Meant to be

"Well, have you decided if you want to know the sex of the baby?" Dr. O'Brian asks glancing between the two of them. Jakob glances at his girlfriend.

"Yup," Stella nods, she's now four and a half months along.

"Well, you're having a girl."

"A girl," Jakob repeats smiling.

"We're having a girl." Stella says positively glowing.

A short beeping comes from Dr. O'Brian's hip.

"Sorry, I'm being beeped, emergency," she says rushing out of the room. Stella gets dressed and they head out.

***

"It's fucking negative!" Ramona says about to burst out crying as she violently throws the pregnancy test in the garbage. They had got back to the states a couple of weeks earlier.

"Babe, it's okay," Joey says wrapping his arms around her. She rests her head on his shoulder and wipes her eyes.

"This doesn't make any sense, you were a knock up, I was a knock up, Jakob knocked Stella up, how come we're having so much trouble." Joey tries not to laugh at what she just said.

"I don't know." He sighs. "Our genetics say it's easy to get pregnant."

They move into the living room and sit on the sofa.

"Maybe the affects of the pill are still in your system," Joey suggests.

"I stopped in the beginning of July, it's now the beginning of September."

"I know, maybe you should see your doctor."

"Yeah." She sighs running a hand through her hair, "I hate pap tests." Joey shudders, remembering the one time where she explained what the pap test was. "I'll make an appointment."

As Ramona is off to the kitchen to make her phone call when Joey's phone rings. He checks the number then answers.

"Hi Mom." He sighs.

"Hey Joey, Stella and your brother are coming up this week."

"Yeah."

"I was thinking the load of us could go out to a restaurant since its his birthday."

"Yeah okay," he says nodding, "Just call me when you have the details."

"Joe, you sound upset."

"Urgh, it's nothing." Adrienne clears her throat signaling she didn't believe him.
"Well Ramona and I are kind of distressed because she just took a pregnancy test and it came out negative."

"But nega- you two are trying to have a baby?!"

"Yeah," he says rubbing his face, "Not successfully obviously."

"Why didn't you tell me anything?"

"We haven't told anyone!" Joe exclaims, "Because there's nothing to tell."

"Oh right," she says quietly, "Well," she pauses, "I'll call you later this week."

"Alright, bye," Joey grumbles shutting off his cell phone.

Adrienne goes to her husband and sits next to him.

"What's up?" he asks putting down his news paper.

"Did you know Joey and Ramona are trying to have a baby?" she says in one breath.

"What?" Billie Joe says not understanding a word of that.

"They're trying to get pregnant," she says slowly.

"But didn't they say after the honey moon no kiddies for a while?"

"I guess they changed their mind."

"Well okay," he says going back to his newspaper.

"They're all upset now because the test came back negative and-"

"Adie, stop meddling, I'm sure they can handle it," he says not wanting to meddle in his son's sexual business.

***

"I'll only be home late," Jakob says as he drops Stella off at the apartment, "I have a late class then work."

"Alright." She sighs as she kisses her lips. She didn't want Jakob to drop out of college, he couldn't quit his job because she didn't make enough money to support both of them but she felt like she hardly ever got to see him.

Jakob felt the same way, that's why he went to the dean's office right before class.

"How can I help you?" the secretary asks, looking up from her computer.

"I would like to drop two of my classes." The classes he wanted to drop weren't major, he just took them for extra credits.

"Name?"

"Jakob Danger Armstrong," he says clearly. She looks him over once to see if he's serious.

"Oh!" she says locating his file, "Your middle name really is Danger."

"Yeah," he says scratching the back of his neck, sometimes having a really awesome middle name is embarrassing, "My Dad's a little umm..."

"No need to explain," the secretary says typing a few things, "What courses?"

"Literature and Sexology." He only took sexology because he was an immature eighteen year old who was too curious for his own good.

"Alright," the secretary says nodding, "Just give this to your teachers." She hands him a paper of resignation, "And just continue with your remaining courses."

"Thanks," he murmurs taking the two papers.

***

Ramona gets back home from the doctor's and slumps down on the couch. She lifts her arm lazily to look at her watch; Joey would be home in half an hour. Her lap top is a mere three feet away from her but it takes her a good five minutes just to motivate herself to go get it. She sits back down and turns on the piece of technology. She opens her email to get the new letters for her next entry.

Dear Ramona,
I'm seventeen and still a virgin, such a shocker in today's world. I have a boyfriend and we've been going out for almost six months now. He's been talking about sex lately, and I'm just so nervous about it. He's had sex before with his previous girlfriend so I'm scared that I'll be doing something wrong. How can I calm my nerves?
Sincerely yours,
Oakland_Sk8or_Girl

Ramona reads over the letter several times, realizing her fan base just got younger. Usually she received letters from women around her age. She gets her motivation and starts writing a response.

Dear Oakland_Sk8or_Girl,
Being seventeen and still a virgin is not a shocker at all. There is nothing to be ashamed about being a virgin. You shouldn't lose your virginity unless you're absolutely sure you want to.
If you are absolutely sure about it then don't worry yourself. Your boyfriend will probably more than happy to take the lead in the bedroom so if you're really that nervous, just let him do all the work and enjoy the ride. Remember to take the proper precautions before sex and use a condom.
But if you aren't you shouldn't feel pressured to have sex. If your boyfriend is any good for you he'll understand and agree to wait. If not, then he's not worth your while. I've seen this scenario play out several times before.
Yours truly,
Ramona

She sends her response back to the office and shuts off her lap top, she had enough for the day.

"Honey I'm home," Joey calls out through the house cheesily, they had watched the movie Pleasentville on TV the night before.

"Hey," Ramona calls quietly.

"I take it wasn't good news at the doctor," Joey whispers entering the room.

"I wasn't good or bad." She sighs, "They said they couldn't find anything wrong. They told me to stop trying so hard for a few months and to feel free to try organic ways to up my chance of pregnancy."

"Oh," Joey says slowly.

"They also said maybe you should go for a sperm count."