The Fast Times

Pete held Nancy's hand tightly in his own as they waited for her name to be called by the nurse. She was nervous, and she had no clue as to why. The worst was already over, the terrible responsibly -she thought- was just beginning.

"How come you're so nervous?" Pete asked her, noticing her foot shaking beside his.

"I dunno," she murmured. "I just am."

"Do you want me to do in there with you?"

She gave a small nod, "After the examination. You can come in if he does an ultrasound on me."

Pete smiled slightly, "Wow."

Nancy exhaled, "This is all so scary."

"I'm not scared," he relayed. "I...I'm happy."

Nancy noticed this. She didn't get it. She didn't get Pete, he was almost too perfect to be a man, a boy...to be human.

"You're so weird," she said with a small giggle.

Pete grinned, "I'll take it as a compliment."

Nancy looked down at her lap, a smile still on her face, "How the hell are you even real?"

Pete frowned slightly, confused, "What?"

"You're...so nice and sweet. You're too perfect to be a person."

"I'm just...I dunno. I'm just being me."

Nancy looked at him, "Yeah, it's weird...not in a bad way, I just never met a boy as nice as you."

"I'm not like other boys, Nance."

She giggled again, "Nice."

He smirked at her, "You're not like other girls I've dated, you're more...into life than them. They were into hiding and being in the dark, and you're not. I like that."

"I'm just being me," she mimicked his words.

"Nice," he chuckled.

They looked at each other for a moment, Pete's thumb ran over the back of her hand. They stayed silent until a nurse called her back, "Nancy Durden, Mr. Waziack will see you now."

Nancy exhaled, "I'll see you soon."

Pete let her hand go gently and nodded, "Okay."

Nancy followed after the nurse, inhaling and exhaling. She was all nerves and it irked her to no end. In the exam room they recorded her height and weight and then hand her change into a gown.

Pete sat anxiously, wondering what was going on back there. He bit at his lip and waited, watching other women and a few men come and go. He wondered if they wondered what he was doing there; he smiled at the thought of telling people he was going to be a father.

It was all for the simple fact he hadn't ever been so happy before. He felt as if he was his own person and on his own for once, this decision was his alone -along with Nancy's. He didn't need his father, he didn't want his father in on his life any more.

Pete was lost in his thoughts of pure happiness when an older nurse had place a hand on his shoulder, "Pete?"

He snapped his thoughts away and looked at her, her kind face kept the smile on his, "Yeah, I'm Pete."

"We're starting the scan, you can come in now."

Pete stood up and followed the nurse, his smile faltering a bit. The walk to the examination room was short and he was surprised to see Nancy sitting there with her gown over her stomach, where a glob of blue goop was being place on her bare skin and a warm sheet was over her lap. She smiled over at him, motioning him over, "You can sit beside me."

The doctor, who was in his 30's, smiled and introduced himself, "I'm Dr. Waziack, I'll be taking care of your love ones for the next 7 and a half months, and beyond that. We'll find the best pediatrician and doctors for Nancy and your little one."

Pete smiled back, "I'm Pete...Wentz. I'm new to all of this stuff. I don't know a lot about babies."

"We'll keep you two up to the know. Now, are you ready to see your baby?"

Pete nodded, his heart began to pick up. Nancy watched the screen, Pete's eyes were on the wand first, seeing the goop thin out beneath her belly button. Pete tore his eyes away from her stomach when Dr. Waziack said, "There the baby is, tiny little thing."

Pete couldn't make out a baby on the grey static scrambled screen. He saw a grayish blob moving back and forth like a lava lamp. He tilted his head, "That doesn't look like any baby I've ever seen," he said dumbly.

The nurse and doctor both laughed softly, "Your baby is 8 and a half weeks old, they're going to look like this for awhile."

"Told ya doc, I'm not all that smart when it comes to babies."

Nancy giggled, "Neither do I, but I wasn't expecting a full baby on that screen."

"Don't worry, it'll get cuter," the nurse assured.

"God, I hope so," Pete mumbled. "I don't know how people would react if we brought home that."

