Secrets Don't Make Friends

Jack

My mom and I had just made it to my grandparents’ house. We were here to enjoy Sunday dinner with them even though it was four pm. We always had to eat early like this with them on Sundays because my grandma liked to cook after church. My mom and I just always took home left overs to eat for actual dinner later.

"Hi Grandma, Hi Grandpa." I told them as we walked in.

"Hi Sweetie, how are you?" My Grandma asked.

"I'm okay." I told her and she smiled.

"We missed you two at church today." Grandpa joked.

"We'll start going when it starts at a later time than ten am." My mom told him and he playfully rolled his eyes.

"Service was really... informative, I really wish you two would have come." Grandma said.

"Maybe next time, mom." My mom said but we all knew that wouldn't be happening. Like my mom said, church started too early. We both had only just gotten out of bed at noon.

"What's for dinner?" I asked my Grandma.

"I made a roasted chicken, green beans, and mash potatoes." She said.

"That's sounds so good." I hummed.

"Yeah I figured you'd enjoy a home cooked meal instead of whatever your mom throws in the microwave." She joked and my mom glared at her.

"Hey I cook... sometimes." She said and I laughed.

Once all the food was done we went to sit at the table together. I was happy to be able to take a break from my hectic life for a day. All week long it felt like I was going to pass out. Every time I saw Zack my heart would jump out of my chest. He hadn't said anything to me or Alex since Monday though. That worried me even more. He probably had something planned.

"How's school going, Jack?" Grandpa asked.

"Um it's okay. I'm starting to get senioritis since I graduate this year, but my grades aren't slipping yet." I chuckled.

"That's the most important thing. As long as your gradse are still good then you'll be able to walk the stage." He said and I nodded. "And how's that boyfriend of yours?" He asked and I blushed. It was always weird talking to my grandparents about Alex. I thought they were going to be mad/disappointed when they found out I was gay, because they're religious, but they weren't. They were happy just to see me be happy.

"He's okay. His band has been getting looked at by different record companies." I told him.

"Mhmm, so I take it that he won't be going to college then?" He asked.

"Um no probably not, he's going to see how far they can get with the band first." I said while looking down at my food. I knew Alex and Rian were good at what they did and would be successful one day, it was just going to take a little longer for others to see it too.

"Are you still interested in Baltimore University?" Grandpa continued.

"Yeah! I just need to take my SAT so I can send them my scores." I said.

"Is that the test that's sixty dollars?" My mom asked.

"Mhmm." I answered and she took a deep breath. I wanted to get a job to help pay for a lot of my senior year stuff since I knew it would be expensive, but my mom and grandparents told me no. They wanted me to focus more on graduating and getting into college.

"We'll pay for it, Lily." Grandma told her.

"Thanks mom." She told her and I thanked her too.

"You're both welcome. You know we're always here to help." She said and I nodded.

We silently ate for a few minutes until grandma broke the silence. She looked at my grandpa before talking and he nodded.

"We um went over a really interest topic in church today." She mentioned again.

"What was it about?" My mom asked her.

"Telling the truth. Our pastor talked about how most people think lying will protect the one's they love but in reality, it does more harm than good." She said and I looked up quickly. I knew she couldn't possibly have any idea what was going on between Alex and me, but what she said fit perfectly with our situation. Was this a sign that I needed to tell Alex?

"Mom, don't start." My mom told her.

"All I'm saying is that he's about to be eighte-"

"Mom I said don't!" My mom raised her voice at her. I stared at both of them in hopes that someone would keep talking. They were obviously talking about me. I was the only one that was about to turn eighteen.

"Lillian, don't raise your voice at your mother." Grandpa scolded her.

"Then tell her not to bring that up. Ever!"

"He has a right to know." Grandma continued.

"Jack go get your coat. We're leaving." My mom said.

"But why?" I asked.

"Because I said so!" She yelled and I dropped my fork and went to get my coat in the living room.

I could still hear them arguing in the kitchen, but it didn't mean much because I didn't know what they were really arguing about. I hated that there was a secret about me that I didn't know about. I put my coat on and my mom walked in with my grandparents right behind her.

