Just Enough Rope, Chapter 11

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Surprise!  How’s that for a quick update?  

Since I’ll be at dog shows Thursday through Sunday and won’t have time to write and update, I took pity on the characters and didn’t leave them hanging from any cliffs.  Hope y’all will come back after the weekend anyway!  J

Fanfiction.net link:  http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6910203/11/
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So what is love, then?  Is it dictated, or chosen?

Does it sing like the hymns of a thousand years, or is it just pop emotion?

And if it ever was there and it left, does it mean it was never true?

And to exist it must elude; is that why I think these things of you?

                                    -The Indigo Girls, “Mystery”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Jenna stretched, rolled over, and reached an arm out, only to realize that she was alone.  Disappointed, she sat up, opening her eyes and rubbing sleep out of them.  Sunlight, filtered by the trees to the side of the house, shone through the windows; a quick glance at the clock showed her it was already past nine.  No wonder Elijah was already up and about.  She had slept like the dead. Heh, with the dead.  Heading into the bathroom to take care of the necessaries, she supposed she really shouldn’t be greedy, but she wouldn’t have minded a replay of last night.  Not at all.

Elijah had thoughtfully set her bag inside the door of the bedroom, so Jenna fished her clothes out and dressed, leaving her feet bare.  She pulled a brush through her hair, doing what she could with it, considering she had slept (among other things) on it wet.  Padding back into the bathroom, she brushed her teeth, then decided she had forestalled the morning-after awkwards for as long as she could.

He was outside on the balcony that ran off of the kitchen, staring down over the lake.  Jenna took a moment to appreciate the view.  He hadn’t put on a jacket, and his shirt sleeves were rolled up, giving him a more casual look than he usually sported.  She didn’t think he’d ever look truly casual, not even naked.  Especially not naked.  The air of power and control was intrinsic to him; the suits had nothing to do with it.  In his case, the clothes didn’t make the man.  The man made the clothes.   

Spying the half-full coffee pot, she gave it a precautionary sniff.  Her stomach must have been inclined to forgive and forget the previous incident, because it smelled heavenly to her.  Fingers crossed, she opened the fridge.  Sure enough, there was a little carton of cream in there.  God.  The man really was perfect.  Well, except for that whole blood-sucking, undead, ancient vampire thing.  And even that had its perks, which he had more than amply demonstrated last night.  Jenna sighed.  She needed to be careful.  She was already half-way to stupid over him.

Smiling to herself, Jenna opened the French door and stepped out, suddenly wishing she had put some socks on. Joining him at the rail, she set her mug on it, next to his, and slid her arms around his waist.  “Hey.”  Okay, so as morning-after greetings went it wasn’t exactly witty.

“Good morning.”  He laid his arm across her shoulders and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.  He picked up his coffee and drank.  “How are you feeling?” he asked, gesturing toward her own mug.

“Fine.  I’m apparently over the coffee wiggins.  Thank God.”  She retrieved it and took a sip.  “You got up early,” she said, oh-so-casually.

“Mm.”

Well, that was nicely monosyllabic, she thought, when he seemed disinclined to say anything more.  Apparently even a thousand years of experience didn’t banish the awkwards.  Good to know.  She tried to think of something else to say, something that wouldn’t sound completely inane.  Or clingy.  Or needy.  Or too soon. The harder she thought about it, the more blank her mind became.  Great.  Apparently it actually is possible to screw your brains out.  Jenna balanced and put one foot on the calf of her other leg to warm it, then switched legs. Which did absolutely nothing to make her look or feel any brighter.  Or warmer.

“Here, you’re cold,” he said, turning her toward the door.  “Let’s go in.”

Jenna did as he bid, going to the coffee pot to top off her mug as he shut the door.  “So, any big plans today?” she asked, wincing at the over-bright tone in her voice that made her sound like some deranged, cracked-out Pollyanna.  Elijah merely lifted a brow at her, a grin playing at the corners of his mouth.  “Okay, all right!  I suck at this morning after thing!  I never have any clue what to say.  ‘Hey, loved meeting your penis last night!’ just doesn’t really strike the right chord, you know?  It’s stupid, and it’s awkward, but there it is.  I am inept.”  She took a big swallow of her coffee, blushing furiously.

Elijah rubbed his hand over his mouth.  Jenna was pretty sure he was stifling a laugh.  “Jenna?”  He leaned on the island and held a hand out to her.  She rolled her eyes, but took it.  He raised it to his lips, kissing the back of her fingers and, looking at her earnestly, told her, “I loved meeting your vagina, too.”

“Oh, shut up!”  She tried to pull her hand away, but Elijah wouldn’t let go, coming around the counter and pulling her to him, chuckling.  She put up a token resistance before snuggling against him, blushing and laughing.

“Better?”

“Yeah,” she agreed reluctantly.

“Good.  Because there’s something I need to ask you.”

“What?”

