Bughead 💘 | Wattys2017

Chapter 14

I didn't know what to do or what to think anymore. Polly was dead. I'm the main caretaker of my nephew now, who's still in the ICU until Saturday, at least. My boyfriend-turned-fiancé is in jail. I needed to save him. Yes, he accidentally killed Kevin. But it was in defense, and he didn't realize it was a cliff because it was foggy outside. Ugh. Sheriff Keller said that he was going to trial for this, along with Mr. Jones who killed Jason. Wow, what a mess. If only life could fix all of these problems in a second. Thankfully, the trial is going on Wednesday, so that's sooner that not. Most trials go to court months, even years later. Thankfully, Riverdale is so small it gets done rapidly.

I had confined myself to my room for the past few days. I didn't feel the want or need to leave for anything. Veronica came to visit me a few times. We started planning Polly's funeral. It was going to be on Saturday, so at least Baby JJ could attend. I had been crying my eyes out all week because of it. I was essentially a teenager-turned-adult-turned-aunt/mom. I needed all the help I could get. Even though I have all of my parent's inheritance, the town was nice enough to donate some money towards the funeral and Baby JJ's bills. I haven't even heard from my mom and dad recently. I didn't want to. But, at the same time, I feel like they deserve to know that they're grandparents... and their daughter is dead. I'm also really surprised that the Blossoms haven't argued for custody of Baby JJ. Other than the fact that Cheryl convinced them to back off somehow. I think she was somehow black mailing them...

Anyways, today I was going to visit Baby JJ. I hadn't really seen him since Sunday morning and it was already Tuesday morning. Geez. I've already been such a horrible aunt.... When I arrived, Cheryl was there, holding him tightly, his tiny finger wrapped around hers. She was smiling and cooing at him. He stared up at her, with those soft baby eyes. Cheryl turned her head when she saw me. She walked over and gave me a one-armed hug. I hugged her back for a good minute. Even though all this tragedy had hit, I needed to be strong. Not just for myself, but also for Baby JJ. We pulled away.

"Do you want to hold him, Betty?" Cheryl gave a half smile. I nodded and wiped a tear away from my eye.

"Yeah. Yeah I really do." I carefully took him from Cheryl's arms. He was so tiny. So fragile. I'm still amazed that he's so small. He was apparently only 5lbs. when he was born. "Hey JJ," I choked out. "I'm your Auntie Betty."

"Ohmigosh, photographic moment, much!" Veronica waltzed in and snapped a photo of me holding JJ, with her polaroid camera. She handed it to me. I carefully took the photo from her. I knew that I was going to cherish this memory forever. "How's it going, aunties?"

"Pretty good. He's slowly but surely gaining weight," Cheryl replied. She still looked extremely exhausted from the past few days. I had completely forgotten that these past few days have been tolling on her too. First, she was a zombie, then she lost her brother again, discovered who his murderer was, and yet she still stayed behind and watched her nephew. Meanwhile, I had been moping around in my room all week. Aunt points: Cheryl-1 Betty-0.

"Hey, thanks for staying with him, Cheryl. You should go get some rest." I said concerned. She nodded.

"Alright. Call me if you need anything." She said as she drowsily walked out of the room.

"Woah. Is she still a zombie?" Veronica asked.

"That's actually not funny, Ronnie," I jokingly scoffed. "She's been with Baby JJ all week, while I was moping at home." I raised an eyebrow. Veronica threw her hands up.

"My bad... just trying to lighten the mood is all."

"It's ok." I sighed and sat in the rocking chair of the room. I held my nephew close and could feel the warmth emanating off of him. He had Polly's button nose. It would be hard to tell for a few months what his eye color and hair color would be. Meanwhile, he had dark eyes and hair, as most newborn babies do.