Chapter Text
A week into the academic fourth quarter, the opportunity like no other dropped into her lap. She heard grumbles from classmates who thought the upcoming project being assigned next month was the worst ever. Amelia tended to agree but for vastly different reasons than her peers.
What the hell was a fake robotic baby going to teach her about parenting she wasn’t already learning at home with her six-month-old baby brother and twin two-month-old niece and nephew?
With all the crying and shrieking babies in the Benjamin-Mitchell-Kazansky household these days, kids of her own were the furthest thing in the fifteen-and-a-half’s mind right now. It was fun to be around them when they were happy, sure, but she had no intention of having her own in the next ten years or so after seeing the little monsters when they were unhappy.
But the moment Ms. Galens started talking about the weird baby project they would have to do, it was like floodlights flipped on in her mind.
Oh.
Oh, it’d be perfect.
Kill two birds with both stones.
Or was it more like three birds at this point?
After all, their parents were the ones who started this with their frequent remarks about her and Ethan. All the insinuations that at any moment the two teenagers would be so overcome with hormones and fuck around with each other like there was no tomorrow. They weren’t their parents.
How many times had she or Ethan heard the whole spiels about teenage pregnancies lately? Answer was too damn many times. Hell, she could practically list the stats on teen pregnancy at this point verbatim along with the all the other warnings their parents gave practically every day.
Neither teen was thinking about sex. Making out, cuddling, sleeping beside one another, sure, but they weren’t anything like the sexual deviants responsible for their conceptions. They were happy with first base and the occasional second base (even though, second was always accidental when they reached that base). But could they convince their parents that they were comfortable on first base and not planning to steal any others for quite a while? Nope. Not a chance.
Because in their parents’ minds, the teens were swinging for the fences all the time.
Nothing they tried to convince their parents otherwise worked. Not the frequent texts letting them know the teens were together alone, what they were doing, where they were, and how long. Not choosing to sit out in the living area instead of their rooms when they were at the other’s house. Hell, not even keeping the PDA to a minimum worked.
In their parents’ minds, Ethan and Amelia were mere seconds from getting pregnant at any moment in time.
It was ridiculous.
Freaking frustrating.
And now she had the perfect way to make them all live to regret all that pregnancy crap by using their fears against them while proving her point beautifully.
But it wouldn’t just satisfy her urge to throw it back in their parents’ faces either.
It would also give Ethan a hell of a story to tell for his journalism paper due at the end of the year that he was struggling with finding a topic to write about that she knew.
It was brilliant.
Not to mention, they’d only put their parents through absolute hell for a month, then the truth would come out, letting the kids continue with the knowledge they got their parents so good.
Maybe the adults would think more carefully about their frequent comments about them lately.
There were some details she’d need to work out, but so far, she was super excited about the idea.
Since school let out earlier, she collected her things from her locker for the night, then headed to the weight room where she knew a certain cute junior of hers was.
She normally wouldn’t have interrupted his workout, but she had to tell him. The clock was ticking loudly against them already.
Amelia walked inside the weight room a few moments later, pausing briefly to scan the seemingly empty room. She quickly found Ethan doing pull-ups one-armed, alternating every ten reps to the other arm. Freaking show-off. But, damn, did he look good doing it. Or maybe it was the whole his being shirtless in deep green gym shorts look combined with the glistening muscles.
She then caught the young man beside him, knowing it was one of Ethan’s close friends as she had seen them together quite a bit recently. However, they had yet to be introduced to one another.
Smiling, she decided to play with him. She quickly turned away to stash her bag in one of the open lockers for a second. She rolled up her t-shirt at the bottom to just underneath her bra, tying the excess material to make it a crop-top before she rolled the sleeves underneath her bra straps.
Tying her hair back into a quick, messy ponytail while she also stretched out her back and shoulders to loosen them the best she could, she headed to the open pull-up bar beside Ethan, catching his friend’s eyes and noticing the amused smirk. She knew she probably shouldn’t do what she was about to do considering she was still not where she was before October yet, but her physical therapist had practically trained her like a coach would. And pull-ups had been one of the things they worked on so she knew she could do at least a few with no problem.
“One!” yelled Ethan’s friend as she pulled herself up.
