Welcome home Jackson

Wendy stayed with me for the rest of the day, we waited in my room for Tyler to finish work. When he got home from work, he came by my room with the pregnancy test. I read the instructions and hid the box somewhere mom wouldn't find it. The test was safely in my pocket I went to the bathroom and peed on the stick. I capped the test, quickly snuck back out, and went to my bedroom. Tyler and Wendy were there waiting. We sat quietly as the timer on my phone ticked down. The longest minutes of my life. When it finally beeped, I was too afraid to see. Tyler picked it up and looked. I didn't even need to ask. The look on his face was all the confirmation I needed. It was positive.

I didn't cry, I just lay down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. This was too much. Too much for my brain to handle, I could not process what was happening, or what to do next. I needed to tell Jackson that, was step one I guess. Then step two... I didn't even know... I mean I had dreamt about being with Jackson, and ever since we came up with this crazy plan I was so happy to finally be able to really be with him like I felt I was meant to be. I was planning on being with him forever, but we were still so young. Technically we had been together officially for six months or so. But for me, it was really just two, and we had been on one date.

I was completely lost, completely empty inside my head. "I think I'm gonna just go to bed now," I said. "Tell mom... Tell here..." my mind was grasping for a suitable lie for why I was going to bed this early. "I'll tell here your having menstrual cramps and want to be alone," Wendy said. "Yeah... Thanks, Wendy," I said. "I'll check in on you in the morning," Tyler said. I nodded. "And I'll be in my room if you need anything"

Wendy's lie seemed to have worked. No one bothered me for the rest of the day. I have no idea how long I just laid there, but at some point, I fell asleep. Tyler woke me up the next morning.

"Hey, good morning," he said. "what time is it?" I asked. "Half 10 ish. Mom wanted to come to wake you but I said I'd do it." "Thanks, I... I don't know what to do Tyler." I felt tears welling up in my eyes. My emotions were catching up to my brain and the reality of the situation seemed to shift into sharp focus. "Relax. We will get through this. One thing at a time. Did you get Jackson's text?" I picked up the phone. There was a text, from Jackson. There was a problem with their flight so to avoid delays they had moved it up. He would be home late tonight.

The day felt like it would never end. We went to Wendy's house after lunch. It was easier for me there. I wasn't constantly worried about keeping up appearances for mom and dad. It was around 9 pm when Jackson texted. His plane had landed, and they were about a two-hour drive away. My entire body was shaking. Partly because I was excited to get to see Jackson again, but mostly because I was nervous about telling him.

It was a beautiful warm summer night. Me, Tyler, and Wendy drove down to the lake. Jackson was gonna meet us there. It was around midnight when we heard the rumble of Jackson's truck. We had brought LED candles with us, and, on the whole, it was set up for a magical evening. When I saw him walking across the field towards us, I got up and ran towards him. He picked me up and held me tightly in his arms. I kissed him. It felt so good, and for a moment everything was just as it should be. We held hands as we walked back to the others. I sat down on the grass leaning back into Jackson's strong arms as he held me. This was heaven. Heaven with the occasional jolt of fear and dread at the talk to come.

Jackson was telling us about his trip. "Hey Wendy, wanna go check out the water?", Tyler cut in as Jackson finished telling us about visiting a winery in France. "Yes of course," she jumped up "Give these two a chance to catch up," she winked at me. The two of them got up and walked down towards the lake.

"I missed you," Jackson said. "I missed you too," I said. "I can't wait to take you with me to Europe someday. We visit Paris, or maybe Rome. There are so many beautiful places." He looked so happy, so hopeful for the future. I was getting lost in his eyes, and lost in his dreams. He leaned in and kissed me. It was a soft tender kiss. His lips were warm and gentle, and I felt his hand on my hip. As he pulled back, our eyes met. "I love you, Trixy." I was not expecting that, and the words took me a little by surprise. My lack of immediate response was clearly starting to freak him out. I quickly grabbed him and kissed him. When we let go again I smiled and said "I love you, Jackson."

"You know... It's kind of cheesy and silly, but I have thought a lot about you while I was away," he said. "I know we are young and all, but I have been daydreaming about our future together. Where we would live, where we would get married and have kids someday." I sat up, a little more forcefully than I was planning. Poor Jackson must have thought he was freaking me out with his daydream talk, and he kind of was, but that wasn't really his fault. "I'm, sorry, I meant... I... I'm not talking about now, I mean we have years before..." He was stumbling over the words. I was crying. He looked terrified.

"Jackson...", I said. "It's not your daydreams. I mean I love your daydreams and all of that sounds wonderful." He looked less terrified, and a lot more confused. "But... It's just. We don't really have years." He did not seem any less confused by this. I placed his hand on my stomach, and said "It's more like 7-8 months." He stared at me. God dammit. Why was he so fucking dense. I was gonna have to spell it out for him. Thank god he was so hot. "I'm pregnant Jackson."