Title: Too Soon

Author: badly-knitted

Characters: Carol, mentions Bikky and Carol's Aunt.

Rating: PG

Setting: After Like Like Love.

Summary: Carol only took the test to rule out the possibility, but now it's come back positive and thrown her into a panic.

Word Count: 900

Written For: Prompt 33: Positive at anythingdrabble.

Disclaimer: I don't own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

A/N: This is the extended version of the 500-word ficlet I posted to the community.

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Carol stared in disbelief at the slender wand in her hand; it had to be wrong! She'd only taken the test in the first place on her aunt's insistence, just to rule out the possibility once and for all, because she'd been absolutely certain her tiredness and mood swings were down to the stress of being in the midst of finals. Who wouldn't be feeling the pressure? It was only natural to be a bit stressed, she needed to do well in her exams; prospective employers weren't likely to offer a job to someone who didn't have the necessary qualifications. But in spite of her certainty, there they were, two very clear and definite blue lines denoting a positive result. She was pregnant.

Panic flooded through her. This couldn't be happening, not now! It was much too soon, she wasn't anywhere near ready; she hadn't even graduated from college yet! She still lived at home with her aunt, and as for Bikky… She hadn't seen her boyfriend since January, when they'd said goodbye at the airport and he'd boarded the plane, headed back to college in California, having come home for the Christmas holidays. They'd spent as much time together as they could, making up for lost time and the months apart, so obviously that must have been when…

"Oh God!" What was she going to do? In little more than six months she was going to have a baby to care for, she and Bikky were living at opposite ends of the country, and he still had two more years of college ahead of him. And even when he graduated, then what? If things worked out the way they hoped, and if he was really lucky, maybe he'd get picked in the college draft, in which case he could be signed to any pro basketball team in the country, which would dictate where he'd live. Would he want her and their child to move with him? Well of course he would, but…

No, wait a minute, calm down! She was getting too far ahead of herself; that was a good two years in the future and she had more immediate concerns to consider. She and Bikky had talked about having kids, both of them had agreed they wanted at least two, but that should be in the future, after they were married, had jobs, and a home of their own, not when both of them were still in college! Were they too young to be parents? How would they cope? Parenthood was a huge responsibility. Not only that, but babies were expensive and neither of them was earning any money at the moment.

Carol's father had set up a college fund for her before he'd passed away, and that had just about covered all her college fees, especially since she hadn't needed to pay rent, but she didn't have much in the way of savings, and she doubted Bikky did either. How would they pay for everything their baby needed? Her aunt would help out, and so would Ryo, but she and Bikky couldn't expect their families to pay for everything. That wouldn't be right.

Which brought up another worry; Bikky didn't know yet. What would he say when she told him? She needed to break the news to him as soon as possible, it was his baby too, but that was definitely something to talk about face to face, not a conversation to be had via skype. In a way, it was a good thing she'd found out now because Bikky would be home for Easter in just a few more days; she'd tell him the first chance she got, but what if he panicked? Well, that would be fair, it was exactly what she was doing, wasn't it? She could hardly expect him to take the news calmly when she was anything but calm.

But what if he decided he didn't want the baby? She shook her head. No, that wouldn't happen, she was absolutely certain of that much. He might freak out, in fact she could pretty much count on that, but he'd stand by her and their child because he loved her and anyway, that was the kind of man he was. So what if he was only nineteen? Younger kids than them became parents all the time, and most of them seemed to manage okay one way or another. Besides, Bikky was mature for his age. Once he got over the initial shock, she thought he'd be happy. Terrified, worried, and completely out of his depth, but happy; she knew that because it was exactly the way she was feeling.

Carol looked again at the wand in her hand, and the realisation swept over her like a tidal wave; this wasn't a dream, it was actually happening. 'I'm having a baby!' she thought, running her hand over her as yet still flat stomach. 'There's a new life growing inside me.' It was such a scary thought, and yet at the same time so thrilling, that her heart was racing, fear and wonder battling for supremacy. She bit her lip. Well, no point putting this off any longer. She would have preferred to tell Bikky before anyone else, but he wasn't here, so taking a deep breath and doing her best to pull herself together, she headed downstairs to break the news to her aunt.

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The End