My secret life: part 2

"Chase!" said Jess. She ran to his side. "Chase, please don't."
"I love you Jess," he said weakly.
"NO!" said Jess. She cried and had his head in her hands. "You can't go."
She sobbed. She kissed his lips.
“Please don’t leave me,” said Jess. “I love you.”
They had called the police and an ambulance, but Chase was gone. They took him away and Vince had to pull Jess away. She got cleaned up and sat in her room.
"Jess," said Vince. "You going to come eat?"
"I'm not hungry," said Jess.
"Please just come down there," said Vince. Jess got up and went downstairs. She sat at the table as they quietly ate. She started to cry. She went to the bathroom. Lenny knocked on the door.
"You ok?" he asked. Jess came out and fell to his arms. She cried and cried. Lenny took her to the couch. Jack and Vince went over to the couch.
"Jess it'll be ok," said Jack.
"No it won't," said Jess.
"You'll be ok," said Vince.
"You don't get it," said Jess. "I love him."
She showed them the ring.
"And he loved me," said Jess.
"You were dating?" said Vince in shock.
"Yes," said Jess with tear streaked cheeks. They got her to calm down so she could go to bed. They had the funeral a few days later. Jess was back in school.
"Hey, where ya been?" asked Nick.
"My boyfriend died," said Jess.
"Oh, I'm sorry," said Nick. "Anything I can do?"
"No," said Jess. "Thanks though."
A couple days later, during break in shop, Jess went to the bathroom to take a pregnancy test. She went back to class.
"Hey, you ok?" asked Nick.
"No," said Jess.
"What's wrong?" asked Nick.
"You can't say anything," said Jess.
"Ok," said Nick.
"I'm pregnant," said Jess.
"With you're dead boyfriend's child?"
"Yeah."
Jess started to cry.
"Hey, it'll be ok," said Nick. "You just have to figure out what to do."
"It's bad enough I didn't tell Vince we were dating 'till after he died, and now I'm pregnant," said Jess. She cried. Nick let her cry in his arms.
"What happened?" asked Mr. Glansted.
"Come on," said Nick and they went into the class room. Jess sat down.
"What's going on?" asked Mr. Glansted. Jess looked at him with pink eyes.
"My boyfriend just died," said Jess, "And I'm pregnant with his baby."
"Oh," said Mr. Glansted. "Um..."
"I should just go disappear somewhere," said Jess.
"No," said Nick. "As your friend, I will help you through this. No matter what."
"I don't need to put my problems on your shoulders," said Jess.
"I took them off yours," said Nick. Jess smiled.
"You think you can make it through the day?" asked Mr. Glansted.
"Yeah," said Jess. He hugged her. They went back out to the shop and started working again. The day ended and Lenny was there to pick Jess up. He took her back to the house. The guys came home and Jess made supper. They sat down to eat. Jess ate a little but just kind of played with her food.
"What's wrong Jess?" asked Jack. She shook her head. The she ran to the bathroom and threw up. She came out and sat back down at the table.
"You sick?" asked Jack.
"No," said Jess. "I'm pregnant."
"What?" said Vince.
"I'm pregnant," said Jess. "I took a test at school and it said that I was."
"Chase?" asked Vince.
"Who the hell else would it be?" said Jess.
"I don't know Jess," said Vince. "You seem to keep everything else a secret."
Jess got up and went to her room. After supper and after everything was put away, Vince went up to talk to Jess. He knocked on her door.
"Go away," said Jess.
"Come on Jess," said Vince.
"No," said Jess.
"Please let's just talk about this."
"There's nothing to talk about."
Jess went to her door and opened it a bit and stood with the door at her side.
"You don't have to worry about anything. I'm getting an abortion."
"What?"
"Yeah."
"No, no, no. We're talking about this. Let's go."
He grabbed her wrist.
“Come on,” said Vince. They went down to the living room. They discussed what to do and decided that she was going to have the baby. It was up to her whether or not she was going to keep it. The next day at school during lunch, Nick asked her, "So did you tell your family?"
"Yeah," said Jess. "I'm keeping it."
"Oh," said Nick.
"I don't know if I can do this," said Jess as they got to work. "I don't know if I can be a mom."
"You'll be fine," said Nick. Towards the end of the day the secretary came.
"Jess," she said, "your father's here."
"Bald head," said Jess.
"Yes," said the secretary with a confused look.
"You have more than one?" asked Nick.
"Sort of," said Jess. "It just depends on who the school thinks is my dad. Vince is my guardian. Jack is also a guardian. Lenny's like a brother. Mia's practically a sister-in-law."
"I get," said Nick. "What do you have to leave for?"
"Doctor's appointment," said Jess. "Going to get an ultrasound."
"Have fun," said Nick.
"See ya later," said Jess. She left and went to the doctor.
"There it is," said the doctor. "Are you keeping it?"
"Yeah," said Jess.
"Well," said the doctor giving her a towel to wipe the jell off, "Here is a prescription of vitamins to take, so the baby can be as healthy as possible."
"Ok," said Jess. They went to get the vitamins and went home. Lenny had supper made and they ate. Jess went to the bathroom shortly after she ate.
