him. Their first encounter hadn’t been pleasant and after that, well, some were decent, some were not. It was like her view on him change from day to day. Understandable, seeing as what she had gone through with her ex husband, but it still didn’t make him comfortable knowing he had to drop the “I knocked your daughter up” bomb face to face. Kissing the top of her head, he slid his body away from hers and stood up, dialing his parents’ house number, her words taking a second to register. “Everything happens for a reason,” he said quietly as he put the phone up to his ear, starting to pace anxiously as he heard it ringing. “Why, I guess we won’t know for a while. If ever.”

JASON‘S HEART WAS RACING A
mile a minute as he heard the tone ringing on his phone, and he chewed on his bottom lip as he paced across their living room floor. He thought he was going to get the answering machine, that perhaps this was one of the days when both Sophie and Jake were working while Dylan was at school, but the last ring broke half way through and he heard his dad’s deep voice on the other end of the line. A hand ran through his hair nervously as he tried to keep his voice as steady as possible as he said a hello, starting off with a bit of small talk and asking Jake how he was since he didn’t really know how to break the news to his father. Finally, he asked if Sophie was home, nodding his head out of habit when Jake said she was getting ready for work; that she had to leave in a half hour. With an awkward little laugh, Jason asked him to get her so he could talk to them both. “Speakerphone time!” he attempted in a sing song voice, still pacing the floor like a dog that had been caged too long. Hearing Sophie’s voice on the other line, he shook his head when she immediately asked what was wrong. Of course he hardly ever requested phone calls like this so it would tip her off. “I, uh,” he started, stammering before he bit his lip, not sure how he wanted to word it. So this was how Ana had felt before she told him, then. “I-” he started again before he shook his head and just blurted it out. “Ana’s pregnant.”

THE SILENCE ON THE OTHER
end was what he had expected, followed by the clear disappointment that he also knew was coming, his face falling as he heard it. He hated to disappoint his family and this was something that he couldn’t fix. Oh, he would be forgiven, but the disappointment was still there at the time being. Turning his back to Annie, he finally stood still as his parents took turns scolding him, reminding him how much time it was going to take up and what all he had to give up. They hit the knife when they mentioned his up and coming wedding and he closed his dark eyes, two fingers pressing against his temple. “I know. I know. I know,” he said quietly, looking not unlike a kid who had done something his parents had clearly told him not to do, like eating cookies before dinner. Even at twenty-two he still clearly respected them. “It’s my fault, there were drug stores on the way back to the hotel. I should have stopped-” he broke off, not really wanting to go into anymore detail. After a few more minutes of him talking quietly to his parents, they were finally done and he ended it by reminding them that he loved them. Hanging up the phone, he stood facing the wall for a moment longer, running his hand along the side of his face before he turned back to Annie, clearly unhappy. “Well that was no different than I thought it would be,” he said softly, sitting down on the couch again and letting out a long, deep sigh. “Now we just wait until dinner to tell your mom.” Running his hand through his hair yet again, he closed his eyes for a moment, wanting to just go to sleep to get away from what he had just heard from his parents, at least for a little while. “Remind me when we get back and I’ll start looking for a job,” he said quietly as he tipped his head back against the back of the couch, opening his eyes to look at her. The excitement he had felt was definitely started to wear off already after hearing what his parents had to say.
-----------------------------------
TAGGED ; Miss Anabel Bailey
LENGTH ; 1,560 words
CLOTHING ; Click
NOTES ;

[/font]

[Anabel Bailey]

She sighed when he said she wasn't going to get old from being pregnant, shaking her head a bit. "Old's not the right word," she said slowly, thinking, "Boring. Unattractive. Mom-like. I'm not ready for that," she muttered, not that she had a choice in the matter. While Jason might not come to see her that way, other people would and she didn't like that. She didn't want her friends leaving her out because she had to take care of the baby and she didn't want to lose that sex appeal that got her what she wanted much easier that if she weren't pretty. Worse than that though, they both would have to grow up. They couldn't take spontaneous vacations in the summer or go on dates without finding a babysitter.

Her eyebrows rose when he said what he was about to say was going to make him sound like a girl, not really surprised by that as he laughed. He was sensitive, but Anabel liked that about him. She looked up at him with a little laugh when he said he thought pregnant women were cute. With a surprised, humored tone to her voice she asked him incredulously, "You have a pregnancy fetish?" That could make the next seven or so months a bit more bearable if he was all over her half the time. At least until she got really big and then that might be a bit difficult, though not impossible. "Well, there's one good thing out of this, right," she teased with a little laugh that wasn't all there. She would much prefer if they had never slipped up to begin with. Not having to bother for a few months didn't nearly make up for their mistake.

Anabel shrugged a bit when he said he was terrified. She wasn't surprised. It was scary what they were having to face; anyone in their situation would feel that way. Everything was going to change for them and that was just plain upsetting. She watched him until he slowly brought his eyes back to her, her eyes flicking over his face. He was clearly determined to make this work and she was glad they were both committed. She nodded slightly at his words, her voice quiet as she stared solemnly at him, "Ok then." They would do whatever it took for this baby that couldn't be much bigger than Ana's engagement ring. They had made it in love, and that love, for each other and for their child, would be what made the next seven months and then the next eighteen years possible.

A small, somewhat amused smile crossed her face when she realized his dark face had paled at her mention of dinner with her mother. It was a shame he hadn't been warned her mom was nuts before he'd fallen in love with her. Setting the phone in his hand she nodded a bit when he said he should probably call his parents, figuring it was best to get it out of the way as soon as possible. It wouldn't make it any easier to wait. A 'hah' escaped her and she set a hand on his thigh. "You'll be fine," she said, having no idea if she could at all promise that. She'd never tried to tell her mother she was pregnant, never mind with the father of her child sitting there beside her man-hating mother. "She," Ana paused, trying to think of something positive to say, before her face broke into a little smile and she simply had to laugh, "Well, she hates you." It wasn't entirely true. Mariana's opinion was constantly changing, seemingly by the day. Some days it was as though she couldn't say a nice word, but then there were others when she was in a better mood and though she was in no way loving toward him, Ana could tell that when it came down to it she really did approve, she was just afraid for her daughter. It was understandable, Annie would have the same fear with her own kids, regardless of who they were with.

She smiled at him as he affectionately kissed the top of her head, watching him stand and start to dial their number. Her body slid a bit further back into the cool leather of their couch, her red shirt slipping up and sending a little shiver up her back. Ana didn't really expect an answer to her distressed mumbling and she looked up and just nodded a bit when he said everything happened for a reason. His wreck had kept them together and their break-up had certainly taught them how to appreciate each other. There were a lot of things that just didn't make sense when they happened, but they ended up having some purpose in the end. Ana could only pray it was true in this case, too, as she watched him pace across the rug in front of her. He didn't have to do it on his own, Annie would happily let him sit there with the phone on speaker, but since he wanted to do it himself, she wouldn't say anything. Watching him, Ana was thankful she would not have to face her mother's disappointment. Honestly, it was kind of impressive she'd avoided this predicament for so long, and anyway, Ana herself had been a mistake. Granted, her parents had been married, but they also hadn't wanted kids at all. Not to mention, with a glass of wine in her thin tanned fingers, Mariana was a much more agreeable person than normal, something Ana had discovered in her teen years.

Her eyes followed him like a cat's as he paced. A sigh left her lips as he greeted him with a voice that quavered a bit, though only she could tell since the phone wouldn't transmit something so subtle. She watched curiously as he chatted aimlessly, knowing he was trying to avoid their news, to no real avail. A distressed little moan left her lips, one he wouldn't be able to hear on the other side of the room, when he asked to speak with his mom and suggested they put the phone on speaker, his lisp clear as it usually was when he was uneasy. Her ears perked as he stuttered, hoping he was tactful when he finally got it out, but of course, being a man, that seemed to be an impossible task. She winced as he just blurted it, shifting on the couch into a sort of strung out ball and wishing she could just disappear. This Thanksgiving was bound to be miserable if they still intended on coming out to see their son and his knocked-up fiancée.

Not a sound came from Annie after that as he turned his back to her, she supposed to hide his face, and she just waited for the conversation, or whatever was happening on the other end of the line to end. She knew good and well they were most likely admonishing him, and though they had good reason to, Ana wished they'd let him be. He was stressed out enough as it was and it weren't as though they could change the situation at this point. The Irvings didn't seem like the sort to condone abortion, and adoption just didn't seem right in this instance. Her silence broke with a little ugh noise when he said something about how he should have stopped on the way back to the hotel. The thought of her future in-laws thinking about their son having sex with her just kind of creeped her out. Ana never said anything straight to her mother for any reason. It was known, of course, but she never straight out said it because it was just too awkward in her opinion. She dropped her head a bit more, her cheeks coloring, as she eavesdropped, only looking up when he paused to tell them he loved them before hanging up the phone.

