Jennie opened her eyes wearily, feeling
movement in her room.
"You're not staying?" She brought her bed sheets up to her bare chest, as if it were wounded.
"I don't want to get either one of us in
trouble" Lisa answered, slipping on her
sweater, the last item of clothing needed
to fully cover her.
"Come on Lis. Both of our parents
know that you and I are having a baby
together. I don't think us having a little
sleepover is going to be that big of
a shock now" Jennie reasoned.
She patted the empty side of the bed next to her hopefully, and angled her head downwards, allowing her dark hair to fall down around her shoulders, in as alluring of a pose she could muster, given her current state of sleepiness.
"My parents will still be pissed if I don't
come home. And I really don't want to deal with your father again in the morning" Lisa shuddered at the thought,
and grabbed her shoes from the floor
decisively.
"Send your parents a text now, saying
you're staying here tonight to take care
of me, your pregnant girlfriend, and don't worry about Dad. He won't be up yet when we leave." Jennie layed back down against her pillow, and when Lisa didn't immediately join her, she added with a whine, "Come on!"
"Fine." Lisa hooked her thumbs into
the button of her jeans and let the slide
back down her hips and then pulled her
sweater off next, leaving her in briefs and her sports bra.
She grabbed her cellphone off of Jennie's nightstand and quickly sent a text message to her mothers phone.
Staying at Jennie's tonight. She needs me. See you tomorrow. Love you.
She slid in next to Jennie again,
admittedly happy to be incased in the
warmth once more. Jennie let out a happy sigh of content, and snuggled her body into Lisa's, nestling her head in the
crook of her neck.
"It's nice to have you stay the whole night" She murmured.
Lisa kissed the top of her head in
response, and reached down to her
unclothed stomach, rubbing it softly.
"Can you feel anything?" Jennie asked.
"Not really" Lisa admitted.
"Me either" Jennie frowned, and let one of her hands wander down to join Lisa's.
"Everything seems so hypothetical right
now, I mean with our parents, and living
together, and marriage when the only
proof I have that a baby even exists is a
couple of sticks with little plus signs on
them." Lisa shifted down the bed, so that her head was in line with Jennie's stomach.
She kissed it, making Jennie giggle, then
pressed her ear up against it.
"You hear anything?" Jennie asked after a moment, "A heart beat or something?"
"No." Lisa answered with a frown,
"Sorry Jen." She left one more kiss on her tummy and resurfaced face to face with her gain. She wrapped her arms around her, cradling her against her.
She yawned loudly, "Thať's okay. I'm too
tired to worry about that right now anyway. Goodnight Lisa. I love you"
"Love you more." Lisa replied back, as her eyelids fluttered off.
-
At six a.m. Jennie's alarm rang, and
Lisa barely managed to hold open her
heavy eyes as Jennie stirred and silenced
it.
She groaned loudly, sitting up in bed,
and letting out a mock cry.
"No!" She moaned.
"Let's go back to bed." Lisa answered
with a yawn.
"We have school." Jennie pointed out with a huff.
"So? Well be late, and you can just show
up in sweats. It's not like you have anyone to impress. You've already got your dream girl" Lisa nuzzled her nose against Jennie's neck cheekily.
"Ugh. Your breath smells really bad in
the morning" Jennie commented, before
standing up anyways, and with a flip of a
switch, forcing the lights on her.
"Yeah well yours doesn't exactly smell like a bed of roses either princess." Lisa
grumbled, laying back dovwn in bed.
"Lisa!" Jennie reprimanded.
"Relax." She replied, "It takes me ten
minutes to shower, and ten minutes to
throw on some clothes and brush my
teeth"
After a later moment of thought, Lisa
sat back up again, "Unless you want me
to join you in the shower?" She asked
hopefully with brown doe eyes.
Jennie rolled her eyes and shook her
head, "I have to get ready. If I take the kind of shower you're talking about I'll have to take another one just to get clean from the first one."
"No you won't. I like you dirty" Lisa
smiled as she heard one of Jennie's
shoes come hurling through the air before hitting her squarely in the head.
"Didn't hurt." She mumbled, earning her
another blow.
-
"Do you think Irene told anybody?"
