Together Forever

Chapter 11. ◇

Jordan sat at the table with annoyance oozing from his pores. The family came over to have a family dinner. It was all a part of preparing Jordan and Audriella to host future functions. Audriella was feeling sick, so it left Jordan alone against his parents. They were pressing the marriage issue again. He thought when they cancelled the wedding, they would see that the pair wasn't ready and back off. No, that only made them work harder. Now with the Yari situation going on, the stress was mounting.

"Why is it such a big problem that we don't want to rush into things?" Jordan groaned. He had been asking the same question since high school and had yet to receive an answer.

"Jordan, your ways aren't helping you." His mother held his hands. "Marrying Audriella is the right thing to do. She's a good girl wth morals and goals, you need someone stable."

"I'm 22," he frowned. "I'm young. I'd still be in college if I didn't go pro."

"But you did, so you must act like a professional and be a man. Men settle down and marry." His mother stressed. Jordan accidentally snorted at his mom's naivety. Getting married meant nothing, especially in his field. Every day was a test, he couldn't check his mail without finding something inappropriate. Hell, even the most honest of occupations had hoes. More than the word of gospel was getting spread in the church house.

"If neither of us are ready, why are you pushing it? Dri and I just want to be young and experience life. You guys breathing down our necks is doing nothing but stressing us out." Jordan looked at his dad with pleading eyes. He wanted to marry Audriella, he just wanted to do it on his own terms. Definitely later in life.

"Baby, let him be a man." His father said gently. He knew Jordan's position and felt that his son needed to learn how to maneuver on his own.

"September." His mother stated before walking off. His father squeezed his shoulder before walking away. Jordan put his face in his hands and sighed. His mother nagging him was slowly clouding his focus.

Shot after shot, Jordan only focused on the light swish of the net. Hours had passed since the conversation and he still wasn't right. There had to be something deeper for the women to press like that. Maybe they saw how strained their relationship was and wanted to save it. Maybe someone was sick.

Shaking it off, he wiped the sweat from his brow and shot one final shot. With the final swish, he smiled and went inside. Audriella was in his bed sound asleep, on his side. Her glasses were crooked and her hair was all over the place. As crazy as she looked, she was still beautiful. He pulled her glasses off and placed them on the table. Taking the hair tie from his wrist, he placed her hair in a messy bun.

"You smell like outside." She frowned in her sleep.

"And you're burning up." He could feel her body heat and he wasn't even touching her. "You sure you're okay?"

"No, I threw up earlier. It's probably something I ate." She mumbled sleepily. He kissed her forehead before going to shower.

Once in the bed, she immediately climbed on top of him, placing her head in the crook of his neck. His arms wrapped around her waist and he kissed her head. He wondered if this was going to be a thing with them. If this was what in sickness and in health meant. Would she always be in denial? He felt down in his soul that she was pregnant. The signs were there, he knew them well. Her cuddling on him was the nail in the coffin.

But was he ready for a baby?

Audriella had thrown up for the third time and was already feeling the fourth churn deep within. She hadn't had anything of substance in her system for going on three days and she could feel her body weakening.

She knew what was going on, but she didn't dare speak it out loud. That would make it real. If she said those words, her relationship would surely be over.

The pair had finally gotten to a point where things were good. Communication was strong, they were able to talk to each other without an argument. Both of them were faithful and happy. Though, she was holding back from him.

Sprite was her best friend, even ginger ale had her hanging over the railing. Add a flight and outside activities to that, she was miserable. All she really wanted to do was be under Jordan and sleep. Her cousin, Love, was becoming increasingly concerned. They hadn't known each other for long, but it was something major for Audriella to sleep through a family event.

"Hey, can you take me to the hospital, I think I landed wrong when I fell down earlier?" Love held her back, trying to make it convincing. Audriella, alarmed, immediately began to get dressed. Her swift movements had her racing to the bathroom. "Maybe we both need to be checked out."

"We'll see." Audriella muttered. Though Love's back really did hurt, she knew it was nothing more than a bruise.

Sitting in the waiting room, she convinced Audriella to fill out a form for herself. "If you're contagious, we need to know to keep the kids from you."

"I feel like it's just food poisoning." Audriella announced in an attempt to wave her cousin off. "I was just fine until yesterday." But she knew that was a lie since Audriella barely touched her food, she hugged her bottle of sprite for most of the night.

"Could you be pregnant?" Love asked.

"Possibly." Audriella shrugged. There was really no point in denying it. She just didn't want the words to come out of her mouth.

"You don't sound too happy." Love turned to look at Audriella who was playing with her fingers.

"Jordan and I are complicated. Even though we've been together for a while, we're still new." Audriella admitted. "We're just now getting good at being in a relationship. I don't want a baby to mess this up."

"A baby will only mess things up if you let them. Neither of you are going to be ready, but you have to be willing to do it together." Love held her cousin's hands.

"Why are you so young and this smart?" Audriella teased.

"Comes with life." Love shrugged. Things quickly checked out with Love. They gave her orders to take over the counter pain killers and a heating pad. After drawing blood and collecting a few samples, Audriella was sent into a room.

"Are you nervous?" Love smirked at Audriella's pacing figure.

"Aunt Lyn told me she dreamed of fish last night and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why she told me. Now that I'm thinking about it, she was giving me a hint." Audriella rambled. "I mean, I'm on strict birth control, but Jordan feels so much better without a condom... and I'm talking too much."

"I know the feeling." Love chuckled.

"You have sex?" Audriella gasped. Love was a quiet girl and it took a little while for her to get comfortable with the others. The family wasn't too sure of her mother, but her father died at work. He was electrocuted by his crane after they lied and said it was safe for him to operate. He always spoke of finding his daughter, but never gave a name. She happened to find them first.

"A couple times." She blushed and looked down at her hands.

"Spill!" Audriella squealed. She longed to have girl talk with someone. Even though Love was a few years younger, she was still relatable.

"Well, his name is Zaiden-"

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Clarkson." The doctor interrupted. Audriella smiled and returned the greeting.
"I see you're here for a work up. You've been vomiting and fatigued, slight headaches. I can tell you a couple things: number one, you are dehydrated I suggest you drink lots of water and Pedialyte, you are also borderline anemic I want to keep a watch on that, try eating leafy greens and lots of Iron rich foods for a couple weeks that should alleviate some of the fatigue of the headaches, and last but not least you are pregnant which makes all of this you've been dealing with feel worse."

"Oh my God." Love mumbled with a smile.

"I uh- oh my- uh, wow." Audriella stumbled over her words.

"Can we do an ultrasound to see where we're at?" The doctor suggested. Audriella nodded quietly as they prepped the room.

Pregnant?