Ana's blue eyes were gentle as he sat down beside her, completely defeated. She shifted closer, reaching up to run her fingers gingerly through his dark curls, nodding a bit when he said it was what he expected. She leaned even closer to him, giving him a kiss on the cheek before resting her head on his shoulder and letting her hand fall from his hair. "It'll be easier," she murmured when he mention telling her mom. A shrug swept her shoulders, "I was a complete accident and she was the same age. There's not much she can say." Her head shook at the irony of that. It just figured she'd make the same exact mistake. Mother like daughter, right?

She pulled away a bit to look at him better when he said something about looking for a job. Anabel's eyebrow raised and she gazed at him. They hadn't had this conversation yet, but to her the answer was obvious: she should be the one to give up her education. "Well, I guess if you really want a night job... But I'm sure we'll be fine on just my income," she said slowly, with a little shrug. It wouldn't be cheap managing the expenses of preparing for their baby, but one income would be good enough. If no one else would hire her, Eligio would, and like her mother Ana knew he'd have no problem paying her more than she deserved. She truly wasn't concerned about trying to find work; she'd do anything for her baby already and it wasn't even real to her yet. Whatever happened she refused to let Jason give up his college. They were going to need that hundred thirty grand in a few years much more than they needed a significantly small sum now.

TAGGED * mister jason irving
WORD COUNT * 1631
OUTFIT * here
NOTES * huh, the word count surprised me.

[Jason Irving]

SUDDENLY, THE TWENTY TWO YEAR
old was furious with himself and his dark eyes closed for a moment so she wouldn’t see them clouding over. Why did he have to be so irresponsible? It wouldn’t have taken them five minutes to stop on the way back to the room, he could have waited that much longer. It wasn’t like it was in the movies, they hadn’t been taking each others clothes off in the elevator up to the hotel room, though part of that could have been because there were other people in there with them, but regardless, five extra minutes wouldn’t have killed him. Oh, it had felt a hundred times better than it would have if they stopped and picked up one simple little box, but they wouldn’t be in the predicament they were now. Finally, he opened his eyes again to look at her, sighing a little bit before he opened his mouth to speak. “You won‘t be boring or unattractive, honey,” he said with a little shrug, assuming his words weren’t going to mean much. “Sure, you‘ll be mom-like, but that‘s not always a bad thing.” He wondered where there was a maternity clothing shop nearby since, well, she’d be needing that and he was certain they made fashionable clothing for pregnant women. She wouldn’t have to be mom-like if that’s what they picked up.

A LITTLE COLOR FLOODED IN TO
Jason’s cheek as she called it a fetish and he shrugged, glancing away from her a bit. “I wouldn‘t call it a fetish,” he mumbled, looking a bit embarrassed at the term she used. Oh, he knew there were different uses for the word, it wasn’t always a bad thing, but the way people seemed to take it was as a bad thing. “But, like I said, I do find it attractive.” And he wasn’t just saying this to make her any less stressed, he truly did think it was cute, especially when that woman was walking hand and hand with the man in her life, a smile on her face. He could tell by her laugh that she didn’t really mean what she said and he gave her a little half smile. “Hopefully more than one good thing will come out of this,” he said just above a whisper, not quite sure how to take what she had said. No, this wasn’t how they planned it, but he could do nothing more than hope that he was right about that, that there would be more than just a change in their sex lives that changed in a good way.

JASON‘S EYEBROWS ROSE A BIT
as he caught her slightly amused smile, not quite understanding it at first, at least until he realized that his face had paled a bit when she brought up their plans for dinner. He wasn’t looking forward to telling his parents, but at least he didn’t have to see their disappointment first hand, he’d just hear it clear as day on the phone. He took the phone as she handed it to him, forcing a smile as he fidgeted with it for a moment, teasing her about how the night would end. He shrugged as she told him he’d be fine, knowing it would be best for both of them if he just kept his mouth shut no matter how much he wanted to say something to Mariana. He had learned from past experiences it was much, much better if he just let Ana do the talking. A short, bitter laugh escaped him when she finally finished the sentence she started and he shrugged. “I know.” Saying she hated him, well, that was basically how he saw it and from what he had done in the past, he didn’t feel like it was unreasonable. “And this isn‘t going to help anything.” He knew their life wasn’t going to be all sunshine and rainbows, but it would be so much easier if Mariana actually liked him more than just approved of him.

FINALLY, HE STOOD AND BEGAN TO
dial his parents’ number, clearly uneasy as he paced the floor of their house. It wasn’t easy to hear their disappointment as they spoke to him and it was hard for him to stay composed. The silence Ana heard from him didn’t always mean someone on the line was speaking, it simply meant he didn’t know what to say. They didn’t have to remind him that he was already pressed for time with his fiancée or that with school work these next three years he was hardly going to have time to see his kid, much less help Annie with him or her. That was when he basically decided he was going to have to wait a few years to finish his education, though he knew there was a huge chance it was going to start a fight. He couldn’t put her or their relationship through her raising the baby while he sat in his room with the door closed, studying. He wasn’t sure he could do that, either.

HE LET OUT A SLOW BREATH
as he sat down beside her, her body moving up against him relaxing him a bit. A small smile crossed his face as she kissed his cheek, his arm wrapping around her body as she rested her head on his shoulder. He couldn’t help but wonder again how long it would be before the whole school would know what happened between the two of them. His mind seemed to drift as she spoke and he just nodded his head, trying to think about the timeline of their child. They had been in New York about six weeks ago, so that would make this, well, her sixth week if he was thinking correctly. “So this is about week six, right?” he asked, obviously still thinking. “We need to get you a doctor‘s appointment…” It was possible that she’d start feeling queasy, too, which would explain why she hadn’t felt great the last couple days. He was trying to remember what all he knew - or what he knew at all - about pregnancy.

HE CHANGED THE SUBJECT AGAIN,
his mind in ten different places as he brought up looking for a job. “It‘ll just be ‘til the end of the semester…” he said with a little shrug. He wanted to put off this conversation, but he knew it was one they had to have.. “Then, well, I‘ll find something better.” He sighed quietly, biting his lip a little uneasily. He hated starting tough conversations and though now wasn‘t really the time to be fighting, he had already sort of brought it up. “We can talk about this later,” he suggested quietly, giving another small shrug. “But, um, I think it‘ll be best if you stay in school. You don‘t need to give up your education.” He sighed and rested his head on hers, hoping this wasn’t going to end up in one of their ugly fights. “I‘ll go back in a couple years, once everything‘s settled down a bit.” Taking in a deep breath, he shrugged a little bit. “I already have a degree, so I‘ll be able to get a job that pays decently.” Shrugging again as he tended to do when he was uncomfortable talking about something, he gave her a little smile and attempted to change the subject. “What time do we need to head out to go to your mom‘s?”
-----------------------------------
TAGGED ; Miss Anabel Bailey
LENGTH ; 1,245 words
CLOTHING ; Click
NOTES ; meh, i'm not exactly happy with it...

[/font]

[Anabel Bailey]

His blushing cheeks made Ana laugh, just slightly. She certainly hadn't meant it in the creepy way, at least she hoped he wasn't that way. She wanted attention, not idolatry for her belly, cute as it might turn out to be. "Well not a fetish fetish," she explained with a little smile, squeezing his waist. She'd consider herself to have a doctor fetish and their Halloween had only proven that, but it wasn't anything weird exactly. It just really turned her on. Her head nodded when he said he found it attractive. That was all she wanted, anything more would be strange. She tried to joke about it, but it was obvious she wasn't even particularly optimistic about that. If she started feeling like she had last weekend all the time she doubted she'd be interested in sex for a good long while. Her eyes shot down in a kind of ashamed way at his response; she so wanted to be happy, but this baby was going to make her give up next to everything and she hated that. She just couldn't get excited right now. She would eventually, but right now she couldn't really see clearly. "I know," she finally said quietly, her blue eyes staring up at his with an unsure, but trusting gaze.