Jennie asked, nestled in Lisa side as
they walked through the main hallway of
the school.
"Well, everyone's staring at us." Lisa
gestured to the majority of the students,
who kept throwing obvious glances Lisa and Jennie's way, before whispering amongst their friends.
"Yeah, but that could just because we've
been attached to the hip the past couple
of days, while everyone thinks you're
supposed to be with Irene" Jennie
bit her bottom lip and turned her head
to make eye contact with a sophmore
girl who was watching the two with
fascinating attention.
"What?" Jennie snapped at her, her tone of voice biting the girl jumped and then shook her head, searching for words to decline Jennie's challenging glare,
"Nothing" She squeaked. Quickly, she turned on her heels and made a beeline towards the west wing of the school, and away from Jennie.
"That wasn't nessecary" Lisa scolded
with a roll of her eyes.
Jennie shrugged, "Pregnancy hormones."
"You don't get to use that excuse for the
next nine months." Lisa warned.
"Shut it or I'l bite your head off too."
Jennie answered, before directing her
attention towards the open stairwell
reaching towards the lockers.
"I just saw Irene walk by. I want to go talk to her"
"Do you really think that's a smart idea?"
Lisa asked, biting her own lip, "She's
not exactly feeling you right now."
"Oh really? Because I was planning on
inviting her to a movie and a slumber
party at my house." Jennie snapped back
sarcastically.
Rolling her eyes she continued,"I just
want to ask if she told anyone yet. I
mean, I guess eventualy everyone will
figure it out anyways, when I start getting round, and you're tending to my every need. But l'd at least like to know where we currently stand"
"Tending to your every need?" Lisa
asked skeptically. However, one glare
from Jennie rendered her silent, and she
nodded with acceptance.
Jennie walked briskly towards the stairs,
the sounds of her combats hitting the
floor creating more noise than such
light boots deserved to make.
Lisa reluctantly followed, definitely not in the mood for a close encounter with the two girls she'd screwed over the most at the same time.
She could picture a mutiny forming in her mind, where the two hashed things out and suddenly turned on Lisa, united by the common abuse they had underwent at her fault.
Jennie did not bother to glance back over
her shoulder, that was until she was only
yards away from Irene's side profile,
who was unloading her bookbag into her locker.
Jennie swallowed and looked back
hesitantly at Lisa, suddenly questioning
her decision to approach her extremely
upset with cause ex-girlfriend.
"Hey Irene." Jennie finally said, her voice
shaking slightly while she tried to remain
casual. Awkwardly, she attempted to
shove her hands into the pockets of her
jeans, but found that they were too tight
to allow it, so she settled with gripping the hem of her flannel instead.
Irene turned solemnly to face Jennie,
and raised one eyebrow at her in distaste.
"Hey Jennie. Lisa."
"Uh, hi" Lisa replied, feeling like a
bungling idiot for having remained a good four feet behind the two girls.
"What do you want?" Irene asked Jennie
straight foward. She ran her eyes down
her body, and Jennie's cheeks burned
when they stopped at her stomach.
Lisa, who knew of Irene's skepticism
already towards the likelyhood of Jennie
being pregnant, realized she must have
been looking for evidence.
"You're not showing at all. If there's even
going to be anything to show" Irene
added, before Jennie had a chance to
respond.
"Listen." Jennie started, but then she
paused and mentally reviewed Irene's
last statement, "Wait. What's that Supposed to mean?"
"You were after Lisa the entire time
was with her, and this certainly wouldn't
be the craziest thing you've ever schemed up." Irene shrugged, balancing her English book in her right arm, while her bookbag was hooked on her left.
"Excuse me? The seconds ago dormant
Jennie had once again been activated,
and she clenched her teeth together,
pushing her lower lip down to show them, while her eyes widened to match her heightened sense of disbelief.
"You seriously think I would risk ruining
Lisa's and my reputation and future,
because I'm that keen on 'stealing' her
from you?"
"I wouldn't put it past you" Irene
answered, pursing her lips together in
disapproval.
"You just can't accept the fact that your
perfect girlfriend had sex with me and not with you. Baby or no baby, that definitely happened. A lot." Jennie smirked.
