Four Years Later...

"Do you feel okay?"

"I feel fine," I answered Lexi flatly, smacking the thermometer away as gently as I could without hurting her. "You don't need to worry about me, Lexi."

"You never get sick," she drawled with a roll of her eyes. "But here you are, puking your guts out. You've been throwing up since I got here! Even if you don't feel bad, something's definitely wrong with you if you're puking like this."

"I always get sick randomly," I rasped, turning away from her now as I continued to lay on the couch. "It's not my fault I'm like this. I'd really rather not puke if it was up to me."

As if on cue, I felt my stomach lurch. I jumped up from the couch and ran into the bathroom down the hall, kneeling in front of the toilet and puking out the little food that I had had for breakfast.

"See? You're obviously not okay," Lexi sighed from the doorway, shaking her head as she helped me off the floor and back to the couch after I had flushed the toilet. She laid me back down and handed me a cup of water, which I gladly took. "Why don't you go to the doctor's or something? I think that would be the best thing to do."

"Tomorrow," I assured her, cuddling under the blanket she had laid on top of me a little more. "Jesse already made an appointment for me anyway, so I'm going tomorrow."

"Jordan!" Alex cried out, bursting into my apartment without any type of warning. I let out a groan, covering my face with a pillow now. "Oh, Jordan! Come out, come out wherever you are!"

"Alex!" Lexi called from where she was sitting next to me. "Keep your mouth shut! She's in here!"

Alex quickly skittered into the living room, his eyes widening dramatically when he saw me lying on the couch. "Oh, my goodness!" he cried out once again. "Jordan's dead!"

"I'm not dead," I growled, scowling at him and forcing myself up off the couch. "I'm just sick, that's all."

I always did get sick randomly. I remember talking to Jesse when we were still in high school about it, and he was the same way. We never got sick even when we were surrounded by germs, but then at random times I'd get sick for absolutely no reason.

I hated that I had to get sick then. Lexi had come to visit me because she had some time off of her classes, and I had some of my classes off as well so she thought that she'd come and visit Jesse, Alex, and me.

Alex still had classes, but he didn't have as much as Jesse. We still lived in the same apartment together, and he wouldn't get home until later in the day, usually somewhere in between two in the afternoon until seven at night. I hated having to wait for him, but usually he called me to tell me when he was going to be done.

Like today he had called me earlier to tell me that he was going to have classes until seven at night. Lexi answered the phone because I was too lazy and tired to get up myself, and she told me that Jesse felt horrible for not being able to be there for me when I was sick.

I didn't even feel that bad. Sure, I was a little tired, but I was only throwing up. I either had food poisoning or had just caught a stomach bug, so I was sure that it wasn't that big of a deal since I rarely ever got sick.

"Did you get what I asked you for, Alex?" Lexi asked her boyfriend, turning toward him with a pointed look on her face. "If you didn't, I'm going to be really mad at you because then I'll have to go out and get it and that means I'll have to leave you here alone with Jordan, and you might kill her or something."

"I have it, I have it," he assured with a roll of his eyes, shoving a small, brown paper bag at her. "It was totally awkward buying that, you know. Everyone there gave me dirty looks like they thought I just ruined someone's life."

What the hell was in that paper bag?

"Here, Jordan," Lexi now said, turning toward me and handing me the paper bag. "Go into the bathroom and open this in there, okay?"

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as Alex and Lexi both pushed me into the master bathroom that was connected to Jesse's and my room before I could even protest. I almost tripped as they slammed the door behind me once they finally got me into the bathroom. I couldn't help but scowl at the toilet, which I had been puking into almost every day for the past week.

I let out an irritated sigh as I opened the paper bag. I stuck my hand out and pulled out a box, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion once again until I turned it around and read what it said it was.

I let out a scream, dropping it onto the ground and backing away from it, as if it was going to kill me or something. There was no way that Lexi and Alex had just given that to me! Why would they give this to me? I was not... There was no way I could have been...

"It looks like she saw what it was!" Alex laughed from outside the door, and I would have hit him if the stupid slab of wood wasn't protecting him.

Not that it would have hurt him anyway, since that jackass was immune to pain...

"There's no way..." I started, bending over and picking up the stupid box nervously. "There's no way I could be pregnant!"

"All signs point to that, Jordan," Lexi told me, and I could only imagine her arms crossing over her chest as she continued to stand in Jesse's and my bedroom next to Alex. "You don't feel sick, and yet you're puking all the time. And when was your last period?"

