Chapter Text
Axel prided herself on being pretty tough. With a superior zombie apocalypse survival rate and the ability to survive living with four little brothers without losing her sanity, she was pretty sure that she could take on almost anything. But whatever was ripping through her right now made her question that.
She hadn’t felt this sick in…ever. It started out as just a quick bug. She’d been dizzy and tired, probably from the stress of Total Drama wearing off once she got home, she figured. But then it got worse. Even standing up too quickly made her feel like she was going to pass out and she could barely eat without running to the washroom to puke it all back up twenty minutes later. She felt sore all over, which made keeping her training streak damn near impossible. She’d had her fair share of illness before, living with a big family full of germy little boys saw to that. But something told her this was different. The colds, flus, and strep throats of her childhood usually disappeared within a week, tops. Whatever this was, it didn’t seem like it was going away anytime soon.
Of all the times to be sick, of course it had to be when her parents and brothers were off for an extended visit with her mom’s side in Peru. Since they didn’t know how long she’d be on Season Two, they’d said that if she got eliminated before she got back, she’d have the house to herself and her aunt and uncle would check in on her until they got back. She hadn’t minded, better that she be alone and sick than risk spreading it to her little brothers if it was that serious. Besides, her headaches had been shitty enough recently, and the idea of the usual hustle and bustle of her home combined with that seemed like it would make her head explode.
She’d gotten pretty used to the days like this. Usually her parents would call at least once a day to check up on her, then her aunt and/or uncle would come by and stay there with her just so she didn’t spend the day totally alone. Sometimes they’d come together and bring the baby over. Kylie had just turned one a couple months ago and already adored Axel. She was such a happy baby who loved to play and was already proving to be quite the force to be reckoned with. Axel smiled at the thought. Who knows, Kylie might be almost as good as her someday. Keyword almost.
As if right on cue, the door knocked. Axel checked the calendar. It was only Wednesday, which meant it was still most likely her uncle’s visit. This routine had been going on for around three weeks now, and she was getting used to it by now. One of them had to work maintain the flower shop/apocalypse prevention dojo and eventually pick up Kylie from daycare, so they alternated on weeks to visit her.
“Just a sec, Uncle Shawn.” Axel slowly got up so as not to pass out, but when she opened the door, it was someone else who awaited her.
“Sorry, love,” Jasmine greeted, “Kylie’s got a nasty case of the flu, so Shawn had to stay home and take care of her. You’re stuck with me for today.”
Axel couldn’t help but smile. That was perfectly fine by her. Sure, her uncle was fun to talk survival strategies and sometimes train with, but she also felt close to Jasmine. Though technically only her aunt for three years, Axel had considered her family since she was a little girl. Hell, despite their age difference, she saw her as an older sister. She’d never had one of her own so she didn’t know what it was like, but if she had, she’d want someone like Jasmine to look up to.
“That’s fine with me. How have you be-“ Oh no. Another wave of nausea. It was even worse than before. Axel felt humiliated letting her role model see her like this, but decided that what would be even more embarrassing would be puking directly on her. Swallowing bile, she ran to the washroom and, for the twenty-fifth time since last week, threw up. Jasmine was quick behind her, holding Axel’s hair out of the way and gently rubbing small circles on her back as she heaved up what little remained of her stomach contents.
“There, there, you’re okay,” Jasmine murmured soothingly, “Crikey. I knew you were still sick, but when Shawn told me that, I didn’t think it was this bad. It’s gotten worse, huh? Why, I haven’t seen anything like this since-“ Suddenly she cut off, her eyes going wide. Axel looked up at her with confusion, curiosity, and most surprising of all, anxiety.
“Since what?” She asked, her voice raising in pitch a little. “What’s wrong with me?”
Jasmine turned to look at her niece and sighed.
“Axel, love, I don’t want you to freak out, but I’ve seen this before. I’ve been through it actually…when I found out I was having Kylie two years ago.”
Axel felt her heart skip a beat. How had she not thought of that? No. No, that was impossible. Wasn’t it?
“A-are you saying I could be-”
Jasmine was quick to reassure her, “No, no, not at all. I’m just wondering if that may be a possibility.”
Axel thought about it for a minute. Now that Jasmine was saying that, it did make a little sense. Her symptoms certainly lined up, with the vomiting and fatigue. Her period had always been irregular—her endometriosis saw to that—but she realized that it was never this late. But there was no way, she had never…then she remembered. Ripper. The night they’d been eliminated, they’d rode the drone of despair all the way home. It had been a long ride, and they’d gotten pretty deep talking about their relationship. Once they’d landed on solid ground, they’d gotten pretty physical. Hugging led to kissing and kissing led to…oh fuck.
