I'm Not a Princess, This Ain't a Fairytale

“Hey Mia, the doctor’s office called,” Nick said as he fell into the islander seat next to me. Joe followed in closely after.

I looked up from the peppers I was dicing. “Did they want something?”

“They were just reminding you that you have an appointment tomorrow,” Nick said.

“Oh no, it’s tomorrow,” my mom sighed, turning to look at us from the stove.

I nodded. Just a routine checkup, but so close to the due date, every doctor’s appointment mattered more than before. Almost nine months, and I was as big as a whale. Ut life wasn’t so bad. It was actually pretty good. We were really starting to move on, to be a family again. My dad was gone, my mom finally having kicked him out, whatever the consequences with the press. He was at the house in Texas. To no one’s surprise, we hadn’t gone there since. But he was away, and we were finally happy. Well as happy as we could be. The press had spent about a week using the divorce thing against Joe, Nick, and Kevin. But they tired of that once Perez Hilton started an uproar with fans by writing a huge blog about how the American society has changed so much, and people got divorced all the time. Unfortunately, that had a drawback as the press moved back to me. Divorces weren’t to unusual. Teen pregnancies always caused an uproar. Luckily, the boys’ career wasn’t impacted. If anything, more people started listening to them, and gave them a chance once the whole complete Disney poster children thing went out the window. Disney poster children didn’t exactly have a pregnant seventeen year old sister.

“Oh no honey, I’m so sorry,” she said. She took a deep breath. “Leave it to your good for nothing father to ruin this. I want to be there for your appointment. But I have to go to the court tomorrow. Custody issues.”

My face fell. Custody issues. I knew my dad was trying to get custody of Frankie, and Nick if possible. With Nick, there was no way, because he was in the band. It would be easier to keep him with Joe and Kevin here too. But with Frankie – it was going to be harder. Mr. Trovose, my mom’s attorney, had said it wasn’t impossible, in fact, relatively easy, seeing as my dad had been the one to commit adultery, and later beat me, and treat me with such neglect. The court would probably rule in favor of my mom cause of that. But then, my mom had had her alcohol problem, until recently. She was sober now, and had been for a while, but we had no doubt that my dad would use that against her. “Mom, you can go to the court. I’ll go by myself,” I assured her. “It’s fine. I can drive.” My mom deliberated before nodding.

“No, I can take you,” Joe said.

The color drained from my mom’s face. “Joseph, honey, we’re all very proud that you got your license, but I don’t know how I feel about you driving your pregnant sister to her doctor’s appointment.”

Joe scoffed. Nick was grinning, trying to hold back laughter. “I am such a good driver.”

“We know honey, we know,” my mom said soothingly. “It’s just that you tend to g much uh – faster than the speed limit, and we can’t forget that old lady who was crossing the street yesterday.”

Joe rolled his eyes. “She said she wasn’t going to press charges.”

“You got to admit mom,” Nick snickered. “Bribing her with autographed pictures for her Jonas obsessed granddaughter was actually a good idea.”

My mom smiled slightly. “All the same—“

“I trust him, mom,” I interceded as I saw Joe starting to open his mouth to defend himself again. “Really, I want him to take me.”

My mom looked at me for a long time before taking a deep breath. “If you’re sure.”

“She is,” Joe grinned. “She is a hundred percent safe with me.” He threw his arm around my shoulders.

I jumped a bit, and cut my finger with the knife I had bee dicing the peppers with. “Sh—“ I stopped myself as my mom glared at me. “I mean, ouch.”

Joe looked horrified. “Okay, she’ll be safe with me, starting now.”

---

“Why is your doctor’s office so high,” he groaned as we waited for the elevator. “You’d think tey wouldn’t want pregnant people to be so high up, with the air being less higher and stuff.”

I laughed, shaking my head. I knew he was just kidding. “I don’t think the fourteenth floor is high enough to not have enough air Joe.”

He grinned, taking my hand. “Mia, you’re amazing, you know that?”

I smiled. “I know. You too.”

“Mia, I am seriously so proud of you,” he said quietly. I just looked at him, too taken back to speak. “Honestly, that baby is so lucky to have you as a mother.”

I smiled. “And to have the best uncles ever.”

He laughed. “True. Except for Nick though. As the baby’s official son to be favorite uncle, we’re going to have to teach it how to make fun of Nick.”

The elevator dinged, and we got in. Joe sighed in relief. “Hold the door,” someone called.

Joe put his hand in the middle of the doors, stopping them. The guy ran in, and we finally saw his face. I froze, and I heard Joe curse softly. It was Troy. He had a gun in his hands, pointed at me. But his eyes were set on Joe. “Thanks,” he smirked as the elevator doors shut behind him.