She instantly caught her boyfriend’s confused look before he turned to her, following his friend’s gaze. The second his hand slipped unexpectedly and forced him to grab with the other, she giggled.
“What? Like, this is hard?” she teased, pulling herself up once again.
“Two!”
Ethan huffed, holding her eyes as he matched her speed and pulled himself up in sync with her.
“Three!” His friend clapped, cheering as he grinned broadly. “Do I hear four?”
She could feel her shoulders start to burn, but she pushed through it, knowing in the past she could do five max. She controlled her breathing the way her therapist had instructed, feeling her core engage as her back also flexed with the movement.
“Here we go! All right,” Ethan’s friend called out. “You got this now.”
It took a bit longer on the fourth, but she managed it, having to turn away to do it to focus on the bar and forcing her muscles to flex the right way. She was going to be stiff and sore tomorrow. That was for sure. But it’d be worth it if she impressed Ethan.
“Four! Hell yeah!” cheered his friend. “You get it, you badasses!”
“Shut up, D!” grunted Ethan, panting and groaning as he definitely had been at his workout for some time by now based on the sweat rolling off his broad shoulders. “Ugh . . . fuck!”
She heard Ethan drop down to his feet on the mat, but she didn’t stop. She was inches away from completing the fifth. She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes as she tried to breathe through the deep ache. She could do this. She knew she could. She had seen it. She recited silently her source of strength: her family. The crazy losers who wormed their ways into her heart and squatted there permanently now.
“Come on, beautiful,” murmured Ethan, likely trying to keep his words under his breath. “You’re so close. You got this.” He reminded her of all the times he was with her during physical therapy, cheering her on and encouraging her like she was some star athlete.
She forced the air deep into her lungs, grimacing through the burn. She could do this.
“Just a little more. Come on.”
Hanging onto his encouragement tightly, she gave it everything she had, pushing through and letting out a growled groan.
“Five!” Ethan happily shouted at her side.
“Yeah! Now, that’s what I’m fucking talking about!” yelled Ethan’s friend. “Get it, girl!”
A second later, an angry voice out of nowhere snarled in her head, “You fucking little bitch!” A hazy image of a guy in some random room flashed in the darkness behind her eyes before the image blinked back to the dark crevices again.
She gasped, slipping off the bar completely and feeling a sudden wave of panic flood her. She had to run. Had to go. It wasn't safe otherwise.
“Easy! Whoa! I got you!” Ethan inhaled sharply, quickly wrapping arms around her to keep her from slamming down onto the mat uncontrollably. “I got you, Amelia.”
She let out a low pained whimper, curling into his embrace and holding him tightly. That voice. That voice was the one that frequented her nightmares most nights these days.
“I’ll get some water,” announced Ethan’s friend before he moved away to give them privacy.
“Shh, beautiful. It’s okay,” Ethan soothed, holding her tightly. “It’s just us now. You and me. That’s it. We’re safe.”
She didn’t know how he knew, but she was so damn thankful for his ability to figure it out. She moved through grounding techniques, still trying to suck in air as much as she could in hopes to calm her racing heart again. The flashes were increasing at an alarming rate now. And it was always so sudden, out of nowhere, hitting her like a freight train.
“I heard him,” she admitted with a shaky whisper, feeling herself start to tremble in his strong arms.
“Heard who?” Ethan gently replied, a hand lightly slid through her hair tenderly and offered her something more to focus on. He was a hell of a distraction sometimes.
Stuttering slightly at the blind fear she still didn’t fully understand but was getting there sadly to where she did understand some, she mouthed, “C-Colby.” She could identify the voice now, which she wasn’t sure if knowing was better or not honestly. The mere mention of that prick sent her spiraling off the nearest mental cliff and caused her to backslide some days, undoing her hard-fought work to get to be semi-okay.
“He’s not here. He’s locked up, remember? It’s just you and me here right now. Just us. You’re safe, Amelia. You’re okay. Promise. He’s not here. It’s just another” his voice cracked “another fragment, beautiful.”
She nodded lightly, burying herself into his chest. Another hidden memory unlocked. There was quite the collection now unfortunately.
He’d protect her if push came to shove. She knew he would. She’d seen it since she returned to school. Ethan had become her fiercest defender here.
