Beauty where there's pain

Chapter 4

By the time sophomore sleepover rolled around, Jade was 13 weeks pregnant. Because it was the second trimester, she told more people about the pregnancy and she gave Marcus the permission to tell more people, which meant Marcus had to tell Padma and Ginny before they found out from someone else.

He told Padma first during their peer tutoring session that his parents made him go to. She was surprisingly calm and supportive about it. "Hey, since you're expecting a baby, I'm sorry but we can't keep doing whatever it is that we're doing. I don't want there to be any drama that'll interfere with your relationship with Jade and the baby." Padma told him. "That's understandable." Marcus told her. She gave him a quick hug, wished him luck and then they returned to doing homework.

Marcus should've known to tell Ginny quickly because by the time he was about to tell her she cut him off before he could even speak with the question, "You got your ex pregnant?". "Damn that was quick. Max told you already?" He asked her. "She told us earlier. Told us how excited she was to be an aunt." Ginny told him. He didn't know if he should've been upset that Max was so quick to tell her friends or if he should be grateful that she saved him from having to have the conversation. "Yes, Jade's pregnant and the baby's mine." He told her. Ginny frowned, "So that's it? You're just going to be a father now?" She asked him. "Um, yeah? That's how getting someone pregnant usually works." He told her. "Well, good luck." She told him shortly before leaving him.

Jade found herself staring at her stomach in completely awe. She had a very tiny bump showing now, which she found crazy. Her baby was growing fast, which meant she had to prepare fast. They were a few weeks away from finding out the gender of the baby and Max volunteered to throw a general reveal party. Jade told her grandparents and aunts that she was pregnant and the reaction was horrible. "You're 15 and already opening your legs? Sounds like a slut to me." Her aunt told her. "Just know I'm not opening my wallet to help you at all. You got pregnant, you can take care of things by yourself ." Her grandma told her. Jade was so upset. The lack of support was hard. Never did she imagine that her own family would be calling her a slut. She couldn't take anymore of the conversation and she ran out of the house crying.

Jade was so upset and she didn't want to go back to her home until her aunt and grandma left so she went to the one place she didn't think she would ever go to again, she went to Marcus's house. She knew he'd be there. It was 5:30 on Wednesday, which meant Marcus just got home from his therapists office and was most likely in his room painting.

Marcus was the one to answer the front door when she knocked, and he was immediately confused on why she looked so shaken and upset. "What happened?" He asked while letting her inside and shutting the door. "My... my grandmother and aunt called me a slut for getting pregnant." She told Marcus before more tears streamed down her face. He quickly wrapped her in his arms and let her head rest on his warm torso. "You, Jade McAllister, are not a slut." He told her. "You're like the strongest woman I know for even carrying through with this pregnancy, and even if you didn't you'd still be the strongest, most bad ass woman I know." Marcus told her comfortingly while hugging her. Jade sniffed, "Do you really mean that?" She asked him. "Well yeah, duh." He told her while chuckling. "Thanks. That means a lot." She told him. They pulled away from their hug and stared at each other tenderly. Marcus caressed her face and brought his lips close to hers. She almost melted in the familiar warmth but quickly jerked back from him when she remembered their situation.

"What the hell?!" She exclaimed. "What? There was a moment there." He told her. "There was no fucking moment. There will never be a moment again." She told him before closing herself off from him. "You're impossible to have a human conversation with! Why not just tell me what's wrong with a quick kiss?!" He asked her. "WHATS WRONG? I'LL TELL YOU WHATS WRONG! I WASN'T READY TO GIVE UP ON US, THAT WAS YOU! ALL FUCKING YOU MARCUS! IF YOU WERE UNHAPPY YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING EARLIER! WE COULD'VE WORKED THINGS OUT! WE COULD'VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER! WE COULD'VE BEEN ABLE TO RAISE OUR KID IN A TWO PARENT FUCKING HOUSEHOLD BUT YOU FUCKED THAT UP!" Jade shouted at him. He fell silent, for once in the 10 years that Jades known him, he was at a loss for words.

