Author's Note: Hey everyone and welcome to the first chapter of The Bump in the Road featuring a Bughead pregnancy. I would like to clarify: this takes place in Season 3, except nothing of Season 3 has happened yet. They haven't discovered Dilton Doiley dead, and Ben Button hasn't committed suicide yet. Basically, nothing has happened, but Jughead's still in the hospital from the Ghoulies attack. So, yeah! Without further ado… onto The Bump in the Road!


BETTY'S POV

I couldn't help but allow a few tears to slip out of my eyes as I stared at the results of the pregnancy test I'd just taken.

It was a Clearblue test, as Polly had recommended when I confided in her that I thought I might be pregnant. She said she got three tests from a different brand, and two of them were negative, but one of them was positive. After going to the doctor, her pregnancy was confirmed.

But according to Google, Clearblue tests were recommended by doctors because they were correct 98 percent of the time (A/N: That might not be perfectly true… I know for a fact that Clearblue tests are "most accurate" according to Google).

And I'm using a Clearblue test… that's telling me I'm pregnant with Jughead's baby.

I was sitting in the bathroom of my room, just staring at the word Pregnant on the test. My mouth gaped open, blinking my eyes, a sorry attempt to stop crying.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a light knock on the door. "Betty? Are you okay?" then after a slight pause she asked, "What… what does it say?"

I stood up and quickly composed myself, looking down once more at the pregnancy test, causing me to shed a few more tears. I opened the door, and when Polly saw my face, she instantly knew what the test said.

Quickly, she wrapped me in a tight hug. She rubbed my back and whispered soothing things in my ear.

My older sister Polly was dating the one and only Jason Blossom, twin brother of Cheryl Blossom, before he was shot by his own father, Clifford Blossom. She got pregnant with Jason's baby, and they planned to run away together. But Jason died beforehand… but Polly never found out, because my parents sent her to The Sisters of Quiet Mercy. Polly's gone through so much… she has twins now, Juniper and Dagwood. And I'm here… pregnant. With Jughead Jones' baby.

"It's okay, Betty," she whispered in my ear. "I'll support you,"

I sniffed and said, "Thank you, Polly,"

My boyfriend, Jughead, is currently in the hospital after a near-death experience. The one and only Penny Peabody, a former Southside Serpent, teamed up with the Ghoulies, a rival gang. She's been using them for drug trafficking, and has also been terrorizing the Serpents. She called for a gang war, and Jughead sacrificed himself so no one else would be hurt. They almost killed him… he wasn't breathing when FP found him in the woods. Battered and bruised, his face bleeding so bad it was like he had red skin. I still think about that night, when he called me, almost as if he was saying goodbye.

Today's the first day we're allowed to see him, and Jug even requested that I be the first to see him. I've taken the day off school so I can be with him all day. But I just found out I'm pregnant with his baby… what am I gonna tell him?

My phone rang, a call from FP. I quickly pulled away from Polly, eager to get to Jughead. I answered the phone, and FP's gruff voice somehow soothed me.

"Betty?" FP's gruff voice said in my ear.

I exhaled, still clutching the pregnancy test in my hand. "Uh… FP! Hi! What's up? Any news on Jug?"

"Well, he's going better," FP said, causing me to exhale in relief. "He's awake, and he wants to see you. Would you mind getting down here? U-unless you're busy, I can tell him to wait a bit,"

"No! No!" I said, maybe a little too quickly. "I'll be down there right now. Tell Jug I love him and I'll be right there,"

FP chuckled and said, "Don't worry, I'll tell him right now," then he hung up without waiting for me to say goodbye, and I honestly thought that was better.

I let out a dark sigh and said, "Polly… do you know how hard it was to talk to my baby's grandfather, while holding a pregnancy test?"

Polly rubbed my back and said, "It's okay, Betty. I know you probably don't want to talk about this but… have you decided on what to do with the baby?"

I sucked in a breath and said, "I… I honestly don't know, Polly. I'm… I'm gonna need some time to think,"

Polly nodded. "Take as much time as you need. And I promise, I won't tell Mom,"

I smiled at my sister, and then proceeded to rush out of the house, doing my very best to sneak out before my mother could realize I was leaving. I walked over to Archie's house next door, and asked if Archie could drive me to the hospital, which he happily did.

"So… how you holding up?" Archie asked as we drove.

I knew he was referring to the fact that my boyfriend was in the hospital, but I couldn't hide it from him. I'd brought the pregnancy test with me in my purse, if I managed to gather up the courage in time to tell Jughead. If I could tell Archie about the Black Hood calling me, I could tell him I was pregnant.

Without saying I word, I began to hyperventilate as I pulled the test out of my purse. Archie looked at me briefly, confused.

We stopped at a red light just in time, and I quickly handed the test to him. He squinted his eyes at it, and they quickly widened in shock.

