And, what was worse, he wasn’t there for the first two days of it. He’d come down with a horrible flu, and missed the first two days of school. And Amy had called him up every night, telling her how much she liked it.
When Eric got to school on the third day-his first-he walked into his nightmare. There, in the courtyard, was Amy-holding court. She was sitting on the wall at the edge of the courtyard. Three of the Popular Princess types were sitting next to her. A gaggle of jock-type guys were gathered around, eagerly sopping up every word out of her mouth. Amy looked happy and animated.
Eric looked at her, and felt the dull thud in the pit of his stomach. He was torn whether or not to walk away, or what. The choice was taken from him when Amy spotted him.
"SWEETIE! You’re back!" she yelped, and immediately fought her way through her clutch of courtesans to wrap him in a bear hug. "How are you feeling?"
"A lot better, thanks," Eric said, trying to hide his amazement.
"I’m glad," she said. "My first two days of school here without my sweetie weren’t that fun."
"You looked like you were having fun." Eric said.
"Ah, not like with you." She called over to her erstwhile admirers. "Do you guys all know Eric, my boyfriend?"
The Princesses just looked at him with amazement. And the studs looked jealous.
That’s when something clicked in Eric’s brain. And he made a resolution.
Jessie had spent two months in complete bliss living with Ryan. She liked her new job, she was in a good place with friends, and having a total, complete, no hesitation relationship with Ryan was everything she had dreamed of.
However, here in early September, she found herself ill. She was lethargic and had a stomach bug. Ryan was a wonderful nurse, it turned out.
She was sitting next to Ryan, when, all of a sudden, it struck her. "Ryan, honey?" she said. "I just had a revelation. This isn’t the flu. This is what happened last time."
"Last time?" Ryan asked.
"I think I’m pregnant," she said quietly. "This is how it felt, you know, before."
"Have you missed a period?"
"It’s due day after tomorrow." Jessie sighed in frustration. "This is ridiculous! Why do I even bother taking the damn pill?"
"Sometimes it fails."
"Twice in, what, four months? Ryan, you have to believe me, I take it faithfully! I’ve never missed a day!"
"Jess." Ryan grabbed her chin and tilted her face until he was looking into her eyes. "Jess. It’s OK. If you are, it’s OK."
"Easy for you to say, you didn’t just miscarry."
"You’re scared."
"Damn right I’m scared! We just got back together, we’ve been living together all of two months, and I just had a miscarriage."
"Well, it’ll be OK, but we need to find out for sure."
Four days later, Jess was two days late. They went to the pharmacy and got an early-detection home pregnancy test. They came back to their apartment and Jess took it.
She walked out of the bathroom. "Positive," she said simply.
Ryan was sitting on the couch. He beckoned her over to him. She sat next to him, and he pulled her into his arms.
"Ryan, tell me everything’s going to be OK," Jess pleaded.
"Everything’s going to be OK," he assured her. "I promise."
"Now what do we do?" she said.
"I have an idea about that." He leaned into her, and whispered into her ear, "What do you say we fly to Las Vegas and get married?"
"WHAT?" she blurted, turning to look at him.
"Las Vegas. Married. Look, you told me once you didn’t want a big wedding like Warren and Sophie had, that you had no interest in it. Now, if you’ve changed your mind, we can wait, and you can have that. But, if not-let’s just go do it."
"You’re serious," she gasped.
"Completely. Totally. Jess, I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. We’re going to have a baby. Let’s do it."
Jessie’s face broke out into a giddy smile. She started giggling. "Really?"
"Really."
"Oh, God. YES!" she shouted, and then hurled herself into his arms, laughing and crying at the same time. After they had settled down, she said, "Oh, God, I love you so much."
"Love you, too. So, do you want to do this on the QT, or should we tell people?"
"I want to tell my parents. I want them to come. Warren and Sophie, too."
"OK, then I’ll call my parents." Ryan’s parents lived in California. He called them right away, and they were thrilled. "They want to come, so, once we arrange it, I’ll have to let them know. They’ll probably drive. They can’t wait to meet you."
"That’s funny-you knocked me up, we’re getting married, and they’ve never met me!"
Jessie then called her parents, and told them to expect her that evening. She called Warren and Sophie, too, and told them to meet her there.
When Jessie and Ryan showed up at her parents’ house, Warren and Sophie were already there. "Ok, so what’s the big mystery?" Mrs. Reidel asked them once they got in.
"Well, it’s like this," Jessie said. "Obviously, me and birth control just don’t get along-because I’m pregnant again."
"Oh," Mrs. Reidel said. "Is this OK?" she asked tentatively.
"Definitely OK," Jess smiled.
"Better than OK," Ryan agreed.
"So, anyway," Jess continued, "this is the plan. As soon as we can arrange it, we’re going to Las Vegas to get hitched. Anyone wanna come with?"
The room was silent for a good minute. Finally, Jessica’s mother broke the silence. "Did you just say what I think you said?"
"We’re getting married, ASAP," Jessie said. "I don’t want any big fancy do, so we’re going to go to Vegas and do it. We’d like you all to come, though."
Mrs. Reidel stared at them for a minute, and then squealed. "You’re getting married?"
"Yep."
"I guess we’re going to Las Vegas," Mr. Reidel said with a grin. "You sure you don’t want a traditional wedding, honey?" he asked Jess.
"Nah," Jessie said. "But we want you guys there."
"We’ll be there," her mother said.
"Us, too," Sophia grinned.
Saturday night, two days after Eric had gone back to school, he and Amy were out on a date. They had just left the restaurant and Eric was driving away. "So," Amy laughed, "my dear partner’s in a mad scramble to go to Vegas so he can get married."
"That’s funny. I’m happy for them-I’ve known Jess forever." He chuckled. "I just hope they stay married for longer than Britney Spears did."
"Tell me about it," Amy laughed. "So, the night’s young, what do you want to do now?"
"Uhm, I want to talk," Eric said.
"OK," Amy agreed hesitantly. Eric wanted to talk? This didn’t sound good at all.
Amy was surprised when Eric pulled up in front of his house. He took her into the basement by the direct entrance. When they got into the little apartment, Amy sighed, "Wow, Eric, this is really nice!"
"I know. Sophie and Warren really did a good job down here before they moved out. And they bought a lot of new furniture so they left me most of it." He pointed toward the couch. "Sit down." She did, and Eric sat next to her.
He took a deep breath. "Look, I suck at this. But something happened this week. When I came off the bus Thursday and saw you surrounded by the Beautiful People, and them all enthralled by you, my heart was in my throat."
"Eric-," Amy tried to interrupt.
"No. Let me finish. This is hard enough as it is. Anyhow, I saw you like that and I was worried. And then you saw me, and yelled after me, and left them to come see me. I can’t even describe what that felt like." He took another deep breath. "And that’s when I realized it. Amy, I’m in love with you. In fact, I love you so much it hurts sometimes."
Before Eric knew it, Amy had launched herself onto his lap, clutching at his shoulders, and crying. "Amy?" Eric asked.
"God, hold me!" she sputtered. He did, until she calmed down. "God, Eric, I thought you were going to break up with me!"
"Why would I do that?" he chuckled.
"God, I don’t know. Just because."