Symere sighed as he adjusted his gown, sitting on the hospital bed.
"You excited?" Tyler asked him, glancing up from texting Rakim.
He nodded his head, smiling. Before Jordan had gone downhill, he had always wanted kids. He dreamed of a big, happy family, and he wanted it with Jordan. Nowadays he barely had time to even think of a family; instead, he was always working to get extra money and praying Jordan didn't overdose while he was gone.
"Mr. Carter, how are you?" the doctor asked, walking in. Symere smiled and waved, leaning back on the bed. They made small talk as he pulled out Symere's paperwork.
"Well, the results for your urine test came back and congratulations, you are pregnant!" He told him happily, handing him some paperwork. "I'd say you're about twelve weeks."
Symere was silent, happy tears in his eyes. "T-thank you."
Tyler stood up and pulled him into a hug. "Isn't this great, Sy?"
"Is this the baby's father?" The doctor questioned, interrupting the two's moment.
"No, you nosy-he's my best friend. The father's-"
"-sick," Symere interrupted, looking at Tyler. Tyler nodded and pursed his lips in a thin line.
"Okay. Well, Symere, what symptoms have you been having?"
"Nausea, headaches, bloated, I keep breaking out, and I've been cramping a bit, is that normal?"
Dr. Dunston nodded. "If they persist, then we'll need to check it out, but light cramping is a perfectly common early pregnancy symptom."
The rest of the appointment went well, with Dr. Dunston (who insisted they call him Cordae) prescribing Symere some prenatal gummies and scheduling him for a checkup.
"You really didn't have to do this," Symere told Tyler half an hour later as he bit into his sandwich. "I could've gone home and cooked-"
"Sy." Tyler interrupted. "First of all, there's nothing to cook at our place, Rocky's still at the store. Second of all, I was craving Subway anyway. Third of all, you almost punched me in the throat when I merely suggested Wendy's-"
"Wendy's is disgusting!" Symere protested immediately. "All they have to offer are those little square burgers and those nasty four-for-fours."
Tyler placed his palm over his heart, looking at his phone.
"I'mma chalk that ignorance up as a pregnancy symptom, Wendy's-oh. Jordan's at the house."
Symere felt a nervous bubble build up in the pit of his stomach, but he nodded, drinking his Sprite. It was way too harsh and it makes him feel worse instead of better.
"W-what'd he say?" he asks, knowing it was a stupid question but not really caring.
"I don't know. Rocky said he got there and he was asleep on the porch."
Symere sighed, nodding once again as tears built up in his eyes. Tyler reached over and hugged him, and he started full on crying, shaking as he tried to calm down.
"Hey, Sy, look," Tyler began once the small boy had started to calm down. "You don't have to see him. He's wrong, not you. I can call Rocky and make him kick him out-"
"N-no," Symere sniffled, wiping his eyes. "I have to face him e-eventually."
Tyler turned on the car, rubbing his back once again as he backed out of his parking spot. "Here, I'll stop by the store and get you some snacks, okay?"
