Something in the Water

Dr. Stevens leads us to the waiting room to tell my parents the big news.

I walk alongside of Ben, my arm hooked around his elbow. I lean my head on his shoulder, and he kisses my hair. I think the smile on my face might be permanent.

"What names do you like?" I ask him.

"Names?" He questions. "Already?"

I shrug. "Well, he needs a name, doesn't he?"

Ben purses his lips. "So it's a boy, now?"

"Boy, girl, whatever." I roll my eyes. "The kid needs a good name either way."

Ben stays quiet. I can't tell if he's thinking about names or if he's just ignoring me. I yawn and close my eyes, wishing I could sleep now.

The yawn is contagious, because Ben yawns, too.

"You don't have to stay here with me tonight." I tell him, even though I don't want him to leave my sight. "Go home and get a good night's sleep." 

"Trying to get rid of me, are you?" He teases.

I am about to say something smart back to him, but I spot the waiting room ahead of us. Dr. Stevens is already speaking with my mom and dad. Ben's parents are here now, too. His mom, the tiny woman with light blue eyes, notices us standing in the background, her light eyes drawn directly to my stomach.

"They don't believe it." Ben whispers to me, leaning close to my ear.

I gather something in my chest that resembles bravery and march right up to the huddle around the doctor. "Excuse me."

Five pairs of accusing eyes focus on me. I face them all, trying to keep my knees from shaking.

"Emma, sweetheart, there's no way this is true." Dad's hair was graying before, but it looks even more gray now. "They still need to do more tests before they can be certain."

I nearly laugh in his face. "It is true." I insist. "I saw it. We have pictures, don't we? Show them." I look to Dr. Stevens for some backup.

She shuffles through the papers in her hands and pulls out the sheet with three pictures of my baby. Ben's parents aren't arguing it, but it doesn't mean they agree. My parents are as stubborn as always.

"What other tests can you do?" My mother asks, her hair starting to fall out of its intricate updo.

"We've seen slight immunities to the birth control before, but never so much that it allows a pregnancy. I suppose we'll need to do more testing to figure out what it is that makes her immune." Dr. Stevens remains calm, regardless of the frantic atmosphere around her.

"And turn her into a lab rat?" Ben quickly jumps in, offended. "She's having a baby, not an alien."

His mom speaks up. "Ben, it's more complicated than just that."

"It's important that they find out why it happened, so they can fix the problem." His father adds. 

"Fix the problem?" I gasp, doubtful of what I heard. "My baby is not a problem - and maybe I don't want it to be fixed!"

"Emma, stop it." Dad tells me, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You need to let us figure things out first."

They're not even listening to me. "What do you have to figure out? It's my baby! Our baby." I hook onto Ben again.

"I don't mean to interrupt," The doctor tries to recontrol the situation. "But visiting hours are over at eleven. I don't think there's much we can do right now anyway, so it's best for Emma to get some rest."

I am still unsettled, but I know she's right. My dad volunteers to stay the night with me, and Mom kisses me goodnight. I still see the hazy look in her eyes that strengthens the wall building between my parents and I. 

I realize that Ben has to leave me here too, and it feels like a slap in the face. He sees the understanding start to sink in.

"I'll be back first thing in the morning." He promises. "Before you wake up."

I want more than anything for him to stay with me. Right now, he's the only one on my side. The rims of my eyes blur with tears.

He turns back to his parents, who are clearly in a rush to get out of here. "Can I walk her back to her room?"

"I think we'll be alright." My dad says. He likes Ben, and our families have known eachother for years. But maybe his opinion has changed.

Ben's trying not to clench his teeth. "Then can I talk to her for five minutes?" He doesn't really listen for an approval, and pulls me far enough away for some privacy.

"Don't be angry with your parents." I say, sucking up the tears. "They didn't know anything before now."

"Listen. Don't let them make decisions for you, Em. You're right, it's your baby. You get to decide what you want to do. Don't let them tell you any different, okay?"

I nod, even though I know deep down the Evaluator will get the last word.

"You're a brave girl." He wipes the stray tears with his thumb. "I think you'll make it through the night.

