Always and Forever

The holidays went well. They always do. For some reason it’s always perfect in the Jonas household. It was now the week after New Years’ and things weren’t so perfect anymore. I was late. Again. I don’t know how that’s possible. I’m sure to take my birth control pills every morning. I took a test already and I’ve been in the bathroom for twenty minutes. I haven’t looked at the results yet. Do I even want to? Joe doesn’t even know I’m late… This could ruin everything for him.

I stared down at the pregnancy test and my heart dropped. It read ‘Pregnant.’

“Oh god, no,” I said as I sat on the toilet, “Please, no.”

I looked at the pregnancy test again to make sure I wasn’t seeing things and sure enough, I was right.

“Jesus Christ, what am I going to do?” I asked myself as I brought my hand up to my forehead.

“Baby, what are you doing in there? Did you fall in the toilet?” I heard Joe ask from outside the door.

I couldn’t help but laugh lightly at his joke, “No, but you might want to come in here,” I said as the door opened and he walked in.

“What’s wrong?” he asked as he walked towards me.

I didn’t even realize the tears that were coming out of my eyes when I handed him the test, “This is what’s wrong,” I said to him as I buried my face in my hands.

A few seconds later he spoke, “Woah, it worked,” he said in almost a whisper.

My head jerked up at him, “What worked?” I asked him curiously.

All he did was smile at me, “Nothing, this is awesome,” he said as he bent down to kiss my lips but I turned my head.

“It’s obviously something,” I said to him as I crossed my arms, “What worked, Joe?”

“You’re just going to get mad…” he said as he trailed off.

My eyes widened, “What did you do!” I screamed at him.

He looked down at his feet, “I didn’t think it would work so quickly…” he said softly.

“You didn’t think what would work, Joe?” I screamed at him again, “What the hell did you do?”

“I switched out your pills,” he said softly,

My heart started racing and I pushed him roughly, “What the hell, Joe! Why would you do that?” I screamed at him and pushed him again, “What’s wrong with your freaking head?”

“Stop screaming at me!” he screamed back at me.

“I have every God damned right to scream at you,” I screamed at him, “I can’t believe you would do such a conniving thing!”

“I wouldn’t have had to if you would have just tried to have a baby with me on your own,” he screamed at me.

“And you thought this was the best way for me to get pregnant? You thought you would just go behind my back and do it yourself?” I screamed, “Now I know why you’re the stupidest one out of your brothers!”

I walked out of the bathroom and slammed the door behind me. I walked out of our apartment and then headed towards Kevin and Nina’s. I knocked on the door obnoxiously until someone opened it.

“Hey Jew-, why are you crying?” Nina asked as she grabbed my hand and pulled me inside the apartment.

“Because Joe’s a freaking conniving asshole,” I said to her as I cried some more.

“What did Joe do now?” Kevin asked as he walked into the living room and sighed.

“He switched out my birth control and now I’m pregnant,” I said to them as I tried to hold in my anger, “I can’t believe him, you know.”

“He’s stupid, where-” Kevin started but stopped when there was a loud knock on the door, “Never mind, there he is.”

He walked to the door and opened it, “Let me in,” Joe demanded angrily.

“No, just leave her alone for a while,” Kevin started but Joe ignored him and pushed him out of the way.

Joe grabbed my arm and pulled my towards the door, “Let’s go,” he said to me.

“Let go of me, Joe,” I said as I tried to get away from his tight grasp.

“No, this is our business,” he said to me sternly, “Not theirs; we can handle it on your own.”

I gave in and went with him back to our apartment where we sat on the couch in silence for a few moments.

“I don’t think keeping this baby is the smart thing to do, Joe,” I said as I broke the silence.

His head shot up at me, “No,” he said sternly, “You can’t do that.”

I sighed, “Joe, I wanted to get my pregnant on my terms,” I said to him, “You forced it on me.”

“Look, I know I shouldn’t have gone and switched you pills, but look there’s something inside of you that’s apart of both of us,” he said to me, “I know the reason that you don’t want to have the baby is because you think my career is going to be ruined, right?”

“It will be, Joe,” I said to him as I sighed, “I don’t want you to think that I don’t want a baby with you, I do, but you’re not in a position to have a baby, I don’t understand why you want one so bad.”

“I don’t know why either, but I do, and the position I’m in is just fine,” he said to me, “You’ll be with me all the time and now, we can get married sooner.”

I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed, “You’re such an impatient person,” I said to him as he laughed lightly as he scooted closer to me.

“I want this,” he said as he placed his hand over my stomach, “And I want you.”

I studied his face and his serious expression didn’t change and I smiled at him, “Me too,” I said to him as he grinned and pressed his forehead against mine.

“I love you, baby,” he said as kissed me roughly on the lips.

