Rule Three// c.h

The Joys of Reproduction

I could not be more embarrassed than I was right now as Mike and Lance talked about sex. This conversation was not an unusual one, it actually happened quite often. Lance and Mike have never seen me as much of a little sister, they see me as a best friend and best friends talk about sex. On any other given day or time, I might join in, have a laugh with them but today I was completely mortified.

"Why are you blushing so hard Lil'." Mike asked me with a laugh.

"Because you two are so vulgar." I complained, covering my ears and trying to hide my head on the table. This position gave me a perfect view of my stomach though which only made me more uncomfortable. Nearly a week after finding out I was pregnant and I still hadn't told Calum.

"Oh don't go all innocent on us now Lily." Lance said shaking my shoulder. "I want to hear all the steamy details about you and my best mate." I slapped Lance's hand away but refused to look up.

"I can't stand either of you." I complained.

"She's shy today it seems." Mike whispered to Lance as if I might not hear.

"I don't understand why. Just last week she was boasting about Calum's rather large.."

"Enough!" I shouted, lifting my head and slamming my hands on the table. My cheeks were blazing red and I kind of got the feeling that I might have a panic attack if they kept joking around like this. I know I was being irrational. They hadn't mentioned kids, babies or the joys of reproduction in anyway but I still felt like I couldn't breathe. Lance frowned, putting his hand on my arm comfortingly.

"What's wrong?"

"Yeah.. You seem a bit high strung." Mike's eyebrows were knit in concern. I sighed, trying to get my heart rate under control.

"I'm fine.. Just stressed." I murmured. "I'm not really in a joking mood." I mumbled, dropping my head in my arms again. Lance began to rub my back a little before removing his hand from me.

"Stressed out about what?" He asked. "Something with Calum." I gave him a look "You only reacted violently when we mentioned his name. I've known you two for years and I can always tell when you're upset with one another."

"I'm not upset. I'm stressed out." I muttered.

"Those are kind of the same thing." Mike said. I shot him a glare and he held up his hands defensively before shutting up.

"What's wrong Lil'?" Lance asked again But I couldn't tell him what was wrong. I had made a promise to myself. The next person to hear that I was pregnant was supposed to be Calum. He should have been the first and I should have told him when I found out but there was no going back now.

"I'll figure it out." I murmur, straightening up. "I think I'm going to go to the library." Surprisingly, the two of them let me go without argument. Usually if I'm upset they try to get me to stay and talk but I guess, this time, they caught the vibe that I just wanted to be alone more than anything at the moment.

I made quick work of getting to the library and finding a seat among the shelves of books. I took out my laptop and plugged my headphones in before starting up some music on my iTunes. As I began to listen to the soulful tune flowing through the speakers, I stared at the blank background of my computer. What was I going to do? I had next to no reason to come to the library.  I was caught up on all my homework and projects. I suppose I could read or go on tumblr or something but I wasn't really up for either of those things. Thats when something occurred to me. Slowly moving the cursor, I clicked on the search engine and typed in,

Baby Names

Immediately, several websites popped up all of them lamenting about the trendiest baby names of the year. Squirming in my seat, I clicked on the first website and slowly began to scroll through all the A options for boys and girls names. I had never really thought about what to name my kids. I had only ver really considered how many I might actually want. So as I scrolled through names, I wondered how parents knew what names to choose for their children. I mean, you don't actually get to see them until they escape the womb. What if the name doesn't fit your kids appearance?

I could really like the name Ana but my kid could look more like an Isabel. What then? Do I change her name? What if my kid doesn't like their name? What if people make fun of them because of their name? Isabel Hood. It sounded a little weird. Would I even want Calum's last name? I kind of liked mine more. Isabel Karson. I liked that a lot better.

Absentmindedly, I scrolled through the entire list of names, never really focusing on any given name in specific. I was mainly doing this to curb my anxiety. I wanted to pick baby names with Calum but it didn't hurt to get a head start now. Noah was a cute name.. and so was Lincoln. Wow, I guess I wanted a boy.

Exiting out of the screen, I close my eyes and slumped farther down into my chair. Tonight. I was going to tell him tonight.

----

When my last class of the day finished up, I ended up running into Charlotte heading to her late night history course. She smiled at me brightly and we paused outside to talk to one another. "Hey what's up?" She asked. I shrugged.

"Not much. It's been a pretty boring day of classes."

"Lance mentioned to me that you were a little stressed earlier. He thought maybe you didn't want to tell him and Mike because they're guys. Did you want to talk to about something?" I knew Charlotte was just looking out for me and that she meant well but I got a little mad. If another damn person asked me if I was okay, I was going to explode.

"I'm fine." I muttered, in a harsher tone than I had expected. "I'm sorry Char, I have to go catch the bus or I'll never get home." Charlotte said nothing as I brushed past her and rushed towards the street. I wasn't really going to be late but I needed to escape that conversation before other pregnancy emotions erupted inside of me and I spilled the entire truth to her.

Feeling guilty, I walked almost shamefully to the bus stop. When the big, hunkering vehicle finally pulls up, I'm hanging my head almost dejectedly as I board the bs with several other people. "Something got you down?" Annie asks quietly as I slid my bus card. I shrug a little, not wanting to discuss my life with her today. "Okay pumpkin. I hope you cheer up. I hate seeing you so gloomy." Yeah, I hate feeling gloomy Annie. I want to tell her. Instead, I'm silent.

What I needed right now was a nice hot shower, some of that stress relief lotion and some food to calm myself down. I was really hoping Ella and Jake would be already be making food by the time I got home. I didn't want to wait. Glancing at my phone, I checked the time and saw that I also had a message from Calum. I ignored his message and simply read the time. I wouldn't see Calum for another two hours when he got home from work. I hoped I wouldn't have lost my nerve by then.

A/N:
Hope I fixed all the Luke/Lance typos lol. Don't know how I messed that up 😂 next chapter will be smut btw hopefully y'all like it as much as the last one.

I also entered this story into the Wattys! So let's see how that goes lol