Before any more words could be stated, Ellen walked through the front door with an arm full of groceries. "Hey Jade!" She said before turning to her son, "Can you come help me with these groceries?" She asked him. He nodded and walked past her to the car, Ellen turned back to Jade, "You should join us for dinner sweetheart, I'm making clam chowder." She told Jade sweetly before taking the groceries into the kitchen.

Jade ended up staying for dinner but she didn't sit next to or even really acknowledge Marcus. She sat between Max and Clint and watched and listened to their dinner conversations.

Ellen found out what happened between Jade and her family members after she talked to Jade's mother on the phone. After finding out, she offered for Jade to spend the night with them, away from the judgement from her grandmother and aunt.

Jade spent the night in Marcus's room. Ellen made him clean the room up for Jade while he slept on the couch that night. Jade offered to sleep on the couch but Ellen told her that she needed to comfortable, especially because of her pregnancy. She didn't have any pajamas so Marcus gave her one of his t-shirts and a pair of Max's pajama shorts. "Thanks." Jade told him. She pulled her crewneck over her head, revealing her small baby bump to Marcus. He stared at the bump in pure and utter shock. It was a big reminder that their baby was growing, fast, and would be born within a matter of months. He only had a few more months to get money to provide for his kid. It made him a bit uneasy the more he thought about it.

Saturday came quickly and Marcus was not a happy camper. There were different reasons why Marcus didn't want to be there but he didn't really have a choice. His parents made him go because they wanted him to try to enjoy every event he could before he had to focus 100% on his baby. "Jade's mom didn't force her to come." Marcus complained to his mother as they walked into the school. "I'm your mother, not Jade's. And you need to take advantage of these events while you still can. Babies require care 24/7." Ellen told him. He sighed and went inside the school.

The party was lame to Marcus so he decided to ditch it and smoke his joint in the school bathroom. His mom would be too busy to bust him anyway. He was in the middle of taking a long drag from the joint when he heard someone approaching him. He looked up and saw Ginny. "Hey." He told her, not at all wanting to start a conversation with her. She walked to the shower in the middle of the room. "What are you doing in here?" She asked him. "Staying away from that lame ass party." He told her before focusing back on his blunt. "It's not lame, it's fun. There's a freaking bounce house!" Ginny exclaimed. "Sounds like something lame and uninteresting." He told her. "Why are you being such a Debbie-downer?" She asked him. He shrugged, "Because it's yet another thing I get to experience that my best friend couldn't." He told her. "What happened?" She asked him. He sighed sadly, "Cancer happened. Now I really don't feel like going into depth about it so can we please move on." He pleaded to her. She nodded. "So, how do you feel about becoming a dad?" She asked him. He huffed, "I really don't want to talk about that with you, especially after you basically dissed my unborn child so, can you please leave me alone?" He asked her. "I just don't get it, why won't she just get
an abortion? It's definitely be the most logical option." Ginny asked, Marcus guessed that she assumed he didn't want anything to do with the baby and figured that asking him that would make him happy, it didn't. "That's my sign to leave." He told her. "She didn't want an abortion so she didn't get an abortion. She has a choice and that's nobody else's choice but her own." He told her. "Isn't she literally a teenager?" She asked him with snark. "Didn't your mom have you as a teenager? Are you going to sit here and try to shame her too?" He asked her, annoyance clear in his voice. She went silent. He pushed himself off the floor and left her behind in the bathroom as he went to find another place to smoke his joint.

Marcus was esthetic when the sleepover finally ended the next morning. He couldn't help but look at Ginny as she conversed with his sister. He didn't appreciate how she trash talked his kid and Jade, and he definitely didn't like how she was able to talk to his sister, his baby's aunt, as if nothing happened.