Garlic Bread and Chilli were on the menu in the cafeteria, and the smell wafting through the hallway turned Emmeline's stomach, sending her hurtling back to the bathroom for the second time that day. No one told her that morning sickness would last well into the afternoon nearing the middle of her 9th month. The misnomer taunted her, laughing every time she felt her stomach lurch. She rubbed her belly as she came out of the bathroom and found Nicholas still waiting for her outside with a bottle of ginger ale. It was the only thing that settled her stomach. She looked gratefully at him as she grabbed the bottle and took a big sip.

"What would I do without you?" Emmeline joked, still feeling a little green. Nausea slowly ebbed away, but the baby, heavy in her belly, was doing somersaults, making Emmeline feel uncomfortable. "Oh baby," she said, muttering to herself.

"Is she kicking?" Nicholas was always so concerned. Was she okay? What was the baby doing? What could he do to help? Perhaps a little more overprotective than Emmeline was always comfortable with.

"Why are you so sure it's a girl?" Emmeline asked, grinning.

"Because I just know. Besides, I want a girl. I want one that looks just like you, with your big blue eyes and that little mole on your cheek." A goofy smile crossed his face as he passed his hands through his rich dark hair. Emmeline loved it when he did that; it sent chills dancing up her spine. No wonder she ended up pregnant!

"Yes! A baby girl!"  Callum came up between them, wrapping his arms around their shoulders. He was Nicholas's best friend, known school-wide as a terrible flirt and surprisingly tall. "How's my little girl doing?" asked Callum, leaning low to kiss Emmeline's stomach.

"Listen!" said Nicholas, playfully rehashing a scene they had gone through a thousand times. "That's my baby girl in there!"

"A guy can dream, right?" Callum winked.

"Yes, and only in your dreams!" To Emmeline, this was so normal she surprised herself by responding.

"Are you ready for the test, Nicky?" asked Callum.

"Don't remind me!" answered Nicholas, breathing out heavily. "It was so busy at work last night I hardly got a chance to study."

Emmeline stiffened a bit. She felt bad. He was only working so much because of her and the baby. The last thing she wanted was for his marks to suffer. Fortunately, Nicholas was smart and could usually keep up with everything.

"Ah, knowing you, you'll ace it without even cracking a book."

"Here's hoping. I'll see you up there."

As Callum hurried off to class, Emmeline saw him link arms with another girl, and she could see her giggle and curl in closer.  Girls loved him, and he usually had a line of them vying for his attention.  Emmeline was happy they were friends and had been for ages.  Emmeline turned to Nicholas, her mind full, always thinking of what was going to happen in the next few weeks. "How can you be so relaxed? I spend most of my time being terrified, and you take this all in like it's no big deal."

"Listen, I know a baby is a big deal, and the timing isn't ideal, but this is my baby. And I'm going to celebrate every day I get to spend with her," said Nicholas. "No matter what."

"Well, you can spend as much time with him and her as you want," said Emmeline, misspeaking. She made a face.

"Twins now!" he teased.

"No.., I meant, him OR her, kinda a big difference, I guess. I wish just for once I'd say what I mean instead of what comes out. The pregnancy just make that worse!"

"It's adorable."

"Don't patronize me." Emmeline playfully scrunched up her face.

He leaned over and kissed her on the nose. "Well, it is. I better go; see you after Chem class, okay."

"Sure, good luck!" she called after him.

Nicholas waved, and she smiled until she saw the sideway looks the other girls in the hall were giving her. It's not like they looked at Nicholas like that. They stared at him with googly eyes. She didn't blame them for that. Every time he walked into the room, he made her heart skip a beat. But the fact that they were judging her so harshly and not him made her pretty annoyed. It wasn't like everyone treated her like a pariah. Most people in her school had been supportive. There were just a few that went out of their way to make sure Emmeline knew exactly what they thought of her. She couldn't help but have it get to her sometimes. While the other girls looked like a dream in their private school uniforms, with their short greenish-blue kilts and white blouses unbuttoned as low as they dare to emphasize their perky boobs, Emmeline's giant stomach barely fit between her chair and the desk. They didn't even have a uniform available to accommodate her current blossoming form, so she was free to wear whatever she liked, making her condition all the more obvious.

