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XXVIII .. don't be suspicious
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"YOU'RE PREGNANT?" chrissy smiled as she held the small stick in her hand. "i-i, you're pregnant? how? when? how do you feel?"

"well, i spilled my guts out again this morning." bella said as she stared at the test in front of her. "i don't know how to feel."

"okay, here's the million dollar question." chrissy said as she took a breath. "does johnny know?"

"no." bella said. "at least, not yet."

"you do know you're gonna have to tell him soon right?" jenna said as the three ladies stared at the pregnancy test with the word pregnant written on it. as they stared at it, they heard a knock on the door. bella panicked and grabbed the test and stuffed it in her pocket as chrissy answered the door, only to reveal ali.

"i heard and i came over here before class." ali smiled as she ran up to hug bella. "congratulations! how're you feeling?"

"shit-scared." bella said as she pulled the test out of her pocket and showed it to ali. "i don't know what to do, i don't know the first thing about parenting."

"it's totally normal to feel that way." ali said. "you're gonna feel like that for a good while, but once you hold your baby, you'll know."

"thank you." bella smiled as she embraced the blonde. "don't you have a class?"

"yeah, but i just wanted to drop by and congratulate you." ali smiled as she checked her watch. "i'm so happy for you. i have to get to class but i'll see you ladies later!"

ali walked out the door, closing it behind her. chrissy walked to the door and locked. "anyway, so when are you telling johnny?" chrissy said, taking a seat next to jenna.

"where do i begin when i tell him?" bella sighed as she plopped down on the loveseat in chrissy's apartment. "if i'm having trouble processing the fact that i'm pregnant with his kid, imagine how he's gonna take it."

chrissy took a seat next to her as she embraced bella who was a little shaky. "look, you're gonna be okay." chrissy said as she tightly hugged bella. "congratulations, honey!"

"look, just can this be our little secret?" bella said as she was close to tears. "just while i figure out how and when to tell johnny."

"i'll take it to the grave." chrissy said as she crossed her heart and was close to tears. "i can't believe i'm gonna be an auntie. i'm so happy for you."

as chrissy and jenna embraced bella, there was another knock on the door. chrissy got up from the couch and answered the door, as tommy, jimmy, and bobby were standing outside holding a pizza box. the group of friends had agreed to meet up at chrissy's to have some dinner, only thing was that johnny would be running late because of his class schedule.

"hey." bobby said as he placed the pizza box down on the table. "did we interrupt a heart-to-heart moment here?"

"oh shit!" the girls heard tommy call out. the pregnancy test. it's still on the counter. "who's is this?"

bella felt her heart drop as she looked at chrissy then at jenna. "it's mine." chrissy lied as she got up and took the test from tommy's hands. "the guy i've been seeing, well he and i–"

"chrissy stop it." bella said getting up from the couch and took the test from chrissy. "it's not hers, it's mine. i'm pregnant."

"no fucking way!" the boys said in unison as they all began to question bella. chrissy and jenna laughed as they grabbed some pizza slices.

"okay, look." bella said as she shoved the test in her purse. "i haven't told johnny, alright? i'm still figuring out how i'm gonna tell him and if any of you spill it, i'll kick your ass. i may be pregnant but i'll do it."

"alright." the guys said, holding their hands up in surrender.

"so how'd it happen? when? where?" tommy said a he grabbed a beer from chrissy's fridge.

"i'm pretty sure it had to be while we were in malibu." bella sighed as the guys sat around the table. "but i don't get it. we used protection any time we did it. the pill, diaphragm, condoms."

"maybe it was the condom?" jenna said as she grabbed another slice of pizza. "maybe it broke, mid, y'know, thrust?"

"when'd you use a diaphragm?" bobby chuckled as he opened up a beer.

"i used it during high school and a few times in new york." bella said as chrissy got her a cold coke. "after that, i just resorted to using the pill."

"so how do you feel?" jimmy said as he took a seat next to jenna.

bella took a deep breath and held her tears in. "i have so many mixed emotions." she said. "part of me feels excited because i've always wanted a baby; another part of me feels insecure and terrified because this is a big secret that i'm keeping from a person should know, firsthand but doesn't know because i'm keeping this from him in fear of how he'll react."

"honey, i'm sure if you two talk things out, it's gonna be fine." chrissy said. "sure, johnny might be an ass, but for you, he'll drop everything and you know that."

"speak of the devil, he's here." tommy said as bella's heart dropped. "where's the test?"

"in my purse." bella said as she cleaned her tears. "here, place it to the side with your purse."

chrissy took bella's purse and place it next to her small brown purse. as if on cue, there was a knock on the door while chrissy's dog coco began to bark.

"chris, shut your dog up." tommy said as he grabbed another slice of pizza.

"shut up." chrissy said as she picked the small dog and held her in her arms. "coco, stop barking so much, chill out."

chrissy opened up the door and found johnny standing outside the door. "the hell are you holding?" johnny chuckled as he walked into the apartment.

"a giant ass cotton ball." chrissy chuckled as she rolled her eyes. "it's my dog, dumbass."

"that's a dog?" johnny teased as chrissy playfully shoved him.

"you're late." bella teased as she stood up from the couch and greeted her boyfriend by wrapping her arms around his neck.

"yeah, but i'm here now." johnny smirked as he kissed bella, pulling her body close to his as they shared a long kiss.

"oh, get a room." chrissy joked as she placed her dog down in a little corner where the doggy bed was. "you keep slobbering all over her, i'm gonna throw you with the dog."

"fuck off chris." johnny chuckled as he placed one more kiss on bella's lips and then took a seat next to her.

･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･

bella stood in front of the bedroom mirror staring at the pregnancy test she held in her hands. she then stared at her stomach and turned to the side to see if it had grown. she lifted up the long def leppard shirt, which was johnny's, and caressed her stomach. there was little to no difference, it was still the same, but she knew that come next month or after that, there would be a noticeable difference.

she shoved the pregnancy test into her purse and placed it to the side as johnny stepped out of the bathroom. "you look exhausted." johnny said as he got under the covers with bella. "what's up?"

bella did in fact feel exhausted, which was fatigue; a common pregnancy symptom, but she wasn't gonna tell him that, not yet at least. "there's been meetings left and right." bella sighed as she turned off the lamp and got into bed. "there's so much shit going on at work. it's safe to say work's kicking my ass again."

"how'd you do it? handle studying and having a job?" johnny said as he caressed her cheek.

"i don't even know the answer to that question." bella giggled. "why? i made it look easy?"

"yeah." johnny sighed as he wrapped an arm around bella's waist and pulled her closer to him. "you're a sight for sore eyes."

"get some rest, you look like you had a rough day." bella smiled as she softly placed a kiss on his temple. "i love you."