WARNING:::

I have no clue how pregnancy works 😂

so I'm sure this might not be too accurate. If it isn't, don't be afraid to correct me.

This goes for future chapters regarding this subject.

******

Layne's eyes watered as he kept his gaze on the screen displaying the ultrasound. It was so tiny. It must've been not any larger than a peanut...heck, maybe even smaller. But it had a heart beat.

It was a person. A person growing inside of his lover.

He firmly gripped Briana's hand, which felt clammy. She had been pretty sick the past couple of weeks after they found out. People call it 'morning sickness', but in Briana's case, it's more like 'all day sickness'.

Those watery blue eyes met her green ones. They reflected a large amount of fear. He couldn't help but to lift her hand up and kiss it, reaching over to swipe her blonde locks of hair behind her ear.

"You're eight weeks pregnant," the nurse announced as she took screenshots of the ultrasound. She turned and bore a huge smile over at the both of them. "Congratulations!"

Briana's brows furrowed with anxiety. "I have some questions..."

The nurse wiped off the jelly on Briana's tummy with cleanse wipes before turning towards the door. "The Doctor will be back in to discuss everything with you." She winked at her before sliding the door open. "You'll be alright, honey."

When the door clicked shut, Briana's eyes grew wide. Layne couldn't help himself but to giggle, laughing a little harder when she shot him a look of annoyance.

"It's gonna be okay, babe," Layne reassured her. He reached in to kiss her, his smile blossoming into a huge grin. "I know it's scary, but it's a good kind of scary..."

She raised a brow. "Is it, though?"

Layne's smile faltered. "...what are you getting at here?"

"We have our hands full with Mike. You're still working on your album. We're both far away from our family..." she started to get choked up. A fat tear rolled down her rosy cheek, causing Layne to reach over and wipe it. "This is too much. Plus I don't know how healthy this baby is—I was smoking at least for a good four weeks into being pregnant!"

"Shhhhh," Layne shushed her. She started breaking down sobbing. He wrapped his arms around her and allowed her to cry. She had been very emotional ever since they found out the news. Layne knew it was a combination of the pregnancy hormones and fear. He tried his best to stay calm for her. Though, he felt somewhat similar...

The doctor walked in right when Briana was in the middle of her mini breakdown. It didn't seem to phase the woman, though. Layne assumed that she was used to seeing her pregnant patients like this. Being an expecting parent can take a tole on someone...

"Your baby is very healthy," the doctor started. She had a smile spread across her dark face. She couldn't help herself but to place her hand on top of Briana's for support. "I overheard you before I came into the room—the smoking won't affect the baby, sweetie. Just continue to stay abstinent for the rest of your pregnancy and your baby will be just fine."

Briana took a large breath in to calm herself. She had her hand resting against her chest. She felt like she was going to have a panic attack, but she had to try to calm herself.

"So...the baby...is fine?" She whimpered out between short sobs.

The doctor nodded her head. She went through how they were going to help Briana through the process. She brought up parenting classes and groups. Prenatal vitamins and foods to veer away from, along with foods she should eat more of. They created multiple appointments for the future. And when they were finished discussing everything, the doctor suggested some books to buy / rent from the library and also handed them pamphlets.

Layne drove them back home, considering the fact that Briana wasn't feeling too well. Plus her emotions were up and down like a crazy six flags rollercoaster. He wondered how in the heck he was going to cope with her first trimester—the doctor had explained that the first and last trimester of pregnancy are the worst.

Layne helped Briana out of the Jeep and into their home. He was tempted to go outside and smoke a cigarette, but he ignored it. He assumed that if he even smoked around her, she would get freaked out.

"We need to tell them," Briana finally said, referring to their families.  They were snuggled up to one another on the couch, watching cable tv.

He bit his lip as he peered down at her. "When...?"

"Well, as soon as possible," she groaned out. She sounded slightly irritated by his question. "We need to at least let your mother know. Maybe she'll be able to come down and stay here with us for a while and help..."

"Briana, you're thinking too much about this..."

Her eyes widened. She gave him a look like he was stupid. "Of course I am!" She shrieked. "Do you have ANY idea how much our lives are going to change?"

Layne smiled. "Yeah...yeah, I do."

She rolled her eyes. "I get why you're excited, babe, but you have to look at this realistically. Literally EVERYTHING is now going to be even more complicated than it already is." She raised a brow at him. "And our lives have already gotten more complicated ever since mike fessed up to his problem."

"We'll figure it out," Layne said.

"When the heck are we gonna tell him?"

Layne shrugged. "Whenever you feel like it's an appropriate time to tell him."

"...we can't have an active drug user in our house with a baby around, Layne," she pointed out.

His face dropped. A large, deep sigh ensued from him. Her comment made him drop from dream land right back down to earth.  A huge weight commenced on his chest.  "I know..."

"So, how in the HELL are we gonna handle this, Layne?!"

He chewed on his lip for a while. His eyes slid over to glare at the television. "I'm going to have to talk to my mom about it... she's had experience with this kind of stuff..."

Briana knew what he was referring to.

She remembered when Layne had confessed to her that his biological father was a junkie. And how bad he had left Layne and his mother and sister to fend for themselves. Now that she's pregnant, she can truly empathize with Nancy. It must've been insanely difficult to raise two children whilst having to try to emotionally support an active drug addict.

"Your mom is stronger than fucking steel," Briana stated aloud.

Layne grinned and glanced back down at her. "You have no idea, babe," he mumbled as he ran his fingers through her hair. "There's a reason why I love her as much as I do... Not only did she have to deal with MY shit, she had to deal with my biological father's bullshit as well."

She nodded her head.  Peering down at her stomach, she couldn't help but to wonder just how big she would get...  She couldn't help but to wonder, too, how in the hell she was going to handle her job with all of these waves of emotions.  Just the other day at work, one of the patients went off on her.  She held her composure until they finally stormed off to their room, where she quickly afterwards hid in the medication unit to cry.  Her co-workers keep asking her what's wrong, but she still hasn't even told them that she's expecting.

This just seemed like all too much.

Her mind snapped back to Layne and her's conversation about his mom.  And due to it, her curiosity peaked.  "When's the last time you've spoke to your father...?"

Layne frowned. "Phil?"

She nodded her head.

He gulped down his nerves. His body fidgeted in the couch, causing Briana to sit up. "Ummm... damn... it's been at least two years or so," he mumbled. His stomach began to twist in knots just thinking about him.

How they used to get high together all the time. How they used to argue over dope or over his own mother. Their relationship was this crazy emotional guilt-trip tug-of-war. The both of them seemed to want to blame one another for their problems. But at the same time, they had bonded a lot and got along very well at their best times together.

Briana pulled him into a tight hug when she caught the distraught look gleaming in his eyes. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought him up," she moaned out quietly. "It's just ever since we found out that we're pregnant, my mind has been running like crazy."

Layne shook his head. "It's fine, I understand." A pink tongue swiped his lips. "It's just hard to talk about... Kind of triggering, too... But now that you mention him, I kind of wonder how he's been doing..."

Briana bit her lip. She didn't really know what to say. Her heart sank when she noticed that his eyes were beginning to well up with tears.

Before she could say anything, Layne gave her a small kiss and got up from the couch. He tapped over to the phone, dialing in the number...