"You ok?" asked Jack.
"Yeah," said Jess. She took a shower and went to bed. Months passed and Jess was now seven months pregnant. She went to shop class and Nick had a different project he was working on. Jess had her own she was working on. The bell rang for the end of the day. They all got cleaned up and everything put away. No one was there to pick Jess up, which Jess expected being they needed the money to get ready for the baby. Jess started to walk to the bus stop.
"Hey, you need a ride home?" asked Nick.
"If you're offering," said Jess. Nick drove her home. "You can stay for supper if you like."
"I might," said Nick.
"If you stay you have to help with the nursery," said Jess.
"I think I will," said Nick. Jess made a quick supper so they could eat and get to work. They guys got home, ate quickly and they all went up to the nursery. They started putting the crib and changing table together. Mia, Lenny's girlfriend, and Jess put the rocking chair together. They put up a couple shelves and the room was pretty much ready. They just needed to get diapers and such. Nick and Jess went out to the porch. Nick was getting ready to leave.
"Thanks for staying," said Jess.
"No problem," said Nick. They looked into each other’s eyes. Nick kissed her. She smiled. Nick left and Jess went back in. She went to bed. The next morning, Jess got up and got ready for work. She worked at a garage not too far from the house. Soon she had to be put on bed rest.
A couple months passed and Jess was getting closer to her due date. It was a Saturday, and Jess started to go into labor. They took her to the hospital and Nick came. The baby was delivered.
“It’s a girl,” said the doctor. Jess got rest. Nick came to visit her and the baby.
“What’s her name?” asked Nick.
“Zoe Lynn,” said Jess. Nick held her.
“She’s beautiful,” said Nick. Jess smiled. Jess watched Nick with Zoe.
“Nick,” said Jess.
“Yes,” said Nick.
“Do you ever think of that night?” asked Jess. Nick knew she was talking about the night he kissed her.
“Yeah,” said Nick. He looked into her eyes. Zoe started to cry and Nick bounced her.
“She’s probably hungry,” said Jess. Nick gave Zoe to her. Jess fed her. Nick watched her. Jess looked at Nick.
“I think about you a lot actually,” said Nick. “That’s not weird is it?”
Jess smiled. Nick walked over to her. She motioned him to bend down to her.
“It’s entirely weird,” said Jess. “But I like weird.”
Nick kissed her.
“And I love this,” said Nick. Jess smiled.
“My family’s going to be here soon,” said Jess. Nick sat in the chair and Jess burped Zoe. A couple minutes later, Jack, Vince, Lenny, and Mia came.
“Oh my gosh,” said Mia. “She’s so cute.”
“Thanks,” said Jess.
“She is very beautiful,” said Vince kissing her head.
“What’s her name?” asked Mia.
“Zoe Lynn,” said Jess. “You want to hold her?”
“Sure,” said Mia and she took her. Nick got up.
“Hey, I gotta go,” he said. “I’ll see you later.”
He hugged her and left. A few days later they got to go home. Jess had to bring her to school ‘cause they couldn’t get a sitter. Mr. Glansted was happy to watch Zoe during shop. Nick waited with her after school for one of the guys to come pick her up. A couple weeks after Zoe was born, Nick’s girlfriend came back. Jess sat waiting for Vince to come and saw Nick and his girlfriend. Jess started to walk. She walked to the cemetery and sat at Chase’s grave.
“Hey Chase,” said Jess. “I thought maybe you’d like to meet your daughter. She’s a beautiful girl. Say hi to daddy, Zoe.”
Zoe just squirmed a little. Tears ran down Jess’s cheeks.
“I miss you Chase,” said Jess. “I wish you could be here. You’d be proud of me. I’m doing ok in school. And I haven’t gotten in trouble. I just wish you were here. Things would be so much better.”
Jess cried. She lay down. Vince found her a few minutes later.
“What’s wrong?” asked Vince.
“What says there’s anything wrong?” said Jess.
“You weren’t at the school, you didn’t call, you’re sitting at Chase’s grave, your eyes are pink,” said Vince.
“Nick is a player,” said Jess. “And I was stupid enough to fall for it. Let’s just go.”
They went home and Lenny made supper. They ate and Zoe was really fussy. Jess didn’t get much sleep that night. Jess got up and went to school. Jack stayed home with Zoe. Shop class came and Jess didn’t talk to anyone. Vince had let her drive to school that day. She called to say she had to work late that night. She really wasn’t working at all. She was street racing. Vince had told her that she was to never race again, but she loved it and she needed the money. She totally kicked butt that night. She got home at around eleven. The next day she got up to Zoe’s crying. The guys were gone working, so Jess was home with Zoe. There was a knock at the door around noon. Jess opened the door. It was Nick.
“What?” said Jess.
“I wanted to talk to you,” said Nick.
“About what?” said Jess. “How you totally played me. I really don’t want to hear it. How you didn’t mean to hurt me.”
“Just hear me out,” said Nick.
“If you cared even a little, you would’ve told me when she got back or that you had a girlfriend, or that you were sorry. But you didn’t. You didn’t even talk to me or wait with me after she got back,” said Jess. She closed the door.