Come Hell or High Water

Chapter 4

Betty has a doctor's appointment today to check on the health of the baby and to determine how far along she is. Jughead and F.P are going along with her as support. "Betty Cooper?" a nurse says. Jughead and Betty follow the nurse to the examination room. "The doctor will be in shortly." The nurse says. "This makes everything feel more real" Betty says nervously. "I know Betts, I have faith that everything will be fine." Jughead says. "Jug, I'm scared" Betty says. "Me too Betts, I know that we can do this with the help and support of my dad and our friends." Jughead says. "Also, we have a responsibility to the serpents, and I don't want to let them down." Betty points out. "Betty, the serpents will be okay they know we have their back if they need us." Jughead says. The doctor walks into the room and rolls in an ultrasound behind her. The doctor tells Betty to put her feet up on the stirrups so she can do the necessary tests. Once finished she tells Betty she can put her legs flat on the bed and asks her to lift her top up. "Okay Betty, I'm going to spread the gel on your stomach so we can see your baby on the ultrasound." The doctor says. The doctor spreads the gel on to Betty's stomach and grabs the wand so they can see the baby. She searches for a few moments and then flips a switch and two fast heart beats fill the room. "Congratulations, you two are going to be the proud parents of twins. You are currently 9 weeks pregnant. I'll prescribe some prenatal vitamins to help you out and some anti sickness meds to counteract the morning sickness." The doctor explains. Betty and Jughead stare at each other shocked while the doctor heads to retrieve the ultrasound photos.

Jughead and Betty barely talk on the ride back to the house even though F.P tries to engage them in conversation. When they arrive Betty and Jughead head up to Jugheads room without saying anything and F.P starts to worry. F.P decides to invite Archie and Veronica hoping that Betty and Jughead might tell them if they won't tell him what happened. Archie and Veronica knock on Jughead's bedroom door. "Come in." Jughead calls softly. They enter the room to see Jughead and Betty cuddled on the bed looking at a photo. "Hey Guys, is everything okay?" Archie asks. "Yeah, we have some news though." Jughead says. "What is it?" Veronica asks. "Well, the babies are healthy." Betty says. "Wait. Did Betty just say babies?" Archie asks abruptly. "Yeah, we're having twins." Jughead says. Archie and Veronica look at their best friends and smile widely. "I think you should tell your dad. Jug he thinks there is something wrong." Archie says. Betty nods to Archie's words.

Betty, Jughead, Archie and Veronica head downstairs and see F.P, Jellybean, Sweet Pea and Toni sat around the kitchen island. "Dad, sorry if we worried you. Betty and I were trying to process the fact that we are going to have twins." Jughead says. Jellybean squeals and hugs Betty and Jughead. "Twins, huh? I know you two can do this and I support you. However, don't be afraid to ask for help as you are both still young." F.P says. "Serpents have got your back guys." Sweet Pea says. "Thank you." Betty says. Jughead and Betty pass around the ultrasound photo of the twins.

After the photos have been passed around and everyone has seen the twins F.P heads to the Sheriff Station as they just got a call in about a car accident. Toni and Sweet Pea head back to tent city. Jellybean heads to her room. Jughead, Betty, Archie and Veronica decide to put on a musical. They put on The Wizard of Oz. Jughead grabs some popcorn and sodas from the kitchen. As they find the tin man Betty falls asleep cuddled up to Jughead. "How's she doing Jug?" Archie whispers. "We're just taking each day as it comes. Arch, she's still trying to hunt down the farm to get Alice back. She constantly doubts whether she'll be a good mother. I was talking to Dad the other day and even he's concerned that she's going to stress herself and the babies too much." Jughead says in a low voice. "How about a small inner circle get together to celebrate you having twins." Veronica pipes up softly. "I don't know if that's such a good idea yet. We were going over some ideas for when her pregnancy has progressed more, and we've been discussing a gender reveal party and then later down the line a baby shower." Jughead says. Jughead's phone starts to vibrate on the table so he gently leans over to retrieve it.

Sweet Pea: Serpent problem! Need you, Betty and Arch as this involves them too.

Jughead: Okay on our way!

Jughead nudges Betty awake and quickly explains to her and Archie that they're needed at the Whyte Wyrm.

Archie, Betty and Jughead arrive at the Whyte Wyrm to see all the serpents and the pretty poisons gathered together. "What's happening?" Jughead asks. "We have a problem Jones. There is a rumour going around that your mom is back in town." Toni says. "Fuck! I thought she agreed to stay away for Jellybean's sake." Jughead says. "I don't know what went down however she's been sniffing around Tent City." Sweet Pea says. Jughead exchanges a look with Betty. "Actually, Sweet Pea you know half of what went down. My dad found out that my mom was the new Fizzle Rocks dealer when we got roped into a game of G&G to save Jellybean. She left after her and Penny Peabody kicked the crap out of each other as one of the quests. I guess she's back for either her drugs or Jellybean. Either way she's not leaving with anything." Jughead says. "We'll keep an eye on her Jug, we won't involve your dad unless we have to." Toni says. The Serpents and the Pretty Poisons agree.

When they arrive back to the house Betty heads upstairs saying she's tired. Archie pulls aside to the kitchen. "Jug, I've given this a lot of thought. I want to become full Serpent. I'll do whatever the initiation involves." Archie says. "I'll have to talk to the others, but I think they'd be honoured to have you as a full Serpent." Jughead says. Archie and Jughead hug before Archie heads next door to his house. Jughead went upstairs and checked on Jellybean and then went to his own room where he found Betty asleep in one of his t-shirts. He quietly took a photo of her and headed downstairs to make himself some food.

F.P arrived home around an hour later looking exhausted. Jughead looked up when he entered. "Dad, I have to tell you something. Before I do though, I need your word that it will stay between us and the serpents." Jughead says. "Is this to do with your meeting?" F.P asks. "Yeah it is. As you know the serpents and the pretty poisons have a truce, and if something odd is noticed we keep each other informed. Well Toni called the meeting because one of the pretty poisons has seen Mom lurking around in Riverdale." Jughead says. "Damn Jug!" F.P exclaims. "I know, we're going to try and figure out if she's here to try and start up a drug empire again or here for Jellybean. Either way she will be leaving empty handed." Jughead says. "You're damn straight boy. I won't have your sister dragged into your mother's mess anymore. I always felt guilty that you ended up with the serpents." F.P says. "Oh, and Archie asked me if he could join the serpents as a full member not just honorary." Jughead says. F.P rolls his eyes and heads to the kitchen. Jughead calls out a goodnight and heads to bed with Betty.