I didn’t waste anytime on kissing him back, “I love you, too,” I said as I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me.

“I’m sorry for being conniving,” he said softly as he looked down.

I kissed his cheek, “It’s alright, I forgive you,” I said to him and then I smiled, “I ran up your credit card bill last weekend, so I guess we’re even.”

His eyes widened, “What…” he said in a somewhat angry tone.

“Hey, don’t get mad at me,” I warned him, “You did something way worse so shut up.”

He gave in and smiled, “Fine,” he said as he kissed me again, “So, who’s telling our parents?”

“You,” I said certainly, “I’m leaving all the news breaking to you, since it was your devious skim that got us into this mess.”

He frowned, “It’s not a mess,” he said as he looked at me, “It’s a blessing.”

We invited both of our parents over for dinner along with Kevin and Nina. Nick was on his tour with the Administration and of course Bailey tagged along with him. They don’t leave each other’s side.

“So, what’s the special occasion?” my mom asked as she sipped her wine.

“I know, Joseph,” Paul said as he looked at Joe, “What was so important that we had to have this emergency family dinner?”

Everyone’s eyes were on us and I turned to Joe, “Well…” I said as I looked at him, “Go ahead and tell them.”

He made a face at me, “You’re not even going to help me?” he asked.

I shook my head vigorously, “Nope,” I said as I took a bit out of my broccoli that was in front of me.

He sighed and then turned to our parents, “Well, about a month ago, I switched out her birth control pills…” he started but before he finished there was already yelling going on.

“Joseph, why would you do something so immature?” Denise said as she looked at her son angrily.

“Jesus, Joe, I thought you had at least some common sense in that empty head of yours,” my dad shouted at him.

“Hey, dad, chill,” I said as I looked at him. As much as I agreed with my dad’s statement I wasn’t going to let him talk to Joe that way.

“Chill? How can we chill, Jewel!” my mother started, “So, what does this mean? Are you pregnant?”

“Yes, she is,” Joe said proudly, “You guys are going to be grandparents, congratulations!”

“This isn’t something that you should be proud of, Joseph,” Denise said to Joe, “You don’t realize how big of a mistake this is.

“I never thought I’d say this but…have you considered…you know,” Paul started but Joe didn’t let him finish.

“No, dad, we haven’t considered that,” Joe shouted at his dad, “And we’re not going to, what the hell is the matter with you?”

“You don’t speak to your father that way, Joseph,” Denise scolded him.

He then turned to his mom, “He’s asking us to consider getting an abortion, mom,” he said to her, “Excuse me for defending my child.”

“How do you plan on caring for this baby, Joe?” My mom asked him, “You have a busy career, Joe, you aren’t going to be able to be with her and the baby all the time.”

“Oh, really?” Joe scoffed, “I decide who comes with me when I’m tour, and if she can’t be there then I’m not going to continue on with the band.”

“Joe, come on, man,” Kevin started, “Don’t talk like that.”

“Why not? It’s true,” Joe said certainly, “I know traveling isn’t the ideal way to raise a baby, but if that’s what’s got to be done then we’ll do it that way.”

“You guys are so naïve,” my dad shouted and then he turned to me, “Since when have I raised you to fall in love with a complete moron?”

“He’s not a moron, dad,” I said to him as I rolled my eyes, “Look, seriously, we should all just calm down, this situation isn’t a tragedy.”

“We’re getting married next month,” Joe announced as I turned to him, “That way when the baby’s born we’re already married.”

“You’re not marrying him,” My dad said as he connected eyes with me, “I won’t allow it.”

I scoffed, “Excuse me?” I asked him with an attitude.

“You’re not marrying him,” my dad repeated with more anger, “When he asked for you hand in marriage, I didn’t think things would turn out this way.”

“You can’t tell me who I can and can’t marry, I’m twenty years old,” I argued with him, “I’m happy with him, and you know what? This is our apartment and I think you should leave.”

My dad stared into my eyes, “Let’s go, Charlie,” my mom said as she grabbed my dad’s arm, “Let’s let the situation cool down.”

Moments later they were gone; “This night has been stressful,” Denise said as she stood up from the table, “We should go and leave you two alone to talk about everything.”

“Thanks, mom,” Joe said as she gave him a small hug and soon enough Paul and Denise were gone also. It didn't take long for Kevin and Nina to get the hint.

As soon as the door shut my eyes started to pour out tears, “Gosh, why is my dad being such a jerk about this?” I cried as Joe wrapped his arms around my body, “It isn’t fair.”

Joe sighed and rubbed my back, “Do you want to marry me?” he asked as he pressed his lips onto my neck.

“Of course, I do,” I said to him as I rested my head on his chest.

“We’re going to Vegas,” he said certainly, “…Tonight.”