"Ew," Alex broke in, and I knew his nose wrinkled in disgust at the mention of my monthly gift. "Gross."

"I don't know," I answered Lexi through the door, ignoring Alex now as I tried to think when my last period had been. I really did have no idea when that was... One month ago? Two? Or maybe even three... "I've always had irregular periods. You know that. So I guess it's been a little while, but I didn't think anything of it..."

"Pee on the stick," Alex ordered in that silly tone of his, and I couldn't help but make a face now. "Plus means you're pregnant, minus means you're not."

"I don't have to pee."

"I'll tickle you."

My eyes widened at Alex's warning. "I'm peeing, I'm peeing!"

I did as I was told, peeing on the stupid stick and placing the cap back on after. The box said it would take five to ten minutes for a plus or a minus to show up on the stick, so I was going to have to wait that long for the antagonizing answer.

I stepped out of the bathroom, the stick in my hand as I waited for it to hurry up and tell me if I was pregnant or not. There was no way this was actually happening...

"Hi, Jordan!"

A new voice greeted me when I exited the bathroom, and I jumped so high that I almost dropped the stick. My eyes widened when I saw Lexi and Alex sitting at my computer, Chelsea and AJ on the screen in separate windows. It was AJ who had said hi to me, and I couldn't help but let out a groan as I slowly moved forward toward them, even though I totally didn't want to.

"What does the stick say?" Chelsea asked, and she leaned so close to her webcam that I thought she was going to fall through the screen. "Are you going to be a mom? Is Jesse going to be a dad? What does the stick say?"

"The answer hasn't shown up yet," I breathed shakily, pacing around with the stick tightly in my hands. "It takes a few minutes..."

"This is so exciting!" Lexi squealed, her hands clasping together under her chin as she continued to sit on the desk chair as Alex continued to stand beside her. "You might be a mom, Jordan! A mom! And that means Jesse might be a dad!"

"Oh, God," I heard AJ groan from the background. "Jesse Jacobsen is going to be a father? What an unfortunate baby."

Even though she was thankful for everything Jesse had did, AJ still wasn't exactly his biggest fan. They got along fine, but they sure did like to poke fun at each other whenever they got the chance to.

The thought made me feel queasy. Was I ready for a baby? I didn't know if I was. A baby was a huge responsibility... I was afraid that Jesse and I weren't ready for it yet. Even though I knew that we were going to get married, and we were planning on having kids in the future, we were both only twenty-two...

I continued to pace around the room, the stick clutched tightly in my hand as everyone else stayed silent. Seconds felt like hours, and I was afraid whether or not I was going to have a plus or a minus appear when the long wait was over.

When five minutes passed, I stopped pacing and looked down at the stick nervously. Lexi hopped up from the chair, running over and looking at it from over my shoulder. Alex stayed by the computer, while an anxious Chelsea and AJ waited.

"Is that a plus or a minus?" Lexi asked me excitedly. "I can't tell if it's a plus or a minus!"

I stared down at the stick that I held in my hand in total shock. "It's... it's a plus."

Lexi started squealing, and so did AJ and Chelsea over the webcam. Alex looked proud, as if he did it himself or something, but all I could do was stare at the stick.

I couldn't believe what was happening... I was pregnant! I seriously had a baby inside of me! But Jesse and I weren't even married yet! We were still just in college... but that didn't mean that I wasn't excited. I was definitely excited to be having Jesse's baby.

Lexi hugged me tightly, but I was still in too much shock to do anything with them. This was such an exciting time, but I still couldn't believe that it was actually happening. Jesse and I were going to have a baby! I hadn't been sick at all! I just had morning sickness!

"When you go to the doctors tomorrow, make sure they confirm it," Lexi told me now as she clutched onto my shoulders, out of breath from jumping up and down moments before. "But it said on the box that it's the most accurate pregnancy test! Oh, my gosh, Jordan! You're pregnant!"

I was pregnant. I really was pregnant... As the thought sunk into my brain, I found myself smiling along with everyone else. I was pregnant! I was going to be having Jesse's baby! This was absolutely amazing! After all the talk about getting married and having kids, we were actually going to have a baby!

I started squealing along with Lexi, hugging her tightly before jumping over and hugging Alex. I ran over to the computer and squealed for a few seconds with AJ and Chelsea, since I couldn't hug them over the internet. But this was just too exciting! I didn't even care if we were getting married yet or not, because I knew that we were going to anyway!

