Chapter 1

"Hey, babe, are you feeling ok? You seem kinda off." Beck said, concerned about Jade. She and him were sitting on the couch of his RV, and every few minutes, she'd wince in pain, and rub her stomach.

"Yeah. I'm just having some bad period cramps. It's nothing serious." Jade responded.

She and Beck had stayed home that day, seeing as it was a Saturday, and they hadn't had any classes.

A few months before graduating from Hollywood Arts, Beck and Jade had both received acceptance letters from UCLA. Jade had also received an acceptance letter from Juilliard. Juilliard had always been Jade's dream school, since she was like 5, but if she'd accepted the scholarship offer, she would've moved 2,800 miles away from the guy she loved. After talking with Beck, her parents, her friends, Lane, Sikowitz, and then having a serious mental conversation with herself, she decided the best thing to do was to stay in LA and go to UCLA with Beck.

Now they were in their freshman year at one of the most prestigious schools on the west coast, and it was not easy. Classes were kicking their asses. They finally had adult responsibilities to deal with like paying bills, buying groceries, paying taxes, and figuring out when the right time to find an apartment together was. It was a lot for 18, almost 19, year olds to have to worry about.

"Do you want some medicine? Or a heating pad?"

"No. I'm fine. Just don't move. I'm comfortable like this." Jade was curled up in a fetal position with her head in his lap.

Beck did as she requested, and the couple stayed in the same position for a couple more hours. Over those couple hours, though, Jade's pains were getting increasingly worse. She'd moan in pain with every cramp. She'd squeeze Beck's hand and feel like she couldn't breathe until the pain died down.

"Are you sure you don't want any medicine or anything? It seems like you're in a lot of pain." Beck asked, as Jade stopped moaning from yet another cramp.

"I'm fine, Beck. I haven't had my period in awhile, you know, because of stress. I'm sure this is just my body's way of going back to normal. Besides, you know I like pain." She explained, giving him a weak smile.

Beck sighed, but didn't press the issue any further. He simply placed a kiss on her forehead, and settled back into his position on the couch.

After an hour more, Jade was literally screaming in pain with almost every cramp. She'd also emptied all of the contents of her stomach, due to being in an excruciating amount of pain.

"Ok. I'm done listening to you scream in pain. I think something's really wrong with you. I'm taking you to the hospital." Beck said, trying not to leave any room for argument, but knowing Jade, she'd probably find a way.

"You know I hate hospitals. There's no way in hell I'm letting you take me to one." Jade said, still trying to catch her breath from screaming.

"Yeah, well, I hate seeing and hearing you scream in pain. This isn't normal, Jade. You've never had cramps this bad. We just need to go and get you checked out by a doctor."

Jade, too tired and in too much pain to put up much of a fight, decided to give in to Beck's demand.

"Fine. I'll go. But when we get back, after the doctor says it's nothing, you're buying me all the food I want, and you're not gonna complain."

"If you're not in pain anymore, I'll have no reason to complain."

Beck went out to the car, while Jade gathered her things. After going through another cramp, Jade met Beck in the car, and they were on their way to the hospital.

Beck tried to pick a hospital he knew wouldn't be super busy, and much to his delight, once they'd gotten to a lesser-known hospital in LA, there were only 3 people in the waiting room.

"Hi, sir, how can I help you?" The cheery receptionist asked, as Beck walked up to the desk.

"My girlfriend's been having some really, really painful cramps, that have gotten increasingly worse throughout the day. She says she's fine, but she's screaming through every cramp. We just need to a doctor to see what's wrong with her." Beck explained.

"Ok, just fill out this information sheet. A doctor should be with you soon." She said, less cheerfully this time, as she handed Beck a clipboard full of papers. She'd most likely lost her cheerful attitude when Beck mentioned his girlfriend.

Beck walked away to sit next to Jade in the plastic waiting room chairs. When he sat down next to her, he discovered her biting down on her lip and death-gripping the armrest of the chair, most likely trying to stifle the scream of pain. Beck just rubbed the small of her back, not knowing what else he could or should do. Beck turned his attention back to the clipboard full of papers when Jade noticeably loosened her grip on the chair and released her lip from the hold it had had under her teeth.

"The receptionist gave me this for us to fill out. Do you want to do it?" He asked.

Jade shook her head, too tired to give a verbal answer. Beck saw her head shake and started filling out the questions. He filled out everything from allergies to drug use to if she was pregnant or not. Once he finished, and sat with Jade through yet another pain, he returned everything to the receptionist. Luckily for them, the receptionist got the paperwork processed quickly, and before they knew it, they were being ushered into an exam room by a nurse.

"So, according to the paper, you, Ms. West, having been having some increasingly painful cramps all day. On a scale of one to ten, how painful would you say the cramps are right now?" The nurse asked, as she sat down on a stool in front of Jade, who was on the exam table.

"A 9. This is definitely the worst pain I've ever felt, though." Jade admitted.

"Ok. How long ago did you start your period?"

"I started this morning. I'm not really bleeding all that much, I'm just having a lot of cramping."

"Ok. When was your last period, before this one?"

"About 3 months ago. I'm a freshman in college at UCLA. I've been stressed. I didn't think anything of the fact that my periods have been super irregular."

"Have you gained any weight in the past few months?"

Jade was about to answer, when another painful cramp hit. She creamed her way through it, and stopped when the pain subsided.

"I've gained about 5-ish pounds in the last few months, but I thought it was just part of the freshmen-15 thing."

"Ok. I want to do an ultrasound of your abdomen, just to make sure there's nothing abnormal."

"Abnormal like what?"

"You could have an ovarian cyst, or uterine polyps. You could also have an infection. It could also be a tumor."

"A tumor? Like c-cancer?" She hesitated on the "c word."

"Tumors don't necessarily mean cancer. Right now, you don't need to worry about that. What we do need to worry about is getting an ultrasound to what's really going on."

Jade nodded and laid back on the table, as the nurse rolled the ultrasound machine closer to her.

"Can you lift your shirt to your bra and pull your pants down a little?"

Jade reluctantly did as she was instructed to do. The nurse then squirted cold jelly on Jade's stomach and placed the ultrasound wand in it.

A black and white picture flashed across the ultrasound screen, and Jade could've sworn it looked like a baby.

"What is that?" Beck asked, almost as if reading Jade's mind.

"Um, that appears to be a baby. You're pregnant, Ms. West."

"P-pregnant?" Beck stuttered out.

Jade didn't get a chance to respond before another pain ripples through her abdomen.

"If I had to guess, I'd say these 'cramps' you've been having all day are actually contractions. The baby is measuring at about 38 weeks, so you're full term." The nurse explained over Jade's screams.

"I can't be pregnant. I'm not pregnant. Your stupid machine is broken. I don't even look pregnant. I haven't had any symptoms." Jade argued.

"While it is extremely uncommon, it is possible for women to go all the way through their pregnancy without ever knowing they're pregnant."

"I'm not fucking pregnant. Stop saying I am."

"This is your baby right here. You are pregnant." The nurse said, pointing the the white baby-looking blob on the ultrasound screen. "We need to take you up to L&D to be seen by an OB."

"Speak English, lady. What the fuck is 'L&D' and what is an 'OB'?"

"L&D is the labor and delivery ward. An OB is an obstetrician. Obstetricians are doctors that specialize in pregnancy and birth."

"I'm not pregnant!" Jade screamed, as another pain hit her with full force.