Anabel smiled a small sympathetic smile at his bitter laugh, lifting her hand off his thigh and running it through his hair from the temple back. Leaning in to give him a kiss, she shrugged, "Well I love you. She can't change that,," the blond said with a half smile, her fingers running down to his neck, "And anyway, my mom's not really like that. She knows it takes two." She let him slip away to break the news to his own parents, knowing it would in many ways be harder for him. It wasn't that the Irvings were perfect, but it was in some ways, through Ana's eyes, like they expected things to be that way and this certainly wasn't perfect. She knew they wouldn't be nearly as supportive as her mother, who had been in a very similar situation herself twenty-one years ago. She tried to tell him that when he sat back down, calming Annie's beating heart, though she didn't really feel like he was listening. Men never really did, though.

She shook her head when he asked if this was week six, her eyes shut, relaxed against him. "Eight," she said quietly, feeling his eyes shift onto her. She snorted slightly, not even having to see him to know how he was looking at her, since they hadn't been sleeping together eight weeks ago. "You count from your last period. Eight weeks," she informed him passively, her head nodding when he said they needed to get her a doctor's appointment. That she supposed she could get excited about. Seeing their baby would be neat. She tried to pick her brain for a moment, realizing she really didn't know much aside from when her friend Shakira had gotten herself knocked up their senior year in high school. "We probably need to get one of those 'What to Expect' books, too," she suggested, figuring they could leave early for her mom's and run in Barnes and Noble. Just because she was a woman didn't mean she knew much more than he did.

Ana's eyes narrowed at his explanation of his plans, her head slowly beginning to shake. She pulled her body further from him, making it clear enough with her body language she was definitely not down with his plans. Her mouth opened a bit, starting to cut him off when he said they could talk about it later. Sometimes, it was nice that he tried to put things out of the way, but this wasn't something they needed to put off. It had to happen, and this was something they needed to go on and figure out. "I," Annie stuttered, her head still shaking back and forth, "No. No. You're not." Slowly, she slid off the couch to stand, planting her hands on her hips, "I won't let you do that. It doesn't make any sense. We're going to need your salary in a few years." She stared at him with one of those utterly determined looks, even though she knew he could muster his own quite easily, but Annie had logic on her side, at least in her mind. If he quit now he'd never go back; going back had always been her mom's intention and she was certainly not a businesswoman now. She completely ignored his question about dinner as she kept on, "I want to actually see my baby, and the only way to do that is for me to find some kind of flexible work option." Her eyes glazed over for a moment, recalling her mother screaming at her father that he'd ruined her life, tears springing to her eyes as she was already overly emotional. "And I won't have you resenting me or the baby," she said with her voice raised into that irrational, borderline shriek, turning away as she could feel her blood pressure rising, and she knew that couldn't possibly be good for her or the baby.

Stalking away to the double doors seperating their room from the rest of the house she slammed them shut behind her, just for good measure and moved to her bed, flopping down with a long, heavy sigh. She hated fighting with him, she really did, but she refused to let him quit school. She would be fine with it, really. Ana wasn't half as smart and her dream certainly wasn't as strong as his. She could finish her school when the baby was old enough, but medical school would require Jason's full attention, not just when he wasn't working and being with his family, if family time would even be in the picture at all. She would much rather him spend time with the baby than time with her if it came down to that, though she knew that would kill their relationship faster than anything. Running her fingers through her blond hair, she pulled at the strands, letting out another deep breath. They had hours until they had to be at her mom's and if he wanted to fight the whole time Ana didn't really care, but she knew she had to keep herself as calm as possible. It was one of those changes she'd have to make, whether she liked it or not.

TAGGED * mister jason irving
WORD COUNT * 1088
OUTFIT * here
NOTES * meh.

[Jason Irving]

HER HAND RUNNING THROUGH HIS
hair felt good and he couldn’t help but relax a little bit at her touch. A small, warm smile crossed his face when she said her mother couldn’t change her love. “True,” he said warmly. For a while he had been afraid that Mariana would indeed say no to her daughter’s wishes to marry him, especially after the way their first meeting had gone, but things had worked out to where she approved of him, nothing more. Not that he really could blame her; if it had been his daughter in the same predicament Ana had been in with her boyfriend in previous months, he too would have been uncomfortable with their relationship, afraid that the man might once again hurt his daughter. A quiet chuckle slipped from him when she said it took two and he shrugged, his eyes resting on her with a warm look. It was true, but only one of them had to mention a condom. Though it wasn’t like it had been the first time they slipped up, but it still didn’t change what had happened.

HE COULD FEEL HER RELAXING
against his form and he rubbed her arm gently in an affectionate sort of way as he questioned how far along she was. His bushy eyebrows rose in a questioning sort of way when she said eight weeks instead of six. He knew good and well their New York trip hadn’t happened more than six weeks ago and that was when they had started sleeping together again; he remembered it quite clearly. Her little snort of amusement made him smile a bit, though it was a little uneasy until she explained why it was eight weeks. He nodded his head, recalling hearing something about that before. It didn’t really make sense to him, but he supposed that was because he didn’t have to go through the cycles that she did to make this possible. Shrugging a bit, he knew it didn’t matter, she was far enough along that they needed to get her an appointment, one where he would definitely be there beside her. It would be amazing to see the little life that they had created inside of her as it grew. His eyes turned back to her when she mentioned picking up a book and he chuckled quietly. “How about a ‘Don‘t Freak Out, Dad’ book, too?” he teased, knowing just how protective he could get when it came to her and now that there was more than just her to her, well, it was only going to get worse.

A QUIET, SLIGHTLY STRESSED SIGH
slipped from him as she pulled her body away from him. He knew this wasn’t going to be a fun conversation to have and it was times like these he wished they both weren’t so stubborn. He watched her body language before he closed his eyes so he didn’t get off topic by watching her. When he finished his sentence explaining, he opened his eyes to look at her, sighing as she started to stutter a bit. As she stood and placed her hands on her hips, he turned to face her, he slid back a bit in the couch, slouching more and he turned his hands so the palms faced upwards, resting them on his knees in a submissive gesture. He was never the one to shout while he was fighting, and though he could be very passionate about certain issues - like the one currently at hand - he would do what he could do to avoid an argument. After she stated they’d need his salary, he pursed his lips a bit, his right leg moving so the ankle rested on his other knee, crossing his arms in the process. “Exactly, in a couple years,” he said with a slight shrug, still keeping his body closed from her. “I can just take off a year, year and a half and then go back. By then things will have settled down, at least a little bit,” he said reasonably. No, he wanted to wait until she was fully done with school to go back, but he’d attempt to compromise. He noticed she ignored his question about dinner, though he figured that would happen, it was just his way of trying to turn the subject away from their argument. His eyebrows rose a bit at her next outburst, his shoulders sagging a bit, his eyes dulling a bit. “Honey, if I stay in school, I‘m not going to see you or the baby for the next three years.” Okay, it was a bit extreme, but she got the point. “Between my classes, studying out of class, interning and an outside job…” he shrugged a bit, letting her draw her own conclusions. With all of that and having a child at home he was never getting to see, not to mention his fiancée, or wife as she would be before long, it would stress him out to a point he had never been before. “I know we don't want to do this, but mom and dad are both willing to help out if we need it. If it comes down to that, we can take their help for a bit and once I do get my degree we can pay them back."

[/color]His tone flattened off, hurt reflecting in his eyes as she rose her voice. Before she left the room he asked a quiet, hurt question he knew would reach her ears, but he made no move to follow her. “You really think I‘d resent you or our baby?”

JASON RAN A HAND THROUGH
his dark curls as Annie stomped down the hallway, wincing as he heard their bedroom doors slam shut. Fighting was not something he was good at, though because they fought so differently it probably worked out better than if they both screamed at each other at the top of their lungs. It only made sense to him that he was the one to drop out, at least for a little while, because as he had said, otherwise he would be seeing little to none of his family. She had said it takes two, right? Well if he stayed in school it would be a family of a mom and a baby with the dad shut away in the study whenever he was home. That wasn’t the way it was suppose to be. Shaking his head, he finally stood up, walking a circle around the coffee table before he grabbed his car keys from where they set and headed out to the garage. He knew where he was going and what he was going to pick up; he wouldn’t be gone long, but hopefully it would be long enough for Ana to cool down - she didn’t need to get worked up.

