Heartland One-Shots (At least for now)

Caleb and Ashley

Ashley Stanton-Odell sat on the edge of the bathtub, a white stick in her hand. Amy and Soraya sat next to her. She squinted to read the dim screen that would give her the results. There was one big, blue line straight down the middle, and - just barely visible - was an identical line right next to it. This was the second one that read positive. She was pregnant.
"Well," Soraya said. "How do you feel about this?"
Ashley seemed on the verge of tears. "I-I don't know. I mean, I want to have at least one kid, but I wasn't expecting this to happen so soon. We haven't even been married six months. And I don't know how I'm gonna tell Caleb, a-a-and my mother. I'm-" Ashley's hands started shaking. She dropped the test on the ground.
"Ashley," Amy interrupted, placing a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder. "Calm down." Ashley exhaled heavily. "You need to talk to Caleb, first of all, he'll understand."
But would Caleb understand? Even after the two were married, Caleb was on the road a lot, going to rodeos all over Alberta. Ashley wasn't completely sure of Caleb's thoughts in having kids, they hadn't discussed it much.
"But what about my mom?" Ashley asked. "She's gonna lose it when I tell her. Maybe I should just flee the province and never tell her."
"Well you definitely shouldn't do that," Soraya told her.
"Just take it one step at a time," Amy added. "You better go tell Caleb."

"Caleb?" Ashley called as she opened the door of their trailer. "I'm back from Amy's."
"Hey, babe," Caleb said. "Come sit down." He scooted over on the seat at the table. Ashley walked over and sat down next to him.
"Caleb," Ashley began. She could feel the lump in her throat grow. She hoped he would take the news well. "I have to tell you something."
"Okay. Why so serious, Ash, lighten up." This is a serious moment, Caleb. Ashley thought. How can I lighten up? Sometimes Caleb's happy-go-lucky attitude all the time really bothered her.
"The thing is," she took a deep breath as tears started to form in her eyes. Caleb immediately took notice of this.
"Ash, what's wrong?" He put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed her hand with the other.
"Caleb, I'm pregnant."
Caleb's face quickly changed from a frown to a shocked expression. Whatever news he was expecting, this definitely wasn't it. He didn't say anything for a few moments. He just stared at his wife.
"Wait- really?" He said finally.
Ashley nodded, still crying. "Are you happy?"
"Babe, of course I'm happy. We're gonna have a baby!" He hugged her and they shared a long kiss. Okay, Ashley thought to herself, this was the easy part.
"Now I have to tell my mom."
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"No, I think she'll take it better if you weren't there."

Ashley walked up to the front door of the house at Briar Ridge. She didn't know how her mother was going to react, but she knew she wouldn't be happy about it. She knocked on the door slowly and waited for Val Stanton to appear in the doorway.
"Mother?"
"Oh, Ashley," she started once she saw her daughter, "What a surprise to see you here."
"Can I come inside?"
"Well, of course." Val extended her arm towards the inside of their house. Although it seemed like she was happy to see her daughter again, Ashley could hear it in her voice - she was still mad at her for marrying Caleb. How on earth was she going to take this news?
The two of them sat down on the couch together.
"Mom," Ashley began, "There's something big I need to tell you, and you probably won't like it," Val's half-smile faltered. "Mom, I'm pregnant."
Val Stanton didn't look the least bit excited about this. In fact, she was the opposite.
"Ashley Stanton!" She said, "First, you run off and get married to that two-big rodeo cowboy, and now you're pregnant with his child? What have you gotten yourself into?" She shook her head and facepalmed. "Oh dear, oh dear."
"Mother!" Ashley began to cry again, "Aren't you happy for me??"
Val gave no comment.
"I knew you wouldn't be supportive, but we're going to keep the child, so don't even think about it, Mother!" Ashley turned and walked away. Before heading out the door, she turned back around to face her mother once more. "At least I'll be a better mother than you."
With those words, she walked out of the house and back to find Caleb.