Time | Bughead

Chapter Eight

The next two hours was a pattern of Jughead looking up local adoptions agencies, Betty calling them, and then crossing out one of the names from the list. "That's it. Those are all the agencies in Riverdale and none of them worked with the Sisters or have taken in a newborn boy," Betty sighed, putting the phone down and crossing out the last adoption agency on the list.

"This isn't making any sense," Jughead replied, his eyes scanning over the list one last time before bringing them up to the blonde beside him. "Maybe we could just go to the Sisters directly--"

"Wait, here, look at this," Betty said, waving her hand towards Jughead as her eyes locked on the computer screen in front of her. He looked over to find she was on the Sisters of Quiet Mercy's website, reading off a section of their 'Orphanage' tab. 

"The Sisters holds close a nursery and adoption center where many children, teens, and infants find loving forever homes," the blonde read out loud before turning her head and raising an eyebrow. "That's why we couldn't find their resources."

"Well then, going to the Sisters seems like our best bet," he replied. "What if we can't get him back, though?" he asked with a sudden shadow of a doubt. "What do we do then?"

Betty thought for a second before replying, "Don't worry, I have a plan B," and putting her hands in her jean pockets. "Hopefully, I won't need it,"  she thought to herself before shrugging off the thought.

Jughead smiled and scoffed at his blonde, standing up and grabbing his keys from his desk. "C'mon, I'm driving," he said, motioning the blonde over with his hand, watching as she stood up slowly.

"Wait, Jug, don't you think we should, like...prepare first?" Betty suggested, sliding her palms down her jeans. "Like, where's the baby gonna sleep or eat or wear? We need to actually think this through before we go take him back."

Jughead thought for a second, his eyes changing gaze every millisecond until he looked back at Betty and replied, "Yeah, you're right. That's...smart, actually." Betty nodded with both eyebrows raised before following him out the door, feeling around the inside pocket of her leather jacket to make sure she had her pepper spray, and walking and to his car in the garage.

---

Jughead's car was pulling into the parking lot of the first baby-friendly store they could find before the new parents were walking in through automatic doors and scanning the shelves. "Do you wanna split up? I'll cover clothes and stuff, you get food?" Jughead asked as Betty looked around.

"Yeah, sure," Betty replied, clearly distracted by the store as she looked around, a wave of being overwhelmed running over her before she was heading off to the other side of the store.

Jughead smiled as he watched her walk off before turning around and picking out a few sleep onesies for his son, scanning over shirts with cartoon sharks and bumblebees. He looked around for a cart, knowing he and Betty wouldn't be able to carry everything in their arms.

On the other side of the store, Betty looked through cans of green vegetable mush and boxes of formulas before grabbing a few jars of baby food, at least the ones that she thought looked the least like prison food.

Ten minutes later, the two bumped into each other in the aisle for cribs and car seats, deciding it best to pick one out together. "We'll need a stroller, too," Betty reminded, her hand on the cart as she looked around. 

"I'll go grab it," Jughead offered, his hand on the small of the blonde's back as he walked passed her to the shelves against the wall. He picked out the first one he saw that looked easy and safe with a decent price tag and headed back over to the blonde, putting the box in the cart and helping Betty grab a car seat.

With the cart full, they walked to the front of the store to the self-checkout and slowly began scanning the items from the cart. "I'll pay you back," Betty said quietly as she handed him the pacifiers.

"No," Jughead chuckled in response before swiping his debit card. "He's our son, I'll pay for him too." Betty only nodded slightly in response before taking his hand as the walked out of the store with the cart.

They unloaded the cart into the truck before rolling it into a return in the parking lot, walking hand-in-hand back to the car. Once they were both inside and buckled in their seatbelts, the two looked at each other, anxiety evident in their expressions as they both took a deep breath.

Betty broke the silence first as Jughead turned the key in the ignition, remarking, "I can give you the directions to the Sisters." Jughead nodded in response, about to put the car in reverse but being stopped by Betty's hand on his and her voice. "Jug, wait."

He looked up, meeting her eyes for a brief second before the blonde was leaning over, her lips on his giving off a sense of comfort; it just felt right. "Jug, promise me something," Betty breathed once they departed slowly. 

"Promise me that no matter what happens from now on, it's you and me. It's you and me no matter what. Promise me that," she pleaded, her eyes looking back and forth between his desperately.

"No," Jughead replied, taking both of her hands in his and making tears come to the blonde's eyes. "No matter what happens," he paused before taking a deep breath and continuing.

"No matter what happens, it's you, and me, and our son."