HE WAS BACK WITHIN A
half hour and after kicking off his shoes, he headed towards their bedroom, hoping she had calmed down. He knocked a bit hesitantly on the double doors before letting himself in, her little surprise behind his back. Sitting down on the bed beside her, his leg just barely brushing against hers as he handed her the little red rose he picked up, kissing the side of her head. “Why don‘t we wait until the end of the semester to think about this? There‘s really no reason for either one of to really drop out before the end of this year,” he suggested quietly, shrugging a bit. “At least then we‘ll have a taste of what this is going to be like.” Giving her a little smile, he stood up and headed towards their closet, feeling like Mama Villalobos wouldn’t be too thrilled if he showed up wearing his “I shoot people” shirt. Pulling it off over his head, he dropped it in the basket where they kept their dirty clothes and peered back into the bedroom, a little smile on his lips as he tried to lighten the mood. “Do you think your mom would protest too much if I wore those yellow jeans we got in New York?” he teased, pulling a white tank on over his head before covering it most of the way up with a dark gray button up, the sleeves only coming down to his elbows. Pulling his shorts off, he grabbed a nicer pair of jeans, ones that would be appropriate to wear to dinner with a disapproving soon-to-be stepmother. Stepping back into their bedroom, he pulled off the accessories he had worn to school, grabbing some other ones that matched a bit better. “Do you want to schedule the appointment before we go over to your mom’s?” he asked as he sat down beside her again, figuring it was best to do what they could in the spare time that they had.

---------------------------------

BY NOW, JASON KNEW THE
drive to Mariana’s pretty well, only occasionally did he need a little reminder from Annie on which way to turn at a stop sign or something. He remembered all too well the first time he had been to her house and the angry words she had hurled at him when she realized he was there, not that he didn’t deserve them. Everything he had learned that day really had changed the way he saw things and it had helped him understand a lot about Annie, too. He had almost caved into the addiction he had finally overcome after being there the first time and if it weren’t for the woman sitting beside him, he knew he would have. Thinking of his former addiction made him bite his lip a bit, knowing that with her Spanish heritage Mariana would most likely be serving some sort of alcohol with dinner. He didn’t want to offender her again by not taking it and Annie knew he hadn’t touched alcohol since he finally quit drinking but what she didn’t know was why he didn’t drink in moderation, like her mother would approve of. His alcoholism was like any addiction; yes he had stopped drinking, but he still craved it, he just refused to give into the craving. Some days it was harder than others, but he still managed to keep it under control. He was afraid that if he did have a glass of wine with dinner that it would feed his craving to the point he wouldn’t be able to control it as well as he could now.

AS HE PULLED INTO THE
parking place in front of Mariana’s apartment, he let out a long sigh and turned off the car, sitting there for a moment and looking over to his fiancée. “Ready?” he asked quietly, finally unbuckling his seat belt and climbing out of the flashy silver car, stepping over to her side to get the door for her. Having a convertible in California was definitely nice, though looking at his car’s lack of a back seat, he couldn’t help but wonder how much longer he was going to have it. He didn’t want to just take Annie’s car everywhere once they had their baby. He shrugged the thought off, deciding that, too, could wait until the baby was closer to making it’s appearance. Walking up to Mariana’s door, he took in a deep breath, not quite sure what sort of reaction to expect from her when she heard the news. As he tended to do whenever they were facing Ana’s mother, he stepped behind her a ways, almost hiding in a way. This was going to be a very interesting dinner, that was for sure.
-----------------------------------
TAGGED ; Miss Anabel Bailey
LENGTH ; 1,935 words
CLOTHING ; Click
CAR ; 2009 Mercedes Benz
NOTES ; wow, uh, muse burst?
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[Anabel Bailey]

Cuddling up to him for a bit was exactly what she needed. She had that bad feeling this was going to make her more clingy than normal with him, very different from her normally independent self. Of course she'd always been a bit, well, a lot possessive and though she prided herself on being independent, she always found herself leaning on him when bad stuff happened, metaphorically and often literally. It just seemed like the bad stuff usually happened to him or was caused by him to where she never really hadn't needed to much. Now that something big and bad, at least in her mind, had happened to her, it wasn't particularly surprising she wanted him more than ever just to be there. She smiled a tiny bit at his chuckle and warm gaze when she said it took two. It wasn't that she hadn't thought of it, she had, but she'd always thought the pill would keep them safe even when they did slip up. She knew that was stupid, especially now, and it was always a possibility even if they were using both. Unless they just stopped sleeping together it was always a possibility; it could have happened at any time really.

It sort of annoyed her that he thought for even a moment that she'd slept with someone else while they were together, even though he probably hadn't actually thought that. It was just the next logical step. She let it go though; nothing to get herself worked up over. When he mentioned the doctor's appointment, all she could think was how neat it would be to have sonogram pictures on the fridge for the next several months and before they knew it baby pictures. Ana shook her head a bit, though there was a slight smile on her lips. His comment about the 'Don't Freak Out, Dad' book made her laugh before she reached up and turned his chin down to kiss him. "You're gonna need it," she said with a little laugh, a teasing smile on her lips, "Dad," she called him, kissing him again.

Huffing with annoyance at the window staring out into their back yard, Annie wrapped her arms around herself, her eyes misty but she wasn't quite crying. “You really think I‘d resent you or our baby?” Maybe not intentionally, but no one ever meant to, and she wasn't sure she could blame him if he did chose to resent them. If she took away his dream by letting him drop out then she deserved to be resented. She let out a heavy sigh as she heard the garage door raise on the other side of the house. It wasn't like him to run off when they were fighting, so it sort of bothered her. Usually they just fought it out, disappeared for a while to other sides of the house or at least gave each other the silent treatment until one of them chose to step up and apologize, or at least offer to work it out. Shrugging her shoulders Annie flopped onto her back and looked at the ceiling instead. It wasn't like he would go far, anyway. This wasn't a big enough deal to flee over.

When she heard him come back, what felt like ages later as she'd been stuck with her swirling thoughts, she rolled back on to her side. She didn't care where he'd been, or rather she did, but not enough to break the silence and go find out. Her nose wrinkled when she heard his hand against the glass inset, not responding since the door was being pushed in before she got the chance to consider. So she was pouting; she had a right. He was being ridiculous. As she felt the bed fall a bit behind her and his leg brush against hers she turned her eyes a bit to glance up at him before looking down at what he'd placed in her hand. A little smile crossed her Cupid's bow lips before he kissed the side of her head. Fully bloomed, she knew it meant he loved her still. Rolling on to her back, she sat up beside him, nodding slowly at his words. It was true; she still hadn't fully comprehended everything that was going to happen to them. "Alright," she agreed with him quietly, "But I still don't think it would be a bad idea for me to drop a couple classes next semester and get a part-time job so we can at least put something away. We're going to need a nursery, and the medical bills could get high." Thinking of the financial stress they were going to be under made her a bit panicky so as soon as they'd come to an agreement over the matter she pushed it from her mind; she didn't want to dwell over something so hard to think about. Jason had always meant financial stability to her, and he didn't have that quality so much anymore.

Sitting up, Ana hopped off the bed and sauntered after him into the closet. Leaning in the doorway she watched with her usual pleasure as his shirt came off, not ready to change herself just yet. Since her mother ate rather late there was no sense in going over too early. She'd said six, but Ana knew that meant seven or later. His question made her giggle and she shook her head, "Jason, baby, have I ever mentioned that I'm not the only one in the family that gets a bit loose after some wine?" Crossing her arms across her chest, Annie changed her mind as she watched him button his shirt, pulling her shirt on off and grabbing a tank to go over her lacy leopard print bra, digging through her sweaters as he changed into jeans. Her skinnies she figured would be fine, but her mother knew that she dressed with much less effort when she was upset over something and this way she didn't have to worry about it later. Pulling a stylish argyle sweater off its hanger Annie paused, pressing her fingers to her abdomen. Turning a bit, she smiled, "You remember how I was complaining about my jeans being tight? It's not fat," she said with a little incredulous shake of her head, brushing her hair away from her face. Still smiling, she headed out of the closet, pulling her sweater over her head and sitting down on the bed again with her legs Indian style.

Leaning back against the pillows, her shoulders shrugged when he asked if she'd like to go ahead and schedule her first doctor's appointment. Her cheeks colored a bit and she shook her head, "My obgyn is Catholic and she knows I'm not married," she said just above a whisper. Turning her face from him, Ana sighed, "I'm going to try to find someone else. I know it's not what it used to be, but..." she faded, shaking her head. It was the first time she'd mentioned to him she felt ashamed and she really didn't know what he'd have to say to that. "I'll worry about it tomorrow," she concluded, moving closer to him and wrapping her arms around his stomach, pulling him onto his back and dropping beside him to rest in his arms. "I don't really want to think about it right now. It's too scary," she admitted, just wanting to be near to him and "safe" in his arms. Not that anything could hit her much harder than this.