Nancy nudged his arm, "If we came home with our baby lookin' like that, we'd love them anyway."

Pete grinned at her, "No doubt, babe."

Pete leaned over and kissed the top of Nancy's head.

"Now, are you ready to hear the heartbeat?"

Pete's brow rose, "We can hear the baby's heart beat? Already? It's just a little lava blob!"

Everyone in the room laughed, the doctor nodded, "Yeah, just about."

"I have to hear it," Pete said excitedly.

Nancy held his hand tightly in her own, her nerves picking up. She was excited and sick all in one moment.

"We just need to have the Doppler find the heart," Dr. Waziack explained.

Half a silent minute passed before they all heard a soft swoosh noise fill the air. Nancy's heart raced, tears filled her eyes, "Wow," she murmured.

"That's it?" Pete asked, "Thats the baby's heart?"

"Yeah," the doctor answered, "it's strong, you've got a pretty healthy blob there, Pete."

Pete bit at his lip, holding in his tears. The happiness was choking him and he was drowning. He made sure to hold in his emotion until he was alone. Till then, he leaned over and kissed Nancy's head again, watching their baby on the ultrasound screen.


After returning home from their appointment, Pete left Nancy home to relax her nausea and headed over to his parents'. He wanted to show his mom his lava blob of a baby. He knew she'd be a little happy and care, he was hoping his father wouldn't be there to darken the mood.

Pete was nervous, holding a copy of the scan in hand, he tried not to shake so bad. He swallowed all of his nervousness and headed up to the door, knocking quickly and then stepping back. It took a few seconds for the door to open, revealing his little brother.

"Pete!" Andrew cried and nearly tackled his older brother in a hug. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Hey," Pete pulled back, "who told you you could cuss?"

Andrew smirked, "Shut up. Where have you been?"

"I'm living with Nancy," Pete answered. "Where's mom?"

"Inside, c'mon," Andrew let Pete go and began to walk in the house.

"Wait," Pete called out causing Andrew to pause and look back, "is dad here?"

Andrew cocked a brow, "Is his car out there?"

"Nah."

"Then he isn't here," Andrew grabbed his arm, "come on!"

Pete trudged in behind his little brother, straight into his mother's craft room. Dale's back was to her sons', she was humming along to her radio, sowing patches onto a blanket. Andrew knocked, "Mom, Pete's back!"

"That's not funny," Dale said humorously.

"No, really!"

Dale sighed, Pete just smiled, wondering if he brother ever played around with his mother like this before. He hasn't been gone that long for him to be sorely missed. But, she turned around, ready to reprimand her son for joking around, instead she saw her eldest there, smiling while clutching something in his hand.

"Hey, mom. Missed me?"

Dale's lips curled up into a smile, she set her patch work down and stood, "Yes I have missed you. If feels like you've been gone forever."

Immediately he was ushered into a hug, which he happily returned. Dale looked him up and down, wondering what changed in such little time. She cursed herself for acting so silly, "How have you been? Have you been getting enough to eat?"

Pete laughed, "I haven't been gone that long! Chill! I'm okay, I'm living with Nancy and her grandma Alma. I just stopped by to show you this," he brought his hand up and showed her the ultrasound photo. "That's our baby, it kinda looks like a blob right now. We got to hear the heartbeat, too, it was wicked."

Dale cupped her mouth and took the photo from his hand, "Oh, that's so beautiful."

Pete and Andrew both made faces, "Really? It looked like a lava lamp at the doctors office."

"It is," Dale nodded, "This is wonderful. Can I keep this?"

"Uh, sure. The doctor gave us 3, they were like frame by frame of it moving."

She smiled, "This is truly wonderful. How is she? When is she due?"

"Nancy's okay, she's due July 20th. She's been sick a lot lately. We're gonna find jobs and all that...actually, my friend Patrick is hooking me up with a job at Border's for the holidays. Uh, we're gonna save and stuff for the baby. We haven't made any major plans."

"Are you okay, are you happy?"

Pete nodded, "Yep, I'm happy. I'm really, really happy."

"Do you need anything? Money, food? Clothes?"

Pete exhaled, "Clothes would be awesome."