"Every night after she went out with you, she made love to me. And every time she
canceled plans with you because she
claimed she was 'sick' or had extra
practice, she was really blowing you off
to be with me. She even called you while
we were having sex a couple of times to
break your plans."
"Jennie." Lisa finally cut in, as a
warning to reel it back in. She understood why Jennie felt so defensive, given all the hell she'd been through the past couple of weeks involving the pregnancy, but at the same time, she hated to see Irene made to feel even more shitty by having the fact that she was cheated on rubbed in her face by her accomplice.
Irene tugged at her mouth, struggling to
keep it straight, while her eyes showed the distant evidence of tears.
"I hate you." She spat at Jennie, her voice
soft and quiet, and then she turned to
leave, not bothering to wonder what
Jennie had actually wanted in the first
place.
The misty look in Irene's eyes cause
Jennie to teeter back over to the edge
of sympathy, while her flash of temper
subdued, and an immediate wash of guilt overcame her.
"Irene wait." Jennie stepped forward and
grabbed her by the arm.
Irene bore her eyes into the place where
Jennie's hand rested on her, and Jennie
withdrew it slightly, quickly exchanging
the physical contact for eye contact.
"I'm really sorry. For everything. What
Lisa and I did was really wrong, and
you didn't deserve it. You're a really nice
person." Jennie nodded, not sure that
the apology would suffice as it was, but
also not sure how to continue while still
maintaining the sincerity.
Irene shook her head, "You know, now
that I realize what an incredible bitch
Lisa is, I'm actually starting to think
you two really do make a great couple."
She glanced down in the ground, and then on an impulse added, "I hope she cheats on you too." It came out so fast that even Irene looked surprised that she had said it, and she quickly pressed her lips together, turning again and attempting to make her exit.
"Irene wait" Jennie called again.
Irene sighed loudly and turned back
around, "what?"
"Um.." Jennie still wanted to ask Irene
what she had originally intended to,
although she realized how embarassing
it would be to do so now.
"I was wondering... Have you told anyone about... my situation?"
"No." Irene answered, "And don't worry.
I don't plan to. Though I assume if you're
not lying and you really are pregnant,
people are going to find out anyways. But you don't have to worry about me being the reason. I'm not like you"
Irene finally turned and left for good, and Jennie turned around to face Lisa, who had been watching the mild confrontation passively.
"Well that went well." Jennie muttered.
"Yeah." Lisa nodded slowly, then put her
arms around Jennie's shoulder, "Nice way to start the day"
-
Soccer season had ended a few weeks
ago, so Lisa was able to avoid her dad
that day (since he was her soccer coach)
until she returned home in the afternoon, after dropping Jennie off at her house.
She'd asked her to come inside, but he
figured after staying out the previous
night without permission, not to mention a day after she had announced that she had impregnated the girl she was cheating on her girlfriend with, she felt it would be wisest for her to go directly home.
When she arrived, she was suprised to
see both her father and mother already
there. She wasn't expecting them to
be home that early, but reluctantly she
trudged into the kitchen, hearing the noice of her parents chatter from the room.
She was greeted by the pleasant smell of
whatever her mom was concocting in a
large skillet on the stove, while her father
sat at the kitchen table, thumbing through the sports section of the paper.
"Lisa." Her dad greeted her casually.
"Uh, hey guys." Lisa rubbed her arm
in anticipation, ready for the trust and
responsibility speech to kick in at any
given moment.
"Hi Lisa." Her mother replied, walking back over to the pot, and pouring white wine into the pan.
Lisa leaned over and inhaled, "Whatcha
cooking?" She asked, still waiting to be
reprimanded.
"Chicken Cordon Bleu" She answered,
"talked to Dara this afternoon during my lunch break. They're coming over at five thirty. It seems a little early, but she insisted, because she said 'We have a lot to talk about"
"Oh" Lisa bounced on the balls of her
feet anxiously for a moment, dying for her parents to hurry in with the punishment.
Unable to take the suspense, she sold
herself out and dove in first, "Listen, about last night. I'm sorry, it's just"
"No need to be sorry" Chitthip cut in briskly
"If Jennie needs you at any time during
her pregnancy, I agree you should be there for her, no matter the time"
Marco sighed loudly from the table,
and Chitthip quickly turned around to give him a pointed stare.
