And Baby Makes...?

Chapter 1

Tyler POV

Jenna and Samantha had arrived to join Josh and I on tour.  I was so excited to have them there. So excited to introduce Samantha to the fans and also to announce our incredible news. 

When they arrived and my manager told me they were getting settled in the bus I ran out there and hugged my wife and my daughter. I swear, in the month and a bit we've been on tour, she must have shot up another few inches. She was getting so tall!

While I was doing press, Jenna took Samantha on a tour of the venue and showed her around. Once we were done, we sat in the dressing room for a while and I showed Samantha the game Josh and I played throwing hangers at coat racks and trying to get them to land. We were rarely successful. 

We had dinner in the room set aside for that and then Josh and I got ready for the show. Jenna and Sam watched from the side stage. After we opened with HeavyDirtySoul I coaxed Sam out onto the stage and introduced her to the fans. They screamed and cheered and called her name. She took it like a champ. I reassured her they were all very supportive.

For the rest of the concert, Sam stayed with Jenna on the side of the stage, watching the show.

At the end of the show, just before the encore, I had Jenna and Sam come out onto the stage so we could tell everyone our incredible news. It would also be a surprise for Samantha.

They came out on stage and I re-introduced them both and then told the crowd the news we'd been holding on to for a few months.

"Jenna is pregnant!!" I cried to the crowd. They started cheering and going completely insane.  Samantha froze, looked at the two of us and ran off stage.

"I guess someone's a little overwhelmed at being a big sister," I said, but I was worried really. Jenna said to me she'd go check on Samantha and not to worry. I couldn't help it but Josh and I made it through the encore because I knew Jenna would be able to calm Samantha down. So long as she could find her.  That was the big question.  I couldn't help but worry what Samantha would do. Maybe we'd overestimated her growth and comfort. Because fear was what I saw in her eyes before she ran.

Josh and I did the last three songs, and ended the concert in our usual way.

"We're twenty one pilots and so are you!!" I cried out. The crowd screamed and cheered as we left the stage.

"What the hell, Ty?" Josh asked as we got backstage where it was a bit quieter.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You dropped that news on Samantha with no preparation?"

"I thought she'd be excited. I didn't think she'd take off."

"What if she took off, off?"

"What do you mean?  You think she'd run away in a strange city?"

"I don't know. I have no idea why she'd run or what she'd be thinking. But you probably shouldn't have dropped that on her in front of the fans!  She doesn't do well with surprises. You know that!"

"I'm sure Jenna has it under control," I said as we walked into the dressing room. 

Just then, Jenna came rushing into the dressing room.

"I can't find her in the venue," she said.

"Have you checked the bus?" I asked.

"No. I was about to. Can you come with?  If she's there we should probably both talk to her," she said.

I followed Jenna outside to the bus.

It was quiet when we got to the bus, but Jenna suggested checking the bunk Sam had chosen. The curtain was drawn.

"Sam? Honey?" Jenna said. "Are you in there?"

No answer. I saw panic flick across Jenna's face.

"Sam?" I said. "If you're in there, we're opening the curtain."

I tried to pull it but it wouldn't move. Sam was holding it shut. Of course it opens the other way, too. I opened the curtain from the back.

Sam was curled up into a ball, her eyes red, her face stained with tears.

"Sweetheart!" Jenna said, sitting beside Sam and trying to rub her back. Samantha pulled away from her.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

Samantha wouldn't answer. I was pained by the hurt in her eyes.

"Sam, come on. We were doing so well. Talk to us," I pleaded.

"Stanley was right," she said through silent sobs, as tears continued flowing down her cheeks.

"Stanley? What was Stanley right about?" I asked, bewildered. What did her late father say, a man who had abused her physically and psychologically for 13 years. A man who had told her she was worthless because she's a girl.

"Where are you sending me?" Sam asked.

"What do you mean?" Jenna asked. "Why would we send you anywhere?"

"So you're just going to dump me on the side of the road like some trash?" There was anger in her eyes as well as fear and sorrow.

"What? What are you talking about?" I said.

"Stanley said eventually you'd have kids of your own and when you did you'd get rid of me because taking care of a baby and a useless lump of flesh like me, who costs more than they're worth, is hard."

I suddenly understood. Stanley, either at the prison, when he'd forced us to bring Sam to visit, or when he'd kidnapped her and held her captive for a week, had told her that her diabetes would cause us to get rid of her if we ever had our own children.

"Samantha," I said, soothingly. "We're not getting rid of you. You're our daughter. You're ours forever. The baby doesn't change that. We love you just as much, if not more, than anything. The baby, we love them, too. Differently, but still.

"You love them more because they're your kid," she said.

"No. Not at all. We love you and the baby. In different ways because you're both very different. For starters, the baby isn't even a baby yet. It's a group of cells in the vague shape of a, well, at this point maybe something human looking?"

Jenna smiled.

"Sam, obviously things are going to change a bit between now and when the baby comes. And they'll change again then. But we will never stop loving you and we absolutely will not get rid of you, our first daughter, for any reason. I'm already dreading you going away to college, if you choose that."

Samantha stayed curled up and crying. I felt horrible that she thought we would get rid of her because we were having a baby. She's our daughter. She's our world.