Planning Your Future

Slipping Through My Fingers (Part 1)

May 30, 1993

Veronica's POV

I get to my house late. Owen and Sam are planning to come here in a few days. Owen said he wanted to get away from his dad after the fight they had. Sam just said that his family is boring so he would love to spend his summer somewhere else. We can also do some gigs while we're here. It's going to be a pretty fun summer when they come.

I go over to the McNamara house. "Hey." JD hugs me. "So you already said Owen would stay at your house, do you want to host Sam as well or have him stay here? I'm trying to figure out the best place for everyone." JD tells me. "Well we have that pull-out choice in the attic, that could be a good place for one of them. You live in the guest room, so I don't think there's space for anyone else." I don't think anyone should have to sleep on a couch so it would be wise for the guys to stay at my house. My dad already said yes to hosting Owen. Sam should be no problem. "I think that makes sense." He nods. "Perfect." I pat him on the back.

"Veronica, I have a question." Heather walks down the stairs. "What?" I look over at her. "So I know you and Alyssa aren't on the best of terms. I just wanted to ask if you want me to be a counselor this year?" She grabs me by the shoulders. "You don't have to do that." It might not be the worst idea. This would be the first time that two of my fellow counselors are my exes. "I'd be happy to. I know it must be hard. I know you and JD are together but it wasn't awkward with you two last year like it is now." She glances at JD who has a smirk on his face. "What?" She asks. "I should have told you this when I first got here, but Veronica and I broke up." JD explains. "What?" She yells. "It's fine. We've worked through it and realized we're best as friends." He assures her. "So I guess I should take your place. Unless you want to see your kids again." She says. I would like to see them but I wouldn't get to see them as often as I would if they were still in my cabin. "What if I dropped you off and picked you up. That way I can see them when I come to get you." I suggest. "That works." She shrugs.

We all eat dinner together. Jill looks really nervous. "Jill, are you okay?" I ask. "I'm fine." She smiles. She exchanges a glance with Hank before standing up with him. "We have something really important to announce." She says. They look at each other one more time as if to make sure they should share what they're about to share. "JD, Heather... Veronica, I'm pregnant." She announces. "Oh my God. Really?" JD covers his mouth with his hand. "Really." She pulls an ultrasound out of her pocket. I look at it and the baby is small, but you can see them. "I found out two months ago. I just wanted to be sure I was actually pregnant before we told you. I'm due on December 28th." She tells us. "I'm so happy for you guys!" I get up and hug them. "Thank you, Veronica." Jill lets go of me. We all finish eating, excited by the news we have just received.

Heather, JD, and I are upstairs in Heather's room. "So this is weird. To be in college while my dad is going to have a baby." Heather leans against her bed frame. "Yeah. It's weird for me too. I'm going to be out of college before the baby's first birthday." JD laughs. "My dad's going to be so old when the baby becomes a teenager. He'll be sixty by the time they turn sixteen." Heather jokes. I didn't know Hank was older than Jill by more than a year. With the same math applied to Jill, the baby would be twenty when Jill turns sixty. It's not a big difference. My parents are five years apart.

"So when are your friends coming?" Heather asks. "I think one of them is coming on Friday, and the other on Saturday." I say. Sam is coming Friday and Owen is coming Saturday. "I can't wait to meet them." She smiles. "Yeah, they're really cool." JD starts to get off the bed. "Where are you going?" I ask. "I just wanted to talk to my mom." He pushes me over so that I lie on the bed. "Rude!" I jokingly yell as he leaves.

JD's POV

My mom is cleaning up in the kitchen. "Hey." I begin to help her with the dishes. "You don't need to help me." She tries to take a plate from my hand. "I want to." I hold it out of reach. She gives up and grabs a sponge. "So do you think it's weird? That I'm having a baby at forty?" She asks. "No. I think it's great. You always wanted more than one kid, but Dad didn't. So you can finally have that. You're only forty. It would be different if you were having a baby at fifty." I say. "I was a good mother, wasn't I?" She stops washing the glass in her hand to look at me. "Yes! You were such a good mom! Especially considering what you had to deal with. I couldn't imagine what would've happened had you died in that library. I know that's probably sensitive, but I'm so grateful. I can't even imagine what my life would be like if I was raise by just Dad." It would've been so bad. "You've never talked about that. I can't believe I even considered it for one second. I can't believe I tried to leave you. I regret it every day." She is trying not to cry. "Mom, I get it. I'm sure many people would have done that if they were in your shoes. I don't blame you. I'm just glad you're still here. You're in a place where you're happy, in a marriage way healthier than the one you had with Dad, and you're going to have a baby. And your baby is gonna have a great childhood." I assure her. "Sorry. I've been so emotional lately. Probably the hormones." She wipes her eyes. "If it helps, you definitely have a glow." I joke. "Thank you." She gives me a weak laugh.