“You reek horribly,” she murmured a few moments later, hearing his quiet, relieved chuckle at her teasing tone. She could feel her earlier panic start to dissipate again.
“Yeah, well, hopefully, you won’t hold it against me.”
“No promises.” One of his hands then pulled back from her before he nudged her to pull back slightly. “Here. Drink. It’ll help.”
The cup of water was extra cold she noticed when she hesitantly reached for it from him. His friend must have returned. Her eyes fell the moment she caught said friend’s gaze on her.
“Should I go get Coach or someone, Simpson?”
“Nah, we’re good, D,” her boyfriend replied softly as he lightly stroked her hair. “Right?” he asked, watching her carefully.
She nodded, not trusting her voice not to be shaky when she spoke. Sipping the ice-cold water, she stayed tucked against Ethan’s side as he kept a protective arm around her.
“I don’t think I introduced you two to one another yet, have I?” he spoke, laughing lightly at himself at his oversight. “That asshole over there is Devon Marelius.”
“And by asshole, he means devilishly handsome naturally,” drawled the other junior, grinning widely. “You, though, must be the one who stole this square’s heart and am making him a real boy.”
“D, shut up.” Ethan lightly shoved his friend back.
She laughed, though, and shrugged. “Someone had to.”
“Agreed.” Devon then offered her a quick smile before he glanced at Ethan. “Don’t fuck this up, man. Cause you honestly can’t do any better. Got it?”
“Oh, get out of here already.”
“Yes, dear.” Devon’s dark eyes darted back to her. “God, he’s such a nag sometimes, you know? Anywho, very nice to finally meet you and not, you know, see you from afar. You’re obviously the better half of this power couple. Sorry we couldn’t talk more, but I look forward to more next time.”
“Me too,” she replied quietly. Devon seemed like a good guy. She was still on edge, though.
His grin then widened until it went from ear to ear. “And, you know, if you ever decide you want an upgrade over this dry piece of toast, look me up. I’m the track and baseball superstar obviously.” He winked at her teasingly before he punched Ethan in the upper arm and left.
“He seems fun,” she said shortly after they were alone again.
“Devon? Yeah, I s’pose so. If you’re into that sort of thing.”
She giggled lightly, shaking her head. Her smile then dimmed a bit. “Sorry by the way.”
“No need to be, remember?” Ethan then exhaled slowly. “Honestly, I’m proud of you.”
“For the pull-ups?”
He shook his head. “For telling me what upset you earlier. I know it’s difficult to talk about. And you probably didn’t want to tell me either, but I’m glad you did. That you let me in so I could help.” He offered a small smile. “But, yeah, the pull-ups were pretty badass of you, too.” He kissed her cheek. “Very fucking hot.”
“Yeah?” She could feel the heaviness lift, letting his sunshine stream inside her darkness.
“Oh, yeah.” He nodded instantly.
“Enough for you to want to have a baby with me?” she asked casually.
He instantly coughed, violently choking on his spit. “W-what?” he croaked.
Oh, this dork made it so easy sometimes. “Remember how you were saying you didn’t have a clue what to write for your final journalism piece?”
“Yeah . . . ”
“I think I know the perfect one for you. Something hard-hitting and different from all other articles about the topic.”
“Okay. Which topic?”
“Teen pregnancy.”
“But you’re, um, okay, uh . . .” His brows furrowed as he stared at her, clearly flabbergasted. “We haven’t done anything to, you know, facilitate that, though.”
Facilitate? God, he was so weird sometimes. “I know.”
“What am I missing?”
She smiled back, tucking herself back into her favorite spot on him. She could hear his heartbeat underneath her ear, settling her soul the rest of the way. “Okay, so, you know how there are lots of tropes in the fics I read?”
“Yeah. Mostly found family and there-was-one-bed.”
“Exactly. Well, there’s also a trope of fake pregnancy out there.”
“You have to got to be out of your goddamn mind,” he deadpanned, staring at her like she grew another head.
“Just hear me out, all right?”
“You want me dead, don’t you? Like, you legit want me 100% dead.”
“Will you stop being so dramatic?” It wouldn’t be that bad.
“We are not faking me knocking you up, Amelia.” He released her but remained close by her side just in case her legs became shaky or something.
“It’s only for a month.”