"Betty…" he whispered, as though someone was listening to us. "You're… pregnant?"

I nodded, letting a tear slip out of my eyes for the millionth time. "Yeah. Archie… I need your help. How do I tell him?"

Archie sighed and shrugged. "I don't know, Betty. I'm a guy, I'm never gonna have to tell someone the words 'I'm pregnant,' I'm gonna be the one those words are told to,"

That made me chuckle lightly, but it didn't ease my nerves at all. "Archie, I don't know what to do! I don't even know if I'm going to keep the baby!"

Archie gave a bit of a grossed out expression and handed the pregnancy test back to me, saying something along the lines of, "Ew… Betty's pee is on this,"

I groaned, stuffing the pregnancy test back in my purse, making sure he balled up receipts and all of the random stuff I happen to have in my purse. I sighed, looking out the window, thinking.

I decided to weigh my options as we drove:

I could get an abortion. Dad tried to get Polly to have an abortion when he found out she was pregnant, mostly because technically, the twins were a result of incest, because apparently, the Coopers are the Blossoms. I don't think abortion would work for me… I mean, I'm not against abortion. I'm pro-choice. But I just don't think abortion's for me.

Adoption is another option. I could continue the pregnancy, and then give the baby up for adoption when it's born. Mom did that when she got pregnant with my older brother Charles Smith when she was in high school. She was sent to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy for her entire pregnancy, and then gave her son up for adoption. I… I don't think I could do that.

That leaves keeping the baby. Obviously this is a very… difficult option, if that makes sense. That would mean becoming a mother at a very young age, it also means getting judged by a lot of the kids in my school.

I don't even know if Jughead would want to keep the baby, so depending on his answer, there's a chance I could be raising the baby alone.

But also… Polly can do it. She's got freaking twins! That's two more babies than what she was expecting, so I can, too. And I have a strange feeling that Polly'll help me with my baby.

I smiled to myself, seeing my reflection in the mirror that pointed to the cars behind us, and realized that I did not look okay. I looked like I'd just found out I was pregnant, which I am. Seriously though, I look like I've been crying for days. I sighed, and decided to play it off like I was sad for Jughead, which I am, but that's only part of the reason I've been crying.

We finally arrived at Riverdale General, and I all but jumped out of the car, eager to see Jughead. I sprinted inside, but quickly had to detour to empty my stomach into the hospital toilet. Once I was done, I rushed to Jughead's room, where he was sitting bandages all over his face, stitches on his face as well, smiling at the sight of me.

"Juggy!" I exclaimed, basically throwing myself at him. Jughead chuckled as I laid on the hospital bed, cuddling up next to him. I had thrown my purse on a seat, and desperately hoped the pregnancy test wouldn't fall out onto the seat, like quite a few of my belongings did.

But I didn't care. I was finally with Jughead after being away from him for so long. The doctors had originally considered him as good as dead, so FP had a headstone placed for him, which made me incredibly angry, which I'm sure was a mix of the newfound pregnancy hormones and me just feeling emotional about the state my boyfriend's in.

"Hey, Betty," Jughead managed to whisper out hoarsely.

I snuggled closer to him on the bed. Fortunately for us, the nurse got the hint, and closed the door as she left.

I sat up a bit and looked Jug in the eyes. "Are you okay? How are you feeling?" I asked.

"Good. Well, better than I did," he laughed. "How are you?"

For whatever reason, I instinctively touched my stomach, asking myself if I should tell him. Of course, this is very recent news. My morning sickness hasn't been that bad. The only reason I ever decided to take a pregnancy test in the first place was because my period was late, and I got nervous.

I ultimately decided that I should wait to tell him. I hadn't even scheduled a confirmation appointment, so there wasn't even a one hundred percent guarantee that I was pregnant. Besides, I don't think Jug's in a… well, he's not really in a good state to take news like that.

"Betty?" he asked, his eyes furrowed in confusion. He reached for my hand, and took it off my belly, holding it in his. "Are you alright?"

I shook the nerves out of my body and smiled at him. "Yeah, totally. I'm doing… okay. Just really sad that you're still in here,"

"Yeah, me too," he laughed. "Hospital food isn't great,"

My eyes perked up as I said, "Oh! I could bring you some food if you want!"

Jughead smiled at me and said, "See? This is why you're perfect,"

I blushed, smiling at him. Even though I was smiling, all I could think was, I'm not perfect. Not even close.

"So… is that a yes?" I asked coyly, looking at my boyfriend with wide eyes.

He smiled at said, "Yes, it is,"

I leaned down and gave him a long, passionate kiss on the lips. I then stood up off the bed and said, "Alright, I'm gonna go get you a hamburger from Pop's. Archie's here, and I bet he wants to talk to you!" he nodded, and as I left, I sent Archie in. But before he could enter, I whispered sternly in his ear, "Don't. Tell. Him."

