I'll Keep You Safe | Bughead

30.)

*Two and a half months later*

TW: implication of a miscarriage

I still couldn't believe that in a little less than three months, I'd have a child of my own. Jug and I found out the gender a few weeks ago, and it turns out we were gonna have a son. Everything seemed so perfect.

I tried to convince her otherwise, but Veronica was persistent with her plan to throw me a baby shower. "You said you would wait until the third trimester!" I chuckled, following her throughout the school hallways.

"Isn't the sixth month in the third?" "No. Seventh, eighth, and ninth are the third trimester months; I'm still in the second," I replied. "Oh, well, I already started decorating The Pembrooke, so too late now," Veronica replied with a slight playful shrug of her shoulders.

"Damn it, V," I chuckled, following her into the student lounge.

Two days later, and that's exactly where I found myself; Veronica's apartment, surrounded by baby shower decorations. It was a nice gesture, truly, I just felt a bit awkward getting gifts from people just for being pregnant.

"Did you tell her yet?" I heard Jug ask from behind me as he walked to stand beside me. "Tell who what?" I asked. "Did you tell Veronica the baby's a boy?" he asked as we walked over to one of the couches in the living room.

"Uh, no, not yet. I was gonna tell her after the party," I answered, taking a seat beside Jug as our hands interlaced in my lap. "Why after?" "If I told her any gender, she'd feel the need to go out and get color-coordinated decorations," I replied, motioning to the lavender decor.

"Yeah, that's true. Good point," he replied as I sighed and laid my head against his shoulder. "You okay, babe?" Jug asked, fixing a few stray strands of hair, given I took a break from ponytails for the night.

"Yeah, it's just...there's so much changing now. And once the baby's here there's gonna be even more changes. It's just a lot, you know?" I answered, taking a deep breath to settle down a bit more.

"It's okay, Betts. I get it. But no matter what, everything is gonna be okay. You'll have me and little Tate, and we'll all be a happy family, okay?" he reassured, kissing my cheek as I smiled, tears coming to my eyes as I put a hand on my bump. "Yeah."

"Good," he smiled before Veronica made her way over. "How're the parents-to-be?" she asked, taking a seat next to us with a glass of water in her hand. "We're good. Thanks again for the shower, V," I smiled.

"You tried to fight it, but I knew you'd love it," she smiled. I looked down at my stomach and suddenly "Sunshine" came into my head. I'd been singing it to my baby everyday for the past few months, sometimes not even realizing it, almost like an instinct.

"Okay, well, let me know when you're ready to start opening presents," Veronica said before standing up. I started humming softly, my hand gently gliding over my stomach as Jug continued to hold me on the couch.

"Is that the song?" he asked softly. "Yeah," I replied softly. "I'm gonna get some food, do you want anything?" I asked, getting up slowly. "I'm good, but thank you," Jughead replied as I stood up, walking over to the food table.

As I continued walking, I felt something against my leg, but it wasn't until I looked down and saw a streak of blood down my skin that I stopped walking and started tearing up. "Hey, B, I wanted to ask you--" Veronica interrupted herself immediately as she saw the red on my leg.

"Ohg my God, we need to get you to the hospital," she said before calling Jughead over and trying to find my mom. The three of them helped me out of The Pembrooke and into the car, rushing me to the hospital while I remained almost completely paralyzed.

I could feel my heart beating in my chest, every single fiber of my being praying to the universe that my baby was safe. Everything around me started to sound muffled as I thought of the song. It played throughout my head the entire way to the hospital.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

Please, please, please.

Don't take my sunshine away.