“A month?” He scoffed, shaking his head. “Do you know what your father could do to me in a month? What your dad can? Hell, what your Pops could do? And my dad—he’d be right there with all of your fathers killing me, Amelia. No. Absolutely not. That’s the worst idea in the history of the world.”
“Ethan, just listen for a minute. Please?”
“Fine.”
“How many times have you gotten the speech about us being together? How we’ll be idiots someday and take things too far . . . and there comes the stork with the baby?”
“So you want to throw that fear of theirs back in their faces?” he stated in disbelief.
“To prove a point.” Not to hurt them. To prove their parents’ fears were unfounded.
“What? That we’re insane? Immature even?”
“No.” She sighed. She knew he would need some convincing. He had amazing self-preservation skills at times. “Look. I have to lug around a fake creepy baby anyway for a week, thanks to that bullshit Health class assignment. We both know no one ever takes that assignment seriously. No one. Because at the end of the week, you know you have to give it back, right?”
“Yeah, but that week sometimes is hell depending on the baby you get.”
“Well, how many real babies do I have in my house, Ethan?”
“Okay, fair enough. But why this?”
“Nothing we do will ever make them not worry about us. I mean, I screwed up royally in October and blew their trust completely.”
“We both did.”
“But you and I both know we’re not there where they think we are. We’re not ready to have sex. That we like where we are right now just making out and cuddling.”
“Okay. Following you so far.”
“Well, I was thinking about how interesting it’d be if you wrote about what we’d learn from faking a pregnancy from start instant fast forward to the end. All the articles about it always go on about how immoral and wrong it is and not to do it. Not even one probably ever gives both the guy’s and the girl’s perspectives. They all just focus on how the girl’s life changes and is ruined or not by it. What if you showed how they both do after an experience like that?”
“By using our parents and recording their reactions?”
“Yes. Convince them it’s a real possibility.”
“They’d never allow us to see one another afterwards.”
“Okay, so, yeah, for a month we would barely see one another, but that’s why we’d do it a month before I get the fake creepy baby. I bring that sucker home, and we come clean with it as evidence.”
“They’d be so pissed we manipulated them like that.”
Yeah. She assumed that as much herself. She considered all the possible scenarios here.
“It wouldn’t be ideal. You’re right. But it’s important you get honest reactions from them to write your article. And we, of course, would tell someone in the family the truth long before the others so at least someone has a clue. Someone who it doesn’t matter what their opinion and reaction would be. Someone who wouldn’t skew the results and could keep it a secret.”
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”
Of course he didn't. “Do you know what exposure therapy is?” she asked suddenly, taking another approach.
“Yeah. It’s when you’re in a controlled environment being slowly ‘exposed’ in a safe way to get over fears and stuff.”
“Exactly. I have to go through that sometimes with Dr. Sloane. It sucks, but it works. It helps me learn to control my fear, my anxiety of a situation. It was what helped me calm down so quickly just now.”
“Okay, but what does that have to do with this, though?”
“Our parents look at us and see themselves,” she replied bluntly. “Mom sees her wild years before she had me. So, she’s terrified I’m going to follow in her footsteps. Dad, though—he looks at me and is worried something will happen and he loses me forever because he’s lost so much over the years. He watches me like a hawk, worried I'll hurt myself or something one day over the whole stuff I'm dealing with. And Pops? He just wants peace, I’m sure. Which brings us to your dad, who is so bent on making sure you achieve all your dreams and have nothing standing in your way to do it because of his guilt for not being there when you and your sister were younger. Every single one of them is afraid, babe. And take it from me, operating from a place of fear for so long and not dealing with it, it weighs you down. Eventually, though, the dam breaks. If we do this, we force them to confront their fears. And we do so in a safe environment, knowing we’re not actually pregnant. That it's all a ruse.”
“I can’t talk you out of this, can I?” he sighed heavily.
“No, but you’ll try anyway,” she smiled lightly. She caught his slight head bob. “It’s going to be worth it. You’ll see.” She then lightly brushed her lips against his. “I’ll send details after I get home because we don't have long to do this and we'll have to act fast. I get the baby in a month or so.”
She and Ethan were so going to ace their classes.
And maybe if they were lucky, their parents would stop assuming the worst of the teenage couple and really see they were responsible young adults who were nothing like their deviant parents.