Archie nodded, and I knew I could trust him. I left Riverdale General, and called Polly to come pick me up. She was there in exactly twenty minutes, and the second I got in the car, she started asking questions.

"Did you tell him?" she asked, eyeing my purse where she knew the pregnancy test was.

I sighed and shook my head. "No…" I groaned and then said, "He just looked so frail! He was so excited to see me, I… it just wasn't the right time, okay?"

"Well, you're going to have to tell him eventually," Polly told me as gently as she could manage.

"How long did it take you to tell Jason you were pregnant, Polly?" I snapped. She looked at me, hurt for a moment, and then let out a long breath, as if to tell herself, It's okay, Polly. It's just her pregnancy hormones.

Polly sighed and said, "Not long, actually. A week after I found out I was pregnant, I told him the day before my confirmation appointment. Which, speaking of, we need to schedule for you,"

I groaned and touched my stomach. "Come on Polly! We both know for a fact I'm pregnant, why do I need to go to a confirmation appointment?"

"Because, if you want to either keep the baby or put the baby up for adoption once its born, you need to make sure the baby's healthy. Okay?" she said, using her mother voice. "There's no getting out of this, okay? I'm eighteen now, which means I can access my college fund, and I'm going to take out a chunk of money to get you to that doctor's appointment,"

Suddenly, I was anxious. "No, Polly, you can't do that!" I protested. "That's your college fund. For college!"

Polly laughed and said, "Betty, the second I found out I was pregnant, I knew I was going to keep the baby. And once I found out it was twins, I decided that I'm going to wait until they're both at least eight to go to college. Especially since Jason's dead…."

Jason Blossom's death is a very sore subject to my sister. The father of her children, the love of her life, was brutally murdered by his own father, Clifford Blossom. She rarely ever talks about Jason, acting as though he never existed. She acts as though she got pregnant by walking next to some guy in the park, which is obviously not true.

"Polly… I just… I can't believe I'm pregnant," I choked out to my sister, feeling the tears stream down my face in a river.

She reached one hand off the steering wheel and patted my back. "It's okay, Betty. I'll support you through everything."

We parked at Pop's, and I ran in to get Jughead his usual.

"How's Jughead doin' anyway?" Pop asked. "I heard about what happened. Tell him I would see him, but the visiting hours end before my break. Maybe I can find time later this week," Pop said as he handed me Jug's food.

I smiled to him and said, "Of course, Pop. He'll be excited just to know that you want to go see him," which was true.

The ride back to the hospital was long, silent agony. The only thing I could think about was… was Jughead's baby growing inside of me. I love Jughead, I would never leave him. But what if he leaves me?

I'd already made my decision, whether I told myself I was going to think more on it or not. I was going to keep the baby. Continue the pregnancy, and then keep it. Raise it. But then that leaves the question… will Jughead abandon me?

Before I had time to think about my question, we appeared in the parking lot of Riverdale General.

I took the food into Jughead's hospital room and talked with him for a while, keeping my purse glued to my side in case I suddenly had a burst of courage to tell him the news that had been hindering me all day, and being near the father made it even worse.

How was I going to tell Mom? Was she going to send me to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy? No. No, she couldn't do that. Her parents did that to her, and she did it to Polly. She must've learned by now.

Jughead and I joked all night, until visiting hours ended at 8:30. When I left, Jug was chipper, in a good mood. I was happy too, but there was a small part of me that was still stressed. Anxious. I'm only seventeen, and even though I want the baby, what if I can't take care of it? Where am I supposed to get the money? I'm definitely going to have to get a job, even if Jug doesn't abandon me with the baby. But what if Mom sends me to the Sisters? There's no way I'd stay there and be complicit. I'd break out, just like Polly did. I'd send her a letter or something to help me break out. Even if that wouldn't work out, I'm sure Veronica, Cheryl, and Toni would break me out. Just like they broke out Cheryl when her mother sent her to the secret gay re-education camp that the Sisters work secretly.

But what if they don't? There were a thousand questions that would've prepared me for almost anything.

I say almost anything, because I had no idea what would be coming in a few weeks.


Author's Note: Hey all! So this chapter was kind of difficult for me to write. Not because I didn't have any ideas, I definitely had ideas. But I wanted to write it in a way that wouldn't give away too much of the story. There's so much I have planned for this story, and I want it to go on for a very long time. And yes, Polly is going to be another main character in this fanfiction. I really like Polly as a character, and I want Juniper and Dagwood to be around a lot for this story. Not only as practice for Betty, but also because I just feel like they need more screen time in the show. I'm only on Season 3 at the moment, so I'm not sure if they get more screen time later in the season, or in Season 4 (and PLEASE don't tell me), so yeah. They're going to be minor characters. Anyways, before I reveal too much of the story, I'm gonna go write the next chapter. Adios!