Elijah released her and lifted their coffee mugs from the counter, nodding toward the living room as he carried them in and set them on the coffee table.  Jenna followed, not sure she liked the sudden shift into seriousness.  She lowered herself onto the leather sofa, facing him as he sat.  “What?” she repeated, when he sat watching her.

He hesitated, then pushed forward.  “When was the last time you were with Alaric?”

Jenna paused with her coffee mug halfway to her mouth.  “Excuse me?”

“Intimately, I mean.”

 I know what you mean.  So help her God, if this was his roundabout way of calling her a slut, she was going to punch him in the balls, vampire or no.  “Yeah, I got that.”  Jenna set her mug back down, perhaps harder than strictly necessary, and crossed her arms in front of her.  “I’m just trying to figure out what the hell business it is of yours.”

“That’s not…”  He blew out a breath.  “I don’t mean to put you on the defensive.”

“Really.”

“I assure you, that wasn’t my intent.

“Because gee, Elijah, I don’t know.  How long has it been for you?”

Elijah closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.  “It wasn’t meant to be an inquisition.”

She gestured impatiently.  “Then what the hell kind of a question was that?”

“This isn’t going well,” he sighed.

“How exactly were you expecting it to go?!”

“Fine.  Let me rephrase the question, then:  When is the last time you bled?”

What. The. Fuck?  Then it dawned on her.  Jenna shook her head.  “Okay.  I get it.  The throwing up thing.  Jesus, Elijah.  A woman can hurl without her being pregnant.  Well, unless she’s on a soap opera.  Seriously.”

“That doesn’t actually answer the question, Jenna.”

“Christ!  I don’t know!  Things have been just a little crazy.  In case you hadn’t noticed.”  She’d had her period when… well, it would have been… she hadn’t had it since before she had stayed here, and that was… a month ago.  But before that… it was… she didn’t think she had had it since Isobel… which…

Unable to sit still, Jenna paced to the window, wracking her brain.  It couldn’t have been that long… could it?  Wouldn’t she have noticed?  Apparently not, a snide little voice popped up into her head to say.  She jumped when Elijah put his hands on her shoulders.

“Jenna.”

She shook her head vehemently.  “I need to think.  I just need to figure out…”

“Jenna, you’re – ”

“I’m not pregnant!”  I can’t be I can’t be I can’t be –

Elijah turned her to face him.  “I can hear your child's heartbeat,” he said quietly.  “You are pregnant.”

Heartbeat?  Jenna backed away from him, still shaking her head.  “No.  No no no no.”  She turned to look out the big window, pressing a hand to her mouth to stifle the torrent of denial.  This was not happening.  This could not be happening.  She’d been careful.  They’d been careful.  They’d always used a condom.  Always? the voice mocked.  Almost always!  Maybe once or twice, when they hadn’t had one, or couldn’t wait…  It only takes once.

“Oh my God,” she said, her voice hitching on a sob.  Elijah stroked a hand down her back, but she spun away from him.  “That’s it.  The final ‘eff you’ from the Universe.  The big, neon sign flashing over my head:  ‘Jenna is a monumental screw-up.’”  She dashed tears off of her cheeks and pulled her hair back from her face, resting her hands on the top of her head as she paced.  “It’s been almost four months.  How can I be four months pregnant and not even realize it?  Who does that?  Okay, really fat, stupid people on TLC do that.  Oh my God.”

Elijah reached a hand out to her on one of her passes by, but she avoided it.  “I have to get out of here,” she decided.

“Why don’t you wait for a bit until – ”

“No!  I have to go.”  Jenna strode out to the kitchen, searching the table by the door for her keys.

“Jenna – ”

“Just – leave me alone.  I have to get out of here.”  She found the keys and headed toward the door.

“Jenna – ”

“I have to go!”

“Shoes.”

“What?!”

Elijah glanced down at her feet.  Her bare feet.  “I’ll get them.  Just… hold a moment.”  He disappeared into the bedroom, returning with her shoes in one hand and her bag in the other.  Sniffling, she took the shoes and stuffed her feet into them.  “I wish you wouldn’t leave while you’re this upset.”

“I… I just have to go.  I need to think.  I’m s-sorry.”

Elijah took her chin and tilted her face up to him.  “Please be careful?”