"How am I supposed to tell Jesse?" I finally asked when the excitement was all over. "I'm sure he'll be happy and excited, but I don't have any idea how I'm supposed to tell him! I want it to be memorable... I don't just want to blurt it out..."

"I have an idea!" Alex grinned, waving his arms around like the madman that he was. "It's a great idea, just like all of my ideas!"

I stared at him flatly, placing the stick on the nightstand by Jesse's and my bed. Great plan, huh? I'd believe it when I saw it. Or more like heard it... "The last time I used your idea, I was singing Taylor Swift in front of everyone at the end-of-the-year talent show."

"But you did great!" AJ chirped over the webcam, but I didn't say anything to acknowledge that I had even heard her. Though everyone said I did great that day, it was the most nerve-wracking thing I had ever done in my entire life. I still didn't like getting up in front of people...

"Don't worry," Alex assured with a broad grin, wrapping his arm around my shoulders just like he always did. "This plan is a great one! Better than anything you could come up with!"

My eyebrows furrowed at him. "Hey!"

He smiled sheepishly at me. "Sorry..."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 

After Lexi and Alex had left to make sure that I would be alone with Jesse, I started to panic just a little. What if he somehow didn't want the baby? That wasn't like Jesse, but I was definitely the type of person that worried about things...

When I heard the front door open a close as I continued to sit on the couch, I almost jumped off of it. I looked at the clock to see that it was seven, the time Jesse said that he was going to be home. I let out a sigh as I heard him making his way through the apartment.

"Jordan?" he called out, and I immediately felt better when I heard his voice. "Where are you?"

"Out here," I answered, still sitting on the couch as I muted the television now. I was going with Alex's idea with telling Jesse about the baby, and I was hoping that it was a good one. All the girls liked it, but I still wasn't so sure. It did cause Alex to have to rush to the mall to buy something else that made it look like he had ruined someone's life... And it also made him look like a narcissist...

"Hey, baby," he smiled as he sat down next to me and scooped me up in his arms. Man, did I feel so much better. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah," I answered truthfully with a nod, burying my face into his chest as I wrapped my arms around his waist. "I'm feeling just fine now..."

"That's good," he sighed, holding onto me even more. "I was afraid that you'd still be really sick. I feel horrible for not being here today to take care of you. I would have taken the whole day off with you if I could have..."

"I know you would," I nodded once again, pushing away from him gently so I could look at him now. "Have you eaten yet?"

"Yeah, I grabbed something quick after my last class," he nodded as well, his arms still wrapped around me as he continued to hold me tight. "I figured you've already had soup or something, so I didn't bring anything back that would upset your stomach."

"Well, Lexi made hotdogs a little while before she left, but I didn't have any because just the sight of them made me want to puke... But if you want any, they're in the fridge," I informed him with a small smile, brushing some of his hair out of his face. We had actually made a baby...

"Okay, I'll probably have some later," Jesse now smiled, readjusting us on the couch so that we were now lying down with me on top of him. "Speaking of Lexi, why isn't she here? She and Alex usually stay here until midnight. It's barely seven o'clock."

"They just felt like going back to Alex's apartment early, that's all," I replied nervously, letting out a breathy chuckle afterwards. I really hope he didn't see through me... I wasn't the world's worst liar, but right then I was so nervous that I was almost shaking.

"Are you okay, Jordan?" Jesse now asked, pulling away just a little so he could look at me. "You're shaking. Are you sure that you're feeling better?"

"I'm sure," I assured with a nod, forcing a bright smile onto my face so he could see that I was happy. I definitely was happy, but I was nervous as well. We were actually going to have a baby... A baby! It wasn't something that we could just brush off. A baby was going to affect the rest of our lives! We were going to have a child!

I knew Jesse was going to be excited about it. He had to be, right? He talked about me having his children all the time... Just because it was a little earlier than we had planned didn't mean that he wasn't going to be happy about it! He was definitely going to be happy!

"Well, I'm going to be taking care of you all day tomorrow, whether Lexi and Alex like it or not," Jesse breathed into my hair, stroking it lightly as I moved up and down with his chest. "Then I'll take you to the doctor to see what's wrong..."

I already knew what was wrong, but going to the doctor was still a good idea to confirm it. Having Jesse wait on me hand and foot sounded amazing, but I wondered if he would still do it after he found out that I was just pregnant. I was sure that he would...