Whatever the two communicated non-verbally was clearly a follow up to an earlier conversation, but Lisa wasn't too interested in its contents, still preoccupied with her own dilemmas.
"You're not mad?" Lisa couldn't completely hide the disbelief in her voice
and in her eyes.
"Nope." Chitthip rested a hand on Lisa's shoulder, "You've got adult responsibilities of your own now, and if you're going to be ready to raise a child in a number of months, we need to start letting you make those decisions on your own. You've got a family to take care of"
"Well" Lisa took a step back,
"Technically I don't have a family right
now. I just have Jennie, and she's only my
girlfriend."
"She's the mother of your child." Chitthip
corrected her, "And the two of you are a
family. From here on out." She nodded
in agreement with her own words and
went back to her meal in progress on the
stovetop.
After a moment, she looked over at
Lisa's panicked expression, and sighed
softly, "Tm not trying to freak you out, but if you're going to take on the responsibility of having a child, you're going to have to do that fully, and you can't put it off. It starts now. I understand how scared you are Lisa, and I promise to be here for support, but your father and I agree that you are going to have to be accountable for things that truthfully might be far over
your head at your age."
Marco looked up from his paper,
looking agitated, "We did not agree!
agreed that Lisa is a kid, she's not in
any way prepared or capable of being
a parent, and that as her own loving
parents, we should ground her, keep
her away from Snow White, and talk
her parents into giving the baby up for
adoption"
Lisa heaved heavily, "You can't do that
dad. Jennie has her own rights to her
own baby, regardless of what my or her
parents think."
"Why?" Marco's voice perked up
slightly, "Are her parents for an adoption
too?"
"Actually no" Lisa took in a deep breath,
ready to disclose the rest of the plans
that had been made at Jennie's house the night before.
Marco huffed loudly, and interrupted,
"Well fine. Let Jennie keep the baby if
that's what she wants. But Lisa, just
because she wants to ruin her own future doesn't mean she should ruin yours too."
"Marco!" Chitthip slammed a box of
crackers she had just retrieved from the
cabinet down onto the counter loudly
"Lisa should be held just as much in
contempt as her. It's just as much her
responsibility. I know we wish that they
were making a different decision, but I'm
not having you sit here and encourage
Lisa to cheat away from her liabilities
and abandon her pregnant teenage
girlfriend"
"I didn't say abandon! Lisa could work
through college to pay child support.
That's all that's required of her by law"
Marco argued.
"Just because that's all the law requires
doesn't mean that Lisa would be doing
the right thing. You wouldn't be doing
the right thing, would you Lisa?" Her
mother looked at her expectantly, while
Lisa nearly choked while she tried to
speak before her father had a chance to
rebuttal.
"They're both just little girls! They're not
old enough to be mothers either. Neither
one of them is doing the right thing by
bringing a child into an unfit home with ill equipped parents!" Marco insisted.
Lisa sputtered, scouring her memory,
trying to remember how to exercise her
vocal chords in her desperate attempt to
get a word in edge wise.
"But you don't get to make this decision
for them! They're going to be parents
soon, with just as many prenotions about what's best for their kid as you have for Lisa. But in the end, you have to
step back and let them make their own
decisions. Here!" Chitthip thrust a plate of cheese and crackers down on the table where Marco sat.
"You made me a snack?" The right corner
of his mouth upturned a little despite the
heated debate.
"No" Chitthip replied cooly, "They're for
Lisa" Marco's mouth fell open, and he
slapped his hands down on the table
cloth, "How do you expect her to take on
'adult responsibilities' when you're still
making her snacks for her?"
"I'll always be her mother, even when she's forty five. Besides, I'm sure Jennie will do the same for her"
Lisa couldn't help but laugh out loud
at the mental image of Jennie attempting
anything domestic.
Apparently Marco was thinking
the same, but no sooner had Lisa
muttered, "Yeah right.", than Marco
sounded in with, "Not in a million years."
The time couldn't have been more than
three minutes maximum distance from
five thirty on the dot when the doorbell
rang.
"They're here already?" Chitthip screeched.
"t's time." Lisa pointed out.
