Love By Our Side

Delaney got out of her last class on Friday a half hour before Stephen did, and since he was her ride for the day and they were going out to lunch, she had to wait for him. She sighed and sat down on a bench near the building his class was in, contemplating starting her homework for the weekend. Instead, she pulled out her iPod, put it on shuffle, and played some games of solitaire, losing every time but once. When she saw Stephen approaching her, she quickly stowed her iPod, cursing the game she hated to play, but couldn't keep herself from playing.

“What's that sour look for?” Stephen questioned his friend, who was silently following him to the car.

“The fucking...iPod...solitaire...always lose...” Delaney mumbled, scowling at the inanimate object she held tightly in her hand.

“Woah, wait. You're cursing out your iPod? Because you lost a game? That's the funniest thing I've heard all day!” Stephen tried to stifle his laughter but failed miserably, breaking out into a fit of giggles, earning him a slap in the chest from Delaney.

“Shut the fuck up, Gomez. That game never lets me win, it pisses me off!” Delaney huffed, getting into the passenger's seat of the car.

“I'm sorry that I can't help but laugh at your...misfortune,” Stephen started. “But if that's the worst to happen to you, then you, my friend, are in a great place.” Delaney didn't respond, instead shaking her head and muttering about how Stephen “doesn't understand” while looking out her window. “Do you care where we go to eat? I'm kinda in the mood for dessert.”

“Whatever, bro. I can drown my sorrows in any kind of food,” Delaney answered, clearly joking and in a better mood than five seconds previous. Stephen ignored her fake whining and made his way to the nearest Baker's Square. Delaney lit up when she saw where the car had parked, but quickly reverted to her glowering act.

“I'm not taking you in until you smile,” Stephen stated, trying not to laugh.

“What are you now, my dad?” Delaney rolled her eyes and got out of the car. Stephen shook his head and followed her into the restaurant.

Once the two were seated and into a light conversation, Stephen's phone buzzed. He checked it, a text from Sophie reminding him to apologize to her cousin. He rolled his eyes as he placed the phone back on the table. “So uh, I guess uh, there's something I gotta say to you,” he stammered, unsure of how exactly to word his apology. “Ah, Sophie called me last night and basically kicked my ass for putting those thoughts into my brother's head, and for asking you if you were pregnant and all that shit. So, sorry. I was a dick and I really didn't mean to be, I was in a really weird place at that point.”

Delaney looked at him, expecting him to continue. When he didn't, she shrugged. “It's cool. Was there any reason you were in a “weird” place?” she asked in a way that made Stephen question if she knew about Sophie being pregnant.

“Uh, I-I don't know. Sometimes I get into these funky moods...it's worse than PMS, to be honest,” Stephen replied, hoping Delaney would accept his answer while giving him a hint as to if she knew or not. Of course she wouldn't though, it wouldn't be like Delaney to make life that simple.

“Huh, ya don't say,” Delaney responded, eyebrows raised. Stephen seemed to be off the hook, for now.
Delaney focused back on her French silk pie, and didn't mention anything about Sophie again. The two sat around and shot the shit for another half hour before deciding to head out. Stephen grabbed Delaney's bill before she had the chance, and she tried protesting the less than three dollars, he wouldn't hear it.

“I said I was taking you out for lunch, and technically this was only dessert, so I still owe you a whole meal at some point,” Stephen pointed out while walking to the cash register to pay. “Besides, it's the least I can do for acting like a jackass.” Delaney accepted his second reason much more than the first, but shrugged and allowed him to pay.

The ride home was spent with more easy conversation. Stephen wanted to bring up his girlfriend's pregnancy to Delaney, but couldn't bring himself to do so. If she didn't tell Stephen that she knew by the time he visited Sophie that weekend, he was telling her first thing when he got home. She deserved to know, and Stephen knew for a fact that she had told some of her friends but not most of her family. Then again, he'd let it slip to some of his friends, but hadn't told his brother yet.

“What're ya thinking about?” Delaney asked, laughing.

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Stephen responded, snapping out of his daze.

“Well, you always get this weird look on your face when you're concentrating on something, and I know you aren't that focused on driving, so you have to be thinking about something, and pretty intently,” Delaney pointed out.

“Oh, uh, nothing. Something with school. Whatever.” Delaney eyeballed him, not believing a word he was saying. Something was up and she was going to find out what it was.
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After watching the first two Final Destination movies with John later on, Delaney decided to call it a night. He whined about her staying over, but she declined, stressing the fact that she had her first real shift the next day and had to be well rested. John finally gave up and let her leave around ten o'clock.