"I have a present for you," I blurted quickly, just wanting it to get over with now. "Wait here. I'll go get it."

"Am I forgetting something important?" he asked me now as I ran out of the room. I couldn't help but notice how nervous he sounded now. "Because you should tell me if I'm forgetting something important, because I'll go out and buy you something right now."

I didn't answer him, because I thought it would be fun if I teased him just a little. He always teased me, so the little moments that I got to tease him back were always fun. I grabbed the box that Lexi had wrapped for me from our room and quickly dashed back out to the living room, hiding the present behind my back.

"Today isn't the day we first met," Jesse calculated out loud, as if trying to remember every day that something had happened to us. Surprisingly, he remembered when everything happened. "We didn't get together today, and Hunter didn't get caught today... It isn't even the day we first kissed or anything. What am I forgetting?"

"You're not forgetting anything," I smiled as I sat back down on the couch next to him. "I can't just get a present for my amazing boyfriend?"

Jesse eyed me suspiciously now. "Now I'm thinking that you did something wrong."

I rolled my eyes at him, producing the wrapped box from behind my back. It wasn't big considering what was in it, but I knew Jesse was still wondering what it was. "I didn't do anything wrong. I just felt like getting you something..."

"But why give it to me now?" he questioned, taking the box from me now.

Because I wanted you to know before the doctor tells us tomorrow, I answered in my head, but didn't dare say it out loud to him.

"Just because," I pressed on, pushing the box closer to him now. "Open it, open it."

He chuckled. "Alright, alright, I'm opening it..."

I held my breath as he tore open the wrapping paper, and I bit the inside of my lip when he was through with it. He easily opened the box and looked down in confusion at the black shirt that was folded neatly inside the box.

He picked it up, unfolding it and holding it up so he could read what it said.

"World's Greatest Dad?" he read out loud, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he looked between the shirt and me a few times. He didn't figure it out just by the shirt? Good thing I added something else in there... "Why are you giving me a shirt like this?"

I nodded my head toward the box, urging him to look back into it. "Look."

He did as he was told, looking back into the box for the other thing that was inside. His eyes widened so much that I thought they were going to pop out of their sockets as he placed the shirt in his lap and pulled out the last thing that I had put in the box.

The pregnancy test.

"You're..." Jesse blinked, looking at the little plus that stared back up at him. "Plus means... positive, right?"

I rolled my eyes at him, giggling at him. He was so shocked that he wasn't even thinking straight! I definitely wasn't expecting that. But when I first found out, I wasn't thinking straight either.

I nodded, smiling as I said, "Plus means positive."

He looked up at me with his wide green eyes. "So... so you're..."

I couldn't help but smile even more. "I'm pregnant."

"Oh, my God," Jesse blinked, staring down at my stomach in complete and total awe. "You're... you're pregnant. There's a baby inside you. Our baby. We made a baby..."

I giggled, reaching for his hand and pulling it over to rest it on my stomach. "We made a baby."

"Jordan..." Jesse let out a breathy laugh, pulling me in and planting a passionate kiss on my lips. He pulled away before I could even really react, and he couldn't stop smiling at me. "We're going to have a baby. We're really going to have a baby..."

I nodded, laughing with him. I couldn't have been happier that he was actually excited about having a baby. We were having a baby! I wanted to scream it out to the sky! We were actually going to have a baby!

He suddenly picked me up and spun me around, causing me to laugh once again. When he finally put me down, he kissed me again. But this time it was longer, and I had enough time to react so I could kiss him back.

When he pulled away from me, he stared into my eyes for the longest time. He then looked down at my stomach and smiled, still looking like he couldn't believe what was going on. I didn't blame him, because I was still getting adjusted to it as well.

"Jordan, I should have done this a long time ago," he suddenly started, pulling away from me now. I stared at him in confusion for a moment, having no idea what he was doing. My eyes then widened just like his did when I saw him get on the ground on one knee. "I should have done this a long, long time ago..."

"Oh, my gosh," I gasped, my hand clapping over my mouth as I stared down at him. He was going to propose! I could barely believe it!

"Jordan, you've changed my life since the moment I laid eyes on you," he started, sticking his hand into his pocket before pulling out a velvet box only a second later. "I was going to ask you this once we graduated from Yale, but I think now's definitely the best time. When we first met, I never thought anything like this could have happened. But here we are, in the apartment that we live in together, celebrating the fact that we're going to have a baby..."