"Quick, quick, finish setting the table!"
Her mother hissed. Lisa complied, grabbing the silverware still arranged on the counter and trying her best to set the table, raking the back of her brain to remember the correct order to place the silverware as it had been taught in the required home economics class she had taken in middle school.
When her memory failed, she
quickly made up an order of her own
and completed the task in a matter of
seconds.
Chitthip rushed to the door, and opened it to reveal the Kim family, all smiling
brightly as if it were nothing but joyous
reasons that brought them to the Manoban residence.
"Hello! Come on in" Chitthip ushered the
family inside.
"Hello" Dara replied cheerfully, leaning
in and pecking each of Chitthip's cheeks
in turn, catching her off guard.
Chitthip managed to come to her senses, and return the European gesture, but only quickly enough to make some sort of fish face, while she tried to pucker her lips fast enough.
Dara retreated, and beamed when she saw Lisa step into the room, smiling awkwardly while she fidgeted with
her hands.
Jennie giggled and gave a ditzy wave,
which caused her cool exterior to slip
momentarily and give way to her nerves,
but only to Lisa, who knew that her
ditz act only surfaced during high anxiety
situations.
Marco walked into the room
and politely said hello to the recently
arrived guests.
"Coach Manoban" Jiyong rumbled in his
masculine voice. He reached forward
and embraced him in an extremely firm
handshake.
"Kim Jiyong." Marco somewhat
reciprocated Jiyong's tone, though with less eccentricity.
While the men greeted one another, Dara, Jennie and Nayeon all smiled eagerly at Chitthip and Lisa, and, subconciously, Chitthip reached down and patted her knee length black skirt, staring at the Kim women's outfits.
While Chitthip had though the dinner would call for semi nice clothing, and had insisted that her husband at least wear a collared shirt for the occasion, and Lisa wear at least a classy top over her jeans, (she hated skirts, for obvious reasons) she had assumed the dress would be semi-formal at best, where as the entire Kim family looked like they would fit in better at the Golden Globes.
Jennie's dress was truly something a
goddess herself might have worn, a dark
gray thigh length number that hugged her curves in just the right places. Her dark hair had been left down, dark colored waves still fountaining down from all angles.
Dara hadn't chosen a dress quite worthy
of Greek goddesses, but still looked
lovely nonetheless. She wore a classic
cut turqouise dress that ended just a few
inches before her knees, paired with a pair of patented white heels, presumedly of some designer, though Chitthip wasn't able to recognize just from a glance.
Nayeon had gone with a beautiful metallic gold thigh length dress, with her half her hair pinned up, and brown waves framing her face.
Kim Jiyong wore black dress slacks,
as well as a tie, outshining Marco who
had merely resorted to tucking his shirt
into dark wash jeans.
The most casual of the Kim's was
Taehyung, who stood quietly beside his
sisters, in nothing more than khacki
pants and a pale blue button down.
Lisa made her way over to Jennie and
snuck a hand around her waist, leaning in and kissing her neck softly.
"Did you tell your parents yet?" Jennie
asked her in a hushed tone. Evidently, though, she was not quiet enough because immediately Chitthip and
Marco both fell silent and eyed Lisa
expectantly.
Lisa swallowed, "We should probably
all sit down before we dive into any major discussions" She suggested.
"Right, right!" Chitthip agreed, guiding
everyone into the kitchen where they
found their seats at the table.
Glancing back at her upscale guests, Chitthip wished she were a talented enough chef to concoct something more impressive than the chicken cordon bleu and wedge salad she had prepared.
Brushing the thoughts aside, she brought the dishes to the table, along with a plate of sliced french bread, the loaf having been bought frozen earlier that day at the grocery store.
"Everything looks delicious" Dara
commented pleasantly, and Chitthip
managed a smile, trying to rid herself of
any feelings of inadequacy as she sat
down at the table.
After everyone was properly seated,
served, and eating, Jiyong and Marco
cleared their throats simontaneously.
Both looked suprised and glanced at the
other.
"Go ahead" Jiyong offered. "guess we can't avoid talking about why we're really here the entire night" Marco began.
"No we can't" Jiyong agreed.