She met up with Ginny, her put-together best friend, in the hallway, and they walked the rest of the way to English Class, chatting. Emmeline still felt uncomfortable, and Ginny put her arm around her, rubbing her back. It felt nice, mostly for the support. Between the snarky looks, nausea, and the anxious feeling settling into her gut, Emmeline wasn't her usual self.

They sat down in the middle row, and their teacher began his lesson on whatever he was teaching. Emmeline couldn't be quite sure. Her mind refused to concentrate. A worrisome ache in her back developed before the last class that wouldn't go away, no matter how she tried to sit on the hard plastic chairs.

"Ms. Hope, the blackboard is this way," grumbled her self-righteous professor, with a Donald Trump-worthy comb over, as he tapped the blackboard.

She tried to smile, hoping he would turn his attention to someone else, but an unexpected whimper escaped her lips; blindsided by a pain that threatened to tear her in two.

Oh God, what's happening? She thought to herself. This can't be it! It was still two weeks to her due date, and Emmeline was hoping to not give birth until the end of school. If all went according to plan, she would make it.

"No, not now," she begged quietly, wrapping her arms around her stomach. "You can't be coming now."

Ginny's head instinctively shot around, eyeing Emmeline as she winced. Ginny jumped up from her desk and started to collect her things.

"Miss Waddell, sit down!" the professor ordered. It was hard to take him seriously in his oversized 80's patterned sweater that pilled badly. It was decidedly out of place in the private school, with its stately architecture and the other teachers who were generally impeccably dressed. Ginny started to argue with him as Emmeline let a small sob escape her lips. The pain started somewhere around her knees and shot up her back. She instinctively doubled, whacking her head on the desk. Not a good way to start her life as a Mom with a giant bruise on her forehead. She groaned.

The entire class stared at her, jaws open. The teacher, who barely tolerated Emmeline's presence in class, dug in his heels, refusing to admit they needed to go. It's not like she was the first girl in high school to get pregnant, and she wouldn't be the last, but at the moment, Emmeline was the recipient of his disgust. The fact that Ginny was arguing with him almost sent him over the edge. There were whispers amongst the other students as Emmeline was crushed by the second wave of agony, which she tried to ignore, failing miserably. Ginny, her rock, finally gave up trying to reason with the professor and sprung into action. She sent someone to get Nicholas to meet them at the office, grabbed Emmeline and her books, and escorted them into the hallway.

Emmeline smiled weakly at Ginny, "Remind me to ground this child as soon as it's born."

"Will do," Ginny answered, calm and focused.

"I'm not ready for this," Emmeline confessed, taking several shallow breaths as they left the classroom. Emmeline clenched her jaw and rolled the muscles in his neck and back. It's too soon, she thought, remembering the half-put-together crib in her bedroom. The idea that this could be false labor ran through her head as she walked stiffly.

"You may not be ready, but I can promise you this baby is," said Ginny, in her regular no-nonsense way. Her short, sassy, pixie cut suited her perfectly. She was that person who took life by the balls in one hand and came out swinging with the other. Ginny was there when Emmeline first found out she was pregnant. It was Ginny that tore Nicholas a new one when he broke up with Emmeline minutes after he found out about the baby. He had been a jerk about the whole thing for the first couple of weeks. He insisted that Emmeline was lying, and then refused to acknowledge the baby altogether. They went from thick as thieves to strangers within the time it took to say, "I'm pregnant."

For the next month, Nicholas avoided her like the plague, devastating Emmeline. Leaving her sobbing so hard she could barely come up for air. She couldn't bring herself to accept that she would have to raise her baby all on her own. Fortunately, he realized what an insensitive idiot he was being, and surprised her by completely coming around, embarrassed that he had treated her like that. It hadn't been easy, but he had spent every minute after that trying to make it up to her, tending to her needs and bizarre cravings for egg McMuffins at three in the afternoon, carrying ginger ale with him wherever he went. He would stop by McDonald's on his way to school and leave them in the fridge in the school cafeteria. Nicholas had a way about him. Sweet and charming, he had an irresistible presence. You remembered him, how he looked at you or talked to you. And when he spoke to you, you were the only person in the world. This meant he got away with murder in the school--and pretty much the entire community--for that matter. They loved him.

