One Wild Night

Danny was a godsend over the next few days. He scheduled himself to work the same shift as Marissa every day and during those hours together, he did everything in his power to keep her mind off her problems. Only when she desperately needed to talk about it did the subject come up.

True to his word, Brian called her four days later. In the meantime, Marissa had to endure calls from Jimmy, Matt, JB, and Zacky, all encouraging her to keep the baby. No abortion and no adoption.

"So, what do you think?" Brian inquired.

Marissa slumped against the back wall in the stock room and slid down to a sitting position. "I think that if I go through with either option, everyone will hate me."

"Don't worry about everyone. Worry about me. And you."

Marissa didn't say anything.

"What do you want to do?" Brian asked quietly.

Marissa closed her eyes. She knew what she had to do. "Bri...do you want this baby?"

"Zacky was right," Brian said after a short pause. "We made a decision and now we're dealing with the consequences. I...I think we should see it through."

To Marissa's surprise, she heard the faintest note of excitement in his voice. She smiled involuntarily. "You like the idea of being a daddy." She made it a statement because she didn't need to ask.

"Maybe Zee's viewpoint on fatherhood is rubbing off on me a bit, yeah," Brian said.

"And the idea of sharing that responsibility with me?"

Here, there was another pause, this one considerably longer. "We can do it," he said finally. His tone was so matter-of-fact that the worry that now constantly gnawed at Marissa's stomach lessened slightly.

"Okay." Marissa took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. "Okay. I'll...keep the baby."

****

Three months later, the girls returned to Huntington Beach, California. After much debate, it had been decided that Marissa would have the baby in California. More of the people who wanted to be involved were there.

"It'll be easier for your parents to fly out here than for all of us to fly to Alabama," Matt had reasoned.

Carmen chose to stay with Jimmy and Jess with Johnny. Marissa, of course, would be living with Brian. Cecelia and Sabrina refused to leave her side, so they were given the second guest bedroom at Brian's.

Sabrina had forgiven Marissa for sleeping with Zacky. She and JB Diz had been talking a lot lately, and they seemed to really like each other. No longer was Sabrina jealous of the other girls for getting their dream men; she was very happy with JB and besides, she thought it would be really weird to date Zacky after all the drama he'd gone through with Marissa, who was like a little sister to her.

A week after the girls arrived in California, Marissa was getting dressed to go out with her girls. The guys were working on material for the new album and the girls wanted to give them some peace in which to work.

Marissa tugged her jeans over her hips, struggling a bit. She attempted to button them and couldn't. "Cecelia!" she yelled. "Cecelia!"

Cecelia burst into the room. "What? Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Marissa looked at her. "I can't fit into my jeans."

Cecelia simply stared at her for a full minute, then burst out laughing. Suddenly, Matt barreled through the door. "What's going on? Are you okay?" He stopped short, taking in the scene before him: Marissa standing there with her jeans open and Cecelia doubled over with laughter. Matt glanced at Marissa curiously.

"I can't wear my jeans," Marissa explained, plopping down on the edge of her bed with a glum expression.

Matt looked at Cecelia as if to say Is she fucking serious?

Cecelia giggled at his expression.

"Marissa, if you need clothes, we can go buy you some," Matt offered.

"I'm fat," Marissa grumbled.

"You're pregnant, sweetie," Cecelia soothed.

"I'm a cow."

"Marissa." Cecelia's voice was stern. "Put on some pajama pants and let's go. We'll buy you some new jeans while we're out."

"Hey." Brian poked his head into the room. "Is everything alright? I heard yelling."

Chuckling, Matt turned to leave the room. "You don't even want to know, man." He stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind himself.

Cecelia rummaged around in the bottom drawer of the dresser and dug out a pair of black-and-red plaid pajama bottoms. "Here." She handed them to Marissa.

"Cecelia." Marissa sounded so sad.

Cecelia studied the younger girl's face. She could see tears sparkling in her eyes. Marissa looked down, placing her hands on her barely-obvious bump. Cecelia pulled her into a hug. She held her tightly, stroking her hair. "It's okay," she murmured. "I promise."

"Marissa! Cecelia!" Matt called from downstairs. "The girls are here!"

"Send them up!" Cecelia called back.

A minute later, Jess, Sabrina, and Carmen filed into the room.

"Oh, my God! What's wrong?" Sabrina demanded immediately.

"It's just hormones," Cecelia said, letting Sabrina draw Marissa into her arms.

"I hate this," Marissa mumbled, wiping at the tears rolling down her cheeks. "I don't want to be pregnant."

"We know, honey," Jess said, frowning sympathetically.

Marissa gently freed herself from Sabrina's hug. "Can y'all wait outside? I'll be down in a few minutes."

The girls agreed and left the room. Marissa shut the door. She snatched her cell off the bedside table and scrolled through her phone book until she found the number she wanted. She paced while listening to it ring and ring and ring..."Hello?"

"Danny." The sound of his voice was like a healing balm to her nerves. "It's Marissa."

"Hey!" His tone instantly grew warmer. "Sorry. You know how bad I am about saving numbers in my phone."

Marissa smiled. "Yeah, I do."

"So, how are you?"

"Well...I can't wear my jeans."

Far from being amused by this statement, Danny seemed to realize what it meant to Marissa. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. No." She sighed. "I don't know." She again dropped onto her bed. "It felt like a partially forgotten nightmare when I was back home, like I had escaped it simply by returning to Alabama and my boring life. Now..."

"It's real," Danny completed the thought for her.

"It's real," Marissa echoed softly, and tears welled in her eyes.

"Listen, you have to make the best out of your situation," Danny said. That was one of the many things Marissa loved about him; he was always so positive and upbeat. "There has to be a bright side."

"I'm sure there is. If you find it, will you let me know?" Marissa grumbled sarcastically.

"What about Brian? How are things with him?"

"Better. But I still think we'll be doing our parenting separately."

"Better to be separate and happy than together and miserable."

"I know. It's just...I always imagined what would happen if I met him and got a chance with him, and it was nothing like this." She paused. When she spoke again, her voice was barely above a whisper. "I'm scared, Danny."

"You're going to be fine, Lulu," Danny said sternly. "You've got your parents and your girls and me. We'll get you through this. I promise."

"Thanks, Danny."

"No problem."

"Marissa!" came Cecelia's voice from downstairs.

"I've gotta go," Marissa said to Danny. "We're going shopping for some clothes that will fit."

"Okay. Have fun. And remember what I said."

"I will. Bye."

"Bye, Lulu."

Marissa ended the call. She felt better. Danny offered a bit of normalcy back into her life, and she really needed that right now. He helped her feel like herself again, her old self, her not pregnant self. She had always thought her life was so boring and wished for something exciting to happen to her. Now, she desperately wanted the boring back.

She put on the pajama pants Cecelia had picked out for her and an Avenged Sevenfold tank-top. She ran a brush through her hair, slipped on some flip-flops, and headed out to Zacky's Durango.