By now I had tears in my eyes, wondering how I had ever hated Jesse as much as I did. How had I not fallen in love with him like had had with me right when I met him? How did it take me four years to see how amazing he was? How did it take me four years and a gang for me to see that he was the one I wanted to be with?

"Jordan Emery, will you do me the honor of being my wife? Will you marry me?" Jesse now asked, opening the box to reveal a beautiful diamond ring. Tears now streaked down my cheeks, and I couldn't believe that someone like Jesse had really fallen in love with me.

"Of course I will!" I cried, wrapping my arms around him tightly after he had put the ring onto my finger once he stood up. Not only were we having a baby, but we were going to get married! Everything that we had ever wanted was actually happening!

"I love you, Jordan," Jesse sighed, burying his face into my neck.

"I love you, too," I sniffed as I continued to cry out of pure joy.

So this was it. We were finally getting married and we were finally going to have a baby. So what if it was a little sooner than we had planned? It wasn't like I cared. I hadn't cared about anything being on schedule ever since everything had happened with Hunter.

I hadn't heard from him since those four years before. I heard that he was still in prison in some state that wasn't California or Maine, just to make sure that he wouldn't break out or come after me if I went back to those states. That was a good idea, since I was planning on visiting...

But sometimes I couldn't help but wonder. How was Hunter? Was he miserable in jail? Was he plotting his revenge against Jesse and me? We were still in protective custody; it just wasn't as much as it was when Hunter had gotten caught. The security at Yale just had to make sure that Jesse, Alex, and I were safe. No extra police officers were added into the equation. Cops circled around our apartment a few more times than they did at other places, but I had gotten used to it by now...

But the main point was Hunter was gone from my life for good. There was no way he could have gotten out. Jesse and I were safe, and so was our family and friends. Everyone was finally, finally safe.

"See, Grandma?" I asked as I looked up at the ceiling, directing this at her. "You got your wish. That troublesome enemy of mine and I are getting married and we're having a baby. I just wish you were here to see it."

"She'll see it," Jesse assured me, wiping away my tears with his thumb. "Even if it's from up there, she'll see it. She's proud of you, Jordan. You got through everything that you were put through. She's very proud of you."

"Jesse, I'm sorry for when we were younger," I sniffed once again, more tears for him to wipe away falling from my eyes. "I must have made you feel horrible all throughout high school. Words will never be able to express how sorry I am..."

Jesse smiled at me sadly, holding me even tighter to him. "You have nothing to be sorry for," he whispered lightly. "You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for..."

And we stood there for the longest time, just holding each other. And in my mind, we were starting over. I thought Yale was going to be our fresh start, but we were still getting stalked by policemen who were making sure we were safe, and Hunter's daunting smirk haunted me every time I closed my eyes. But now was our real fresh start, and Hunter couldn't ruin it for us.

My life was starting now, and I was going to make sure this baby and its brothers and sisters that came after were going to have a great love. None of them were going to have to go through what I did, and I was going to make sure of it.

I couldn't wait to make our family grow, and I knew that Jesse couldn't wait either. We had been through so much together to get where we were now, and we couldn't have been happier.

We kissed again, overjoyed by everything that was going on. Nothing could have put us down right then, because everything that we wanted had come true. We were in complete bliss and I never wanted to come out of it.

When we moved to the couch as we continued on kissing, we were the only things that we could think about right then. I didn't want to think about the past or Hunter anymore. I just wanted to think about Jesse, and I knew he felt the same way.

After we had been kissing on the couch for about five minutes, we both heard the front door slam open and footsteps running into the living room. We both looked up to see our familiar blonde best friend, the same person who also interrupted us all the time.

"Please, not with a child present in the room!"

I let out a laugh, and I was a little surprised when Jesse started laughing as well. Alex then started to laugh, and what started out as light laughter from all of us turned into a full-out hyena laugh coming from each of us.

Even though I loved the girls to death, these two boys were always going to be the ones who understood me the most. Because we had been through pretty much everything together.

And I wouldn't have changed one bit.

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The end. :')

This is the official ending of this story! Not counting the surprise...

Please don't ask me for a sequel! If you want one that badly, I give you full permission to write one yourself. I say this at the end of every one of my stories that aren't meant to have a sequel because every time I write a sequel, it ruins the story for me.

There is a prequel though... >.>

Remember that this is for Watty Awards 2011! Please VOTE for it! :'D

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! :')