Paradise City

"Hey baby." He answered the phone like he hasn't been dodging my calls all day. The sound of his voice already lifted a portion of the weight off of my shoulders. I sighed, wanting nothing more than to hear him talk for hours on end.

"Hey." I reply, not sure of what to say next. I hadn't gotten that far. I frantically dialed his number, not even sure if I was even pregnant or not. I momentarily panicked, knowing that I couldn't just up and tell him what was happening without even knowing for sure. "How's work?"

"Same old same. Been busy as fuck. Sorry for not being able to get back to you, it's just that we've been in and out of interviews and shit, and trying to get sleep on top of that, and a good workout." He sighed. "How are you, Buttercup?" I could practically feel him smiling through the phone.

"I'm uh- I'm fine." I said quickly. "Hey, I think we should-"

"Yeah, I'm coming!" He yelled to someone in the background. I sighed, knowing what was coming next. "Listen, babe, I have to go. I'll call you later." Before I could even say goodbye, he had already hung up the phone. He wasn't going to call me back.

Just as I slid my phone in my back pocket, Violet came busting out the front door of the salon. "What's going on?" She asked. "You just up and run out here like a mad woman." I didn't say anything for a minute, only stared ahead at the setting sun. "Callie?"

"I haven't had my period in two months." I said with a flat tone. I could see her face out of the corner of my eye turn from a little angry to shocked in a millisecond. "I don't know why I didn't think of it before when I was sick and moody, but when you asked for a tampon, that's when I realized that I didn't have one because I didn't need them. It explains the funny smells and how tired I've been, and the cravings."

"You didn't use protection?" Her next question was the one that had been running through my mind since the thought conceived in my mind. I shook my head and my shoulders dropped. I really had been naive and stupid.

"I guess I left it up to him." I replied, knowing that wasn't the truth. I didn't leave it up to him, because I wasn't even thinking about it. I guess I figured myself the exception. I couldn't get pregnant, HA! However, the more that I thought about it, the more I started rolling some of the blame over to Dean. He could've put on a condom if he wanted to.

But then again, what twenty-three year old woman isn't on some kind of birth control. What kind of twenty-eight year old man doesn't ask? My mind was racing, imagining all the women he had slept with. I could've easily contracted an STD. Fuck, I couldn't have been any more stupid. Violet put her hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. I bit down on the inside of my cheek to keep myself from crying.

"Let's close up and then we'll go to the pharmacy to get you a pregnancy test, okay?" Violet asked. I nodded. This was all becoming too real, too fast. I wanted to just get in bed and sob into a gallon container of Neapolitan ice cream.

It wasn't even because there was a giant possibility that there was a growing human inside of me. Granted, I was scared. I was terrified. But that wasn't it. I had always wanted to be a mother, and even though I pictured myself as a forever-virgin, I still had dreams of having a family someday. No, the reason I was so distraught was because of Dean. Mr. I'm Not Going To Settle Down With Anyone, and how he was going to react. The only scenario I could imagine in my head was him leaving me, which is probably what would happen.

Let's be honest, who could ever imagine Dean Ambrose with a kid? Possibly getting married? Settling Down? No. As much as I wanted that to be true, especially with me, I knew there was a snowball's chance in hell of that ever happening.

I stood in the isle of the pharmacy, looking at all the different colored boxes of pregnancy tests; most of them blue or pink. "Don't worry, I've done this a lot." Violet assured me, but it still didn't ignite any form of hope within me. I gave her a face before she grabbed one of the pink boxes off of the shelf. "I've been in a relationship for seven years, remember? Plan B was pretty much my best friend, but I think you're a little too late for that." She gave me an uneasy smile, I only rolled my eyes. This was no time for snarky comments.

We proceeded to the checkout, and then straight to my apartment. I practically ran to the bathroom, tearing the plastic covering from the box in my hand. The directions weren't hard; pee directly on the stick, replace the cap, and wait two minutes. I positioned myself over the toilet, holding the test between my legs. When I was finished, I replaced the cap and laid it face down on the counter. I didn't want to know until it was time. Anything else would be cheating.

Violet was pressed up against the wall outside my bathroom, waiting. "Two minutes." I told her and made my way into the kitchen to rummage through my cupboards; I was starving.

"Have you called Dean?" She asked, following close behind me.

"He's busy." I said nonchalantly. "It's no big deal. I don't even know for sure, yet." She gave me a look, but didn't say anything as I stuffed white cheddar popcorn in my mouth. I paid her no mind and continued to put my nervousness at bay by eating. It seemed to be the only thing that helped.