"Lillian!" Grandma called after her. My mom ignored her and grabbed her purse.

"Come on." My mom told me.

"Jack!" Grandma said desperately and I stopped. I couldn’t just ignore her.

"Don't!" My mom tried to stop her from saying whatever it was.

"Jack, sweetheart, you were blessed with a special ability." My grandma told me I stared at her waiting to hear where she was going with this.

"If you say anymore I swear you'll never see me or him again!!" My mom threatened but my gramma kept going.

"You can't keep it from him for forever." Grandpa sighed.

"He's my child and I'll decide when to tell him."

"What's going on?" I finally asked.

"God blessed you with the ability to bear a child." Grandma admitted to me and I frowned.

"What?" I asked and my mom burst into tears and grandpa went over to hug her. I was so confused, they all sounded like they weren’t speaking clear.

"You're a miracle, Jack. You were born with an extra reproductive system that allows you to get pregnant." She explained.

"I don't- I...I." I stammered not knowing what to say to that.

"I know it's a lot to take in right now, but you needed to know. I've been wanting to tell you since you first started dating your boyfriend just in case... you know."

I sat down on the couch to think about what she was telling me. It didn't feel true. I never had any sign to show me that I had two reproductive systems. Alex and I used condoms or either he would pull out when we had sex so it's not like I really had the chance to get pregnant.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked my mom.

"I didn't want you to feel bad about yourself. You already have a mom that can barely support you. I didn't want you to be embarrassed about having a mom that made you like this too."

"Mom, I could never be embarrassed of you." I told her and hugged her. "You're a single mom that works so hard at a job that you hate just to support us. That shows me how much you love me."

"And it's not your fault. The doctor said it was just a birth defect. Jack just needed to know so he wouldn't make any mistakes like we did. We both had kids before we were adults and life was a struggle for us. You don't want Jack to go through that too, do you?" Grandma asked my mom and my mom shook her head. "We want Jack to be safe and make good decisions." She said and kissed my mom on the forehead. "I'm sorry I went against your wishes, but it had to be done, Love."

"I know. I'm sorry about yelling at you." She apologized and they hugged.

I smiled as I watched them, but it quickly faded away when I remembered what I was just told. Maybe I did need to go to church with my Grandparents next Sunday to thank God that I hadn't gotten pregnant yet. It made sense why my mom always warned me and Alex to use condoms before going on a date. She even bought some for me to keep in my room. I thought she was worried about me catching a STD, not me getting pregnant. I was a little angry that she hadn't told me when I first started dating Alex like my grandma said. I would have been scared out of my mind had I gotten pregnant without knowing about any of this.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier." My mom told me.

"Uh it's okay. Nothing bad happened so there's no harm done." I said.

"I told your mom you were a special gift from God. I could sense it when you were born." Grandma told me and I chuckled.

"I should probably go to church with you next Sunday." I told her and she agreed.

Once my mom and I were back home reality hit. I got online to look up what was actually wrong with me and I saw a few articles and a WebMD page about people just like me. Seeing that I wasn't the only person like this made me feel a sense of relief. I didn't want to be seen as a freak.

I was going to have to tell Alex that I was able to get pregnant. I didn't know how he would react, but I didn't want to keep anymore secrets from him. The first one was horrible enough.

"Why're you so quiet?" My mom asked when her TV show went on commercial break.

"Just thinking." I mumbled.

"I really should have told you earlier." She said apologetically.

"Mom I already told you, it's fine."

"But it's not fine, you could have gotten pregnant like your grandma and I did at a young age. I guess I felt like if I didn't tell you then it wasn't true. I don't want you to struggle how I did. It wasn't easy and thank god my parents help us so much."

"You're still doing a good job. Plus it's kind of cool having a young parent. Alex's parents are older and they can't relate with him on a lot. They're always asking him how to do stuff on the computer or their phones and it annoys him to death." I said and she laughed. "But I guess I should call Alex and tell him about this." I said.

"Maybe you should wait a day or two. You just found out yourself."

"If I don't make myself do it now then I'll keep putting it off." I said. I picked up my phone and went to my recent phone calls. I pressed Alex's name and waited for him to answer.