____________________

Her head in the thick book with a picture of a happy dark-headed pregnant woman on the cover in her hands, Annie was looking up only to direct him when he asked about a turn. Other than that she was stuck in what she was reading, more fascinated than anything. Everything was well explained and there were things in the book she wouldn't have thought of, like eating more fiber. A smiled crossed her lips and she looked over at him, "So our baby is the size of a raspberry," Ana told him, humored by the comparison, before exclaiming the next thing she read, "And he's nearly lost his tail!" Sliding down in her seat she pretended they weren't headed to her mom's with such big news. Her eyes scanning down the page again a grin crossed her lips and she laughed rather loudly, "Lucky you, my boobs are going to start getting bigger soon," she teased, glancing down at her already ample chest. Up to five cup sizes was a lot, though she doubted her body would adjust more than she could handle. Oh well, regardless, she'd have a very happy fiancé.

Realizing the car had come to a stop and he was shutting it off, Annie grabbed the receipt from the bag and tucked it between the pages. Setting the book aside, Ana looked at him with an uneasy smile, shrugging her shoulders at his question, "Ready as I'll ever be." She was nervous, yes, but at the same time she was trusting it would be ok. It wasn't like her mom would disown her, or at least she didn't think so, and Ana meant it when she said her mom wouldn't blame Jason. Mariana had always encouraged Annie to take responsibility for herself. Stepping out of the car to join him, she adjusted her tank and her sweater and smoothed her blond hair. Taking his hand Annie smiled slightly, nodding her head at him and giving his hand a squeeze as she stepped up to her mom's little house. Knowing the door would be unlocked as her mother was expecting them Annie tried the knob, pushing the door in when it gave way. "Hola, Mamá," she called, smiling to herself when the greeting was returned as she made her way through the colorful living room, Jason a few steps behind her. Walking into the kitchen Ana embraced her waiting mother and exchanged their typical quick greetings and kissed each other on the cheeks. Stepping back, her mother next siced herself on Jason, leaning up to kiss both his cheeks and say hello. She knew it was still a bit weird for him, but not half as strange as the first time. Annie couldn't wait for his expression at their wedding when all of her mom's family approached him for kisses, if in fact their wedding was still on for the near future. Taking a sniff of the normally wonderful aromas as her mother walked back to her food, a little groan escaped Annie and her face blanched. It was an awful feeling, knowing she was going to throw up but trying so hard to hide it. "I'll be back," she chirped randomly, turning out of the kitchen before breaking into a run for the bathroom on the other side of the house. Slamming the door, she dropped on her knees in front of the toilet and reaped what she had sown.

TAGGED * mister jason irving
WORD COUNT * 1832
OUTFIT * here
NOTES * ohhhh the drama. i'm so glad i got that idea last second.

[Jason Irving]

HE HADN‘T REALLY THOUGHT THAT
she had slept with someone else, he just didn’t quite understand what she meant by eight weeks when they had only started sleeping together six weeks ago, which was why he gave her a slightly incredulous look and simply waited for the explanation. A little chuckle escaped him when she said that he’d be needing the book he suggested, knowing all too well that not knowing was going to freak him out more than anything. He wasn’t the one going through all of the changes she would be, so a lot of what they explained in the books for the mother-to-be he just wouldn’t quite get, even with all of his knowledge of the human body. A little smile flickered across his face as she called him dad; that simple little word both excited him and terrified him. He had always wanted a family and though this wasn’t how he had planned it, he couldn’t help but be excited and like any first time parent, he was more nervous than he ever could have imagined, very possibly because the situation was out of his control. He wasn’t going to be able to help Annie with the baby as it grew inside of her or through the actual birth, he’d just have to stand and watch and be there for her and do other things around the house that she usually did, though it was more than some women had.

HER LAST ANGRY SENTENCE WASN‘T
anything like what he had expected and it really hurt, which was exactly why he had questioned her. Even if he did have to give up medical school to help raise their baby, it was something he would do. He had always told her everything happened for a reason and this was one of those things. They just had to take it in stride. Maybe he wasn’t suppose to go to school for eight years, maybe that’s why this was happening now. The way he saw it, they would find out in time and this fight was simply ridiculous. So, when he returned to their house and slipped into their bedroom, he was determined to resolve it. He was definitely glad that she didn’t just throw his idea out the window and he smiled a bit. “Whatever you want, but I don’t want you stressing yourself out. It‘s not good for either one of you,” he said with a little grin. “I can do the same thing, too, that way you’re not carrying the whole work load.” Giving a little shrug, he once again brought up their other option. “And like I said, mom and dad are willing to help out. If things get too stressful, we can do that, okay? We can always pay them back once we have the money, too. Then it won’t be such a bad option.”

A SLIGHTLY HUMORED, SLIGHTLY
unsure look crossed his face when she mentioned her mom once she’d had a glass of wine. He wasn’t sure if that would be a funny image to see or a slightly disturbing one. Shaking his head, he turned back to the jeans he had been planning to wear anyways. With them giving Mariana such big news, it was probably best she had as little as possible about him to criticize. Now done changing, Jason turned to his fiancée to see her poking her stomach and though his one eyebrow rose questioningly, he couldn’t help but laugh. He nodded his head when she reminded him that she had mentioned her jeans getting tighter, though he hadn’t paid it much notice since he couldn’t see any difference and he had assumed it was just her being concerned about her appearance as she almost always was. “I guess we might have to go shopping sometime soon, then, too.” He highly doubted she’d want maternity clothing yet, but at the least they could go pick her up a couple pairs of jeans that were a size bigger so she was comfortable.

SETTLING HIMSELF ON THE BED
beside her, Jason listened as she mentioned her obygyn, nodding his head, slightly concerned. “Oh babe,” he said quietly, not quite sure what else to say or what he could do. Shame hadn’t even crossed his mind with all of the other emotions and thoughts that had been jumbled up, but he could understand why she would feel that way. As she wrapped her arms around him, he slid his around her and held her close to him after she pulled him back. He nodded his head when she said it was scary and kissed her forehead, his lips lingering there for a moment before another question popped into his mind. “When did you realize you might be pregnant?” he asked quietly, his dark eyebrows furrowing slightly, wondering why she hadn’t come to him sooner and mentioned that it was a possibility. Though he realized only a moment later if their roles had been reversed, he probably would have held off until he was positive, too.

---------------------------------

A LITTLE CHUCKLE ESCAPED HIM
as Ana told him what she was reading in the book, a bit amazed by some of the facts. He let out a snort of laughter when she said he had almost lost his tail. “Well it‘s good to know our child won‘t be a tadpole…” he said humorously, shaking his head a bit. Something about her previous statement made him wonder and he grinned. “And how do you know it‘s a ‘he’?” he teased, shaking his head a bit before asking, “Does it say when we’ll find out if it’s a he or a she? And when will we be able to feel it move?” He had an array of other questions he wanted to know, but he bit his tongue, knowing the answers would come in time. As she laughed a bit loudly, he raised his eyebrows in a questioning way, laughing along with her when she explained. “Does it explain how to have sex without hurting the baby for when dad-to-be starts enjoying the changes a bit too much?” he asked with a little laugh, knowing that the last thing either one of them would want to do was be a bit too rough between the sheets and possibly hurt their child, though he assumed it would take quite a lot to cause harm to the raspberry sized creature inside of her. Otherwise there wouldn’t be nearly as many people in the world.

PULLING INTO THE PARKING PLACE
outside of Mariana’s apartment, he bit his lip nervously as he opened the door for Ana, nodding his head a bit when she said she was a ready as she’d ever be. He honestly wasn’t sure what to expect when they stepped through the door. Sure, Annie had said she wasn’t going to blame him, but it wasn’t like she had told her mom this sort of thing before. No, like she had said, it did take two, even his parents had basically said that. Though they had been scolding him, he knew that they only meant for the best, reminding him that he really should have been more careful, especially with their wedding looming on the horizon. The subject of that hadn’t been brought up, but he wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do with it. They could move the date up into the next month or so, though that would really be pushing it since as far as he knew, the details weren’t quite set, they could push the date back until after their baby was born and since he knew she wanted a spring wedding, they could possibly push it back a whole year, though he didn’t really want that and he didn’t figure she would, either, or they could just keep the current date and live with what they had done. Stepping through the doors of Mariana’s house pushed the thoughts from his mind, though, and he could feel his heart beating like a hummingbird’s wings; he hadn’t thought it was possible, but he was more nervous now than he was when he told his parents.