"So do you have any baby name ideas?" I ask. "We thought of a few. But you'll find out soon." She says. "I guess I can wait. Even if I do have to wait seven months to find out what my little brother or little sister's name is. Do you at least have a prediction for the gender?" I want to know what she thinks she is going to have. "I think it'll be a boy. Hank thinks it's going to be a girl." She tells me. "I don't mind either way." I say. "God, I keep forgetting how old you are. You're 21 years old now! Time really does fly by. You need to stop aging. You keep just... slipping through my fingers." She sighs. "Are you quoting a song?" It sounds like a quote. "Maybe. It's a good song. And it applies." She continues to wash dishes. "Isn't it, like ten years old?" I start helping her again. "So? Just because it's not recent doesn't mean it's not good." She bumps into me purposefully. "I never said that. I just thought it was weird that you were quoting a ten year old song." I shrug. "Whatever." She begins to put the dishes on the drying rack.

June 4, 1993

Veronica's POV

JD and I wait at the airport for Sam. We see him first so we get to see him look for us. When he finds us in the crowd, he smiles. "Hey guys." He's struggling to hold all of his luggage. "How did they let you bring this much stuff?" I laugh. "I paid extra." He puts one of his bags down. "Here I'll take that." JD takes the bag that he had set down. "Thank you." Sam pants. "No problem." JD lifts the bag up and begins to take it to the car.

"So how are we planning to get gigs this summer?" Sam asks. "I'll talk to Ethan and ask if he knows of any openings at the theater. If not, we might have to have our own concert." I say as I drive. "What do you mean?" Sam leans forward, his arm resting on the center console. "We could invite people over and have a concert in my backyard." I think it's worth considering. "I like that. If we can't get anything, we should do that." JD says. "I agree." Sam nods.

"Here is where you will be sleeping." I show Sam the attic. "Nice. So is this our rehearsal space?" He looks around. "Yeah. And I'm glad you brought your bass. I didn't wanna have to ask Ethan for his." It would've been a pain in my ass if I had to. "Yeah, well I always come prepared." He sets it down on the couch. "So where did you get those drums?" He points to the drum set in the corner. "Oh my friend's a drummer and he didn't need his drum set anymore so he gave it to me." I pull it out of the corner to reveal a name on it. "You added our band name to the drums!" Sam smiles. "Yep." Dennis did say it was mine now. He's not going to ask for it back.

There's a knock on the front door so I go downstairs to see Owen. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow." I hug him. "I wanted to get here earlier. I couldn't even spend one more day at my parents' house. The tensions are still rising." He sighs. "Anyways, how are you? How's it been since you got home?" He changes the subject. "Well JD's mom is pregnant. He's going to be a big brother." I tell him. "Wow. That's great." He says. "I know. I think he's nervous." I saw his face when she told us. "I bet. When my mom had my brother, I was so nervous. Luckily with him being straight, and him being 21 years older than them, he won't have to deal with the terrible thing my brothers put me through." He picks up his stuff. "Glad to know you didn't pack as much as Sam did. I think he brought everything he owns." I lightly hit Sam. "I came prepared." He hits me back. "Sure." I playfully roll my eyes as I help Owen bring his stuff to the guest room.

JD comes over again later that day. He meets us in the attic. "Look who showed up a day early!" I smile. "Hey!" He pats Owen on the shoulder. "Hey." Owen sits at the drums. "So how's your mom?" I ask. "She's good. She's really excited. I don't think she can wait until her due date." He starts to tune his guitar. "I'm sure she's just very happy to be having another baby. Didn't you tell me she wanted another one after she had you?" I remember him telling me that. "Yeah she wanted a lot of kids. My dad barely wanted me." He has a stone expression. He doesn't seem upset about that. "Well we should rehearse." He runs one of his hands through his hair. "You're right." I nod.

Ahhhhh! I've had that pregnancy thing up my sleeve for a while. I think I planned it after I wrote about their engagement. Jill is already a great mom so now she gets a new kid to care for! And we all know JD is going to be an amazing big brother. Bye!