Forced to have the Player's Kid (Book One of The Great Age Plague Series)

Chapter Eleven

As soon as Fitzy entered the house, Lilac ran away in fear. Well. At least she wasn't trying to eat him like I thought she might be. My mother meekly entered the hallway; then, seeing the puppy run by, she smiled.

"So it was a good date I assume?" she asked with the widest grin on her face. I couldn't help but smile back, my smile matching hers, or at least that's what my dad always said. I fingered the necklace she had given me that morning. Behind me, I heard Josh clear his throat.

"Oh, hello there," my mother said, noticing Josh. She gave him a look as if to say "Oh my goodness, he's attractive!" and I frowned while blushing. She could be so embaressing sometimes. Josh stuck out a hand-- with a dashing smile, of course-- and shook my mother's hand formally.

"Hi, I'm Josh, your new son in law. If you don't want the puppy in your house that's fine, I can always take him home with me. Thank you for letting your daughter skip school with me today," he said. Boy, I could practically see my mom's eyes turn into hearts. Josh was so good with parents! It amazed me he had never had a steady girlfriend before-- he obviously could win over anyone's parents. I almost laughed too as Fitzy began to bark and wiggle, rolling all over the carpet in the front room, super excited to be home. Josh made it look like this date, this dog, everything, wasn't forced. It was kind of amazing.

"Anyway, I'm meeting up with some friends now, so I'll have to head off. I just wanted to pop in and say hi. Adira, don't forget you're welcome to join me if you want. Bye Mrs. Stevenson, it was nice meeting you," said Josh. My mother waved feebly, practically lovestruck herself, and as soon as the door shut behind Josh, she turned to me with a girly squeal.

"Adira! Oh my goodness, you got so lucky! Oh hun, I am so happy for you, you two are going to have the cutest baby!" she squealed, pulling me into a bear hug. I laughed nervously, not having the heart to tell her he was truly a total player and jerk.

That's not what you were thinking today piped a hopeful voice in my mind. I shut her out and focused back on my mother, who had already released me and was nuzzling my puppy.

"Why aren't you going out with Josh some more?" my mother asked. Her eyes were focused on the puppy, so that made it easier on me to tell a half-truth. I shrugged.

"I told Cally I'd hang with her as she took a pregnancy test," I said. My mother nodded solemnly, her demeanor changing despite her eyes still being locked on Fitzy.

"Yeah, I hope that girl gets some help raising her baby. These kids-- they can barely take care of themselves without their parents around, how will they ever take care of another child?" my mother shook her head and kissed Fitzy. After a moment, she looked up at me with a grin.

"But that's okay. You always have me, Lilac, and now--" she motioned at Fitzy "Some new friends. Plus Josh seems like a really nice boy. You know Adira, with his help we may be able to still send you to college." My heart dropped a little at this and I broke into a nervous sweat. She was right of course-- but there was one thing she may have been wrong about. Would Josh really stick around to help me with his kid? I shuddered at the thought of getting stuck in my small town forever with my mom, a dog, and a baby. As nice as certain aspects of that life were-- I was lucky enough to still have a mother-- I also had desperate wanderlust. I wanted to travel the world, read books I'd never heard of, go place I'd never dreamt of. How could I possibly do that without someone helping raise my baby?

"Yeah," I managed with a wobbly smile. My mother noticed this of course-- some weird mom sense that can detect the slightst thing off in your smile. Would I one day have that sense toward my child?

"What's wrong, Adira?" she asked, frowning at me. I looked away and began walking up the stairs, as if rushed.

"Nothing, I just have to hurry up. Cally and I are meeting soon-- we'll talk later!"

And with that I shut the door to my room, biting back tears as I turned on some Taylor Swift and hurriedly changed my clothes.

******

"Adira, I'm so nervous and I don't even know why. I'm suppose to be pregnant after all..... why am I nervous?" asked Cally, pacing around her room fiercly. Cally and I weren't all that different in the ways we decorated our rooms-- but, unlike my white and purple palette, she went with something a little more ocean like with soft blues and greens. She glanced into the gilded mirror on her sea-foam green wall and frowned at her reflection.

"I look like a stressed out mother. Uh! How much longer?" she moaned, flopping onto the fuzzy white chair propped up against the wall. I looked up from my reading, which was her old copy of Twilight that just happened to be sitting on her bedside table. I stood from my spot on her orange duvet covered bed and kneeled in front of her.

"Cally, you just peed on the stick like five seconds ago. Be patient. Look, you wanna hear about my date with Josh while we wait?" I asked, plopping down onto the checker board carpet. At this, Cally perked up like Fitzy does when he smells something good-- she just loved gossip. I gave a sigh and set down Twilight, relaying the details to her begrudingly. There was only a minute left for the test when I dropped the bomb that Josh had asked me to go to a party that night, and Cally gave a yell as the test beeped.

"Oh my goodness, Adira!" upon hearing the test beep she laughed "Oh my gosh, hold that thought." Cally ran to the test and I held my breath. I sent a little prayer up, hoping she was pregnant so I could watch her develop while still figuring out how to lose my virginity. Everything was less scary for me when Cally did it first. Unfortunatly, I heard Cally sigh in dissappointment.

"I'm not pregnant," she grumbled. I let out the air I had been unkowningly holding in and frowned.

"Oh well, at least you'll have fun trying to make a baby again," I giggled. At this Cally couldn't help but laugh, and soon we broke into one of those best friend laughing fits that occured for no reason. When we were done catching our breath, I saw Cally's eyes light up with excitement.

"Wait, Adira, if I'm not pregnant, that means I can still drink!" she said with joy. Uh oh. I knew where this was going.

"Cally...."

"Oh come on, Adira," she yelled, grabbing my arms and pulling me up from the floor "Since when have we ever been invited to a party by someone as cool as Josh? Besides, it will give you some more bonding time with your baby daddy." At this she wiggled her eyebrows, and I rolled my eyes in disgust.

"Please, bonding with Josh is the last thing I want to do. I'd much rather stay home and read," I said plainly. At this, Cally gave me the biggest brown eyes ever. Yeesh, she looked just like Fitzy. I couldn't help but feel a tad bit guilty.

"Adira, please please please! I'm your best friend! Besides it's way better than staying home all night. I'll make you look so hot, I have the perfect dress for you," she grumbled. I shrugged, really not wanting to go, but also not wanting to hurt Cally's feelings. She stuck her bottom lip out, making me laugh. At this she grabbed my wrist and yanked me toward the closet.

"Laughing means yes!" she said "Let's get you sexi-fied for your baby daddy!"

I, unhappily, followed her into the closet. Oh boy. Here goes nothing.