Flash of Red

Chapter 19

Jughead sat on the couch, his leg bouncing. His elbows were on his knees and his hands were balled together, his chin resting on top of them.

Betty was beside him, her knees up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them as she kept taking in long, deep shaky breaths.

Their eyes were glued to the pregnancy test on the coffee table. She had just taken it, maybe a minute ago tops, but they were itching to find out if it was positive or negative.

Betty's mind was racing. She couldn't remember ever forgetting to take her birth control, she was always on top of it. It was one of the single things she did everyday no matter what, or at least she thought. Her and Jughead were always safe like that, there was no way she could actually be pregnant.

"How long does it take again?" His voice was still groggy from sleep but there was a nervousness laced through it.

She swallowed, checking the time on her phone. "T-Two minutes," she sighed, leaning forward.

She reached for it and her hand shook as she held it. She took in a sharp breath when Jughead's hand covered hers and she glanced over at him, fear in both of their eyes.

He moved so he was right next to her, both of them letting out a deep breath. "I'm going to look," she mumbled.

He nodded, watching Betty flip the test over. Her breath came out in a gasp, Jughead's eyes squeezing closed. "Fuck." He dropped his head into his hands, running them through his hair.

"Jug, I-I'm... I'm so sorry, I didn't..." he glanced over at her and she sobbed, Jughead pulling her into a tight hug. "I didn't mean for this to happen."

"No, Betts, it's not your fault. We both had a part in this." She cried again and he pressed a kiss to her temple. "This isn't going to change anything-"

"This is going to change everything!"

He cupped her cheeks, Betty whimpering. "Between us."

"Oh." It was shaky and he brushed her hair back from her face.

"I love you and we will figure this out." He kissed her forehead, holding her to his chest. "We'll figure this out, I promise."

~

Betty sighed as she sat down in bed that night, sinking into Jughead's side. "I'm sorry, Jug."

"Betts, stop apologizing. We..." he sighed, her head tilting up to look at him. "We both want... a baby so... it just came sooner than we expected."

"Want is so much different than can." She sat up, swallowing thickly. "Are we even capable of having a baby right now?"

He looked down at his hands before looking back up to her. "We'll figure this out, Betts. We can have a baby, I-I have enough money... we can have a baby."

"What if I can't do it?" He squeezed her hand, her breath coming out shakily.

"Love, you are going to be amazing. You are going to be the best mom that this baby can have, trust me." She sighed again, laying back on his chest. "This-This is a good thing, not bad. Betty, we know enough to have a baby, you know that. We have enough money, we have enough space. We can have this baby and it can be happy, and have a good life because we can give them one."

She looked back up to him, her hand tilting his head down. "You know, for you not wanting to have kids about a year ago, you sure know what to say to make me feel better." He smiled tinily and she placed a kiss under his chin. "What are people going to say? What are they going to think of us, Jug?"