(holiday special)
Jayden's p.o.v
I stood by the stove with Kennedy as Micah rested on the living room couch. It was strange, knowing that he was pregnant, and with my child at that. The guilt probably wouldn't wear off. The terrified expression on his face before I pulled out. How the tears rolled down his cheeks and soaked the blindfold. I punished myself for it every day. Just the thought of how scared he must've been made me nauseous with guilt and shame. I never meant to hurt him. I never meant to put him in such a difficult situation. What kind of jerk doesn't ask for permission before going in raw? But what felt the worst was that even despite all that guilt, I was overjoyed. Seeing his stomach grow, seeing the ultrasound, having him around. All of it. It just made me feel genuinely happy, like a child excited for Christmas, knowing that good things laid ahead.
Micah didn't seem to feel the same as I did though. He seemed nervous, upset, anxious and uncertain. It was nerve-wracking to see how obviously uncomfortable he was around both me and Kennedy. But mostly me. Kennedy and Micah knew each since before they met me, making their relationship stronger than what I could have created with them during the few months we'd know each other. Still, Micah had agreed to be in a relationship with both of us. Considering his stubbornness and lack of social skills, I wouldn't have thought he'd even give it a chance. I'd never been in a poly relationship before, I barely ever dated anyone. There were many fears, many uncertainties that I had. What if one of us became the third wheel? What if Kennedy and I ended up fighting over Micah? What if Kennedy felt left out considering that Micah and I were having a baby? What would I do if we started arguing over something? Whose side would I take? Who would take my side? I was, after all, the newcomer to them. Or at least so it seemed.
With a spark of worry, I glanced back into the living room to see Micah laying on the couch under a blanket, snuggled up against a pillow. He looked to be sleeping. I smiled at the sight, he was so pretty. The undercut, fluffy, wavy hair that hung down over his face when he didn't style it. His golden eyes, his perky nose and his small, slightly plump, soft lips.
"You seem nervous..." Kennedy mumbled, nudging my shoulder.
"Did we force him into this?" I mumbled.
Kennedy bumped my hip with his. "Not quite..." he chuckled. "Micah doesn't agree to stuff easily. If you haven't noticed yet, he's quite stubborn..."
I sighed. Of course, I had noticed. It was one of the reasons why I was drawn to him. For some reason, I'd always been drawn to the disobedient ones. "Are you still mad at me?"
Kennedy tensed up for a second, exposing his true feelings. Yup, he was still angry. Kennedy and I hadn't started out on the best of notes. Why had I been so rude to him? Actually, I knew why. It was because I wanted Micah to myself. But who wouldn't? Kennedy certainly did. Even my roommate, Riley, looked at Micah with desire.
"I can't say that I've completely forgiven you..." Kennedy mumbled, gritting his teeth. "You knocked up the guy I'm in love with and then you nearly beat me up..." he chuckled. After a moment of silence, he glanced over at me and sighed. "But I guess I'm just as bad when it comes to things I've said..." he began, awkwardly shifting from foot to foot. "I'm really sorry for what I said to you back then... Everything I said... I didn't mean it, I was just angry... I'm... I'm so sorry..." he sighed heavily.
I let out a soft chuckle. "Yeah, I know..." I said and nudged his arm, brushing my shoulder against his. "It's fine, I forgave you a long time ago. People say shit they don't mean when they're angry. I would know..." Kennedy and I had met up on several occasions that Micah wasn't aware of. We had argued like enemies, laughed together like best friends and spoken, almost formally, as if on a business meeting, about Micah and how both of us felt for him. We weren't rivals, sort of. Sure, both of us wanted Micah to ourselves, but I definitely had the advantage, considering the child growing inside Micah. My child. Micah and I would forever be associated with each other. We would never be able to avoid each other. Now and forever, we'd be co-parenting. Hopefully, our child wouldn't have to move between homes. Then there was this poly relationship. Being an overprotective, somewhat possessive and dominant person, I feared that I would get jealous if Micah leaned more to Kennedy than me.
"You think we can make it work?" I asked and looked up at Kennedy. His short, brown hair was a bit messy from the beanie he wore outside. He needed to shave. To be fair though, it was quite attractive that he had a bit of stubble.
"I do... Micah's... a bit difficult, but he's worth it. He's amazing..."
"I can hear you!" A grumpy voice called out. Both Kennedy and I turned, locking eyes with the ball of bundled up blankets on the couch. His cheeks were red with the warmth in the room and his eyes a bit glossy, perhaps he'd been sleeping. I smiled.
"Take the compliment!" I chuckled.
"Eat my ass, Jayden!" He growled. The corner of my mouth twitched as I tried to hold back a smug snicker.
"I would love to..." I grinned.
Looking back into the living room, I caught sight of Chris suspicious eying Micah. The possessive side of me squirmed. Joey too was looking at Micah who definitely noticed, but didn't seem to care or bother to speak up about it.
No one had asked me any questions since we ran into Micah and Kennedy the other day despite their speculations. I knew they'd been joking about Micah being pregnant, but they weren't joking about it anymore. Now they were quiet, observing suspiciously and curiously, looking for clues and signs. If it was so interesting, couldn't they just ask? They could ask me or Kennedy or even Micah if they had the guts since Micah would probably end up fighting them. It would've been amusing to see if Micah hadn't been pregnant.