Jenna nodded, took her bag, and left.

~~~~~

When Andie opened the door to her apartment, Jenna held the bag from the drug store up in front of her.  “I have to pee on these,” she told her.

Andie’s eyebrows climbed halfway up her forehead. “Uh… okay…”

Jenna pushed past her and marched down the hallway to the bathroom.  “Who wants to watch Cars?” she heard the witch ask brightly.

Conner’s footsteps thundered past the closed bathroom door.  “Me me me!” 

“Okay.  You sit down baby, and Mommy will bring you some popcorn, okay?”

“Yay!” 

Jenna opened the first pregnancy test while Conner made car noises in the living room, then thought, screw it and opened all of them, so that by the time Andie had gotten Conner settled and tapped on the door, she had six sticks of varying shapes and sizes all sitting on the sink and taking their requisite amounts of time to process.  “Can I come in?”

“Yeah.”  Jenna was sitting on the edge of the tub, staring at the collection when Andie opened the door and stepped in. 

The witch folded down the toilet cover and sat.  “Okay, sweetie.  What’s going on?”

“I had sex with Elijah last night and I’m pregnant,” Jenna told her, checking her watch and grabbing the first stick.  Big fat plus sign.

“I… don’t think that’s quite how it works.”

Jenna checked the second stick.  The readout said ‘pregnant.’  “No, not… It was Alaric.  Obviously.  But Elijah told me I was pregnant.”

Andie raised her eyebrows and looked off to the side.  “Awkward…”

She looked at the third stick.  Another plus sign.  “He said he could hear the heartbeat.  How fucked up is that?”

“Pretty fucked up,” she agreed.

“Shit.  Where’s that box?” she asked, looking at the fourth.  “Is it one line or two for ‘Oh my God you are totally screwed?’”

Andie stood and took her arms as Jenna started pawing frantically through the bag, looking for the right box.  “All right, hon’, I think it’s pretty safe to say that you are indeed pregnant.  Let’s throw these away and go sit, okay?”

Jenna let herself be led out to the kitchen and nudged into a chair.  Andie set a cup of coffee in front of her and dropped a bag of chocolate donuts onto the table.  Jenna took one and bit into it morosely.  Andie sat down opposite her and grabbed a donut for herself.  “Okay, first things first:  how far along are you?”

“Three and a half, four months?”

“You didn’t have any inkling?”

“With everything that’s been happening?”  Jenna took a sip of coffee.  “I… I never even gave it a thought.  Isobel happened, and then I wasn’t having sex, so I just wasn’t that aware of having my period.  Or not, as the case may be.”

“Understandable, I guess.  Wow.”

“Yeah.”  Jenna polished off the donut, washed it down with her coffee, and reached for another.  “What the hell am I going to do?”

“What do you want to do?”

“I don’t think I really have any choice, do I?  I mean, four months?”

“I don’t know.  Maybe not.  I mean… I don’t know.”  Andie rose and refilled her coffee cup, then poured milk into a sippy cup and took it out to Conner.  “What about Ric?” she asked as she came back into the kitchen.

Jenna folded her legs and pulled her feet up onto the chair with her to sit cross-legged.  “I don’t even know where he is.

“He shouldn’t be too hard to find.  We can check with Damon; I bet he knows.”

“I don’t even know if I want to tell him.”

“And I get that, but… don’t you think you should?”

Jenna glanced in the direction of the living room, where Conner was saying lines along with the movie.  “Did you tell his father?”

“Little different circumstance.  He’s aware, but… it wasn’t exactly like either one of us had a choice.”

Come to think of it, Andie never had told her about Conner’s father.  “How do you mean?”

Andie shook her head.  “Another story for another time.  We’re talking about you now.”

“I don’t know what else there is to say.  I’m knocked up.  By my ex-boyfriend, who is God-knows-where.  And I’m apparently so stupid that my current boyfriend had to point it out to me.”

Andie reached for a second donut as well, muttering something under her breath about how she’d known she shouldn’t have bought them.  “So how did that go?”

Jenna shrugged.  “He was pretty sweet about it.  I think.  I don’t know.  It’s all sort of a blur right now.  I stayed there last night after the bombing, and we – ”

“Whoa, wait!  After the what, now?”

“Oh.  Yeah.  We went to that mixer thing on campus last night.  Elijah’s car got car-bombed.”

Andie stared at her, wide-eyed for a moment, then started to giggle, though she tried not to.  “Girlfriend, the fact that a car-bombing didn’t even seem worth mentioning should maybe make you ask yourself some things about your current lifestyle.”

Jenna’s sense of humor kicked in, and she started to giggle too.  That fed Andie’s laughter, which in turn kept hers going, and before long they were both sitting at the table, howling.  Jenna wasn’t even aware of when she started crying instead.

Andie pulled a chair over next to Jenna, dropping and arm around her shoulders.  “All right, sweetie.  Everything will work itself out, okay?”

“Promise?”

“Sure.”

“Liar.”

“Yup.”

Jenna cried on Andie’s shoulder for a little while, gradually getting herself under control.  When she was, she took a napkin off the table and blew her nose.  “Well that was nicely bipolar.”

“Hormones.  You’re entitled.”  Andie stood and went to the coffeepot, only to realize it was empty.  “So, to recap,” she said, as she started fixing another pot, “Elijah has people bombing his car, you had sex with him, and he informed you you’re pregnant.  Since you obviously survived the bombing, and I think we’ve covered the pregnancy thing, let’s get down to what really matters and talk about the sex.”

“You are such a pervert.  No wonder we’re friends.”

“Come on, dish.”

Jenna broke a half off of one of the remaining donuts.  “You’re trying to distract me, aren’t you?”

“Is it working?”

Jenna smiled, and decided to let her friend distract her for a little while.  “Well, first…”