GREETING MARIANA WASN‘T NEARLY
as awkward as it had been the first time, at least now he was expecting it and he smiled at her, trying not to look as nervous as he felt. As his mother-in-law to be turned back to the food, Jason turned to face Annie, his dark eyebrows furrowed as he took in his fiancée’s expression, not quite sure why she suddenly seem to not be so crazy about the smell of the Spanish food her mother was cooking, and even as she said she’d be right back, he didn’t quite get it, taking a step after her as she vanished into the depths of her mother’s apartment, only to turn back to Mariana when she questioned if her daughter was getting sick, pacing a very tight circle as he glanced down the hallway to where he had heard a door slam shut. “She’s not sick, but I have a feeling this is going to happen a lot more in the near future,” he muttered quietly, both answering Mariana’s question and talking to himself. He was only half listening when Mariana asked him what he meant by that and again walking in his tight circle, wanting to go check on Ana, he shrugged it off, knowing Annie should be there when they told her mom the news, and why exactly her daughter had just fled the kitchen, whether or not she wanted to be. “I’m, uh, gonna go check on her,” he said quietly, walking out of the kitchen, only to return a half of a second later to grab a glass and fill it with water and ripping a handful of paper towels off of the roll, a bit too uneasy to ask Mariana where she kept her real towels at, wetting those underneath of the faucet before heading down the hallway to where he knew the bathroom was, his nose wrinkling automatically as he heard Ana retching behind the door. So much for morning sickness, he thought with a sigh.

TAPPING TWICE ON THE DOOR,
Jason immediately reached for the knob, opening it even without a response, rather relieved she hadn‘t locked the door in her haste. Setting the necessities he had grabbed on the counter, he opened up a couple drawers, lucking out as he found a hair tie in the second one he opened. Feeling his stomach flop as she retched again, he gently pulled her long, blond hair out of her way and tied it behind her head, knowing she would want it out of her way. He sat down on the edge of the tub, rubbing her back gently as she continued to throw up the contents of her stomach. There was a lot of things he could handle, but vomit was not one of the things he was great with and he felt himself gag more than once as he sat beside her. It was just something he was going to have to get use to, he thought as he continued to rub her back, standing up to get the glass of water when it seemed like she was done and handing it to her. How he hated to have the taste of stomach acid in his mouth for too long. A slightly bittersweet memory struck him as he vaguely remembered her doing the same thing for him, though he had been sick for a very different reason. While she had a very good reason to be vomiting her guts up, he on the other hand had poisoned himself, drinking way more than his body could handle. Of course, that was why the memory was so vague. Shaking his head to push the horrible memory of the short time they had not been together away, he glanced down at Ana and gave her half a smile. “Do you want to go lay down on the couch?” he asked, sighing a bit. Her mother was definitely going to want to know what was going on now, if she hadn’t already figured it out for herself.
-----------------------------------
TAGGED ; Miss Anabel Bailey
LENGTH ; 2,035 words
CLOTHING ; Click
NOTES ;

[/font]

[Anabel Bailey]

With a little humored smile Ana shook her head at his warning to not stress herself out too much. Sitting up a bit, she kissed his forehead, nodding slightly, "I won't," she promised. This pregnancy would take a lot out of her and she knew it wouldn't be easy to try to juggle college and a job. She couldn't overdo it even if she wanted to, her body simply wouldn't let her, not with another life growing inside of her. Her shoulders shrugged when he suggested doing the same thing himself. "I'm fine with it, if it's what you want," she spoke slowly, shoving a piece of hair back behind her ear, "Just remember we've got a lot to do to get ready. And you'll have to make up the credits later." Ana laughed a bit when she thought about what she'd just said, "Gosh, I sound like a mom already!" She sobered when he brought up taking money from his parents, again merely shrugging, "If we have to. I suppose it's not that different from the fact that they're mostly supporting me." She'd never asked them to, but once she'd moved in with Jason it had just kind of happened. To some extent she felt guilty, but she wasn't going to refuse it. She liked being spoiled with shoes and gifts and whatnot and not having to ask her mother for money she didn't have.

Her head shook at the look he gave her at the comment about her mother. Turning to dig through her sweaters Annie shrugged, figuring she'd fill him in since she'd never had a reason to tell him this little tid bit about her mother before. "She kind of sort of stole my first boyfriend," she said with a sigh, not that she really had any regrets at this point. "Like, she kissed him and I guess he liked it. I mean she was tanked, she couldn't really help it. And it worked out better for me anyway, right," she added on with a sweet little toothy smile over her shoulder, fully acknowledging she had, as usual, managed to shock him with the horrors of her very different childhood. She didn't mention that her mother did, in fact, find her daughter's choice in Jason to be a very good one as far as looks went. There was no need to concern him with thoughts of her mother coming on to him, and anyway, her mother had been going through a rough time when it had happened. It wasn't something she'd made a habit of and she'd probably said too much already.

A smile lit her pretty face when he mentioned shopping and she laughed, pulling her brown argyle sweater on over her head. "Do I get new shoes, too," she asked him with a teasing grin, knowing she probably would need new shoes in the second half of her pregnancy when her feet temporarily grew from a size seven to a seven and a half. By then though she would just want sneakers and other comfortable shoes considering the extra weight she'd be carrying. Walking back into the bedroom she settled on the bed, her cheeks coloring when he asked about a doctor's appointment, quietly explaining her situation. She shrugged when he murmured to her in sympathy, just brushing it off after a second more and pulling him onto his back to snuggle, a little smile crossing her lips when he kissed her forehead. Her eyes were beginning to shut when he questioned her, her eyes popping back open. "I was late," she said with a shrug, "So I mean, I've worried about it for a couple weeks, but I didn't want to get ahead of myself." She rolled a bit to face him, "Or worry you," she murmured, kissing his lips before dropping back into a more comfortable position.

________________

Her interest was definitely piqued by the book, never having really payed much attention to what it was like to be pregnant or the development of babies before they were born. The picture in the book of what the baby looked like was, well, very much like a tadpole, or perhaps a fish, though she knew it would change. It was sort of crazy to think it was already so big when it had started as just a speck a few weeks ago. A mere smile crossed her lips when he asked how she knew their baby was a boy, shrugging her shoulders, "Just a feeling." Ideally, Ana wanted a daughter and son, and nothing more, but this just proved how impossible it was to work around fate.

Anabel laughed at his bombardment of questions, exclaiming at him jokingly, "Slow down!" Beginning to flip through the book, she looked to find out about when the sex could be determined, pausing on a page after a moment. "Apparently It kind of depends," she informed him with a shrug, "Some babies are shy and it's hard to tell, but at the earliest, twelve weeks." After she said it she thought for a moment, excited when she realized they could find out in only a month. Then they could start on the nursery, or at least think about it. If his parents were still coming for Christmas Annie didn't want them or Dylan to have to sleep in a half-painted room with unassembled baby furniture everywhere. She was already scared as it was to have them come since by then she'd clearly be pregnant, she didn't want to throw what they disapproved of even more in their face.

Flipping back to the index she looked next for when she could feel the baby move, even more excited to see they only had another two months to wait for that, telling him with a clear bubbly excitement to her voice before disappearing back into the text to see what sorts of physical things would happen to her in the next few weeks or in some cases already had happened. She had to laugh though when she read about the free breast augmentation she'd be getting with this baby, figuring she'd give her boyfriend something to get excited about. She already knew the answer to his question and her head shook at his question, having to laugh. "We can't hurt them," she carefully didn't define a gender, just so she didn't get it in her head they were having a boy and then end up having a girl. "Which you're more than welcome to check for yourself when we get home," she teased him with a little lecherous grin.

While Ana was experiencing the familiar feel of being on her knees if front of this very toilet, though in the past it had always been because she'd drank too much, her confused mother was left behind in the kitchen, gazing at her future son-in-law worried for her only child. Staring at the man's back the auburn-headed woman's eyebrows raised as she slowly set her glass of Rioja wine down on the counter. "When did she get sick," she asked the man she held extreme distaste for and yet a certain affection, all at the same time, though Mariana's emotions were never very straightforward or very clear in any instance. The older woman was only alarmed by his words, her face paling and her fingers coming to grip the counter-top. "What are you talking about," she asked as he rushed out of the room before rushing back into the kitchen. Her voice became more urgent as he found a glass and filled it with water, stamping her foot to try and get his attention in a gesture much like one her daughter used, her hand reaching to grab his arm as he passed her for paper towels. "Jason! What is wrong with my daughter!? Frustrated, she let him go and let her hips collide with the counter behind her, her dark eyes following him out of the room, her eyes, and her heart, softening a bit when it dawned on her what he was doing.