He kisses me once, just as a goodbye, but comes back for another. It's a deeper kiss, one that helps me forget where we are. I need it desperately.

. . . . . . . . 

Dad doesn't sleep a wink, and neither do I. I spend the night rolling around in the hospital bed, wondering how the hell I'm going to get through the next hour, let alone the next six months.

Dad finds comfort in the fact that we have an entire six months to figure things out. He'll need to mend his reputation of being the father of the girl who got pregnant at seventeen. However, I don't think it's enough time at all. They make me believe I have some sort of disease. What makes me so special? Why was I the one to get pregnant? How am I supposed to mature at least three years in less then half?

I don't know what time it is, but I consider fishing out answers from Dad. He's researching the history of the water and what exactly it is that they put in it. 

I want to ask Dad what he thinks will happen with the Evaluation part of it. I want to know if he'll ask us to take the test - but I don't want to know what will happen if we don't pass. I survey the process in my head.

I'm three years away from twenty. I can't beat that requirement. It doesn't mean I'm not capable of taking care of a baby. As for the marriage, I told Ben I would marry him right now - but that doesn't mean I want to have a baby right now. And then we're back at the license test. 

It doesn't make any sense. I was just thrilled with the idea of having a baby of my own, and now I'm dreading it. It isn't fair that I let people do that to me, and Ben made sure I knew that.

I'm slowly beginning to understand what I'm becoming. I'm not just Emma Sullivan, the average teenager who dreams of boybands and makeup. I've been thrusted full throttle into parenthood, whether I like it or not. 

I guess now it's just a matter of how I deal with it.

. . . . . . . .

It's almost noon when the dirty little liar finally finds his way to my room.

He nods at my father, seated in the hall with his Evaluation books, before entering the code he has written on the back of his hand. In the other, he has a styrofoam cup with a straw poked through the top.

He comes through the doors, out of breath. I glare at him.

"Hey, I'm sorry, they -"

"What the hell Ben!" I shout, holding no mercy for him. "I've been up since eight, and I really didn't sleep at all. You said you would be here!"

He holds up his palm. "I -"

"They took blood from me, like, seven times, and they put me in some kind of head scanner that determines my hormone levels or something. And I threw up again! But you weren't here to hold my hair this time, were you?"

He changes what he's going to say just before he says it. "You did that head scanning thing, too?"

I huff. "I don't care about the damn head scanner! What do you mean did I do it too?" I subconsciously notice the baggy white outfit that fits his broad shoulders better than mine. "Why are you wearing that?"

He half smiles. "That's what I was trying to tell you. I'm stuck here for the day."

My heart drops. "Why? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I'm immune to it too, remember?" He offers me the milkshake with a wink. "Strawberry?"

"I can't." I pout. "They put some kind of dye inside me and they're scanning me again in ten minutes. I'm not allowed to eat or drink."

Ben sighs and mutters something along the lines of 'lab rat' under his breath. He leaves just for a moment to hand the milkshake over to my dad. He barely lifts his eyes for five seconds before he refuses.

Ben sulks back to me. "Well what the hell am I supposed to do with it now? I hate strawberry." He slaps it on the side table and lays horizontally across my bed.

"I don't know. So wait, you were doing tests all morning, too?"

He nods. "They tackled me when I walked in the front door."

I play with the stubby ends of my socks and shrug. "Ben?"

He grunts, covering his face with his hands. 

"Who's going to tell Sam and Sara?"

Ben hesitates, before he grunts again. "They'll find out before we have to tell them."

It feels like a nightmare. "What about the rest of our school?"

He sits up this time and faces me. "It'll be okay." He says.

Dr. Stevens arrives to escort me to whatever crazy test they want to do now. Ben offers her the milkshake, but she politely refuses - unlike my father.

"How many more tests do you have to do?" Ben questions, worried for my safety. I don't really mind, it's just a little annoying. Nothing really hurts me.

"Just a few. The tests are only a precaution." She attempts to lead me away without further questioning.

"Precaution for what?" He asks.

"Ben," I wait for his eyes to meet mine. "I'll be right back."

He reluctantly lets it go. "See you soon, Lab Rat."