"Oh! l've actually written down a list
of things that should be taken care of,
starting with an ultrasound this week."
Chitthip started.
Dara wrinkled her nose, "Couldn't that
wait until after the wedding? I mean, I
know technically it won't change anything, but you know what they say, 'When ignorance is bliss tis folly to be wise!l" she teetered and then continued, "Id really rather not have there be any concrete evidence of a baby until that baby is under the bind of matrimony"
Chitthip stared at Dara long and hard for a moment, trying to decipher if there was any logic behind the words Dara had
strung along.
Perhaps it was possible with her small frame that she had already gotten tipsy off of the half a glass of red wine she had drank.
After a moment she glanced over at her
equally dumbfounded husband, back at
Dara, and faltered, "Im sorry...wedding?"
"Have you not told them?" Dara directed
the question at Jennie, as if she would
have gotten a chance since last night to
personally instill the Manoban with the
knowledge of Jiyong's plans for her and
Lisa.
"By persuasion, Jennie and I have come
to realize that the most appropriate
decision to make in this situation, is to
us to get married" Lisa tried her best
to sound mature when she spoke to her
parents, wanting to disprove their lecture
earlier that day.
"Married?" Marco scoffed, "Lisa, I know you hate me for being honest, but
you are not ready for any of this."
"I think it's a very admirable decision
Lisa" Chitthip assured, patting his hand,
although her face gave way to nausea.
"I still think that Lisa and Jennie should
seriously consider giving the baby up for
adoption after its born." Marco spoke
to both Jiyong and Dara.
"I don't want that." Jennie said softly,.
staring down at her untouched plate.
"Put the issue to rest Marco, they've
made their decision already" Chitthip said, accompanied by the most discreet of under the table kicks.
Jiyong looked at the other couple, but
spoke anyways, "I, of course, want only
the best for my daughter, and her wife,
so l currently have my real estate agent
hunting down a nice comfortable house
for the two. I'll make sure they're more
than duly provided for" He smiled warmly at Jennie, the corners of his eyes twisting up in affection.
"Oh." Marco was genuinely surprised,
"Well... That's very generous of you.
I couldn't imagine what their living
conditions would be like otherwise"
"I wouldn't allow my little princess in
any unfavorable conditions. And, as an
incentive for doing the right thing and
marrying my daughter, I have a job for
Lisa in management down at my
company. The pay is good, and the hours
are flexible, since you're going to need to
take care of my little girl whenever she
needs you."' Jiyong finished.
Jennie smiled widely at Lisa and
grabbed her hand, squeezing in
excitement.
"Really?" Marco glanced over at Lisa.
"Thank you so much sir" Lisa nodded
her head up and down in hearty gratitude.
"Well, that certainly does put to rest my
financial concerns for the kids." Marco
muttered. Though still convinced Lisa
was not ready to become a mother, he did look much more at ease.
"Yes, but there's still a lot left to do to
prepare" Chitthip interjected, "We really need to get Jennie scheduled for her first
ultrasound this week"
"And we have to set a date for the
wedding" Dara added, "Even if it is just a
fuddy duddy court ceremony"
"The two of you should start taking a
parenting class as soon as possible." Chitthip added.
"We'll need to plan a baby shower!" Dara
exclaimed, "All though, perhaps you
should wait to register until you know if
you're having a girl or a boy so you can
plan the color scheme for your nursery"
"Jennie, I already went out and bought
you some vitamins I think you should
start taking, in case you forgot." Chitthip said.
"There's this italian line of one of a kind
cribs, truly top notch, but they're always
on back order. I'l pull some strings and
place an order now, and by the time the
baby is born, it should be ready" Dara
reached behind her for her handbag,
digging for her iPhone as if she meant to
make the call at that very moment.
Lisa and Jennie both glanced at
each other, as both of the soon to be
grandmothers vied for the upperhand
in the planning.
Jennie heaved a sigh, her shoulders caving forward in her chair. Lisa smiled and lifted her hand, squeezing it, before gently kissing her knuckles.
"Everything's going to be okay" Lisa
assured her. Hearing this, Dara's head snapped up.
She looked at the two teenagers, hands
intertwined, and opened her mouth to
speak.
"Jennie! Don't slouch!"