So This Is Life

Chapter 3

Heyyyyyy, dudes. Enjoy this chapter! PLEASE NOTE THAT THE WHOLE EXPLANATION IS NOT REAL, I DON'T THINK IT'S BIOLOGICALLY AND NATURALLY POSSIBLE, IT'S JUST CREATIVE INVENTION BECAUSE I WANTED TO WRITE THIS.

888888

Jefferson's p.o.v

I stared, gobsmacked, at him, my mouth hanging open. Pregnant? It was biologically impossible! I couldn't be-

"Pregnant!?" I spluttered, unconsciously resting a protective hand on my stomach. The gel was slippery and icy cold on my skin. "In the nicest way possible, I think you're wrong!"

James hadn't said anything yet, and I turned to him in desperation. He was looking, enraptured, at the ultrasound image.

"There's a genetic condition," Franklin explained, leaning forward and gently wiping the gel off of my stomach. "A carrier. In simple terms, it means a male can have a womb and naturally give birth. It's been theorised, but actually before seen in real life..."

He was printing off the images now. I shook my head, not quite believing him.

"I-I remember reading about it," James whispered before turning to me, eyes dancing. "That's a baby, Tom. Our baby."

Eyes filling with tears, I let my gaze drop down to my belly. There was a baby in there, a real baby...

"Oh shit," I murmured quietly. James looked at me, confused.

"That's a good oh shit, right?" he asked skeptically. I nodded.

"Congratulations, boys," Franklin said, his smile wide. I looked up at him, still in shock a little.

"So all this sickness...?" James asked, trailing off.

"Morning sickness," Franklin replied. He handed James the grainy black-and-white images of our child. Our child. We could barely look after ourselves, how would we look after a kid!? What if it was a girl? We'd have to learn to play princesses, do hair... oh God. What if it was a boy? I'd never be able to run round, play baseball or football with him, my leg would prevent that. What-

My thoughts were cut off as Franklin started talking again.

"Now, you need to be really careful," he warned, now giving James a mountain of leaflets. "From our theories, male pregnancies can be very dangerous, as it puts a lot of strain on the body that, obviously, the male body is not equipped for. You'll go on bed rest at 29 weeks, and you have to start taking pre-natal vitamins now. The birth will be a c-section."

He made us another appointment in 4 weeks time. Then I'd be at 12 weeks, apparently, and we'd be able to get a proper picture. He waved us off, wishing us the best of luck.

Walking down the road, I carefully avoided James' eye as horrible, horrible thoughts swirled around my mind. Did I even want kids? What would it do to my body? Would it be the death of me, leaving James with a son or daughter who is missing a father? Abortion? No, never. James was desperate for kids, and I could tell this as I watched his feet. They were bouncing up and down. He was skipping, then. We reached the car, and as I pulled out, James looked at me excitedly.

"We're gonna have a kid," he said, his voice full of awe.

"I know," I answered agitatedly.

"What's wrong?" he challenged. "Are you not happy?"

"I suppose so, yeah."

"You suppose so!?" his tone was thunderous. I focused on the road. No indicator then? Idiot. "That's our kid, Tommy. Our biological child that has defied all possibilities in being alive!"

"Yeah, our kid who could very well kill me!" I snapped, parking the car in our street and getting out, slamming the door angrily. James followed quickly, trying to grab my arm. I shrugged him off.

"You're not going to die," he said, his voice much more subdued. The anger seemed to have disappeared.

"You don't know that."

"I do know that."

"You can't know. You can't time-travel. And even if you could time-travel, you couldn't-"

"Go forward in time because it doesn't exist yet, I know, you've told me a million times," he cut me off tiredly, sitting me down and placing a hand on my stomach. I jerked away. "Do you not want to have this kid or something? Because you need to-"

"I'm scared!"

He seemed taken aback by my yelled statement. He stared at me for a few seconds before engulfing me in a hug. I clutched him tightly, burying my face in his shoulder and let the tears fall. "I'm so scared," I sobbed, trembling as James whispered gently in my ear.

"It'll be fine," he said. "And you know why? Because we'll have a beautiful baby at the end of it."

I sat back, trying to smile. Happiness suddenly blossomed through me, and I looked down at my stomach. James leant forward, hands outstretched: he glanced at me for confirmation, and I gave him the go-ahead. He lightly lay his hands on my belly.

"We got a kid."

888888

1 week later

"Oh please, Mr President!" I pleaded, clutching my hands together. Washington looked on at me, unimpressed. I'd really come to terms with the pregnancy now, and was doing everything in my power to protect my child. Pre-natal vitamins (which taste awful), these things called pelvic floor exercises (well, as much as I can do with my leg), avoiding certain foods, not drinking too much coffee, not drinking alcohol, everything. We, James and I, were planning on announcing at 14 weeks. Note the word planning.

"I'm sorry, Thomas, I can't let you off again!" Washington exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. "You have to do this TV interview."

"Why-"

"It's mandatory!"

"But-"

"No excuses!"

"Too much stress is bad for the baby!" I blurted before slapping my hand over my mouth, my eyes widening in shock. Had I really just said that out loud? I could hear my heart hammering in my ears, and tried to slow it down, thinking of my unborn child. Washington narrowed his eyes and raised one bushy eyebrow.

"What baby?" he said carefully. I looked around in desperation before sticking my head out of my office door, calling down the hallway:

"Mads! We got a problem!"

I've never seen a human move so fast. If Usain Bolt were there, he would have been proud. James came barrelling down the corridor, slipping and sliding on the linoleum. He was panting by the time he got to me.

"W-wh-what's the matter?" he wheezed, clutching at a stitch in his side with one hand and the door frame with the other. I quickly relayed everything that had happened in whisper form. Breath back, James gave me a look.

"Just couldn't keep your mouth shut," he muttered, grabbing my arm and dragging me into the President's office.

888888

Hope you enjoyed!