Chapter 151: Jessie's Ordeal

The Kellehers took a few days to fix up their new home. They hadn't heard from Jess, so Sophie called her. She invited Jess over to see the new place.

Warren and Sophie were alarmed at how bad she looked. She'd lost weight. Her face was mottled. Her eyes were dull and lifeless.

And she threw up, twice, while she was there.

She was putting on a good act, but there was something seriously wrong.

"My God," Warren said, after she had left, "she looks like death."

"I know," Sophie said. "She's so weak and frail. And the throwing up."

"What is wrong with her?"

"I'm afraid I might know," Sophie said.

A couple days later, Sophie invited Jess over again. When she got there, Sophie handed her a bag. "Jess? I want you to go into the bathroom and use this. No arguments."

Jess looked at her quizzically, then opened the bag. "What?" she hissed. "What makes you think I need this?"

"Because you're showing all the signs. Believe me, I know, I've been there."

"Oh, God, I haven't even wanted to think about this."

"I know you haven't, but you have to know."

Jess sighed, and withdrew into the bathroom. When she returned, tears were running down her face. She held out the object she had been given to Sophie.

It was a pregnancy test--and it was positive.

As Sophie tried to calm Jessie down, Warren came home. Sophie, greatly suspecting what was wrong with Jess, had discussed it with Warren.

"It was positive," Sophie told Warren as he walked in.

"Oh, God, what am I going to do?" Jessie sobbed. "I'm on birth control! This wasn't supposed to happen! Shit. I have to tell Ryan."

Sophie and Warren looked at each other. "Jess," Sophie said softly, "Warren and I have talked about this. I suspected you were pregnant. So we've talked about it."

"Jessie," Warren said gently, "it might not be Ryan's. It might be mine."

Jessie's eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open-and then she realized. "The night before I left Wisconsin."

"Yes," Warren said.

"Oh God," Jess wailed, "you mean I'm pregnant and I don't even know whose it is?"

"Jess, this gives you an out," Sophie said.

"An out?"

"With Ryan, if you want it," Sophie said. "You don't have to tell him."

"We can just assume it's mine," Warren continued. "You know we'll take care of you, Jess. And I'll just assume it's mine and not ask for any kind of proof. It's up to you."

"We can handle this any way you want," Sophie added. "You can move in here with us if you want. We can all live together in a happy family--a strange one, to be sure, but what the heck," she giggled. "But, if you want to tell Ryan, that's your choice, too."

"You guys would do that?" Jess asked.

"Of course," Warren said. "We love you, you know that. Though I don't know how happy you'll be with us, it is an option, and one we wanted to make sure you knew about."

"You guys are too much," Jess sighed. "I'll love you forever. But I think I have to tell Ryan."

"Of course," Warren said. "What are you going to do?"

"Well, I'm going to have it, I know that much," Jessie said, "there's not any question of that. And I'll have to tell Ryan--tell him everything, including that it might be yours, Warren. Then he'll have a decision to make. I think I want to know whose it is, though, and we can't test for that until after it's born."

"Keep one thing in mind," Warren told her. "We're probably in a better position to help you financially than Ryan is."

"Yeah, and that's going to be more important considering I haven't found a job here yet. And now it's going to be tougher," she sighed. "But if it's not yours, Warren, you shouldn't be responsible for it."

"I will anyway," he smiled.

"I know. And that means more to me than you could ever imagine. But I know Ryan well enough--if it's his, he will want to know." She sighed. "Listen, could I stay with you tonight? No sex. But I think I don't want to sleep by myself."

"Of course," Sophie told her.

Warren and Sophie were woken up at 3 AM the next morning by screaming. They popped up in bed, and looked to see Jess, wailing, holding her stomach. They looked down, between her legs, and saw the blood.

At Oceanview Hospital, at 6 AM, they got the official news.

"She miscarried," her mother told Warren and Sophie.

"We figured," Sophie told Corinne.

"I didn't even know she was pregnant," Corinne said.

"She didn't either, until yesterday," Sophie told her. "I suspected, but she was in denial. I forced her to take a pregnancy test. She was on birth control, but obviously it failed."

"That guy in Wisconsin, right? The skater?" Corinne asked.

"Well, possibly," Warren said softly. "There's a chance that it was mine."

"Oh, God," Corinne hissed. "She was sleeping with both of you?"

"No," Warren said. "With me, it was a one-time thing, the night after she and Ryan broke up. But the timing was close enough that I could've been the father. And, believe me, I'm not proud of that. She turned to us for comfort, and one thing led to another. Though I know that's no excuse."