Emmeline leaned heavily on Ginny as she walked down the hall, her legs felt shaky, and she was concentrating so hard on trying to keep her tears from falling that she hardly knew where she was going. 

How am I going to do this? she wondered. The pain was so much worse than she had expected, and labor was just beginning.

As an only child, Emmeline had no experience with kids. She didn't have the foggiest clue what to do; even after reading stacks of books, she still didn't feel prepared. The whole pregnancy came as quite a shock, only 6 months after they had started dating, and after how things had gone with Nicholas, she didn't want to tell anyone else. Her parents were so rigid and worried about appearances that her becoming pregnant was the worst thing they could have imagined. They refused to believe it at first, and then threw daily fits of disapproval. None of it seemed real. Emmeline kept repeating the words, I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant, over and over in her head for the first few months trying to make them sound real. I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant. Good God, it's real!

Ginny led Emmeline down the wood-paneled halls towards the office, pausing for the harsh labor pains that came every few minutes. Nicholas was waiting for them, pacing in front a set of dark blue wing-back chairs.

"The baby, she's coming, isn't she?" asked Nicholas as he put his arms around Emmeline. She nodded, noticing small balls of sweat on Nicholas' forehead. "We can do this," he said. His confidence made Emmeline momentarily feel better until an unbearable pain shooting up her spine almost made her fall to her knees. Her stomach turned again, and she felt dizzy.

"Stay with her, Gin; I'm getting my car," said Nicholas, as Ginny returned with the School Principal.

Ginny nodded and started to lead Emmeline out the front door.

"I can take you to the hospital," offered the Principal. "Or would you rather wait for us to call your parents?" Emmeline appreciated how supportive she had been, encouraging her to stay in school, and helping her where she could. Even defending her from Mr. Comb-over.

"Nicholas has gone to get his car," said Ginny.

The Principal stepped back and eyed Ginny suspiciously, "Is he in any shape to take her?"

"I think so; he's been preparing for this day for months." In the trunk of the car were clothes for Emmeline, diapers, onesies, and a pile of other things that he had collected, just in case.

"Okay, let's help her outside so she's ready to go." The principal turned to the secretary, "Mrs. Smyth, can you call their parents and let them know they need to meet them at the hospital."

The secretary nodded, reached for the black phone on her desk, and started dialing.

Emmeline wrapped her arms protectively around her stomach and said, "Hold on, little one, we'll get to meet you soon," as they headed out the front door.

Nicholas pulled up in his shiny black Subaru sports car, a gift from his parents the day he got his driver's license.

"Nicholas," said the Principal, worried, as he ran around to open the passenger door. "Do you think you should be driving right now? I can take her; I can take you both."

"Thanks, but this is my baby, and I'm taking them to the hospital. There is no sense coddling us now."

"Fair enough," she said, hands up, knowing this wasn't a fight she would win or even wanted to. This was his first act as dad.

Nicholas helped Emmeline into the car and flew around to get in himself. As he started to drive away, Emmeline noticed Callum rushing out the front door, joining Ginny in the Principal's car. She was happy he was coming as well. Someone to be there for Nicholas. She was sure he would need his support.

She moaned again.

Nicholas looked concerned. "Are you alright?"

It took a few seconds for the pain to subside for her to answer. "I didn't realize it would hurt so bad. What if something's wrong?"

Nicholas drove a little faster.

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Author's Notes

I have been waiting on pins and needles to start sharing chapters with you guys, and I can't believe this day is finally here. So much of this story is personal to me, and feels a bit like sharing a real part of myself with you. It's scary in a way, and yet, liberating. That being said, the entire story is fictional, and I would love to hear what you guys think. I'm always here.

Chapter One is dedicated to gabycabezut .  Not only is she an incredible friend, but she is an extremely talented storyteller.  Every one of her books have grabbed my heart and wouldn't let it go.  It's hard for me to pick one out to recommend, but her new book Take-Out Chef has got me hooked! Thanks so much, Gaby! 

I will be doing regular updates on this book on Tuesdays and Fridays!  Look for Sugar Lust then.

Thanks so much for reading!!

-Lavinia Leigh xo