"Your father doesn't get home till late tonight, so you can pack all you need. Are you sure you're okay there at Nancy's?"

"Yeah, I am. Her grandma is great, she's a sweet old lady."

Dale hugged her son again, minding the photo in her hand, "Thats good honey, I miss you here."

"I miss you guys too. I'm fine, I'll come by and visit, you know. I'll bring Nancy next time."

Dale let go of her son, "I'll make you guys some food so you all don't have to worry about dinner, you just call her up, tell her and Alma to relax, that I'm making lasagna."

Pete smiled, "Thanks mom."

"You're welcome, honey."


Nancy was looking over the set of sonograms while Alma was laying in bed, sick with a cold that came on fast. She was burning up and coughing. She had finally gotten some sleep after Nancy showed her the ultrasound photos and told her about the baby's heartbeat; so Nancy took time to herself while Pete was at his parents.

She thought of the baby growing inside her and the way her heart filled with love and pride when she looked at her "lava blob" baby and heard it's heart, it was really there, living inside of her. She giggled to herself over Pete's little nickname for the baby; Lava. She hoped the nickname wouldn't stick.

Baby names soon started to swirl in her head, but nothing flourish before there came rapping on the door. She stood, setting the photos on the coffee table, headed to the door and opened it without a thought. There on her porch was Rae and Sabrina, "Hey," she stepped aside, letting them inside, "what're you guys doing here?"

"Chris spilled the beans," Rae said, her accent pouring through.

"Spilled the beans?" Nancy questioned as she shut the door.

Sabrina skipped to the couch, "He and Patrick and Andy told us your news."

Nancy groaned, "Oh shit."

Rae laughed, "Are you really knocked up, Durden?"

Nancy rolled her eyes, "I'm gonna kill Pete."

"Chris told," Rae reminded her, "Kill him."

"Pete shouldn't have told," Nancy pointed out.

"Well it's out now," Sabrina plopped on the couch, "so we want details."

Nancy followed them to the couch, "I'm 8 weeks...2 months. It looks like a blob."

Rae chuckled, "I suspect so."

"The scan photos are right there, take a look."

Both girls pick up a scan each. They tilted and looked at the baby blob every which way. Sabrina raised her brow, "This is not what I expected it to look like."

"Wait till it gets bigger," Nancy said with a frown.

"It's cute in a kidney bean way," Rae assured. "Where's the daddy to be?"

"Showing his mom," Nancy sat down beside them. "His dad is pissed off with it."

"Wouldn't you be?" Rae asked incredulously. "Not to be a bitch about it, love, but getting your girlfriend pregnant at 16 isn't a dream."

"He kicked him out," Nancy confessed, "and I know that it isn't a dream, but would you kick him out without his belongings? He wouldn't let Pete take his car, or his clothes! His clothes for Chrissake!"

The girls each grimaced, "Ouch," Rae responded.

"His dad sucks," Sabrina grumbled.

"My grandma wanted him to move in, and I couldn't agree more."

"Are you guys excited?" Sabrina gushed now, "Or are you scared?"

Nancy sighed, "I feel everything under the sun, man. I...I'm not happy, I'm okay...I don't know, I just know I'm terrified and Pete is too happy, it's ridiculous."

Rae hummed, "You guys are young, it's normal to be terrified. Maybe it hadn't hit him yet, you know?"

"That's what he says," Nancy explained. "I don't know. Everything is so weird right now."

"So, do you want the baby?" Sabrina set the sonogram photo back on the table.

"Yes, I do. I couldn't go through just...you know, aborting it. I'd feel horrible, it'd eat me up inside. And I heard their heart beating today and...I couldn't even imagine doing it."

"You're doing what you think's right," Sabrina smiled, "don't be so worried."

"I wish saying it was as easy as feeling it," Nancy cursed to herself. "I know things are gonna be rough."

"Keep your head up," Rae patted her shoulder, "things couldn't get any worse, you've got us and Pete to help you."

Nancy smiled gratefully, "Yeah, I know, thanks guys."

"No problem," Sabrina grinned back, "now, who are you picking as Godmother?"