A Tight-Knit Family // Falsettos AU

Mendel Tries to Help

Marvin

I don't know why I kept Trina's pregnancy from Whizzer for so long. I mean, he knows that she and I were still dating back when it happened, so obviously we would still have been doing it. It doesn't matter that I was in a relationship with someone else. 

Anyway, I still haven't told him. Maybe I'm waiting for the first trimester to be over. It passes. And I haven't told Whizzer. 

I plan to—I just want to know what we're doing with the possible baby. It's Trina's decision, but I do want to raise a kid. I'm ready for the responsibility, I'm already a couple years out of college and have a stable job. But Whizzer is the catch. I mean, he's my boyfriend. How's he going to feel?! 

Trina

I have two people to give "the talk" to. I don't know who it's more important to speak with first. Marvin or Mendel. I guess whoever I see before the other. 

And, of course, it's Mendel. Early into January, we're hanging out at this park. A romantic setting, a bench under the trees. Not very perfect for this news, but we're with each other, so it's my chance. 

"Hey, Mendel?" I begin nervously. 

"What is it, honey?" 

"You know the thing that we've known about for, like, a month and a half but haven't really talked about?" 

"The fact that you watched Make Happy without me?" he asks jokingly. 

"For God's sake, you can't be mad about that. It was before we knew each other!" 

"I was just kidding." 

"Okay, so you know my pregnancy?" I get it over with. 

"Yeah...?" 

God, how do I tell him this? I don't know if it's just a question I'm asking myself, or if I'm really asking God. Like in Hamilton. Lord, show me how to say no to this. 

Whatever. "Well, I've decided that I'm in a good place in life to raise a child, and no matter who it happened with, I want a child. I may struggle, but it'll be worth it. I mean, I'm an adult." 

Mendel nods. "So... you've made a decision already." 

"I'm going to give birth. And keep the baby afterward." 

"That's okay. I'll be a father. I'm fine with that!" I can tell he's nervous, but I think he's okay. 

"Well..." I begin. "Marvin wants to be involved." Oh, boy, the awkwardness. "You won't be the only father." 

"Trina and Mendel!" Whizzer comes up to us, interrupting our difficult conversation. "What brings you guys here?" 

"We were here before you," Mendel says. 

"I live close by," my ex's boyfriend explains, I guess to let us know what he's doing here. 

"Oh, so you know how Trina's pregnant? Oh, yeah, obviously Marvin told you. It's his baby. Anyway, we're going to raise the baby. But it's complicated, because she just told me he—Marvin—wants to be involved as well." 

Whizzer's face explains something words couldn't express. It says, no, I didn't know my boyfriend had gotten his ex-girlfriend pregnant, that he knew and didn't tell me, and that he wanted to be involved. Whatever "involved" means. He wasn't too specific about it. 

Okay, that last part was me. But Mendel immediately knows he's made a mistake. 

"Uh... April Fool's," I add quickly. 

"It's January." Whizzer's voice cracks. 

"I did it early so you wouldn't expect it," my boyfriend squeaks, clearly embarrassed. 

I grab him by the hand. "Goodbye, Whizzer! We have to go home!" 

"I think you need to have a talk with Marvin," Mendel adds as we leave. 

Whizzer nods. "Yeah. I do." 

Marvin

Yet again, Whizzer has come into my apartment. 

"Do you even live at your own place anymore?" I ask, but playfully. 

"Marvin." Whizzer sits down gravely, face in hand. "Do you have something you'd like to tell me?" 

Oh no. Oh, no. Please. "Is there something that needs to be told?" 

"There's something that needed to be told," my boyfriend chokes. "How long have you known... when were you going to tell me that you and Trina were having a baby?" 

Intense panic. "I'm not having it with her. I just wanted to be, like, a little involved"—I show him the amount with my fingers—"if she ended up keeping it." 

"She is. Mendel told me." 

I perk up. "She is?!" 

One look from Whizzer and my smile disappears. He's clearly upset right now. I realize that this is what I was worried about, but it's the worst thing ever that he found out from someone else. 

"I'm going home, Marvin." He gets up and turns to leave. 

"Wait, if it makes you feel better, we conceived before we were broken up! So it was completely appropriate to have sex!!" I try to call after him. 

Whizzer turns back to me, hurt. "That was the past. I don't care about the past. I care about the future." He exits irately. 

Fuck.