Staring into the depths of the toilet, a groan escaped her before she again retched pointlessly. She had nothing more to throw up, but this baby she swore was trying to kill her. She glanced up for a second when she heard the door open, a slight grateful smile crossing her lips, before she turned her face away to retch once more. Vomiting bothered him, she knew that, so it really did mean a lot that he was willing to take care of her when it made him sick. She sighed a bit as he gently pulled her hair back from her face and sat down on the edge of the tub in the crowded bathroom to rub her back, still trying desperately to relieve herself of whatever was making her so sick. She wasn't crouched over the toilet much longer before she flushed it and dropped back to sit on her but, running her hand through her hair as Jason moved to hand her the glass of water and the towels, trying to clean herself up as best she could. It was times like this she knew he loved her. She shook her head slowly when he asked her if she wanted to lie down, letting out her breath, "No, I feel ok now. And we kind of need to go tell her." Shifting awkwardly she stood to her feet from the ground, standing still for a moment to relieve herself of the slight lightheadedness that hit her.

Ambling into the kitchen where her mother was now standing, cutting scallops out of their shells with her back to them. She glanced over her shoulder, her voice quiet as she directed Ana to a glass of wine she'd left sitting on the table. Sitting in the chair beside the wine, the blond leaned against the table, shaking her head. "Would you get me another glass of water," she asked Jason in a whisper, "They're in the cabinet beside Mom." Once she said it she realized he must have known that to have gotten her the first glass, but oh well. Sitting back in her chair she watched him, bristling when her mother said abruptly as Jason reached up into the cabinet, "Wine is good when you're ill," her voice with a distinct agitation to it. Ana couldn't blame her; she of course knew something was up and naturally she would be annoyed that she didn't know what was happening. "Um, Mom, I can't have any," Annie said quietly, looking over at her fiancé with a nervous gaze, "I'm pregnant."

It was a case of being in the wrong place at the completely wrong time as Mariana spun to face her daughter, her knife still in her hand as she repeated Ana in Spanish. But Annie wasn't half as concerned about her mother's ire over her pregnancy when she realized there was a knife in her fiancé's upper arm. Jumping up, the small blond woman stalked into the kitchen to try and do something, anything, not entirely sure what to do. Get him to a hospital, of course, but in the mean time she was worried he'd bleed too much and then... she didn't want to think about it. "Mamá," she half squealed, clearly panicky as she started to cry. It might seem as though by now she was used to his incidents, but frankly they still scared her beyond belief. "Honey," Ana said desperately, stepping closer to try and figure out what to do, catching sight of his blood seeping into his shirt. Her eyes widened as she stared at it, slowly swaying for a moment as her vision filled with splotches and a loud whir sounded in her head, before everything went black.

TAGGED * mister jason irving
WORD COUNT * 1969
OUTFIT * here

[Jason Irving]

JASON‘S DARK EYEBROWS ROSE,
both humored and surprised, when she said her mother had stolen her first boyfriend from her. He shook his head, not quite sure what to say to that, at least until she said it worked out better for her and a smile crossed his handsome face. “That it did.” It was amazing how completely different their childhoods were and how differently they were raised and yet somehow, they managed to understand each other. Opposites attract, right? Still, he couldn’t imagine Mariana doing anything of the sort since she seemed to despise him most of the time. Changing the subject, he brought up taking her shopping so her jeans would fit better, chuckling a bit as she asked about getting shoes. “What would a shopping trip be without shoes?” he asked with a laugh, turning from the closet and went to sit on the bed, happy to take his fiancée into his arms as she pulled him down. He knew they should enjoy this time that they had together because it wasn’t going to be long before they would be so busy they’d be lucky to get a quick kiss in the morning. Turning toward her, he voiced the question that had kind of been nagging at him, nodding his head at her response. He supposed it was better than getting the both of them all worked up over nothing. Resting his chin on top of her blond head, he sighed quietly and closed his eyes, already exhausted from everything they talked about since they left the school cafeteria.

---------------------------------

HE CHUCKLED AT ANA‘S INTEREST IN
the book they had just picked up and how she called the little morphing tadpole in her body a ‘he,’ questioning her about it. It seemed like a good enough reason to him when she said it was just a feeling. She was, after all, the one carrying him. Or her, whatever it turned out being. Knowing that he really didn’t know all that much about what was happening, he started firing off questions at her, biting his lip before asking anymore when she said to slow down. He couldn’t help it - he was excited. Even though it wasn’t how they planned it, and on top of all of the nervousness, it was exciting. A grin crossed his face when she said it was about a month when they could possibly find out if it was a boy or a girl and then really start calling it ‘he’ or ‘she’ instead of ‘it’. His excitement grew when she said it would only be a month after they learned what to call their baby that they’d start to feel it move. If her growing belly didn’t make this seem more real to him, he was sure feeling it move would. He shot a look at her from the corner of his eye when she answered his last question without any hesitation, though he couldn’t help but laugh when she said they could test it when they got home. “Are you sure?” he asked, knowing that regardless, he’d be a lot more careful with her in the upcoming months. He didn’t want to hurt either one of them.

JASON JUMPED A LITTLE BIT
as he felt Mariana’s hand on his arm, shaking his head a bit. “Nothing’s wrong with her. I promise,” he said, his dark eyes completely sincere as they met hers before he turned from the kitchen to go to his fiancée, wondering if promising was the wrong thing to do. It seemed like any time he promised his fiancée’s mother anything, it never turned out the way it was suppose to. Jason knew he hadn’t been very clear with Mariana, but he didn’t want to tell her what was really going on until Annie was there, too. Letting out a long, slow breath, he wished he had just taken the wine at dinner the first time he had met her and, not for the first time, that he had never hurt her daughter. Maybe then she’d disapprove of him a little less. In all honesty, he was shocked that she still gave Annie her approval to marry him. Shaking the thoughts from his head, he tapped on the bathroom door and let himself in, wondering how frequently this was going to happen until the baby was born.

HE NODDED HIS HEAD, KNOWING SHE
was right about needing to tell her mom what was going on. She had appeared to be quite agitated that he didn’t tell her what was going on, but he was glad to wait for his fiancée. Walking beside her, one hand resting on her hip, they made their way into Mariana’s kitchen, Jason biting the inside of his cheek nervously. It wasn’t that his parents had taken it badly, they were just, well, disappointed that he had done what he did. But they didn’t necessarily disapprove, they just didn’t expect him to ever be so careless. He could only hope that Ana was right about her mother, that it wouldn’t make her hate him more than she already did. Standing behind Ana as she sat down, Jason rested a hand on her shoulder, leaning his head in as she whispered to him and he nodded his head, pressing his lips to the top of her blond head before he walked over to grab another glass. He bit his lip a bit uneasily at Mariana’s agitated voice, raising his eyebrows a bit at her words. Maybe he’d end up prescribing wine when he had ill, underage patients he thought with a little mental shake of his head. No, she grew up in a totally different culture than he did. It wasn’t her to blame for the way that things worked in other countries and, well, maybe she was right. Maybe it was good when you were ill. Turning on the faucet, Jason glanced over his shoulder to look at Ana as she told her mom she couldn’t have any wine, catching her nervous gaze and giving her a little smile. Her reaction couldn’t be that bad, right?

SHUTTING OFF THE WATER, HE
heard Mariana’s Spanish words, though not understanding what exactly she said, as she spun to face her daughter. He thought nothing of the sharp pain in his arm, just a bit confused on why it suddenly happened, until he heard Ana squeal at her mom and burst into tears. “Honey-” he started, setting the glass on the side of the table, wincing and reaching up to rub his stinging arm. It wasn’t until he felt the wet warmth on his arm and pulled his hand away to see it covered in blood that he really realized what had happened. His eyes fell to the blade of the knife that was tainted red and his eyes widened a bit, turning to face his fiancée at her desperate voice, reaching up to keep his hand over the wound in his arm. A panicked look crossed his face when he saw Ana start to wobble a bit and it felt like she fell to the ground in slow motion. He grabbed a fistful of paper towels, completely forgetting Mariana was in the room and wiped his blood off of his hand before running some cool water over the rest of the towels. Pressing them to Ana’s forehead gently, he reached his other hand around to the back of her head, feeling for any bumps in case she had hit her head harder than it looked. He might not be done with med school, but he knew from experience what to do in certain situations.