After two minutes, we both huddled over the bathroom sink. Violet wanted to be the one to look first, but I wouldn't let her. When I flipped the test over, I saw the confirmation; those two pink lines. As I was expecting my heart to sink, it actually almost fluttered. I tried to hide the smile forming on my face by pulling my lips between my teeth. Every ounce of stupidity that I felt, every bit of regret, it all seemed to dissolve when I got my answer. It didn't matter if I did this with Dean, or without him, I was going to do this. I wouldn't be alone, either. There were people who would support me, and help me, and I could do this.

"You know for sure now." Violet said, not even trying to hide the smile on her face. "You need to make a doctor's appointment, get some prenatal vitamins, 'A Mother's Guide to Pregnancy'. Oh my God, you're going to have to start thinking of new places to live. You can't raise a baby in a one bedroom apartment. You need at least two. What if it's a girl? You should name her Violet! A boy would be so cute, though. Boys are always better in the long run, and he'd have Dean's dimples. Oh my God your kid is going to be so cute. What do you think? Dean Junior? No. What about Ashton? Ashton Ambrose, that has a nice ring to it. Ashton James Ambro-"

"Violet!" I yelled, almost dizzy at her spewing off at the mouth. "One, Dean and I aren't married. Any child we have will have my last name. Two, I have nine months to figure out living arrangements. Let's not rush this, okay? How about you run down to the Steak 'N Shake and get me a peanut butter milkshake and some cheese fries?" She nodded her head profusely as I handed her some cash. "And some chicken strips!" I yelled at her before she left.

I took a seat on the couch and pulled out my phone, staring at Dean's name on the screen. My thumb hovered over it momentarily before pressing the green button. As soon as I heard the first ring, I ended the call. I couldn't do it. I didn't want to hear him tell me over the phone that he didn't want anything to do with this child, or me. Besides, who tells someone their pregnant over the phone? I should probably tell James, but I already know what he'd say.

He'd probably ring me out and hang me up to dry; jump down my throat for being so careless and not thinking about my future. Call Dean every name in the book. I dialed his number and waited for him to answer.

"James' pimp service, holla for a dolla! This is James, how can I help you?"

I shook my head and rolled my eyes, chewing on the inside of my lip as I thought of how to tell him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm about to head over to Alex's. What are you doing?" He asked.

"Are you sitting down?" I asked because I didn't want him to faint, which wouldn't be surprising.

"Sitting down? Why would I be sitting down? Do you need me to sit down? What's going o-"

"James, I'm pregnant." I blurted out. He was silent. Dead silent. The kind of silent that was always followed by something awful. I could feel his wrath coming, I was almost shaking waiting for it.

"What?" He asked, like he didn't hear me the first time. "You're pregnant? Callie you just lost your virginity. You can't be pregnant. Please, tell me you're kidding. This is a joke, right?" I pulled the phone away from my ear and made a face, but let him continue. "Callie, how could you be so careless. Did you just think that because you were the only twenty-two year old virgin in the world that you wouldn't get pregnant? Not to mention all the women Dean's slept with. Dude's probably crawling with diseases."

"Okay, James. I get it." I replied, not wanting to hear any more of his bad-mouthing.

"I don't think you do." He replied. "You fight with Dean every other day, and now you're pregnant with his kid? How long do you think that's going to last?" Ouch. "Do you know how much work goes into a kid? You're stuck with it for life. Not all babies come out perfectly healthy. You could have a kid with a serious health problem, and that's a lot of money for the rest of it's life. Are you ready for that kind of commitment, Callie? Because right now you're working at a hair salon, making appointments. You gonna do that for the rest of your life?"

I definitely didn't expect James to be this harsh. Yeah, he was always my voice of reasoning, but for him to be blatantly rude instead of supportive really hurt. Violet burst through the door with bags of fast food and I silently thanked God. "I have to go, James." I snapped, ending the call quickly before he could say anything else.

"We feast!" Violet said, dropping the food on my coffee table. My mouth began to water at the smell of deep, fried food. I was about to devour those cheese fries. "Did you call Dean?" She asked as she sipped on her milkshake.

"Yeah, he didn't answer." I lied. "It's okay, he's busy. I can't just drop a bomb like that on him while he's working." I tried my hardest to ignore the look she was giving me again. "In other news, James totally doesn't support this."

"He's probably just scared. He doesn't want you to get hurt." She replied with a mouthful of fries.

"Violet, did anyone ever teach you to chew with your mouth closed?" I asked her.

She laughed and shook her head.

I tried to focus on anything else other than the impending conversation I was going to have to have with Dean eventually. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to wait until he got home, I'm sure he'd understand my reasoning for not telling him. I simply didn't want to distract him from his job. He was the top guy in the company, I couldn't have his mind elsewhere and slip up during one of his matches.

James called me back, but I ignored it. I didn't need anything else pulling me down. I wanted to be on cloud nine. Fuck, I was going to be a mom after all. But there was so much grey in my mind keeping me from it, making me second guess myself. It was an awful habit of mine that I wish I could kick.

All I knew was that this would be so much easier if Dean was home.