Never Knew We Needed You

6

Mark and I sat down that night to discuss everything, and we came up with our plan.
I'm not going back to school, I was just able to unregister. Mark and I are going to buy a small house in L.A., where we can raise our child. Mark will continue YouTube, that was never a question, and I'll get a part-time job until the baby is born. We didn't talk about getting married, so I have no clue about what's going to happen. All I know is that I love Mark and Mark loves me, and that's what's important.
Two weeks ago we told my parents, who were shocked at first, my dad looked at Mark a bit alarmingly (Skype probably wasn't the best idea) but soon warmed up to it, considering that Catholic families love children so much that they have multiple ones. (Bit of a stereotype but trust me, my classmate has TEN kids in her family, and her mom is pregnant AGAIN)
Mark's family is even more excited. I met them all recently, they were some of the nicest people I've ever met. Today we're announcing it to Mark's fans, and finding out the gender. He's making it a vlog, whatever that means. I'm not exactly sure what it is he even does, besides film himself playing games and uploading them. But I've seen him meet fans, see how much they love him, and see how much he appreciates them. They seem so close to him, even though they've never met him before. Ironically, they also seem close to me. They came right up and hugged me. Mark said it's probably because since he means a lot to them, the people who mean a lot to him also matter in their lives. There's only been a bit of resent towards me, but so many of his fans love us as a couple. One thing stuck out at me, that a fan commented on the video where I was introduced: you know I'm sad that I'm not dating him, but not jealous. He's not mine, I can't be jealous, but I can be happy for him. Good for you, Mark, you snagged a nice one.
When Mark saw it, he got so excited. He knows he has fangirls, he wasn't expecting this reaction.

"Miss Woodland?"
I stand up from my chair in the waiting room. Mark comes to follow me, and I take his hand. I'm three months today, perfect timing for an ultrasound.

"Okay Paige, how old are you?"
"22."
"How old is Mark?"
"27," he says, sitting in the chair next to the hospital bed where I'm already laying.
"Good! Any history of drug or alcohol abuse in either of your families?"
I shake my head.
"No addiction, but I do have a medical condition, a missing enzyme that keeps me from drinking," Mark answers.
"Okay, stuff like that can be genetic, so your child might not be able to drink. But that doesn't mean it's not healthy, okay?"
She asks me to lift my shirt up a bit, and starts putting the gel over where our child is. After about a minute, it shows up.
"Oh my god..." I whisper, staring at the screen as Mark kisses my hair.
"There's your baby!" The nurse says, starting to write things down.
"Want to know the sex?"
We both nod vigorously, and she goes to click at a computer screen.
"Congratulations you two, you're having a..."

"Hey guys, big news. I'm making this vlog with my lovely girlfriend, Paige, whom all of you know and love. We have some...things to say. Want to tell them?"
Mark looks at me expectantly, and I take a deep breath.

"Well you guys, um, this was unexpected, we weren't planning this-" here Mark chuckles and nods, "but, I'm pregnant."
We sit there for a bit, letting it all sink in.
"Now, you guys are probably all spazzing in the comments, but just know, Mark and I both want this child, and we'll be raising it together. We're getting a house together pretty soon."
"Yeah, YouTube might slow down a bit after the baby is born, because I'll be a dad, I'll have a child to focus on. I'm not stopping YouTube any time soon, don't worry, but videos will be slowing down in March, when the baby is due."
I smile. "But, I know I'm sick of referring to our kid as it, baby, and child. We got our ultrasound today, I'm three months in, and we want you guys to know the gender."
Mark and I look at each other and smile. We say at the same time,

"We're having a girl."

The comments section blew up. So many people were asking if we were serious, and Mark had to confirm over and over again. It was kind of ridiculous. Our families got even more excited than before, and my parents completely accepted it when they found out it was a girl.
After the initial shock was over, it was nothing but love from the fans. However, one fangirl was clearly upset.

"Mark, come look at this. This twelve-year-old keeps spamming me.." I'm scrolling through my phone and seeing all sorts of hate messages from this one girl whom I'm assuming is named Jackie from her usernames.
Mark takes the phone and looks at the tweets she sent me:
Ugh, whatever!! She's a such a whore bitch, getting herself pregnant.
Mark doesn't love you, idiot. You're distracting him from his fans.
I wish Mark would shut up about this slut he calls a soul mate. She's so dumb.

Mark shuts his eyes, and falls on the couch beside me.
"Paige, I'm so sorry."
I just smile. "I'm fine."
Mark tries to explain that so many of his fans do love him, so this is hard for them to take, but that in the one he loves.
"Mark, it's okay, I know that they're just crazy middle school girls. I've had celebrity crushes before, you get over them."
Ha my mom hopes for me. Seriously I'm like one of the only rare, sane 12-year-old fangirls out there. I just keep all of it in mai head, off the internet. And then I just enjoy the messed up fantasies that other people are willing to share.

Mark kisses me. "Paige, you are seriously the best in the world."
I don't care if one fan hates me or if all of them did, Mark doesn't. Again, he loves me and I love him.

That's all I need