To love a stranger (A Josh Hutcherson fanfic)

Face to Face with My Mother

Josh and Jen decide that I need a day out. So they dragged me out of the house today and we decided to go to the mall. Jen and I are in Khols looking at baby clothes and Josh just randomly pops up out of nowhere every now and again.

"Kyla! How about this?" Jen says holding up a cute little pink dress.

"That is cute, but I don't know what I'm having yet. I'm trying to keep it neutral." I say and she nods.

"Fair enough." She says putting it back.

"But put it on the list." I say as I look at more clothes.

"Done! Hey I'm gonna go to the bathroom. I gotta pee again." Jen says and I look at her.

"You're peeing more than I am! And I'm pregnant!" I say and she nods.

"Yeah but I had a lot of coffee." She says as she gone back to the bathroom. I go and sit on a nearby bench and sigh. Being 7 months pregnant and shopping oh gosh! Not easy! I lean back a bit and I feel two strong familiar hands start massaging my shoulders. I moans slightly and lay my head back on his stomach and he chuckles.

"Back hurting babe?" Josh asks.

"Yes. Can we go home yet?" I ask.

"No. Jen wants to buy you baby stuff." He says and I groan.

"Jenny wants to buy my baby things, but I don't know if we should yet." I say and he kisses my head.

"I know. You still haven't made that decision yet have you?" He asks and I shake my head.

"No and I'm running out of time." I say and he sighs.

"Yeah." He says and I hear a voice that I thought i'd never hear again.

"Kyla?" I freeze and my eyes shoot open. I slowly look. I see the woman who allowed my young life to be a nightmare. My mother. "Kyla is that you?" She says and I stand and grab Josh's arm. She hasn't seen my belly yet and I'm afraid of what she'd do.

"Miranda. What are you doing here?" I ask.

"I...I work here. You look great." She says. "Who's this?" She asks motioning to Josh.

"This is Josh. He's my boyfriend." I say coldly.

"I thought you were with Freddie Mac." She says. Josh looks at me.

"I left him." I say.

"He was the best thing that ever happened to you." She says.

"No. Josh is. Freddie tried to kill me! He almost did several times." I say and Josh touches my hand.

"Babe calm down. Your going to get sick." He says and I nod. The baby moves and I stop. "What's wrong?" Josh asks concerned. The doctors told him and Jen to watch me because I could go into premature labor fairly easily.

"He moved." I say and he looks at me confused. I take his hand and puts it on my stomach and the baby moves and he smiles. I look at his smile and watch as his face glows as he feels the baby moving into his hand. I smile as he kisses my stomach.

"You're pregnant?" I hear Miranda says and I look at her.

"Yeah. I am." I say coldly.

"Who's is it?" She asks.

"None of your business." I snap.

"Don't talk to me like that! I am your mother." She says sternly. I scoff.

"My mother? You're not my mother. I don't have a mother." I say.

"I am your mother!" She says.

"No your not! Your mother doesn't let her boyfriend beat you as she cowers in the next room! Your mother doesn't let her boyfriend rape you and then does nothing about it!" I yell. I didn't notice that Jen had run back and Josh stands there with a shocked expression. I feel tears run down my face as I look at the woman who gave me my life, but didn't protect it.

"You are being over dramatic, Kyla. It wasn't that bad." She says. I look at her.

"You didn't care then, and you don't care now." I say.

"Oh shut up, Kyla!" She says.

"DON'T TELL ME TO SHUT UP!" I yell and I feel her hand make contact with my cheek. Josh begins yelling at Miranda and a manager comes over as Jen pulls me close to her.

"What is going on over here?" The manager asks.

"This woman just slapped my girlfriend!" Josh says. "And she is sick and pregnant!"

"Miranda! This is the third time that you've had a outburst. You're fired." The manager says and Miranda looks at him shocked.

"What? You can't fire me! I have a son to take care of!" She screams at him and I look at her.

"I'm sorry, Miranda. But you knew that you were on your last strike and you struck out." He says to her and then he looks at me. "I'm sorry ma'am. You have every right to sue this woman." He says and Miranda looks at me.

"Kyla. Please. I am barely making it as it is." She pleads. I don't say anything I just look at her. She takes a step towards me and Josh gets between us.

"You stay away from her." He warns in a deadly voice and she backs up.

"I want to go home." I say.

"Okay. Come on Josh. Let's get her home and ready for her appointment." Jen says as we leave and Josh follows. We walk back to Josh's Jeep. I look back and see Miranda following us. I get in the jeep and lock the door. Miranda comes to my door and tries to open it.

"Kyla. Open the door!" She says. I move away from the door. Josh gets out of the Jeep.

"I told you to stay away from her!" He yells.

"She's my daughter! I have a right to see her! You're not her husband! You can't keep me away from her!" She yells in his face and I see him tense.

"I am protecting my family!" He yells in her face and we all stop.

"Y-your family? That's your baby?" She says shocked. I look at Josh.

"Yes." He says without hesitation. I look at Jen who's expression mirrors my own. Our mouths hang open and our eyebrows are raised. "So stay away from her." With that he gets in the car and we leave. On our way to the doctors office I feel a sharp pain in my stomach.

"Ah!" I say and Josh and Jen look at me.

"What's wrong?" Jen asks concerned.

"Nothing. I just got a sharp pain in my stomach." I say as it happens again. "Ah!" I say and I grab my stomach.

"Josh you need to hurry. I think she might be in labor." Jen says and Josh goes a little faster.

Soon we make it to the doctors office and Josh and Jen get out of the car and Josh helps me out of the car. Jen goes inside a head of us as I have to walk extra slow because of the pain in my stomach. Before we make it to the door a nurse comes out with a wheelchair and has me sit in it. The doctor comes to the lobby as we walk in.

"Are you okay Miss Smith? Jen told me that you where having pain."

"Yeah. I think I'm okay. The pain isn't constant, and it only lasts for a few seconds." I say as another pain hits. I inhale sharply and clench my fists.

"Okay. Breath and stay calm. We are going to take you back now. I want to make sure your okay." He says and I nod. They wheel me to a room and they have me change and lay down. The pain keeps coming.

"Ah!" I scream as I grip the sheets beneath me. The pain subsides a few seconds later and Josh grabs my hand.

"It's gonna be okay. You'll see. It's gonna be fine." He says then he kisses my hand.

"No it's not." I say crying. "This hurts worse than any time Freddie beat me." I say and he hold my hand tightly.

"Kyla, it's going to be okay. I'll be right here with you, baby." He says and kisses my head. Then the doctor comes in like he wants to tell me something.

"I have a bad feeling about this."