Once she was in her bedroom, Delaney got to what she really left the Gomez house to do. She pulled out her phone and dialed the number she'd memorized a few months before. After three rings, a tired-sounding Sophie picked up on the other end.

”Why are you calling me so late? You'd better have a good reason.”

“Well, it's great to hear from you too, cuz!” Delaney replied, glancing at her clock. “And it's not even eleven yet, not late at all.”

”I'm sorry,” Sophie sighed. ”I had a long day, school, work, all of it. How are you?”

“I'm well, had a nice time with your boyfriend at lunch. Well, we only had pie but I still counted it as a meal,” Delaney started. “And before you ask, yes, he apologized. I'm calling to ask if anything is up because he was sorta spacing out half the time I was talking to him, and he blamed it on school. Which I'm pretty sure is bullshit.”

”Oh uh, well, I'm not sure what's going on with him. We haven't had a lot of time to talk about stuff like school,” Sophie equivocated, unsure of how to cover her boyfriend's ass.

“Are you sure you don't know about anything? You guys seem to talk a lot lately, it can't all be about how much you love each other,” Delaney joked. She heard her cousin sigh on the other line, and after a short pause, Sophie spoke again.

”Okay, I do know what's going on. I just-I haven't really talked about it with anyone yet, and it's sort of a sore subject-”

“Sophie tell me what is going on right now, I don't care if it's a sore subject, I'm your cousin and one of your best friends, dammit. You should be coming to me first with anything that's a sore subject!” Delaney shrieked into the phone, knowing full well she might be blowing things out of proportion, but it was very unlike her cousin to keep things to herself with Delaney.

”I'm pregnant, okay? Stephen and I are keeping the baby, he's coming up here on Sunday to go with me to my doctor's appointment on Monday. My parents know, his parents know, I have no idea who else knows on his end, and I don't know who my parents have told. I'm sorry I kept it from you, I've only known for a little over a week, and I didn't want everyone and their mother knowing yet.” There was silence on both ends for a good minute before either girl spoke up.

“Were you actually considering other options besides keeping it?” Delaney exclaimed.

”Uh, well, no, not really. But I had to think about it and make sure, ya know?” Sophie explained. She was surprised that her cousin hadn't freaked out a bit more, then again she may very well still be in the “shocked” state of mind.

“Good. I'd be pretty damn disappointed if you were,” Delaney admitted. “You and Steve are going to make great parents, you know that? I mean it. You guys are all mature and stuff, John and I would be screwed if this happened to us.”

”I appreciate your attempt at a joke, even though we both know it's true,” Sophie laughed. She knew her cousin was being sincere, and she was thankful. ”I was partially putting off telling you because I thought for some weird reason you would flip a shit. I'm totally glad that you didn't, obviously.”

“I would never freak out about something like this, you know that,” Delaney adamantly made known. “By the way, how are all the parents taking it? And how is Stephen?”

”My parents were completely shell shocked at first, but after an hour they were able to speak again and told me they supported whatever I chose to do. Stephen made it seem like his parents reacted the same way, which makes sense. And you practically live with the kid, you know how he's been acting. I told him the last time I visited, and he's been nothing but weird since then,” Sophie started, pausing to gather her thoughts. ”I think he has come to terms with it, but isn't completely okay with the idea of having a baby within the year. I mean, I'm not exactly keen on the idea either but I got over the shock pretty quickly. I had to. He has a bit more time to chill with the fact, but he had best man up soon.”

“He will, I know he will. He needs time to think through things even though he already knows the outcome. It's just the person he is. I'm gonna talk to him about this next time I see him.”

”Please do. Find out about things he's not telling me, maybe get him drunk first. That should let words tumble out of his mouth.”

“Oh, I know it would. Maybe tomorrow night. By the way, I'm probably going to drive up with him on Sunday.”

”No, no no no. You have to go to school. Before you argue that he has class too, it's more important for you to not miss because of your parents. They wouldn't be thrilled about knowing you skipped, even though you do it without them knowing.

Figuring this was true, Delaney sighed and promised her cousin she wouldn't show up in Flagstaff on Sunday. The two talked about school and work for a few more minutes before ending their conversation. It wasn't to say that Delaney wasn't completely shocked by her cousin's situation, but she wasn't as concerned as she probably should be. Sophie and Stephen would make the perfect parents, this Delaney had no doubt about.