Mullet Man

Eating for Two

AN: "two"

Also, this is two years after they started traveling together. So they're 25.

The car was silent as it drove along the highway. The radio wasn't playing, Stan wasn't making dumb puns or jokes, Bella wasn't going on about some point of her life, there wasn't even the occasional turn of a book page, since Bella wasn't reading. She was just sitting silently, staring out the window.

"...Hey babe, are you ok?" Stan asked, breaking the silence. "You've been quiet for awhile."

"I dunno," Bella mumbled. "Ah jus' feel a lil' sick."

"What, like a fever or something?" Stan asked.

"No, my temp is fine," Bella shook her head. "I feel like Ah'm gonna throw up. I think."

"Oh," Stan frowned. "Well tell me if you need anything, alright?"

"Mm-hm," Bella nodded, clutching her stomach. The car became quiet again. Stan could see Bella's face slowly becoming green.

"Stan- Stan, pull over!"

"Alright, alright!" Stan quickly parked by the side of the highway. Bella hurried out of the car and puked over the railing along the road. Stan got out as well and went over to his girlfriend. He bit his lip and began rubbing her back in a slow circle. Once Bella was able to stop puking, she groaned and wiped her mouth on the bottom of her shirt.

"Feeling any better?" Stan asked.

"No," Bella mumbled. "Maybe. I dunno."

"Do you wanna sit here for a little while?" Stan asked.

"...no," Bella sighed. She stood up straight, fidgeting with her hands. "Stan, could we... stop by a pharmacy or somethin'?"

"What? Why?"

"Well... my period's been late, and... now this..." Bella squirmed slightly, refusing to look up at Stan. "And... I'm out'a pregnancy tests, so..."

"Wait, you think you might be pregnant?" Stan asked, paling. After a moment, Bella nodded slowly.

"I-It's a possibility," she mumbled. Stan ran a hand through his hair, leaning back against the railing. "Ah always take a test after... ev'ry time we get drunk, just in case, but Ah ran out of 'em, and... Ah just kept fergettin' ta get more..."

"Pregnant..." Stan murmured. "Shit. Can we even take care of a kid?"

"I-I might not be pregnant!" Bella reminded quickly, almost hopefully. "Ah might just be sick, and, Ah've never been the best at... keepin' track'a my cycle."

Stan shook his head and walked back over to the car.

"Let's hope you're right."

-----

The two of them entered the store at equal levels of anxiety. Bella began looking through the aisles, and Stan soon joined her after grabbing a case of beer and a blue Gatorade.

"That's the bad thin' about travelin'," Bella chuckled, but there wasn't any humor in it. "Ya never know how stores are laid out."

"Ha. Right."

Finally they found the pregnancy tests, and Bella seemed almost scared to grab the box. They paid for their stuff and went back to the bathrooms. Stan waited nervously outside, pacing back and forth.

She couldn't be pregnant. They always used protection, didn't they? Except... Stan could see why Bella always took a test after they got drunk. He could easily forget to use a condom if he was drunk enough. And on his birthday last month?

He would definitely consider that 'drunk enough'.

He stopped pacing when the bathroom door opened and Bella exited. She looked, if possible, even sicker than before. She was paler than usual, and she wasn't twitching at all.

"Well?" Stan prompted when Bella didn't speak. Bella opened her mouth, closed it, and took a deep breath.

"They're positive."

Stan almost didn't hear her, she was so quiet.

"You're pregnant?" Stan said. "You're sure?"

"I-I-I took two," Bella revealed, holding up a plastic bag with the two positive pregnancy tests inside. "Th-They're both positive. ...I'm pregnant."

-----

Stan sat in the car with his head in his hands. Bella was beside him, clutching tightly to her comforter blanket. In her opinion, it wasn't doing much to comfort her.

"Pregnant," Stan spoke quietly. "Pregnant! Bella, we can't take care of a kid! We don't even have a home!"

"I know!" Bella moaned, burying her face in her blanket. "I'm sorry!"

"Don't be sorry," Stan said, looking over at her. "If anything, it's my fault. I'm the one that got too drunk to remember to use a condom."

"Yeah, I guess," Bella mumbled. "Stan, what're we gonna do? Ah can' breastfeed. I don' have breasts! We'd need formula to feed... it. And, fer formula, ya need a microwave. And fer a wike- and fer a microwave, ya need a home."

"Do we have enough money to rent an apartment?" Stan asked.

"Ah think we do," Bella answered. "Mullet Man's been sellin' pretty well. It wouldn' be a very big apartment, but it would be an apartment."

"Alright," Stan nodded. "Alright, here's what we'll do. We have, what, nine months till it's born, right? We can drive around a bit, find a nice place, and finally settle down. I am kinda getting tired of the whole homeless thing."

"Yeah," Bella nodded in agreement. "Me too. Don' gemme wron', I- Don't get me wrong, Ah love traveling. But Ah also miss, havin' my own toilet. And a fridge."

Stan laughed for the first time in hours. He smiled over at Bella, who smiled back.

"Y'know, if I'm havin' a kid with anyone... I'm glad it's you."