⚥ ⚥ ⚥
Micah shovelled spoonful after spoonful of mac n cheese into his mouth with a pleased look on his face. He had covered his food in ketchup with a mountain of extra cheese on top. I wasn't exactly judging him, just staring in amazement as he kept eating. The thin long-sleeved cotton shirt he wore hugged his torso, not hiding his nipples in the slightest. Not only were they hard, but they were also perkier than usual as well as bigger, perhaps swollen. It took a lot of effort not to stare and I was fearing that my lip would start to bleed with how hard u was biting it, trying to restrain myself. If I could have it my way I would take him right there and-
"Hungry?" Joey mumbled with a nervous grin. Micah stopped eating, looked up at Joey with a murderous look and swallowed the food he had in his mouth. He swallowed loudly, making sure Joey heard it.
Kennedy and I had made enough mac n cheese for an entire school class so Joey didn't exactly need to worry about it running out before he was full which made me somewhat wary of the situation he was putting himself in. Kennedy too had noticed the glare Micah was giving my roommate.
"I'm drowning my regrets in carbs." Micah hissed and made eye contact with me as he shoved another spoonful of mac n cheese into his mouth. His glare stung. Every time he looked at me with sad or angry eyes, I felt myself breaking. Nothing hurt more than having someone you're in love with look at you with distaste. Did he really hate me that much? Did he really see me as his mistake? Of course. I was born a mistake.
My parents were teens when they had me. Two young high school kids who'd been dating for less than a month. When my mom found out she was pregnant, my dad left the state. He moved across the country and mom never saw him again. She told me that his parents didn't approve of their relationship and that he was scared he'd be thrown out by his parents if they found out. So he left. He and his sister convinced their family to move and that was that. Mom, who was only fifteen at the time, left me to her parents after I was born. It wasn't long before she left for college and by the time she did, I was barely old enough to remember her anyway. In college, my mom found a new boyfriend who she married. By that time, I was sixteen and my grandparents, who raised me as their own, were dead. They left their entire inheritance to me, which mom was absolutely pissed about, and I moved in with an older friend.
I missed my grandparents. My grandpa was the son of a Scandinavian and an Englishman who came from Europe to America on a large boat that sailed the Atlantic Ocean. My grandma was a short Mexican immigrant who refused to speak English with anyone other than me and my grandpa just to spite the people who told her not to speak Spanish. My grandma always had a story to tell, from the day I was born till the day she died, there wasn't a single story I heard twice. She always had something new to tell, adventures she'd been on, places she'd seen and people she'd met. How much of it was true, I'd never know. Perhaps all of it, perhaps none of it. Even so, her never-ending stories were the fuel I grew up on. It was what got me going to school with a smile in the morning and what made me come through the door every evening with that same smile, eager for more of her tales. She was the greatest woman I ever knew. María Petunia Fabiana Rocha Marston. My hero.
Micah's parents reminded me of my grandparents. His energetic mom and quiet dad. Micah was lucky to have them and they were lucky to have him. A family.
"If you keep eating that much you're gonna get fat..." Joey mumbled to Micah. I froze, shaking out of my previous thoughts completely. "No offence... but you're already kinda round... you look pregnant..."
Someone smacked the back of Joey's head and I facepalmed. As if it wasn't enough that Micah was already pretty impulsive and didn't take other's negativity very well, he was also a hormonal wreck who could start crying over literally anything. Saying that I was scared would be an understatement. Joey and Micah in the same room was the worst decision of my life by far. Not even accidentally knocking up a guy during a one night stand could measure up to this. Joey was a guy who never thought before he spoke. Not only that, but he also spoke his mind and his mind only, often making inappropriate jokes that weren't even jokes but most people nervously laughed along anyway. Micah was a mean cutie, passive-aggressive, impulsive and short-tempered with a lot of self-confidence. He might've looked absolutely adorable and stunning, but the guy was a ticking time bomb; ready to go off at any time in any place. A land mine that Joey had stepped on without realising his mistake. I held my breath. Pregnant or not, hormones or none, Micah was about to either explode or melt into a pool of sobbing hormone mess on the floor.
"Well..." He whispered, voice shaky. I couldn't tell if he was sad or angry. "I am pregnant." He sniffled, finally looking up to reveal puffy eyes and tears running down his cheeks. I was thankful that he wasn't about to stab someone but now extremely worried that he was crying. That worry was quickly turned into anger though as I remembered why that perfect person with anger issues was crying. My head snapped in Joe's direction, eyes shooting lightning that struck his heart. I could see the fear in his eyes as I looked at him. But I wasn't about to start a fight. That was against the house rules. Instead, I took a deep breath and slowly stood up, pulling the sobbing Micah into my arms and holding him tightly as Kennedy tried to wipe away his tears.
Everyone at the table stared in confusion as I led Micah and Kennedy out of the kitchen, toward the stairs. As I walked away, I mouthed 'I'll explain later' to the wide-eyes college students who sat around the table. We never ate together and when we actually did, something like this happened. I threw Joey a cold glare before turning the corner to the stairs.
"I want mint ice cream..." Micah sniffled.