Getaway Car: A Hellcheer pregnancy story

Twelve Weeks

Weeks fly by, spring break offers a welcome reprieve from school. Chrissy spends most of her time out of the house, practically glued to Eddie's side or with her girlfriends who know her secret. Not that she ignores everyone else, but having to make excuses gets exhausting.

They read together. She helps him study for finals with flashcards, trading make out time for correct answers. It's not always easy to keep Eddie on track. He's insatiable and very distracting, but he tries and that's all Chrissy asks.

Corroded Coffin as a group has grown comfortable with her around, finally treating her as another one of them. Within reason, that is. Chrissy is friendly and funny, like a ray of optimistic sunshine, but they're still painfully aware that she's Eddie's girl. Eddie's pregnant girl.

She isn't touchy, but Eddie can be. Gareth earned a dead arm for suggesting that Eddie was the one with the mood swings.

"Ow! Man, did you have to use your ring hand?!" Gareth whined, rubbing the tender spot.

April changes into May, the weather warming with the promise of the approaching summer and Chrissy's 12-week scan.

She's starting to show a little more, a gentle swell growing on her svelte body, her breasts and hips filling. With all the issues her mother has heaped on her body, Chrissy worried she'd be repulsed by herself but it's the opposite. Her morning sickness is subsiding. She feels healthy, she looks healthy. Her skin glows, her hair is thick and glossy. It's the way she always wanted to be, before she began purging her body to meet her mother's exacting standards.

If Laura has noticed Chrissy's changing shape, she's been mercifully quiet. Other than a tirade regarding her absence from the cheer squad, Laura declared she had enough of her daughter's new attitude and has washed her hands of her. It might not last, but that suits Chrissy just fine.

It's close to finals, but Eddie and Chrissy skip for the day, driving to her appointment in Indianapolis. The whole way, Chrissy reads a chapter of her pregnancy out loud, Eddie's face twisting when she says words like mucus and vaginal tearing .

"Jesus, having a kid is...brutal," he winces, looking a little green around his gills.

It's all forgotten when they're in the doctor's office, Chrissy's shirt up where she lays back on the bed with Eddie sitting at her side.

"12 weeks. How are we feeling, mom?" The midwife smiles kindly, flipping through her chart. "Is that sickness getting better?"

"Oh yeah, it's not bothered me for a few weeks now."

"Good," the midwife nods. "That sounds correct for how far along you are. Now, let's have a little look."

The gel across her stomach is cold, making Chrissy shiver as the probe skims her skin. The ultrasound screen flickers to life, the gentle flub-dub of a heartbeat filling the room.

"And there they are," the midwife smiles. "From the looks of things you've got a lovely healthy little baby."

Chrissy's lip trembles, her grip on Eddie's hand tightening while they both stare at the screen in awe. At 5 weeks, their baby had been nothing more than a blob and it had felt real. The picture on the screen, fuzzy greys and blacks, is recognisable. There's a tiny nose, tiny fingers, tiny feet.

Their baby.

"Oh my God," Eddie chokes, his voice thick. "Can you tell if it's a boy or a girl yet?"

"We can," she starts cautiously. "But it's not completely accurate. We can definitely tell at 16 weeks."

"If you were to hazard a guess?" Eddie coaxes, grinning wildly.

"He's certain we're having a girl and he's desperate to know if he's right," Chrissy giggles, rolling her eyes affectionately.