“Axel? Axel!” Jasmine’s calm but concerned voice brought her back to reality. “Honey, are you okay? It’s alright, you can tell me what’s wrong.”
She just nodded. She was so angry at herself. How could she have been so stupid? What was she thinking, going into it without bothering to at least try and be responsible? But that didn’t matter now. She couldn’t change the past. Maybe she was just going crazy and it was all in her head.
“I…It’s a possibility…” Axel murmured softly, “I might be.” She felt so ashamed. She feared that Jasmine would never look at her the same, that she’d judge her and scold her. She knew her parents would.
“It’s alright, Axel. Sometimes these things can happen.” Jasmine patted her shoulder comfortingly, “I can run to the store and get you a test, if you want. You don’t have to-”
“Yes. Please. I have to be sure.”
Jasmine nodded and left for the nearest Circle K. Around ten minutes later, she came back with a few boxes in hand. Axel was happy that Jasmine didn’t even need to ask to know that she wanted multiple tests to be sure. She knew her so well.
Axel went to the washroom and took the tests. The five minutes of waiting felt like torture. So many questions plagued her mind. What was she going to do? What would her parents say? Would she be kicked out? How was she going to explain this to them?
The timer on her phone went off and she, deciding to just bite the bullet and get it over with, took each test from off the counter to read the result. In her heart, she already knew what it was, but she had to look just to see it for herself. As she suspected, all of them were the same. Two lines. +. Positive. Pregnant.
She stepped out of the washroom, hands shaking and trying hard not to cry. Jasmine took one look at her and was at her side in an instant, carefully setting Axel down on the couch and hugging her as she cried.
“Shh, shh,” she comforted, “It’s okay. This could’ve happened to anyone. It’s alright, we’ll figure this out.”
Axel just nodded, feeling completely broken, “I’m scared, Jasmine.”
“I know, love, I know.” she dried Axel’s tears, using that same soothing voice she’d use when Kylie was fussing.
“Please don’t tell my parents.” Axel begged. That feeling was almost as bad as all the sickness she’d been feeling in the past few weeks.
Her parents were strict as could be. She’d be in deep trouble if they knew she even kissed a boy. If they found out that their daughter got pregnant at seventeen, she didn’t know what they’d do. They were always so much harsher on her than her brothers. She didn’t know if it was because she was a girl or because she was the oldest. Probably both.
“I won’t, you have my word on that, love.” Jasmine assured her, holding up her hand and crossing her heart to show she was serious. “But you should when you’re ready. And don’t worry. If anything happens, just give me a call, and Shawn and I will gladly take you in. I’m sure Kylie would be happy to have you too.”
Axel smiled a little as Jasmine hugged her. She started to feel a little safer, even if she was still scared out of her mind.
After a little while, Jasmine sighed, “Axel…you don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, but…do you know who the father is?”
Of course she knew. The timeline made sense and even if it didn’t, she still would’ve made the guess.
“Yeah…yeah, I do. He…we had a thing, back on the show…” She blushed despite herself. The latest season hadn’t aired yet, so Jasmine was the first person off the island to know about it.
“I know what that’s like,” she smiled empathetically, remembering her own romance with her now husband. “Love, do you…do you want to tell him?”
Axel hadn’t thought about that part of it. Ripper did have a right to know after all. The kid was as much his as it was hers. Whatever she decided, she wanted his support. It seemed only fair. Truth be told, she wasn’t sure how he was going to react. On one hand, he could be pretty childish at times and might freak out or get grossed out by the idea. But on the other hand, she’d seen what he was like behind closed doors. He could be passionate, caring, and kind if he wanted to be. He’d taken the time to learn her interests and get to know her as a person, so maybe the idea of telling him and working together to figure out what to do wouldn’t be so bad after all. But even still, the fear that he’d leave her alone or worse, hurt her, was still deeply embedded into her mind. Taking a deep breath, Axel answered.
“Yeah, I should…but…what if he hates me? What if he wants nothing to do with me?”
Jasmine gave her a knowing look, “Then he doesn’t, and that’s that. I know this is scary, I know you feel lost, but we have to take this one step at a time, alright?”
Axel nodded. She pulled out her phone and texted Ripper a simple enough message:
“We need to talk. It’s important.”
She knew it was a little vague, but it would definitely catch his attention. Now all she had to do was wait.