IT WASN‘T UNTIL HE SAW
the blood dripping down to his wrist that he remembered he too was in pain and he gave a little shake of his head, telling himself he had been through worse. With the thought of his broken ribs, the pain lessened in his arm and he picked up the blood covered paper towel, dabbing it up his arm to keep the miniature red stream to keep from flowing any farther down onto Mariana’s floor or Ana. Glancing over at his upper arm, he realized a large portion of his gray sleeve had turned a deep shade of red. He caught sight of Mariana’s form and suddenly remembered she was in there, too, and he let out a little sigh, not quite sure what to do with his fiancée. He didn’t want to leave her there on the floor, but he wasn’t sure it would be a good idea to move her to the couch. After a moment of silently debating with himself, he decided she couldn’t have injured herself too badly and he slid an arm underneath of her knees and his other beneath her shoulders, careful not to smack her head against anything as he struggled slightly to get her over to the couch. His right arm shook with the effort, though it was only her legs that he was supporting, but he knew it was probably not a good idea to be lifting a hundred pounds with a gash that deep in his arm. Pressing the damp towels against her face again, he glanced over at Mariana, knowing he needed to do something to his arm. “Keep an eye on her,” he murmured, knowing she would have without his asking and he headed to the bathroom yet again, opening up the few cabinets as he looked for a first aid kit or something that would keep pressure on his stab wound.

GRABBING THE OUT-OF-DATE
first aid kid from underneath of the sink, he dug through and found a good amount of unused gauze and medical tape. Rolling up his sleeve, he winced a bit as he realized just how much it was bleeding. Grabbing some toilet paper, he did what he could to wipe the blood up from around it, though he seemed to be bleeding enough it didn’t really matter. Stretching his arm out a bit to get a better look at himself, his face paled a bit as his skin opened up and he saw a bit of whitish-ivory inside of the deep cut, knowing it was his bone. Taking a deep breath, he covered it with all of the gauze from the kit and taped it down rather tightly, covering his makeshift bandage with an ace bandage; he had gotten pretty handy at using them since he was always doing something to himself.

THE YOUNG MAN HEADED BACK
down the hallway, hoping Ana was back around and his heart sank a bit as he saw her still form on the couch and he sunk into the chair nearest her head, careful to keep his bloody sleeve from touching it. Reaching towards Annie’s head, he hesitated for a moment before running his fingers through her blond hair, not quite sure what Mariana’s reaction would be. He had, after all, caused her daughter to black out on her kitchen floor. Feeling a bit light headed, Jason blinked rapidly a few times, pushing the unwelcome feeling away as he waited for his fiancée to wake up.
-----------------------------------
TAGGED ; Miss Anabel Bailey
LENGTH ; 1,860 words
CLOTHING ; Click
NOTES ;

[/font]

[Anabel Bailey]

Ana caught the look Jason gave her at her quick answer, laughing a bit. It was simple enough anatomy; wasn't that supposed to be his area of expertise anyway? He could flatter himself all he liked, and Annie couldn't disagree, frankly, but even he couldn't harm their baby. She nodded her blond head when he asked her if she was sure, giggling, "Positive. Think about it," she said with a shrug, not about to explain that if he couldn't figure it out on his own. Her nose wrinkled when a song she didn't care for came on from his iPod, picking the device up and hitting the next button. "What? I don't like Lady GaGa," she explained, before changing the conversation back, "I'll check for sure first if it makes you happier, but I know that look, Jay. You don't have to treat me like I'm fragile," she told him, levelling him one of those warning looks. He could protect her in any other way he wished, but she didn't like the thought of having him walking on pins and needles with her whenever he wanted to take her to bed, not when it wasn't necessary. She didn't expect him to actually listen to her though when she said that. He was always overprotective of her in general, carrying his child would only make her that much more to protect for him.

Mariana's look was less than trustworthy as the jumpy dark-haired man turned to face her and told her nothing was wrong. Even though his dark eyes appeared honest the Spanish woman trusted no man fully, not even her beloved Eligio, and the man's past history with her daughter made it no easier to let him in, though the death of her former husband had softened her to some extent. She frowned as his wording dawned on her, shaking her head. The man sure did like to promise things didn't he? Snatching her glass of wine she drowned the thought by finishing the liquid. She didn't usually gulp her alcohol, but Mariana couldn't deny its positive calming effects and she could use them right about now. Glancing over his shoulder her eyebrow raised as she watched him disappear, having to relent a bit when she realized he was rushing to take care of her little girl. The fact that she didn't want her daughter suffering the regret she felt for never trying to fix things with Isaac was not the only reason she'd said yes to her daughter. Regardless of her feelings toward him, he did love her Ana Isabel, and as a Spaniard she could not deny two people in love.

The young woman's small body tensed a bit as she picked up on the tension in the room, not only between herself and her mother, but between Jason and her mom as well after her comment. Ana would always consider Jason much too prudent when it came to drinking, at least when he was in his usual state of mind. It wasn't as though she had some sort of brain damage from her drinking and even if she did if was from the tequila and beer she'd downed as a teenager, not from wine. Her mom actually did have a point, Annie would drink the bittersweet drink in a second if it weren't for the baby being as much Jason's as it were hers and therefore any decisions about its health should be made between them. Honestly the wine truly was much better than anything else for settling an upset stomach, and she happened to know her mother had had a glass a day when she was pregnant with her so it couldn't be that harmful, but she wasn't about to send her fiancé into cardiac arrest. So instead, quietly, Ana took the bait her mother had throne to her, Jason's little smile giving her the ounce more of strength she needed to get the words out.

Color filled her cheeks as her mother repeated her with a shocked, and far from happy tone, feeling that distinct embarassment again she supposed she'd feel for a while. Something, she wasn't entirely sure what, drew her attention to her boyfriend, her eyes staring at the little clam knife, that might as well have been a machete in her overprotective eyes, in his arm. Hopping up she stalked into the kitchen, emotion getting the best of her before she could even begin to think in a logical pattern. Emotion always got the best of her lately. Wiping the tears out of her eyes she stared at his arm, calling him by their most used pet name for each other, getting a bit dizzy at the amount of blood. The young woman had never been fond of blood at any point in her life, but she usually could put aside her brief feelings of faintness and keep going. With the recent changes in her hormones dialating her blood vessels to allow for more blood to get to the baby, though, her blood pressure fluctuated a lot more easily and that little bit of dizziness didn't dash as quickly as it normally would. It didn't take her long to realize she was going to pass out, but between her concern for her fiancé and lack of ability to get anywhere in time she just let herself fall, praying she didn't hit her head too hard.

__________________

The feel of gentle fingers stroking through her hair was one Ana was accustomed to waking up to. The man she had slept beside for most of the past year tended to do that often when he wanted her to wake up, not because they had anywhere to be, but on the opposite occasions when they had time to spare. The ridiculous pain radiating from the back of her skull though was an unusual accomadation to the sensation and the young woman groaned with anguish. Shifting with discomfort, though it only made her head throb more she hissed to herself, still not entirely sure what she was doing on a couch with an aching head, "Dios mio, my head." She heard her mothers voice quietly ask who she was now sure was Jason if she was waking back up and with some effort she forced her eyes open, turning them to glance at her fiancé, before looking over at her mom. She was a bit surprised to see her mother sitting on the coffee table, her eyes gazing at Ana's fiancé with, Annie swore she really had hit her head too hard, admiration. Freaking admiration from the woman that had been so vehemently against Jason from the day she'd met him. Shutting her eyes Annie mentally rolled them, leaving her eyes shut for half a minute, seeing if when she reopened them she'd be back to reality. She wasn't, which especially dawned on her when she saw Jason's shirt sleave.

Pushing herself up into a sitting position she sat for a second, touching a hand to the back of her head where it had hit the tile floor, feeling tears prick her eyes. "Hey, Mom, can you go get your keys before my fiancé lets himself die over there," she asked with her usual snarky tone, finally opening her eyes again. She watched as her mom headed back into the kitchen, before slowly standing and taking the half a step to Jason's chair, gently running her fingers through a bit of his curly hair, "Can you get up alright, babe," she asked, watching him like a hawk as he got to his feet, before sliding an arm around his waist as though it was any help. Annie couldn't save him if she tried. "Vámonos," the older Spanish woman announced, heading toward the door, leaving it open for Annie and Jason to follow out. Shutting the door behind her Annie presumed her mother wasn't concerned with locking the door and headed out to the car, her eyes widening as her mother watched Jason get into the backseat before asking, "Are you comfortable? Are you going to be alright?" Annie shook her head, opening the other door to her mother's Audi and sliding into the seat beside him, buckling her belt before taking Jason's free hand and giving it a little squeeze. Despite the still painful throb in the back of her head, she had to see the irony; the one thing he swore would ruin him once and for all with Mariana, had somehow managed through fate to flip into something that at least temporarily, had gained him her version of love.

TAGGED * mister jason irving
WORD COUNT * 1435
OUTFIT * here