"Hey Jay." He answered.

"Hey Lex." I said. I didn't want to talk about this over the phone. He would never believe me if he didn't see that I wasn't joking.

"Did you just miss the sound of my voice?" He jokingly asked when I didn't say anything else.

"No actually I was calling to um see if we could talk?" I asked.

"About what?" He asked worriedly.

"I don't want to talk about it over the phone. Can you come over?" I asked.

"Ummm okay. I'll be over in a bit." He said and we hung up. I could tell he was scared that I somehow found out about him and Lisa.

Alex was over within the next Ten minutes, but he lived fifteen minutes away, which meant he sped here. I hugged him when I let him in. He was so worried and I wanted him to relax before I told him about my 'special' ability.

"Hey what're we talking about?" He asked as we pulled away from each other.

"Let’s go to my room." I grabbed his hand and lead him towards my room. He told my mom hi and we went into my room and closed the door.

"Oooh I see, you wanted me over so we could have sex." He chuckled and I playfully rolled my eyes. We both sat on my bed and I grabbed his hands.

"No, you probably won't want to have sex for a while after I tell you this." I said.

"That doesn't sound good." He probably expected the worse.

"Yeah it kind of isn't." I sighed. "So um today while having dinner with my grandparents my grandma told me something about myself that I didn't know."

"What is it?"

"I um... I uhh... shit how do I even start?" I asked and sat my hands in my head.

"You're breaking up with me?" He asked.

"No Lex." I told him.

"Well what is it?"

"I... I can get pregnant?" It sounded more like a question when I said it.

"What?"

"My grandma told me that I was born with both reproduction systems. I can get pregnant. I can actually hold a baby in my stomach." I said the last part mostly to myself.

". . . I told you about smoking with Cass, Jack. The stuff she buys is too stron-"

"-I'm not high, asshole, I'm serious! I can get pregnant. I have a birth defect or something."

Alex looked at me waiting to hear I was kidding. I crossed my arms and huffed at him. I could see why he would think I was lying or high. It was frustrating thinking of a way to get him to believe me.

"Baby, I'm serious!" I whined.

"I'm sorry, but it just seems unrealistic. You believe that you can actually get pregnant? What if they're wrong. What if it was a mistake?"

"Do you want to test their theory?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.

"No." He sighed. "Look Jack I love you so much, but I'm not ready to be a dad right now. I-"

"-You're saying that as if I am. I don't want kids right now either."

"Yeah, but if you were to get pregnant my life would be ruined." He complained.

"Your life? What about my life? What about my body? I'm the one that would have to carry the baby. You wouldn't have to worry about your body changing or people at school making fun of you behind your back." I said angrily.

"Look I wasn't trying to be-"

"-Save it Alex." I said, cutting him off.

"Why are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad." I answered quickly.

"Yes you are." He said and I rolled my eyes.

"I asked you to come over so we could talk, not to argue." I told him.

"Okay well thank you for telling me about your... I don’t know I guess problem. Now I know we have to be extra careful."

"My problem?" I scoffed.

"Yes Jack, I don’t know what else to call it. You're the one with the 'ability' to get pregnant."

"You act like I wanted this!" I stressed.

"Oh my god can you stop taking my words the wrong way?"

"I'm taking them exactly the way you're saying them."

"No you're being too sensitive." He accused.

"I don't feel like doing this with you. I already have enough to worry about so leave." I told him and pointed to my door.

"Yeah just kick me out because that'll definitely solve this." He said sarcastically. He grabbed his phone and left out of my room and the house.

I hated fighting with Alex. I just didn't like that he was blaming me for being able to get pregnant. It wasn't my fault, I didn't have a say in this. I didn't like it just as much as he didn't. Maybe I should have waited a day or two to tell him like my mom said. I was still stressed out about just finding this information out for myself. Hopefully Alex and I would be better on Monday after cooling off like always. We were finally getting back to normal, I didn't want this to make things worse.

Notes

Sorry if the story seems a little slow. It'll pick up in the next few chapters!! I hope you all are still enjoying it anyways!

Title credit: Take Cover by ATL